The Traumatic Untold Story of The Fall of Humanity | Seven Hour War | FULL Half-Life Lore

[@Skyrionn]

Was it planned? Would you attend "EarthAid Unite" in the hopes our music would make The Combine become peaceful? I made use of more Half-Life: Alyx footage, and made the scenes more believable with different characters and animations. What did you think?

[@Shin3y]

As a music producer and huge music fan, possibly, in an attempt to save human art.

[@saladhead8690]

The 7 year war was definetely good for the gman.

[@newcastleman86]

Looks great to me.

[@arandomgoblin7607]

I loved how you did the scenes

[@reeceemms1643]

I have seen the mod for Gmod that changes the civilian outfits, never downloaded it but it looks like a going mod

[@charlesmartin1972]

I love how the four most important events in the HL universe are the resonance cascade, the 7-hour war, the subsequent resistance, and bring your daughter to work day

[@tompeck5495]

This right here is why we love valve

[@KaiserMattTygore927]

@gasolina2703 That's what will liberate the earth, and convert Humanity into a beer selling Inter-dimensional space empire.

[@Gnome-kc7pr]

@gasolina2703its up there

[@spencerlyon7087]

Lmao I had never thought of it that way

[@damonnugent1993]

It's even more interesting because a lot of these events are still very much unknown, we can only imagine the kind of forces and troops and weapons that were used against humanity in the 7 hour war, and even the day that GLaDOS killed everyone and took over Aperture Science is a chilling thing to ponder, families, children screaming in terror while drowning in deadly toxins and choking on their own blood as a homicidal AI watched and laughed, it's pretty dark when you think about it..

[@samuelantoniocastillomeza5034]

The mix of random hostile creatures first appearing worlwide and leaving everything and everyone so weak that then a ruthless conqueror appears to take it all in just 7 Earth hours is terrifying.

[@Skyrionn]

The initial Xenian wave set the perfect condition for the invasion really!

[@raidermaxx2324]

shiiit.. My country vs Russia or China could end the entire planet in a lot shorter time span than that friendo .. Give me 45 minutes, and ill give you 6 billion of us dead within the first 24 hours, and 8.5 billion after two weeks. Leaving roughly 500 million total to slowly starve and freeze to death within a year or two, or survive by embracing your inner radiated cannibal self. ...

[@buragi5441]

Even without the portal storm a planetary invasion like that would leave us defenseless and unable to properly mobilize a sufficient force to counter.

[@KaiserMattTygore927]

Though, I imagine if the Xen chaos were dealt with easily somehow, the war with the Combine probably would've lasted no longer than a couple days.

[@davidb8539]

The Germans actually defeated Denmark faster than this during WW2. I believe it was 6 hours officially but de facto about 2 or 3 hours.

[@themodernfrontiersmen]

The thought of the Seven Hour War has always been terrifying. We always assume Humanity can Independence Day our way out of anything, but reality would be a lot more like this.

[@noblenormie1179]

No sane human thinks we stand a Chance against majorly superior aliens lol.

[@kowhaifan1249]

And yet, the resistance still stands strong. Like Alyx smashed that massive combine prison thing I'm pretty sure the indomitable human spirit is true.

[@ohwni]

@@kowhaifan1249 That’s the beauty of HL, the human resistance despite how dreadful the situation is.

[@Zanzibar_Dallax]

Aliens just making themselves known to the broad general population would be enough to cause major chaos amongst Humanity 😅 At the end of the day, humans being the top of the food chain is what allows us to do so many things. Finding out a space-faring race of aliens exists would just throw us off; defenseless

[@mattstorm360]

I mean agents an invasion fleet with a set amount of resources, maybe. Against something like the combine that can keep pouring assets from their homeworld into ours... yeah... no chance. The fact we lasted 7 hours shows though.

[@TemplarBlonic]

I think what terrifies me the most about the Combine is that they are seemingly not just a universal alien force- but a _multiversal_ empire, using the Xen invasion to rip into the Half-Life universe. When Earth is free from Combine invasion, the Combine Empire is so spectacularly, incomprehensibly, horrifyingly massive that such a historic event for humanity that is repelling the Combine from the earth is just a lost document in an ocean of paperwork for the Combine for them to get back to at some other time- if ever. Especially with the Epistle 3 script leak, they created a Dyson Sphere in around 20 years- possibly far, far less. They are so large in scale and operations that they probably completely forget about Earth and humanity as a whole. And what is possibly even worse- usually such horrid militant factions have a reason (such as fear of an enemy or perceived threat) to be so horrible- even if that reason no longer exists. Was there something that forged the Combine into such a horrible dictatorship? Is there something they themselves are fighting, possibly involving the G-Man’s employers? So many questions. So few answers…

[@hawk458]

Exactly, something even worse than combine

[@UCannotDefeatMyShmeat]

We fight off the human based forces and then a new portal opens with real forces, I imagine what we saw was a Borg approach of “least effort required”

[@kaneel36]

im more afraid that maybe its not just a game but a real thing. black mesa can be Cern or other underground military base. about aliens its something really strange in 2023, a lot of people already saw and knows that ufo is real. also we got a new theories about multiverses, simulation, even they made quantum teleportation last time. world is going crazy and its just beggining.

[@z-beeblebrox]

Yeah, I think about the massive spire that serves as the focal point of HL2. That thing is nothing but a minor governor's mansion to them. However, I don't think there needs to be any greater threat. Empires don't need legitimate reasons to expand, they expand for expansion's sake - as a cultural imperative. Sometimes they'll manufacture threats or even goad real potential threats into acting, but it's all in the service of giving themselves an excuse to conquer.

[@joeman9173]

Permanent Offworld assignment is probably the frontlines of whatever enemy force they are fighting.

[@rilius7138]

I cannot die happy without seeing Half Life 3 and knowing the origins of the Combine.

[@weedGato]

Or maybe directly see it

[@NetizenNo]

I'd rather like Combine to remain this incomprehensable unknown force to be reckoned with. Something beyond unerstanding of human mind.

[@Slimpicken]

​@NetizenNo but they're not. They obviously are intelligent enough to understand and integrate themselves in a way we understand.

[@rilius7138]

@@NetizenNo This is a major although partly unintentional part of their appeal. Im sure that Valve originally had intentions to expand their story but now that HL3 is probably never to be seen. That mystery element to the Universal Union will stay much larger than it probably would have if HL3 was released when it was supposed to.

[@klidthelid8361]

Let’s hope it’s not as disappointing as epistol 3

[@HistoryMonarch1999]

I think what I loved most about the seven hour war is just the name itself. You don’t need movies or books or anything to understand. The name alone tells you all you need to know and gives you a look into this vast empire even when it isn’t able to fully be present

[@royliber3824]

My theory that Breen knew exactly how it will go down since he ordered to use the crystal at the chamber till he became the ambassador of earth even makes more sense after this episode. Gman promised him the position if he continued with the day despite everything not holding up in the facility. Breen knew it was destined to fail and open the portals yet he did it anyway knowing he would be safe and grant him the most powerful position he could have. Why would Gman take part of this and hand over them the crystal? I believe its part of his masterplan to take down the Combine army for good. He knew only earth have the right people for the job to do so... Knowingly that Freeman along the way went against his ways and tried to avoid him, he found a suitable replacement for the job.

[@TACTIK00L]

Honestly a good theory

[@royliber3824]

@@TACTIK00L Thanks! I actually watched Game Theory video about Gman and then came up with mine. For me, this is what makes sense the most. Hence why it went without flaws for Breen and why for Gman almost everything according to plan (apart from the aftercredits of HL:A where he had to make changes).

[@JoshSweetvale]

You do see Breen arguing with the G-man at some point. He was told incomplete information too.

[@johnrex9612]

I am certain Gman is against the Combine. He put everything in a way that led to Combine invasion. Yet he is not helping the Combine, he is their enemy. He manages to use Gordon and Alyx (with help of the resistance ofc that followed Gordon) to destroy the Citadel. But we have missing piece. Gman wants Gordon to save Alyx (both are his agents). Okey I understand. But then there's Borealis. Eli doesn't want Gordon to go there and probably Gordon agrees. That is why I think Gman orders Alyx to do so (as Gordon is "unable... or unwilling"). But what is the Gman's angle? We don't know what is Borealis. Can it used be to destroy Combine? To sum up: - Gman is not on the humanity side. He makes Combine invade Earth, that is his plan. Maybe he is not against humans, maybe he doesn't want to deliberately hurt them but still he uses humans as tools - Gman is not on Combine's side. Despite bringing them here, he leads to destruction of the Citadel and leaving of Earth. Also he is captured by Combine in Alyx

[@ashleigh.]

@@johnrex9612 I think the Borealis has portal technology, possibly portals thru time even, Aperture Science and Black Mesa were on some level collaborating

[@johnnysatanseed4770]

The best and most memorable quote from half life 2 for me will always be "if the super portal reaches full maturity- it will be the 7 hour war all over again...except this time it wont last 7 minutes.."

[@frp3337]

That means that the humans were able to hold the combine for a decent amount of time in comparison to other alien worlds

[@SerpentNight]

Something I’ve noticed in the ‘Half-Life 2’ games is that Earth resistance is modestly capable of taking on the visible forces of the Combine when properly mobilized and one might wonder how the Earth’s militaries were so overwhelmed during the Seven Hour War. Armies being depleted by Xenian creatures makes sense but I've speculated that Striders, Hunters, Gunships, etc. amount to light artillery within the Combine’s full arsenal; the heavier guns having been kept away from Earth since the Overwatch was instituted and given standing control over the planet. Perhaps said heavier guns would have been seen again had the portal storm not been neutralized in HL2E2.

[@Lazare7782]

Well during the war, the combine deployed many more and much heavier forces. I’m HL2 , the combine has set up a mostly self governing light occupational force

[@aedwynn6474]

Indeed, the Combine isn't particularly interested in Earth when HL2 begins aside from raw materials - they seem to find humanity unimpressive (See Nova Prospekt). The Combine forces on Earth are effectively a local colonial militia fighting under the Combine banner. The forces arrayed against Earth during the 7-hour war would have been the Combine "A-game".

[@Slimpicken]

Because what we seen is a combine equivilent of a shitty outpost establishment in the universe.

[@zirconiumaloe]

Also keep in mind. The combine did study human government so they probably know important locations and if you wipe out top command (because they have air and space superiority) then the military can't organize

[@aedwynn6474]

@EasilyPeasily I was under the impression that the Combine as a whole didn't actually know that the Black Mesa East team had figured out that teleportation. According to what Mossman says when you first meet her. This was why Eli's fate at the end of Episode 2 was such a cliffhanger - because the Adviser psychically gained all of Eli's knowledge... So now they know - but their superportal was closed. I believe Half Life: Alyx has sort of undone this now, however.

[@jacobcain9008]

This isnt seven hours. Im dissapointed.

[@svijj_]

Yeah I was expecting a full second by second breakdown, something like: 4 hours, 14 minutes and 15 seconds: Private John Schmoe the last surviving member of the 52nd Infantry Divison is running in the streets of New York. 4 hours, 15 minutes and 2 seconds: Private John Schmoe trips over rubble in the streets of New York. 4 hours, 15 minutes and 12 second: Private John Schmoe is torn into pieces by Combine artillery.

[@SHARK_TASTIC]

Could you imagine? That be dope 😂

[@thentfcommander6684]

@@svijj_ bro that didnt even happen yet, thats an hour early before that happens what really happened at that time was that corporal billy jones first man of the 1st infantry to land in Chicago fought with some gangs and destroyed a dropship smh get your facts right

[@xBruceLee88x]

Imagine a "based on a true story" style action movie set in the POV (or at least centered around) Barney in the final moments of the Black Mesa incident through the 7 hour war and on until them deciding to head to Europe. Minute by minute, a 4 or 5 part movie series, because it'd be more than 7 hrs accounting for events prior and after. Or perhaps a Netflix style series with the first episode being the final events of black mesa focusing on him helping others leave and end ending that episode with an Oppenheimer style nuke going off, with subsequent episodes focused on the war, and a finale focused on them heading to what becomes City 17, or Ravenholm.

[@tehjamerz]

Adjust video playback speed to make the video your desired length

[@ahealthkit2745]

This is the most interesting event so far in Half Life to me, and I really find it disappointing nobody has attempted to make a detailed mod about it yet. I'd love to write for something like that.

[@courier6448]

Well...there was that one game. But we don't talk about that. Just like we don't go to Ravenholm anymore

[@SacredLiquid]

Got bad news for you bud...

[@Four2069IQ]

@@courier6448brotha just tell me what it is

[@Borgenviking]

If they did, I hope they make the character you play really edgy. Maybe even have him say "you fucked up my face" at some point. That would be majorly cool.

[@Slimpicken]

​@courier6448 god it was so bad. Surely somebody can do better.

[@FreshMootz]

What's really incredible is that aside from the Combine, the "bad guys"-the vortigant, the head crabs, ant lions, striders, etc are just being themselves-creatures in the wild. They're merely pawns. This was a truly well written story.

[@oliwardcomics]

Arent striders a type of combine war machine? they only attack the rebels and have mounted machine guns

[@DONG-502]

@@oliwardcomics thats the point any of them is pawn to the Combine

[@ToastyDoasty]

going through a broken down city 17 in half life 2 during the uprising feels amazing cause that's probably what would happen irl a small but very considerable uprising

[@Skyrionn]

We need a Half-Life game during the war

[@royliber3824]

@@Skyrionn Some modders out there did just that but I would mind if Crowbar Collective would stand up the job to make it almost certainly the best fanmade game out there. I want to see a proper perspective from both one of the citizens (basically like Fallout games) and one of the military forces (and they don't have to be HECU at all). Valve can still make this happen and they have so many different ways they can take this. I'm still bamboozled after the ending of HL:Alyx and theres still hope from Valve.

[@NetizenNo]

It happened in WW2, Warsaw uprising.

[@ToastyDoasty]

@@Skyrionn Seriously I've been wanting one for the longest time

[@wofel]

@@Skyrionn Hunt Down the Freeman

[@mrdarkshoe]

Honestly, I love reading about how scary and powerful the Combine are because it only props up G-Man even more for me. If even this insanely OP Multiversal Empire with untold technology and capabilities fear the G-Man, it just makes you wonder even more about his origins.

[@vincentparadis3438]

He is like the Doctor

[@spartanwar1185]

@@vincentparadis3438 Bro if he was a time lord, that honestly would be pretty amazing

[@trilobitose]

And remember, G-Man always mantion his employers. He's not even in the top of fhe hierarchy. He may as well be just a wage worker

[@pppppppppppppppppppppb4036]

He’s God, G = God

[@tjontario]

he must be part of some other resistance from another dimension, or an agent of a species the Combine are at war with the Combine could be fighting multiple wars across multiple dimensions, and the events on Earth are probably trivial to their military leaders.... so it makes it a good place for a rebellion to spring an attack on them

[@QuackingKing]

Just yesterday I was thinking how awesome it would be if Skyrionn did a longer video about the Seven Hour War...and now here it is!

[@Skyrionn]

You wished it into existence.

[@QuackingKing]

@@Skyrionn Apparently so 🤣 BTW, amazing video man, as always!

[@im-alwaaayzwatching]

You manifested that right into existence

[@thenotsogood_gamer]

12:29 The stock market crashing has got to be the worst consequence of the Seven Hour War. It's hard to imagine the devastation caused by this event, but it most certainly rivalled that of the Great Depression.

[@Skyrionn]

I mean the whole being turned into a stalker thing may rival the stock market :P

[@babynautilus]

stock market: crashed stalker market: booming

[@dx-ek4vr]

Anything but the Stock Market! Well, I hope the 7 Hour War hasn’t affected the Trout population any…

[@AVI-lh6rm]

How will the combine invasion affect Lebron's legacy?

[@deloreandmc88]

@@AVI-lh6rm I wonder what happened to Eminem and 50 Cent during the 7 Hour War and the Combine Invasion.

[@Worply]

I typically go on week long tangents on specific topics such as half life lore but man, your channel has kept me interested for at least the last 4 weeks, keep doing great work!

[@Skyrionn]

Thanks for watching them. The lore runs so deep in this universe. None of my close friends play these games so I'm the same as you. Huge tangents and explanations.

[@thatdudemetro6271]

The scariest part is the fact this wasn't even the full force of the universal union, really makes someone wonder what is the actual power of the empire, or if we can even comprehend it. This is some lovecraftian stuff on the works.

[@UCannotDefeatMyShmeat]

We were attacked with a tiny force, mayhaps an offshoot of the actual group even

[@tetraxis3011]

@@UCannotDefeatMyShmeatNo. We did get attacked by the Combine Armies, what we see is a occupation force.

[@spartanwar1185]

Lol just imagine if those striders, gunships, dropships, hunters and etc. were just some few who got sent to the wrong place and are just like "Whoops, we went through the wrong portal, oh hey look an alien race to enslave, let's go boys!"

[@MetroCop2077]

Thats my profile pic

[@tjontario]

@@UCannotDefeatMyShmeat it was definitely the Combine's main forces that defeated Earth in 7 hours. The Combine are experienced in conquering worlds so would have sent forces dedicated to that purpose... although probably a small regiment since they were being sent to a single planet with primitive technology once Earth 'submitted' they likely would have pulled their main invasion forces back and then yes likely left occupation forces perhaps of random units

[@TooRudeProductions]

This franchise never ceases to give some of the best storytelling out there and it's amazing we've had to wait this long for a conclusion.

[@arftrooper2057]

Great video! I’m really glad to see that a lot of common misconceptions, such as the idea that the Xen and Combine arrived at the same time, were cleared up. With that being said, I have a couple of minor notes to add. For starters, Gman re-activated the Nuke that Adrian Shepherd disabled in Opposing Force. It is speculated that this nuke going off while a connection to Xen was established is what alerted the Combine to Earth’s presence. This is, however, just a speculation. What is not speculative though which was glossed over is that the Nihilanth had been at war with the Combine for some time and, furthermore, he was the last of his species. The Xenian forces invading earth was always the plan as they were to try and run from and escape the Combine. It is also possible then that the Nuke did not alert the Combine, and that they were simply chasing the Xenian forces into Earth. Next, it was suggested that the Combine are still fighting for control over the outlands. While this is technically true, it ignored the larger picture. The Combine intentionally allow these areas to be infested to make escape from cities both more difficult and unappealing. This is evident from a number of minor details that are easy to miss. For starters, the Antlions invading Nova Prospekt are called “Non-tagged Viromes” implying that they tag and track these creatures. The technology of thumpers further supports this theory as the Combine surely could have created the means to kill in mass, yet they chose to create technology that just keeps them away. This is also supported by the fact that the Citadel is implied to be a massive thumper. It pounds the ground like one and when it is destroyed, antlions suddenly are infesting the city (Ep1). This level of control is not necessarily the case everywhere, though. It is implied that the citadel is one of a kind and, as for North America (another point that was slightly glossed over) its not that no one knows what happened there, it’s that it is completely uninhabitable. The red X in Alyx along with the sheer quantity of Americans in this European town somewhat implies that due to the proximity to the Black Mesa incident, the density of hostile Xenian life is much higher and all Americans were relocated. This is also evident by the fact that Breen, an American, chose to make the capital of humanity in Europe. Finally, and this is somewhat nitpicky, I would argue that Glados taking over Aperture is, as of yet, unimportant in the Half-Life universe. She sticks to her facility and changes nothing. The real fourth most impactful event would be the creation and subsequent disappearance of the Borealis. With all that being said, despite this massive wall of text, this was an incredible video and my concerns come down to hard to notice details and forgotten speculations. Overall this was a great video and I greatly appreciate the effort put in!

[@Katvanished]

there are noted to be multiple citadels in the world, and one in each city the combine occupies. the citidel is special because it's the "HQ" citadel, and the heart of the network

[@justadude57483915748]

I was always under the impression that North America was uninhabitable after Black Mesa went boom. I’m still under the impression that Black Mesa had to go boom in order to seal the first dimensional rift, as GMan states at the end of Opposing Force. As far as explaining Xen, once Nihilanth was dead there would be no organized force to stop the Combine from invading Xen, and the Xen species would simply be fleeing the Combine wherever they could escape to in massive numbers, ie Earth. The only question in my mind is how the Combine learned of Earth’s location.

[@hawk458]

Nice text

[@DS-wl5pk]

Yeah, Portal being in the same universe is such a nothing burger or a reveal. Nothing changes, the technology developed there never see the light of day and the crazy bitch doesnt even care or know. It means nothing in the grand scheme because they ultimately do nothing. Like even when they end up in space…. Nothing we don’t see anything, no one notices anything. Literally doesn’t matter

[@chandradeepkumar7750]

Nice info 👍

[@foxu6218]

"this was by far the shortest war in human history at a mere seven hours" The Anglo-Zanzibar War: am i joke to you?

[@Skyrionn]

I'm pretty sure I said "one of the shortest wars". I will look into that war though. It's a pretty interesting topic. Short wars.

[@foxu6218]

@@Skyrionn lmao yea the Anglo-Zanzibar war only lasted for about 30-40 minutes

[@brandonprendergast7806]

OBJECTION! Colonials didn't see natives as humans, therefore its just oest control (seriously though aboriginals were lumped in with "the local fauna" until 1967)

[@Iran_mapping930]

POV: Switzerland 💀

[@frp3337]

​@@Iran_mapping930?

[@voltaic1699]

I've always made theories of the Seven Hour War and how it most likely lasted. This video pretty much explained much of how I expected it to be. Xen arriving and basically draining the worlds Armed Forces towards an extent as then the Combine exploiting and starting there invasion. One of my theories is that most of the world's armed forces didn't get demolished within Seven Hours by the Combine but the Combine using wave after wave strategy while going on the offensive and forcing the Earth's Armed Forces to retreat but unable to properly regroup. Which in my opinion, this is probably the reason why Earth lost within just Seven Hours.

[@voltaic1699]

​@samuelsstuffyt In my opinion, I would imagine hundreds of thousands to millions would have died from the Xenian infestation in such a short amount of time. When the Combine invaded Earth, Earth's armed forces was already weakned by days (probably a couple weeks) of fighting the Xenian infestation. Which if anything would give the Combine the advantage of doing wave after wave tactics during the invasion.

[@tjontario]

I think the Xenian infestation did more to demoralize and distract Earth's forces rather than decimate them. Earth's forces would have been spread very thin all around the world with forces sent everywhere to fight outbreaks, protect cities and deliver aid... It would have been confusing and chaotic, but also since most of the Xenians were wild animals, not intelligent invaders, humanity's armies would not have to use advanced tactics... Then when suddenly Combine war ships started emerging through the portals, bombing cities and dropping ground forces, Earth's forces would have been caught very much off guard. The Combine used orbital bombardment, so likely destroyed key targets like major cities and military targets similar to what the aliens did in Independence Day. Air Bases were probably wiped out immediately and humans left with scattered reserve forces that were already deployed and spread thin protecting cities from the Xen creatures. Once humanity quickly surrendered or 'submitted', the main Combine invasion forces would have returned through the portals and their ground forces would have remained to handle the process of assimilating the remaining human population. By the events of Half Life 2, very few of the actual Combine units are left on Earth, they've all returned to their home dimension or been redeployed somewhere else to conquer other worlds. Combine soldiers on Earth are now humans who have been conscripted and brainwashed.

[@large-turkey]

Imagine taking a walk, you're simply enjoying your surroundings and embracing the nature. And suddenly, a portal opens in the sky, and alien like ships start raining down from above. People dont realize how horrifying it must have been to witness the first combine units arriving on Earth from the Portal storms.

[@valance10]

Portal storms came before the combine, Xenian wildlife (and race X if you take OpFor as canon) would've gotten you first if the portal itself didn't

[@large-turkey]

@@valance10 ok fair enough

[@valance10]

@@large-turkey I mean once an alien creature is killing you it doesn't really matter where its from

[@Operator_Krystof]

just imagine seeing everything unfold with your own eyes. that would be horrifying

[@Skyrionn]

I'd love a game where all of this happens.

[@hinfeeiw4ouru]

​@@SkyrionnI would call the game "Half-life", and remake of it with "Black mesa". And also I'd make a company, called "Valve"

[@Operator_Krystof]

@@Skyrionn well hunt down the freeman tried it but... we all know how that ended up xd

[@fduranthesee]

@@hinfeeiw4ouru and then, i'd sell them on something called "Steam"

[@ZackaryWilliams77]

I recall reading on a thread discussing the 7 Hour War and they talked about the Citadel. One theory was that they were brought it in during the 7 Hour War. If I ever made a movie about the 7 Hour War, I would have these giant spires be teleported in, causing chaos. Then Combine forces start spewing out of them like a bee hive and absolutely annihilating anything in their path.

[@cromtuiseagain]

The coolest thing about it is even without full lore on what went down, the fact that it's called the Seven Hour War is enough to definitively explain how outmatched humanity was

[@spartanwar1185]

Yeah, they don't even need to explain it to get the point across, which is amazing, in a terrifying way ofc

[@offendersofficial]

the combine invasion had a profound effect on the trout population

[@Manuqtix.Manuqtix]

Nazi Germany and imperial Japan

[@Manuqtix.Manuqtix]

Axis powers. Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany

[@1x93cm]

Portal storms everywhere. Bullsquids, houndeyes, headcrabs, Vorts. All running wild. Then all the sudden a massive portal opens and there is a strider. And then another. And another.

[@Jake_Ro_X]

One of the most amazing videos I've seen that talked about the 7-Hour War. Hopefully, in the next Half-Life games. We get more insight into what happened. 😎👍

[@DrKarmo]

A small headcanon i have is related to the Valve Universe theory, which says every Valve game is set in the same universe, in it the Xenoan invasion would've brought the zombie virus we see in L4D and that weakened the earth's military and devastated the population so much that when the Combine arrived all the had to do was mop up anything that was left after the pandemic and the alien mayhem

[@ericshun3926]

Where does Tf2 place in this headcannon

[@DrKarmo]

@@ericshun3926 as a TV series

[@holderrrrname]

Maybe tf2, being set in the 60’s/70’s was barely evading the combine

[@imfunniguy3744]

then Counter Strike is referenced in L4D as a game that Louis played, so that explains CS’s place

[@Titanic-wo6bq]

I feel like during the war the safest place would ironically be Aperture Science.

[@silent_stalker3687]

“Sir, the Combine are using child soldiers.” “How do we even know what they’re using they’re aliens?! If correct they must be desperate.” “Sir, the headcrab pods landed in a school.”

[@RollerCoasterLineProductions]

Great content as always. Love these deep dives into the HL lore.

[@Skyrionn]

There's so much more to cover!

[@qwefhj3011]

Nice analysis on the humanity's desperate attempts of fighting back. This gem is so high quality that it can be used as a source.

[@DONG-502]

You're the best person on youtube who can explain the lore of the any gamimg franchise

[@Skyrionn]

That's very kind of you to say

[@ziongite]

Obviously Breen had contact before the resonance cascade, this is why he pushed for it and seemed to be one step ahead the entire time until he became administrator, and also was able to contact the combine as well. They obviously very early on promised him great power like this, and likely promised him scientific discoveries and such, and he couldn't resist the temptation of being the de-factor president of the world and also access to science beyond human possession. As far as Gman, I think he isn't physical, instead I think he is of an Alien species that created the combine, and I think the ability of this alien species is to psychologically project themselves across dimensions, this enables them to manipulate others in those dimensions while appearing visually as a fellow species (but as a kind of image projection, I think their physical abilities are very limited, which is why they have to rely on manipulating others). This is why all of his actions benefit the combine. For example it seems it was Gman who had contact with Breen and essentially gave him all those promises. It was Gman that gave them the crystal that was too large and resulted in the resonance cascade, which in turn was done so that Gman could use Gordon as a puppet to kill the Nihilanth, which in turn resulted in the barriers between dimensions being shattered, and the combine being able to reach earth. In addition to this we see the Vortigaunt block out Gman in one cutscene and oppose him, where Gman says "we'll see about that", it seems the Vortigaunt have a unique localised form of mental power that the Gman has (but the Gman's species have this power on a level where it can cross dimensions). So the Vortigaunt still exist as a species because of this ability, they possess an innate ability to resist being manipulated by the Alien species that Gman comes from. I think in the original lore, I believe the idea ultimately for Gman was to capture the Borealis, and to combine its teleportation technology into that of his combine.

[@MrVlad12340]

But how does Combine imprisoning the G-Man figures into that?

[@thefrenchmanleo]

12:31 > Alien invasion > this will be quite detrimental to the stock market.

[@howdydobuckeroo1204]

I think the number one threat to Gman and his employers is Adrian Shepard. Gordon had done exactly what Gman had intended, but then Adrian appeared, and somehow, someway, did not follow the narrative he was meant to follow. Even Gman compliments Adrian, saying how they are both similar, in that they both can manipulate the intended course of events.

[@bakatom142]

His name is Adrian. Aiden is like a entirely different character if you consider him canon

[@howdydobuckeroo1204]

@@bakatom142 damn it I probably got confused with a mod

[@Man_Aslume]

Then Gman banished Adrian to the shadow relam

[@Alter_Dan_K]

Nice one. Undoubtedly not the only one waiting for hl3 to this day, I'd also like a game about the 7 hour war with Barney as the protagonist. Difficulty intensifies until at the end in the game he has no other choice than to go in hiding. That would be real cool.

[@Hamachingo]

These videos are fantastic! Combining all the lore, adding some educated guesses, great narration and ambience. ❤

[@andrewholdaway813]

Crappy video game nonsense

[@dailyfactswithjack8622]

hehe “combining” funni

[@gloveman0]

I once had an entire mod planned out for the 7HW. I might need to revisit it one day. Its an event throughout the series thats mentioned multiple times but we have very little info on just what happened outside Gordon and the others POV.

[@SpillyWilly_]

To think that earth is basically just a crappy outpost they made on the universe. The combine military on earth is probably like local militias fighting for them. But there's something that got me wondering, the combines doesn't know how to do teleportation. Sure, they can teleport using "holes" across universes, but they dont know how to teleport locally in-universe. The resistence on the other hand, managed to gain this technology first. So doesn't that mean the combine will atleast try to keep Earth under their control to gain the technology? I mean, they will probably not send any reinforcements during the City 17 uprising from their homeworld if humanity doesnt have teleportation.

[@Techstriker1]

This, similar to Xcom, shows a potential reason Aliens would avoid us. We tend to rapidly assimilate and learn to use technologies, even if we don't know how it works, and even use them in exceptionally dangerous ways (by some measure we are the 40k orks).

[@VEAFY]

At least we would have fun 🧌

[@rustyshackleford234]

Honestly all of those alien movies were humanity wins should actually turn out like this, if the invading aliens can: 1. Get to earth from at least 4yl away… 2. Willing to invade us… 3. Incredibly Powerful military… They are probably un-beatable. It’s like when human children throw rocks at and destroy a ant hill, the ants can’t do anything but bite, but that just makes the human child angrier. It’ll be the same way when an interstellar race throws asteroids at and destroys our planet. We can’t do anything.

[@Skyrionn]

I really liked that analogy. The child and the ant hill. It's really fitting in this case.

[@rustyshackleford234]

@@Skyrionn thank you! Makes me hope we are actually alone lmao

[@dracmeister]

Battle: Los Angeles is an interesting take on an alien invasion. Yes, they can travel vast distances but they rely on around the same means of coordination as Earth's miltaries can. So they have at best, human-like intelligence and tactics and are as fallible as one. The aliens had a hightech battlesuit grafted onto them, highly resilient to small-arms fire and destructive on-board weapons-but they were not invincible. A well-placed shot to left side of their upper chest, sustained fire (enough to compromise their armor) or, a grenade can take them out. Aliens had air-superiority but, most of their flyers are drones, controlled in a centralized hub. This is a weakness to exploit. B:LA doesn't exactly have an ending. Because we're shown that it's not just Los Angeles, it's a global phenomenon and the victory over LA was just one battle. The idea of "if subject can do this thing a, they can do this thing b" is a flawed concept. Because so long as there is believable contrivance, you cannot make these assumptions. Half-life 2 itself has a contrivance like this: "If the Combine can travel to Earth via portals, why do they need Judith to work on local teleportation?" The thing is, we don't fully know how teleportation or how portals work in the Half-life universe, as it is never fully explicitly stated. We're only given the end result of these technologies and not so much more the nitty-gritty. The closest we got was that it uses Xen as a relay point to temporarily place you in and then you get to your intended destination in the same dimension/universe/reality, but there's still unknowns on how time passes (most notably the Nova Prospekt portal compared to other teleports.). So we can only surmise teleports and portals are still pretty finnicky and relatively unexplored concept even to the Combine who can, presumably only open portals to other dimensions/universes/realities.

[@tetraxis3011]

Of course we won’t beat them with That attitude.

[@Man_Aslume]

​@@dracmeisterI think it was said they were basically getting ass kicked by something else and were like a third world milita in space military terms

[@Prometheus1337]

His voice is now my standard to any documentary

[@AzazelTV18]

Damn, this video's camera work is mastercrafted. Great to have it in a video about one of the most interesting topics from half life in my opinion.

[@maxamps45]

what always confused me is that killing the "immense being holding the portal open" would end the resonance cascade. when nihilanth died why did it caused portal storm?

[@dbrk9991]

I always loved the Half Life games since I was a child, I remember that it was one of my friend who gave me a copy of Half Life back in the days, I had an instant love for this universe, the story is incredible, the games are awesome, and I was so thrilled when they announced Half Life 2 and Portal (which were both groundbreaking in their mechanics and graphics back in the days). This is unfortunate that the devellopers put an end to this serie since there is still IMHO quite much to tell about this world, but c'est la vie... I really need to get a VR set to play Alyx, I skipped this part of the video to avoid being spoiled. Great work for the video and the story !

[@TheRubberStudiosASMR]

I love your cinematic shots of Half Life. Stunning.

[@Loch_Ness_Lachster]

Amazing video, great detail, it’s easy to forget that someone has to write this stuff, another jewel of a video.

[@NbahWasTaken]

I love this channel so much it's unreal. Insane work.

[@BenieTheDragon]

I didn't expect this video to be so good, as you did similar videos of the 7 Hour War. But this is by far the most detailed video I've seen about it. Very well done. :)

[@S1nwar]

its so lovely that black mesa content is considered canon

[@Skyrionn]

It's more for just the visuals really. There are non-canonical parts of that game that I'll never show in this series.

[@Falcheon]

Thanks!

[@dougie1968]

The start of Half-Life is quite similar to Dooms. In Doom, UAC research facility's experiments on teleportation on Mars opens a gateway to Hell resulting in the invasion of Mars and then Earth by demons. In Half-Life, Black Mesa research facility's experiments on a crystal of alien origin results in the opening of a portal to another dimension, named Xen, resulting in the invasion of the facility and then Earth by Xen creatures.

[@Янус_Ырт]

Yes, however in doom there is no G-man, so HL story is more complex, as for my opinion

[@thatdudemetro6271]

Also i kinda love how in the newspaper with the skyscrapers you can see what i assume to be ground infantry, quite unclear if they are human or synths. To think that if the combine actually invaded we would be defenseless, i have an m16a2 here in the army and i doubt 5.56 would scratch a synth.

[@Slimpicken]

Thats when you get the elephant gun or 4 bore.

[@mapleflag6518]

I mean they probably do have a weakpoint

[@thatdudemetro6271]

@@mapleflag6518 Key word is probably, we don't know anything at all.

[@jefftaylor1186]

Imagine going to bed and then waking up 8 hours later under combine rule.

[@dmonsef]

Where is all this footage from? Is it from different modded games of Half-Life 2?

[@therobloxplayer5556]

personally my head cannon for what happened to north America is that i like to think that the combine let life go back to normal only to released a zombie virus leading to the events of l4d1-2 just for the lolz

[@IBrokeMyFootOnAL3go]

Man I always wanted to make a animation about The Seven Hour War lol. It’s such a terrifying event to happen in Half-Life’s Earth. Worser then WW1 and WW2. Maybe the hypothetical WW3, together.

[@Slimpicken]

​​​@@EnclaveSOC-102to be fair i think the more desperate it gets. The more we unite. In half life: alyx theres more workers and casuals willing to join the ranks. But city 17 in HL2. Its tight. Barren. Stripped. I truely feel we unite only as the iron choke gets harder. The combine taught us one thing. Being alone does not aid us in the slightest bit. I'm confident if you corner 2 oppisite animals scared of the same thing. They will put the opposition aside.

[@Detah_]

If I could mod worth a damn and assemble a team I’d love to make a half life 2 mod about the seven hour war. It would be 7 mini campaigns from the different perspectives of 7 different people from different parts of the world at different stages of the war. I opened Hammer once and it crashed my computer in five seconds

[@imfunniguy3744]

tbh the seven hour war is like one of those things you’re not supposed to see and it’s just referenced all the time. its like big brother and goldstein in 1984, you hear abt them, know who/what they are and you know they probably exist, but you never meet big brother or goldstein. its one of those things thats better left up to the imagination rather than shown because if it were shown, it’d kinda feel underwhelming. not saying it can’t be done, but i am saying it prolly shouldn’t be done because it wouldn’t look like how we thought it would look

[@ShawndaPrawn]

I think the scariest thing about the Combine is that we never truly get to see what they're capable of. All of the Combine forces we see and fight in game are just a skeleton crew, left behind to maintain control long after the main invasion force had moved on. This overwhelming army of monstrous cyborgs the Resistance is barely holding out against is basically the bare minimum of what they have at their disposal!

[@poseidon5003]

Killing Nihilnanth was a HUGE mistake. It was keeping the Combine from entering Xen. It's invasion oi earth was an act of desperation. Killing the Nihilnanth allowed the Combine to enter Xen, and from there, invade Earth It's no wonder why Gordon never talks. He's guilt ridden because he was the technical cause of BOTH events. He pushed the crustal onto the beam, AND he killed Nihilnanth. It would SUCK.

[@dmonsef]

He doesn't talk because the player playing the game is Gordon Freeman.

[@poseidon5003]

@@dmonsef Whatever. There are many first person shooters where the player character talks on his own. You just showed up to argue about an opinion.

[@Jackson-de1fw]

I mean, Valve stated themselves that Gordon doesn't speak because he's supposed to be an insert for the player. In-universe he does talk to the other characters, we just don't hear it as the player​@poseidon5003

[@mapleflag6518]

Then he shouldn’t have tried to invade earth.

[@poseidon5003]

@@mapleflag6518 It didn't have a choice.

[@LainVics]

Intro went hard, good video my guy!

[@Gorg3ousFreeman]

I played Entropy: zero 2 last week, and oh my god. That was genuinely one of the best games I have ever played. I would love for those developers to make a game set during the seven hour war (either as Aiden Walker or someone else), I would love to see this.

[@AngelofGrace96]

Your editing gets more and more impressive with each video!

[@Adonnus100]

The complete lack of preparation, understanding and planning would be the worst and most devastating aspects of the invasion. There is just no explanation, suddenly you are faced with an even stronger threat which is now intelligent. It would be confusion and despair on the level if the US military of today had decided to invade the Aztecs of 1520 using C-130s and A-10s.

[@mrbuck5059]

I still think Gman is a good guy working behind the scenes. He is an alien who is helping humanity. Like a double agent.

[@Man_Aslume]

Gman is just trying to solving homelessness and is throwing jobs around

[@BuckBlaziken]

Fictional wars are always so interesting to learn about. I guess I’ll have to sit down and listen to the 7 hour war while I wait for a video about Lobotomy Corporation’s Smoke War in the meantime

[@Tacticaldroidanimations]

Glad to see you cover this massive part of half life

[@Skyrionn]

One of the most important, unseen parts of the story.

[@JuanxDlol]

I feel like the Combine was a stone in G-man boots, he wanted Earth forces to wipe Xen of the Nihilanth and give control to his employers, but the portal storms and the combine invasion made things difficult, otherwise why would he use freeman to destroy the Cidatel system of portals on Earth ?

[@tetraxis3011]

I’ve heard a theory that the Combine Advisors are actually members of the species Gman belongs to. And that he’s using Humanity, the Vortigaunts, and others in an attempt to free the Enslaved advisors.

[@mapleflag6518]

Yeah that was an unforeseen consequence.

[@C.A._Old]

I Loved this Documentry like that & video. keep it up friend!

[@MG-ls8gm]

I feel like If the combine discovered the Warhammer 40k universe it be a pretty amazing fight

[@Skyrionn]

From what people have said, Warhammer is incredible.

[@mapleflag6518]

Yeah. And the Combine would be facing foes they can’t easily beat.

[@alixcozmo]

Excellent video! I watched through the whole thing and I thoroughly enjoyed it

[@facuborg]

Following the success and well received response from both the critics and the audience of the Fallout series, I think the 7 Hour War could be a very good movie and the beginning of the Half Life universe to the cinematography world, also the rebirth of the franchise. Thoughts?

[@Iroquois_Pliskin]

I think thats what JJ Abrams wanted to make a movie about

[@LtMandrake]

Great job on this video. As someone trying to learn more about creating cinematics from games, specifically Black Mesa, HL 2 and Alyx, I would love to know how you got some of these in game shots with fantastic camera moves, if you'd be willing to share.

[@Delta-007]

14:54 No. They tried to find refuge in Xen. In turn, Xen enslaved them.

[@ToastedHeadcrab]

NOW THIS is what im gonna eat and watch

[@maroaniwassim6987]

Agreed 👍💯

[@Skyrionn]

The best compliment. I only have a select few channels I eat to.

[@cobalttheprotogen312]

It would be cool to see a video discussing what could have happened in the HL universe. Something like: "What if the resistance was never formed" or "What if Gordon Freeman was never in stasis".

[@mattomanx77]

Hell, I would be curious how the world would've adapted with the Xenians alone, if the combine hadn't found them.

[@Slimpicken]

​@mattomanx77 obviously not very good. The ecosystem is having a mental breakdown. The combine doesn't help that.

[@mattomanx77]

@@Slimpicken Yeah obviously, but a game about a 'xenian post-apocalypse' w/out combine would be a cool premise on it's own (though I guess that's just Half-Life 1)

[@juliusmalcovsky4092]

loved it, amazing work as always :) much love from slovakia my friend :)

[@krel3358]

Havent played Alyx, I believe that Gman ultimately serves some group that is at war with the combine and is seeking to use Earth as a proxy combatant to weaken them or defeat them entirely.

[@nocturno7660]

Always wondered how exactly did they beat the earth in 7 hours, but I guess the combine just kept firing orbital strikes in the main cities of the world since humanity had no way of depending against those

[@evernam993m8]

Just like US just use the superiority of airstrike to dominate most of wars 😅

[@Ubreakable-lr2dk]

Adolf: invents blitzkrieg Combine: Hold my beer

[@Zenn3k]

Its likely the "7 hour war" was not actually 7 hours. Just as the "Hundred Year War" was actually fought over 116 years. Calling it the "7 hour war" just underlines how 1-sided it was, but its likely inaccurate.

[@elroneantefavorito8314]

Love your content! keep up :D

[@Skyrionn]

Thanks, will do!

[@cesarv2804]

The "EarthAid Unite", with that perspective, makes it seem as a cute but futile attempt fron humanity.

[@Skyrionn]

100% It was so funny to read through too. Let's sing the combine a song and see if they change their minds.

[@CyanTeamProductions]

“I like telling these stories, I would not like to live through them” is a quote that goes kinda hard

[@elponogris8588]

7 hours war This video was 7 minutes ago, I don't think it's a coincidence.

[@Skyrionn]

100% not

[@jinx8624]

the real gameplay footage as well as the custom scenarios animated make this video 10 x better than just a man talking over still images

[@reeceemms1643]

for the establishing shots you make in Garry's mod how long does it take for you to make them? also can you give me a list of what maps you use

[@Alffraido]

most are left for dead, theres a half life rp map in there, and then also just a random one if thats any help. His shots are pretty mid, as they lack detail in props, and use default npc models.

[@reeceemms1643]

@@Alffraido thanks, I just mostly wanted to know how long they took to set up. Having to find the location to do it, placing the NPCs you want and then hoping everything goes as planned

[@Alffraido]

@@reeceemms1643 its really easy, i personally make extremely detailed in depth scenes. He used workshop maps and a one pack of citizens with different skins, the rest is all default npcs

[@reeceemms1643]

@@Alffraido I think I have seen the mod he uses for the civilians whilst browsing the workshop. never downloaded it though, I have done my own scene settings with Gmod for stories so I know a bit about it

[@SixtyFourJr]

​@@reeceemms1643do you know what the mod was called?

[@dibblemcbibble2787]

Don't forget about Mitchell Shepard and Keemstar's part in the seven hour war

[@komodo5676]

You fucked up my face

[@damonnugent1993]

To think.. that the only really safe place that wasn't completely fucked up by the Black Mesa disaster and the 7 hour war, was an underground lab somewhere in Michigan where a crazy AI dwells, obsessed with cake and performing scientific experiments.

[@mogwai6713]

always a pleasure when you upload

[@Skyrionn]

Always a pleasure when you watch them

[@GhostShipBaychimo]

Who would win: vast interdimensional empire that assimilates everything they touch, with unfathomable intelligence, experience and technology Or Funny Salt Mine Laboratory Result: Aperture Science, Hide and Seek champions for 20 years in a row

[@urazoktay7940]

Amazing video, i enjoyed it throughly. Thank you. Half Life 2 is my all time favorite game.

[@CrispyChicken44]

I know nobody cares, but I'm 30 years old. I played Half-Life (1) when I was 5 years old (probably shouldn't have). I hope that I will be able to experience more Half-Life as time continues and Valve becomes more comfortable with making more. I'll be a very sad guy if that isn't the case, even 10 years from now.

[@Its_ME_Nightmare]

Woah nice video keep up the great work!

[@Skyrionn]

Thanks for watching!

[@Its_ME_Nightmare]

@@Skyrionn Your welcome, it was amazing watched the whole thing start to finish!

[@NexusApollo]

Would it be plausible to assume that the Seven Hours War resulted in casualties in the billions for Humanity?

[@ahealthkit2745]

I'd say so, I think the real numbers would be eschewed by the Universal Union.

[@Slimpicken]

Probably did. We haven't seen their real army.

[@Rando_Pants_01]

So happy when your videos come out