The Combine | Half-Life

[@wellplayed6061]

The combine will never again control earth, as they have met their ultimate match: Valve's release schedule.

[@terner1234]

So THAT was gaben's plan all along, he knew gordon freeman couldn't defeat the combine, so he didn't continue the story

[@boxylemons7961]

@@terner1234 Gabe Newell: The True Hero of Half Life

[@terner1234]

@@boxylemons7961 and portal, and team fortress, and left for dead

[@thecombinesoldier6611]

**insert distant fuuufufufuuufuuu**

[@Albert_C]

But they didn't really lose control of Earth anyway.

[@charleslathrop9743]

When you're a first person shooter character, but the antagonist is playing Stellaris.

[@overlordmgcover2262]

Especially when there is actually a mod which let's you play as the Combine after the events of the games. It has some nice static portraits. Combine it with the Astronomical Emblem Pack and the Combine Overwatch VIR mod and you have a nice empire for roleplaying! The mods name is Universal Union and it has a buildable Citadel. The only problem with this citadel is the inability to build advanced buildings and upgrade others. The modder is trying to fix this.

[@SkorMedia]

OverlordMGC Over - That is righteous

[@landynlinhares9494]

*Galactica Universalis

[@KlaussMarcellus]

@@landynlinhares9494 *Hearts of Stars

[@ecogreen123]

i never thought of it that way, that's really interesting

[@wolpertinger1275]

"Transhuman Arm of the Combine Overwatch" ah, yes, the terrifying TACO

[@raiderfox7229]

Get the joke, but combine ain't an official name.

[@Cacowninja]

Wouldn't it be TAOTCO?

[@raiderfox7229]

@@Cacowninja "The" "and" "of" Are usually not included, since it makes it unnecessarily long and mouthful.

[@Sierra026]

So, TACO Tuesday? Lord Business is pleased

[@Ribbons0121R121]

its tako tuesday all over again

[@neonsolace2748]

Dude just imagine taking a nap for like 8 hours and then finding the earth another place You'll think that god sent you to hell way early

[@exewarrior1937]

Meh, I would wake up and see my roof blown away and saw a tall Strider above me.

[@xDamage69]

imagine the noise of a global scale battle, scary

[@kafuchino3435]

imagine living somewhere where the war is taking place at night when youre about to sleep

[@ashleycat4]

I find it amusing realizing that Chell slept through the 7 Hour War.

[@sushiinyourface293]

@@ashleycat4 Even better, Chell (probably) slept through the downfall of the combine as well

[@sulphuric_glue4468]

Some say that the secret teleportation technology needed to defeat the Combine is hidden deep underground in a vast labyrinth of testing chambers...

[@bal_masque]

Nope, its somewhere in the ice in an undefined arctic location, and the technology is apparently a ship called the Borealis.

[@dalekrenegade2596]

Bird is the word.

[@KEVMAN7987]

Half Life 3 & Portal 3 would be a single game?

[@edenjung9816]

@@bal_masque Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? in this part of the country? Entirley located in your kitchen?

[@RiveryJerald]

@@edenjung9816 old shit meme

[@WingsOfFreedom07]

The key to defeating the mighty Combine Empire lies somewhere along the mysterious number... '"3".

[@plasmaxl8626]

Never heard of it. Sounds important

[@WingsOfFreedom07]

@@plasmaxl8626 it is! But do not worry my friend! Valve didn't hear about it neither :D

[@RevolverRez]

Which number would that be? All you posted was some strange emoticon thing.

[@dolengea1523]

This is a caracter Valve does not approve, delete it or be exterminated XD

[@cakeswithbutterandsteroids7700]

lel, you're still alive? I used to slaughter you on Crysis 3 MP.

[@laggrenade863]

Plot twist: the G-Man's employers are the Templin Institute

[@sadturtle540]

Yeah but where do the list of people fit in?

[@yuyaplays9311]

@@sadturtle540 whenever they are needed.

[@darrvenomfier790]

It wouldn’t surprise me.

[@Paganavatar]

You know too much now. Room 101!

[@franzsanders9573]

Top 11 Anime Twists

[@empathicspade8637]

Rise and shine

[@paulomr445]

"Put on mister blue sky for some reason "

[@thehighesthill]

Mr Freeman. Rise... and... shine.

[@PewPewPlasmagun]

Rice and slime.

[@sbugmanthenoobinator]

Aaand smell the ashes...

[@ottoleois9323]

@@thehighesthill BACK THE FUCK UP!

[@PanzerMan332]

My favorite part about the Combine is how vast and powerful they are. Once you actually get a scope for how impossibly big they actually are, it feels like playing through the events of Half Life 2 is a fool's errand. City 17 is just one city on one planet in one galaxy in one universe. The Combine will always have more troops to send. They're so vast that we don't even know what the original race that started the Combine looks like.

[@49mozzer]

You could say the same about XCOM 2. The only real advantage XCOM has is the Avenger which allows them to strike anywhere but other then that they are out-manned an outgunned by an alien force that can call on limitless reinforcements. It's only through the tactical genius of their commander and their ability to adapt alien tech to their own needs that gives them a chance but it's still an uphill battle. While the Lambda resistance doesn't have a giant ship or a master tactician they do have a competent science team that is working on adapting combine tech for their own needs and more scientists are being trained. With the combine super portal gone it'll probably take the combine years if not decades to return which is more then enough time for humanity to reproduce and prepare for them.

[@omarabe26]

+@@49mozzer That is true. But the tech that the Combine left on Earth is only basic OTA Tech that is moddled and innovated from human tech. I don't think humanity would be prepared for the sophisticated Synth walkers and soldiers, advanced robots that can use Dark Energy as a weapon (the same shit that we humans irl barely know anything about) and the vast number of diseases and fungi that would not only surpass the headcrab infestations, but also possess sophisticated sentience. And that's only the surface of the Combine military infastructure. Fuck knows what else they have.

[@49mozzer]

You seem to be throwing around alot of assumptions here rather then facts.

[@omarabe26]

+@@49mozzer What do you mean? Most of this is mentioned in the lore that the Combine tech on Earth is pretty basic and is mostly remade human tech. Why do you think they call the Combine Earth Outpost the Overwatch Transhuman Arm?

[@LeviForWaifu]

@@49mozzer depends on what the G man was thinking. I think he wanted the combine to all out invade earth so that his employers can take the combine in a weakened state, selling earth short.

[@Auditer2009]

*"Don't drink the water.. They put something in it, to make you forget.. I don't even know how I got here."*

[@odyseuszkoskiniotis6266]

Their tactics were truly terrifying. And all the knowledge the consultants have provided around the Earth. Damn

[@ldbonq]

Dr. Breen's Mind Altering Chemicals

[@f.palmero5010]

*"Were you the only ones on that train?"*

[@Bananappleboy]

*_This doesnt make any sense. Ive got a standard relocation schedule just like everybody else!_*

[@tidepod10yearsago97]

*Grabs the empty noodle box and puts it back in the table*

[@SpanishDio]

*'Their slaves, we are their slaves'* -Nihilanth (refering to the Combine Empire)

[@serbianslav5494]

Nihilanth tried to warn Gordon, but he did not listen.

[@nogunk147]

Not combine. The trans dimensional beings Gman is aiding. The characters of half life are all just pawns in their game

[@adeadchannel4129]

@Gordon Freemanarent the alien grunts an artificially produced soldier?

[@memedude8303]

@@adeadchannel4129 i myself am not a lore master but i do know that enslaving the vortigaunts is an asshole thing to do.

[@bluegum6438]

@@adeadchannel4129 I'm fairly certain the alien grunts are mutated vortigaunts, like how the orcs were made from elves in LotR

[@LocalHeretic-ck1kd]

8:28 I see what you did there.

[@MrChristheWise]

: (

[@notfreeman6809]

"But it seems like that the sheer determination of humanity to live in a world where the third event happened might be enough"

[@jacobaurelius5361]

😢😢😢

[@1urie1]

hope is fading confirmed

[@ACogloc]

Haha... ha.. ow..

[@buggyboy2849]

Carbon stars with ancient satellites colonized by sentient fungi. Gas giants inhabited by vast meteorological intelligences. Worlds stretched thin across the membranes where the dimensions intersect... Impossible to describe with our limited vocabulary!

[@elopeous3285]

What I've seen is also impossible to describe. Genocide. Millions of people enslaved to do the combines bidding

[@geeworm]

"Vast meteorological intelligences." That just might be the Particle storms, described to be mostly assumed as an electrical disturbance, but Maxwell thinks they're more than that.

[@eitkoml]

@@elopeous3285 Not millions, billions.

[@trippyulyanov2012]

>says stuff is impossible to describe with our vocabulary >tries to describe it anyway

[@celeb909h6]

"What I've seen is also beyond words,Breen. Genocide. Indescribable evil."

[@Sizifus]

Even if humanity would escape the grasp of the combine, they'd be scarred forever, as the existence of the combine would be an ever present thought.

[@lazycarrot6592]

and the damage they had done to earth seems irreversible. so even if the resistance somehow managed to beat combine, it's never gonna be the same since then.

[@Sizifus]

@samsalaz That's one of the things that make their presence so horrific, imo

[@firebottle8402]

@@lazycarrot6592 Nothing is irreversible in planetary scale except for the total destruction of the planet. It would take many years but in the end Earth and its species would redcover

[@DanielsArtStudioGamesAnimation]

People did this to themself. Have they not open the portal to the Zen World. The Combine would never knew what earth is. And won't have come here.

[@Burnthealphabetpeople]

@@DanielsArtStudioGamesAnimationthey would have found out that just made them come sooner than they would on their own

[@Flamme-Sanabi]

The Combine is the closest thing we have to a lovecraftian empire.

[@KorianHUN]

One of the most terrifying detail is their memory manipulation. Regular people don't have too many memories left but the soldiers were mindwiped. You are still you to a degree but you don't know what memories you lost.

[@convergence9042]

*Laughs in Xeelee and Downstreamers*

[@DogeickBateman]

A Lovecraft Empire spreading its grip via memetic ideology akin to 1984 INGSOC

[@jollygrapefruit786]

It really is fascinating to think they could have started as a humble single race empire which got really good at both space faring and colonialism, but were so overwhelmingly successful at assimilation that the original species is no longer even remembered as the beginning, and the empires scope may be so grand that there's no reason to bother honoring that origin in the first place. Cold, calculated, and vicious, like a devourer of sentience itself that seeks only to grow its database with zero understanding of culture, self identity or empathy. It grows only because it can, like a replicating machine who's creator turned it on and died before being able to shut it off again.

[@GunRunner106]

Wake up, Mr. Freeman. Wake up, and smell the ashes.

[@PewPewPlasmagun]

Rice and milk, Mr. Freeman. Waky waky. Smell the roses.

[@ardagus9917]

Argaaahaa!!! Back the fk up! Back it up... keep going!

[@Lukas-ev5zr]

mmmmmmmmmmm thats some good ash you have got there

[@vermin4275]

Nooooo. Grandpa is dead.

[@TheFlodyo]

Wake up, Mr.Newell Wake up, and hear the disapointed fans

[@rdw1731]

Welcome to City 17

[@mattstorm360]

It's 'safer' here.

[@sbugmanthenoobinator]

One of our finest remaining centres...

[@NomadKolibria]

Welcome, welcome to city 17. You have have chosen, or been chosen, to relocate to one of our finest remaining urban centers. I have thought so much of city 17 that I have chosen to establish my administration here, in the citadel so thoughtfully provided by our benefactors. So whether you're here to stay or on your way to parts unknown, welcome... to city 17. It's safer here.

[@tmack11]

Pick up that can

[@mrtannzr]

Don't drink the water!

[@mr.nthanneres4662]

who would win: the most power full army in the entire multiverse or crowbarman

[@GloriG_C17]

with god and sv_cheat 1 code

[@ukilledmydog9628]

Whos Rambo or John Wick near Gordon Freeman? Hes the Chuck Norris of the Games

[@Journey_to_who_knows]

That's why they had to close the portal near the ending, if the earth overwatch managed to get reinforcements from the rest of the empire then the planet would be completely gone

[@satina1169]

Imagine the half life series was actually just called crowbarman lol. Crowbarman 1, Crowbarman Blue Crowbar, Crowbarman Opposing Crowbars..

[@froschreiniger2639]

crowbarman will beat them all to death

[@ShyGuyXXL]

"The Combine" is not a name they have chosen for themselves. It seems to be a name the citizens of earth have come up with. Breen states it's a name that "small minds" use. So maybe the Rebels came up with it. He refers to them as the "universial union".

[@renownedhonor]

Maybe they call them combine because they don't know the origins, since they use alot of races for themselves.

[@DrDoobius]

I'd say the name also came from the Combine (as in the farming machine) which cuts down anything in its path (aka draining earth of its resources)

[@xylogram4168]

Question: Then why, if "Combine" is such a disrespectful term, does Breen use "Transhuman Arm of the COMBINE Overwatch" when refering to the soldiers and alike in Nova Prospekt? Even the iconography around the city doesn't have "UU", but "CMB".

[@ShyGuyXXL]

@@xylogram4168 To be honest, I don't know anymore. I guess the combine are like... part of the universal union? Or like... they are a force sent out by the universal union? Like their military division or something? I dunno. It's hard to glean any concrete info from these vague statements.

[@juliendacoolien3454]

@@xylogram4168 I'm thinking that the Combine is so ambivalent that it doesn't really enforce whatever it's referred to.

[@JRed-jf7jn]

NOW I get why Half-Life 3 is the most hyped game of all time.

[@mho...]

HalfLife games itself where absolute Gamechangers! thats why ppl are soo after part3!... the exploration of the story is pretty much secondary in the "hype"!

[@Chuked]

half life always innovates, every entry has innovated into gaming in some form including Half Life Alyx, that game showed everyone that VR is not a gimmick and has a future in gaming

[@jaysonmacdonald7770]

It also explains why it's taking forever to make it, this kind of hype must be handled VERY carefully

[@Blackandwhitecat-to5ll]

​@@jaysonmacdonald7770Wait it's actually being developed?

[@hanloncaldwell8571]

Yes! I love the lore behind the combine! I really wish we had more cannon lore about them. But l supposed that the level of mystery is what makes them so intriguing. Not really knowing their full capabilities or what kind of resources they have access to.

[@L.Mandrake]

I agree! also the fact that information about them is acquired in bits and pieces through NPC chatter, or inferred from seemingly unimportant scenical details, or even discovered by digging through cut content (like the manhack arcade or that portal under the ocean).

[@hanloncaldwell8571]

@@L.Mandrake definitely! Also I like how you kind of get the feeling that the combine presence on earth is a lot like an iceberg, in that we're really only seeing a small part of the whole that exists in their own dimension(s) and how we're probably not much more than a blip on their radar. maybe like a small Outpost in some Backwater part of the universe, and they really only colonised us out of opportunity, what with the resonance Cascade and everything.

[@hanloncaldwell8571]

@@L.Mandrake what portal under the ocean are you referring to? I couldn't find any info on it

[@L.Mandrake]

@@hanloncaldwell8571 I'm not sure, it's a blurry memory (hl2 days have long gone by, unfortunately). But the narrator briefly mentions it at 5:59

[@L.Mandrake]

@@hanloncaldwell8571 the only reference I could find is here: combineoverwiki.net/wiki/The_Coast#Behind_the_scenes They say more info can be found in HL: Raising the Bar, which I never really got my hands onto...

[@Trash_prince]

"Welcome to the Combine Overwatch, here's your Pulse Rifle, Keys to the new apartment, a doubled ration of food, and a flesh light"

[@theprepaintedcanvis3452]

Do I get a APC?

[@CAPTAIN_CLOCK]

Flesh or flash? Those are VERY different concepts lmao

[@CAPTAIN_CLOCK]

@RockabillyFox if im not wrong its both "mechanical" and "non-mechanical", so maybe its the fleshlight, and some sort of mind fucking device? i cant possibly understand what non-mechanical could mean.

[@CAPTAIN_CLOCK]

@@yuriko_AH mechanical is sex, like physically the dick on the... whatever. non-mechanical could be chemicals applied on your bloodstream to make you have an orgasm?

[@chryon315]

I think it’s Civil Protection you mean, not Overwatch. Overwatch are highly disposable troops and they can’t really feel anything. They can still feel fear of being relocated to other planets or fear of death but they can’t think of defecting due to the Combine brainfucking their heads.

[@AsparagusVideo]

The Combine: to conquer everything, for absolute power. The Nihilanth: to survive, bulldozing everyone in its way. Earth: to explore, even where we're not meant to go.

[@Burneth_]

Sounds legit

[@firesmash600]

Gordon Freeman: to beat the shit out of everything, despite being a theoretical physicist.

[@bloodysimile4893]

Remind me of Star Trek with Q warning the enterprise and given the a much needed reality check by making the crew encounter the Borg.

[@Man_Aslume]

Houndeye gaming: Get back to Xen and drink sprite

[@AurelionSass]

@@firesmash600 -"NOOO, you're just a regular joe in a stupid orange suit, you can't just topple our multiversal empire!!!" - "Hehehe, crowbar go BONK."

[@SirAroace]

The Combine are like a Eldritch Horror; you beat then not by destroying them, but by locking them out. Humanity has won at the end of HL2-EP2, but until the remaining Combine on Earth are destroyed that victory will never be secure.

[@safs4929]

Keep in mind: The Covenant (Halo Reach) took approximately *6 WHOLE WEEKS* to destroy planet Reach's (not Earth, itself but a human colony) surface. The unnamed alien regime (in XCOM 2) took *quite some time* (most likely, months) to take over Earth after many fierce battles with the Extraterrestrial Combat organization. The Combine took only *7 HOURS* to completely decimate human militaries and conquer Earth alongside wipe out nearly all life on the planet. Now THAT, is impressive. I wished we can have a more _GRAND_ depiction of the Combine in later HL games. Because the outside-Earth Combine units are seriously underrepresented in HL2 and it's Episodes. The closest "extradimensional" depiction we had of the Combine, was only that scene in HL2's final battle when Breen opened a portal to the Combine Overworld. But that's about it.

[@erwinsetyo1061]

considering that there are portal storm that decimating most of earth military, i think that isn't much impressive than the other

[@karlkarl93]

Earth was greatly weakened by the onslaught of hostile alien fauna taking over many continents of the world. From what I understand, Americas, Africa and most of Eurasia has been lost to alien fauna. Japan was decimated by war and resistance to both the fauna and the combine. Most of these cities (like City 17) are set up in Eurasia, mostly in the Asian part.

[@MoroMoro-q8h]

City 17 is in eastern europe though @@karlkarl93

[@CHRB-nn6qp]

I much prefer that we aren't given a lot of insight into 'offworld' Combine forces. As the saying goes, your imagination can be much scarier than reality. You don't need to see the initial alien invasion force, just knowing how quickly they decimated all resistance is enough and your brain can marvel at the rest.

[@Niko-gt3hr]

I, for one, welcome our new Benefactors.

[@cynk2780]

The Benefactors did nothing wrong.

[@prebenjaeger]

hAiL tHe CoMBinE

[@Surkee]

Make Earth great again

[@Ribbons0121R121]

you are both a heretic and a fool!

[@kryswilkins8615]

Welcome to City 17. It’s safer here. Notice how he doesn’t say “safe”. He says it’s “safer”.

[@Nephonull]

“Black Mehssa” -Great value G-Man

[@NoFlu]

"We surrender to the Alee-N threat" -Best president ever

[@supermachine2275]

What about Discount G-Mister and Miss?

[@youwanagethi]

Sqev to be fair, "Mesa" is pronounced as "meh-sah".

[@nynchliggers7160]

It appears that you have severely messed up my visage

[@unimportantcommenter4356]

You screwed up my face!

[@pikecell9525]

That Xen footage is from Black Mesa, if anyone cares

[@crypto1223]

PikeCell I do. That looks like they’re doing a great job at remaking the image of Xen. Now if only they’d fully release it. (If they already have. Sorry, I haven’t been keeping up with them for months.)

[@GTAram855]

Q2 this year will be release date. So probably May or June.

[@thatonewaguy7841]

They have been saying that for 14 years, but one can hope.

[@mharizsaifuddin7059]

The high quality footage is from Black Mesa ? Please explain...

[@El_Descarriado]

@@mharizsaifuddin7059 Black Mesa is an early-access Source engine remake of the game Half Life. The final chapters of Half Life take place on the 'planet' Xen, and the footage used in this video is from the development blogs detailing the progress towards remaking these Xen chapters.

[@Sammie1053]

Okay, wow, I think I just figured out how the franchise is likely to end. The Combine are bad at in-universe teleportation, potentially teleportation as a whole. They didn't get to earth by creating a new dimensional rift, they merely exploited an existing one, the one created during the resonance cascade. In Episode 1, when the Citadel is set to explode, Kleiner tells the surviving residents of City 17 that the cascade failure of all the Citadel reactors means the Combine forces on earth are cut off from reinforcements. When the super-portal is closed at the end of Episode 2, that traps the Combine forces on earth. Now, what's stopping another invasion force from just teleporting into this universe again? They didn't have infrastructure on earth the first time, so that's no biggie right? Well, like we've established, they exploit existing dimensional rifts, they can't create new ones. And the former Black Mesa team is GREAT at closing dimensional rifts and manipulating Xen travel (Gordon, Barney, Adrian Shepherd, and the protags from Decay all helped deploy machinery to either help guide intradimensional teleportation or to pinpoint and close existing rifts). So the Combine can only invade for a second time if there's still an active dimensional rift being created and/or held open by something. Enter the Borealis. If the Combine forces can capture the Borealis, they can use its busted ass teleportation device to either go back to their home world and regroup or just to let reinforcements in. If the resistance can capture it, they can shut it down or destroy it, closing the only un-accounted for dimensional rift a secondary invasion force would be able to use to enter our dimension. If Black Mesa can destroy the Borealis, the Combine are cut off from our universe forever.

[@addust]

And Aperture has full access to the Borealis systems, meaning that once the teleporter is off GLaDOS can pump it with WAY too much neurotoxin for even a combine mask.

[@Ghost-ql3hl]

One of the rare times we might actually see Glados do something good

[@thegrayinthefield8764]

They do suck at teleportation. There's still the question of how the Combine grew to be as large as it is, especially if they'd need some kind of dimensional rift to enter a universe. It's been established that they "tunnel" into a universe, so what I'm thinking is that this universe must've been far beyond the Combine's influence and they wouldn't have been able to find it even if they wanted to or had the means (at least not immediately). They somehow detected the resonance cascade and followed it to Earth but because it was beyond their grasp they couldn't actually find it's location in the Multiverse. Even if they did find this universe they could still end up on any other planet instead of Earth.

[@admiralkaede]

@@thegrayinthefield8764 or most likely it is irrelevant to them assuming the combine owns hundreds of dimensions all with millions of planets whats earth relevance to them its so unimportant they don't care

[@eyesack6845]

@@admiralkaede because earth is the only place that has in universe and trans universe teleportation. They need that technology to expand their empire.

[@TheNaz01]

"reproductive simulations" Free porn for life, pretty strong argument against a world falling apart

[@someguystudios23]

Lmao

[@ottoleois9323]

This is definitly not Hawaii

[@REVAN2338]

I said this the other day, I forget exactly why. Where is this from ahah?

[@ottoleois9323]

@@REVAN2338 Freeman's Mind 2.

[@tba113]

@@Red_Lanterns_Rage I hear it's a magical place...

[@itz_ex0_279]

As person who lives in Hawaii, this is exactly what it looks like

[@nucleus691]

>valve has their own property on hawaii >valve wont release Half Life 2: Episode 3 >LETS GET TO HAWAII AND FIND EPISODE 3

[@MarlsbysDragons]

They're bad at in-universe teleportation, eh? One might say they can't think with portals

[@Sergi338]

I see what you did there

[@Mighty2107]

Yeaaahhhh

[@haieknagasaki4709]

get out

[@aleppogameingreal]

@@haieknagasaki4709 no u

[@xavierrodriguez2463]

Which is bad for the rebels if the combine fine aperture labs.

[@tTaseric]

The Combine are probably one of my favourite Sci-Fi factions. Their AI and gameplay is honestly really impressive and the way they cherry-pick specific creatures to boost their forces is amazing. Seeing a Strider or Hunter makes you wonder where these creatures came from, how the Combine captured them, and how they've been enhanced. The fact that the vast majority of Combine forces we see on Earth are simply technology and species they've retrieved from Earth (Headcrabs, Metrocops, Overwatch Soldiers, Choppers etc) always makes me wonder just how big the Combine really are.

[@khartog01]

They are no match for the silent protagonist.

[@BillyDaMarten]

Doom Slayer

[@Slendermən]

@@BillyDaMarten Imagine Doom Slayer against the combine

[@thatdudemetro6271]

@@Slendermən eh probably gonna ruin the earth forces but the true forces, yeah good luck.

[@chaosbros7744]

@@Mushroom1882 if it's just the combine overwatch, then mabye but if it's the entire godamn empire, then no fucking way

[@leeonardodienfield402]

Artyom. Metro series.

[@midgerm]

the combine is actually the human term for them, dr breen even states as much "-the universal union that small minds call the combine"

[@kafuchino3435]

yet he himself calls the "universal union" the combine

[@midgerm]

@@kafuchino3435 he is human after all, he just wants to be liked by all the hip young kids. but in all seriousness, its a term that all humans have assosiated with the universal union and its quicker and easier to remember. so i cant imagine why he wouldnt use it. perhaps when talking to advisors or other higher up life forms. he could use the official term as a respectful manner, but combine is much easier and rolls off the tongue better then universal union

[@tripleb5197]

@@midgerm One idea I've heard is that Breen knows "Combine" is disrespectful, but he really doesn't care - he doesn't actually think the Combine will help humanity transcend to a new plane of existence or evolve into anything, he just helps them because they give him power. Perhaps he does honestly think the Combine rule has some legitimate benefits to humanity, like when he's talking to Eli about all the new sorts of life they can interact with, but at the end of the day the only thing he really, truly cares about is himself.

[@rabbitdrink]

@@tripleb5197 i like to think that dr breen knew what he was doing by talking peace with the combine, waiting for gordon freeman to step up instead of letting the 7 hour war destroy humanity completely. maybe he started tripping on the power, maybe he didnt. he probably wouldve said something before the reactor blew up though, unless he knew what he was saying was bs, and he knew gordon knew too, and just wanted to break into the combine world to do damage on their end. ep3 leaks kinda match with this i think?

[@idkwhattoputhere.9891]

@@tripleb5197 I mean, if breen didn't surrender earth to combine all humans in hl2 would be, dead.

[@FryderykG523]

fun fact: Transhuman Arm of the Combine Overwatch in short is TACO.

[@raiderfox7229]

Nice, but the Combine isn't exactly an official name.

[@spaaaghetti7106]

Zbrojmistrz The official name is Universal Union :)))

[@FryderykG523]

@@spaaaghetti7106 i Know but this is funny any way.

[@raiderfox7229]

@@FryderykG523 Yup, technically they are called the OTA, Overwatch transhuman arm.

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

"The *S* is silent!" -Lord Business

[@JJsiN84]

The Combine is like the Mongolian empire but on a literal universal scale. Conquering and enslaving everything in their path on a galactic scale. One of the most intimidating and also interesting antagonist in gaming imo. Always loved Half life lore, very dark and ominous to put it lightly. Too bad Valve just said: "fuk it" once they started printing money with Steam. I have faith they can still pull off an amazing finale if they wanted to.

[@womp47]

Combine soldier: H-how are you not dead?! Gordan: I'm the main character.

[@pesticeed8168]

Gordon: ...

[@CoolDrifty]

I've always wondered what the actual combine looks like. It seems like we only see other species that have been captured and transformed into soldiers/transports and stuff like that. Even the advisors seem to be forced against their will

[@cmanlovespancakes]

Yes the advisors are the Master race in the combine hierarchy but even they are slaves. I believe the combine is just a autotantous system that captures and enslaves other world's to expand the empire. It is so ancient that the originating species is long extinct.

[@Jupiter__001_]

@@cmanlovespancakes So like the Borg, but spookier and better developed?

[@PETRIXXXX]

@@cmanlovespancakes So the combine’s leader is a robot?

[@hansoberhaus3950]

@@PETRIXXXX no, it's Satan

[@RatzCarnatz]

@@hansoberhaus3950 no, it's your mom

[@undead890]

What I am most curious about is how the G-Man fits into all of this. The Combine are unfathomably powerful, but who brought them here in the first place after all? The G-Man's Employers seem to be something even more powerful than the Combine considering he can manipulate time itself in little nudges to achieve certain goals.

[@doorstopper674]

His employers are valve

[@hackr6751]

His employers are the templin institute

[@doorstopper674]

@@hackr6751 lore

[@babla69420]

He is a rebel advisor

[@OverlordZephyros]

The Combine The big bad guys that we will Never see completely... Thank you Valve 😒

[@LeviForWaifu]

Read Epistle 3

[@tango5thetargeted73]

The secretis what keep it interesting

[@bourbonkills4767]

PROJECT BORIALS

[@sasha-rg3nd]

Because you wiped them all my Emperor.

[@davidwuhrer6704]

Maybe, like the Nihilanth, the Combine aren't really the big bad guys they appear to be. Earth is just another planet with resources they can use, and they use them to the best of their abilities, which isn't saying much, really. Their approach to resource extraction is rather crude. It is only by their technology and their thralls that they are able to rule the planet, but they don't behave like colonists or conquerors. They don't pit the locals against each other to wear down potential resistance, and they don't just sterilise the planet to have their machines/slaves mine everything. Nor are they building military bases. It all appears to be rather makeshift and hasty, more like a cheap, largely inconsequential resource grab, like picking an apple from a tree while looking for something else. But more telling is the fact that the Combine brought not only equipment and slave soldiers with them, but also parasites, most prominent among them the head crabs and antlions. This isn't a well-planned invasion. This is just something that happened. Maybe they plan to use the Freeman as a secret weapon against something that actually merits their concern, a cosmic threat to existence that requires a good working knowledge of particle physics and situational awareness to deal with. Maybe Dr Breen had been their initial choice, but he was more an administrator concerned with the survival of humanity than an actual man of science. Yes, the Combine made humans infertile, which must have given rise to orgies unprecedented in history. The resulting lack of children is why I am convinced that GTA IV takes place in the same universe.

[@MDPToaster]

“The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world”

[@bootleg686]

I like to think that Value named the Combine due to the farming machinery of the same names' ability to harvest materials. Whether the matieral in question is a species or a planet's resoureses, it makes no difference as far as the end result is concerned. They manage to put to use just about anything that could be remotely useful and I believe that is what makes them so terrifying and Lovecraftian by nature. They're just such a cool antagonistic force in Half-Life 2.

[@nopushbutton]

this would seem to be corroborated by the Half Life 2 music track "Combine Harvester" and the more overt resource-gathering bent of the Combine in earlier beta iterations

[@supermaximusfagetti9836]

I believe part of the inspiration was The Combine, the imagined institution of control believed by the protagonist of Over the Cuckoo's Nest

[@puddingfell5288]

I agree.

[@ElysiumCreator]

Yes!! I always thought that considering the emphasis is the first syllable like a harvester (COM-bine) rather then the verb (com-BINE)

[@deviateedits]

@@supermaximusfagetti9836 That book has way too many similarities with HL2 to just be a coincidence. I'm 100% convinced it inspired many of Valves decisions with HL2's world

[@paveldaman1820]

The only reason why the Rebels on the Earth had the option to destroy the citadel, was because the Combine did not care that much for the Earth, so it is OK for them if the Rebels take it back. If the Combine really wanted to keep the Earth, the Rebels would have no chance

[@tectonical5347]

They def didn't want the citadel to go down but overall it isn't too much of a problem for them

[@Callsign_Bear]

@LOAN NGUYEN Episode three?

[@kid_toucher]

​@LOAN NGUYEN and that's exactly why epistle 3 isn't cannon

[@vibaj16]

I think the Combine did want to keep the Earth, because it has developed same-universe teleportation, which would be extremely useful for them, but they just sent what they assumed would be strong enough forces to take over the Earth. They didn't expect humans to be so resistant. But they realized their error too late, the portal was closed before they could sent reinforcements. The data they were sending was probably an attempt to save coordinates or something like that to be able to later find Earth's universe again and reopen portals to Earth.

[@kid_toucher]

@LOAN NGUYEN they only know brutality, the combine only strives for more power, and more misery to thoses who oppose them, they were greedy and underestimated humanity and that's why earth has been freed from the combine

[@AlanTheBest97]

That ending quote just gave me goosebumps.

[@sethnelisher1923]

I would love to see you guys do the Necrons from Warhammer 40k

[@annelisemeier283]

I’d much prefer a rundown of the necontyr

[@Alpharius93]

Same here!

[@Azoth86730]

The War in Heaven, please? Thus, Templin can cover the Old Ones, Enslavers, Necrons and C'tans in a single video.

[@theprepaintedcanvis3452]

OH LOOK, A WARP SPIDER.

[@WalrusQuake]

I feel like one of the coolest things that kind of got talked about here is the fact that the combine essentially uses brain matter as basic computing power It kind of makes sense, if you could identify every neuron's function you would have the fastest computer ever for those particular functions.

[@KorianHUN]

In Alyx they use abominations created from mutated rats with massively enlarged brains. It is body horror, every piece of tech they make is.

[@roddydykes7053]

Good god, I got both tears and goosebumps at that last line, the quote from G-Man Hopefully in our lifetime there will be a conclusion to possibly the most immersive sci-fi series ever created

[@Fr4nk4000]

I love the fact that the combine basically doesn't have a leader, the person "behind it all". It makes the combine seem more ominous, but I think that without dr. Breen, it would've been harder to "humanize the combine" because if we're given a person to hate rather than a whole colony without a leader, we'll be more focused on taking down the combine and be more engaged in the sotry of half life.

[@rebel1717]

By far my favorite video explaining the Combine. Such fluent explaination, a perfect documentary on what the Combine actually are. I did not realize the Combine were this powerful and honestly terrifying even after I played all of Half-Life 2. Amazing job!

[@NauticalCoffin2404]

1:31 Yes there is. The combine control multiple universes, making them a Kardashev 4 - 4.9 civilization.

[@Anudorini-Talah]

8:02 This has me hyped so much Imagine a Half Life 3 or another title involving that story. Where you visit the ruins of Black Mesa to find those secrets. Please make it happen.

[@Augustus_Imperator]

Beautifully done. I always thought that the Combine as a concept is fascinating.

[@xandermurdock6131]

6:50 Well THAT one's new.

[@somearmeddude]

*One man, One crowbar.* -Earth and some random robots in upper Michigan in a salt mine.

[@Bum_Numba_One]

8:27 "Hope is fading that such an event might happen for a third time". This is as fourth wall breaking as it is sad.

[@Atlastheyote222]

Chell escaping Aperture now realizing that maybe she was better off staying.

[@festival3051]

You only have to look at the size of human teleportation machines compared to the 4 story high combine ones. It's amazing to see them in the game and is the real reason the combine are here. For our teleportation technology ⚙

[@KorianHUN]

The even more impressive one is the literal HANDHELD PORTAL DEVICE that some moron made his scientists invent in the 50s and then used it to test magic goo and jumping boots. Aperture had that tech for a long time.

[@SplotchTheCatThing]

If the suppression field really just suppresses one or two protein chains, I'd be very surprised if there weren't already some mutations already within the population that render some people immune. Not everyone's proteins are entirely the same. It's incredibly difficult to control an entire population through a blanket means like that -- someone always slips through the cracks.

[@toddkes5890]

The other idea is wondering which other creatures use those protein chains and are also unable to reproduce

[@vibaj16]

there's probably some proteins that are absolutely necessary. To reproduce without them, reproduction would have to be changed so much that mutations wouldn't be enough.

[@SplotchTheCatThing]

@@toddkes5890 Apparently not headcrabs and barnacles! XD

[@SplotchTheCatThing]

@@vibaj16 Would have to do some serious perusing of scientific journals to say for sure, I guess. But it does seem like the rule of thumb for dealing with biology, especially biology you've only just barely become familiar with, is that it absolutes generally won't work. That's to say even if there are one or two proteins that are absolutely 100% necessary every single time, an alien race that's only discovered life according to the physical laws of our universe a few years ago, let alone carbon based life with a DNA genome on the planet of Earth -- particularly a carbon based life form with a DNA genome on the planet of Earth with generation length that's much longer than those few years they've spent studying it... they're probably far more likely to settle on one of the ten or twenty proteins that are 95% necessary 80% of the time. 'cause I don't care how advanced their science is, they'll still have to create what amounts to an entire new field of that science any time they find a new kind of life in a new kind of universe. If they were omniscient enough to do *that* without a single mistake... well, whatever mistakes they made that allowed the resistance to even get started would have definitely been avoided.

[@vibaj16]

@@SplotchTheCatThing Well, our brains are also extremely complicated, yet the Combine learned how to read humans' minds in just a few years, so...

[@hydromancer4916]

The "claw" symbol used by the combine is actually a dyson sphere.

[@toandinh1668]

Nobody: British empire after discovering a way to travel interdimension in space

[@tank5435]

Big Brother

[@hansoberhaus3950]

@@tank5435 wdym big brother

[@entertainment-ox8gl]

@@hansoberhaus3950 he means insoc

[@whatareyoudoinginmyhouse383]

Sunless Skies.

[@hurk_lifeless_explorer7718]

Who would win? A very complex and very dangerous species of aliens are called "The Combine" Vs Some Silent Nerd with Metal Stick

[@armintor2826]

Its like if doomguy got a college diploma

[@professionaltaxevader2699]

@@armintor2826 I mean yeah I guess

[@kato1kalin]

I personally found closure with epistle 3. Read it if you want to know Valves plan for ep3 and what happens to Gordon and Alyx.

[@ZackNathan41]

combine would win, if you count the invasion force.

[@admiralkaede]

@@ZackNathan41 it's most likely the invasion force its self was still a very small part of the overall combine assault forces

[@mitchypdx]

Loved that little jab at Valve right there at the end. This is my second favourite world you've done next to the GTU!

[@pgetheelderscrollsturkiye68]

So they won the war in 7 hours, depleted all resources but even after all of these, humanity alive and have hope cause of science ,the secrets, the borealis ! We need half life 3 so hard.

[@jimbow7787]

I love seeing half life videos in 2019

[@franzsanders9573]

Easily one of my favorite villainous factions _ever_ , with them basically being the Party from 1984 combined with the Martians from the War of the Worlds. Thanks for doing this, Templin Institute!

[@JohnDoe-cz5yz]

Now we'll never know how it all ends. Thx, Gaben!

[@griffinlaw9367]

The Templin Institute's logo bears a passing resemblance to the Combine's insignia, hmm...

[@ArcturusOTE]

Yet oddly enough they seem to agree that the theory of them being the G-Man's employers. Weird

[@deisk2707]

imagine you slept for 10 hours. Then when you wake up, after you left your room, you can see a big whole on your wall and sees blood, fire, corpse, and a giant strider sounds.

[@chedd2y]

This channel deserves so much more recognition than it currently has. Stellar content that clearly shows how passionate the creator is. I don't say this on anything but this is probably the most well made half life combine video so far.

[@Lilmiket1000]

I love love love the look of the combine citadel and technology they chose to go with. All the other designs were seriously lacking that dominant overwelmingly powerful look. The look they chose to go with is nothing less than perfect.

[@jodolphushitlin8222]

noob: galactic empire pro: imperium of man god: combine empire

[@thegoodlifeonlybettr]

Just wanted to say... thanks for these. It's like reliving my childhood all over again. Keep it up!

[@Skiivin]

This video’s great, up there with Leadhead’s video on the Combine, and for one simple reason: the combine is one singular organism, to be referred to as IT, not THEY; it isn’t an empire or a military, it’s simply… the Combine.

[@jimmylander2089]

Thank you so much for making this! I loved it to bits!

[@aquilax5896]

7:43 We will probably never know how this story ends

[@Luchoedge]

"hope is fading that such an event might happen for a third time" That's the best way to say ""we've lost hope for HL3" I've heard so far.

[@xanthosparashis8819]

they attacc they opress but most importantly... they gather and unite the scattered combine forces I'll show myself out now.

[@G-741-S]

Every combine gangsta up til' a Nerd equips his Crowbar

[@liam-ethanwallis4924]

Damn that Half-Life 3 joke at the end was good

[@kristensberzins3156]

A game where Gordon freeman joins a coalition of other alien civilizations to beat the combine would be awesome

[@Scoffslaphead72]

We can only hope that someone decides to continue half life. Whether its valve or someone else.

[@BalhaMilan]

Yes! Finally! I love the Combine and the world of Half-Life, thanks for making this :D

[@puddingfell5288]

Please consider joining Civil Protection in your area.

[@pencrows]

Any sci-fi/dystopian game:*exists* Templin Institute: it's free real estate

[@a0001521]

I just realized, the combine is a low key cosmic horror element

[@0NoName9]

The Combine are the most horrifying antagonist I've ever seen in a video game. They're an All Tomorrows, I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream levels of horrifying.

[@Alvaro89Rus]

X-Com 2 Advent borrowed so much from Combine.

[@thepaintingbanjo8894]

Same with the Reapers from Mass Effect. Although the Combine are much more subtle and Lovecraftian with their pacification.

[@Alvaro89Rus]

@@thepaintingbanjo8894 Reapers are straightforward genocide, they don't build occupation goverment and use collobrators

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

I'm actully making a video comparing the two governments, and I can certainly say, I'd take ADVENT over Combine any day..

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

Probably the strongest Alien Empire in fiction, if you ask me.

[@GenghisVern]

Epic documentation. It appeared to be original in-game shots too. Makes me want to take another run at medium difficulty

[@Utylike]

Finally, an actual Multiverse threat level video. Another amazing one Institute. PS: You should really consider the SCP Foundation, people have been suggesting it since your Inception.

[@2broken4u47]

to be honest no one is evil in the hl2 universe (exept the combines). Breen did the best he could for everyone ; transhumans (OTA soldiers) are brainwashed people used to do the dirty work ; CP's are just like everyone else. The diffrence between them and UU is that if they dont do what overwatch says theyll get punished badly.

[@connormcgehee9349]

Child predators are not just like everyone else bro

[@Just_a_happy_lil_guy]

@@connormcgehee9349 bruh

[@love_woomy6953]

I feel like when chell escaped in portal 2, she would find the resistance groups and join them as they could use the portal device technology inside aperture science that only she knows of. She could also help them get into aperture science laboratories to steal the portal technology that can be used to take down The Combine.

[@TorricRoma]

Combine? Posted 7 hours ago? Half-life 3 confirmed!

[@unknownhiddenname6645]

Shut the fuck up idk it dead meme or not but please no I didn't hate hl3 but I'm waiting for project borealis too.

[@Kuberniccus]

In my opinion ,Half -Life has one of the best story in a first person sf game .Long live Valve

[@satanicdude]

5:40 "Elevate humanity to a greater position of equality within a great universal union." hmmm this sounds oddly familiar... *soviet anthem starts playing*

[@really1337]

I kind of want the Templin Institute to do a video on the "what if" stuff from that Half Life game developer when he released a rough plot of what 3 would've looked like.

[@ultralord8919]

lol glad you mentioned the "reproduction simulation" that combine soldiers get as a reward. Always cracks me up hearing the Combine Lady remind metrocops about it.

[@wolfgod6443]

Always loved the Combine. Definitely one of the more unique Sci-fi factions out there. Btw please do Metroid's Space Pirates.

[@UkraineWarAwareness]

Wow this is a good and realistic report. I really enjoyed this. Great job guys!

[@stefanbezema]

Thank you so much Templin! Was hoping this one would come!

[@voyageroftime8683]

I can describe the Combine perfectly. *Pick up that can*