"Did you know that your contract was up to the highest bidder?"

[Darlan]

Random fan theory time! Spoilers if you haven't finished HL2 yet. What if the vorts are still secretly the bad guys in HL2?

It’s all about the context of how you got put into HL2’s world. You never chose to go join the resistance, and they never hired Gordon—the resistance was completely surprised when he showed up, and they couldn’t have been the “highest bidder,” being the rag-tag Midwestern Underground Railroad style rebels without a lot of money and all of that. (Edit: Come to think of it, Valve even directly draws that parallel in Half Life Alyx, with the "North Star" hotel, that's not just me being nostalgic. Thanks for the nod Valve, those guys and gals do not get enough credit.))

One might guess that Dr. Breen was simply lying, and Gordon's contract is actually somehow a part of the good fight, but...the G-man does not strike me as the altruistic type. I think Dr. Breen was telling the truth there. So who was the "highest bidder?"

At the end of HL1, you have just killed the vort’s king/master/queen whatever’s it is, and then The G-man forces Gordon into his service. We don’t know what happens between then and the beginning of HL2, but clearly a decent amount of time has passed, and then *someone* hired the G-man to use Gordon’s services against the combine. Again, not the resistance, they weren’t expecting him. The combine can’t have taken a hit against themselves, and while it could be a totally unknown third party, that just seems like cheap storytelling and a bad mystery, right, based on story structure and good writing it’s someone we know, or else that's just kind of unsatisfying.

What if the vorts story about being grateful to Gordon for “freeing” them is a lie? What if they’re like super pissed off about it and just want revenge? What do we know about alien politics and feelings towards their leaders, right? Isn't that kind of conveniently exactly what you want to hear after vanquishing an enemy's leader? Not to mention, the combine defeated earths forces in a mere seven hours, and for all we know this is nothing but a backwater skirmish compared to their full might. What if winning against them in a firefight is simply impossible for earth's comparative strength? What if the vorts hired the G-man to *trick* Gordon into goading the combine into destroying earth instead of merely subjugating it?

In the first Half Life, Gordon comes across an elevator with scientists stuck inside it. Purely out a desire to help, he pushes the button, and instead of opening, the elevator crashes down below, killing everyone. In fact, isn't that kind of a recurring motif in Half LIfe 1? Gordon accidentally getting some scientists killed while trying to help? What if Half Life 2 is that motif expanded out into the whole operation?

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

"Funny, you showing up on this day in particular."

"Prepare for unforeseen consequences."

Dr. Breen is a ♥♥♥♥, but what if he's right about Gordon messing everything up? What if cutting a deal with the combine really was the only way for humanity to survive?

"Wake up, and smell the ashes."

[Darlan]

After posting that, it occurs to me that the power struggle over Gordon between the G-man and the Vorts in the Episodes maybe doesn't fully match up with this, but it's possible that's just more theater to trick Gordon, or maybe the Vorts could have had a change of heart about the contract after getting to know humans a bit more. Who else can the "highest bidder" been?

[Vzzdak]

There was theory kicking around that Breen had optioned for Gordon’s release.
1. Breen wanted to crush rebellion.
2. Breen perceived Gordon as “merely one man,” a scientist, so figured Gordon’s capture would be like a PR stunt.

The weak aspect of this theory would be understanding G-man’s terms to Breen. Probably something capped with a line like, “put on a good show.”

[Darlan]

I'm also having difficulty believing an entity like the G-man cares about human currency, but maybe he'd be interested in Vortessence (sp)?

[Lily McFluffy Butt]

I don't see why the vorts would be angry at Gordon for killing Nihilanth. It was pretty clear and up front that the Nihilanth was enslaving the vortigaunts. There's even a time in Half-Life 1 where the vortigaunts don't attack you, which is when you first enter the factory on Xen. Conveniently, there are no alien controllers around when this happens too. (Black Mesa, while not canon, does help make this subtle detail far more noticeable and up front.)

[Darlan]

Good point, it has been quite some time since I finished HL1 and maybe I'm not remembering that part of the game so well. I do really like this horror twist on "The right man in the wrong place" though, I love the Half LIfe series' moral ambiguity.

[Lily McFluffy Butt]

At worst, the vorts in HL2 are a bit pissed you killed their friends.

"We cannot forget those whose cords you cut. Forgiveness is not ours to bestow."

[Darlan]

Eli did seem to know the G-man, he mentions his and Gordon's "mutual fiend" at the end of Episode 2, and it's also notable that he wanted to keep this a secret from Alyx. Perhaps he traded something valuable to the G-man from his research days at Black Mesa for help for the resistance, and is keeping a lid on it for the sake of operational security? Still, there's the "wrong place," and it does seem like there are a lot of players on the field who could out bid him, what with them having the resources of governments and aliens behind them.

[Darlan]

I just played the Xen levels of Black Mesa, and assuming that’s canon, yeah the Vorts are off the hook, but I still suspect whoever bought Gordon’s services did not have humanity’s best interest at heart.