Did anyone else notice that when we start the game and the G-man speaks, you hear the Nihilanth Repeating “…Free…Man…”
and at some point he says “…Not you alone.. Not you Alone…”
which is something the Nihilanth Told us back then at Xen.

If you try hard to listen it doesn’t sound like the nihilanth but if you only pay attention without trying hard to understand what he says, you can definitely hear him.

I remember the some of the Nihilanth’s Lines from the 1st game

“…Deceive you will Deceive you…” (Notice that the last word of the line is the beginning of the line, it’s also the first word of the line)

“…You are man, he is not man.. for you he waits for you…”

“…Not you alone, not you..”

“…Their Slaves… We’re Their Slaves…We are..”

“…Done… what have you done.. what have you…” (after killing some Allien Slaves)

“…The last.. you are the last…”

btw did anyone else find commons between “Lord of The Rings” and “Half-Life 2”?

for example LOR: an old guy creating forces HL2: an old guy, combining human with aliens?

as well as the places. somehow they got these things in common.

Nihilanth was the end boss of HL1 and so… I am not sure why HL2 is being mentioned in all this.
as for what Nihilanth says…everyone seems to have similar interpretations but nothing is solid I think.

and yeah this thread belongs in the Single player discussion where much of the speculation is that the G-man is not human… Nihilanth saying such a thing would only strengthen that argument.

The Nihilanth was the end boss of HL1, he does not appear at any time in HL2. The only reference to the Nihilanth in HL2 comes from some of the Vortigaunt sentences. I’ll post the Nihilanth’s sentences from HL1 anyway:


1. “Alone – aren’t you alone – aren’t you alone”
2. “Comes another”
3. “Deceive you – will deceive you.”
4. “Die – you all die – you all die.”
5. “Done – what have you done?”
6. “Freeman!!!!!”
7. “The last – you are the last – you are.”
8. “You are man. He is not man. For you he waits – for you.”
9. “Now – die now – die now!”
10. “Their slaves – we are their slaves – we are.”
11. “The last – I am the last.”
12. “The truth – you can never know the truth.”
13. “Thieves – you all are thieves – you all are!”
14. “Win – you cannot win.”

And my theories:

1. Can’t say much on it.
2. By that, he means that Freeman is just another HEV-suited man sent to Xen.
3. Perhaps the G-man will deceive Gordon?
4. This one’s interesting. The Nihilanth, like the Vorts, doesn’t lie. Perhaps some kind of hint to the apocalypse?
5. He says it after you slay the Gonarch. The killing of the Gonarch will result in a huge lack of Headcrabs on Xen, therefore greatly upsetting the food chain. It will likely cause a holocaust.
6. Just saying Freeman’s name. Wonder how he found out?
7. Quite interesting. I haven’t been able to cook anything up about it right now.
8. This one’s very interesting. He’s definitely referring to the G-Man, because the only person that waits for you after the Nihilanth, is in fact, the G-Man.
9. He could be referring to himself, just before his demise.
10. Definitely referring to the Combine, as Xen was under Combine control long before humans discovered it. This explains the Nihilanths biomechanical implants and the shackles he wears.
11. I think he means that he is the last that Freeman will have to challenge.
12. He might be telling Freeman that this isn’t just as simple as: “Come into my cavern and kill me with your gluon gun.” There is a lot more to the whole Xen incident than we know – again, a possible reference to the Combine.
13. Humans have stolen resources such as crystals from Xen. It could be as simple as that, but remember, there’s also the Combine. Combine has stolen some of Earth’s resources (oceans for example). They would be doing the same to Xen.
14. He says this when you arrive at the Gonarch’s lair. Gordon, however, does win. Was the Nihilanth wrong?

Why won’t you check the Music GFC and listen to the Intro Song
HL2_intro.mp3

You don’t need to hear this in high volume, just pay attention to the sound AND the other lines were taken from HL I just reminded them

and about “10. Definitely referring to the Combine, as Xen was under Combine control long before humans discovered it. This explains the Nihilanths biomechanical implants and the shackles he wears”

The Combine wasn’t existed back then, since if you played and finished HL2 you do understand that they got their name for a reason.. they’re half-human, mixed up with an alien DNA. my guess is that Doctor Breen has something to do with it since they obey him.. and he obeys some kind of a warm creator (X-Race Maybe?) I guess that doctor Breen created them. he doesn’t work for the combines.. he makes them. another thing… Elite Combines has a circles Mask, just like the Warm Creator. my guess is that the elite Combine has more parts of Alien DNA then Human because he has face of Alien… (1 Big Eye instead of 2 eyes) So I’m starting to believe that the combines are the army of Dr. Breen, Following is orders while Dr. Breen has bigger plans with Stronger Aliens.. somewhere.. out there

Actually, the Combine has existed back then. They’ve existed for a long time – long before they invaded Earth. They’re intergalactic conquerors, and a very old race I believe. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the Combine we see on Earth is the only types of “Combine” in existence. The Combine has amalgamated many different races into itself, and its empire spans across the Universe. Earth is just one of the Combine’s conquered planets & species. The Overwatch and Civil Protection units are simply the “Combine” that were created from the Humans. In HL2, you also see creatures from other races that the Combine has conquered, the synths for example, which include Striders, Gunships, Dropships, Mortar synths and so on… I definitely believe that Xen was under Combine control at the time of the Black Mesa Incident, because of the Nihilanth’s shackles, and because of what he says – and yes, CLASSIFIED, I have played and finished HL2.

“7. “The last – you are the last – you are.””
My first thought was that earth or the dimension we exist in was the last dimension/world that was no taken over by the combine yet, but then I realized that the combine is not fully technically perfect and fully evolved. If that was the case, Freeman would have no chance against them. And then isn’t Xen a border world, isn’t Xen the only place u can get crystals for interdimensional travel? So the Combine cant has taken over every world in every dimension yet coz they have only had control over Xen a certain time, the Vortigaunts weren’t born slaves so… Although I have no clue how old they can get..

12. “The truth – you can never know the truth.”
Guess we will never know who G-man is. Considering how Laidlaw has presented the story (very discreet) in the HL-games so far, he will probably leave it open for speculation who g-man is, or who the bidders are… Hope not though.

Have you noticed that everyone’s voice had changed since the first game? The g-man sounds different, Barney Sounds Different most of the time, Kleir Sounds Different. The Nihilanth Sounds Different and don’t try to hear the nihilanth when you check if he really talks at the intro, just pay less attention and you’ll hear something that sounds like him says “Free…man” and at some point you he stops saying that then you hear something like “alone… not you alone..” then the “Free…man” part comes back, i can’t tell for sure it’s the nihilanth but who could it possibly be if not him? hear the Audio File from HL1 where he says “alone…not you alone…” then hear the intro and in some point, you can hear it

Try to make the Background Music louder than the G-man
or just play the file HL2_intro.mp3 from the music gcf file

I didn’t come here to tell you to try hearing this
you need to be focused at every moment of the soundtrack and pay attention to “details”, it doesn’t come easy but it’s there

I’m still wondering if anyone else noticed this