Did Breen truly believe joining the Combine would advance the human race? Or was he merely doing his best to save the species from extinction? We may never know. Or maybe we will… We investigate this enigma in an attempt to bring new theories to light.

Are we being deceived? While unlikely, it’s interesting to speculate that we may be lead astray by the Vortigaunts.

Nihilanth is shrouded in mystery. Our first and only encounter with him doesn’t reveal much. We know very little about him – but he is key to the Half-Life story.

In 2012, Half-Life writer Marc Laidlaw began posting some strange things on Twitter under the name @BreenGrub.

It became apparent that he was giving us something. A brief history lesson involving Vortigaunts and the ‘Shu’ulathoi’ – the Advisor race of the Universal Union, through the mind of Dr. Breen, now transferred to a young Combine Advisor body.

Like any story with its depth and complexity, the Half-Life series leaves a lot to the imagination. In fact, considering the latest installment’s cliffhanger, it leaves more to the imagination than anyone wants.

IF YOU ARE READING THIS AND YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED THIS ITEM FROM A PERSON YOU KNOW, PUT THIS DOWN IMMEDIATELY AND CONTINUE WALKING AWAY.

Hello and welcome to the Resistance Bulletin. I’m your same old news editor and part-time refugee, Vic, reporting from the inside of an abandoned coastal house just outside of City 17, in mortal fear of a Combine patrol which has stopped nearby.

Excuse if my writing is poor, but I have been forced to drink from the polluted seawater nearby, and some discarded cans of Private Reserve. I can feel my brain cells slowly dying.