Wow… I mean, I can still tell when y’all are just riffin’ and fishing for laughs. Then again, some of these far-fetched theories are pretty imaginative, I must say.
Therefore, I must add my own far-fetched and imaginative theory…
G-Man and the Black Mesa incident: HL1
Seen first during “Inbound,” in another train-car and apparently speaking to a scientist or the fabled Administrator. (who can tell?)
Why was the test changed at the last minute? I think that G-Man ordered the extreme-power test because he believed the Xen sample could only be tested once… he wanted all the data possible from it.
G-Man not only knew about Lambda Complex, he was virtually in charge of it. Dr. Breen allowed G-Man to operate in this fashion, but the details of that cooperation are utterly shrouded in mystery.
G-Man expected the Resonance Cascade, but the “unintended consequences” were even more than the G-Man had imagined. G-Man did not expect the Combine to target our universe as quickly as they did.
G-Man stopped Breen from setting-off a 30-year-old atomic stockpile. Breen thought it would “fix” everything. (leaving a crazed pattern of laser tripmines that would set-off the warheads… y’all know where that was) G-Man was more methodic; he brought the rank-and-file military to kill anything that moves, while telling scientists and BM security that they will be “rescued.”
On top of that, G-Man sent the Black Ops teams to move in and properly detonate nukes, leaving no witnesses… not even grunts. The Elite Ops that survived would then be marked for elimination through foreign mercenaries, leaving no trail whatsoever. (tie-in to HL:Opposing Force)
G-Man didn’t even know Gordon existed until that fateful day. After G-Man spoke with Magnusson outside Anomalous Materials, (in Office Complex) he sees Gordon come in, guns blazing. G-Man was impressed and started to follow Gordon’s exploits.
Eventually, G-Man saw that Gordon could be easily influenced by simple manipulations; an unlocked door here, a hole in the wall there, obscure ventilation shafts… these all proved to be quite reliable in controlling Gordon’s movement. It also seemed that Freeman would reliably leave complete destruction in his wake, but would rescue the valuable scientific minds and the more-courageous security personnel along the way.
After Gordon traversed the web of landmines, snipers, trip-mines and nuclear warheads that Breen left behind, G-Man knew that he had found a most-valuable knight on the playing field.
To answer how one man could do all those things, and be “in more than one place at one time”… it’s simple.
We’ve never seen the “real” G-Man.
During his stint at Lambda, G-Man harnessed a nifty side-effect to the inter-dimensional portals; a projection of ultra-dense energy that can be controlled to look and behave like a human. The G-Man that is seen around Black Mesa (and even City 17) is merely the “projection” of a man.
The key is in the briefcase; rumored to be a portal relay powered by a micro-black-hole. This is not without cost, since to be able to experience what his “puppet” is doing, he is hooked-up to a neural interface. It’s a rather uncomfortable process, so having a conversation via the projection can be somewhat stressful… evidenced by the way that G-Man s-speaks.
Perhaps Magnusson’s research wasn’t actually cursed… maybe G-Man was “borrowing” the fruits of Magnusson’s labor?
The G-Man projection is invulnerable, but also impotent. Sight and sound are the only senses it can reliably convey to the host, so the projection cannot hold a weapon or meaningfully interact with its environment. Ironic, that with powers to teleport matter, span dimensions and transcend space-time, G-Man is unable to press simple buttons or operate a weapon. It is, however the perfect tool for surveillance and behavioral influence; being able to travel anywhere within local dimensions and observe what’s happening there. Matter teleportation makes it possible to influence the immediate environment, but lacking precision to do so on a small scale. It’s a perfect influence; manipulations that seem like merely chaotic or coincidental events.
G-Man wanted the rocket launched from the Lambda Complex; it put the final piece of his inter-dimensional influence into place. That’s how he was able to not only pluck Gordon from the Nihilanth’s chamber at the final moment, but also how he was able to take Gordon “sightseeing” and ultimately give him an “employment offer.” G-Man thought the Black Mesa personnel transport was a classy touch, to remind Gordon of how it all started.
The consequence to refusing G-Man’s offer was to turn Gordon over to the Combine; they had placed Nihilanth into power in the first place to dominate Xen, but Gordon’s actions had ruined the Combine’s plans, and consequently awakened the only sentient species occupying Xen; the vortigaunts.
G-Man and City 17: HL2
“The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world.”
It’s seven years later, and Gordon Freeman wakes to an alien world; Earth.
G-Man arranged to “keep” Gordon, despite the Combine’s thirst for revenge; Nihilanth was their key to power over the Xen indigents and the rich resources found in their border-world. What came of that was the Seven Days War. Even if withholding Gordon was the cause, G-Man knew that attracting the attention of an entity such as the Combine would ultimately mean an incursion; deal or no deal.
G-Man finessed Breen into place as “representative”, because he needed someone predictable to be “in charge” and Breen was, predictably, a short-sighted, power hungry and spineless coward. Converting the human race to Combine was an inevitable process; Breen was merely playing the propaganda mouthpiece toward a “brave new world” and “immortality” keeping the populous blinded to their fate.
G-Man is a patient man, waiting seven years for the right time. It took seven years to spread the story of “the Free Man” (a coincidentally fortuitous surname) to the world. By the time Gordon arrived, he was already a legend.
Throughout Gordon’s foray into City 17, the G-Man is always right there… watching, observing… making sure that his influences play out as planned.
G-Man didn’t abduct Eli Vance, but he made sure that Eli was abducted.
G-Man didn’t cause the “very slow teleport” that held Gordon and Alyx for a week, but he could have sped it up if he wanted.
G-Man knew that Mossman, while trusted by Breen, would never actually side with a coward. It was a gamble worth taking.
G-Man saw to the ultimate destruction of the Citadel, but only by manipulating Freeman, G-Man’s “trump card.” The Combine could have detected and tracked-down G-Man if he had directly interfered in the Citadel and certainly would have found him while the Combine homeworld portal was open. Only after the portal was destroyed and the Citadel lay on the brink of devastation could G-Man finally show himself.
In seven years, G-Man not only mastered his pocket-dimensions but also dabbled in localized space-time manipulation. A feat that he couldn’t help but show-off in the split-second during the explosion. Despite his confident appearance, G-Man could only stop time and retrieve one man… Alyx would have to be left to the same fate as the Citadel.
G-Man Thwarted: HL2:EP1
Liberated by the defeat of Nihilanth, the vortigaunts have their own story to tell. Apparently, they can “see” and interact with extra-dimensional forces, much like the G-Man and Combine do through technology. With combined power, a band of vortigaunts were able to save Alyx Vance much like how G-Man saved Gordon from the cataclysmic devastation.
G-Man is reined-in by a band of vortigaunts after the Citadel collapse, presumably for the sake of their heralded saviour, Gordon Freeman. What transpires after that (G-Man: “We’ll s-see about that!”) is unclear.
Maybe the vort’s and G-Man will form an alliance, or maybe G-Man will remain “in check” for being such an… interloper… in extra-dimensional affairs. In either case, the vortigaunts become the new force in the game that G-Man apparently started.
G-Man’s disappearing act: HL2:EP2
After the train-crash and the ultimate collapse of the Citadel reactor, it seems the G-Man goes missing. Much of the story revolves around vortigaunts, antlions and getting to White Forest from there. It becomes rather clear that the vortigaunts have a lot more to tell than being enslaved by the Combine for so many years. With the Combine Advisors loose upon Earth, the situation is even more desperate. The question is, where will G-Man finally re-surface?
As to who G-Man really is… I think he’s a fellow MIT graduate from the same era as Kleiner and Magnusson and has even more mastery of Quantum Physics than those two combined. The truth about G-Man could be as disappointing as the truth about the “Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz.” That is, we may find that G-Man is really just a whithered shell of a human, buried away in a deep underground laboratory, hooked-up to his “soul projector” so heavily that he cannot be un-tethered without killing himself.
I guess we’ll see in EP3… right after the Mayan Armageddon, of course.
