Portal 2 theories and discussion (spoilers)

Half-Life Series
#1

I was wondering about Wheatley’s place in the storyline. When was he activated? What did he do to get him detached from GLaDOS and listed as “corrupted?” So I came up with this:

1: Wheatley is responsible for the infamous BYDTWD.
When activated, GLaDOS had Wheatley attached to her, and Wheatley (who is programmed to make bad decisions) promptly floods the enrichment center with neurotoxin. I mean seriously, why would GLaDOS waste all the lives of those valuable test subjects?

2: Wheatley is responsible for the crap turrets.
He said he almost had a job in the turret factory, but the Foreman decided not to give him the job. I’m guessing Wheatley might have had the job for a few seconds, but in that time screwed up the production system so royally that the best ratio of good turrets to crap turrets they could possibly get is 1:1. (even with Aperture’s odd way of going about business it seems odd that FIFTY PERCENT of their turrets are blind, bulletless, armorless, laserless, broken wrecks.) Instead, Wheatley was placed in charge of keeping the test subjects healthy, which is automated by the Announcer anyway and who cares about the test subjects’ well-being?

3: The Announcer isn’t really prerecorded messages, but an actual AI.
The Announcer seems to have limited AI already (able to sense and respond to people on the turret redemption lines, able to pick up and interpret vague answers during a stalemate, etc.) but I mean actual AI. In Wheatley’s “almost got a job” story, he said the Foreman made a duplicate of himself run the factory. Guess who is running the factory? The Announcer. Ta-daa.

4: Chell is the adopted daughter of Caroline.
Yeah, I already touched on this. No more need…

EDIT 5: Chell isn’t out of Aperture Science yet.
If I remember right, I saw a promotion for Portal 2 that showed Aperture was planning on building a farm for giant chickens. The farm would contain a blue sky, fluffy white clouds, AND A WHEAT FIELD.

So, that’s all I have. Feel free to comment on these theories and/or leave theories of your own here. :smiley:

#2

In regards to Wheatley, according to the chronology, after Chell defeats GLaDOS the first time and is put into stasis/motel room by the Party Escort Associate, the multitude of cores come online (you see them coming online at the end of the Still Alive video).

For a time, not much happens. The cores maintain the facility and begin to get personalities. However, the cores are not quite able to do the job and begin to either malfunction and shirk their duties in maintaining the facilities causing it to fall into a state of disrepair, or without GLaDOS around, the cores are unable to maintain the facility and it begins to cause the facility to fall into a state of disrepair, causing the cores to malfunction.

Either way, the cores malfunction, have personalities (such as one wanting to go into space), and the facility falls into disrepair.

One core, Wheatley, was tasked with monitoring the humans (as he tells Chell as they’re going through the facility). As such, he begins to grow a small dislike for humans and perhaps somewhat of an envy for them. Perhaps. Finally, he awakens Chell because he has the bright idea that Chell could get him out of the facility. He’s unable to do it on his own so asks Chell to help. They get to what they believe to be the escape pod but end up reactivating GLaDOS instead. Later, Wheatley becomes in charge of the facility (good job breaking it, hero) and his small amount of animosity suddenly mushrooms when he realizes how much power he has.

So, there it is. I don’t believe that Wheatley is responsible for the crap turrets or the BYDTWD debacle. I think that the BYDTWD debacle was GLaDOS’ doing and the crap turrets are just a result of the state of the facility.

#3

I don’t quite see Wheatley being responsible for the crap turrets, BYDTWD or the neurotoxin bit. and here’s my reasoning

the comic valve put out had GLaDOS asking for the neurotoxin to test on cats which pretty much was a BS excuse to get the scientists to give her the gas. Glados wants to kill the scientists so that she then has complete control over the facility and will be able to continue testing without being bound by regulations or restrictions the scientists would put on her. She does not however want to kill the test subjects, not until she has used them for testing at which pint she can kill them off once they are no more use to her. this explains why Chell is alive, asked to test, and then would have been killed.

Wheatley comes in as the scientists attempting to control glados and restrict her. but for one reason or another, was taken off prior to glados using the neurotoxin (hence he is not one of the cores destroyed in fighting glados in portal 1) my guess is that before Chell kills glados in P1, glados puts wheatley in charge of maintaining the humans, probably as an ironic joke.

Chell very well may have been a kid 10-12 during BYDTWD and if there is any connection between Chell and Caroline, it would be through adoption only (hence all the adoption jokes and it being in her file) but even then i’m not entirely sold on that theory either. but in any case, she was saved from the neurotoxin by being placed in a relaxation vault and waiting to be taken out for testing, which happened at the start of portal 1. now this theory only works if Chell was in the relaxation vault for several years, enough to grow from age 12 to however old she is in portal 1. this would leave ratman running around the facility for several years. which isnt entirely unlikely considering the numerous rat holes, cans of beans and most importantly, his insanity that is shown in the comic

now i’m kinda jumping around a bit but my above theory is given a bit more merit when you think of glados’ intention behind BYDTWD and flooding the facility with neurotoxin. get all the scientists to bring their daughter, kill the scientist, save the daughters, lots of test subjects.

#4

: The Announcer isn’t really prerecorded messages, but an actual AI.
The Announcer seems to have limited AI already (able to sense and respond to people on the turret redemption lines, able to pick up and interpret vague answers during a stalemate, etc.) but I mean actual AI. In Wheatley’s “almost got a job” story, he said the Foreman made a duplicate of himself run the factory. Guess who is running the factory? The Announcer. Ta-daa.

I agree with this one because of the sarcastic remark that Wheatley made at the end when asked if he is ready, and the announcer responds something like “Taking sarcastic answer as a yes.” But the announcer being an AI isn’t really anything special.

I would like to know if Ratman truely died, yes he got fucked up by the turrets… but he put himself into a stasis chamber… so if bleeding out didn’t kill him, then Wheatley killed him while moving around Chells room and slaming into his room…

Wheatley slams onto Gordon’s great great great great great great grandsons head.

#5

I don’t believe in the theory that Chell is an android, but I also doubt the theory that she was adopted by Charline. Rosie’s theory seems pretty reliable, except from the fact that GLaDOS was created after BYDTWD.

Wheatley may have been the intelligence core which didn’t get incinerated (GLaDOS may have reacted that the core was out of reach from her like the “string” that came between her and the cores when they were unattached) and connected itself to a rail. His story before he got attached to GLaDOS is that he was made by aperture and almost got a job he wanted (there is no clue of what job, so the theory about him working with the turrets remains a conspiracy), but he instead got in charge of the test subjects. After a while he got attached to GLaDOS and makes her kill everyone but Chell and Ratman. If he didn’t kill Chell because she might help him out of the facility you can figure out.

Ratman, like all humans, can’t live 100 years, he even couldn’t survive 70 considering the dangers and medical disadvantages you can get from being too long in a test chamber. If he could have gone the wrong way and instead of leaving the enrichment center, he could have gone into stasis or in a relaxation vault, but Ratman knew too much about Aperture. He drew arrows pointing where to go to get to GLaDOS and escape, if he could move the panels, he could have made every single place in the walls to his dens. My theory is that Ratman either escaped or died before portal 1 and another human got into the enchantment center while Chell was in the relaxation vault before portal 2. GLaDOS said she saw some humans outside the facility and if they are outside it, it is a high chance of one just walking right in there.

But to be honest Ratman is like Gman. He is everywhere and lives forever, so they both have to be Valves versions of Jesus.

The personality Cores in general can’t just be a random AI. They have to be Apertures failed experiment to put a brain into a machine, they either failed and could only know one thing at the time or got corrupted/their information decayed over the time nobody could maintain them. I have already seen some episodes of History channels “Life after people” so I have a basic knowledge of the topic. The thing that I began wondering about was that the relaxation vaults looked so maintained and almost new even after some hundred years.

Shortened, my theories are:

  1. The intelligence core was active before GLaDOS and became Wheatley.
  2. There were 2 “Ratmen”, one before Portal 1 and one between Portal 1 and 2.
  3. Ratman is basically the same concept like Gman.
  4. The personality cores are either a failed or successful experiment on AI mapping that decayed over time.
#6

lol, yeah Chell is definately not a android…

Enrichment man.

and you got to read the comic… https://www.thinkwithportals.com/comic/

#7

BYDTWD = Bring your daugther to work day
Thank you.

#8

No and no. Ratman just got better artistically but worse in handwriting as his schizophrenia worsened. Plus, a schizoid scientist running around air vents and an ambiguous supernatural “government figure” are definitely not the same sort of ideas.

Actually he went into a healing chamber in a relaxation vault (like the one you wake up from in Portal 1), which are separate from the “motel room” stasis chambers, so not only is he alive, his bullet wounds are probably healed too. For all intents and purposes he could even be the player character for one of the DLCs :smiley:

#9

read teh comicits all there ;D

And Ratman is probly dead on the moon, one of the secret transmittion shows a photo of his companion cube chilling on the moon , and in the room where you find the portal gun, you can see he has been fallowing the moon cycles and has a hole in the ceiling;f

#10

Valve has written the whole plot. Why can’t they just release the fucking thing.

#11

Actually, Valve hasn’t written anything to completion ahead of time. Not Half-Life or Portal or even how they support each other. it’s already been stated at several points both in interviews and comment nodes that THROUGHOUT THE DEVELOPMENT of each game, they come up with new plot twists and story elements, often by mistake.

Take for instance Cave’s assistant, Carol; the role’s voice was filled by the same actress of GlaDOS to save money and time and without even realizing it, they had developed a back-story for both characters. GlaDOS being a reincarnation of Carol, Cave’s assistant, was never conceived back during the original Portal.

it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Rattmann were a product created just to satisfy fan speculation and get some answers from the first game out in the open. We may never see or hear about him again.

…but i hope we get some more info.

-Kawai Tei-

#12

yeha they make up stuff as they go, portal 2 wasnt even supposed to fallow chell.
Still Ratmans story was probly thought out a bit more, considering they made a whole comic about him.

#13

Chell is the illegitimate daughter of Johnson and Caroline. Born in the mid 80’s. Unknown to Johnson however, and perhaps born after his death.

Caroline is put into the finished glados, Chell being put into the care of the scientists at the center. However they cannot control Chell, and become more annoyed at her and her surprising intelect.

They decide to put Chell through testing, however Caroline ( now apart of Glados ) knows of this and becomes enraged, causing Glados to become somewhat insane.

Thus, leading to Wheatly, and then the deadly neuro toxin and finally portal.

#14

now what about the turret you picked up at the turret redemption line that talks about the plot of the game out of nowhere?

#15

FUN FACTS: Aperture Science was originally in a salt mine in Michigan! check out the newspaper at the entrance of old Aperture just right to CAve’s first seen picture.
It also states that Aperture is the 2# Apllied Scince facilities :smiley: (Black Mesa is 1#? )

#16

Edited with a new theory. See top.

#17

I think Wheatley’s name is a spoiler. I mean, it says wheat-ley!

#18

The turret in the Turret Redemption Line is akin to the All-Knowing Vortigaunt in that it semi-breaks the fourth wall (or at least acknowledges the wall). :slight_smile:

#19

i literally made an account for this.

1.GLaDOS was certainly not created after BYDTWD she is the one who flooded the neurotoxin.
2.Wheatley specifically mentioned almost being on the turret assembly line, and that the announcer made a copy of himself to do it instead.
3.Wheatley was never attached to GLaDOS other than what is plainly seen in game, in fact at the end he mentions how he had made a habit of waking up test subjects because he enjoyed watching them get killed, and that chell actually got as far as waking up GLaDOS which none of the others did.
4.im not sure where you got 70 years from, but ratman began running from GLaDOS on or shortly after BYDTWD and shortly after that (given the mostly pristine state of repair aperture was in, in portal 1) was when chell was woken. because ratman put her file at the top of the list.
5. portal two was 19 or 9 years after portal 1, im leaning towards 19 based off an article i read a little while ago.
6. the personality cores where made after GLaDOS in order to inhibit her, or act as her conscience, Chell destroyed the working ones in the first game and the deactivated ones (presumably the failed early versions) came online.
7. as for the gman thing, i remember something about a gman sighting in portal 1, but i dont think ratman is anything like him, in that you know basically everything about ratman at this point, and he was clearly a good guy, gman on the other hand has questionable motives at best, and we know nothing about him.

#20

it doesn’t really break the fourth wall, but it’s sort of a spoiler: Get mad! Don’t make lemonade. Her name is Caroline.

Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.