What if Gman was the reason that Russell's application was rejected? He could have needed Russell to survive the conquest of Earth so that he could help Alyx in her journey. Rejecting the application ensured he survived the Black Mesa Incident.
This could even go in the timeline theory. If hl:a is in a different timeline, maybe the g-man made sure for his application to be rejected to that he wouldn't die in the black mesa incident. This is probably going too far though
@@me67galaxylife honestly I think it's a different timeline, at least my interpretation is that, half life 2 and beyond still happened after alyx, just that, gman goes back in time to influence half life alyx and the timeline splits off I mean Gman has already been shown to be able to stop time, as seen in half life 2 as well as transport people through different periods of time, like in half life alyx, and to some degree in half life 2's opening when he shows you the black mesa incident, I feel like he knew in all honesty I wouldn't be surprised if this was where valve planned to take the series this whole time, because I mean, if you look at the half life series, whenever both gordon and alyx have faced certain death, gman always found a way to save Alyx, even during the black mesa incident, I feel like Alyx was integral to the plan the whole time gman just had to figure at what point would be best to recruit her, so he went back through the timeline and 5 years before half life 2 waas deemed the best time by his employers
honestly with the way that Gman, has always saved alyx from certain death when he saved gordon, even though Alyx had nothing to do with his employers' interests, during the previous games, part of me almost feels as though valve was planning this approach from the start
He's probably just in his apartment during the events of HL2, taking care of a few things behind the scenes. like how Barney can call up Kleiner without tipping off Overwatch, bet that's partly Russell's work. Then when shit started going belly up, he went off to White Forest and just didn't cross paths with Alyx and Gordon.
@@Awfulfeature The fact he saved the internet man I glad russial saved the internet. Because since the half life games out I was sure the internet was lost semi in off mode with most people to operate dead or not allowed too access it and it would not be till after the combine were at least beaten enough that it be brought back by people like russial no doubt russial had to make sure he got all his computer systems and hard curves everything with the help of the rebels working with him and are with him as well as Alex and kliner helping move all the systems of the internet humanity online future for information acesss and knowledge of the past and entertainment (music and u tube videos clearly would be still on it along with many other info sites) onto trains out of City 17 to the rebel military bases like White Forest.
Possibly Russel doesn't die. But disappears, either captured by the combine, the gman or just lost in the wasteland. And since you play as Gordon in ep 2 you don't know who he is, thus the resistance don't mention him. But you'll find him wherever he's hidden in ep3. It would be lame to kill off such an important character off screen
@@Skyrionn I gonna dare and say, that after the new ending of EP2 basically... Russel gonna show up and help Eli and Gordon get Alyx back from the Gman, probably even saving humanity on the way and preventing The Combine getting the teleportation technology from the Borealis.
My headcanon is that he got turned into a stalker, which would give a deeper meaning to the emotional reaction Alyx had when seeing the stalkers in ep1.
It could also connect to how Alyx acts around stalkers. One of the theories says that he got captured and turned into a stalker, which probably scarred Alyx for life as you can see in EP1.
Since there's the theory around of Half-Life Alyx being a alternative timeline, it's possible the reason why Russell doesn't appear in Half-Life 2 is because he doesn't exist in that universe to make it a bit sense. He most likely only existed to assist Alyx in the HL:A timeline. I discussed a conversation before that there's 2 different timelines of Half-Life and how it goes. Half-Life Alyx: (Created by the Gman) Half-Life 1 - Half-Life Alyx - Half-Life 2 Alyx (Mainly Half-Life 2 but actually a sequel to Alyx) HLA and Half-Life 2 are different from settings and gameplay. Real timeline: Half-Life 1, Half-Life 2 and its episodes. This is basically barely of the HLA stuff is seen in Half-Life 2 like Xen infestation, the Combine Units, and none of the stuff being mentioned like the Vault or others. Just a thought of mine
I think that the Vault is what branched the timelines. My theory is that in the original timeline, Gordon failed to stop the Combine from capturing the Borealis. The ship likely contains some sort of time-portal device, similar to what was described in Epistle 3. So the Combine reverse-engineered it into a time-traveling prison, that they then use to capture the G-Man. This is likely why the G-Man wants to replace Gordon, since he probably refused to help him for letting Eli die. The G-Man and his employers most likely wanted the Borealis, just like they wanted Xen. So now he's going to use Eli's life a bargain to get Alyx to help him capture the ship.
I think is just one linear timeline, after saving her father the 19 years old Alyx have her memory of the G-man wipe and was put back in her own time while G-Man took the 24 years old Alyx.
to combo this with another commenter's theory what if Russel was hired by Black Mesa in the original timeline and died in the incident? Maybe in the Alyx timeline Russel's application was rejected by interference from the Gman so he could make the gloves and give Alyx the vital help?
Apologies about the voiceover quality this week! I attempted to fix it but wouldn't work! Should be better next video! Enjoy the video! Update: The title is a joke based on the loose connection between Russell and Laszlo :) Update 2: Thanks for your suggestions. The latest videos have a much better audio now. Thank you!
One of the things I must say is that, you questioned why Russel wasn't mentioned in the previous Half Life games before Alyx, and well... My justification to that is simply down to the fact that Russel was added in during the development of Half Life Alyx. So... While I'd say it wouldn't be unlikely that Valve would have gone out of their way to update the other three games to include mentions of Russel, I would expect them to probably not try that in fear of ruining those games even further than they need to be.
9:05 "Hmm, these suspiciously thick wires seem to lead to the other side of this wall. Oh well, must be some normal human architecture." -The dudes assigned to search the house.
My theory is that Russel worked at Aperture and contributed to the Borealis, but a fatal mistake on his part caused it to disappear, which got him fired. Some years later he applied for their competitor, Black Mesa but got rejected, and the rest of the story plays out as normal but between the events of HL:A and HL2 he detects some evidence that the borealis may still exist and went off on his own to look for it, using prior knowledge from working on it to aid him. Mossman and other resistance members take his place in his absence and try to locate the borealis, not even sure if it’s real. Perhaps in the sequel to HL:A you play as Gordon and travel to the Borealis with Eli who, moved by Alyx’s sudden disappearance by the gman’s manipulation of the timeline decides to use the technology on the Borealis to kill the gman. Perhaps on your travel toward the ship, you encounter Russel who aids you in locating and entering the ship
I would love to see an end to Adrian's story arc too. Maybe have G-Man send Adrian out of stasis to stop Freeman from interfering with his plans. But I still feel like Eli's number 1 priority will be to get his daughter back, but he still wants to put an end to the Combine on Earth. I don't think killing G-Man will ever be a possibility.
You know with HL:A on the main story i get the idea that Russel did survived and worked together with Eli to create the gravity gun. Just a thought, i have no evidence about it even if the idea seems pritty logic. Having Russel in next game with Gordon will somehow be worthy for Gordon to talk, like Alyx did. In that case could Valve hire Ross Scott for the voice acting.
Ross is the voice in my head for Gordon when I play(not that gordon actually talks, but you know what i mean), but I feel like if Valve hired him to play Gordon proper it would feel odd because I doubt they'd let him be his Gordon. They'd likely opt for something more traditionally good. And if they did let him play his Gordon a lot of people would probably be really put off by Gordon not only talking but also being just kind of a vain dick.
Honestly I’d be fine if Russell didn’t reappear. He’s a nice comic relief but I don’t know it his constant silly banter would jam well with the typical serious tone of Gordon-led games.
I think Lazlo is a separate character and perhaps was even Russell's apprentice. Being such a helping hand, Russell prized Lazlo with his name being used to login in. Whenever Russell is back to work, he knows that it couldn't have been done without Lazlo every time he logs on.
Maybe he's not mentioned because they're trying to keep him anonymous since the last time he breached the combine network; all but him got captured for interrogation. The advisors can access information directly from a person's brain so having as little people as possible knowing about him and any information about him kept the combine off of him.
russell has to be my favorite half life character - even though he’s not as badass as most of them, he’s really just a guy in way over his head n I adore the way he keeps the world somewhat grounded through his rambles. you’re right about him feeling real in vr - when I played through the game I kept forgetting he was a character and not like, my weird uncle crashing at my house. personally I’ve been headcanoning his last name as odell (according to his manager, even rhys darby doesn’t know russell's last name) but I honestly like the idea of him being recruited by the gman. it’d make a lot of sense - with alyx as his field specialist and gordon as somewhere in between a soldier and a biologist, it’s perfectly reasonable that the gman would need an engineer as well
You know, that does get me wondering, since Portal is also in the Half Life Universe, given the Aperture Science Borealis research ship, did the combine ever attempt a move on their research facility?
according to glados from portal 1, which said she locked up the place from "them" i can ensure she meant the combine. which proves that they indeed tried to break in there.
@@galmax2000 It never did make sense to me that GLADOS could keep the Combine out. Maybe the trans-human arm, but I'm sure an empire that conquered the planet in 7 hours could bust into Aperture if they really wanted to... unless GLADOS keeping them out was merely keeping Aperture hidden and off the Combine's radar, though I'm not sure how that would work. Personally, part of me doesn't like that Portal and Half-Life are connected because Portal is so whimsical and Half-Life is gritty and serious. However, I do have a theory that the Aperture we see in the Portal games is actually an alternate timeline and in the Half-Life timeline, Aperture isn't quite as advanced, with the Borealis being their only achievement to really rival anything Black Mesa ever did.
glados is the smartest thing in the world, plus the entirety of aperture is kilometers underground. It would only take sealing up some sections to ensure that even if they tried to get in, it would take years. @@eternal7912
@@eternal7912seeing as how GLaDOS killed everyone in Aperture, I doubt that Aperture would even *be* on the Combine's radar, no one goes in or out anymore, it's practically an abandoned building. Why would the Combine care really? And everything Aperture did was so secret that no one knows what was even made in those labs, they had portal technology since the 60s but only Aperture knows that. Also I'm sorry but I wouldn't call Portal *whimsical* is it as serious as Half-Life? No. But it's not *Whimsical* you're trapped in a facility being forced to run through tests by a murderous ai (which I should say again, killed the entire staff the minute she was able to) and does nothing but put you down and wish for your downfall. The closest thing to *Whimsical* for Portal would be the Multiplayer story in Portal 2. Just because Portal and Portal 2 have more jokes than the Half Life series doesn't make it Whimsical, whimsical would be GLaDOS saying some shit like "Oopsy Doopsy, it looks like my turrets might shoot you TEE HEE, I sure hope you survive human!"
I wouldn’t say it’s a copy. It bares resemblance to other Eastern European cities, like Kiev, St.Petersburg and even Moscow. It’s kind of a mix of all of them
I had an theory that Russell possibly got capture by the Combine and got turn into An Stalker. That gonna explain why Alyx got strong emotion about an Stalker like in Episode 1, like she have to know that Stalker exist about for an time now.
Knowing something exists and seeing one, point-blank, in your face, that's trying to kill you while it's also the hollowed-out husk of what used to be a human being, would scare the shit out of anybody regardless of who it might be.
I think russel was just at a different rebel base during the events of half life 2 and it’s episodes I mean like the entire combine army ain’t only in Bulgaria or city 17
I personally think the "pw Lazlo" sticky note is there not because it's Russell but more-so because Russell knew Lazlo. In HL2, the rebel who sits by Lazlo's corpse only says *One* of the finest minds of his generation and not *The* which leads me to believe Russell and Lazlo knew each other and were likely friends and so he uses Lazlo's name as a Password. I also don't think Russell disappeared but he was just never mentioned because Gordon never worked with him or even met him. Not to mention Gordon doesn't spend much time in City 17 so it's unlikely he would've stumbled across Russell at any point during the game, this is of course just my explanation for him not really being a character in HL2.
Well if there is a multiverse, perhaps this is a universe where russel didn't exist, but when alyx was presented with a choice by the gman to save her father or not, she didn't actually have the context of the games prior so of course she would choose to save him.
Stumbled across your video today and was expecting you to have way more subscribers! Great edit and love hearing the lore! You inspired me to load up HL:A again today, just had some fun with Jeff!
My theory is: they don't mention Russell in Half-Life 2 Episode Two, because he didn't exist in their timeline. Also Alyx from Half-Life: Alyx is different Alyx. On the end Gman showed Alyx the death of Eli from EP2 timeline, maybe he wouldn't die here in HL:A timeline afterall.
I suspect that Russel ended up at blackmesa east at some point after the events of HL Alyx, where he probably worked on the zero-point-energy gun. as for what happens to him after, that is unknown
It is possible that during the chaos of Half Life 2 and how quickly things were going there was just no mention of Russell and while working along the way he was helping your friends. Not to mention Gorden is generally away from a lot of people and gets in area with little contact as well as situations that cannot allow the mention of Russell. It is possible that as Russell is an asset to the resistance they may keep him mostly a secret incase of collaborators and traitors ratting Russell out. When the Uprising in City 17 happened it is possible he played a huge role is hindering Combine defense efforts and then fled the city to keep himself out of danger this is just my speculation. Half Life 2 looks like everything was going so fast that there would be little time to mention Russell. It could also be that within those 5 years Russell very well may have been put in danger and so it is kept quiet on his wearabouts in order to keep him safe.
Reality is a like a river that springs from many parallels . Alex and Gordon are parallels sharing a pocket reality being called back or entered between The G man and the vort essence . Russel is another parallel
Nah, his character started out as Lazlo but eventually became someone else. If he was actually supposed to be Lazlo, they wouldn't have changed his name like that. I mean can you imagine such a lovable character dying in such an uneventful way after all of the things he went through in HLA? They wouldn't do us dirty like that and they're probably just leaving Lazlo as he was in HL2, a generic npc.
Is it confirmed that Alyx didn’t leave the vault? I think nothing indicates that and more so, SPOILERS in the new ending for Ep2 G-man takes then present Alyx, not one that he teleported from the Vault to kill the advisor. It could be so that Alyx left the vault that disappeared and G-man made sure everyone forgot about the events of Alyx, then it went on like in HL2 and episodes except for the different ending, and Russel probably kept working maintaining low profile, hence why Freeman never heard of him during the game.
2:28 Most of the Power Rangers originated from New Zeeland , they filmed a few seasons there even actors, and games , so that s not good enough, besides , this may well have been a parallel Earth or timeline that suits The G man s targets
dont we see/meet russel on the.... whatever the coast dlc/game was for hl2? idk why but its always been weird to me, how ya sorta get this extra chunk of story that doesnt really do much (that im aware of)
@@Skyrionn Yeah, Alyx Beta mentions that Laszlo was to be reused, rest in peace Edit: just got to the part where you mention this, so clarified it for me.
Quartermaster = person or individual who is in charge of providing supplies to a group or organization This would mean russ was tasked by the Combine to issue supplies or gear to members of the CWU (civil workers union)
It’s implied that headcrabs are omnivores as Dr. Recliner’s headcrab really likes watermelons. I have no clue of what fruits or veggies existed in Xen though
Maybe he was sent to Borealis to bring information to Eli (or maybe was tortured and killed brutally there), that's why Eli wanted us to destroy Borealis.
Ok idk if it was just me but as Alyx entered the vault it sounded like the combine might’ve found where Russel and Elie were at so ether they died right there or nova prospek where they also probably died but I guess it doesn’t really matter
I wish they kept his name as Lazlo, I love the idea that a random NPC you accidentally kill in one game is placed in a prequel and given a personality, and an important role in the prequal just to fuck with the payer and make them retroactively feel guilty for accidentally killing that character in a previous game.
@@Skyrionn Sadly we may never truly know, Valve isn't known for giving out information about characters that aren't shown in the game they came from. Maybe when someone who worked on the story for Alyx leaves the company they may do what Mark did and write a story with swapped out names based on what it was going to be like.
I'm not sure if others notice, but when you upgrade the pistol in Alyx, it looks like hers in HL2, but since Alyx was put in stasis at the end, how would she have the same pistol in HL2? Unless she was sent off by the Gman
I think Russell only exists in the alternate dimension that HL:A takes place in. A different version of earth with different people in it doing similar things.
I believe Russell doesn’t exist in the original HL timeline/universe. Personally believe there’s a HL2 multiverse and Russell is in the Alyx universe only, in that one where alyx is now missing because of the gman and Gordon of that universe has to fight the combine without her potentially dooming him.
I think Laszlo is just a coward nerd claiming he is a genius and the finest mind of the generation but the real thing is he is faking his identity so that other people will protect him 😂 just like Eugene from Walking Dead series .. and Laszlo became popular because of other people spreading rumors about this finest mind of the generation 😂😂😂 he is as popular as Gordon Freeman .. I also think G-Man took Russel and put him into stasis or sent him to another dimension timeline or sent him to Borealis
![โฮ่ง! (SUGOI) - LYKN [ OFFICIAL MV ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nFp4zjAARFs/mqdefault.jpg)
What if Gman was the reason that Russell's application was rejected? He could have needed Russell to survive the conquest of Earth so that he could help Alyx in her journey. Rejecting the application ensured he survived the Black Mesa Incident.
I hadn't even thought of that. Good thought!
This could even go in the timeline theory. If hl:a is in a different timeline, maybe the g-man made sure for his application to be rejected to that he wouldn't die in the black mesa incident. This is probably going too far though
@@me67galaxylife honestly I think it's a different timeline, at least my interpretation is that, half life 2 and beyond still happened after alyx, just that, gman goes back in time to influence half life alyx and the timeline splits off I mean Gman has already been shown to be able to stop time, as seen in half life 2 as well as transport people through different periods of time, like in half life alyx, and to some degree in half life 2's opening when he shows you the black mesa incident, I feel like he knew in all honesty I wouldn't be surprised if this was where valve planned to take the series this whole time, because I mean, if you look at the half life series, whenever both gordon and alyx have faced certain death, gman always found a way to save Alyx, even during the black mesa incident, I feel like Alyx was integral to the plan the whole time gman just had to figure at what point would be best to recruit her, so he went back through the timeline and 5 years before half life 2 waas deemed the best time by his employers
honestly with the way that Gman, has always saved alyx from certain death when he saved gordon, even though Alyx had nothing to do with his employers' interests, during the previous games, part of me almost feels as though valve was planning this approach from the start
@@ThaMxUp the Vortigaunts saved her in Episode 1 and 2. GMan didn't seem to pleased with their intervention
He's probably just in his apartment during the events of HL2, taking care of a few things behind the scenes. like how Barney can call up Kleiner without tipping off Overwatch, bet that's partly Russell's work. Then when shit started going belly up, he went off to White Forest and just didn't cross paths with Alyx and Gordon.
Probably meant Alyx again while she got kleiner out of city 17 and she helped get russial out.
“The city is going to be leveled!”
“Hang on I gotta transport the whole of the internet.”
@@Awfulfeature The fact he saved the internet man I glad russial saved the internet. Because since the half life games out I was sure the internet was lost semi in off mode with most people to operate dead or not allowed too access it and it would not be till after the combine were at least beaten enough that it be brought back by people like russial no doubt russial had to make sure he got all his computer systems and hard curves everything with the help of the rebels working with him and are with him as well as Alex and kliner helping move all the systems of the internet humanity online future for information acesss and knowledge of the past and entertainment (music and u tube videos clearly would be still on it along with many other info sites) onto trains out of City 17 to the rebel military bases like White Forest.
@@mysterythekitsune2988 You ever heard of comma?
@@zabunko commas add extra time to typing make it take to long much easier to leave all comma outa sentence
Possibly Russel doesn't die. But disappears, either captured by the combine, the gman or just lost in the wasteland. And since you play as Gordon in ep 2 you don't know who he is, thus the resistance don't mention him. But you'll find him wherever he's hidden in ep3.
It would be lame to kill off such an important character off screen
I hope to see him in a potential future installment
@@Skyrionn I gonna dare and say, that after the new ending of EP2 basically... Russel gonna show up and help Eli and Gordon get Alyx back from the Gman, probably even saving humanity on the way and preventing The Combine getting the teleportation technology from the Borealis.
My headcanon is that he got turned into a stalker, which would give a deeper meaning to the emotional reaction Alyx had when seeing the stalkers in ep1.
Ep3 xD
Talk about important, that man downloaded the entire internet before the Combine invaded, shit's valuable
It could also connect to how Alyx acts around stalkers.
One of the theories says that he got captured and turned into a stalker, which probably scarred Alyx for life as you can see in EP1.
Stalkers are creepy af, I think you'd be spooked by them, even if your friends weren't turned into one
I hate that thought but it truly could be a possibility.
@@3rdnusskern yes that's also a fact. As i said its just a theory.
@@czechcrusader6461 A game theory! Sorry, I had to. I couldn't resist the opportunity.
@@ashleycat4 i love this comment :D
Since there's the theory around of Half-Life Alyx being a alternative timeline, it's possible the reason why Russell doesn't appear in Half-Life 2 is because he doesn't exist in that universe to make it a bit sense. He most likely only existed to assist Alyx in the HL:A timeline. I discussed a conversation before that there's 2 different timelines of Half-Life and how it goes.
Half-Life Alyx: (Created by the Gman)
Half-Life 1 - Half-Life Alyx - Half-Life 2 Alyx (Mainly Half-Life 2 but actually a sequel to Alyx) HLA and Half-Life 2 are different from settings and gameplay.
Real timeline:
Half-Life 1, Half-Life 2 and its episodes. This is basically barely of the HLA stuff is seen in Half-Life 2 like Xen infestation, the Combine Units, and none of the stuff being mentioned like the Vault or others.
Just a thought of mine
I think that the Vault is what branched the timelines.
My theory is that in the original timeline, Gordon failed to stop the Combine from capturing the Borealis. The ship likely contains some sort of time-portal device, similar to what was described in Epistle 3. So the Combine reverse-engineered it into a time-traveling prison, that they then use to capture the G-Man.
This is likely why the G-Man wants to replace Gordon, since he probably refused to help him for letting Eli die. The G-Man and his employers most likely wanted the Borealis, just like they wanted Xen. So now he's going to use Eli's life a bargain to get Alyx to help him capture the ship.
I think is just one linear timeline, after saving her father the 19 years old Alyx have her memory of the G-man wipe and was put back in her own time while G-Man took the 24 years old Alyx.
@@eragonbromsson1122 sometimes the simpliest theory is the correct one
to combo this with another commenter's theory what if Russel was hired by Black Mesa in the original timeline and died in the incident? Maybe in the Alyx timeline Russel's application was rejected by interference from the Gman so he could make the gloves and give Alyx the vital help?
@@eragonbromsson1122 cleaner and more elegant
Apologies about the voiceover quality this week! I attempted to fix it but wouldn't work! Should be better next video!
Enjoy the video!
Update: The title is a joke based on the loose connection between Russell and Laszlo :)
Update 2: Thanks for your suggestions. The latest videos have a much better audio now. Thank you!
Cool video dude nice job!
One of the things I must say is that, you questioned why Russel wasn't mentioned in the previous Half Life games before Alyx, and well... My justification to that is simply down to the fact that Russel was added in during the development of Half Life Alyx. So... While I'd say it wouldn't be unlikely that Valve would have gone out of their way to update the other three games to include mentions of Russel, I would expect them to probably not try that in fear of ruining those games even further than they need to be.
İts sooo good compared to my voice quality in my vids lool
9:05
"Hmm, these suspiciously thick wires seem to lead to the other side of this wall. Oh well, must be some normal human architecture."
-The dudes assigned to search the house.
My theory is that Russel worked at Aperture and contributed to the Borealis, but a fatal mistake on his part caused it to disappear, which got him fired. Some years later he applied for their competitor, Black Mesa but got rejected, and the rest of the story plays out as normal but between the events of HL:A and HL2 he detects some evidence that the borealis may still exist and went off on his own to look for it, using prior knowledge from working on it to aid him. Mossman and other resistance members take his place in his absence and try to locate the borealis, not even sure if it’s real. Perhaps in the sequel to HL:A you play as Gordon and travel to the Borealis with Eli who, moved by Alyx’s sudden disappearance by the gman’s manipulation of the timeline decides to use the technology on the Borealis to kill the gman. Perhaps on your travel toward the ship, you encounter Russel who aids you in locating and entering the ship
I would love to see an end to Adrian's story arc too. Maybe have G-Man send Adrian out of stasis to stop Freeman from interfering with his plans. But I still feel like Eli's number 1 priority will be to get his daughter back, but he still wants to put an end to the Combine on Earth. I don't think killing G-Man will ever be a possibility.
You know with HL:A on the main story i get the idea that Russel did survived and worked together with Eli to create the gravity gun.
Just a thought, i have no evidence about it even if the idea seems pritty logic.
Having Russel in next game with Gordon will somehow be worthy for Gordon to talk, like Alyx did.
In that case could Valve hire Ross Scott for the voice acting.
Ross is the voice in my head for Gordon when I play(not that gordon actually talks, but you know what i mean), but I feel like if Valve hired him to play Gordon proper it would feel odd because I doubt they'd let him be his Gordon. They'd likely opt for something more traditionally good. And if they did let him play his Gordon a lot of people would probably be really put off by Gordon not only talking but also being just kind of a vain dick.
Honestly I’d be fine if Russell didn’t reappear. He’s a nice comic relief but I don’t know it his constant silly banter would jam well with the typical serious tone of Gordon-led games.
I think Lazlo is a separate character and perhaps was even Russell's apprentice. Being such a helping hand, Russell prized Lazlo with his name being used to login in. Whenever Russell is back to work, he knows that it couldn't have been done without Lazlo every time he logs on.
Maybe he's not mentioned because they're trying to keep him anonymous since the last time he breached the combine network; all but him got captured for interrogation.
The advisors can access information directly from a person's brain so having as little people as possible knowing about him and any information about him kept the combine off of him.
0:09 when this background music started playing I got instant goosebumps. I love this whole universe.
It was crafted so well
russell has to be my favorite half life character - even though he’s not as badass as most of them, he’s really just a guy in way over his head n I adore the way he keeps the world somewhat grounded through his rambles. you’re right about him feeling real in vr - when I played through the game I kept forgetting he was a character and not like, my weird uncle crashing at my house. personally I’ve been headcanoning his last name as odell (according to his manager, even rhys darby doesn’t know russell's last name) but I honestly like the idea of him being recruited by the gman. it’d make a lot of sense - with alyx as his field specialist and gordon as somewhere in between a soldier and a biologist, it’s perfectly reasonable that the gman would need an engineer as well
You know, that does get me wondering, since Portal is also in the Half Life Universe, given the Aperture Science Borealis research ship, did the combine ever attempt a move on their research facility?
according to glados from portal 1, which said she locked up the place from "them" i can ensure she meant the combine. which proves that they indeed tried to break in there.
yeah glados said that she has no idea whats going on on the surface but she knows that she is the only thing protecting the facility from "them"
@@galmax2000 It never did make sense to me that GLADOS could keep the Combine out. Maybe the trans-human arm, but I'm sure an empire that conquered the planet in 7 hours could bust into Aperture if they really wanted to... unless GLADOS keeping them out was merely keeping Aperture hidden and off the Combine's radar, though I'm not sure how that would work.
Personally, part of me doesn't like that Portal and Half-Life are connected because Portal is so whimsical and Half-Life is gritty and serious. However, I do have a theory that the Aperture we see in the Portal games is actually an alternate timeline and in the Half-Life timeline, Aperture isn't quite as advanced, with the Borealis being their only achievement to really rival anything Black Mesa ever did.
glados is the smartest thing in the world, plus the entirety of aperture is kilometers underground. It would only take sealing up some sections to ensure that even if they tried to get in, it would take years. @@eternal7912
@@eternal7912seeing as how GLaDOS killed everyone in Aperture, I doubt that Aperture would even *be* on the Combine's radar, no one goes in or out anymore, it's practically an abandoned building. Why would the Combine care really?
And everything Aperture did was so secret that no one knows what was even made in those labs, they had portal technology since the 60s but only Aperture knows that.
Also I'm sorry but I wouldn't call Portal *whimsical* is it as serious as Half-Life? No. But it's not *Whimsical* you're trapped in a facility being forced to run through tests by a murderous ai (which I should say again, killed the entire staff the minute she was able to) and does nothing but put you down and wish for your downfall.
The closest thing to *Whimsical* for Portal would be the Multiplayer story in Portal 2. Just because Portal and Portal 2 have more jokes than the Half Life series doesn't make it Whimsical, whimsical would be GLaDOS saying some shit like "Oopsy Doopsy, it looks like my turrets might shoot you TEE HEE, I sure hope you survive human!"
I love the little easter eggs the Bulgarian director of the game left around. Bless you Viktor Antonov.
Edit: The whole City17 is a copy of София!
Another feature that makes Half-Life: Alyx great
Sofia the capital of Bulgaria
I was honestly expecting Ukraine, probably because of it's Chernobyl-esc theme.
I wouldn’t say it’s a copy. It bares resemblance to other Eastern European cities, like Kiev, St.Petersburg and even Moscow. It’s kind of a mix of all of them
@@nologic06 And the train station at the beginning of HL2 is mostly based on the Western Train Station in Budapest, Hungary.
I had an theory that Russell possibly got capture by the Combine and got turn into An Stalker. That gonna explain why Alyx got strong emotion about an Stalker like in Episode 1, like she have to know that Stalker exist about for an time now.
Knowing something exists and seeing one, point-blank, in your face, that's trying to kill you while it's also the hollowed-out husk of what used to be a human being, would scare the shit out of anybody regardless of who it might be.
Moment of silence for our homie Lazlo. R.I.P.
I think the Gman inserted Gordon on the train in the beginning of Half Life 2 coincidently right when Kleiner finished his teleport
I think russel was just at a different rebel base during the events of half life 2 and it’s episodes I mean like the entire combine army ain’t only in Bulgaria or city 17
big brain time
I personally think the "pw Lazlo" sticky note is there not because it's Russell but more-so because Russell knew Lazlo. In HL2, the rebel who sits by Lazlo's corpse only says *One* of the finest minds of his generation and not *The* which leads me to believe Russell and Lazlo knew each other and were likely friends and so he uses Lazlo's name as a Password.
I also don't think Russell disappeared but he was just never mentioned because Gordon never worked with him or even met him. Not to mention Gordon doesn't spend much time in City 17 so it's unlikely he would've stumbled across Russell at any point during the game, this is of course just my explanation for him not really being a character in HL2.
This channel deserves many more views, likes, subs and comments. Really underrated!
Thanks so much. I really appreciate that!
Everyone knows that in the The Orange Box universe all Kiwis drowned in 1972
I thought Russell was Australian
Well if there is a multiverse, perhaps this is a universe where russel didn't exist, but when alyx was presented with a choice by the gman to save her father or not, she didn't actually have the context of the games prior so of course she would choose to save him.
That thought had crossed my mind - kind of a "What If" scenario where how different the world would be if Russell had existed
The timeline where Eli dies is the world where Laszlo guided Alyx instead of Russel.
Stumbled across your video today and was expecting you to have way more subscribers! Great edit and love hearing the lore! You inspired me to load up HL:A again today, just had some fun with Jeff!
My theory is: they don't mention Russell in Half-Life 2 Episode Two, because he didn't exist in their timeline. Also Alyx from Half-Life: Alyx is different Alyx. On the end Gman showed Alyx the death of Eli from EP2 timeline, maybe he wouldn't die here in HL:A timeline afterall.
I suspect that Russel ended up at blackmesa east at some point after the events of HL Alyx, where he probably worked on the zero-point-energy gun. as for what happens to him after, that is unknown
**downloads the whole internet**
Shouldn't take too long.... right..?
Sure, Russel is smart. But what about Laszlo? Now that was the finest mind of his generation!
It is possible that during the chaos of Half Life 2 and how quickly things were going there was just no mention of Russell and while working along the way he was helping your friends. Not to mention Gorden is generally away from a lot of people and gets in area with little contact as well as situations that cannot allow the mention of Russell. It is possible that as Russell is an asset to the resistance they may keep him mostly a secret incase of collaborators and traitors ratting Russell out. When the Uprising in City 17 happened it is possible he played a huge role is hindering Combine defense efforts and then fled the city to keep himself out of danger this is just my speculation. Half Life 2 looks like everything was going so fast that there would be little time to mention Russell. It could also be that within those 5 years Russell very well may have been put in danger and so it is kept quiet on his wearabouts in order to keep him safe.
Reality is a like a river that springs from many parallels . Alex and Gordon are parallels sharing a pocket reality being called back or entered between The G man and the vort essence . Russel is another parallel
galunga
galungs
Galunga
I'm pretty sure its commonly inferred by the community that Lazlo is Russel so that the man who was killed by an antlion is indeed Russel.
Nah, his character started out as Lazlo but eventually became someone else. If he was actually supposed to be Lazlo, they wouldn't have changed his name like that. I mean can you imagine such a lovable character dying in such an uneventful way after all of the things he went through in HLA? They wouldn't do us dirty like that and they're probably just leaving Lazlo as he was in HL2, a generic npc.
@@tricursor2481 lazlo was the finest kind of his generation tho
Laszlo is asian, which I'm pretty sure Russell is not.
Is it confirmed that Alyx didn’t leave the vault? I think nothing indicates that and more so, SPOILERS
in the new ending for Ep2 G-man takes then present Alyx, not one that he teleported from the Vault to kill the advisor. It could be so that Alyx left the vault that disappeared and G-man made sure everyone forgot about the events of Alyx, then it went on like in HL2 and episodes except for the different ending, and Russel probably kept working maintaining low profile, hence why Freeman never heard of him during the game.
And maybe Russell will save the day in a potential future game!
0:39 G-Man On the Right Bottom Corner
You caught that ;)
3:25 "You downloaded the entire internet."
Poor laszlo he was the finest of his generation gone in an instant!
2:28 Most of the Power Rangers originated from New Zeeland , they filmed a few seasons there even actors, and games , so that s not good enough, besides , this may well have been a parallel Earth or timeline that suits The G man s targets
dont we see/meet russel on the.... whatever the coast dlc/game was for hl2?
idk why but its always been weird to me, how ya sorta get this extra chunk of story that doesnt really do much (that im aware of)
Bruh, you never think the aliens are going to come from a different dimension.
wonder what happened to the moon and the ISS during everything
ayo born in new Zealand... SHEESH THAT'S I WAS BORN!
Good video, but Russel isnt the finest mind of the generation is Laszlo
That was the joke 😂 😂 because there's a loose link between them
@@Skyrionn Yeah, Alyx Beta mentions that Laszlo was to be reused, rest in peace
Edit: just got to the part where you mention this, so clarified it for me.
Quartermaster = person or individual who is in charge of providing supplies to a group or organization
This would mean russ was tasked by the Combine to issue supplies or gear to members of the CWU (civil workers union)
Russell is Freeman from the future who rebelled against G-Man. That is why he disappeared after Freeman arrived on that train in City 17
What did headcrabs zombified in xen before they encountered humans?
It’s implied that headcrabs are omnivores as Dr. Recliner’s headcrab really likes watermelons. I have no clue of what fruits or veggies existed in Xen though
He hanging out with the Bullsquids in HL2
Maybe he was sent to Borealis to bring information to Eli (or maybe was tortured and killed brutally there), that's why Eli wanted us to destroy Borealis.
Russel is behind Aperture Science...
He’s pretty smart, but Laszlo can’t be beat.
Glad I found your channel!
his profession was probably a combine scientist judging by his yellow part profession his outfit and lazslo concept art
Ok idk if it was just me but as Alyx entered the vault it sounded like the combine might’ve found where Russel and Elie were at so ether they died right there or nova prospek where they also probably died but I guess it doesn’t really matter
you rorgor about the third doctor who survived. Magnusson.
As a new zealander i am inspired by russel
did you also know russel is a town in new zealand?
What if hl alyx is in a different timeline where lazlow is russel.
Russell was actually kicked out if the resistance after he required any user of his gloves to have a Facebook account
I wish they kept his name as Lazlo, I love the idea that a random NPC you accidentally kill in one game is placed in a prequel and given a personality, and an important role in the prequal just to fuck with the payer and make them retroactively feel guilty for accidentally killing that character in a previous game.
I think they are intended to be different characters. I'd hate to think Russell went out that way
@@Skyrionn Sadly we may never truly know, Valve isn't known for giving out information about characters that aren't shown in the game they came from. Maybe when someone who worked on the story for Alyx leaves the company they may do what Mark did and write a story with swapped out names based on what it was going to be like.
As thinking about this while watching my friend play through alyx
I was always curious what happend to him since he was really funny and seemed close to alyx in hla
0:00 I 100% through you were the voice of the cyclops sub from subnautica.
laszlo is the finest mind of his generation
I'm not sure if others notice, but when you upgrade the pistol in Alyx, it looks like hers in HL2, but since Alyx was put in stasis at the end, how would she have the same pistol in HL2? Unless she was sent off by the Gman
Laszlo may be his codename
Such a shame that TF2 doesn't take place before the black mesa incident.
It was you, New Zealand.
Great job
Thanks my dude
Pretty sure he’s just Lazlo Russell
How did you know his job
Lazlo: Am I a joke to you?
What is this audio? It just makes it hard to listen to. I'd just rerecord it, all your other videos have such great quality
Russel was o e of my favorite think about hl alyx.
Alyx! The code! The secret music industry code!
I think Russell only exists in the alternate dimension that HL:A takes place in. A different version of earth with different people in it doing similar things.
Good thought. It could make sense.
i thought Lazlo was the finest mind of it's generation 🤔🤔🤔
I believe Russell doesn’t exist in the original HL timeline/universe. Personally believe there’s a HL2 multiverse and Russell is in the Alyx universe only, in that one where alyx is now missing because of the gman and Gordon of that universe has to fight the combine without her potentially dooming him.
You forgot Lazlo!
"... and various other classified research."
WHAT various other classified research?
TOP various other classified research.....
Gordon Freeman's dad
you think?
laszlow seems to have a rival
maybe
Russell Laszlo
It's weird how citizens ain't got uniforms in alyx and then 5 years later they did
it wouldn't make any sense if russel is lazslo cuz if he was lazslo he would be young
Nice
Thanks!
I think lászló might be hungarian
Yes.
8:42 that's literally Russian for "intention" tho
Why is the volume so low?
Finally portable Wikipedia
Lazlo Russel
Why wasn’t dr kliener
someone tell me
The coolest commenter ever | MatthewGamer12 | Full Half-Life Lore
We have half life alex now whers half life barny
ah yes odell but not
my like and comment
Rusal
I wonder why Pewds hates him so much
calling russel the finest mind of his generation? you forgot the random civvie on the rocks that gets killed by antlions in HL2
You missed the joke 😂 I explained why it is called this in the video towards the end ☺
bro russell sounds 15 and looks 40
nah nah the actual finest mind of a generation was laszlo
ay 4 minsago
Early!
@@Skyrionn ik
I think Laszlo is just a coward nerd claiming he is a genius and the finest mind of the generation but the real thing is he is faking his identity so that other people will protect him 😂 just like Eugene from Walking Dead series .. and Laszlo became popular because of other people spreading rumors about this finest mind of the generation 😂😂😂 he is as popular as Gordon Freeman ..
I also think G-Man took Russel and put him into stasis or sent him to another dimension timeline or sent him to Borealis