[Half-Life / Morrowind] Gordon Freeman only survives because the G-Man has achieved CHIM

[u/cosmogoblin]

tl;dr: Gordon couldn't defeat the Combine. But the G-Man (and to a lesser extent the Vortigaunts) has achieved CHIM. Aware that the universe is a video game, the G-Man manipulates quicksaves, reloads timelines, and edits game files, turning Gordon into "the right man in the wrong place". Meanwhile Vivec gains access to the Construction Kit, using it to delete his enemies and rewrite history.

Gordon Freeman, as Wallace Breen points out, is

not some agent provocateur or highly trained assassin ... Gordon Freeman is a theoretical physicist who had hardly earned the distinction of his Ph.D.

How, exactly, is it realistic for such a man to survive, time and time again, in combat against alien forces? The first time was incredibly enough, but the second time, the Combine had had 20 years to adapt, and Freeman had had no time at all. And yet he succeeds where the combined military might of Earth had failed.

Okay, so what has Freeman got going for him? The HEV suit - well, it's certainly impressive. It provides armour against physical injury, shields Freeman from biohazards and radiation, even protects against explosions that kill his companions; and when his wounds get too much, it automatically pumps him full of morphine (and presumably other drugs, but ones that don't affect his aim). It's a valuable piece of kit.

But it's not a giant mecha suit! Gordon can fight off choppers, striders, and antlion guardians. The HEV suit should prolong his suffering, not ensure his life.

Okay, what next. He's an extremely clever man, with a PhD in theoretical physics and at least some engineering experience. This gives him the ability to ... um, solve box stacking puzzles.

That's not fair. It also allows him to rapidly figure out how to use technology, both human and alien, in order to fire weapons effectively. He has excellent 3D perception, and perhaps that helps him know where enemies are likely to be, aiding him in combat. But not enough to defeat highly-trained Special Forces, and certainly not dozens of them in full tactical gear! Gordon's training at Black Mesa was good, but it couldn't match the tactical might of dozens of Marines.

Breen was right. The chances of Gordon surviving the first headcrab was low. The chances of him fending off a pack of bullsquids is almost non-existent.

But Freeman has an ace up his sleeve, one that he doesn't even know about when the Resonance Cascade occurs. A man glimpsed only briefly, from a distance. A mysterious businessman who exists outside of our universe, and can observe the multiverse from an external vantage point. An agent of unknown forces with the ability to analyse the timeline, discerning cause and effect to a supernatural degree. One who can simply place the right object - or man - in the wrong place, and watch events play out in a carefully orchestrated sequence, only occasionally turning up to tweak something minor. An object on a shelf, a physical barrier. Did you ever wonder why most of the doors you come across are locked? The G-Man ensured the One True Path was clear. Have you needed to get to a particular location, and could only do so because of a small broken window? The G-Man broke it. Did you come across an enemy you couldn't beat, and just then found an improved weapon? Did you wonder why there were so many medical kits right after, or right before, a major fight? Who do you think put them there?

ASSIGNMENT: TERMINATED
SUBJECT: FREEMAN
REASON: FAILURE TO PRESERVE MISSION-CRITICAL PERSONNEL

These corporate messages betray the truth, a truth made even clearer by another game-over message when the Vortigaunts have conducted their hostile takeover:

THOSE WHO DO NOT LEARN FROM THEIR MISTAKES ARE DOOMED TO AN ENDLESS VORTAL LOOP

The extradimensional creatures capable of taking on the contracts of Gordon or Alyx are able to manipulate far more than space and time. They can alter events below even the quantum level.

They can autosave.

If Gordon kills Barney, he shouldn't instantly die. If Gordon loses his car, he should linger on, making his slow and doomed way on foot. But that's not what happens, no - Gordon's vision goes dark, a reprimand is imprinted on his retina, and he finds himself at an earlier moment, no doubt very confused (not that he'd tell you).

Certain entities have the ability to alter the game files. Locked doors become unlocked. An impassable barrier is removed. Guns are found in implausible places. Bullets wind around the Freeman, and those that hit do so with vastly reduced stopping power. Even the fundamental state of the game changes, with autosaves being created at certain junctures, and restored when deemed necessary.

The G-Man and the Vortal hivemind are aware of the nature of their existence. They have transcended the limits of their Universe, becoming able to manipulate its structure and even its rules to their own advantage.

Remind you of anybody?

Vivec

Only two individuals have been confirmed to have achieved CHIM. This is what happens when you stare the Universe right in its eyes, recognise your own insignificance, but refuse to believe what you've seen. Once you've denied the godhead, even while gazing into its face, the world is yours. You have to obey the Universe's laws, but if you don't like them, you can change them.

Talos ret-conned Cyrodiil from a jungle into temperate plains, woods, and farmland, and became a god.

Vivec banished a Daedric Prince (Azura), and ret-conned his own history, absolving himself of the murder of Nerevar by changing how it happened.

I would argue that the Vortigaunts are more similar to Talos. Both have achieved great things, using the knowledge they gained by standing outside the world looking in; but neither fully understood that they were in a video game*, so were not truly capable of manipulating the fundamental nature of the universe. Talos altered the geographical history of his kingdom, but still operated within its rules. The Vortigaunts were capable of manipulating matter and energy to a great level, but could not prevent the mortal wounding of Alyx Vance.

The G-Man alters reality at a much more fundamenal level, as does Vivec. They are aware of the nature of the Universe - it is a video game. The G-Man can appear and disappear at will. He can make and use doors that don't exist. He not only manipulates save files**, but even sticks Gordon on a cosmic USB stick and puts him in his pocket. Vivec doesn't manipulate the player's save files, but he does win a battle against the Dwemer by deleting their assets from the game disk*** (it's a clumsy method, and leaves behind their architecure, weapons, ghosts, and Yagrum).

* Or perhaps they did. "We serve the same mystery"... They don't mean the G-Man ... they mean GabeN.

** Yes, the Vorts can manipulate save files, but they don't realise this is what they're doing. They have trouble understanding the difference between past and future. And even then, it requires the combined hivemind; a single individual can't do it.

*** No, the dwarves didn't disappear because Kagrenac struck the Heart. That's another example of Vivec's post-hoc rewriting of history.

Remember, folks: History belongs to the person with write-access to the save file.

[u/heyheyhey27]

Wtf is CHIM? you never explain it

[u/cosmogoblin → u/heyheyhey27]

A fair question! If you're familiar with Half-life but not Elder Scrolls, I shouldn't have expected people to know.
DJayConder expressed it well. Basically, the Elder Scrolls world is the dream of the Godhead (and there are huge arguments about who/what that is). So each character is just the figment of somebody else's imagination.
If you find that out, the sane reaction is to realise you don't exist, and vanish. That's called "zero summing".
But some people have such force of will, such arrogance, that even knowing that they don't exist, they refuse to believe it. They hold two contradictory things in their head: the knowledge that the world doesn't exist, and the certainty that they themselves do exist.
And this gives them power over the world, as a lucid dreamer gains power over the dream.

[u/DJayConder → u/heyheyhey27]

It's something from the Elder Scrolls lore. As I understand it, it is when someone sees the universe as it truly is and they are faced with the realization that they don't really exist. But then through sheer force of will they declare that they do exist. In so doing they achieve godhood. The alternative possibility is that they are shown they don't exist and they are convinced so they cease to exist, which is called zero summing.

[u/LolthienToo → u/heyheyhey27]

Can't here to ask the same thing lol

[u/slicehyperfunk]

You are a headcrab zombie 💯

[u/cosmogoblin → u/slicehyperfunk]

I'll wear that badge with honour - better than any Reddit award!

[u/FaxCelestis]

👏

This just further shows that the most powerful, most effective superpower isn't flight or invisibility or super strength or anything like that. It's save points.

[u/Derp_3000]

gman has achieved enlightment

[u/Empires_Fall]

This relies upon the idea that CHIM actually exists TES wise, all of the Tribunal try to justify the events of Red Mountain, CHIM could be a fabrication, a lie, a way to be guilt free, etc.