"its safer here" key word, safer. notice how he didnt say "its safe here"

_Let me remind all citizens of the dangers of magical thinking._

You know, he really does talk to you like you're an adult

Gman is literally just a server admin giving Gordon hacks lol.

5:28 Breen is aware of Gordon's stasis. This is outrageously interesting.

R.I.P. Robert Culp, you made a badass doctor dictator.

Breen calling Gordon "just an ordinary man" almost has the exact opposite effect than what was intended. If he with his amazing accomplishments is just an ordinary man, just imagine what every other citizen could accomplish!

"Oh and if you see Breen, tell him 'fuck you'." - Barney Calhoun 2004

I remember stopping somewhere safe in the middle of the game just to listen to him speak

Be wise. Be safe. Be aware.

I REALLY like Dr Breen as an antagonist. He’s no GLaDOS or Andrew Ryan, but he is a brilliant character, in large part because he isn’t particularly cruel or even powerful. You listen to his speeches to the populous of City 17 and it’s awkward, even slightly weak. He’s just a man forced into an terrible situation and who’s taken advantage of it to improve his own standard of living while the rest live in oppression and bondage. He also seems to acknowledge that humanity have little chance of overcoming the Combine and believes that humanity’s only future left is to become a slave species to the galaxy-conquering Universal Union. The man may seem powerful or threatening in some scenes but he is just that - an ordinary man - a puppet of forces far beyond his control. This is brilliantly shown in his speeches, especially those around the city, with a dialogue that even he doesn’t seem to believe, and within Nova Prospekt, wherein despite his authoritativeness around the soldiers, it’s clear he fears for himself and the rest of humanity, too, if they fail.

You have chosen or been chosen.

Damn...Who ever wrote these speeches could get a job writing speeches for the damn President of the US

"How could one man have slipped through your force's finger time and time again?" I think they were badly informed about how to fight a human tank.

Honestly Breen isn’t a stone cold villain. He negotiated a peace deal and clearly wants humanity to survive, and he doesn’t actually consider himself part of the Combine; he serves as the intermediary between Earth and the Combine, and if he wasn’t around, who knows what would’ve happened to humanity. What makes him an antagonist is that he is too cowardly in a sense, he isn’t willing to fight back and thinks humanity has no hope, which would’ve been accurate had the super portals not been closed in Episode 2. I think he is a very interesting villain

Breen knew how strong the combine forces were. Marc Laidlaw had created a draft storyline for Episode 3, in which it was revealed that the combine are so powerful (not the transhuman forces, but the actual combine military) that they control entire stars and use them as generators for producing military equipment, that they don't control just planets, but they control entire universes. The only reason Gordon had any chance, ANY CHANCE, was because the full might of the combine military was never brought to bear against him. He was fighting a relatively small force of augmented humans, he never contended with the combine war machine that lay waste to Earth in 7 hours. The main writers of Half Life intended to show this in Ep 3, but it was never shown - that, in their full might, fighting against the combine is as futile as trying to drain the ocean with a plastic pail. Kleiner even says this himself in Episode 2 - after the destruction of the Citadel, he warns that the combine are going to send a retaliatory strike force - and instead of laying waste to Earth in 7 hours, it will probabaly destroy everyone in 7 minutes. Their only hope was to close the portal. Breen knew the extent of combine might. He gathered (rationally) that trying to oppose them would likely be completely futile and result in the extinction of humanity. Gordon never lived through the 7 hour war. He never saw how close the combine came to completely eradicating humanity - and by all the lore given in the games, the easily could have. Any force that controls stars, builds dyson spheres and has the cability of tunnelling through the fabric of dimensions, as the combine can, could very likely destroy a planet - at the very least, they could probably drop bombs far more powerful than nuclear weapons on earth until it became uninhabitable. Breen is somewhat evil - he did more evil than he had to, but make no mistake, he GENUINELY thought his methods were the best methods to save and, indeed, even enhance humanity.

Doctor Breen really has a point here. It looks like Gordon Freeman had adopted some... Questionable Ethics.

The auto captions actually recognize Black Mesa as a location, by capitalizing the words. I am happy.

Cave Johnson, Wallace Breen, the announcer The voices of Valve

Oh yeah, and R.I.P. Robert Culp. You've made your mark on the video gaming community. May your rest be forever peaceful. :,)

His message to the Overwatch Human branch seems to suggest that the soldiers are 1. Self aware despite their condition 2. They're ultimately fighting for the survival of the very people they oppress.

Gordon Freeman, and ordinary man. Yeah, cause the average Joe has a PhD in theoretical physics. Let alone at 27...

It's as if he's talking directly to me.

City 17 Speech - 0:00 Welcome. Welcome to City 17. You have chosen, or been chosen, to relocate to one of our finest remaining urban centers. I thought so much of City 17 that I elected to establish my Administration here, in the Citadel so thoughtfully provided by Our Benefactors. I have been proud to call City 17 my home. And so, whether you are here to stay, or passing through on your way to parts unknown, welcome to City 17. It's safer here. Collaboration Speech - 0:42 It has come to my attention that some have lately called me a collaborator, as if such a term were shameful. I ask you, what greater endeavor exists than that of collaboration? In our current unparalleled enterprise, refusal to collaborate is simply a refusal to grow--an insistence on suicide, if you will. Did the lungfish refuse to breathe air? It did not. It crept forth boldly while its brethren remained in the blackest ocean abyss, with lidless eyes forever staring at the dark, ignorant and doomed despite their eternal vigilance. Would we model ourselves on the trilobite? Are all the accomplishments of humanity fated to be nothing more than a layer of broken plastic shards thinly strewn across a fossil bed, sandwiched between the Burgess shale and an eon's worth of mud? In order to be true to our nature, and our destiny, we must aspire to greater things. We have outgrown our cradle. It is futile to cry for mother's milk, when our true sustenance awaits us among the stars. And only the universal union that small minds call 'The Combine' can carry us there. Therefore I say, yes, I am a collaborator. We must all collaborate, willingly, eagerly, if we expect to reap the benefits of unification. And reap we shall. Gordon Freeman Speech - 2:16 We now have direct confirmation of a disruptor in our midst, one who has acquired an almost messianic reputation in the minds of certain citizens. His figure is synonymous with the darkest urges of instinct, ignorance and decay. Some of the worst excesses of the Black Mesa Incident have been laid directly at his feet. And yet unsophisticated minds continue to imbue him with romantic power, giving him such dangerous poetic labels as the One Free Man, the Opener of the Way. Let me remind all citizens of the dangers of magical thinking. We have scarcely begun to climb from the dark pit of our species' evolution. Let us not slide backward into oblivion, just as we have finally begun to see the light. If you see this so-called Free Man, report him. Civic deeds do not go unrewarded. And contrariwise, complicity with his cause will not go unpunished. Be wise. Be safe. Be aware. Addressing the Overwatch - 3:35 I have been asked to say a few words to the transhuman arm of Sector Seventeen Overwatch, concerning recent successes in containing members of the resistance Science Team. Let me say up front that I regret having to temper my heartfelt congratulations with a strong measure of disappointment. But I wouldn't be doing my duty as your Administrator if I didn't pass along the message I have received from Our Benefactors. The capture of Eli Vance is an event of major significance, make no mistake. And while it's true that conceivably we could have taken him at almost any time in the last several years, the manner of his capture may prove to have unexpected benefits. It cannot have gone unnoticed by all resistance members that Doctor Vance's capture coincided with the act of giving shelter to Gordon Freeman. This might cause other resistance members to think twice before harbouring Doctor Freeman. It might cause them to question his allegiance; even prompt some to turn him out, or turn him over to our cause. However, we cannot count on such developments. Doctor Freeman's reputation is such that other desperate renegades are likely to grant him a great deal of license in the spirit of spreading general chaos and terror. This brings me to the one note of disappointment I must echo from our Benefactors. Obviously I am not on the ground to closely command or second-guess the dedicated forces of the Overwatch, but this does not mean I can shirk responsibility for recent lapses and even outright failures on their part. I have been severely questioned about these shortcomings, and now must put the question to you: How could one man have slipped through your force's fingers time and time again? How is it possible? This is not some agent provocateur or highly trained assassin we are discussing. Gordon Freeman is a theoretical physicist who had hardly earned the distinction of his Ph.D. at the time of the Black Mesa Incident. I have good reason to believe that in the intervening years, he was in a state that precluded further development of covert skills. The man you have consistently failed to slow, let alone capture, is by all standards simply that--an ordinary man. How can you have failed to apprehend him? Well...I will leave the upbraiding for another time, to the extent it proves necessary. Now is the moment to redeem yourselves. If the transhuman forces are to prove themselves an indispensable augmentation to the Combine Overwatch, they will have to earn the privilege. I'm sure I don't have to remind you that the alternative, if you can call it that, is total extinction - in union with all the other unworthy branches of the species. Let's not allow it to come to that. I have done my best to convince Our Benefactors that you are the finest the species has to offer. So far they have accepted my argument, but without concrete evidence to back it up, my words sound increasingly hollow even to me. The burden of proof is on you. As is the consequence of failure. I'll just leave it at that. Addressing Gordon Freeman - 6:57 I'd like to take a moment to address you directly, Dr. Freeman. Yes. I'm talking to you, the so-called One Free Man. I have a question for you. How could you have thrown it all away? It staggers the mind. A man of science, with the ability to sway reactionary and fearful minds toward the truth, choosing instead to embark on a path of ignorance and decay. Make no mistake, Dr. Freeman. This is not a scientific revolution you have sparked...this is death and finality. You have plunged humanity into freefall. Even if you offered your surrender now, I cannot guarantee that Our Benefactors would accept it. At the moment, I fear they have begun to look upon even me with suspicion. So much for serving as humanity's representative. Help me win back their trust, Dr. Freeman. Surrender while you still can. Help ensure that humanity's trust in you is not misguided. Do what is right, Dr. Freeman. Serve mankind.

Dr Breens speeches make good points. Unfortunately the universal Union (combine) don't seem to have lives taken to consideration.

I love how he mentions lung fish, despite the fact that the Combine are draining the ocean.

He sounds so hopeless and artificial. It's chilling. Hl2 is a masterpiece.

I feel bad for Breen because he wasn't a bad guy he was just a scared puppet that had a gun(advisors tongue:P) pointed at his head the entire time and at the end of the game he starts sounding worried and he panics when he's running so I still feel bad for him

5:28: "I have good reason to believe that in the intervening years he was in a state that precluded further development of covert skills" Oh shit, he knows about GMan and Gordon being in stasis??? Just realised this...

i love the small pause in the first speech "i thought so much of city...17" its like he's trying to make a speech about the center that he "adores" but can barely remember its designated number. love the half life series

I find Dr. Breen one of the most awesome voice acted game characters of all time. He has so much charisma and his voice is mesmerizing.

*_Wallace Breen is a really underrated villain in gaming_*

I do believe that Breen was originally a hero for saving humanity, but the power that the combine gave him went over his head. That's why he isn't secretly trying to sabotage the combine and help the resistance, because he wants to stay in power.

In most of these speeches, you can see how incredibly great writer Marc Laidlaw is.

I love the part where he says "Leeeeave the fucking City Nooooaw"

Not going to lie, I think there's certainly a way of reading Breen as a man who was once incredibly selfless. He surrendered on behalf of humanity, even though realistically he didn't have the authority to do that. He easily could've been killed (or likely much worse) if the combine had figured that out, but in doing so he halted the destruction of earth for the time being. He decided to put _his_ face on all the propaganda shown to earth. He's not just the ambassador to the combine, he's the one trying to sell all of their decisions to humanity, something he doubtless knew would make him incredibly hated by the humans who still had free will. In doing so he effectively gave the resistance a symbol to rally against. He's clearly very intelligent, he surely knows this. Given how strong even the combine's forces on earth are, he could also probably crush the resistance before the events of HL2 empowers them. My headcannon is that he started out essentially being a manipulator trying to protect humanity and give it plausible deniability while still giving them license to resist in small pockets, before more and more losing faith in humanity and trying desperately to save his species by essentially compromising with the Combine to let humanity live on as trans-human. He had left the resistance mostly alone figuring they didn't really matter much and they could prove useful later on. Unfortunately at some point he started to lose sight of what mattered and began to actually see the resistance as the enemy, though he still did believe he was working to save humanity. When he found out about the local teleportation discovery, he decided to work with Mossman to try and sell this invention to the combine, essentially as proof that humans are useful unmodified because of their creativity and ingenuity. When even this failed, as the combine essentially saw this as a fluke that wasn't going to be replicated, he began to actually despise the resistance, and went into full-on panic mode trying to dismantle the resistance and crush what remained of dissent within the citizenry. Because, however, it had been so long since he actually interacted with human peers face-to-face, he completely botched the response and ended up radicalizing a whole bunch of further resistance fighters in the process. In the end he became terrified of what the resistance would do to him, and essentially flung himself into the combine to avoid the consequences of his treachery, which obviously did not end up very well.

tell me doctor freeman if you can! you have destroyed so much, what is it that you have created ?

Every single character in the half life series is so memorable, and that’s tough for any game to accomplish

My god, these script are epic: - 3:26 Be wise, be safe, be....aware! - 5:00 You have plunged humanity into free fall, how could one man have slipped through your force's fingers time and time again?

I used to love listening to these as a kid, being 13 or so I thought I was getting so smart

Screenwriters at Valve have extremely interesting ideas, even in simple speeches. Very stoic ideas. 6 years later-669 likes. Oooooooooooooooooooook. Half Life 3 confirmed. 7 years later-854... ok 9 years later-1044... ok... Still, HL3 confirmed.

Will definitely listen to this before playing Half Life 3.

At 7:00 Breen confronts Valve about the release of Half-Life 3

When he says "Be safe" he sounds so genuine and convincing...

" May I remind you the dangers of magical thinking." Dr. Breen soon made a move to terminate all bronys.

I love the kind of villainy that valve created with Breen. the way his silver tongue tries to direct you away from the blatant inhumanity of the situation.

Tell me, Valve, if you can... The past few years, you have sold so much. What is it, exactly, that you have created? Can you name even one thing? I thought not.

I could listen to Breen all day.

You know if Breen wasn't supporting a multi-dimentional tyranical empire and was a decent guy just running for a US election,i bet he'd win.

His speeches have a deeper meaning after listening to all of them, its like he's trying to help humanity.

The greatest spin doctor in all of video game history

Breen's speeches really added a lot to the maps' atmosphere. Great performance.

I honestly don't believe that he was a villain in any way. When he orchestrated Earth's surrender at the end of the seven hour war, he was concerned about the wellbeing of his species. He honestly believed that he was doing the right thing for everyone. He believed that he was leading his species into a huge leap in evolution. Unfortunately, his methods were a little oppressive. But in the end, he truly believed that he was doing the right thing.

Rip Robert Culp you are missed. What an amazing voice!

5:51 when Breen says "How can you have failed to apprehend him?" when addressing the Overwatch, I think this is the only time you hear him break character and show his frustration, or any 'unscripted' emotion. He knows his ass is on the line for Overwatch's successes and failures. And it is made clear a number of times through inference that the Combine does not tolerate failure. Breen is a super interesting character, and I love that you hear from him in such an indirect and unique way through these recordings. HL2 really is a masterpiece, and Valve truly are master storytellers.

he looks like count dooku ngl

“The man you have consistently failed to slow down or capture is, by all standards, simply that: an ordinary man.”

my favourite one is this 2:15 it seriously gave me chills down my spine when he said "as the one freeman the opener of the way"

Dr. Breen for President 2020

I don't miss dr Breen but I miss his show. I still want to see those jugglers.

HAAAAAAAAX!!!! Amazing how much influence BoSchitt has on the source community.

To be honest I don't see how killing Breen will help humanity. He is the only reason that the Combine haven't completely purged humankind. Even though he is a bit of a jerk, people need him to keep the combine from rampaging throughout the Earth as they once did.

I fucking love the one speech where he starts talking about how could they let Freeman defeat them and that he's just a MIT graduate. it gets me so hype.

Dr Breen's voice actor died from a heart attack in 2010. This is probably why Valve did not release Half Life 2 Episode 3, as he had a lot of dialogue to do for Episode 3. He had possibly the best lines in the entire HL saga.

3:34 you can tell his pissed and trying not to show it lol.

imagine this starts playing in march 2021:

I love the Nova Prospekt speech, and he is talking to some Combine Elite, but the thing is he's broadcasting the whole message to the whole Sector-17 Unit, in which he's humiliating the leader in front of EVERY unit in the field.

Man... Breen was such an amazing character. And these speeches were masterfully written, and masterfully performed.

"Tell me dr Freeman if you can, you have destroyed so much. What is it exactly that you have created? can you name even one thing?...I thought not"

I find it very comforting that the lead villian in the smart-city dystopia of Half-Life 2 is also speaking about transhumanism and merging with machines.

what about the speech about instinct and superstition?

All hail the Universal Union, and the Overwatch that protects us.

When someone talks about deliberately accelerating human evolution, run away as fast as you can.

He wants to save humanity by evolving it alongside with aliens. I get it. Would love to have a movie with such a character.

i hear this while under the lockdown

I've heard the first speech so many times that I could recite it on the spot.

If I ever get my hands on Dr breen

The first speech is the best.

5:26 I can't wait to see Gordon's reaction to that in Freeman's Mind. "You too!? You're officially at the top of my list. I GRADUATED FROM MIT! I didn't graduate to watch Innsbruck with their fingers up their asses when Kleiner told me that Black Mesa was making better progress. That's it, I'm using these bugs to take over Breen's position. People will bow down to the Freeman as their new ruler!"

When I was younger, I really didn't like Breen, he really urked me. But now that I'm older I see...dude was only "evil" because he had to be the NECESSARY Evil in a sense, he had to work with the combine, he had to work as Earth's Representative. He saved humanity as best he could. He still isn't a hero, but in his own sense, he isn't really a villain either. He was forced into a situation that was never going to end well, and he did it for humanity's sake.

I think what makes this dialogue outstanding is that the arguments made are convincing, it isn't an 'evil' dialogue, it is imaginable that humans would believe these words and thus vouch for the combine.

Ah yes, Dr. Wallace Breen from the hit video game from 2004, "Half-Life™ 2" the vicious dictator of Earth and the main component of the Combine's takeover.

I wish there would have been a point in the story where some citizens invite you into their shelter and actually betray you and try to give you to the combine. Like they tell you there’s supplies in the basement and when you go down they lock the door behind you. And you can hear them talking upstairs and then the combine show up. And you have to solve a puzzle before all the talking upstairs finishes and escape out a window. You’d think Breen would have convinced at least a few people it’s not worth helping Gordon

The reason Breen is such an effective villian is because he truly believed, to the last, that he was doing the right thing. He wasn't evil, only misguided, and that makes him tragic. R.I.P. Breen, R.I.P. Culp.

R.I.P Robert Culp (1930-2010)

"how could you have failed to apprehend him?!" the anger and venom in that voice...

Still listening to him in 2021 ❤️

Sees him on one of the smaller screens on a Combine keyboard machine. … *PROCEEDS TO RIP IT OFF THE WALL*

Combinepilled.

i like how he still refers to gordon as 'doctor freeman', which is pretty respectful for a man he hates

I love that bit at 5:02. The way he delivers it is so so good

His speeches are pretty good, but once you finally meet him he's all...creepy and annoying. I hate the way he waves at Alyx when he escapes on the elevator.

He's just a spokesman

the best humanity has to offer.

"You have chosen or been chosen"

The trilobites as a species lasted for hundreds of millions of years. Maybe we should indeed model ourselves on them.

That word “collaboration” is being echoed today, art imitates life and life imitates art.

It's been 20 years since Half-Life 2 came out. Hope we're getting Episode III. Just make it into a full game.

The man you have consistently failed to slow, let alone capture, is by all standards simply that - an ordinary man.

Dr. Breen is like if Carl Sagan was named dictator of Earth by aliens.