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Doctor Wallace Breen is a fictional character from the 2004 first-person shooter computer game Half-Life 2, produced by Valve Software. He is the primary antagonist in Half-Life 2 and also the ruler of the Earth from his headquarters in the Citadel, the Combine stronghold in City 17. He is voiced by actor Robert Culp.
Role Half-Life and the Seven Hour War Doctor Breen was the administrator of the Black Mesa Research Facility at the time of the "Black Mesa Incident," the events depicted in Half-Life, but he was neither seen nor mentioned by name. (He was instead referred to always as "the Administrator.") After the Seven Hour War, he "negotiated" a peace agreement with the Combine that saved humanity, but at the cost of enslavement. Doctor Breen was appointed as ruler of Earth — a puppet of the Combine, who have little physical presence on the planet. Some speculate he may have orchestrated the events of Half-Life at the request of the Combine, with the rule of Earth promised as reward; others believe that Doctor Breen may have been under the impression that introducing the Combine would have brought about a cosmic unity between the two races, and would have been ultimately beneficial for the human race (something that he still clings on to despite the evidently large amounts of humans suffering in the game). Whether or not he was the one who introduced the Combine to Earth, his intentions seem to be noble and he sounds quite convinced that he is doing the right thing. Even if he has selfish reasons for doing so, the human race would have most definitely been completely destroyed or assimilated by the Combine had he not surrendered Earth at the end of the Seven Hour War. The Half-Life 2 art book, Raising the Bar, has information and images that indicate Breen used, at least in one point of the planned story if not in the final version, a radio transmitter tower on the surface (i.e., not in Black Mesa) to communicate directly to the Combine and negotiate a surrender. Images show him at the foot of the tower, wearing a headset linked directly to the tower, with arms held wide and speaking to the skies. Yet another mystery surrounding Breen in Half-Life is near the beginning of the game, as Gordon Freeman is about to go into the test chamber, the two scientists briefing him say that the Administrator "went through great lengths to get it the sample." This statement lies dormant through most of the game until the player goes to Xen, and sees crystals similar to the one that Freeman pushes into the teleporter. Next to these crystals on Xen are corpses in HEV suits like Freeman's, perhaps explaining the "great lengths" mentioned in the beginning of the game. Half-Life 2 Breen is alerted to the return of Gordon Freeman in Half-Life 2 when Gordon is accidentally temporarily teleported to his office in the Citadel. Doctor Breen informs the Combine and immediately dispatches the forces at his disposal to capture Freeman and break the associated Resistance movement in City 17. During Gordon Freeman's raid on the Citadel, Freeman is temporarily in the custody of Breen, until Judith Mossman turns against the administrator. During this period, Breen makes a very notable statement: he mentions while in the presence of Alyx Vance and her father, Eli (who are also in his custody) that Gordon "has proven a fine pawn to those who control him." He also comments that Gordon's services are "open to the highest bidder," and says he would understand if Gordon doesn't want to discuss it in front of his friends. These remarks imply that Breen is aware of the mysterious G-Man and his influence over Freeman, something no other characters seem to know about. It was also mentioned in one of the "Breencasts" to the Sector Seventeen Overwatch, overheard when in Nova Prospeckt " I have good reason to believe that in the intervening years, he was in a state that precluded further development of covert skills." When the human resistance begins to loosen the Combine's hold on Earth, Doctor Breen attempts to flee using a Combine teleporter. Gordon Freeman manages to stop him by destroying the Citadel's dark fusion reactor, which destroys the teleporter in a massive explosion. Half-Life 2: Episode One Dr. Breen's fate remains unknown in Half-Life 2: Episode One. His only appearances in the game are during an apparent flashback/dream with Gordon at the beginning, asking Freeman to think about what all that he has created (and destroyed). Another occasion of Breen's appearance was during a video recording of a conversation made during Half-Life 2, where he mentions being transferred into a "host body". After seeing Breen on the monitor, Alyx is surprised, questioning how it is possible, but then relieved when she realizes that it's an old recording - apparently she believes that Breen is dead. In the same scene, what seems to be a Combine Advisor in a pod (with the serial number 314 URB-LOC 0017) is moved into a launching tube, where it begins a psychic attack against Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance. This apparently unprovoked hostility, and the earlier video clip, seems to hint that the observed creature is none other than Dr. Breen in a new host body. There also remains the possibility that Breen is dead, and that the Advisor in the pod was merely the Advisor Breen was speaking to near the end of Half-Life 2. Both ideas are supported by the name of the file "AI_Advisor_Breen" inside the game's files. The game commentary included by Valve for the scene is noncommittal about what the creature actually is, and only reveals that what is happening in that particular room is an important setup for events in Episode Two. Half-Life 2: Episode Two It was almost-confirmed by a gaming magazine with the interview of the heads of Valve, in which the interviewer asked one of them a question, and they mentioned something about Breen doing some action in Episode Two. The interviewer noticed this and asked, "So Dr. Breen will return in Episode Two?" and with that, the interviewee responded with "Hm? Hehe, what was the next question?" and they dropped the subject. This may imply that Dr. Breen will return in Episode Two. Breencasts
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