The gaming world is abuzz after beloved industry writer Marc Laidlaw, famous for his work on the Half Life series, posted a fictitious letter to his blog yesterday. The letter, titled Epistle 3 and utilizing code names which are humorously conspicuous, details a potential plot line for video gaming’s most infamous vaporware.
“Gertie Fremont,” an obvious stand-in for Gordon Freeman, is the author of the letter, which details a journey to find the “Hyperborea” while combating the “Disparate”. Fans of the series will recognize this as the scenario laid out by Half Life’s final entry: Half Life 2 Episode 2.
Along the way Gordon encounters Dr. Breen, now in slug-form, who begs for death to escape his current state. The tragic fate of Dr. Mossman is revealed, along with implications of Alex and the G-Man having some form of connection. Perhaps most interestingly, Gordon is “spread across” time in a sequence meant to show off Half Life‘s events such as the 7 Hour War, the Combine’s other worlds, and possibly even the future.
The sheer amount of internet traffic flocking to this post appears to have crashed Laidlaw’s website. Laidlaw said in a tweet:
My website’s down for now. I guess fanfic is popular, even a genderswapped snapshot of a dream I had many years ago.
— Marc Laidlaw (@marc_laidlaw) August 25, 2017
It has yet to be confirmed whether this is simply Laidlaw’s personal imaginings, official plans developed while he worked at Valve, or something in between. Valve’s notorious secrecy will probably ensure that we never know for certain.
Fan reactions to the post have been mixed. Some have claimed it was a bittersweet experience while others expressed anger with Valve. For many fans, however, this short letter brings an end to an era and closes the book on an unfinished tale.
But if the letter is anything to go by, this is the last teaser we’ll ever get of what may have been Half Life 3:
“Old friends have been silenced, or fallen by the wayside. I no longer know or recognize most members of the research team, though I believe the spirit of rebellion still persists. I expect you know better than I the appropriate course of action, and I leave you to it. Expect no further correspondence from me regarding these matters; this is my final episode.”
— Epistle 3, Marc Laidlaw
You can find the original letter on Marc Laidlaw’s website. Fans have also helpfully translated the letter by replacing the code names with their intended marks. You can find the translated version on Github.
What do you think of this letter? How does it wrap up the Half Life series in lieu of a true sequel? Let us know down in the comments!
