Gordon not returning to the G-ManвЂ™s custody is the unwillingness referenced here. When the G-Man comes to take Gordon back after the Citadel explodes at the end of Half-Life 2, he is stopped from doing so by the Vortigaunts and does not seem happy about it. This is a reference to the start of Half-Life 2: Episode 1 (and many of the events of Episode 2 in general). Her father saved and her вЂњnudgeвЂќ made, the G-Man then explains that Alyx has proven herself to be of вЂњextraordinary value.вЂќ He manifests a crowbar, and then steps away to reveal Gordon Freeman behind him as he talks about how a вЂњprevious hire has been unable or unwilling to perform the tasks laid before him,вЂќ and that they have had difficulty finding a replacement for himвЂ¦ until now. She does so, saving EliвЂ™s life and ending the AdvisorвЂ™s. The G-Man then rewinds time to just before EliвЂ™s death and gives her the chance to kill the Combine Advisor before it can murder him.

The G-Man shows Alyx a moment five years in the future вЂ“ the exact cliffhanger ending of Half-Life 2: Episode 2, when Eli Vance has just been killed by a Combine Advisor and Alyx is cradling his lifeless body in her arms. How Half-Life: Alyx Connects to Half-Life 2ДЇor Half-Life fans, this is where stuff gets crazy. Instead, he offers her something she doesnвЂ™t know she wants yet: the chance to save her fatherвЂ™s life in the future. When asked what nudge she would want, Alyx says she wants the Combine off Earth, but the G-Man explains thatвЂ™s too big an ask вЂ“ and not in the interest of his employers. Effectively, heвЂ™s a genie granting her a wish вЂ“ though there are limits. At this point, the G-Man determines Alyx has proven herself a useful individual, and to show his gratitude for her rescuing him he explains that his employers (who are still a mystery) allow him to вЂњnudgeвЂќ events in time occasionally. He вЂњofferedвЂќ Gordon Freeman a job at the end of the first Half-Life, only bringing him back roughly 20 years later for the events of Half-Life 2.Д«ack to Alyx: Once the cell is opened, whatever technology the Combine were using to contain his supernatural powers and keep him in one place is disabled, and the G-Man immediately opens up a familiar doorway to another dimension and pulls Alyx and himself through. But opening the cell reveals itвЂ™s actually the G-Man whoвЂ™s been imprisoned, not Gordon.ДЇor those unfamiliar, the G-Man is a mysterious, otherworldly entity with the appearance of a stern-looking human in a suit who essentially plucks people he deems valuable out of space and time (which he calls вЂњhiringвЂќ them) to keep in stasis until he needs them again to complete another task.

When Alyx finally makes it to the core of the vault вЂ“ navigating buildings that have been strangely warped through space and time to get there вЂ“ she does see a figure standing inside of it. Gordon Freeman (the main Half-Life protagonist) thatвЂ™s being held captive. While worrying whether this entity is friend or foe, they overhear an unknown human working with the Combine saying this prisoner survived the Black Mesa incident (the events of the first Half-Life) and that they caused hell while doing so вЂ“ that leads Eli and Russell to believe itвЂ™s the legendary Dr.

However, as Alyx gets closer, Eli decrypts a Combine data pad that reveals that it's not a vault protecting a weapon, but actually a prison containing a person.

Half life 2 combine advisor