2017: Confusion about “Epistle 3”
Marc Laidlaw is the great genius behind the story of Half-Life, as without him the game would not be what it is known to be. Together with Valve, he created the first and second installments of the shooter, but in 2016 he left the studio to focus on writing and make way for the new generation.
It is therefore not surprising that he may have worked on some project related to Half-Life that was never released. One might think Laidlaw found peace with the shooter, but in 2017 he published a short story titled “Epistle 3” on his blog.
Of course, this story caused a great stir in the Half-Life community, as it had clear parallels to the shooter, including the protagonist (Gertie Fremont = Gordon Freeman) and the setting (Hyperborea = Borealis) – just under different names.
According to the text, an alternative dark ending was revealed, in which Gertie Fremont faces his end and gives in. The Hyperborea, the only weapon against the Dyson Sphere, could not inflict any damage. The resistance has failed.
What happens to Gertie Fremont = Gordon Freeman now remains open. The story can be well adapted to Half-Life if you know the franchise. However, what seems strange now is the fact that Marc Laidlaw took the story offline in 2022. To this day, no one can access the story again, unless they use sites like web.archive.org.
Fans speculated that this might be due to Half-Life 3, but Marc Laidlaw clarified the situation in an interview with rockpapershotgun.com. He felt that his actions were not fair to his colleagues. He stated:
It also created the impression that a possible third episode would have resembled my draft, while the actual story development occurs during the development process of the game. Therefore, what people received was not an actual third episode.
As a creator, this idea for Half-Life 3 was swirling around in his mind at the time, but it was not canon despite his status. He would rather let others take the lead regarding the future fate of Gordon Freeman, as he did with the development of Half-Life: Alyx.
