Deep Fry my Brain

• We already know that the player in the HLVRAI series, AKA Gordonplayer, is himself a character and is separate from Wayne. So as I understand it, it's Wayne, who is playing Gordonplayer, who is playing Gordon. Multiple layers of meta are going on

• Absolute batshit ending. The gnome was able to swap places with Wayne/Gordonplayer somehow, temporarily replacing him in the real world (until seemingly deciding to swap again and giving Gordonplayer his life back). Does this mean that when Coomer talked about wearing Gordon like a puppet, he really could have done that??

• Between that and the fact that some things that happen in-game in HL2VRAI appear to physically affect Gordonplayer (such as the water giving him memory issues and him being briefly knocked out by a barrel), it seems the line between the game and reality is becoming more and more blurry over time, at least for him

• Through a commentary node, we hear "Gabe Newell" reveal that the Half Life games were never meant to be witnessed by humanity. They apparently weren't made by Valve, but instead were... found? I guess their code or something was etched onto an "obsidian slab?" With "three seals" that had to be broken? I was NOT expecting things to get that Lovecraftian

• IIRC the "three seals" were referred to as a man in blue (implied to be Benrey), a small man with a beard (implied to be the gnome), and a girl. I've seen people reference this before and I think the theory about "the girl" being Alyx in HL2(VRAI) sounds highly plausible

• Apparently Gordonplayer has to "pay" the... I don't remember exactly what the gnome called it. The white woods? The trees? There were several references to that. Which of course sounds a lot like it could be referring to White Forest. Which is the location where the entire canon Half Life series up to this point chronologically ends; so presumably, HL2VRAI is leading there as well. This is actually the thing that's stuck with me the most: something is waiting for Gordon at White Forest.

• It's worth noting that the very last thing that happens in HL2 ep2 is Eli dying. I could be wrong, but I kinda doubt that HL2VRAI is going to end with Darnold, of all people, dying

• I think a lot of folks tend to focus too much on Benrey. He's intriguing, but he's a single piece in a much larger puzzle

• I don't personally think Benrey is dead, btw. I could've sworn it was implied that G-Man's "associates" contained him in some way? That might be why nobody remembers him, actually; G-Man might've done some Men In Black stuff to make them forget. Of course, I'm not sure why he would do that... unless Benrey's containment somehow depends on Gordon not being aware of him...

• Shit. Is Benrey memetic?