The real significance of episode 61.5: Mike and Gordon

An interesting thought occurred to me. After rewatching the series and more specifically episode 61.5 it got me thinking. After reading through the comments that proposed the same thing, I was pretty convinced. Episode 61.5 is not non-canon. It actually takes place in the Freeman's Mind universe rather than just an alternate ending. Now before I get to the point I want to bring something up. Perhaps Gordon was right about the teleporters, they clone his atoms, destroy his old form and reconstruct them on the other end of the teleporter with all thoughts and memories intact, but he is not the original. Perhaps during the final teleport to Xen, Gordon's old self was not destroyed but somehow remained intact, so one Gordon was teleported to Xen, where he was supposed to, and the other was placed in an unknown location. (likely somewhere in eastern Europe) Now to the point. I believe that Mike from CP IS that copied Gordon.

Gordon and Mike do share some similarities. Gordon and Mike both know Eddie. Now this could be a different Eddie but evidence points towards it being the same guy, such as when Dave was searching the crazy guy's home in The Tunnel and says he has nothing worth stealing, to which Mike replies, "You've been hanging out with Eddie too much." While we still don't know much about Eddie, we can all speculate that he is either a professional thief who sells his merchandise or a Black Market dealer as Gordon says he can get human skulls from Eddie and even says he should give Eddie a call to lift a huge weapons stash and make a profit off them. So, it's likely the same guy.

Another is during the CP Christmas special when Mike was telling the viewers how to make a "Christmas brick" Mike then goes on to give suspiciously detailed instructions to which Dave notices he's talking from experience. This is likely a hint to Gordon's backstory. While Ross keeps the original backstory on Gordon very lore friendly such as how gordon became a scientist and his time in Austria, he also implies and often admits that Gordon had or still has a drug problem. What i'm getting at is I think Gordon was homeless at one point and highly addicted to drugs before he even went to MIT or joined Black Mesa and Mike/Gordon is telling his stories from childhood/adolescence/early adulthood, I don't know.

The next point is the name change. Despite the marines saying "forget about freeman" it's likely that Gordon #2 would have been paranoid enough to change his name under fear that the U.S. Government would find him again as he still thinks he's a fugitive. Even after the Seven Hour War when the U.S. Government, along with all other governments, fell to the might of the combine, the name Gordon Freeman is still synonymous with the thought of him being a savior among the rebels and a deviant among the Combine. He likely would have kept his fake name and never mentioned anything about Black Mesa to keep himself safe from the Combine. He decided to make himself even less of a target by joining Civil Protection to get more benefits and make himself seem less suspicious.

Now, onto Mike and Gordon #2's mannerisms. As we all know, the events of HL2 take place over 20 years after the Black Mesa incident. This seems like enough time that Gordon #2 would settle down into the Metro-Police. Given the complete worldwide ban of all narcotics, Gordon wouldn't be able to get any more of his Oxycodone, likely making him reform from his drug fueled ways, making him more level-headed and calm but still keeping his over-the-top sense of urgency and short temper. Add the fact that Gordon #2 was never put in stasis at the end of Half Life, making him age and mature like everyone else. Imagine what Mike would think when he hears that Gordon Freeman has been spotted in the canals and what he sees when he reinforces his police team.

Well, according to the Half-Life wiki, Gordon grew up in Seattle and built a butane powered tennis ball launcher at the age of 6. He may be nutty, but he's a nutty genius. One might say he's a...Nutty Professor.

-Fat Post-

Pretty amusing theory, though not totally unbelievable. I doubt Ross gave any thought about it to this level, though.

Perhaps during the final teleport to Xen, Gordon's old self was not destroyed but somehow remained intact, so one Gordon was teleported to Xen, where he was supposed to, and the other was placed in an unknown location. (likely somewhere in eastern Europe)

"City 17[1][4] is a grand city in an unknown Eastern European country [...]" (From Half Life Wiki)

I think you've found something

According to the answer he gave in his February 2017 chat to a question I asked along these lines he hadn't exactly thought about it. However I do think this would be a fantastic plot twist if he decided to use it. I mean just imagine the wonders that could flow out of that concept. It would just be incredible.

Headcanon accepted!