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Combine Prisoner Pod

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Prison pod.jpgPrison pod inner.jpg
Combine Prisoner Pod
General information
Faction

Combine

Type

Portable prisoner pod

Usage
Used by
Game information
Designer(s)

The Combine Prisoner Pod,[5] also known as the Prisoner Pod,[5] Combine Cell,[5] or Combine Iron Maiden,[6] is a confinement device used by the Combine to contain prisoners—oftentimes insubordinate Citizens or Refugees—as well as Stalkers.

Overview[edit]

Alyx explaining to Eli in his Prisoner Pod in the Depot's interrogation room how they are going to rescue him.
Pods in the Citadel.

When Rebels and disobedient Citizens are captured by the Overwatch or arrested by Civil Protection, they are imprisoned in Prisoner Pods and transferred by Razor Train to Nova Prospekt or other Combine facilities equipped with Prisoner Pod rails and support mechanisms such as the Citadel or the Overwatch Nexus to be "reevaluated".[6] Typically, they are turned into Stalkers afterwards.

The Prisoner Pod consists of two main components: The outer part is a casket/iron maiden-like external shell with a mechanical arm on its back which opens in two vertical halves; the inner part is a straitjacket-like frame that holds the prisoner in place inside the casket for storage and transportation along railings. While a closed casket with the straitjacket locked inside is the most common configuration of the Prisoner Pod, the straitjacket alone is also sometimes used for transportation, allowing the prisoner to have visibility during their journey. Straitjacket Pods can also be forced open by other devices like Alyx's Multi-tool.

The Pods are usually controlled automatically or remotely and can be attached or detached to walls through their arm, which can move the Pod onto a fixed conveyor rail, allowing it to travel through the facility it is stored in. The Prisoner Pods represent an important element of any Combine facility meant to house prisoners or Stalkers since they are the primary means of captive transportation for both possible detainee types. Razor Trains often carry Pods as cargo, and both the Nova Prospekt Depot and the Citadel have extensive railway systems meant to transport and store the Pods. In the Citadel, even Dr. Breen's office is connected to this system, allowing him to summon prisoners at will, as seen during Half-Life 2’s thirteenth chapter Dark Energy when the captured Gordon, Alyx, and Eli are brought up to him.

In the ninth chapter Nova Prospekt / Entanglement, when Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance infiltrated the Depot and searched the Prisoner Pods for Eli Vance, they found many unconscious prisoners in other Prisoner Pods. Eli Vance himself was unconscious, but he almost immediately returned to life once the casket opened, suggesting that the Pods use some means of pacification to render the prisoners in a state of stasis.

Prisoner Pod straitjackets can be sterilized through a large device similar to the one used in the Confiscation Field which will "spray liquid-hot metal"[6] into it, instantly killing any living being contained in the Pod. During the process, the double device will generate a cylindric Force Field around the Pod. They also sometimes go through two simple Combine power generators connected with a red laser that acts as a detector which, when the Pod's occupant appears to be abnormal, will sound a buzzer and photograph the Pod with a Combine Camera for analysis. The Pod will then change course, sending the irregular passenger to a different location to be taken care of. As seen in the Depot, Prisoner Pods can be selected and brought to an interrogation chamber, where the prisoner can be interrogated from behind glass without leaving their Pod, with only the casket shell opened during this process. Prisoner Pods are controlled through Combine interfaces to the left of the glass, while information about the prisoner's health status is shown on two transparent green screens on the right. In such a room Alyx is able to explain to her prisoner father how they are going to rescue him.

Behind the scenes[edit]

Concept art for Prisoner Pods in the Depot, based on a Citadel map.

The Prisoner Pod went through several iterations:

  • At the time of Half-Life 2’s development, when the Combine only recycled Earth materials, and the interior of the Citadel was covered in tiles, the Pod was the brush of a large container made of grey metal on the outside, and of yellow metal on the inside, as seen in the WC map pack map demo_citadel01, last edited in 2001. It was to have a double door on both sides, with a small barred window on both sides as well, or simply bars instead of the double door. The Pods moved using rails, and were placed in allocated spaces inside the walls, using cranes. The prisoner was apparently able to move freely inside, and have some free room for themselves, close to a traditional "cell" design, as well as that of an industrial cargo container. The missing model found in the Borealis map d3_borealis_01_017, "combine_cage001c.mdl", is probably a model version of that variant. A "freezer" variant is also found on the Borealis, there used to contain Combine Assassins, and with a window instead of the double door with a barred window/bars.
  • As seen in Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, the next known design, still used in the tiled Citadel and the Depot, has a design closer to the final overall Combine designs. It is more similar to the retail Pod, but still has bars and is still encased in the tiled walls, with a metallic structure around it. It is also still moved by cranes, but the prisoner has less room to move.
  • The third known design is the model featured in Half-Life 2 leak files, with a design even closer to the final overall Combine designs. Consisting only of the casket part, it is opened on each side except the left and right sides, and has no animation. It can be found for instance in the Borealis map d3_borealis_01_017, where the Combine cage model is also found.
  • The fourth known design is the one appearing in Half-Life 2, introduced in Nova Prospekt. A pod in which the prisoner is kept restrained, it is attached to walls with an arm which can move it to a fixed rail allowing it to travel in the facility it is stored in.
  • The fifth design appears in Episode One, and is used for the train transport of Stalkers. Upon leaving the Citadel, Gordon and Alyx board a Stalker train that crashes in the City 17 Underground. Following the crash, Alyx is trapped under a Pod, with its Stalker occupant trying to break loose from the Pod. Panicked, she is promptly set free by Gordon's Gravity Gun.

In-game, the Prisoner Pod acts as a sort of vehicle, and is to be entered using the Use key. However, the player cannot control the Pod's movement, and can only look around, although their perspective is limited. The file prisoner_pod.cfg gives the following description of the Prisoner Pod: A combine prisoner pod. Used in the Citadel sequence in which the player is taken captive, this vehicle is intended to be attached to a path follower (such as a func_tracktrain) via a hinge constraint. A vehicle was used so that we could do the enter/exit animations, and any view dampening or constraints that were necessary. Since the player is a captive they cannot affect the motion of the pod, they can only look around.

During the development of Half-Life 2, the concept for a prisoner pod variant named "Vorti-Cell" and used for harvesting power from Vortigaunts was designed but eventually cut from the game. However, the idea was recycled for Half-Life: Alyx by using Combine Prisoner Pods as a way to harvest the energy of Vortigaunts and use them as power generators.

Gordon's journey through the Citadel in a Prisoner Pod during Half-Life 2’s twelfth chapter, Our Benefactors, is similar to Half-Life’s first chapter, Black Mesa Inbound, in which the player is able to observe the facility he is in, from a rail-mounted vehicle.

Gallery[edit]

Half-Life 2[edit]

Pre-release[edit]

Retail[edit]

Half-Life 2: Episode One[edit]

Half-Life: Alyx[edit]

List of appearances[edit]

Main games[edit]

Other[edit]

References[edit]