Doctor Judith Mossman, as depicted in Half-Life 2.
Doctor Judith Mossman is a fictional character in the 2004 first-person shooter computer game Half-Life 2. Judith is portrayed as a caucasian woman in her late thirties or early forties working in a hidden research facility, Black Mesa East, with Dr. Eli Vance. Judith's voice is that of actress Michelle Forbes.
Appearances and role[]
Half-Life 2[]
Dr. Mossman first appears briefly in Red Letter Day, in which she is attempting to stabilize Gordon Freeman's damaged teleportation. In Black Mesa East, she meets Gordon Freeman at the entrance to the facility and tells him of the research that is being conducted there as well as her deep admiration for Freeman. Although she is obviously very fond of Dr. Eli Vance, she briefly quarrels with his daughter, Alyx Vance. Dr. Mossman disapproves of Alyx's light-hearted approach to science. It is clear that the two women dislike each other. Eli relates that Judith and Gordon Freeman applied for the same job at the Black Mesa Research Facility, but Freeman got it over her, due to his experience.
Alyx's dislike is seemingly justified when Judith betrays the resistance. Mossman had revealed the location of Black Mesa East to the Combine, allowing them to sweep the area and take Dr. Vance prisoner.
Later in the game, Alyx and Gordon capture Judith. They plan to rescue Dr. Vance via a Combine teleport, and Judith is the only one who can operate it. Dr. Mossman starts the machine, which requires several minutes to charge up. While Alyx and Gordon are distracted, Judith climbs into the teleport with Eli and they vanish. Moreover, Dr. Mossman has changed the teleport's destination coordinates — instead of Dr. Kleiner's lab, she has sent Dr. Vance and herself into the Citadel, the near-impregnable headquarters of the Combine. Alyx and Gordon barely manage to escape the overwhelming Combine forces by teleporting to Dr. Kleiner's location just before the teleporter explodes.
Later, in the chapter "Dark Energy", Dr. Vance rejects Dr. Breen's ultimatum. As a result, Dr. Breen tries to send Eli and Alyx Vance to a distant Combine off-world. Realizing that she has misplaced her trust in Dr. Breen, Dr. Mossman switches sides again. Threatening Dr. Breen with Alyx's EMP (the small electrical device used by Alyx to open doors or hack into computers) and telling him he is "all out of time" (a reference to the conversation she had with him when Breen says "So sorry, Judith. I'm all out of time."), she frees Dr. Vance as well as Alyx and Gordon. Judith and Alyx finally make peace, as Judith stays behind with Eli to guard him while Alyx and Freeman ascend an elevator to catch up with the fleeing Dr. Breen.
Half-Life 2: Episode One[]
Dr. Mossman in Episode Two.
Dr. Mossman appears in Half-Life 2: Episode One through a video recording stored in the Citadel. She has survived the teleporter explosion along with Dr. Eli Vance and is now somewhere outside of City 17. In the recording, she is dressed in cold weather gear and is apparently sending back a report about a "project" she had been sent to investigate. The substance of the "Project" is not mentioned, but it is apparently not Combine in origin, as Mossman does not yet know if what she's looking for at the site will compromise certain work done by the Resistance "should the Combine discover its location." She is interrupted by an exploding Combine Door, which a Hunter and several Combine Elite soldiers pour through. Mossman successfully flees the scene before the Combine soldiers burst in, but her fate afterwards is currently unknown.
Half-Life 2: Episode Two[]
In Half Life 2: Episode Two, Eli Vance and Isaac Kleiner are seen watching Judith Mossman's recording. Her fate remains unknown.[1]
I'm fairly sure I've pinned down the location of the project. It's hard to say how much of it might have survived intact or if there is anything remaining that could compromise our work if it were discovered by the Combine. We'll need to take a close look at it, of course, but I should be able to give a better opinion within a few hours. If the site is where we think it is, it should be no more than...I'm gonna have to cut this short, we may have been spotted...
According to the conclusion of Episode Two, Judith Mossman's team found the Aperture Science research vessel Borealis buried in arctic ice after it "...Vanished, with all hands, and even part of the drydock!" as stated by Dr. Kleiner.
Trivia[]
- In Half-Life 2, Dr. Mossman wears a gold bracelet which reads "Progress".
- It is revealed in the artbook Half Life: Raising the Bar that her character originally had blonde hair, instead of having red hair and being called Judith.[2]
- Because Mossman was seen at first working with Black Mesa East, then later seen working at The Combine Citadel (appearing like a traitor), then later assisting Eli and Alyx Vance and Gordon Freeman, she can be known as a "Triple Agent".
References[]
- ↑ IGN video
- ↑ Valve; Hodgson, David SJ (2004). Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar. Prima Games. ISBN 0-7615-4364-3