After they kept you enslaved all those years, you go and you try to take control of the machine for yourself, is that what you wanted? Control?
The Narrator, shocked over the attempt to turn his story upside down
The Countdown Ending (also known as the Explosion Ending and the Bomb Ending) is the ending that occurs when Stanley does everything the Narrator says, but chooses to engage the machine in the Mind Control Facility instead of turning it off.
Obtaining The Ending
Exit Stanley's Office. At the 2 doors, pick the one on the left. Once you get to the staircase, go up to The Boss's Office. Enter 2845, and then go through the passage and down the elevator. When you get to the Mind Control Facility, enter it. Once you get to the power source, push the "ON" button.
The Ending
Having pressed the "ON" switch, the screen changes from its idle mode, now reading "[LOADING MIND CONTROL SYSTEMS]". The narrator, upset at the turn of events, quickly changes the scenario on Stanley; instead of activating the mind control systems and taking control of the facility, Stanley has instead failed to undergo the required DNA identification, activating nuclear detonators that will destroy the entire office in two minutes.
During the countdown, the narrator reveals the truth behind what happened to Stanley's coworkers; he erased them and freed Stanley. He also reveals that this is one of many variations of the story he has done in the past, such as setting the building on fire, or letting the office sink into the ground. He also explains to Stanley that the timer isn't there to keep the action going, and is merely seconds ticking away until his life is over, and that he isn't playing a cutscene simply because he wants to watch Stanley powerless, put in his place.
When the countdown ends, the bombs detonate, restarting the game.
With the Bucket
If Stanley is holding The Bucket, the Narrator describes how it pressed the "ON" switch instead, shocking Stanley at his sudden betrayal. However, the screen comes back on to silly birds. The Narrator explains that surveying these birds is the true nature of the facility, and the mind control is just a cover-up, leaving it unknown if the bucket knew of this or not. The controls become active again and allow Stanley and the bucket to flip through several live feeds of silly birds from all over the world, which they do for the rest of their lives. The game then restarts.
Trivia
- Doing this ending a second time will make The Narrator say something different before the last 30 seconds.
- By trying to cheat, you can go to the catwalk above you and see an error computer, with background doors.
- Several players have unearthed the map to figure out what the buttons are and what they do. They have no entities tied to them that would stop the countdown. In other words, despite player folklore, the countdown cannot be stopped in any way, shape, or form, unless through heavy map editing.
- After a while, the monitors end up saying "GOODBYE EMPLOYEE 427", obviously meaning Stanley has few seconds left.
- In the original Half-Life 2 mod, the countdown didn't appear on a big screen, but only atop your field of view. The Narrator's dialogue is also highly different, except some of the first lines which stay the same.
Endings | ||
---|---|---|
Left door |
Freedom Ending • Countdown Ending • Museum Ending • Mariella Ending • Escape Pod Ending • Heaven Ending • Broom Closet Ending • Elevator Ending • Bottom of the Mind Control Room Ending | |
Right door |
Confusion Ending • Powerful Ending • Cold Feet Ending • Apartment Ending • Not Stanley Ending • Zending • Games Ending • Art Ending • Vent Ending • No Buckets Ending | |
Does not require the Two Doors Room |
Coward Ending • Out of Map Ending • Serious Ending • Whiteboard Ending | |
Progression Endings |
Paywall Ending • New Content Ending • Skip Button Ending • Mostly Infinite Hole • Sequel Ending • Figurines Ending • Epilogue |