

It is not impossible that he escaped by waiting out the fire and running away, but being slightly insane, he may have fought to the end anyway. Seeing as the forests outside City 17 are relatively untouched, it can be reasoned that Grigori escaped the Citadel explosion. The time and distances involved are sketchy, but as Gordon manages to reach Black Mesa East in about 2 to 3 hours or so, and Ravenholm is just outside Black Mesa East, it can be judged that Ravenholm is around 20–40 km from City 17. Given the circumstances of his last encounter, even if he survived the large zombie horde that he and Gordon stirred up, the destruction of the Citadel could have obliterated Ravenholm. If the player remains at the gate after having been "escorted" to the mines, Grigori continues shooting at zombies, and tells Freeman to "Get going," and that "No one wants to stay in Ravenholm." Eventually, Grigori will detonate some nearby fuel tanks as zombies break out of a crypt he runs through the flames laughing and firing before taking cover in the crypt entrance and continues killing zombies for some time, then disappears inside. Grigori's eventual fate is left ambiguous once he has opened up the gate at the graveyard, Gordon is free to go, with Grigori telling him to "look to his own salvation" before then laughing in a crazed manner. He tells Gordon to "tread lightly", as the graveyard is "hallowed ground." Grigori then accompanies Gordon through the graveyard, helping him to fight off the zombies before allowing him to escape into the mines. After Gordon has gotten into the tram and is face to face with Grigori, he informs him that they will have to travel through the graveyard to reach the mines. From atop a roof, Grigori can be seen below, telling Gordon that he is moving a tram to the rooftop to allow him to come down. When Gordon finally meets Grigori on-foot, it is near the church mentioned earlier by Grigori. Later, he also throws Gordon a SPAS-12 shotgun, giving him the advice to "Aim for the head". He later shoots a Fast Headcrab that was about to attack Gordon from behind and advises him to be vigilant in Ravenholm. Above a flaming mound of zombie corpses, Grigori greets Gordon, telling him that he is free to use his traps but to be careful not to fall into them himself.

These phrases sound Biblical, and Gordon finally sees the face of Father Grigori well after he has battled through several groups of zombies and headcrabs.

The presence of a survivor in Ravenholm is first revealed with ominous phrases heard quietly near the first propeller trap encountered by Gordon.
