I think the most interesting thing about that was the Dyson Sphere. The sheer amount of power the Combine must wield is so Lovecraftian in scope, they are elevated to the level of cosmic horror. Very Grimdark, which I love. I like to think the Dyson Sphere is a super-computer, and all the countless conquered realities are merely a result of it carrying out the logical extremes of it's programming. Amass more raw material, scientific data, energy, etc.