Episode 3 Conspiracy Theories!

You know how Valve loves to hint and tease at releases and announcements. Some over-analytical gamers have pointed out some peculiar features about the recent Christmas updates. There are numerous, however sketchy, hints toward the alleged release of the next Half Life episode. 
There are probably three possible outcomes with all of this evidence. I've listed them from most probable to least probable. 

1. Valve is trolling us (again).
2. We're reading too much into this.
3. Half Life 2: Episode 3 is actually in the works.