The Old Map At Bar Neely's....

[PoemOfTheLastMoment]

When you enter Bar Neely's for the first time.....you chance upon an old map lying on a desk (or floor,i cant remember)... that old map marks out places a person had already visited and shows that the person had to go the apartments for his next spot. This eerily coincides with James' own quest of finding Mary. So i guess my question is, was the man that left the map on the desk really James himself? Is he re-living the events of his nightmare in Silent Hill in an unending loop, going through different areas until he finally reaches his destination...i.e Mary?
another thing that led me to believe in this theory is the map found on the road leading to lakeview Hotel....you find ANOTHER map that shows a big red mark at the Bowl-O-Rama....EXACTLY WHERE JAMES NEEDS To GO!!!

[alone in the town]

If that was the case, one would assume he would have left such helpful tidbits in places where he'd need them much more. Like, say, the Catacombs.

[PoemOfTheLastMoment]

I'd Think he kinda knew where he had to go once he reached the Otherworld...

now that i think of it...it could have equally been Eddie....assuming that the RV where you find the note stating that you'll meet someone at Bar Neelys belongs to him.... he could have left the map at the Bar AND written the mesage that says : "There was a hole here, it's gone now:...note that the maps point to places where you meet edidie...both at the apartments and the Bowl-O-Rama,but it doesnt explain why he would have set off to go visit the lakeview hotel.....nore is there any indication that Eddie was an alcoholic.....The hotel is important to James...and James did have a drinking habit..

On Another note....it could also be the town's way of guiding James throughout his self-imposed pilgrimage of repentance and redemption...What with all the bodies lying around...that vaguely resemble James..

[five5sixers]

It may have equally been Ernest Baldwin, as he is the one who leaves notes for James in Bar Neely's after Brookhaven and such as well as leading and warning him of the Abyss.

[SHF]

^
Notice the writings are always in red, and the handwritings are the same as with the other messages. Its the same person ( Ernest Baldwin)
So it's a good theory that Ernest is the one leaving all the notes, maps, etc. for James.

[Fevered Dream]

In regards to the OP, I always assumed this was the case where James had possibly endured this journey before, evident by the numerous corpses that are his clone and the notes that one of them leaves that give off a few hints for the player (I believe he's near the apartment). Kind of furthers the whole punishment theme where he has to relive the torment again and again until he learns the truth.

[alone in the town]

There are several major problem with the idea that James is leaving himself messages.

1. He would have to know, beforehand, that he would re-live the experience repeatedly.
2. Armed with that knowledge, you'd expect that the information he leaves behind would be more frequent and informative. Also, he would be able to pre-guess the outcome, and the delusion would not withstand that knowledge.
3. It would also involve backtracking to the locations where the info is left, because if he knew beforehand that he would have to go to the Apartments and Pete's, he would always know beforehand every time events repeated, and the act of leaving maps would be unnecessary.
4. Everybody else in the game must either be trapped in the same loop, or are figments of his imagination.
5. There would have to be some causative factor for events repeating.
6. Such repetition would essentially render the entire adventure meaningless.

[PoemOfTheLastMoment]

Or that James will have no idea that he is reliving these events , the only clues being the notes he finds everywhere....

[alone in the town]

How would he know to leave behind clues for himself to find, then?

[PoemOfTheLastMoment]

You have a point....we'd have to assume that his previous incarnations had taken completely different routes to get to the Lakeview Hotel. Thus, the map at Bar Neely's and the map at Nathan Avenue leading to the Lakeview Hotel....

[alone in the town]

And that's why Occam invented his Razor.

[PoemOfTheLastMoment]

This is the likely explanation for those who like to consider the Rebirth ending as the most canon...

[SHF]

^
Notice the writings are always in red, and the handwritings are the same as with the other messages. Its the same person ( Ernest Baldwin)
So it's a good theory that Ernest is the one leaving all the notes, maps, etc. for James.

^
This

[Joseph]

There are many unanswered questions left behind if we stick with the Baldwin explanation.
First, why would Ernest do that? He shows a certain disrespect for James during his conversation with Maria at the Born from a Wish scenario.
Second, we don't even know if and why Ernest went to the Abyss. Why would he feel guilty? His daughter simply fell off the window - accidentally. The other three characters who witness the Abyss in this game have way more bold reasons to do so.
And finally, Ernest is let go at the end of Born from a Wish. He leaves the house he 's been haunting for some time for good and is let free. Why would he continue exist in the Otherworld? Invisible? Helping a man he barely even knew?
I think that Ernest left Silent Hill for good after the events with Maria. And if not, it is said that he cannot leave the mansion, thus he is unable to help James to his quest.
At first I said myself that the notes generated from James' subconscious. But the letter about the patient hiding the wrench under the foot of the praying woman made me totally discard this case. I cannot think of a good enough idea as to who is leaving all these letters, but I'm almost positive that it is not Ernest Baldwin.

[alone in the town]

Second, we don't even know if and why Ernest went to the Abyss. Why would he feel guilty? His daughter simply fell off the window - accidentally. The other three characters who witness the Abyss in this game have way more bold reasons to do so.

I think any devoted parent is going to feel guilty if their child dies in an accident. It may not be rational to think that you could have saved your child, but that's not going to stop you from thinking you could have saved your child, simply by being there to prevent it. And, if that kind of event is traumatic enough (for Ernest it certainly seems to be), the death of a beloved child would be plenty adequate to drive him into that kind of black self-loathing.

We have a tendency to view these events from the outside and judge whether or not their traumatic value is sufficient, or whether certain acts justify a character's guilt, but our viewpoint doesn't matter. This place reflects a person's own emotions, so if they feel guilty for something, they're putting themselves on trial for it, no matter how much sense that might make to unconnected observers like us.

[Joseph]

I thought exactly what you mention about the parental guilt - 'what would have happened if I was there' etc. But, in the main game, we get to see that a character's Abyss summons him if he has actually committed the crime he feels guilty for.
Even if we suppose, though, that a) Ernest is somehow responsible of Amy's death or b) one's Abyss is actually summoning him when he feels guilty, independently from the town's "judgement", Ernest has no reason whatsoever to aid James - he even warns Maria not to trust him.

[Monster]

You have a point....we'd have to assume that his previous incarnations had taken completely different routes to get to the Lakeview Hotel. Thus, the map at Bar Neely's and the map at Nathan Avenue leading to the Lakeview Hotel....

Maybe the other incarnations encountered different conditions, like the way different people experience Silent Hill differently anyway.

Armed with that knowledge, you'd expect that the information he leaves behind would be more frequent and informative. Also, he would be able to pre-guess the outcome, and the delusion would not withstand that knowledge.

But what if it's simply what is being left behind each time his incarnation dies, and each new incarnation is building on that knowledge until we get to our successful James? (successful assuming we beat the game and get the 'good' ending.)

I think the James reincarnation theory is plausible. In the first and third games as well, it is strongly implied that this is the case for Harry and Heather. It could be that their journeys through Silent Hill involve an array of tangential timelines that also differ causally, so that slightly different paths are traversed until the successful path is forged by an accumulation of successes.

It would also involve backtracking to the locations where the info is left, because if he knew beforehand that he would have to go to the Apartments and Pete's,

Given what I said above, we could imagine that a previous James has simply traversed that portion of the path in reverse, recording information that was relevant to himself in ways we can't know, then died at bar neely's, where our James benefits from the info recorded by that James.

[alone in the town]

Maybe the other incarnations encountered different conditions, like the way different people experience Silent Hill differently anyway.

If this were the intent, then we would see significant differences in every playthrough. We do not. Therefore, there has to be an explanation as to why we're only seeing one version of this, and since our version is special, there has to be a reason for that, too.

But what if it's simply what is being left behind each time his incarnation dies, and each new incarnation is building on that knowledge until we get to our successful James? (successful assuming we beat the game and get the 'good' ending.)

This can't be so, because these hints are not common. James has to figure out quite a lot on his own. Furthermore, the hints are placed wrong for this theory. The hint for the letter and wrench tells James where he has to go, and James can only know this if he's been there to find out that there is a place to go. Therefore, you'd have to explain why he'd go all the way back to the hospital and drop dead in Dr. Monneret's office.

I think the James reincarnation theory is plausible. In the first and third games as well, it is strongly implied that this is the case for Harry and Heather. It could be that their journeys through Silent Hill involve an array of tangential timelines that also differ causally, so that slightly different paths are traversed until the successful path is forged by an accumulation of successes.

It works better in those cases because there's a god making the process happen, with Heather at least, and in her case it is for a very specific purpose.

Also, even though it definitely does apply to Heather, we do not see her finding her own clues and maps from her previously dead self, so why should this happen to James?

Given what I said above, we could imagine that a previous James has simply traversed that portion of the path in reverse, recording information that was relevant to himself in ways we can't know, then died at bar neely's, where our James benefits from the info recorded by that James.

But beforehand, he went to the motorhome and left a note telling himself to go to where he was going to die?

We have to assume that there is a time loop, first. We have to assume that every time James goes through it, something changes. We have to assume that he is aware of the loop. We have to assume he's aware that the experience changes. We have to assume he has the ability to know ahead of time where he's going to die, so that he can point his reincarnation to that spot.

Not a single one of these things has any basis in fact, which is why this is not a theory but a creative series of 'what-ifs'.

[Monster]

If this were the intent, then we would see significant differences in every playthrough. We do not. Therefore, there has to be an explanation as to why we're only seeing one version of this, and since our version is special, there has to be a reason for that, too.

As I said, our James is potentially the last incarnation, being the one that has everything he needs to traverse the entire path. Our version is special because it's like the key that has been forged to fit the lock through a trial an error succession of keys.

This can't be so, because these hints are not common. James has to figure out quite a lot on his own.

The hints aren't common because they aren't being intentionally placed, they are just what we get from the natural trial and error process, sort of like how fossils of particular animals aren't expected to be common in nature, it's circumstance that leads to the fossilization of certain animals, and we find what we find.

There could be dead James' that we never find simply because they are dead ends that went down paths irrelevant to our James.

Therefore, you'd have to explain why he'd go all the way back to the hospital and drop dead in Dr. Monneret's office.

But beforehand, he went to the motorhome and left a note telling himself to go to where he was going to die?

Again my point was that each incarnation could experience a different causal path, creating circumstances we aren't aware of. Maybe a particular incarnation of James resides in the town for weeks, wandering around, losing his mind. Maybe He does figure out that there are other incarnations and seeks to help the next one before dying because he becomes aware he cannot succeed. Thus, our James is given a shortcut through having to figure that out.

It works better in those cases because there's a god making the process happen, with Heather at least, and in her case it is for a very specific purpose.

The theme of death and rebirth is definitely there, James even reads about the ritual meant to accomplish this. It could be that this doesn't have to be done intentionally, but is a natural aspect of the town that, as in Heather's case, can be utilized for a specific purpose.

Also, even though it definitely does apply to Heather, we do not see her finding her own clues and maps from her previously dead self, so why should this happen to James?

There could be different factors involved in her journey, being of central interest to several parties. For one thing we are shown that Valtiel drags her body away when she dies, perhaps along with her notes and maps. Whereas James is simply a guest in the town, he doesn't receive interference or influence from anyone so he is left to figure it out on his own, over and over until he is successful.

We have to assume that there is a time loop, first. We have to assume that every time James goes through it, something changes. We have to assume that he is aware of the loop. We have to assume he's aware that the experience changes. We have to assume he has the ability to know ahead of time where he's going to die, so that he can point his reincarnation to that spot.

As I stated above, we would only have to assume that one incarnation of James comes across all of this knowledge, then knowing what is going on, leaves behind the relevant information to save future James' from perhaps a much longer ordeal. This would be his way of breaking the loop that he knows he is trapped in, his path sacrifices the potential for success for the information that will save future James.

Not a single one of these things has any basis in fact, which is why this is not a theory but a creative series of 'what-ifs'.

Fully aware of this, but since I don't think that every aspect of Silent Hill is meant to have a definite explanation, I don't think it's totally invalid. Maybe all the dead James' and left behind maps were just put there to screw with our heads. Who knows. But I like the idea, that something far more complex is going on behind our James' journey, that he is the result of perhaps an epic ordeal that he will never be aware of, sounds interesting to me.

Hell, maybe the monsters are even previous James incarnations. We do see bodies that appear to be transforming into something resembling a lying figure. What if the body in front of the TV was a James that had acquired the tape cassette a different way and killed himself after the revelation? Just possibilities.

[alone in the town]

I guess the real problem I have with the idea, other than its implausibility, is that other explanations are much simpler. This is like doing three pages of equations to solve 5+3. I don't see why such a convoluted explanation is necessary when it's not even much of a mystery.