A True Ending of Silent Hill 2, & Why

James got a letter. From a dead person. Oh dear.

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Goodnight
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Post by Goodnight »

I consider the poster in SH3 to be nothing but an Easter Egg. That game is full of them. Maria was "Born from a wish" after all. I don't believe she is a real person anywhere other than in the mind of James.
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Post by simeonalo »

She may have been inspired from an actual dancer at Heaven's Night, James probably went there often with no sexual acts with Mary.
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alone in the town
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Post by alone in the town »

Silent Hill was their vacation spot. If he was going to frequent a strip bar, surely he could find one closer to home. And one that wasn't such a scuzz parlor. It hardly looks like a place worth visiting unless it was within walking distance. Silent Hill wasn't within walking distance for James.

Besides, James shows no sign of familiarity with the place, and he isn't familiar with the town's layout. He needs a map to get around. Not a good indicator that he frequented any part of it.

I never understood this particular belief, even though it's existed for years.
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KiramidHead
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Post by KiramidHead »

Well, while vacationing with Mary in SH, James could have walked past Heaven's Night and saw the poster for the original appearance of Lady Maria in that bar. He probably didn't think much about it, noted the similarity of names, and forgot it until his subconscious needed a model for the sexified mary.
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Goodnight
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Post by Goodnight »

That's a bit of a stretch. Why would he base his wife, who he loves and knows, on some random stripper who he doesn't know, never saw and only knows of through a poster on a window he half-read?

It's much simpler to say he created Maria in his subconscious, based entirely on Mary and what she wasn't and what he wanted her to be, the name Maria was used because it is another form of Mary, and Konami threw in an Easter Egg as a nod to SH2 when you play SH3.
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Post by AuraTwilight »

That's a bit of a stretch. Why would he base his wife, who he loves and knows, on some random stripper who he doesn't know, never saw and only knows of through a poster on a window he half-read?
Why would he base his wife, who he loves and knows, on some random stripper traits that she doesn't actually have in the first place?

Your reasoning can be used to undercut the entirety of Maria's existence from the get-go, unless we go with the idea that Maria is based on Mary's perceptions.
[quote="BlackFire2"]I thought he meant the special powers of her vagina.[/quote]
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Post by DamienPales »

Besides, James shows no sign of familiarity with the place, and he isn't familiar with the town's layout. He needs a map to get around. Not a good indicator that he frequented any part of it.
How...so?

If he ever went, I'd imagine he didn't enter from the alley behind the place.
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alone in the town
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Post by alone in the town »

DamienPales wrote:
Besides, James shows no sign of familiarity with the place, and he isn't familiar with the town's layout. He needs a map to get around. Not a good indicator that he frequented any part of it.
How...so?

If he ever went, I'd imagine he didn't enter from the alley behind the place.
Because most people don't need maps to navigate places they frequently visit?
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Post by DamienPales »

When did James use a map?

I'm aware the player could conceivably pull out the map in Heaven's Night to navigate through the one room necessary to exit out the front door, but that doesn't really have any bearing on whether James himself actually did.

If you mean the town itself...well, it's been a while since he's been there. And it's foggy. So why not?
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alone in the town
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Post by alone in the town »

DamienPales wrote:If you mean the town itself...well, it's been a while since he's been there. And it's foggy. So why not?
It's the implication that he's a frequent visitor (and we have no idea how recently). South Vale is roughly the size of a suburban neighborhood. I think he would know how to navigate the place if he put in appearances with frequency.
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Post by The Adversary »

I've only been to New York twice and can navigate it pretty well w/out a map.
This post is the property of its author and is not to be used elsewhere without explicit permission from the author.

. . . AND THAT'S THAT.
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Post by DamienPales »

I wouldn't say he's a frequent visitor. He was there once in the past with Mary, maybe twice. Some people just have a bad sense of direction, I guess.

I think the map is more a tool for the player than the character, but I don't want to get into a meta-fiction discussion.
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Post by AuraTwilight »

Derp derp maybe James blocked his memory of knowing how to navigate the town because his false memories tell him he's only been once dee derp?
[quote="BlackFire2"]I thought he meant the special powers of her vagina.[/quote]
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Goodnight
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Post by Goodnight »

I don't follow your logic, Aura.
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Post by AuraTwilight »

I'm throwing out the speculation that since he blocked out and edited his memories regarding Mary's illness, he could've blocked out memories of subsequent visits to Silent Hill and possible unfaithfulness, since this would conflict with the whole "Mary died three years ago" thing.
[quote="BlackFire2"]I thought he meant the special powers of her vagina.[/quote]
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Goodnight
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Post by Goodnight »

Oh, okay. I don't think I explained myself very well. It's my bad, I don't always explain my ideas very well, which is why I usually leave the theorising to others.

That's an interesting thought, I'd never entertained that idea.
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Post by Squarehead »

Goodnight wrote:That's a bit of a stretch. Why would he base his wife, who he loves and knows, on some random stripper who he doesn't know, never saw and only knows of through a poster on a window he half-read?
Because he got turned on?
I can't believe i earned 10 Silent Hill cash for this.
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Goodnight
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Post by Goodnight »

I'm pretty sure James has been turned on by other women, too.
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KiramidHead
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Post by KiramidHead »

I was simply stating that James saw the poster, and his subconscious associated the name maria with sexual promiscuity. The name was conveniently similar to Mary, and he named his manifestation after her. Only the name originated from Lady Maria, everything else was based on James's perceptions of and desires about Mary.
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Post by Squarehead »

Goodnight wrote:I'm pretty sure James has been turned on by other women, too.
Sometimes one gets fixated on a certain one.
I can't believe i earned 10 Silent Hill cash for this.
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