Beyond the flaming staircase... *possible spoilers*

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

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Mr Garland
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Beyond the flaming staircase... *possible spoilers*

Post by Mr Garland »

Ok, as we all know the fate of angela at the end of the game is left up to the player, and if we are to assume that her line "for me, its always like this" suggests that the fire is part of her otherworld, what do you think happened to angela when she finished climbing the stairs. if the fire didnt damage her?
Did she have her own boss to fight? Did she find another way to end her life?

Any ideas are welcome!

PS if this is in the wrong section, could a mod move it plz :)
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Post by cascade88 »

This was possibly discussed here, though I haven't read all of it myself. This is an interesting theory to read about Angela and her Otherworld, as well. :)

And, you know, I'm not sure. I haven't put tons of thought or speculation into what Angela ultimately does. I think I just presumed that she ascends the stairs and finally takes her own life, sadly.
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Post by NeoAquarius12 »

I always thought that she was going into a better place. She ascends he stairs... possibly lifting herself out of the fire to a quiter, darker place outside of James's reach. Ohhohoho, metaphoric... lol.

But it is acually pretty awesome to think she may have her own boss to fight. Either her dad or herself... If she fights herself, it's a figurative suicide, she kills herself, and it's finally over
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Post by Mephisto »

I always thought that she just. . . dies. By suicide. But the question is. . . How? She didn't had a knife 'cause James was with it, she'll just strangle herself with her own hands? That's silly.
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Post by paladin181 »

Given the strangeness of the Angela encounters, I've always wondered if she was really even there at all. She never interacts in any way with anyone else. It occurred to me that she could be a manifestation of James desire to end it all because life has gotten unbearable, or even a phantom conjured by the spirit of Mary to lead James to the conclusion that his own death is the answer to his grief, and a suitable punishment for killing her. Her story at the end is kill Thomas, and then die. Who can say she didn't kill herself before the game started, in the bedroom with that knife that she used to kill her father, yet denied her own fate?

It's an idea I've tossed around for a while now, without actually saying anything, because i want to go through the game a few times myself again to see if I missed something.
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SHF
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Post by SHF »

You gotta point. Angela only interacts with James...But IMO she is alive and real, just that she doesnt socialize with the other characters..as far as the where does she go after the stairs of fire, I still have to figure out the actual location of this sequence, in regards of the Hotel. There has to be a connection somewhere...
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Post by AuraTwilight »

Angela was definitely real, as she doesn't possess any of the traits the other confirmed constructs of the series possess.

As for her fate...perhaps the stairs went on forever, and she kept walking them until she burned alive. They certainly go on longer than any real staircase would.
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Post by SHF »

it seemed like from what i remember, that scene, wasnt even in the hotel. if you check the map after you exit back out, its...nowhere....?
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Post by The Adversary »

There's a story about a now-destroyed church round here that goes . . .

This church, once it was abandoned, was used by Satanists to conduct rituals (back in the '70s, dogs would be found dead, skinned). The cemetery around the chapel was a hotbed for præternatural activity, and was known to scare the bejesus out of people. Behind the church there was a staircase to the cellar, and it was said when going downstairs one would count 25 steps; when going back up, one would count 30.

Meaning: Getting to Hell is easier than getting to Heaven.

Angela is irredeemable. She can't get to Heaven until she forgives herself—and that ain't happening. So she'll continue walking up those stairs 'til she either dies, or turns around and returns to the [otherside].
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Post by sorata »

Til this day, I still think the Adversary's theory http://www.silenthillforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=60 one of the best theory of Angela's experience in the game.

Edit: and of course, 1 minute before I post, he has to post before me >_< The story of my life!
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Post by The Adversary »

Thank you.
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Post by Mephisto »

MMY that was so deep, that was a really good metaphor to explain what would happen. I changed my mind.
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Post by Ryoshockwave »

Personally, I always thought that she just continued wandering around, searching for her "Mother" and never finding her.
paladin181 wrote:Given the strangeness of the Angela encounters, I've always wondered if she was really even there at all. She never interacts in any way with anyone else. It occurred to me that she could be a manifestation of James desire to end it all because life has gotten unbearable, or even a phantom conjured by the spirit of Mary to lead James to the conclusion that his own death is the answer to his grief, and a suitable punishment for killing her. Her story at the end is kill Thomas, and then die. Who can say she didn't kill herself before the game started, in the bedroom with that knife that she used to kill her father, yet denied her own fate?

It's an idea I've tossed around for a while now, without actually saying anything, because i want to go through the game a few times myself again to see if I missed something.
This is an interesting theory, and reading it got me thinking a little bit. James has more in common with Angela than probably any other character, and in their moments together there is always some sort of conflict. Even their initial meeting, Angela warns James that he shouldn't go to Silent Hill. Perhaps this is the part of James that knows he shouldn't go there. Despite Angela's knowledge of Silent Hill being dangerous, James continues to see her there. Is she an illusion each time? Than James finds the newspaper article about a man that was stabbed. No date, of course, and if I recall, it didn't actually mention who did it. Maybe that's wasn't the first time James saw that article. If he read it in the past, he probably felt a connection to it. From that point, he could have began to come up with this Angela character in his own head. He gave her a (forgivable) reason for committing such an act. He sympathized with her. He wanted to be like her, so he killed the person in his own life that was abusing him, holding him back. But then he slowly starts to realize that his crime wasn't quite as forgivable, and now he needs to be punished.

Quite a stretch, but that's just what went through my head over the course of these past few minutes.
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Post by sorata »

I'm no expert in theory of SH2, given there are so many talented authors in this forum, but in my humble opinion, Angela is real. She doesn't possess any traits of a manifest. We have a clear description of Angela's pass (of course we don't know which high-school she went to or what is her favourite Saturday cartoon when she was a child, but we got as much as we need to know for the story's sake), we know what was her "crime" for being lured into Silent Hill.

Compare to other characters in the game that majority of people know they are not "real", like the Maria and the Pyramid Head, which their history is basically a mystery (even given the sub-storyline of Maria, we can still argue her existence is not "real"), no last names and almost no reason to exist in Silent Hill other than to serve the purpose of James story, the SH team defines Angela well enough to simply say she doesn't exist at all. For me, her past and reason for being in Silent Hill is even more clear than Laura's, which sometimes I still think she could be an imagination.
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Post by paladin181 »

My belief isn't that Angela is a full on construct, but rather something else. I follow you about other constructs, but my theory is that perhaps she had died shortly before the game started. There's no real reason though, to believe one way or the other. Not enough evidence to support her actual existence to me, but then, I won't deny it either based on the principle of Occam's Razor. It was merely a possibility I tossed out there, that I will explore later when I have more time.
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Post by Ryoshockwave »

Actually, I honestly feel that she is real. But I like the theories of her being not real, too. They are interesting, to say the least, and I would like to hear more about your personal theories sometime, paladin181.
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Post by simeonalo »

I've always considered the metaphor that the floor that James and Angela are on is "hell" (the burning of Angela's otherworld), and as she ascends the staircase she moves to Heaven. Though I don't think that would fit in considering she killed her father and never forgave herself, because during the conversation she wants James to give her the knife to commit suicide.

You could see it as moving on to another plate (Land mass, existence, 'level', per say) of hell. Maybe supported by another theory somewhere here saying that the games were based on The Divine Comedy (Dante's Inferno).

So, my opinion changes here, and I see Angela as moving on to a different part of Silent Hill, a different hell of different symbolism and observation, different monsters (or what ever she sees) and different areas of her 'house' (stated again on a different topic on what Angela really sees-her house). I think this may go on and on until she accepts her fate, maybe meeting different people who are also called to the town.

Though my theory contradicts another theory saying that Angela is really a ghost unable to move on.
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Post by SHF »

I think at the end she at least realizes shes living in her own hell. Gotta question. Is it possible to leave the hotel at anytime to retrack other areas? Because, then james could hike back to other places to find clues
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Post by HarleyQuinnofHate »

At that point, no, you can't even get back to "Regular" (loosely used) Hotel, but if you mean in the beginning, still no, you came over on the boat and I am pretty sure you can't leave.


What clues are you talking about? There is nothing spawning anew across the lake if you can;t get over there, there is no more clues than when you left.
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Post by Sergiy »

Sometimes i think Angela couldnt end it because of James.
When James came in to save Angela from "daddy" HE killed it, not her, therefore screwing her escape route.
That must have been her final encounter as James fought his reason, Angela shoud have either killed it, or died trying.

I know we see abstract daddys later, but those are just hints that angela is nearby and probbably an attempt to make the game more challanging.

EDIT: Think of the newspaper/tape similarity, James finds the newspaper shortly before encountering angela, im thinking angela could have had the same sort of amnesia, until she found the article and was forced to fight her "Reason"
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