Was the town trying to help james in its own way?

[bulldog0890]

so going for the leave ending, the final conversation with not mary before the last boss fight. its like the town itself was trying to give him something "better" than mary. was maria meant to help in a warped way, or was it just another test of his guilty? did the town want him to get over it? or did it want to consume him?

[Maraxus]

I've always maintained that the town is indifferent. Maria happened because James yearned for her to happen, unconsciously. Everything that plays out represents the underlying dynamics of James' sick mind, and the town simply gives them form.

[Starwight/ttv]

So Silent Hill 2 is interesting in that the game doesn't tell you WHY Silent Hill is the way it is. But basically, events from the first game basically caused Silent Hill to become "cursed" for the lack of a better word. What Silent Hill does, is it manifests things based on the individual. SH2 reveals this later, when James tells Angela "It's hot as hell in here" and then she tells him it's "always like this."

So the FIRST thing to understand is that everyone experiences Silent Hill differently. We get a glimpse of how Angela perceives it. I think we get a glimpse of how Eddie perceives it during the fight with him.

And we see how James perceives it.

So now to answer your question. Was the town trying to give him something BETTER than Mary? No. To quote the title of the DLC from the original game, she was "Born from a Wish." Marie is a manifestation of all the things he desired from Mary when she fell ill. He was sexually frustrated, because for 3 years their intimacy died. She basically is a manifestation of James' lust--hence why OG fans were PISSED that her outfit was changed. There was a narrative reason she was promiscuously dressed. It is also shown how her personality changed quite a lot as she was "taken over" by that disease.

So did the town try to give him something better? Yes and no. Marie was just another manifestation that James had to face. Which is why, imo, the Marie ending makes literally zero sense, as it shows him leaving the town with her. A manifestation, which she clearly was and this is established in multiple sources, cannot exist outside of the town--or James' head. And Silent Hill is a very real, physical place, it is not just simply someone dreaming it or purgatory, as I've seen people call it.

So in a way you could say it was. But the more accurate thing to say is that the town was simply manifesting James' desires--in this case, someone like Marie.

[The_Hyphenator85]

I think Silent Hill tests people. If it has any kind of ethics, it's more like Jigsaw from the Saw movies than anything conventional; a game isn't a game if there aren't rules for all participants, including the one running the game, and I think the town does toy with people and torment them, but it also provides an opportunity for them to escape. Or perhaps part of the nature of the town is that it MUST provide a means for the victim to survive and escape; think the Lady of Pain's "Maze" ability in D&D, one of the requirements of which is that there is an exit to the maze, and that it is possible for a victim to reach that exit.

So if anything, I think Maria was created by James' desires for the purpose of hindering him and preventing him from escaping, just another obstacle for him to overcome, but one he wouldn't recognize as an obstacle.

[SunfireKnight86]

"Silent Hill" is a collection of entities more than a singular one and like any group I think they have conflicting motives.

Originally posted by Starwight/ttv:

So Silent Hill 2 is interesting in that the game doesn't tell you WHY Silent Hill is the way it is. But basically, events from the first game basically caused Silent Hill to become "cursed" for the lack of a better word. What Silent Hill does, is it manifests things based on the individual. SH2 reveals this later, when James tells Angela "It's hot as hell in here" and then she tells him it's "always like this."

So the FIRST thing to understand is that everyone experiences Silent Hill differently. We get a glimpse of how Angela perceives it. I think we get a glimpse of how Eddie perceives it during the fight with him.

And we see how James perceives it.

So now to answer your question. Was the town trying to give him something BETTER than Mary? No. To quote the title of the DLC from the original game, she was "Born from a Wish." Marie is a manifestation of all the things he desired from Mary when she fell ill. He was sexually frustrated, because for 3 years their intimacy died. She basically is a manifestation of James' lust--hence why OG fans were PISSED that her outfit was changed. There was a narrative reason she was promiscuously dressed. It is also shown how her personality changed quite a lot as she was "taken over" by that disease.

So did the town try to give him something better? Yes and no. Marie was just another manifestation that James had to face. Which is why, imo, the Marie ending makes literally zero sense, as it shows him leaving the town with her. A manifestation, which she clearly was and this is established in multiple sources, cannot exist outside of the town--or James' head. And Silent Hill is a very real, physical place, it is not just simply someone dreaming it or purgatory, as I've seen people call it.

So in a way you could say it was. But the more accurate thing to say is that the town was simply manifesting James' desires--in this case, someone like Marie.

Well yes and no. Cheryl was a manifestation that could leave town as well.

[EQOAnostalgia]

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