What if Howard Blackwood delivered Mary's Letter?

[Floodclaw]

Think about it.
Hell of an insertion, but it'd be funny if it actually happened.

Note that this isn't a joke, I'm honestly curious as to what people would think if this were revealed. I doubt it would be, but what with Mr. Blackwood being the Magical Negroe Courier that he is, it certainly wouldn't be out of the question.

[devil hunter]

People would be pissed off so much.

There would be complaints like "but it was all in James' head" and stuff.

I don't mind it, but I believe that's how a lot of people will react.

[keeps]

i heard the idea before DP came out. it's a what if, yes, i suppose.

[Q. Valintyne]

Huh. Interesting thought. I still like to think that James wrote the note himself because he'd do such a thing, but I'd love for the lore of Downpour to be somehow related back to SH2.

I mean, he still could've wrote it himself and mailed it to himself, right...?

[OneFreeMan]

I rather split on the idea. I guess it would kind of make sense.

[ERROR]

I suggested this a few months ago.

[NarooN]

Nice idea. I'd like it, though others would indeed raise pitchforks and torches.

[Purramid_Head]

I'm under the impression the letter isn't real and therefore Howard can't deliver it.

[Floodclaw]

It does indeed disappear, but it's not unheard of for things in Silent Hill to not make sense, right? It could have been a physical letter that degraded with James's understanding of the situation.

[Purramid_Head]

The letter itself is a delusion. That's what I'm trying to tell you. It was never there to begin with.

[poorjack]

Yeah. It is just a piece of paper with imaginary writing on it.

[Floodclaw]

It certainly is possible and for all intents and purposes most likely that the letter doesn't exist.

...

But there's a chance that it's not.
Possible DP spoilers:

REVEAL SPOILER

Blackwood delivers a letter to Murphy as well. Where does that letter go? I'm seriously asking, I forget. Did Murphy just throw it away? I don't think it was seen again after that cutscene.

[devil hunter]

Yeah. It is just a piece of paper with imaginary writing on it.

It's not that either, the letter completely disappears.

EDIT: @Flood

REVEAL SPOILER

Also don't forget that Murphy throws the first letter and then Howard gives him the same letter from his bag. The idead that the letters could disappear is not too far fetched.

[Augophthalmoses]

Nice little theory and all, but there's no evidence backing it up. Not to mention, as others have said, James' letter in the beginning is a delusion. So that kinda pokes a hole in the idea that Howard delivered the letter to him.

[Floodclaw]

Of course there's no evidence backing it up. It's just an idea, and a silly retcon one at that.
Is there any evidence that the letter is a delusion besides the fact that it fades and eventually disappears? Silent Hill has done weirder things than deliver letters made of disappearing paper.

[Augophthalmoses]

Is there any evidence that the letter is a delusion besides the fact that it fades and eventually disappears?

Why does it matter? There doesn't need to be anymore because the player is already given enough just from the fact that the letter turns blank and then disappears after the truth is unveiled. You can't get the message across any clearer than that.

[jam6i]

There is no need for the letter to be a hard, physical copy that does't get altered or disappear entirely.

Remember, it's not the letter...it's the goal of giving the "lost soul" directions towards a specific location.

It didn't matter in the slightest what James' letter said, as long as it gave him the proper motivation to go to Silent Hill. For him, proper motivation was thinkin Mary wrote the letter, and she was waiting for him.

As the player becomes more aware of the truth, as well as James, the letter changes and disappears because it has served the town's purpose. There is no letter, it's a manifestation of the town.

Regarding Murphy's letter

REVEAL SPOILER

Murphy threw his letter to the ground and refused to take it. Not a problem, the town simply manifests another copy. The actual physical copy is meaningless;the only purpose is the goal of getting Murphy to the orphanage. It was the only place Murphy had no business being at, so the town manifested a reason for him to go there; he could not learn to forgive and accept responsibility for Napier, and could not be able to assist in Anne's awakening.

[ERROR]

The letter James has is a delusion, but Mary wrote him a letter, so a version does exists—one that could be delivered.

[NarooN]

The letter James has is a delusion, but Mary wrote him a letter, so a version does exists—one that could be delivered.

Nice catch, that is true.

[Floodclaw]

On that line of thinking, perhaps it is a similar vein to that of Murphy's predicament.
A letter from Mary was 'made and delivered', but the 'letter' in James's inventory is simply his mind's manifestation of what it should have said.