Mary Shepherd and her... Sister?

[alowslane]

I've had this theory floating in my mind for two years, now I can finally get that weight off of my shoulders 8'D

Alright, a few of you might have noticed that Mary's full last name is i fact Mary Shepherd Sunderland, linking her to the main family of the Homecoming game. I had the... Erm... "Pleasure" to play that entire game, and if you had as well, or at least watched a walkthrough, you must know how it went.
The families sacrificed one child to keep the town from it's curse, and family such as the Shepherd's one, had to choose between their two kids; Josh and Alex. Also, its mentioned that this whole sacrifice thing had been going on for a long time, long before Alex had been born.
Now, put this idea in your had, what if the Shepherd's family had the "habit" of having two children at a time, and choosing one as the bait? Well, obviously Alex is much older than Josh, but that could be due to many reasons (Hesitation and regret from the parents; an incident in Alex birth; or maybe simply trying to keep their children emotionally apart through age, so perhaps the death of one wouldn't have such impact on the sibling, etc), but leaving that aside, something popped up in my head.

Mary and Maria.

Imagine the following situation; another "generation" of the Shepherds' family (Likely composed by the husband being an "official" Shepherd - with siblings, so Alex's storyline could happen eventually- and wife from other family) is given the gift of twins, two girls. They had the habit of naming their children of biblical characters, so they give each of the girls a variation of "Mary", the original one, and the less common version.(In their country, at least). Both grow with different personalities, so different that one becomes almost of a burden to them, always getting into trouble and achieving nicknames that are not-at-all honorable.

Eventually, the family must choose one of their daughters to face the terrible fate that is death; the choice wouldn't come easily, but it seemed unfair of end the life of such a sweet and educated girl such as Mary (who seemed to have a bright future ahead of her) regardless if they loved Maria just as much. The story ends just as you think it would, Mary is spared, and she either leaves the town and meets her future husband, or stays and perhaps meets James right there.

What I'm trying to get here, is that maybe just like Josh's "memory" ran around silent hill, waiting to be chased and cared for, so did Maria's. It would explain why she tries to seduce James (Taking away what Mary most cared about) and seems so eager to replace her sister, possibly trapping James in an never-ending illusion, and Maria, in eternal - through empty and fake - happiness and self accomplishment.

Can't say i did much research on this, everything seemed pretty solid i my head... Do you agree this could be the case? If so, what do you think of it? I personally think it would turn Homecoming into a much more interesting game. And if you disagree with the theory, I'd also love to hear why, specially if you found any "holes" in it that I might have passed :)

[ÆNEMA]

Well, the short answer is that SHH is made by an entirely different team, so obviously this is not what the creators intended when they made SH2.

I feel that SH2 is best looked at on its own merits. Maria isn't and never was a real person- she's a construct of both Mary and James' desires. She's the same as Pyramid Head and all the other monsters; something born of James' subconscious and existing to torment him in his guilt. She is pointedly killed over and over to remind James of his own act of murder. She has Mary's memories ( her instinctive need to keep Laura safe & the video tape ) because she is Mary in part, but she also has free will because she is still her own being rather than a reincarnation or 'spirit' of anyone else.

Personally, I think it's trying too hard to go back and link these two and kind of dumbs down the significance of SH2's story if you try to tie something so directly into it. But there's no reason that you can't go with your theory if that's how you want to view things.

[alowslane]

Well, the short answer is that SHH is made by an entirely different team, so obviously this is not what the creators intended when they made SH2.

I feel that SH2 is best looked at on its own merits. Maria isn't and never was a real person- she's a construct of both Mary and James' desires. She's the same as Pyramid Head and all the other monsters; something born of James' subconscious and existing to torment him in his guilt. She is pointedly killed over and over to remind James of his own act of murder. She has Mary's memories ( her instinctive need to keep Laura safe & the video tape ) because she is Mary in part, but she also has free will because she is still her own being rather than a reincarnation or 'spirit' of anyone else.

Personally, I think it's trying too hard to go back and link these two and kind of dumbs down the significance of SH2's story if you try to tie something so directly into it. But there's no reason that you can't go with your theory if that's how you want to view things.

You are completely right, and personally I do preffer to just leave the older games from the series alone - they are great as they are- I just thought it was an interesting fact to share. And while I hate Homecoming with a passion, I have to say that it was pretty clever what they did with the whole Mary and Maria thing (If its true, that it), and made me respect it a bit more... Because to me, it sounds much more interesting than the Alex and Josh plot they had going on in the actual game.

[Averak]

Interesting theory.And that reminds me the fact that Maria IS what Mary never was. Maria is sexy, seductive, bold. That is a reflection built in James' mind. He created her with that specific attributes.

[devil hunter]

I doubt it that she's her sister. One ghost from SH 4 was called Steve Garland. He has the same surname as Lisa, it doesn't mean they're related though.

I think that they gave her the surname Shepherd like a nod to SH 2.

[Averak]

I doubt it that she's her sister. One ghost from SH 4 was called Steve Garland. He has the same surname as Lisa, it doesn't mean they're related though.

I think that they gave her the surname Shepherd like a nod to SH 2.

I don't think that Team Silent choose, from all surnames in America only two (garland and Shepherd) and then pretend that they are not related.

[devil hunter]

Homecoming wasn't made by Team Silent though. Double Helix was all about fanservice it seems. Just look at the names of some achievements, there's a lot of references to the earlier games, plus the nurses that look like nurses from the movie, PH is in the game etc.

[Purramid_Head]

Oh gawd, not this emotional squall about how it's not made by Team Silent, again.

Devil Hunter by your logic Silent Hill 4 is fanservice too; "Omg they referenced Walter Sullivan, Lisa Garland, james Sunderland... [etc] from past games!!!!"

3 was also about "fanservice" if you want to put it that way.

[devil hunter]

Oh gawd, not this emotional squall about how it's not made by Team Silent, again.

Devil Hunter by your logic Silent Hill 4 is fanservice too; "Omg they referenced Walter Sullivan, Lisa Garland, james Sunderland... [etc] from past games!!!!"

3 was also about "fanservice" if you want to put it that way.

No, no, no, you misunderstood me.

I don't think that Team Silent choose, from all surnames in America only two (garland and Shepherd) and then pretend that they are not related.

This message sounded like he thought that Team Silent was behind Homecoming too, so I wrote that. I don't mean anything bad by fanservice, besides you know what I mean by that, now that misunderstanding is over.

[captain crowbar]

That's a really cool concept, but I seriously doubt the creators of Homecoming even remotely imagined something that clever and deep.

ba-zing.

But still, if that were true, it'd be a really neat take on things.

[what]

I don't think that Team Silent choose, from all surnames in America only two (garland and Shepherd) and then pretend that they are not related.

Why not? It's hardly unheard of in fiction.

It's such a common thing for unrelated people to have identical last names that it is of no use, by itself, as evidence to suggest connections. The fact that Mary and Steve both live far from Silent Hill and Shepherd's Glen itself suggests that a connection is unlikely.

[Purramid_Head]

I don't think that Team Silent choose, from all surnames in America only two (garland and Shepherd) and then pretend that they are not related.

Why not? It's hardly unheard of in fiction.

It's such a common thing for unrelated people to have identical last names that it is of no use, by itself, as evidence to suggest connections. The fact that Mary and Steve both live far from Silent Hill and Shepherd's Glen itself suggests that a connection is unlikely.

it's actually common in Japan for people to have the same last name. So common there's a TV in joke, that anime sometimes uses, but sitcoms more so where they say "Are we related?". However, in the subject of Silent Hill we're talking about America and SH is not usually full of coincidences.

[what]

Not full of them, no. But, I think there's room for a few. After all, what ties these people together but last names?

[ÆNEMA]

Plus, if the writers of Homecoming had wanted a connection, they probably would have had Lillian mention Mary in some vague way, similar to Frank's brief mention of his "son and daughter-in-law."

[Purramid_Head]

Silent Hill doesn't have to go into detail. It's vague on purpose. It's of little concern to me overall, but I don't think writing off the connection completely is as good as saying it is a connection. I'd rather be on the fence and given previous installments nothing is a coincidence, even minor indiscretions, my point.

[what]

If it doesn't go into detail, and it isn't coincidence, then it is a connection, but one without any context. Without context, there is no meaning.meaning.

[Purramid_Head]

I'm not sure if it's supposed to go into context, as it's something for player speculation. It's just a trope.

[_Bleaux]

I actually have heard this theory before, except it was modified slightly.

I think it was modeled off the good ending in Homecoming and then Alex and Elle getting together and having a kid (Mary). It was rather interesting at the time and whether it's believable enough all depends on where you shove Homecoming chronologically in the series since the only thing we know about it is that it is 'after' the first game.

There are further links to 2 since one of the scribbles in the hospital at the beginning of homecoming are literally word for word a document you find in Silent Hill 2 on one of the random dead bodies.

[Pyramid_Heart]

Tomm said there's no connection.

[_Bleaux]

Tomm said there's no connection.

Yeah, but conspiracy theories are just so much fun.