THE BAD ENDING: This is what occurs in the final area if you did not use the Aglaophotis on Cybil, and if you did not find Kaufman's stash at the Motel. Harry is in a conjured version of what seems to be Dahlia Gillespie's house, on the second floor. After experiencing another psychic image from Alessa, he runs downstairs. This room is very similar to the Dark Midwich Elementary School Boiler Room, where Harry encountered the Lizard. But now, the room is inhabited by three others. They are, from left to right: Dahlia; Alessa #1, seated in a wheelchair, burned from head to toe and wrapped in dirty bandages; and finally, Alessa #2, who was Harry's adopted daughter Cheryl for the past seven years. Harry demands to see Cheryl, and Dahlia explains to him that Alessa #2 is Cheryl. Then Dahlia magically combines the two girls into one being, whom I call the Mother Alessa since Dahlia proclaims, "My daughter will be the mother of a god!" The Mother Alessa bears the full and vibrant power of the demon contained within her, Samael. She releases her power now, and destroys Dahlia. Then, she tries to destroy Harry. Harry runs around and shoots her until she dies. Then he collapses to the floor, sobbing in grief. Alessa's fake world crumbles around him. Then the credits begin to roll, but the best is yet to come. After the credits, there is one last shot. Harry is still seated in his crashed jeep. Blood runs from a wound on his forehead. He is dead.
THE BAD + ENDING: This is what occurs in the final area if you used the Aglaophotis on Cybil, but you did not find Kaufman's stash at the Motel. Harry is in a conjured version of what seems to be Dahlia Gillespie's house, on the second floor. After experiencing another psychic image from Alessa, he runs downstairs. This room is very similar to the Dark Midwich Elementary School Boiler Room, where Harry encountered the Lizard. But now, the room is inhabited by four others. They are, from left to right: Dahlia; Alessa #1, seated in a wheelchair, burned from head to toe and wrapped in dirty bandages; Alessa #2, who was Harry's adopted daughter Cheryl for the past seven years; and finally, Cybil, who's somehow beaten Harry here, and has her gun trained on Dahlia. Dahlia uses her power to knock Cybil away. Now Harry steps forward. He demands to see Cheryl, and Dahlia explains to him that Alessa #2 is Cheryl. Then Dahlia magically combines the two girls into one being, whom I call the Mother Alessa since Dahlia proclaims, "My daughter will be the mother of a god!" The Mother Alessa bears the full and vibrant power of the demon contained within her, Samael. She releases her power now, and destroys Dahlia. Then, she tries to destroy Harry. Harry runs around and shoots her until she dies. Then he collapses to the floor, sobbing in grief. Alessa's fake world crumbles around him. Then the credits begin to roll, but there is yet a final shot afterwards. Cybil gets up, and limps over to Harry. She grabs him, shakes him, and finally slaps him to bring him around. "Harry," she yells. "Go!"
THE GOOD ENDING: This is what occurs in the final area if you did not use the Aglaophotis on Cybil, but you did find Kaufman's stash at the Motel. Harry is in a conjured version of what seems to be Dahlia Gillespie's house, on the second floor. After experiencing another psychic image from Alessa, he runs downstairs. This room is very similar to the Dark Midwich Elementary School Boiler Room, where Harry encountered the Lizard. But now, the room is inhabited by three others. They are from left to right, Dahlia, Alessa #1, seated in a wheelchair, burned from head to toe and wrapped in dirty bandages, and finally, Alessa #2, who was Harry's adopted daughter Cheryl for the past seven years. Harry demands to see Cheryl, and Dahlia explains to him that Alessa #2 is Cheryl. Then Dahlia magically combines the two girls into one being, whom I call the Mother Alessa since Dahlia proclaims, "My daughter will be the mother of a god!" The Mother Alessa bears the full and vibrant power of the demon contained within her, Samael. But now, Dr. Kaufman enters the room. He is quite certain that Dahlia has betrayed him, that she assumed control of the power within Alessa for herself. He produces the medicine he took from Harry in the Motel garage, which Dahlia identifies with some horror on her part to be "Aglaophotis". Kaufman hurls the liquid at Alessa. The substance causes the giant, winged demon, Samael, to be extracted from Alessa. The demon turns on Dahlia, and destroys her form. Then, the demon tries to destroy Harry. Harry runs around and shoots the monster until it screams in agony, the scream of a young girl. Behind him, the monster that Alessa had disguised as her former nurse, Lisa, rises out of the floor. She sneaks up behind Kaufman and grabs him, dragging him down through the floor, to a fate we can safely assume to be worse than death. Harry turns to Mother Alessa, who has collapsed on the floor. The conjured world is crumbling around them. Alessa produces a small bundle containing an infant, and gives it to Harry. She then points to a bright light off in the distance. Harry runs. After the credits roll and are done, a final shot occurs. Harry emerges from the conjured world, and finds himself running down the highway at night. He is carrying the small baby. He stops, looks around. His expression is one of confusion and anger.
THE GOOD + ENDING: This is what occurs in the final area if you used the Aglaophotis on Cybil and you found Kaufman's stash at the Motel. Harry is in a conjured version of what seems to be Dahlia Gillespie's house, on the second floor. After experiencing another psychic image from Alessa, he runs downstairs. This room is very similar to the Dark Midwich Elementary School Boiler Room, where Harry encountered the Lizard. But now, the room is inhabited by four others. They are from left to right, Dahlia; Alessa #1, seated in a wheelchair, burned from head to toe and wrapped in dirty bandages; Alessa #2, who was Harry's adopted daughter Cheryl for the past seven years; and finally, Cybil, who's somehow beaten Harry here, and has her gun trained on Dahlia. Dahlia uses her power to knock Cybil away. Now Harry steps forward. He demands to see Cheryl, and Dahlia explains to him that Alessa #2 is Cheryl. Then Dahlia magically combines the two girls into one being, whom I call the Mother Alessa since Dahlia proclaims, "My daughter will be the mother of a god!" The Mother Alessa bears the full and vibrant power of the demon contained within her, Samael. But now, Dr. Kaufman enters the room. He is quite certain that Dahlia has betrayed him, that she assumed control of the power within Alessa for herself. He produces the medicine he took from Harry in the Motel garage, which Dahlia identifies with some horror on her part to be "Aglaophotis". Kaufman hurls the liquid at Alessa. The substance causes the giant, winged demon, Samael, to be extracted from Alessa. The demon turns on Dahlia, and destroys her form. Then, the demon tries to destroy Harry. Harry runs around and shoots the monster until it screams in agony, the scream of a young girl. Behind him, the monster that Alessa had disguised as her former nurse, Lisa, rises out of the floor. She sneaks up behind Kaufman and grabs him, dragging him down through the floor, to a fate we can safely assume to be worse than death. Harry turns to Mother Alessa, who has collapsed on the floor. The conjured world is crumbling around them. Alessa produces a small bundle containing an infant, and gives it to Harry. She then points to a bright light off in the distance. Cybil gets up, and the two of them run for the light. After the credits roll and are done, a final shot occurs. Harry and Cybil stand in the same spot Harry and his wife stood at seven years ago. Harry picks up the baby in the bundle from off the ground. Cybil plays with the baby, and there is a look of happiness exchanged between Harry and Cybil. Now here's the strange thing, when you start up a new game and watch the intro, the scene with Harry and his wife finding the baby has been replaced with the same scene, with Cybil instead of Harry's wife. And it will remain this way through every subsequent game, no matter which ending you get.
THE UFO ENDING: During a Next Fear game, a replay of Silent Hill, Harry might be able to find a new item called the Channeling Stone at the Convenience Store near the beginning of the game. As the game progresses, access the inventory menu and Use the Channeling Stone at the following areas: 1. The rooftop of the Midwich Elementary School 2. In the courtyard of the Hospital, right before going to fight the Giant Moth. 3. In the parking lot of the Motel 4. In the cabin of the Boat, right after Dahlia leaves. 5. 5. At the top of the Lighthouse, after Alessa disappears.
With each use of the Channeling Stone, Harry will see more and more UFOs in the sky, for a greater duration each time. When the stone is used at the top of the Lighthouse, the UFO Ending suddenly occurs. The UFOs land, and Harry approaches them. Aliens emerge from the UFOs, and Harry waits for them to speak. But they say nothing. In confusion, Harry apologizes, awkwardly. Then he asks, "Say, have you seen a little girl, about seven, short black hair-" One of the aliens whips out a Konami Hyper Blaster (a real lightgun product, usable with the Sony PlayStation™) and fries Harry with it. They pick up the stunned and groaning man, drag him into the spaceship and zip off. Then, the credits roll, but like the introduction at the beginning of a Star Wars film. The theme music is really weird, like a twelve year old is playing with a synthesizer, and some guy keeps repeating "Silent Hill, Silent Hill!" So what does it all mean? In my opinion, you have to experience and add up ALL the endings in order to understand what happens. And even then, any player can only interpret for him- or herself.
When I add all the endings together, I noticed a great many things. The notes that I made helped me to interpret the entire plot of the game, and to create this guide. All of the endings are unsatisfactory, in that the nature of the power held by Alessa and the real plot of the game are not explained. In this much, I agree with everyone. Why would the developers spend a small fortune on the development, packaging, and marketing of a game, when it fails to have a tell-all, conclusive ending?
The developers went to some lengths to make the Bad Ending Stand out from the rest. This much is clear, in that there are no "bloopers" during the credits, and there is a ballad that is played. After the unique credits are concluded, a shot of Harry in his jeep, dead. I think that these occurrences have been highlighted by the developers to hint that this is the most important ending, and maybe the most telling. The implication is that Harry has been in his jeep this whole time, teetering between life and death, witness to images of heaven and hell.
The Bad Ending, and the way that it is highlighted, say to me that none of what has happened during the game is real. What is real is that Harry has been in a car accident, and that the events of the game are no more than his guilt-ridden hallucinations before death. Perhaps at one point, he regained consciousness just enough to become aware that Cheryl was gone. I think his hunt for her, throughout the game, is really a metaphor for his inability to forgive himself. He's going to die, and he never got to tell Cheryl that she wasn't his real daughter.
What is the meaning of the other endings, then? In the Bad+ Ending, Harry has rescued Cybil, and therefore has the opportunity to confess his sins to her, not telling Cheryl that he wasn't her real father. In this manner, perhaps the true purpose of Cybil's existence in the game is revealed. She is Harry's confessor, his priest, and therefore, his angel. Hence, Cybil is beautiful and kind. She becomes evil when Harry is still reluctant to admit his guilt. But she is returned to angelic status so that Harry can confess what he feels to be his major sin. But these are both still the Bad Endings, and for good reason. Notice that at the end of both, there is no exit tunnel, with a light at the end. The game ends with Harry being stuck in the Dark conjured world, and flames are raining down upon him. If Harry has admitted his guilt, then why is he confined to Hell at the end of the game? I think it is because he has failed to cause the circumstances that allow the demon to be extracted from his daughter. Thus, at the end of the game, when Harry kills the woman who represents his own daughter, he has failed to see her as anything but a monster and the bane of his existence. Sometimes, when people can't admit something to the people they love, they begin to see those people in a resentful fashion. Hence, Harry resented his daughter in real life because he couldn't admit the truth to her.
So in the hallucinatory world within his mind as he lay dying, Harry must not only admit that he was wrong not to tell his daughter, whatever her real name may be, that he wasn't her real father, but he must also stop resenting her for it. Thus, when the demon is extracted from Harry's daughter, and he defeats it, this is all a metaphor for Harry finally being able to admit his wrong and conquer his own inner demon, who was not his daughter, but another entity all along. Only then is the long tunnel with the light at the end available for Harry to run to. Only then does Harry achieve everlasting peace and a final happiness. Otherwise, he condemns himself to Hell, and the entire game has only been a metaphor for the choice he has had to make.
But this leaves out the final shots of the other three endings. What are their secret meanings? If we hold the previous theory up, then the other endings are merely Harry's mental explorations of all the possible outcomes. If he confesses his guilt and stops seeing his daughter as his personal demon, then he goes to Heaven and is finally happy with his angel, Cybil. If he doesn't confess his guilt, but still quits casting his daughter as his demon, then he still gets to go to Heaven, but it's a much emptier place. If he confesses his guilt, but still resents his daughter for his own crimes, he is condemned. And if he does neither, then he becomes aware that he has died and committed himself to an eternity of grieving over his mistakes.
Back To Main Explanations Page Topic 8: The Twilight Zone Theory