The developers had to be vague, since the ESRB would never allow a game with blatant satanic elements to be published in the continental US. So the story had to be left vague on purpose, only hinted at, to give the reader the clues they need to figure out the basics. The problem is, the plot is broken down into clues that must be deciphered by the player. And your average videogame player is 10-26, which means that half of them are going to have a rough time putting the fragmented pieces together. So the final product is a game that not only has many puzzles, but the entire game is one big puzzle. So now, hopefully you get the impression that I am attempting only to solve the big puzzle.
Am I wrong? Is there another explanation that is more plausible? The only explanation that makes any sense, if you sit down and analyze the whole thing for a few hours, is this: the developers have a very deep love of the more irreverent aspects of American television programs and films. Take for instance the street names of the town. This is a dead giveaway. All the names refer to various sci-fi and horror authors, and also to the band members of KISS, Sonic Youth, etc. The intro is also another clue. All the crossing between scenes we have yet to see, and scenes that have already occurred. The whole intro is like watching the beginning of an episode of the short-lived David Lynch TV series Twin Peaks. The viewer wonders, what will happen to Harry this week on "Silent Hill". What new and strange events will occur this episode? What new insights will be revealed? How will it all end this time? Will Harry finally escape from the tragic loop he seems to be stuck in?
So all these irreverent influences on the game, where did they come from? Read, watch and listen to the works of the people who are referred to in the game. Many of the street names refer to authors and artists who are the favorites of the developers, obviously. For instance, as previously explained, the whole conceiving-a-demon-in-a-child element was taken from Ira Levin's novel, Rosemary's Baby. And his last name is a street name in the game. Richard Bachman is the pseudonym of Stephen King, and we all know what a great horror writer he is. But a couple of years ago, King release a title called The Regulators under his old pseudonym. If you read this novel, you will understand that the ability of a child to conjure a world all his own and physically draw other people into it, is a major theme that has been drawn from the novel and used in the game. Read the other authors' works, and try to figure out what influence they had on the game. I can also tell you that Carl Sagan subscribed to and wrote about the theory that there are infinite worlds layered on top of one another. He expanded this from one of Einstein's theories, that time exists in layers, and that one might be able to puncture through the layers to a previous time, or to a world that never existed. Sagan concludes that in this case, there would be infinite worlds, all derived from the possibilities of the decisions of each individual. Say that you make a choice. According to Sagan, there exists, somewhere in time, an alternate universe where you made a different choice, and the entire world is different because of it.
I will also add two other references which I feel are obvious in the game, but are not referenced to by author names. One is the film Jacob's Ladder, in which Tim Robbins is a character dealing with weird and sometimes nightmarish shifting realities, exactly like Harry Mason in the game. Also, the existence of a Misty or White Silent Hill versus a Dark or Black Silent Hill reminds me of the concept of alternate universes from Twin Peaks, where they were named "The White Lodge" and "The Black Lodge". Even if you don't understand right now, keep the above perspective in mind as you continue to read. It will help clarify things and allows me to be less redundant, more concise.
The town of Silent Hill would seem to be caught between two worlds. One is the world where it is foggy all the time, a light snow is falling in the middle of the summer tourist season, and monsters are crawling out of the mist. (And no, the mist is not there as a convenient way to help the game render more easily!!! Look at games like Tomb Raider and Shadow Man, which have similar game engines, and you can see almost miles away. The developers wanted to promote a spooky and mysterious atmosphere!!!) Strange events have occurred before the game starts. The whole town has been sealed off by what looks like cooling magma, and certain streets have been cut off by large, impassable chasms. This the world where you can easily get around with the help of the tourist map, using the street names which are easily visible on all the street signs at every intersection. This is the world where you always meet Dahlia. This is also where you find clues and are told where to search next. Make note of that for later.
Then there is the other world of Silent Hill, which takes over from time to time. This is a world of utter darkness, a world where it is raining, not snowing. The Mark of Samael can be seen cropping up with greater and greater frequency. The only way to get around is with the help of a flashlight, and there seems to be more monsters hunting you. This world shows signs that it is quickly decaying. Before long, the paved streets are replaced with iron mesh platforms, which seem to be standing over a bottomless void. Buildings and areas, which seemed perfectly normal, now show signs of interior and sometimes exterior decay. Frightening and gigantic monstrosities seek to destroy Harry. This is the world where you will meet a nurse named Lisa, and you will also see a young girl named Alessa from time to time. Make note of that for later.
Misty Silent Hill fades into Dark Silent Hill. And Dark Silent Hill returns to Misty Silent Hill when one of the gigantic boss monsters is defeated. So what does this shifting between worlds mean? Let us assume, since there are monsters and strange things in both Silent Hills, that NEITHER version of the town seen in the game is the REAL Silent Hill. Both are metaphysical recreations of the real town populated by monsters and such. So then let's say that there is a real world, where there is a REAL Silent Hill. What happened to it? My answer would be that it is still there. So we are dealing with three Silent Hills, Misty SH, Dark SH, and Real SH.
What power conjures these fake Silent Hills? Since Dahlia always appears in Misty SH, it is safe to assume that she somehow controls Misty SH. Since Alessa only appears in Dark SH, she somehow controls Dark SH. How? In Alessa's case, it is obvious. She has half of a power within her that if united, could take over the entire physical universe. If the second girl was somehow able to tap into the power of the first, then the united power would reasonably be all that you need to conjure an entire world. If Dahlia possessed such a power, she would be able to tear away Alessa's world and find the second girl, easily.
So, the only logical answer is simple. Alessa has conjured a fake Silent Hill to hide herself in, so that Dahlia does not find her. But Dahlia is crafty. She has an arcane device called the Flauros, which can bend alternate universes. She says as much when she tells Harry at the Church that he just needs to follow the path through the darkness, as illuminated by the Flauros. Since the Flauros has the power to subdue alternate universes, Dahlia can use it to subdue Alessa. Problem for Dahlia is, Alessa has hidden herself so deeply in this alternate world that she cannot get close enough to the girl to use the Flauros without Alessa sensing her, and getting that much further away. Dahlia needs to stay relatively hidden herself, yet somehow get the Flauros close to Alessa so that it can work. This is where Harry becomes Dahlia' pawn in the game. In seeking to find Cheryl, he is really looking for Alessa. This is perfect for Dahlia, and this is why Harry is brought into Alessa's conjured universe.
So let's sum up what we've got so far: Alessa conjures an alternate Silent Hill to hide in. How better to hide than in a dense fog, with many streets blocked off by deep schisms? So now, Dahlia can't get to Alessa. But she has a device that can alter or affect the world that Alessa is hiding in. She can conjure herself into it, but like I said, Alessa controls this world, and would know where Dahlia is at all times. So Dahlia forms a plan to use Harry, Alessa's surrogate father, to get the Flauros close enough to Alessa so that the device can subdue the girl and dismantle her world. She needs a pawn, what appears to be an insignificant person, who she can move across this supernatural chess board and checkmate Alessa. So she uses the Flauros to physically draw Harry into Alessa's world. This is not the real Harry though, but Harry doesn't know that. Thus if Harry thinks he is dying in Alessa's world, he dies in the real world. We see this evidenced in the Bad Ending, where Harry dies in the wreckage of his jeep, where he has been all along. But the Harry that exists in Alessa's world is still a mental manifestation of the real Harry. So he can act and affect objects in this world, since he has been 'programmed' into it by Dahlia. If you don't quite get what I'm saying in this theory about Harry in the game not being the real Harry, rent the movie The Matrix. You'll quickly see what I mean.
Alessa becomes aware that Harry has been brought into this world. So she brings on a scary dark side, where she changes Silent Hill into a Hellish nightmare world in the hopes that Harry will not want to proceed. But Harry doesn't know what is going on, he is just looking for his daughter. He continues on. So Alessa generates monsters that overwhelm and kill Harry's form. No problem. Dahlia simply regenerates Harry in a safer area, the cafe. If you still don't know where I'm getting this, see The Matrix. This may go on an infinite amount of times. In fact, the ending of the game may not be the ending. Think about it. If Alessa and Dahlia are engaged in a tug-of-war over this conjured reality, where each of them have the power to bend that false reality to some degree, then even when the false reality falls apart during the Good+ Ending, Alessa could simply conjure it all up again, and Dahlia could 'hack' into it again using the Flauros, just as she did before. Thus you, the player, are trapped in a no-win situation. You can never win the game, because you were never the player. You have been played. How do I substantiate this? By the endings, and the subsequent replay games. But now we're getting into another topic. Go to Topic 7: The Endings to read more along these lines, if you don't already understand what I mean.
Things should be clicking for you as I discuss the issues. The point of this topic has been to define the world you are playing in Silent Hill, and I have explained as best I can.
Back To Main Explanations Page Topic 3: Harry; Dahlia's Pawn