"GOOD": The only ending that can possibly be true.

Have you seen Harry's daughter anywhere? Short, dark hair?

Moderator: Moderators

Post Reply
User avatar
alone in the town
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 11107
Joined: 15 Apr 2004
Gender: Male
Location: In the anals of forum history
Contact:

"GOOD": The only ending that can possibly be true.

Post by alone in the town »

This is one of those dead-horse topics, but I plan to explain, as definitively as possible, why Good is the only ending of Silent Hill 1 that can be correct. It's a topic that needed to be made a long time ago.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Considering that Silent Hill 3 even exists, one can immediately rule out the Bad ending. In it, we come to understand that the entire series of events was only a dying fever dream of Harry's. As he survived to later die in Silent Hill 3, this obviously cannot be the true ending.

As Harry Mason does not escape the town in Silent Hill's Bad+ ending (and, since Heather is never conceived), this ending too is clearly invalid.

Few, if any, people attempt to dispute their invalidity. But, there are still a large minority out there that believe GOOD+ is a possible ending. It certainly is not. The implication of GOOD+ is that Cybil survives the events of Silent Hill. This is impossible.

First, and most importantly, The Book of Lost Memories makes it as plain as can be:
The orthodox ending, which is connected to the third game
This leaves absolutely no room for debate.

However, there is a statement made by Hiroyuki Owaku which many people believe contradicts this:
Cybil is not involved in Silent Hill 3. What happens to her afterwards is left to the player's imaginations.

I do not believe this contradicts the first statement at all, and is not suggesting that the GOOD+ ending is possible. It suggests, rather, that the fate of those drawn into the Otherworld is uncertain. We don't know that death in the Otherworld implies death in the real world, so it may be possible to die in the Otherworld yet still survive in objective reality. Therefore, even if Harry had to kill Cybil, since the Harry and Cybil we see are, in reality, no more than mere egoscopic projections, neither can actually be harmed.

If anything, the events of Silent Hill 4, where death does transcend the Otherworld's barrier, only suggest that Cybil is that much less likely to have survived, but that's neither here nor there.

However, GOOD+ has a fatal flaw that existed even before Silent Hill 3: To save Cybil, Harry is required to use Aglaophotis on her to remove her possessing parasite. The problem is, it is absolutely impossible for this to happen. Though Harry is given a subtle nudge that helps him find and collect the spilled red liquid, he never figures out its purpose or use. This is crucial: Harry cannot use the Aglaophotis on Cybil because he has absolute zero reason to logically expect that it HAS such a purpose. Harry does learn, in the end, but not until he sees Michael Kaufman use the same stuff on the Incubator. Only at this point is Harry made aware that it is a substance that exorcises demons and otherworldly parasites. Harry, obviously, is not offered this knowledge until long after he is forced to kill Cybil.

To put it simply, Harry can't utilize knowledge he does not have.

Now, the common rebuttal to this from the dissenting crowd is that Harry figures it out by accident, experiment, and/or unwillingness to kill a good friend. I submit that this makes zero logical sense whatsoever in any context.

First, Cybil is hardly a great, old friend to Harry. They have, to this point, met three times. They have spent perhaps fifteen entire minutes in each other's company. Harry might risk his life to save a life-long friend, but not a stranger who is clearly trying to kill him.

Second, Cybil is trying to kill Harry. Even if Harry wanted to experiment with items in his inventory, he's not going to do it while he has a gun pointed at him by a woman who is possessed. Even if he wished to do this for a dear old friend (which, as stated, is not the case at all), he couldn't. To experiment with random, heretofore useless items, in the vain hope that one of these things might perhaps act as a cure, is twenty times more likely to result in Harry getting wasted than anything else. This scenario is entirely illogical.

Third, Harry has already killed dozens of similarly-possessed people in Alchemilla Hospital by this point, and throughout that entire adventure he has the aglaophotis. He never attempts to save any of them with his sample . . . because he is given no hint, no clue, no sign that his mysterious red liquid will cure a toothache, much less demonic possession. To assume he comes by this knowledge before finding Cybil is assuming incorrectly. The game, again, elects not to give you this information until it is too late for you to use it as you should.

Harry would have to be precognitive, or have access to outside his own objective reality, in the form of game guides. It is the only possible method by which Harry can get this knowledge before finding Cybil. Obviously, this invalidates it within the context of the game, because Harry cannot possibly have any such foreknowledge.

GOOD+ is invalid even within the context of the first game. It is intended to be an easter egg for repeat players. It is, very obviously, not intended to be considered a serious ending to the game.

This leaves GOOD as the only ending left that makes any logical sense, both within the context of events within Silent Hill 1, and the connection it has with Silent Hill 3. There has never been a plausible denial of this, and since the developers have given GOOD its blessing, there simply cannot be any other possible ending. Unlike all other endings in Silent Hill 1, it fits seamlessly and requires no leaps of logic whatsoever.

Those of you who insist on GOOD+ being possible or even likely, are not just spitting into the wind, but ignoring logical thought processes. The ending is not possible. GOOD is the only one that works.
Image
User avatar
DamienPales
Rosewater Park Attendant
Posts: 1345
Joined: 25 Mar 2009
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan

Post by DamienPales »

While I agree that GOOD+ is illogical at best, I'm not convinced that there's no way Harry could ever have possibly conceived of a use for Aglaophotis. I mean, if SH3 had featured Cybil as a character, everyone would simply accept that Harry figured out a way to use it somehow, and thus the theorizing for that would begin.

Cybil does have a gun, but she tosses it out once it runs out of bullets. After that, she can only try to choke Harry with her bare hands. Since Harry is probably too disoriented by the asphyxia to aim or even fire a gun, it is possible that he simply grabbed any random object on his person and tossed it at her to make it stop, like the bottle of Aglaophotis. Thus, saving her by accident. Like I said, while I agree that Cybil is dead and gone, unless it's made 100% clear in a future game, I can still accept the slightest sliver of doubt on the matter.

Also, Cybil is an egoscopic projection? While another dimension, the Otherworld doesn't create copies of people separate from the real world. At least, I don't think it does. How can there be one Cybil in the real world and another Cybil in the Otherworld?
User avatar
alone in the town
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 11107
Joined: 15 Apr 2004
Gender: Male
Location: In the anals of forum history
Contact:

Post by alone in the town »

DamienPales wrote:While I agree that GOOD+ is illogical at best, I'm not convinced that there's no way Harry could ever have possibly conceived of a use for Aglaophotis. I mean, if SH3 had featured Cybil as a character, everyone would simply accept that Harry figured out a way to use it somehow, and thus the theorizing for that would begin.
If it had, I would never have made a topic like this.
Cybil does have a gun, but she tosses it out once it runs out of bullets. After that, she can only try to choke Harry with her bare hands. Since Harry is probably too disoriented by the asphyxia to aim or even fire a gun, it is possible that he simply grabbed any random object on his person and tossed it at her to make it stop, like the bottle of Aglaophotis. Thus, saving her by accident. Like I said, while I agree that Cybil is dead and gone, unless it's made 100% clear in a future game, I can still accept the slightest sliver of doubt on the matter.
As the aglaophotis is being carried in a closed, plastic water bottle, this doesn't work either. If he could not open the bottle, the liquid never gets on her. For this same reason, it's not going to break if it strikes her, as it is not made of glass.

Furthermore, when used in the game, it is shown being deliberately sprayed at her face, requiring it to be an act of at least some premeditation. If Cybil has Harry in a chokehold, you cannot use any items until you break free. That's getting into fanfiction otherwise.
Also, Cybil is an egoscopic projection? While another dimension, the Otherworld doesn't create copies of people separate from the real world. At least, I don't think it does. How can there be one Cybil in the real world and another Cybil in the Otherworld?
I don't think they really are egoscopic projections, it's just that Owaku's comment suggests that the possibility exists. This book was, however, published before Silent Hill 4 essentially invalidated that idea, as well.
Image
User avatar
DamienPales
Rosewater Park Attendant
Posts: 1345
Joined: 25 Mar 2009
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan

Post by DamienPales »

As the aglaophotis is being carried in a closed, plastic water bottle, this doesn't work either. If he could not open the bottle, the liquid never gets on her. For this same reason, it's not going to break if it strikes her, as it is not made of glass.
Well, maybe he thinks it's some kind of acid or any other kind of disagreeable liquid. After all, Harry did use the Chemical at the school to disintegrate the hand with the gold medallion, so maybe he's hoping that it's something that will at the very least get in her eyes and temporarily blind her.

It's rule number one of survival horror. Use whatever tools at your disposal to dispatch enemies.
User avatar
alone in the town
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 11107
Joined: 15 Apr 2004
Gender: Male
Location: In the anals of forum history
Contact:

Post by alone in the town »

Even so, how is he opening the bottle while locked in a choke-hold? If he has the presence of mind to operate a water bottle, he has the presence of mind to reach one of his weapons.

And why bother using this liquid, which might end up being as harmful as Kool-Aid, when you have guns and blunt objects? If your objective is to temporarily incapacitate, you're not going to shoot a strange chemical in their eyes. There's too much chance that it will either work far too well, or not at all.

Honestly, after seeing what happens to the Incubator, I'm not sure Harry would use the stuff on Cybil even after knowing what it's capable of.
Image
User avatar
DamienPales
Rosewater Park Attendant
Posts: 1345
Joined: 25 Mar 2009
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan

Post by DamienPales »

I mean, Harry is quite capable of getting Cybil off of him. He does it several times. And if Harry is trying to exhaust all non-lethal approaches to incapacitating Cybil before reluctantly moving toward a gun or blunt object, there's nothing else in his inventory except the bottle to do it with. Everything else is likely fatal.

I wouldn't get too caught up with the whole opening-the-cap thing. It would take less than a second to get it off, and even so, it looks like one of those bottles that you squeeze and squirt the liquid out of instead of having to unscrew a top. I mean, reloading your gun takes a hell of a lot more time than unscrewing a lid, and no one seems to have a problem believing that.

If anything, I have more trouble believing that it takes 20 shots with a hunting rifle to kill a female human being.
GrievousGarland

Post by GrievousGarland »

Well, it's obvious now that the canon ending is the "good" ending. I bet that when SH1 was made, all of the endings were possibly canon though.

It's not that hard to believe that Harry could have used the red liquid on Cybil. He was in a state of panic and didn't want to hurt her, so he throws everything he has on her that wouldn't cause harm in an attempt to stop her... and by trial and error saves her with the red liquid. =/
User avatar
Silent_Hill_Tourist
My Bestsellers Clerk
Posts: 330
Joined: 09 Apr 2006
Gender: Female
Location: Monkey Island

Post by Silent_Hill_Tourist »

I wonder what SH3 would have been like if the GOOD+ ending was canon and Cybil and Harry raised the baby Heather and Heather believed Cybil was her mother.

Probably no different, but it's still a laugh to think about.
[img]http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i309/Juridawn/Graphics/justatouristoptimized.jpg[/img]
User avatar
The Adversary
RESPECT
Posts: 20086
Joined: 19 Jul 2003
Location: #lfk
Contact:

Post by The Adversary »

I'm sure you're aware of this, Ryan, but I know many people are not: Konami published a novelization of Silent Hill and considered it canonical. In it, the author elected to write the Good+ ending rather than Good.
This post is the property of its author and is not to be used elsewhere without explicit permission from the author.

. . . AND THAT'S THAT.
GrievousGarland

Post by GrievousGarland »

Silent_Hill_Tourist wrote:I wonder what SH3 would have been like if the GOOD+ ending was canon and Cybil and Harry raised the baby Heather and Heather believed Cybil was her mother.

Probably no different, but it's still a laugh to think about.
I bet Cybil would have used her glock to put the troubles Heather had with the order to rest. (I.E. shoot the shit out of Claudia.) :P

Silly harry, I would have thought that after your romp in SH you would have learned to keep a firearm around the house. :roll:
Last edited by GrievousGarland on 08 Jun 2009, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
The Adversary
RESPECT
Posts: 20086
Joined: 19 Jul 2003
Location: #lfk
Contact:

Post by The Adversary »

Harry did. How else could he have shot and killed the occult freak in self-defense 5 years after he left w/ Cheryl?
This post is the property of its author and is not to be used elsewhere without explicit permission from the author.

. . . AND THAT'S THAT.
GrievousGarland

Post by GrievousGarland »

MMY wrote:Harry did. How else could he have shot and killed the occult freak in self-defense 5 years after he left w/ Cheryl?
Well, he must have got old and senile and misplaced it because he didn't have it when he needed it apparently. :?
User avatar
Silent_Hill_Tourist
My Bestsellers Clerk
Posts: 330
Joined: 09 Apr 2006
Gender: Female
Location: Monkey Island

Post by Silent_Hill_Tourist »

GrievousGarland wrote:
Silent_Hill_Tourist wrote:I wonder what SH3 would have been like if the GOOD+ ending was canon and Cybil and Harry raised the baby Heather and Heather believed Cybil was her mother.

Probably no different, but it's still a laugh to think about.
I bet Cybil would have used her glock to put the troubles Heather had with the order to rest. (I.E. shoot the shit out of Claudia.) :P

Hehe, Heather Mason and her kick-ass cop mum. 8)
[img]http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i309/Juridawn/Graphics/justatouristoptimized.jpg[/img]
User avatar
AuraTwilight
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 11390
Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Location: I'm here, and waiting for you
Contact:

Post by AuraTwilight »

GrievousGarland wrote:
MMY wrote:Harry did. How else could he have shot and killed the occult freak in self-defense 5 years after he left w/ Cheryl?
Well, he must have got old and senile and misplaced it because he didn't have it when he needed it apparently. :?
He was sitting in his easy chair watching TV. He probably got shanked by surprise.
[quote="BlackFire2"]I thought he meant the special powers of her vagina.[/quote]
GrievousGarland

Post by GrievousGarland »

AuraTwilight wrote:
GrievousGarland wrote:
MMY wrote:Harry did. How else could he have shot and killed the occult freak in self-defense 5 years after he left w/ Cheryl?
Well, he must have got old and senile and misplaced it because he didn't have it when he needed it apparently. :?
He was sitting in his easy chair watching TV. He probably got shanked by surprise.
Well, then he should have had his radio on. The static should have told him something was up.
User avatar
alone in the town
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 11107
Joined: 15 Apr 2004
Gender: Male
Location: In the anals of forum history
Contact:

Post by alone in the town »

MMY wrote:I'm sure you're aware of this, Ryan, but I know many people are not: Konami published a novelization of Silent Hill and considered it canonical. In it, the author elected to write the Good+ ending rather than Good.
I am aware, but for all the reasons I listed, I find it mind-boggling. I still consider the game's events to take precedence, and either way, one must decide on one or the other because they are in direct contradiction. We have, in effect, two different and incompatible canons.

Being unable to read it as I am, I'm curious to know how the author justified this decision, and how he explains Harry's use of the aglaophotis. I'm hoping he interjected a little fan-fiction regarding some written or spoken source of information we don't see in the game. If he uses the "I'm ignoring all the non-lethal means of submission at my disposal in favor of this bottle of random red shit" method, I'm going to double-time my Silent Hill 2 revision and mail that shit to Konami overnight because they can't possibly tell me no.
Image
User avatar
DamienPales
Rosewater Park Attendant
Posts: 1345
Joined: 25 Mar 2009
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan

Post by DamienPales »

I'm of the opinion that if Harry is inquisitive enough to scoop random red shit into a bottle, he's probably inquisitive enough to squirt it on Cybil out of self-defense. I mean, of all the weird stuff in Alchemilla, he decides to take a bottle of red goo?

Though if Cybil had survived, I would think there'd be some mention of that in later games. Instead, 3 and Homecoming seem to suggest the opposite. Thus my leaning with just the Good ending.
User avatar
alone in the town
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 11107
Joined: 15 Apr 2004
Gender: Male
Location: In the anals of forum history
Contact:

Post by alone in the town »

I'm of the opinion that if Harry is inquisitive enough to scoop random red shit into a bottle, he's probably inquisitive enough to squirt it on Cybil out of self-defense. I mean, of all the weird stuff in Alchemilla, he decides to take a bottle of red goo?
Fallacious!

Harry is 'inquisitive' enough to collect the liquid because he hears someone break the bottle, and the deliberateness of the action leads him to believe that there may be something important about it. This is, within reason, logical.

However, in most video games, you use things in the area you find them. If not, they usually either trigger themselves, or you're given some obvious hint that you need to use it here (Flauros, video tape). With the red liquid, neither case applies. There is never any explanation given for the red liquid, nor any hints to its purpose. I personally believe that Harry collects a sample and later uses it to craft the pill Heather swallows at the end of Silent Hill 3 . . . but the Good ending does not even require Harry to collect the sample at all.

Assuming he does anyway, there are, again, no triggers or clues or hints. Even when you fight Cybil, there isn't a single reason in the world why you should use this item. Even within the logic of video games, it makes no sense. There's no reason why Harry would even try to save Cybil, because if he even thinks about it, his experience with the Doctors and Nurses should leave him convinced that saving Cybil is impossible.

There is, quite simply, nothing rational or logical to support it. If I saw such a scenario happen in a book, I would put it down for good, because it's horrible storytelling. It would have been the easiest thing in the world to have included a scrap of newspaper or book that gave even a tiny hint about the red stuff (as Heather later finds in her adventure). This omission is clearly deliberate.

Furthermore, I am of the sincere belief that perhaps one person in ten million legitimately and randomly stumbled across this without any outside assistance from a game guide or friend. As Harry is unable to access GameFAQs from within the Otherworld, the odds of him knowing what to do, even thanks to random circumstance given the fact that Cybil poses an immediate and deadly threat to his life at this moment, are likely several hundred billion to one, or, close enough to statistical impossibility to suit me. My knowledge of probability is enough that I understand Harry is as likely to 'inquisitively' select winning Powerball numbers twice in a row as he is to randomly understand both the nature and the application of the aglaophotis at this point in the game.
Image
User avatar
DamienPales
Rosewater Park Attendant
Posts: 1345
Joined: 25 Mar 2009
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan

Post by DamienPales »

Actually, when I first played the game, I didn't even know you could pick up the bottle, so Harry just observed the liquid and moved on. Though you're right, spraying Cybil with the stuff didn't occur to me until about the third playthrough.
User avatar
AuraTwilight
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 11390
Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Location: I'm here, and waiting for you
Contact:

Post by AuraTwilight »

Well, then he should have had his radio on. The static should have told him something was up.
Harry didn't seem to be experiencing the Otherworld, so the radio wouldn't of helped.
[quote="BlackFire2"]I thought he meant the special powers of her vagina.[/quote]
Post Reply