Laura's fate post-game

Post by **AuraTwilight** » 10 Aug 2008

Indeed. We know that Laura sees more than an empty town, thanks to such manifestations as the teddy bears. She is indeed seeing her own world.

Post by **Detective Cartland** » 10 Aug 2008

Which is so disturbing. I am wondering though why she did not connect more or stay around people like James or Eddie more often, since to her, the town was void of all humans except her.

Post by **Oddish** » 10 Aug 2008

Well, she knew James and she disliked him, so that explains why she didn't want to be with him. Eddie, I'm not sure about. Children are generally more accepting of people who are a little different, but Laura was insulting with him asd well. Maybe she's just been pushing people away for so long that it's second nature to her. As to how she sees the town, there's no way to know.

I can tell you that if the town made her loneliness manifest the way it does James's guilt, Angela's self-hatred, and Eddie's rage, she'd have been in worse shape than she was in. James probably wouldn't have been able to get rid of her once she found him.

Post by **AdjectiveRyan** » 11 Aug 2008

Detective Cartland wrote:Also, that is perhaps why she has these keys to the locked doors James or maybe even anyone can't get into.

so laura's a bigger brat than l thought. locking all those doors on james. zomg, l don'ts care whats happens to her post games! but in all seriousness, is seriousness a word?

Post by **Detective Cartland** » 11 Aug 2008

I didn't say she locked the doors herself, I said she has to keys to unlock them. I don't think she would anyway. And yes, I'm pretty sure thats a word.

Post by **AuraTwilight** » 11 Aug 2008

I can tell you that if the town made her loneliness manifest the way it does James's guilt, Angela's self-hatred, and Eddie's rage, she'd have been in worse shape than she was in. James probably wouldn't have been able to get rid of her once she found him.

You keep saying that without any evidence or inference to say why. The Otherworld just doesn't work the way you say it does by virtue of what we see.

Post by **Oddish** » 11 Aug 2008

I can tell you that the fear of abandonment in young kids is deep and primal. Laura was frightened enough of being left alone in the world that she made her way to Silent Hill all by her lonesome. If the town had made those fears manifest, the way it did the emotions of the other three, Laura would have been terrorized beyond rationality. The reason that she didn't is that the town, and whatever lurks beneath it, simply didn't affect her. Thus, she is the wild card in the deck.

Post by **AuraTwilight** » 11 Aug 2008

But it does effect her. She's in her own Otherworld that's unpopulated by anyone, and it certainly does manifest things like the burned down Lakeside View Hotel and the hospital teddy bears. If it truly didn't effect her, then she'd be in the absolutely normal town and we wouldn't even be able to see and interact with her, but we do.

Since we know she's effected by the town, then the town simply manifests her loneliness as an EMPTY TOWN. Silent Hill doesn't treat anyone the same, so you can stop using that fallacy. Whatever the case may be about the Otherworld's sentience/malevolence/etc., it's not deniable that her loneliness is manifested as an empty, but semi-pleasant town. Her Otherworld experience is designed as a foil to show that Silent Hill isn't a malevolent soul-crushing force.

Post by **Oddish** » 11 Aug 2008

If all she experiences is a quiet, clean, semi-pleasant town, then that is not her loneliness being manifested.

Back to the topic: I'd say the main possibilities are:

IN WATER - She leaves the town alive on her own, returns to the orphanage.
MARIA - She leaves the town alive on her own, returns to the orphanage.
LEAVE (1) - She ditches James and leaves the town alive on her own, returns to the orphanage.
LEAVE (2) - She leaves town with James, and he returns her to the appropriate authorities, who return her to the orphanage.
LEAVE (3) - She leaves town with James, and he honors Mary's last wish by adopting her and raising her as his own.
REBIRTH (1) - The ritual fails, James survives. One of the three "Leave" possibilities occurs.
REBIRTH (2) - The ritual fails, James perishes. Laura leaves the town alive, returns to the orphanage.
REBIRTH (3) - The ritual resurrects Mary in some perverted/evil form. James is its first victim, Laura its second.
REBIRTH (4) - The ritual succeeds (we won't speculate on the price James pays, or will have to). Mary is restored to life, Laura leaves with her and James.
Not a comprehensive list, but a start.

Post by **Detective Cartland** » 12 Aug 2008

What makes you so positive Laura ever even left town to the orphanage?

Post by **AuraTwilight** » 12 Aug 2008

Because she's not exactly trapped there.

Post by **Detective Cartland** » 12 Aug 2008

But why would she go back to the Orphanage which she left?

Post by **JuriDawn** » 12 Aug 2008

She didn't run away for the sake of running away. She just wanted to see Mary. If Laura is able to leave and isn't going with James, she's most likely going back where she came from.

Post by **Detective Cartland** » 12 Aug 2008

Ah, alright thanks for the clarity.

Post by **Oddish** » 12 Aug 2008

I'm not saying she goes there by choice, but a little girl out on her own is going to attract notice. Whether she gives herself up or someone else finds her, she'll ultimately wind up being returned to the orphanage. Unless the wrong person finds her, and she winds up in a shallow grave somewhere. That's a possibility as well.

Post by **Detective Cartland** » 13 Aug 2008

Idk she just seems like the type of girl that doesen't like adult authority especially orphanages. I imagine her leaving with James.

Post by **Oddish** » 14 Aug 2008

It would have been a relatively simple matter for the game's creators to slip in a cutscene, and it would have answered that question decisively (and it could have been very touching, if done right). For whatever reason, they opted not to do so.

Post by **EngulfedInFog** » 18 Aug 2008

An interesting point is how do you want to interpret the supporting characters in the game? Are they real or not? Are they people who represent James' internal emotions as a coincidence, or are they complete manifestations of his mind?

I kinda want to believe a little bit of both because thinking everything in the game is just in his head kinda ruins the illusion of the game itself. It doesn't let the player get as lost in it when you over-analyze it like that.

So Eddie, Laura, Angela, and Maria...are they real or not? I think they exist but were brought to Silent Hill by the town itself to help James discover his truth. If they were literally real and called to the town, then they would have some sort of resolution, but Eddie dies, Angela ascends a staircase of fire (and is generally a bitch) and Laura and Maria are interchangable as the surviving characters.

Who James leaves (or dies) with represents his own resolution and resolve. When he dives into the lake, he's with Mary and can't let go of the past. When he leaves with Laura, he realizes what he has done and makes peace with it. When he leaves with Maria, he knows the truth but sets himself up for a repeat. And the rebirth ending...well, thats just lots of drugs lol.

Post by **AuraTwilight** » 18 Aug 2008

Maria is not real. She's the only character who isn't. James, Eddie, and Angela were all summoned to the town, Laura came of her own accord, and James created Maria (with some assistance from Mary).

Eddie and Angela do get resolutions, just not happy ones. Eddie decided to give in to his sociopathy, and thus his life ended. Angela fully understood, but could not accept, her act of self-defense, so she killed herself.

Post by **Oddish** » 18 Aug 2008

And Laura either saw Mary one last time, the way James did, or accepted that Mary was gone and wasn't coming back. Either way, she left Silent Hill, her mission there accomplished.

Each of those characters' paths approximates a path that James can take, and the consequences he can receive.