Was Wish House a boys-only orphanage?

[Burning Man]

I don't think there's anything in the game that states that Wish House is a boys-only orphanage. However, it would explain a bit about Walter if it were: like his awkwardness toward women in general.

Walter makes mention of some of his orphanage friends like Bob or John in his diaries, but there is no mention of a female friend of any sort. I think he would have been a better-balanced person as an adult if Walter got along with girls his age during his childhood.

The only thing that hints that Wish House may also have had girls at some point is Victim 14, Toby Archibald. Archibald was a priest of the Holy Mother sect. He would be a person of authority with regards to the operation of Wish House.

[The Adversary]

I think the only thing that would hint as such with Toby Archibold is that he was into underage girls, though that doesn't necessarily mean they resided at Wish House.

[Jonipoon]

In this particular case I think language is our best hint. When it comes to boys-only or girls-only orphanages/schools in both movies and real life, staff and people connected to them often refer to the children as either "boys" or "girls" in order to be specific. But when it comes to Wish House, they are always referred to as "children" or "kids" in the memos, suggesting that it has both boys and girls.

Walter's akwardness toward women is more likely the result of him lacking a mother figure to guide him through life.

[The Adversary]

>when it comes to Wish House, they are always referred to as "children" or "kids" in the memos<
I always took that as just a religious thing, like God bless the children, strictly in a general sense, so it could apply to all-boys, all-girls, or both. Maybe that's just me, though.

I do think it being an all-boys orphanage would make sense in the whole Father of God concept. For those unfamiliar, the theory goes that the reason God hasn't properly been born is because the two opposing sects haven't worked together, with one side believing God will be born by a woman (Alessa) and the other believing it will be born by a man (Walter). So when a man and a woman really love each other, they can have a baby, and that baby could be The Order's God. If only they could just get along.

So perhaps Wish House exists strictly to find the future father of God, as opposed to taking in girls, as well.

Further support for this is Sharon Blake, victim #13, who found her son's grave outside Wish House.

[Droo]

I've always just assumed it was boys only.

[Jonipoon]

The different sects actually started to work together at some point, as mentioned in Red Diary - July 7. It's further evidenced by Dahlia coming to visit Walter and encourage his reading although she was from the "opposing" cult.

I do remember reading a funny theory somewhere that the different sects eventually planned on making Alessa and Walter hook up in order to birth the ultimate true God. Now wouldn't that be something...

[The Adversary]

>the different sects eventually planned on making Alessa and Walter hook up in order to birth the ultimate true God<
Yeah, that's basically the gist of it: that Alessa and Walter were supposed to be merge in some way in order to birth god—not the abominations we ever see—but each sects' own egos prevented that from ever happening, especially Dahlia's. That was the point of the Sect of Valtiel, to be the intermediary between the other two, because the others were at odds with each other in how god should be birthed. Had they all just worked together, we may have ended up seeing a very different god, and maybe a very different true paradise.

[Burning Man]

I think the "funny theory" stems from an in-game memo found at Wish House:

---
Have you found Alessa yet?
How is Walter's progress coming along?

Send me a report.
---

This memo can be interpreted in several ways, but suggests that the two are core elements to some end-goal - in this case, to birth the god.

Dahlia would have been dead by the time this memo was written, though, since "finding Alessa" is exclusive to the SH3 storyline. When the memo was written, Dahlia's sect would have diminished in power over the cult.

The version of 21 Sacraments that the cult envisioned at this point may be to appoint Alessa as the "Mother Reborn." She would be the more logical choice than Eileen.

[Jonipoon]

Well, it's only funny if you imagine them hooking up the traditional way. According to the cult's beliefs however, it would mean Walter using magic to impregnate Alessa.

It's unclear when that memo was written or by whom, but my guess is that it was written prior to Walter moving to Pleasant River and before Harry Mason's "occult freak" incident. By the time of SH3 Walter had already been a "ghost" for years and he was likely not welcome by The Order anymore since he killed 3 of its key members.

When I think about it though, one thing that speaks in favor of the Wish House being "boys-only" is the fact that young Walter and Alessa were never properly introduced even though the different sects had reconciled at that point. It would suggest that The Order wanted to separate the boys from the girls in a religious manner. There are no known male students at Midwich Elementary which suggests that it, in turn, is an all-girls school. That could be a stretch though.

[Burning Man]

It's unclear when that memo was written or by whom, but my guess is that it was written prior to Walter moving to Pleasant River and before Harry Mason's "occult freak" incident. By the time of SH3 Walter had already been a "ghost" for years and he was likely not welcome by The Order anymore since he killed 3 of its key members.

The logical sender/recipient would be from Jimmy Stone to George Rosten. George was responsible for raising Walter to become a Conjurer and embedding Valtiel in his unconsiousness. That would make George the most qualified person to give a progress report on Walter. George was Jimmy's right-hand man, so it makes sense for him to ask for a progress report. If this is true, that would put the memo after events of the original game, but before the events of Ten Hearts and Silent Hill 2.

There are no known male students at Midwich Elementary which suggests that it, in turn, is an all-girls school. That could be a stretch though.

Ah, this one's different since Midwich does have boys' latrine.

[Jonipoon]

>Ah, this one's different since Midwich does have boys' latrine.

The male teachers have to go somewhere separate, right?

[Burning Man]

>Ah, this one's different since Midwich does have boys' latrine.

The male teachers have to go somewhere separate, right?

Correct.

[Droo]

Do all girls schools have male teachers?

[The Adversary]

I would think the seemingly only elementary school in Silent Hill would not be an all-girls school, especially considering Wish House isn't your traditional school. Kids don't just get admitted to Wish House, they get kidnapped and brainwashed.

[Droo]

Yeah, I didn't think Midwich was anything more than a traditional elementary school.

[Burning Man]

I just realized that Billy and Miriam Locane were elementary school students living in Silent Hill.
The victim profiles don't specifically say they went to Midwich, but I think we can assume that they did.

[Droo]

Would they have been alive during the events of SH1? I forget when they were killed.

[The Adversary]

>Would they have been alive during the events of SH1? I forget when they were killed.<
Well we don't specifically know their ages, only that Billy was older than Miriam, and they're described as "adolescents," which is generally considered between 10 and 19 years old. The Ten Hearts killing spree began in 1991, and SILENT HILL took place in 1983, so they likely would have attended Midwich Elementary School.

I'm not sure the relevance there, though.

Billy would have been about 4 1/2' tall and Miriam just above 4', based on the Victim Profiles. And based on CDC averages, that would be ages 10 and 8, respectively, and their weights also fall in line with national averages (though Miriam is a little above it).

I always considered them to be around those ages, for what it's worth.

[Droo]

I'm just wondering if we could have seen their desks in SH1 when we were there.

[The Adversary]

Nah, they presumably would have only been 2 (Billy) and a newborn (Miriam) at the time of SILENT HILL, based strictly on those national averages mentioned above. To further suggest that, if you look at the Victim Profiles silhouettes, they look about those ages.