Despair
extras - sh2 connections
As I've said before, we can finally know how Walter looks like in Silent Hill 4, but the first time we knew about him was back in Silent Hill 2. Actually there was no reason to mention him apparently, unless he would be a more important character later on... that's why I really wasn't surprised to know he would have a relevant role in Silent Hill 4.
The gossip magazine
While James is exploring the Blue Creek apartments, he must solve the three coins riddle in order to get the key that will allow him to leave the building. One of the coins, the Old One coin, is inside the trash chute at the laundry room that's near the southwest stairwell. Once you dump the canned juice into the trash chute to cause the "strange garbage" to get unstuck and fall down to the bottom, you can head downstaris and pick up the coin from the garbage chute near the front door. When you do that, James automatically read a new document - an article in a gossip magazine that introduces us to Walter Sullivan:
Article about murder incident
The police announced today that Walter Sullivan, who
was arrested on the 18th of this month for the brutal murder of Billy Locane
and
his sister Miriam, committed suicide in his jail cell early on the morning
of the 22nd.
According to the police statement, Sullivan used a soup
spoon to stab himself in the neck,
severing his carotid artery. By the time the guard discovered him, Sullivan
was dead from blood loss, the spoon buried two inches
in his neck.
An old schoolmate of Walter Sullivan's from his hometown
of Pleasant River said "He didn't
look like the type of guy who would kill kids.But I do remember
that just before they arrested him he was blurting out all sorts of strange
stuff like 'He's trying to kill me. He's trying to punish me. The monster...
the red devil. Forgive me. I did it, but it wasn't me!'."
The schoolmate then added "I guess now that I think of it, he was kinda crazy."
That apparently innocent article has more interesting inormation than it seems... and not only because Walter isn't mentioned here just because, but because it could contain some hints to what actually happened to him. I've explained a bit on this matter in the "In game" section, so go there if you haven't read it yet!
The Trick or Treat game
In case you didn't pay any attention to the fact Walter has been mentioned in that article, he appears again during the weird trick or treat game that takes place in the elevator at Brookhaven's hospital (thanks to which you can win some interesting items in the third flor storeroom). That would be the most important hint for us: they (the game creators) want us to notice Walter, for any reason. Probably they already had him in mind for future plots back then :)
So while James and Maria are in the elevator, heading to the second floor, a game show comes on suddenly over the radio, you're the contestant and you must answer three questions, choosing one possible answer from the three options the host gives you:
Question #1:
What is the name of the amusement park in northern Silent Hill?
1 - Fantasy Land
2 - Silent Hill Amusement Park
3 - Lake Side Amusement Park
Question #2:
What is the name of the man who murdered two children?
1 - Walter Sullivan
2 - Scott Fairbanks
3 - Eric Gein
Question #3:
What is the name of the road leading to Paleville?
1 - Bachman Road
2 - Menden Street
3 - Nathan Avenue
I remember I wondered why was that question about Walter here. It could have been there simply to check if you've paid attention to the documents you've been reading (and that would be the reason why James reads the article automatically once you pick up the coin, and it's not an "optional" memo like many of the documents you find). It could have been only that, but I remember that question looked a little out of place for me... like if they were trying to make us notice something else. I swear I thought that, and I wasn't so far from the truth it seems :)
The Tombstone
This one is completely optional - I mean, you don't need to find this little detail to go on with the adventure. It's just an amusing, friendly joke ;) At the end of the Labyrinth, in the graveyard you find right before the fight with Eddie, go take a look to all the tombstones: you'll read some names in them that maybe will sound familiar to you... the one with no bottom, where you'll have to jump in to go on, has James Sunderland written in it (very appropiate, really); and in the ones around, Eddie Dombrowski, Angela Orosco... and Walter Sullivan. Makes you think, right?
James, Mary and the Holy Assumption ritual
When you played Silent Hill 4 and you read the needed "materials" to complete the ritual, you maybe felt like if you had heard about that before. But only if you had played Silent Hill 2 and tried to get successfully the Rebith Ending. Or from what I know, also if you own Silent Hill 2: Resltess Dreams instead of the first vesion of the game (the one I have, that doesn't include that extra scenario *sigh*), so if you've played the Born with a Wish scenario with Maria. I haven't played it, that's why I'm focusing in the Rebirth Ending.
One of the things Walter had to do to complete the 21 sacraments ritual was to offer himself as a sacrifice, resurrecting later with a new power. To do so, he needed to offer to God "the blood of ten sinners and the white oil". Walter performed the 11th sacrament, the ritual of the Holy Assumption, in the sealed room of Room 302 at South Ashfield Heights - and when you enter the room for first time with Henry, you clearly see there the remaining materials needed for that unholy alliance - between them, the White Oil and a black cup containing the blood of the ten first victims.
The items you needed to see automatically the Rebirth Ending after defeating the final boss in SH2 were two books (Crimson Ceremony and Lost Memories), a White Chism (in other words, some white sacred oil) and an Obsidian Goblet. In that ending, all you see is James taking Mary's dead body to a little island in the center of Toluca lake, where a small church can be seen, using the boat. Considering what Walter did use to perform the ritual and the items you needed to collect to get this ending here, I think it's quite obvious that James was actually trying to revive Mary using the same ritual... what I wonder is from where (who) took the blood he needed to carry it out...
Why and how did James know about the ritual, is obviously thanks to the other items you needed to find: the books. You can red them as any other of the document files you pick up during the game, and that's what they say:
"LOST MEMORIES"
"The name comes from the legend of the people whose land was stolen from them.
They called this place "The Place of the Silent Spirits."
By "Spirits," they meant not only their dead relatives, but also
the spirits that
they believed inhabited the trees, rocks and water around them.
According to legend, this was where the holiest ceremonies took place.
But it was not the ancestors of those who now live in this town that first stole the land from these people. There were others who came before.
In those days, this town went by another name. But that name is now hopelessly lost in the veils of times.
All we know is that there was another name, and that for some reason
the town was once
abandoned by its residents"
"CRIMSON CEREMONY"
"Speak.
I am the Crimson One.
The lies and the mist are
not they but I.
You all know that I am One.
Yes, and the One is I.
Believers hearken to me!
Twenty score men and seven thousand beasts.
Heed my words and speaketh them to all, that they shall ever be obeyed even
under the light of the proud and merciless sun.
I shall bring down bitter vengeance upon thee and thou shalt suffer my eternal wrath.
The beauty of the withering flower and the last struggles of the dying man, they are my blessings.
Thou shalt ever call upon me and all that is me in the place that is silent.
Oh, proud fragrance of life which flies towards the heart. Oh Cup which brims with the whitest of wine, it is in thee that all begins."
As a side note, you can also find a Lost Memories memo in the Born with a Wish scenario I've mentiond above. Once more, please note I haven't played this part of the game because I have the first edition of Silent Hill 2 for PS2. But anyway, I've read it in some SH2 guides and its meaning is certainly far more evident:
"LOST MEMORIES"
"I have the strongest trust - you may even call it faith - in the miracle called "Ressurection of the Dead".
Upon the hill where the light descended, the Beast intoned his song.
With words of blood,
drops of mist and the vessel of night, the grave become an open field.
The people wept in fear and joy at the reunion, but my faith in the salvation of Xuchilpaba did not waver.
It is also spoken of in the ancient legends. The original worshippers did not believe that death was the end but that it was simply the path by which the deceased returned to nature. They also believed the process was reversible."
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