Silent Hill 2 Remake - In Water Ending Cutscene (Bad Ending)

[@MATAX5]

This is not the bad ending. The actual bad endings are Maria and Rebirth. Many would consider the ‘In The Water’ to be the good ending or at least the neutral ending. Leave is the family friendly ending.

[@YZYGWD]

In Water ending is the realisitc ending

[@hellkisser]

Its the canon ending for majority of players(even there are no official canon ending), so I agree it is not the Bad Ending

[@ayamahei1393]

@@hellkisser Il était venu pour ça au départ...

[@mrtyrant1680]

@@hellkisser Masahiro Ito (The designer and illustrator of the game) and Guy Cihi (James's original VA) both choose "In Water" as their personal canon ending, and honestly it simply fits the tone of the story and James's character better. Plus the fact that James's father appears in Silent Hill 4 and claims that James's disappeared in Silent Hill.

[@hellkisser]

@@mrtyrant1680 personal canon ending obviously, not the official true canon ending

[@baylaust]

Great ending to a great game. One thing I do want to say, to get ahead of a lot of comments people have on this ending(which is a bit of an essay, so fair warning): Fans of the game often repeat this idea of "In Water" being the accepted canon ending. It isn't. There IS no canon ending. All the writers and devs deliberately leave it open ended, because they wanted people to just pick their preferred ending. Even if some of them have their preferred outcome, that doesn't make them more canon than the others. Far as I can tell, this is based largely on an interview with James' original VA saying he believes that the In Water ending is canon, the novelization using it as the basis for the ending, and it being the most common ending players get on a first playthrough (most people either get In Water or Leave). And while I fully concede that it IS a tragically beautiful ending that makes sense thematically, I'd argue ALL of the endings do this. One personal observation I have (I don't know if this is a common reading) is that the characters pulled into Silent Hill can represent the darker roads James can take at the end of his journey. All of them have one thing in common: they're killers, in some form of denial over what they've done. The town has summoned them for one reason: to force them to confront what they've done. How they respond to it... well, that's up to them. To me, Eddie represents the Maria ending. He comes to terms with his crimes, but he has taken the wrong lesson out of it. Once Eddie accepts the things he's done, he decides that it wasn't so bad, and that the people he hurt deserved it. He doesn't need forgiveness, he was right all along. Similarly, the Maria ending is James taking the wrong lesson out of Mary's death. Yes, that he was wrong to kill her, but also that replacing her with Maria will make everything better. It shows no matter what, just like Eddie, James will never truly learn from his mistakes, and is always doomed to repeat them. Angela, on the other hand, represents the In Water ending. Angela confronted the reality of what she had done, but in the end, it breaks her. She loses her will to live, convinces herself that she deserved to be abused, she deserved to be punished, and she deserves the torment that Silent Hill is putting her through. She's not in denial, like Eddie, but her pain completely consumes her. Which reflects James' In Water ending: he confronts the reality of what he has done, but when it's all over, he just can't move on. He can't forgive himself. The pain and guilt is just too much for him to overcome. He'd rather die than keep living in a world where Mary is dead because of him. That''s why I think there's a good case for the Leave ending being my preferred one. Because it's James finding the path forward that neither Eddie nor Angela could find. Confronting his sins, facing them head on, and accepting them. He can't change the past, he can never forget what he's done, but that doesn't mean he can't have a future where he can honor his late wife in his own way. It also plays into the concept of Silent Hill that I like the most: the town isn't TRYING to kill these people, necessarily. But it IS testing them. If you fail (whether by deluding yourself like Eddie, or succumbing to your pain like Angela), you'll never leave Silent Hill alive. But if you can face your own personal hell and accept your sins while refusing to be crushed by them, the town will let you go, with a new purpose in your life.

[@moister3727]

That's beautiful

[@johans3164]

Dude, you should be a writer or something. Its not often i read a long comment but yours are really interesting and intriguing

[@Playtoallwins]

You nail it Austin 👏😊 cheers my dude 🍻

[@dantewolfxx]

I’ve read this 10x. Not one or two TEN BRO!! This was so well written!! I love it!!!

[@sugarysweet07]

I get that not a lot of people have played SH4, but it also kind of implied the In Water ending is canon as James' dad is in it and he confirms James is missing. 4 was the last game Team Silent worked on IIRC and is linked to 2 (Walter Sullivan and James' father being the landlord). This is another reason the fanbase accepts the In Water ending as canon and I wish more people were aware of that :/

[@Gmanawesomeness]

Man. After the theory being around for 20 years and seeing this for the first time, that moment James’ eyes traveled up to the rear view mirror genuinely gave me chills.

[@tennoo160]

So she was in the trunk huh

[@placebo4573]

​@tennoo160 backseat. And hacking the camera has proven she's literally there covered by a blanket.

[@Terry-nx8kg]

​@@placebo4573 I need to see evidence of this.

[@omerfarukaydn9281]

@@Terry-nx8kg 1:44 ?

[@c0ckNBallz]

​@@Terry-nx8kgCheck the silent hill subreddit, dude freecamed into backseat and there was blanket with something underneath it

[@davidmagno2998]

Mary: I want you to live for yourself and be happy James James: Guess I’ll drown Yeah the canon ending is Leave and I refuse to change my mind, but the shot of the letter floating in the lake is so sad and haunting, excellent remake!

[@schizomani4c]

Im pretty sure in water ending James doesn’t get to read it thats why in the other endings he leaves because he read it.

[@reese8050]

It's canon actually, according to Masahiro Ito. In Water ending is canon.

[@schizomani4c]

@@reese8050 no its not. He said it’s his fav not that it’s canon. He specifically said that anyone can choose their ending. If you want to go into it then yes it is canon in the novel. The game no. But most team silent devs believe it would be the most likely canon.

[@sugarysweet07]

​@@schizomani4c SH4 also implies In Water is the canon ending as James' dad confirmed he's missing. That was the last game made by Team Silent, so.

[@schizomani4c]

@@sugarysweet07 it implies it yes wish I believe it to be.

[@otavianiluciano7397]

In my opinion, this is the canon ending... It really fits the whole narrative of the game.

[@kurusuakira6891]

Its not in your opinion, its confirmed by the developers of the OG that this is the canon ending and his wife was on the backseat all the time. The real reason he came to silent hill was to kill himself.

[@jonathanjuarez7282]

​@@kurusuakira6891And this is the ending selected for the official novel too

[@HaiYu0]

yeah, James father in silent hill 4 told Henry his son and daughter-in-law went to silent hill and never came back, further prove in water ending is true, even his father didn't know his daughter-in-law already a corpse taken by James. James killed Maria and drown with Mary in the end, sad story.

[@t.o.p6849]

​@@kurusuakira6891 No it isn't. The developers saying that In Water is the canon ending is a common misconception. They've said that it is their preferred ending, NOT that it is the canon ending. There is no canon ending.

[@t.o.p6849]

​@@HaiYu0 Not necessarily, since James going missing could also imply he's on the run from the police, not that he died.

[@Terry-nx8kg]

I would've done the same thing if I was in James' shoes. How can a man live with himself after snuffing out his sick wife?

[@IA.M3gan]

James never killed his wife. Maria had a terminal illness, and she also fought, pushed James away and treated him badly. James's action was an action so that she would not suffer anymore, he feels guilty for making that decision that was not his. This ending is bad, James could never relieve that torturous guilt like the ending 'leaving'

[@Terry-nx8kg]

@@IA.M3gan I think maybe I'm projecting a bit here because I've almost driven into the local harbour a few times.

[@bohdanvakulenko4266]

@@Terry-nx8kg Don't let anyone deceive what you think is wrong or right. If you feel like it is the truth for you.

[@Shub-Nagruth]

The most oldest theory of Silent Hill 2 have been canonized. Woaw.

[@Sahariiiichi]

Wait how if you don’t mind explaining? 😭

[@Shub-Nagruth]

@@Sahariiiichi This old theory talked about the fact that James had all along brought his wife's remains with him to Silent Hill to commit suicide with her presence, sinking into the depths of Lake Toluca, together. In the In Water ending of the remake, we see that the theory has been canonized: If you look closely in the back seats, there is Mary's coffin stored.

[@shadowboy2818]

@@Shub-Nagruth it's not even a theory though, it has always been the truth...Masahiro Ito confirmed it on is twitter...

[@Vindicative1]

This is not the bad ending man, this is the best ending

[@Alexander-zt9kz]

Way better than the Maria ending. I think the good ending is leave, but this one is more cannon

[@falerob1]

That's subjective

[@Terry-nx8kg]

This is the true ending. James travelled to Silent Hill to kill himself. It was always going to end this way for him.

[@dylan1640]

In water hit me hard, while Leave is the best ending for James to live, In Water hits me so hard. The fact that James while he killed Mary to ease her but for his own reasons is bad, he still loved her. Mary wanted him to live but how can you when your husband or wife is your soulmate, I don’t think James is suicidal in the end just he can’t do the day to day of living knowing he can’t even be with Mary again. Especially in the remake James decision hits hard for me

[@misterhoobomaster]

This is the canon ending (not the bad ending). SH3 & 4 confirms James is missing, It's also the one in the novel.

[@TheShockVox]

Not canon, just the favorite ending. There’s no canon ending to SH2

[@troyb4533]

@@TheShockVox it is the ending that best fits the references and insinuations of later games and media.

[@bclowns333]

Never notice how they descended in certain parts of Hell: Eddy Ice (Froze to death by hiding in the fridge); Angela Fire (House Fire); James Water (died by diving into lake), which is how they all ended up in Silent Hill (Hell by their sin of killing people or Sudoku). The other ending options is up to players choice because well he's dead and that's that.

[@troyb4533]

They should have kept the original credit songs for each ending, as well as the image of James and the replay of various scenes from the game.

[@unofficial_gamer6813]

Not a bad ending but depression ending.

[@Terry-nx8kg]

It's the true ending. Fits perfectly with James' psyche.

[@JustLunarr]

@@Terry-nx8kg I just finished the game, I saw a streamer I watch get a different ending where he talks to his wife. What is that considered?

[@DevlMayDutch]

​@JustLunarr that's the Stillness Ending. It's a new ending where the audio implies james gets out of the car while sending Mary to her watery sentimental grave, their special place that is Toluca Lake. James emotional behavior is very repressive during the In Water ending but in the Stillness ending you got he just pours his emotions and guilt out. Which means he put Mary to rest and may be open to forgiving himself.

[@Alexander-zt9kz]

Probably the most cannon ending. It's worse than the leave & stillness ending but better than the Maria ending

[@jakehaynes1439]

@@DevlMayDutch I can see the idea but its really just a variation of in water.

[@raul1642]

there's no bad or good ending in this game, all the three original ending are fit to the story, so people don't lose heart if you got any of them

[@TheMetaLRoacH]

So there's no dialogue with Mary after the boss fight? It's not seen when he carry her out of her bed?

[@hajfjhxcj]

That's the leave ending.

[@ismaill-0819]

Yeah. But here it implies that the Mary's body was actually in the trunk or backseat the whole time.

[@Alex-z9n6y]

​@@hajfjhxcjthats the water ending in the original.

[@Gmanawesomeness]

@@hajfjhxcjUnfortunately he doesn’t carry her out anymore.

[@KittyKatt_Luna80s]

​@@ismaill-0819The backseat, according to Team Silent.

[@johnreybarrios6356]

In water ending is my favorite ending but this is too subtle compare to the original silent hill 2 which is more emotionally charged. I really loved stillness ending the most.

[@Nigel222]

Calling this a bad ending is more of an opinion rather than a fact.

[@ManoelGomesBP]

Just finished the game today, this is my ending. Really depressed, but in my opinion it's the true ending. (This credit song is amazing, just loved it!)

[@jonechkaaa]

so many strange guys say about ito's opinion on his favourite ending. but they forget that original writer was owaku, not ito. and owaku has never stated that in water is canon ending

[@TayshawnTryston1605]

That’s sad. James really deserved better.

[@Terry-nx8kg]

It's called redemption. He saw this as the only way to try and make up for his sins.

[@StudioMod]

It's weird that the Stillness Ending including going into the water but not this. They really should have had just mixed them both into the In Water Ending. Splitting them is weird, especially since they end the same way. The crying is amazing in the Stillness, but it's not complete without this. Really weird move.

[@FrankLeeYoung]

Bloober Team did an excellent job crafting subtlety into what's going on in this ending. It's implied, but never truly shown outside of a brief out of focus glimpse; the way a Silent Hill game should be! Bravo 👏

[@DavidSantos-ix1hu]

It's so bittersweet but it just feels...mentally this was the cannon choice,he comes to terms with the truth , and fits the whole depressing tone of the game...although the escape ending is a pretty close second for me.

[@uslessmouth]

Just today finished the game and got that ending. This war my 1st time when I played Silent Hill game and it was awesome. If you still thinking should you buy remake or not i'll say - buy. Bloober team did great job and I hope they'll get work on another SH parts. But I should warn you that game has lack of an optimization i got around 50-60 fps on gtx1660ti

[@SylveonTM]

Is not the bad ending lmao, is the real ending

[@nyutono]

first time getting this ending!! it was so beautiful.

[@christined1988]

I just did my first play through and got this ending. When James looks at the back seat, is Mary supposed to be there? 😧

[@hecg83]

She is there you can see a glimpse

[@feels5460]

If you pay attention at the start of the game, you can actually see a large blanket covering "something" in the back seat

[@christined1988]

@@feels5460 😧wow! Going to start new game plus. I'll look for that in the beginning. I played the original, loved it. And I love this one too. Lol in the original game I always got the leave ending

[@feels5460]

@@christined1988 Gonna start as well! The original was a little before my time but I discovered it last year and fell in love. The leave ending is really nice, my favorite ending was the water one. Anyways have fun, its cool noticing the small details that bloober added

[@deusprogrammer_thekingofspace]

There’s so many things that show this is the case. Like when Laura’s birthday was. It was just three days prior to them being there in Silent Hill.

[@HapEOfficial]

I can not for the life of me get this ending. I limped the whole game, spam inspected the knife, never checked on Maria once. I’m so perplexed

[@thatonegeeksite5251]

It sounds like you did everything right so it’s weird you didn’t get it.

[@MartianOrion]

I got this ending and I always kept myself healed up, checked on Maria alot and only inspected the knife once. Swear to God. This is the first Silent Hill game I've ever played. I didn't even know about the different endings and how to get them.

[@HapEOfficial]

@@MartianOrion it’s crazy because a lot of people are saying they got that ending without even trying and I’ve been actively trying with no luck

[@meanbite8927]

i cant say that this works for certain but it did for me: check the knife, letter, the photo and the handkerchief continuously at different points in the game. also take all of the damage you can in the last fight until you run out of healing items

[@tg.tyrant2302_]

I managed to get the ending by reloading the final save and doing everything you've said, on the same save file I got the Leave ending. Maybe try using the Rusty Egg door after the double pyramid head fight if you've been using Amber, that could be it

[@joshsunderland8896]

This is canon ending due to the room James dad says he’s son never came back from sh

[@WatchingYouTube-ph7hj]

Never came back doesn’t mean dead.

[@joshsunderland8896]

@@WatchingKZbin-ph7hj what about the news paper stating they found he’s car in the lake

[@WatchingYouTube-ph7hj]

@@joshsunderland8896 if they found the car they’d find his body too

[@joshsunderland8896]

@@WatchingKZbin-ph7hj no doesn’t work like that He’s body and Spirit are trapped in sh It’s like the og movie while Harry is looking for rose they both in same Spot be he can’t see her but he can smell her perfume as she runs by him

[@muslimayupov]

​@@joshsunderland8896actually they didnt find his car and the news paper mentioned the sgeamboat. douglas has been trying to find james for years and yet didnt find his car at the bottom of lake.

[@OzwellSpencer]

This is the "real" ending according to Masahiro Ito.

[@miguelangelt5529]

"The Canon Ending" - Masahiro Ito

[@schizomani4c]

He never said that. Its only canon to the novel not the game.

[@miguelangelt5529]

@@schizomani4c He said on Twitter that the canon ending is "in water" and that was when he first revealed that Mary's body was in the car.

[@schizomani4c]

@@miguelangelt5529 No he didnt dude. He made all those endings to let the player decide. Yes it’s canon to the novel sure but not the game. He literally said there is no canon ending.

[@schizomani4c]

@@miguelangelt5529 he said his favorite is in water not that its canon.

[@hazim9529]

​@@miguelangelt5529Misinformation. It was the devs' favourite ending. Favourite does not mean canon. The novel is separate from the game. Him being missing in 4 doesn't mean shit.

[@alvinsyahadan4853]

There was new it call stillness james and mary talk together

[@naachoSL]

How else got this ending on its first play? I don’t know what I did in order to get this one instead of Leave.

[@Corvo2632]

Best ending.

[@gameboycolor47]

This reading does not hit nearly as hard as the original.

[@madman5710]

The ambient music is so unnecessary. Just let it play in silence like the original.

[@SillyAkiRa276]

I want to know did James really killed his wife or not ?

[@fredrictigga3260]

it's confirmed James Killed his own wife by a pillow

[@SillyAkiRa276]

@@fredrictigga3260 thanks mate,I totally forgot about that.

[@xXSilentAgent47Xx]

@@fredrictigga3260 More like he spared her from pain she had. Better to end quickly than having worse pains each day. She wanted that from her husband. Maria is having same on her ending. With cough aka tb. "I'm dying, Sister."

[@bradyking4299]

He killed her but she asked for him to, so it wasn’t cold blooded; but out of mercy. It’s implied that in her last moments through letters at the end (like her last couple months alive) she pushed James away and was mean to him (because of her illness); and he developed feelings of wanting her gone so he could just move on with his life and not have to suffer anymore. So James guilt isn’t completely about killing his wife but the guilt of why he killed her.

[@utubenoobie01]

She doesn't read it the same... It's not as good as the original!

[@ΗΗΗΗΗΗ0000]

This is true ending please do some research 😂

[@НИКИТАЗЛОТНИКОВ-с7к]

👍❤️‍🩹👯

[@rickn.5893]

Suicide is a shit choice. This never will be a good ending.

[@UpwardNinja]

I always thought it’s just edgy losers wanting this to be the canon ending.

[@Resident_avonU]

@@UpwardNinjait never was the canon ending. Original developers preferred this ending but no ending is canon

[@MattKittredge2112]

It may be the shit choice, but let’s be honest - it’s the most realistic choice, at least for a character that went through the absolute Hell that James went through. It’s depressing as hell, but it fits. But it’s also probably why they made an alternate version of this ending in the remake, where [SPOILERS] . . . . . . Mary (in spirit form) appears in the backseat of the car, tells James that she’ll always wait for him, which deters James from killing himself. Still a bit of a depressing ending, but at least James lives.

[@Terry-nx8kg]

​@@Resident_avonUYou're forgetting something. It's a Japanese game, and suicide in the Japanese culture, under certain circumstances, is considered to be an honourable thing. Americans are much too shallow to entertain such ideas.

[@mercoro]

Considering how James is lost and completely miserable in the game, and is dissociating from the reality, do you really think that is a shitty choice? It makes a lot of sense for James to take that course of action, people who end their own lives tend to struggle a lot with their inner demons or the past of a loved one, when someone you love so much dies, there is something inside you that dies too.

[@baptiste5713]

I got this end but idk why can someone explain me why i got it i cant find anything ?

[@jesusrodriguezcolon8315]

Never played og? Same ish requirements By examining Angela's Knife, staying at low health thought out the game and listening to the entire conversation in the hallway before the finale is basically enough to get this ending

[@Manic_Panic]

If you are low on health most of the game and examine Angela's knife, you'll get this ending.

@@jesusrodriguezcolon8315 also, if you read the menacing notes in the hospital and neely's bar

[@jesusrodriguezcolon8315]

Not needed, can confirm but it adds a point

[@baptiste5713]

@@Manic_Panic bruh just bc of a knife i got the bad ending kinda sad ngl

[@Luckdraw88]

They really messed this up. All subtelty is gone. James literally yells "and now I must kill myself". The music over the letter. The letter itself has changes "live for yourself and others" as if we are too dumb. The letter is read too fast and too well acted. The original readong feels like a struggle and release. Mary is both broken and relieved by the end. Just compare the parts where she talks about learning her death is inevitable, and the famous "you made me happy". This just isn't it