Silent Hill 2 Remake - Mysteries EXPLAINED (Old and New)

[@maxderrat]

There is one thing that I forgot to put in the red squares section: why they appear on the faces of the nurses. I give a detailed explanation of that in my video titled "The Red Squares - Silent Hill Mythology." But I'll give a quick answer here. SPOILER ALERT ... ... ... The shape/form of the nurse's heads are meant to symbolize James' smothering his wife's head with a pillow. Seeing that the red square symbolizes the memory that James is trying to bring from unconsciousness into consciousness, having it rest over the nurse's face is very appropriate. I also personally interpret their placement over the mouth as symbolic of bringing something from unconsciousness into consciousness. When a thought isn't expressed, it is functionally unconsciousness. It is only when something is spoken that something can become truly tangible.

[@davidtharp2125]

Does Silent Hill 2 remake have replay value?

[@johnydildo4285]

Hi Max I've been following your channel for a long time and i love your content.

[@otaku2567]

Hey max have you watch the video titled silent hill if James regrets nothing, I need a breakdown of that😂

[@anarche4900]

There’s also a photo of the red square that James finds that’s captioned Shape Forces the Mind

[@anarche4900]

@@davidtharp2125 different endings/dialogue events and unlockable weapons I would say yes also the born from a wish dlc will come next year

[@Herpusderpus]

James reaching into gross areas to retrieve key items makes me think about my own experience with being a caregiver for a dying loved one. Especially with wound care. I had to tend to my dad’s bed sores and keep them packed (one was a cavity type wound) and clean. It wasn’t something I particularly enjoyed, but it was obviously necessary. The only way past it was to do it. And that’s the same kind of visceral distaste that I see in James. I feel like anyone who has experienced caregiver burnout will find a lot to unpack in this game. I’ve never been so personally impacted by a game before Silent Hill 2.

[@Li_Tobler]

This is such a fascinatingly new angle for me to look at! I just always assumed that it was a metaphor for "reaching into unpleasant parts of yourself, be it your traits or memories, that you'd really REALLY would rather stayed buried". I love it when my understanding of something is enriched by other people's experiences like this! And of course I'm sorry you had to go through that, it must've been the opposite of easy, but you're a real trooper

[@Herpusderpus]

@ Well there are no wrong answers - yours makes a lot of sense too. It can be both, ya know? But that’s why SH 2 is always going to be a classic, the OG and remake alike. These themes can be interpreted in so many unique, personal ways. There’s really no limit to how a person analyses James’s trauma, or their own.

[@Undomielua]

Woah! I love your take on this

[@lunarbreeze5019]

Here's another amazing detail that may hint at a timeloop: In appartment 217 where you get the gun, there's 1000+ bullet holes. And if you aim the gun around that room for the first time, especially toward the TV, James will always accidentaly shoot 1 bullet. So all those bullet holes may be from every loop James did.

[@Kasey14311]

No way! I gotta try that on my next run

[@dokidash7052]

OH MY GOD I DIDN'T DO THIS, BUT IF IT HAPPENS IT'S BRILLIANT

[@daylight_EX]

Wow. Thanks for pointing this out!

[@fluidwolf]

Yeah had this happen to me my first run. Was getting used to the aim and had him fire off a bullet without pressing anything

[@nielsB_FPV]

Loop? Is Silent hill suddenly become Alan Wake?😊

[@ratoftoska7497]

It's so annoying that creators have to censor themselves and say things like "self terminate" or "unalive themselves" on KZbin out of fear of demonetization.

[@chandlerburse]

I despise shadow banning comments even when you don’t say anything wrong

[@mercenarygundam1487]

​@@chandlerburseJoin the club...

[@maxderrat]

Yup.

[@TitosLastBrainCell-8]

It makes me want to unalive myself

[@erraticchromatic]

It's a bit silly considering that you're still expressing the same idea. It's like censoring a part of a swear word with an asterisk. It's still very clear what is being conveyed.

[@NotAGoodUsername360]

I actually have directly spoken with Ito on X regarding the interpretation of Pyramid Head, and I can confirm straight from the source that Pyramid Head's role in the story is, in fact, near-identical to his counterpart Valtiel's role in Silent Hill 3. The important part to take away from Pyramid Head's actions is the fact that he is *targeting the monsters* that represent the things that are plaguing James' soul. The reason these actions seem brutal and sexual is because *that is how James is perceiving them.* In reality, Pyramid Head is forcefully stripping James of his delusions and his repression. That is why he is no longer needed once James accepts what he has done. Ito agreed with me that his role is analogous to what Louis tells Jacob in the movie Jacob's Ladder: "Eckhart saw Hell too. He said: The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of life, your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you, he said. They're freeing your soul. So the way he sees it, if you're frightened of dying and... and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth. It's just a matter of how you look at it, that's all." Source: x.com/adsk4/status/1844536439717101753?t=J4ItCFgWgwkSMG3HURnAFA&s=19

[@kube3066]

Ss pls 🙏🏻

[@hunterLien]

i think someone speculated that Pyramid head is trying to shove the mannequinns down the drain cuz James entered the room

[@gameakochronicles]

with this I think we can safe to assume that Pyramid Head is much like a Shadow Projection just like how James project his Anima to Maria.

[@couchpotato3197]

I hate how Ito explains everything instead of letting it up to us to decide. I wish he was more like Lynch.

[@DichotomousRex]

What he thought he was creating, and what he actually created, might be different. The creator can be wrong about what the final result actually is Pyramid Head will kill James in multiple locations - Valtiel NEVER kills.

[@Calebe_Sagaz]

I believe the dog is the real threat from Silent Hill. I mean, he/her was planning everything and “dog” is very similar to “god”. This can’t be a coincidence.

[@philippeamon7271]

Oh no... Heather! What have you done?!?!?

[@LuisSierra42]

THIS!!

[@maxderrat]

Oh my god! "Dog" is "God", but backwards! How could I have never noticed that!? :O

[@Ximeao_Melanida]

I like to think Mira is the Dog Eddie has killed. I also have a theory that he ate it, that's why he was vomiting when we first meet him and why Doge was growling when Eddie's belly was shown in the OG SH2's Dog ending credits.

[@daneruss2277]

The dog being named “Mira” I strongly believe is a nod to “Mirror”/“Ymir”, the part of James that’s really pulling the strings

[@arberrexha7312]

You actually missed one thing in the game; there exists a series of photos that can be collected with messages on the bottom. Behind each photo is a number, and if you put them all in numerical order, then take one vowel from each photo, you get the message that the Unreality is trying to tell James (and the player) that, “You’ve been here for two decades.”

[@bluevelvet666]

I did hear about that with the photos!! It's an amazing theory, and the thought of James experiencing that many time loops is absolutely insane!! I think the Leave Ending is the only one where he finally escapes Silent Hill for good. But the thought of James being punished for 20 years straight is just...wow. 😨😨😨

[@emiliolopez2023]

I think the true end of Silent Hill 2 is actually not participating in another loop as the player. playing again and again only extends James's torture if you think about the Meta of it . Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams, the Hd Remaster and the Remake are all continued loops theoretically. The town changes slightly, more information becomes known, the town gets clearer and more detailed but one thing never changes, what James did. The true end is not reliving it over and over. I argue it is the acceptance of the player in what ending was received was the end for James. Not to mention acceptance is the final stage of Grief ;) Just a fun alternate way to think about it, great video.

[@atomskthepirateking2776]

It's also Meta when you think about. The player themself finds acceptance by finishing the game and not playing it ever again 😂😂

[@emiliolopez2023]

​@@atomskthepirateking2776 Every player is a willing participant in James's torture. an every time you fire up the game to get a new ending you pretty much send him through hell again.

[@CHRISMED2]

What I want to know is why James didn't roll up his sleeve before reaching into that filth toilet?

[@aadipie]

He was too busy Mary maxing to even think about it

[@samf.s.7731]

Yes, let's make a 5 hour long video assay about that. And about why the pyramid head is still daddy and is not based off of the grand wizard of Silent Hill 😂

[@_aeth_]

This toilet is the least of his problems. That one fridge from the Labyrinth will stay with me forever...

[@naimad9569]

probably because he isn't right in the head,i mean he went into silent hill to search for his wife who he knew was dead

[@watchmehope6560]

As James said "I just don't care"

[@Calebe_Sagaz]

The maze where you face Angela's father is a better addition, in my opinion. Because it symbolizes how much Angela had to get away from him and her brother, or at least how much she tried, without succeeding. Another important addition is the scene with Maria when she offers James a drink. I got the impression that not only did he want to drink and sleep with her, but perhaps he did it when Mary was still alive and sick. Maybe James has had another "Maria" before, that's what I mean. Another detail in this part is the Lost & Found ring. Perhaps James has already lost his ring in this or another nightclub.

[@TAMAMO-VIRUS]

James is missing his ring. He has a tan line on his ring finger. Also, something that was in the original but left out in the remake, if you examine crates of alcohol in Heaven's Night James will make a comment on how he used to drink a lot. It's unclear if he was an alcoholic, but he was still most likely a heavy drinker. Though I did notice that James did want to drink when Maria offered but had to hold himself back.

[@fluidwolf]

I like with the idea of him possibly being a recovering alcoholic that that scene is effectively doubling up on temptations for him

[@rodrigomorenonunez4030]

I thought the scene of Maria offering James a drink was a direct reference to The Shining, the Town is reflecting his own struggles and tempting him.

[@SamsarasArt]

​@@rodrigomorenonunez4030the Lloyd scene?

[@twicethess-ratedghoul7859]

I finally beat the remake today (31/10/24) and man, this video and playing the game myself really really makes me appreciate the thought and effort gone into both the remake and original. It’s truly a master class in story telling and beats not just video games in the way it expressed the story and story itself, but also a lot of other stories presented in different mediums ( e.g books and movies ). Thank you so much for this video and all the other videos you’ve done explaining and talking about this game. In general, I love your content Max and I’m very grateful for you and your content. Keep on keeping on and I hope you have a lovely day whenever/ if ever you read this (:

[@hotcoldman77]

Just finished it last night and I'm blown away 😳.... easily my best "horror" experience of all time, sorry Hereditary lol. I never played the original... knew about some things though (James being "evil" etc) so this remake was a breath of fresh air... such a fantastic experience. As someone who's been studying all religions and mythologies in his spare time, this video breakdown just hit home perfectly

[@DinossaurodaAmazonia]

​@@hotcoldman77 which part of the game was the scariest for you?

[@SandroSensei]

Pyramidhead doesnt use a knife. He holds a half of a pair of scissors. When James fights him it symbolizes the other half. The original monster designer also said this on twitter.

[@RickDaSquirrel]

Masahiro Ito has said Pyramid Head is supposed to be getting rid of the manifestations for James so he would be able to understand what this is all about. It’s weird. He even said the cutscene with the moan before the boss fight wasn’t what you think it is.

[@gillik7801]

There is no way I found you here, I used to watch your godzilla videos .D

[@RickDaSquirrel]

@@gillik7801Used to? lol thanks though man

[@gillik7801]

@@RickDaSquirrel Nah I am still watching the theater reaction ones. All the other ones outside of NA just watch in pure silence

[@gillik7801]

@@RickDaSquirrel (except India, but i dont even know they just scream at everything and they cheer only for kong )

[@DanOfTheHill]

I mean Pyramid Head always seems to be leaving a wake of manifestation corpses in it's wake so I think that kind of makes sense.

[@DukePablo30]

Something interesting to think about near the end game right before the final boss, you encounter some enemies that don't attack you, one bag enemy in fetal position , a nurse that just collapses to the ground as you get near her, and a leg mannequin that avoids you and even looks terrified of James as you approach it. Any thoughs on this?

[@alicjaz2771]

I guess since they symbolize all this guilt, subconscious thoughts and all that, after you realize the truth they are no longer scary to you. You know what you did.

[@aettic]

23:20 - Max: it is not a mistake that gold is in the middle. The order of the symbols on the books is the Chaldean Order of the planets, the order of descent through the tree of life. Gold is The Sun, which is Tiphareth, the exact center of the tree. The final step before Malkuth (manifest material substance) is Silver / The Moon / Yesod. Although Gold is often viewed as the material goal of metallurgic alchemy (i.e. transmuting lead into gold), it isn't the same as the Philosopher's Stone, which is not a physical substance.

[@robbie_o_coelho]

I personally dislike the time loop theory. From the original game it became kinda clear to me that James's death impulse (Thanatos) was responsible for projecting his image onto the corpses. Plus, the town has significantly changed between said loops, from timeline differences (the og taking place in the 70-80s, and this in the 90s) to Heaven's Night being in two completely different locations. To me this theory doesn't add up, but who knows, maybe the devs confirm it.

[@Andriej69]

Of course it doesn't add up, that's exactly why some fuckwits will shill it. I can't express how much I hate Reddit

[@ivanaviNiebla]

The original takes place in the 90s too, going by what is found in Born from a Wish. But you are right, the bodies in the town are because James is suicidal when he gets there. I don't think the town waits for James to reach the climax of his story after it is very clear he didn't learn his lesson, just to spawn Angela, Eddie, Laura and Maria again so they can all give it another try together, because otherwise the disparity would mess each others runs too much xP

[@tobiaskadachi]

"Wait, I know you..."

[@TAMAMO-VIRUS]

Some people theorize that the remake takes place in 2001, since the desk that may or not be James' has a mouse with a scroll wheel. And while mice with scroll wheels came out in the 90s, they weren't really widespread and mainstream until the early 2000's

[@shawnwolf5961]

@@ivanaviNiebla yeah this is my other problem with the remake, aside from it feeling (to me) like it really cheapens the journey.

[@danieljenkins5610]

I hope Bloober Team will also remake "Born From A Wish"

[@samf.s.7731]

Yes, hopefully 😊

[@mr.hashundredsofprivatepla3711]

They better

[@watchmehope6560]

And add the classic Maria skin.

[@Petergriffin7825]

Here's hoping 🙏 🙂

[@BitterSteel69]

I’m willing to bet they’re going to release it as a paid DLC with expanded content to justify the price. Konami would be leaving money on the table otherwise.

[@0verWay]

I will never forgive Konami for screwing over Hideo and Guillermo. The whole lore and potential of multiple Silent Hills, portraying the actual town as a sort of deity, is left unexplored for no reason. It would allow so many theories like time travel, purgatory etc. to perfectly co-exist in the same "universe" without having to exclude each other out based on the different SH titles, stories and canon. We have Lovecraftian monsters, but the idea of "Lovecraftian" EXISTENCES AND REALITIES, where the world itself is the actual anomaly, monster and unknown deity, is something SH barely scratched the surface of so far.

[@chandlerburse]

The town as a deity sounds kind of cliche the town being mysterious but implicitly somewhat sentient or some force of nature is a bit cooler Also i thought we had zero idea what SHS was gonna be about anyways

[@aadipie]

@@chandlerbursethere are some leaked parts of what it was supposed to be. It was supposed to have asynchronous multiplayer like death stranding does hence all these different players worlds colliding. Also it was supposed to have AR elements where you would get notifications on your irl contact info related to the game blending reality and the game.

[@chandlerburse]

@@aadipie that honestly sounds like it would end being one of those over hyped games that would end in a buggy broken mess.

[@mattcollins3591]

No Part of the allure of SH is that it’s a SINGLE place. This, “it can be anything and anywhere bs” is nonsense and I’m not surprised it was cancelled.

[@chandlerburse]

@@mattcollins3591 the phenomenon has occurred in other places before like with SH4

[@daneruss2277]

Reason for the order of the book puzzle is that it’s the sequence of the seven heavens, such as is Dante’s Divine Comedy. It’s the order of the seven Ptolemaic planets, which is the order of the (visible) solar system just with the sun and moon reversed.

[@elena8073]

About Maria, have you ever considered that she may not entirely be a creation of James's mind but also out of Mary's will? Things like wanting to be what she couldn't be for James in her last moments could've played a part in creating her (the want to please the man she loves). Also things like caring for Laura would make sense too. When James asks her why she cares she just says "I dont know I feel like it's up to me to protect her." Imo that wouldn't make much sense if Maria is entirely James's projection as we know he had no idea who Laura was until stepping into Silent Hill and Mary deeply cared for and considered Laura a friend. All that and the fact that Mary wanted to keep being by James's side

[@shawnwolf5961]

Mary arrives dead in Silent Hill, so how can she have a will to impose?

[@elena8073]

@@shawnwolf5961 Kinda like a dying wish in a way, the feelings she carried in her death

[@NootNoooooot]

@@elena8073 tie that with Mary's ''in my restless dreams''.... here's an idea: the events throughout the game are just Mary's dreams, and Mary is dreaming of/remnants of a premonition she had of her fate and James guilt ..and now James is living it. kinda like how Alessa's nightmares and pain spawned a living nightmare world ig?

[@amberlyveil8856]

Simpler psychological analysis: Pyramid head is primarily James's desire for punishment for what he did... and only stops when James thinks he's suffered enough. Maria is his ever present temptation to avoid ever dealing with what he did... one of their first conversations has her tempting him sexually and with booze, which he is implied to have already been struggling with

[@gon3302]

Yeah the license plates in the game actually relate to that perfectly like Corinthians 6:13.

[@JoelMiller-c4m]

Here’s an amazing detail that I found that I don’t see more people talk about for some odd reason. When going through the labyrinth while searching for a key to get another part of a lighter you enter an office room with a nurse in it, in James original bio it was said he was a clerk. This alludes to him not just fantasising about Nurses through his sexual frustrations with Mary but also with his co workers while working as a clerk. This meant everyday he had not just thoughts of the nurses at the hospital but including his female co-workers. Pretty sad

[@iamtrying2690]

24:55 "YOU HAVE BEEN HERE FOR TWO DECADES"

[@Robert-oq8ye]

Such a great easter egg and shout out to the fans. A shame that loop theory numpties are coopting it

[@hypoc09]

i just came up with something, not sure if anyone thought about it before. the time loop you interpreted sounds like something very similar to a technique called mirror gazing meditation. you stare into your eyes long enough, it'll feel like an eternity. your face deforms, you'll see all the many different faces of yourself and you will never be able to remember the face you actually have afterwards. staring so long into your own eyes and facing your soul, it feels as if the time is looping. it consumes you, as staring into your own unconscious is a very intimate and introspective thing, basically the whole theme of this game. and think about the beginning cutscene of this game. it's the start of a time loop, again and again, especially after new game+ the only way you can get some endings. exploring himself and delving deep into his own unconscious. it makes sense. stare long enough into the abyss, and the abyss stares back at you. that, in a pragmatic sense, may also explain the whole silent hill phenomenon in SH2 i think, maybe. the reason why SH2 is so much more different. it is more introspective, psycho analytical and symbolic than all the other installments. the player staring into james' psyche. there's this reddit post, it explains this phenomenon pretty well. it's about someone experiencing this said dreadful time loop. i will reply the link to this comment below.

[@hypoc09]

so take the time loop not as in its literal sense, but as in this symbolic interpretation of staring at your own eyes in the mirror for a prolonged period of time. hence all the different endings being canon: it's all part of james' imagination and psyche, hence called reflection. again, the main theme of this game. it's really interesting and i wish i could find out more, but it creeped me out way too much when i tried doing it and i have my own reasons as to why i won't continue.

[@hypoc09]

if you also found this interesting, please let me know and share your thoughts on it, i would gladly appreciate it. again i have no idea if anyone else came up with this interpretation already, google found me nothing, so correct me if i'm wrong. also, about the reddit post. youtube deleted the comment so here's how to find it: "Please do not stare into the eyes of your reflection in the mirror. "

[@tsubasa_cat6991]

I’m drinking Dr Pepper right now

[@michaelbailey9212]

How is it?

[@dylarper]

This comment made me spit my dr.pepper out

[@eicoo2]

Y'all tried the coconut Dr pepper yet? Pretty good imo

[@dylarper]

@eicoo2 I haven't but that's what I've heard

[@feluto7172]

mmm dr peppa

[@Comicbroe405]

The time loop theory is even more apparent in the remake I think.

[@TheTrueAegonTargaryen]

I definitely think the theory is what bloober is going for. If all the endings are canon, from what’s been said then all the bodies that look like James, which there is a lot, make sense with the theory in mind.

[@Robert-oq8ye]

That theory makes absolutely no sense at all

[@thecheeseblock9880]

​​@@Robert-oq8yelook at all of the corpses in the freezer room before eddie's fight

[@Robert-oq8ye]

@@thecheeseblock9880 ok. That doesn't prove a loop at all.

[@TheTrueAegonTargaryen]

@@Robert-oq8yeall the endings of the game are canon, so if there was a time loop that’s how all the endings would be able to be canon because the whole thing repeats but how you get to the end is different.

[@noahhuguenin]

I haven't yet seen the rest of the video, but I must say that your new explanation of Jung's metaphysics is amazing! Much more precise and clear than what I remember watching some time ago

[@onejediboi]

This remake was so damn fantastic man, bloober team deserve all the praise, and i hope they remake other SH games too

[@hotcoldman77]

Nah no more remakes Lord Vader lol. Instead I'd prefer they do some brand new (they're making a new game which is awesome). I'd prefer they make a brand new SH game. They've earned the right to 👏

[@phasmidd107]

@@hotcoldman77 New Silent Hill is already being made, also I don't think there ever will be an "og" type of Silent Hill ever again. Haven't the original writers kind off fucked off from the scene by now (meaning Silent hills after the 4th one). Also Sh1 and Sh3 remakes would be cool, really.

[@xian1978]

One thing I'd like to know is, what happened to the people of the town? James seem to have come to SH with Mary and have a normal vacation there, so at one point the town was a normal town. We find notes left by people with normal works, lives etc. So, when did the town get deserted, and where did the people go?

[@Andriej69]

Put in some effort and play SH1

[@illumin8-r]

from my limited knowledge of the SH universe, I am pretty sure that the people/population of SH have either been killed by the monsters of the unreality, or, are currently suffering through their own versions of the unreality, much like how James does - as well as all the various protagonists in the other SH games. For some characters who's fates are integral to the lore progression of SH as a whole, like important people in the history of SH, their outcomes are more or less static. but the other inhabitants of SH could probably be a toss-up in terms of whether they are dead dead, or just... sorta dead. i'm also pretty sure that the fates of some citizens would depend on their connection, whether bad or good, to Alessa, as I'm pretty sure that Alessa was the catalyst, or gateway, that finally turned SH into hellscape that it is currently. Also, because reality and unreality are all sortof mushed together and bleed into each other randomly in SH, some of the notes and messages that we find in the games could be left by people trapped in their own versions of SH, and don't necessarily share timelines with the protagonists in the games. i don't know how often the games touch on this "parallel realities" concept, as i haven't played every single SH, but in the first movie, which is the good one, it is heavily implied that Rose and Harry are in the school at the same time, but in separate realities.

[@ivanaviNiebla]

They are there still living their normal lives. The characters, at least when we play, never visit the "real world" town, they are always "transported" into the "alternate reality" of the fog world and the otherworld (the quotes are because those words are the easiest to use to explain what is going on, but might not be the most accurate). In the games Sillent Hill is always a touristic town, and keeps growing into modern times. There are characters that don't like it because there are cults, drug trafficking, missing people and lots of urban legends (and other problems tbh), but none of that is big enough to stop the town from being a nice place to spend holidays. So most people in town are living their normal lives while all the shit goes down in an "alternate reality", at least for the most part, as there are events where things leak into the real world, or many people are affected at the same time, but then again, it's never so bad that the town stops being a touristic place xP And the affected people just seems to either disappear or appear insane, the "monsters" never escape or anything like that.

[@xian1978]

@@Andriej69 I did, with emulation and if that game was the only one, I'd understand what happened with the town, but having more games after that I get confused. Notes and messages in the rest of the games seem to imply the town is a normal town with people living and working and stuff, but that's quite confusing for me. When you go into the "otther world" I get the idea that, that's the unreality, right? That'd be when everything is rusty and here ar fans, and bars and all that... then the intersection between reality and unreality would be the fog world. But then what's the "real" world. Because non of the protagonits seem to ever be in it. I mean, Henry escaped the town with Heather, then Heather goes back and when she enters the town she's already in the fog. James seem to have been to the real town in a vacation previous to the game, but now he went to look for Mary and is immediately inside the fog.

[@Andriej69]

@@xian1978 As far I've heard James' vacation in SH took place before the events that initiated SH1. After that the town was abandoned, aside from Dahlia and Kaufman, who had the opposing goals when the "spell" eventually does it's function. It's open to interpretation if events of SH2 happened after Harry went with CHeryl to SH, or before - before Cheryl grew up, demonic forces of SH might've been luring in and consuming people like James. Notes and documents you're mentioning are leftovers, frozen in time when town itself changes it's shape

[@mockingboy5461]

this video deserves so much more attention, i would never had thought it would go so deep into psychology and be so informative and interesting. really good job!

[@ilregiallo4151]

I think that the three sections of the labyrinth represent the first three steps of the alchemical process (as used in analytical psycholopgy): -the first is a rotten area and James has to burn an obect (which looks like a corpse in a bag): this is calcination, the burning; -in the second area, you have to repeatedly get down in a flooded dungeon; here you find Pyramid Head and you can also find his room (you get a thropy): this is dissolution, the exploration of the unconcious through dreams and other means; -in the third area you face Pyramid Head: this is separation, facing the shadow --> after that James is able to use PH's blade in order to progress, so he integrated at least part of his shadow (and from this moment the player can see that Mary's letter is actually a blank page).

[@NoContextOasis]

I think it's safe to say that we will never get a game with such depth as SH2 ever again. I hope I'm wrong but it seems that way. I've never known a game that still has secrets and hidden meanings being unveiled 23 years later.

[@radukane894]

Cool, I discovered yohr videos after finishing SH2 Remake and was catching up with the 5 year old videos you had. Very nice content, keep it up!

[@MatthewEaton]

The sun is sitting in the correct place for the labeling on the books, if you consider the planetary alignment for each. The sun is in the center of all the planets, which is actually the balance between the solar system and the void and perfection (the exterior of the solar system). This would also make sense as far as no Earth representation for these symbols (in a Terran-centric view) as it would almost be Terra viewing the heavens as the viewer might be viewing the books. The eyes drawn to the largest thing in the solar system: the sun.

[@ElDemiurge]

:0 13:00 I've always had this personal belief that there was the concept of the divine feminine/masculine and most of us are predisposed to one but that we can all channel both. It's so wild learning that something similar was said by a famous psychologist

[@FernandoMMuniz]

You forgot to mention the second Pyramid Head that is theorized to be his second sin (killing Eddie), and their eggs representing Mary with the disease and Eddie's youth.

[@crystalz-h1d]

This is deeper than I expected, wow!

[@reifuTD]

God with all this talk about alchemy, A Silent Hill game themed around item crafting a survival in the town sounds fun with the goal of the game is to craft a Philosopher's Stone that grants you a wish like bringing the dead back to life. But to make the Philosopher's Stone you have to craft the nigredo, albedo, and rubedo items.

[@zeroskaterz92]

I mean, you're kinda did with the Rebirth ending.

[@stephencartwright8355]

This was my first silent hill game and I think it ls probably my game of the year

[@JohnWick-kb5jr]

Same here, easily my game of the year.

[@DinossaurodaAmazonia]

Silent Hill 1 is also an amazing game, i hope we'll have a remake of the first game

[@JohnWick-kb5jr]

@@DinossaurodaAmazonia A recent report said Bloober is working on silent hill 1 and 3 remakes. Let’s hope that is true! I bet it is with how well received silent hill 2 remake was.

[@DinossaurodaAmazonia]

@@JohnWick-kb5jr i really hope that is true, because SH 1 is my favorite game of the franchise, and the scariest one too imo

[@monroerobbins7551]

Maybe the character artist didn’t mean that Pyramid Head wasn’t a sexual being, but instead just specifying he wasn’t a r***ist? I think maybe he intended to say that Pyramid Head in those scenes wasn’t assaulting the characters, but instead was just aggressive, a dominating force, but not an assaulting one. Maybe that’s what he meant? Either way, I don’t think it came off super well, and I think he could’ve explained it a bit better when it came to a topic like this. If that wasn’t his intent, then I really wish he would clarify that.

[@TheNovaWollf]

AMAZING AS ALWAYS

[@samf.s.7731]

Incorrect, unfortunately though. 😂

[@mateusgreenwood1096]

Max, since you're so fascinated by alchemy and symbolism i'd like to recommend a movie called "The Holy Mountain".

[@maxderrat]

Hey man. I will do a video on that one day. COUNT ON IT. Probably around the beginning of next year. The thing is though, I am going to approach the video much like my fellow KZbinr, Ragnarrox, approached the movie "Solaris", where he reviewed it, but also talked about how it influenced Silent Hill. The Holy Mountain influenced Silent Hill as well. However, because I have spent the last month doing nothing but Silent Hill, I am going to take at least a couple of months off from that franchise.

[@mateusgreenwood1096]

@@maxderrat It's fine even if you don't make a video on it. I just thought i'd share one of my favorite movies since it meant so much to me as a lover of philosophy. I do hope you enjoy it. Take care.

[@theonlybilge]

HORIZONTALLY!

[@kirigherkins]

It's all fun and games until Shinji picks up the steel pipe

[@danecelestia6087]

I love how the loop is supported by the decoded photos message in the remake, makes things so, so bleak...

[@Sandwich1414]

One thing I kept thinking as I played the SH2 remake was how the red squares appeared to be window-like. The game doesn't pause when you save and the camera goes into the red square and shows you the POV from inside the square, looking out at James. I had this theory going in my head as I played that while James could look into the red squares and save, something else could be on the other side looking out at him. I had this thought that maybe the "force" that was Silent Hill could look out through the red squares and see James and track him in the town. When I saw the nine red squares in the finale, I imagined it to be like a bank of security monitors, where Pyramid Head or something else could see James. Obviously the theory doesn't make a whole lot of sense, as the town doesn't need to see or track James to know where he is. It was just a thought I had as I tried to make sense of it all. There was one other issue I couldn't get my head around though. Somewhere in Lakeview Hotel was a painting/picture of one of the save room icons that you see on the save menu - how the heck did it get there?

[@TaxEvader420]

I forget the exact context but when you first team up with Maria (in the remake) she says it's odd that a gate is locked, this made me think she was confused because the area was different in the original game

[@vogonp4287]

The whole time loop concept makes the game very close to Signalis. In that game, it's implied that the events of the game is a time loop, including dead bodies of the playable protagonist.

[@reifuTD]

You know I'll love to see them do a Silent Hill game that take place in the wild west era, Specially a story that take place after the civil war. That seems like a ripe setting and scenario world building of Silent Hill and story telling, In that kind of story I'd either want to see something like a grizzled old man who wishes to make up with his Daughter or Granddaughter or a bonnet wearing Victorian woman who comes to Silent Hill to claim an inheritance from her Ex-husband who mysteriously died.

[@Vergilangel]

I think the issue with that is that the BIG thing that made Silent Hill be the way and tore the city to the real world and the otherworld its the events with Alessa that led to Silent Hill 1, which is pretty recent time wise.

[@chandlerburse]

I mean Toluca Prison was a civil war POW camp but whether SH phenomenon was happening then is debateable

[@Davlavi]

Informative as always.

[@STARSVeteran]

People being fixated on finding Pyramid Head sexy is no surprise given the state of the world today. I worked with a woman who was talking to another girl one day about horror movies, and the woman said: “Michael Myers can get it.” Plus there’s the absolute meme ‘I can Fix Him/Her’. You can’t. 😂

[@chandlerburse]

People were simping for him long before modern day

[@fluidwolf]

We have people legit simping for serial killers and the like. It's goofy lol

[@jcdenton4847]

​@chandlerburse I feel like that wasn't a thing though until after the first movie cause they made him tall and buff for no reason

[@DinossaurodaAmazonia]

Silent Hill is a normal town with people living in it, which has layers of reality (planes of existence). Each one is linked to a part of the psyche that shapes reality in its own way. Imagine Silent Hill as a blank canvas, the brush is the mind, the paints are fears, traumas, desires, wishes, etc. Like a paintbrush, the mind manifests all this "paint" into shapes and visuals on the canvas

[@crownedbythewatcher347]

What a great video!! It's exactly what I was looking for and I'm so looking forward to watching more of your stuff! I do have a question about the remake. Maybe it's really obvious, but one of my biggest questions was who the notes at the beginning of the game were talking about. The one in the flower shop about someone wanting to buy red and white flowers, the one about taking someone's car keys (I can't remember where that one was), and I think a couple of others that make reference to a guy who's been acting weird all over town.

[@mahtri3125]

I really love your videos, they are actually very informational and simple to follow. It touches metaphysics in a clearer way, none of the riddle stuff (which is a way to convey an secret), and you showed us how vastly Alchemy and Philosophy influenced Silent Hill ethos. Silent Hill really introduced many people to esoteric and gnosis, thanks to your videos haha.

[@danielmeredith4222]

I really love your views and analysis of the silent Hill universe its all so deep and fascinating. Your voice is also very relaxing xo

[@nielsB_FPV]

11:28 in the end of the movie 'jacobs ladder' (which was a huge inspiration for silent hill) someone tells the protagonist (who has been tormented by demons) " The only thing that burns in hell is the part of you that won't let go of your life: your memories, your attachments. They burn 'em all away. But they're not punishing you,' he said. 'They're freeing your soul. If your frightened of dying, and your holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. If you've made your peace then the devils are really angels freeing you from the earth." I think this mirrors the whole idea for pyramid heads existence

[@keikan0407]

So glad to see the preference about the Philolosopher’s Stone of the game “Shadows of destiny” 🙂👍

[@SomaCruz500]

Ito using shock horror as an art medium for 30-40 plus years and then going “but not that shock horror” is a weird take, especially when Fukuro exists. All his art was *HEAVILY* intimate, if you catch my meaning. It also furthers my basis that he should not be the one consulted on story. If it ain’t Owaku, Toyama, or Sato, I take it with a grain of salt. Being the artist doesn’t equate to knowing story beats or what another department is doing with them. Pretty sure one of the guides or one of the interviews suggests the scene is “open for player interpretation”, but it’s with a pretty hard nudge in the direction of “it also may be intentional, but we’re not admitting that, allegedly”.

[@Davidzinuhaha]

Good recollection and rundown of a little bit of everything. Good work!

[@kerokerbi1652]

silent hill subreddit seems to hate the timeloop theory so much

[@mephosto]

Your videos always feel like a college lecture. A good one, the ones that make you feel smarter afterwards.

[@trancendental5373]

What's black, white, and red all over? The three step process of creating the philosopher's elixir.

[@Interstellallout]

love the silent hill content coming out. We are all creating videos again about a series we truly love

[@vilotarian]

Holy shit, seeing Shadow of Destiny in here took me back. Loved that game as a kid.

[@RavengeMode]

Maxdarrat your content is always a nice breath of fresh air. I love your depth of detail when navigating the deep mythos of silent hill. Much love Raven. 🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛

[@SharpMays]

whatsinmy AI fixes this. Silent Hill 2 Remake Explained

[@matteo5869]

And then there's me who thought the red squares were simply a symbolic representation/glimpse of memory of the TV in the hotel. After all, you can also see James's face mirrored each time you look at these squares

[@powercoder]

You interpreted things too deeply that the developers themselves struggled to understand 😂!

[@tristenatorplaysgames6833]

James is a character I deeply sympathize and relate to. The notion of the pain of having to think of your past mistakes and as you remember them they pain you greatly. Is as raw of a human truth as it gets.

[@TuckOfIron]

The new revelation about the secret message within the photograph items adds credence to the time loop theory. There's a hidden message within them that says: "YOUVE BEEN HERE FOR TWO DECADES".

[@TheRevanchist9000]

I'd love to see a video about your thoughts on the NG+ endings, especially the new ones unique to the SH2 remake. I know your philosophy has always been to only make videos about a topic you fell you can provide a unique perspective on, but I think your robust understanding of the series, and critical eye in general would add a lot to the conversation at large, especially with it all being so fresh.

[@Regemony]

Good shit Max - keep doing what you're doing!

[@maxsoto2567]

I'm new to any of this, in my interpretation the red squares are guilt-mirrors. Let me explain, the fact that the first encounter is put on words as a pain that hurts the brain from the inside out led me to think about the anatomy of the brain itself, the amigdala and the hippocampus are nearly in the center of the brain, explain why it hurts in that specific way, James cannot remember what he has done, he is experiencing a mental breakpoint where he denies his own reality. that's why just before the great judgment there are nine guilt-mirrors, he has fully face his guilt. All this interpretation got stronger with the remake and that small detail of using the save points as a POV where we see James from this mirrors.

[@michaelwest3379]

I will say that Ito did mention on twitter a while ago that James did see the Misty Day painting before the events of SH2. So idk...

[@Splunkmastah]

I've always interpreted Pyramid Head's aggression towards James as another metaphor for James's shadow attempting to consume him. This is most telling in the end section of the final Labrynth when James has to let Pyramid Head assist in his escape. James is accepting aid from his shadow without letting it consume him (ie, staying far enough away or dodging PH's attacks)

[@fluidwolf]

One thing Id like to know is what connection Paimon has to everything. A certain puzzle in the hotel flat out has you constructing their sigil which I cant imagine has no meaning to it

[@8bitdee]

Isn’t the town the way it is because of Alessa? Yes, all that backstory you mentioned is true but the town was a normal town until Alessa unlocked “unreality” and her psychic powers turned into the desolate place we see and it’s her psychic powers that allowed unreality to break through and allowed the creation of the monsters from people’s subconscious. Feels like a big miss not to mention the catalyst for why SH is a hellish place.

[@JoelMiller-c4m]

Last detail I found included the more frequently used enemy type this time around, the Mandarins. In the original they could only stay underground, the book of lost memories found in the rebirth ending explained that due to their symbolism of overwhelming, incomprehensible anguish they were permitted to stay underground. However the remake changes this by allowing you to fight them head on. I believe that Blooper Teams symbolism is their biggest denominator for why James killed Mary, her verbal abuse towards him. They rarely ever use their fists but spikes that come from their mouth, meaning that her words hurt him. They hang from the ceiling and under the floor to show how her words quite literally ‘hanged’ onto him, how he couldn’t go by a day thinking how much she hates him. This is the reason to why they’re the strongest of the 4 enemy types, because they were the biggest reason to why James killed her. His sexual frustrations were clearly crucial but her verbal abuse is what made him commit to his heinous action of ridding her from his life.

[@TristanMundell]

Hey Max, are you going the make a video on the Polaroid photographs you find scattered throughout the remake? I think it'd be awesome!

[@waltzforvenus_9164]

Maaaan I got the “In The Water” ending for my first playthrough. I was speechless when credits rolled…

[@erraticchromatic]

I love your work Max! Although i find approaching Jung to be a daunting task, it is also profoundly rewarding. People like yourself help me understand his concepts in a way that is applicable to many pieces of art that i personally resonate with, which gives it so much more meaning and depth that in many cases can be easily overlooked. Thank you for your hard work. And PLEASE do an analysis of control. That game is one of my favourites and i was shocked to discover you didnt have a video on it!

[@elijahownsall]

Incredible video. Just finished the remake, and this was great

[@Thannak]

Silent Hill is very unlikely to be a “ghost town” or abandoned. Vincent in Silent Hill 3 is collecting money from cult members and embezzling, and his belief in pleasures of the physical world means he’s spending that money somewhere. Its more likely we only see another plane in the games but there is still a normal side of the town full of normal people living normal lives. Otherwise the place being a ghost town would be known.

[@chandlerburse]

Its clearly not a ghost town Travis Gradys dad use to go there and Murphy is surprised its abandoned when he gets there Mary and James use to vacation there a lot. Harry was going there for a vacation in SH1 as well

[@DinossaurodaAmazonia]

Silent Hill is a normal town with people living in it, which has layers of reality (planes of existence). Each one is linked to a part of the psyche that shapes reality in its own way. Imagine Silent Hill as a blank canvas, the brush is the mind, the paints are fears, traumas, desires, wishes, etc. Like a paintbrush, the mind manifests all this "paint" into shapes and visuals on the canvas. 1 Plane of Existence(Real World) 2 Plane of Existence(Fog World) 3 Plane of Existence((Other World)

[@hotcoldman77]

Best Silent Hill 2 (remake) video I've seen thus far. Just wow 👏

[@dustthewolf7841]

Hey Max; do you have any idea on what the strange photos are all about? No one seems to be explaining them in any of the videos I've looked into other than them being a collectable.

[@jasonblundelldobebussing]

Max, "Sех explained" when?

[@DeezBaeNaeNae]

Karl yung brutally smashed sigmund and his mommy kink idk

[@tomo8940]

My biggest question is...what's the Shiba dog's name?

[@danieljenkins5610]

Mira

[@daneruss2277]

@@danieljenkins5610Cognate with “Ymir”

[@tomo8940]

@danieljenkins5610 wait they gave the dog a name?

[@chandlerburse]

@@tomo8940yes the devs called it Mira

[@tomo8940]

@@chandlerburse cute

[@cattlecatch9626]

What I want to know is...why are the bullets named after birds?

[@MarcelusCastleRain]

Max I think you would love the Boogiepop animes! Just that. Happy spooky month!

[@Tommy-oe9sj]

I personally don't buy much of the timeloop theory. I like the idea and it's his subconscious projecting himself onto the corpses because of the guilt and suicidal tendency he's facing. I do like to believe that James can either fail his journey in silent hill and perhaps trigger another loop to do it again. But the "leave" ending is probably where he get away from the town for good after facing the inner demons... It fits with the theme of facing your shadow and growing as a person.

[@DinossaurodaAmazonia]

I have two questions: Did Mary contract her illness in Silent Hill? Did James and Mary visit Silent Hill before or after the events of the first game?

[@david.9633]

Excellent video, Max

[@classyhoboclips7805]

What about the notes left of a strange person, one is in the record store another in a flower shop, one at the hospital, and in the last level I believe this confirms the time loop to because this is obviously you and your actions

[@ilregiallo4151]

The dog is clearly the aztec god Xolotl, the shapeshifter-dog psychopomp who leads the souls of the dead through their journey in the underworld, and I wonder why the fans haven't figured it out yet! (I'm just kidding, but Xolotl actually exist in aztec mythology, check it out)

[@DinossaurodaAmazonia]

The gods of Silent Hill have similar names to the Aztec gods, so perhaps there is a correlation For example, the Red God(Xuchilbara), the Yellow God(Lobsel Vith) etc

[@chickensoupboi]

Have you seen the "YOUVEBEENHEREFOR20YEARS" easter egg recently found? That leans a lot more into the time loop theory and, to me, almost frames the remake as effectively a sequel given that it's been about 20+ years since the original

[@nolanslade6750]

Pertaining to the color red, it really feel like it was a missed opportunity with the black and white vs. red filter. Yes the red squares are, well, red. But nothing else is. I was so disappointed when I encountered pyramid head on my second playthrough while using the filter. Then in the other world, in a few spots. I absolutely love the way that silent hill 2 looks in general,especially the black and white. It reminds me of an old twilight zone episode. Maybe I’m just a sucker for that “sin city” style. It just would’ve been really cool to have red be a prominent thing, against the black and white, other than just the squares.

[@betinamri]

Always on point and with all the facts. You're the best, Max!

[@robertl426]

To be fair this is Max' interpretation, I wouldn't go so far to claim it as fact. Max uses the term "I believe" throughout this video. The only people who know the true meanings are the original writers.

[@betinamri]

@@robertl426 I was actually referring to the fact that he always does his research and brings a lot of sources regarding the essence of very obvious inspirations for the series, such as psychoanalysis or alchemy-themed subjects, not really about the true meaning of SH at all.

[@HazardDuckie]

Hey Max, I've got a litte question. After watching a lot of lore and retrospective videos of the original Silent Hill 2, the remake and other SH titles, there is still one thing I don't fully grasp. If Pyramid Head - or let's say the Executioner - is already a part of Silent Hill's history when James arrives in the town, and considered that Pyramid Head is the vivid expression of James' guilt... Could it be possible that Pyramid Head appears not only for James, but also for people with a similar inner conflict? I was watching a retrospective of SH Homecoming the other day, and when the big guy showed up out of nowhere, my brain came up with the idea that the main character, Alex, couldn't (or didn't want to) remember what he has done, but on a subconscious level he always knew. So the potential for guilt and (self)punishment would be given. Yes, I know, it was just a... uhm... questionable marketing decision by Konami that Pyramid Head appeared in Homecoming, but... just in theory... would it be possible?

[@strikeaposefilms]

Hey Max, I just came across an idea on a Facebook group about the potential connection between Pyramid Head and a German children's book called Struwwelpeter. It was written by a psychiatrist named Heinrich Hoffmann in 1845. I think linking the wiki disabled my comment, but I wanted to throw this idea your way in case you hadn't heard of it. I've never heard it mentioned in anyone's lore videos - and like many people here I've spent 10x more time watching lore videos than I've spent playing the game. But apparently one story is "A mother warns her son Konrad not to suck his thumbs. However, when she goes out of the house he resumes his thumb-sucking, until a roving tailor appears and cuts off his thumbs with giant scissors." The giant scissors potentially being an inspiration for The Great Knife. Just to tighten up my thoughts as an example - the boy gets punished for his addiction to comfort by a monster with a pair of scissors. It's maybe a bit of a stretch, but it just feels like it fits. Two or three of the other stories also make me think of Eddie and Angela and their respective past actions and "punishments". The rest of the stories are summarized on the wiki if you look it up. I dunno if I'm crazy, but I figured you might find it interesting. Have you heard of this possible connection before?

[@jaytravis2487]

For those circling the topic of mathematical idealism and reconciling man's ambitions with (continually) discovered limitations on our measurement OF reality: The integers are entirely contained by tha rationals. The rationals are entirely contained by the constructables. The constructables are entirely contained by the algebraics. The algebraics are entirely contained within the computable numbers. But there's even larger sets. The set of definable numbers is larger than the set of computable numbers, and the the set of reals is larger than the set of all definable numbers. We could never square the circle because we are limited to using a compass and straight edge. Basically this restricts us to asking questions related to x-squared and square-root of x (there's excellent videos on KZbin related to the problem of constructability)

[@mistermorphescarnoe2898]

There was a tape recording in the otherworld Lakeview Hotel 2F Nurse's Office which I interpreted to support the bleak time loop theory. "They... She will not be cured. All that suffering.... I am no longer sure if it was of any use. If it meant anything at all. I can't say if this newfound understanding... If there's any wisdom to be had in all that happened. I suppose that's for you to learn. And I hope you will." On the surface, it could be a replacement for the missing headphones doctor from the original, but what caught my ear was the fact the voice said "They..." in what I interpret as referring to multiple Marys/Marias in James' or the other James' loops. I want to refer to one of my favorite sci-fi time travel media, Steins Gate, because they did something similar in essence. The "loops" in SG are established in "world lines" where the events of the world are on a single thread and have pivotal points that are destined to happen. How the events happen can differ, but the outcome is absolute. Our protagonist happens into a world line where his childhood friend dies upon a certain date, one of the game's alternate endings sees our protagonist relive the same day over and over again, and repeating each cycle after his friend's death instead of trying to find another way out. I like to think we are playing as the James that has the capability to break out of the cycle, and that voice in the recording (which imo also sounded like James just at a lower pitch) is a more jaded James in the distant future, similar to SG's protagonist in that alternate ending. The wording of the message is broad, but I like to think that second half was directed at James himself. Telling him that the other him has not yet found an answer and instilling his deeper hopes into our James to find a true way out. I think the Stillness ending is a great support of the time loop theory because there can be no loop if you do not move. The word stillness is attributed to feelings of calm and inner peace, and emotion that is portrayed well as James takes a final glance at Mary's letter. And the song track named Umbra Veil that plays during the ending - when you look at a Umbra-Penumbra graph of a total solar eclipse - you'll see that the umbra is the darkest shadow that hits the Earth. I would attribute this to the state of Albedo where the interpretation of purity is not found in the light, but in darkness - where paths remain unknown and unseen, a way none other have walked and without any metaphorical "being" to "guide" and "light" James' way (not a letter, not a pyramid head, not a Mary, nor anything else), a path that can be truly carved by James, his true way out, him asking Mary to wait for him has set him on that path. The Stillness ending is James' first step into the path towards perfect consciousness, to be conscious of the unknown and unknowable.