This is a very simple cutscene that reveals that Maria got her ass up and left while you and James are out fighting nurses, but I'd never seen it before, and I've never seen any other streamer get it. For all you know, you left Maria here to take a nap and then she randomly shows up in the Otherworld several hours from now. But no! She GOT UP and LEFT! And I'm just cracking up in retrospect because you can hear me gasp at the beginning of the scene, and I am so rattled that I wander around saying, "JAMES WHERE ARE WE? I'M REELING! SHE'S GONE!"
(Side note: This means that James knew Maria was wandering around alone and unarmed through a monster-infested hospital, and he's STILL like "oh well anyway I'm glad you're okay I guess" when she finds him again. JAMES.)
Here's the video version of this post, where I discuss all the Goya artworks I've found (so far) and talk about an article posted on the Prado's website. You will notice that I have gotten very fancy and learned to put images and text onscreen, which I think really, really helps when trying to squint at all this tiny art in the background.
I'm writing up the full commentary, and I hope that will be up soon, but let's not tempt the universe to come after me.
I'm giving this bit a post of its own, because I now think it can refer to all three of the Brookhaven patients. The video above is from the final commentary 8 video, but for this clip, I've also edited in the actual Brookhaven article we see in the South Vale garage. Screenshot and transcript of the clipboard below the cut:
This case bears a disturbing similarity to a situation that took place in the facility a few years back.
The patient was admitted on a court order, but with the consent of his remaining family.
His condition appeared to be improving for the first few weeks.
The administered medications paired with individual sessions with a psychologist and art therapy alleviated his avolition, anhedonia, and social withdrawal.
There was no reason for concern.
They didn't even know anything was wrong until the night guard reported one of his keys was missing.
When they found him,
it was already too late.
When I wrote the "Patient 0050" post, I made a fairly good argument that the case is meant to be "reminiscent" of that patient. But the more I thought about it—I nearly titled this clip "(It's not who you think)," because I think it's "about" all three patients. I think the clipboard story is giving us a framework to imagine what happened to each of the three patients—again, to review what I wrote after I recorded:
Something catastrophic happens that ends up with patient committed.
This may have involved the patient hurting or killing a family member, due to the phrase "remaining family" (much the way Angela killed her own father, for example).
The patient was doing well in various types of therapy (when I say "art therapy seems gentle for [a murderer]," I mean "at a hellhole like Brookhaven, so I might not be right about this," not that it should be harsher).
But then, the staff let down their guard (or perhaps staff layoffs meant there were fewer employees in general).
The patient obtained a key, which could have been a key to an internal room (Patient 0090 will be my example here) or to the main entrance of the hospital to leave. And we know there's a main entrance key, because it's the last item we find in Brookhaven Hospital.
By the time staff located the patient, "it was too late" to prevent... something, most likely the patient's death given how ominous this sounds, but possibly injury to the patient or someone else. I forgot to mention this in the video, but we're going to read in Otherworld Brookhaven that Patient 0050 managed to run electroshock treatment on himself—even the staff can't figure out how—so that's a non-fatal example.
Re: point #4: I bring in the Secret Garage article about Brookhaven, and I've actually edited in a clip from commentary 6. Basically, we're told that staffing shortages may be putting the patients at risk, and the community fears the repeat of an incident that happened "a couple of years ago." I think the clipboard patient is that incident.
There's something else I need to be a little more sensitive about here: I'm still assuming that the patient in the original case, or any case, might have "escaped the hospital," that whole trope, and killed or injured someone else. I think that "too late" implies that something happened, but it could have been that the patient hurt themselves out in town and "the community" was horrified on the patient's behalf. And I think the vagueness of the clipboard case is to allow us to reinterpret the basics of that story however we want for each of our three patients.
Why would a blood specialist be at Brookhaven Hospital?
(Full video and writeup to come.)
There's a certification of some kind from the American Association of Blood [Redacted] in the Director's office. The Director of Brookhaven. You know, the psychiatric hospital. Why would there be a blood specialist?
The short answer is: There wouldn't be. But there would be one at whichever hospital Mary went to (St. Jerome's?), judging by the receipt at Green Pharmacy back in South Vale. There's a discussion on Reddit of how these medication names are very similar to drugs used to treat blood cancer. (That being said, Mary's symptoms in both versions of the game also seem to indicate skin and lung issues.) I think a lot of the background decor in the game is remixed somewhat randomly from James' psyche--there's also a doctor diploma and a historical hospital photo in the back of Neely's Bar, for some reason--and he's remembering this framed certificate from things he saw at Mary's diagnostic appointments early on, before they were estranged.
(Edited to add video discussion from commentary 8. The text below is more in-depth, but there's some additional discussion of an "anger management" theme in the video.)
So I was doing research into medical practices of the early 20th century, because apparently I wanted to be deeply upset on a Tuesday night, and I discovered that
Lobotomies fell out of use once antipsychotic medications were developed, as a much less invasive treatment (to say the least).
Here's an ad for Thorazine that is hilariously alarming, with a tiny man squaring up against a giant eyeball
which is honestly the most JAMES LOOK AT THIS EYE GRAFFITI. HERE'S ANOTHER ONE. DO YOU SEEEEEE thing that I've ever seen.
The in-game Araxium ad that we see everywhere features two sets of (normally proportioned) eyes and nothing else, so the design isn't anywhere close to the Thorazine ad. But it does have the eye theme going, and it's not going to prompt anyone to burst into laughter. But I do think Bloober Team came up with the word "Araxium" from ataraxic, and Thorazine was the first. (They did some similar word-scrambling with the medication names on the Green Pharmacy receipt.)
The poster mentions both "anger" and "fear" (I think I'd misread that tiny "anger" as "anxiety" this whole time? There's also a different drug advertised for that); I think that's why there's an Araxium poster near one of Patient's 0130's tents. It can represent both James/0050 and Angela/0130, in keeping with the idea that the three (imaginary) patients relate to each of the three main characters, while also symbolizing James collectively in different ways.
I also think that 0130 has been assigned "pills" as her treatment because it turns out that the three Otherworld treatments are listed on the cork board in order of their invention: electroshock first, starting in the late 1930s (with earlier concepts going back to the 1700s!); lobotomies, first used in the 1880s and then coming into wide use in the 1940s and '50s; and then, Thorazine in use by the early 1950s. Angela, being the youngest, gets her corresponding patient assigned to the newest treatment.
The word "control" also leans more towards Patient 0130, potentially. Back in Jacks Inn, I was saying that a modern ad would sound more like (smooth, chipper TV ad impression:) "Get control of YOUR life, YOUR way, with Araxium." But if you think about it, the intimidating Araxium ad actually raises the question: who is in control? I was reading about experimental treatments being well-intended, but also reckless and invasive, as medical historian Roy Porter points out (WARNING: that's the lobotomy article on Wikipedia). At the same time, he observed, patients often had a lack of social power to refuse these treatments. I've been saying that (IMO) James needed some kind of treatment for his spiral during Mary's illness and didn't get it; Patient 0130 had medication forced on her, and the Director was one of those reckless doctors "in control."
(ETA: Video added. The text discussion below is still more in-depth.)
Okay, so I was going to tell you about how Maria's introduction song at the pier is called "Beneath the Null Moon" (hence the name of this blog), and how there's a lot of symbolism with Maria as the moon, a false reflection of Mary as the sun, and so it's meaningful that her bracelet has a black crescent moon bead on it—a "null" moon. And then I went to actually get a screenshot for you.
Y'all, I had never noticed the cross bit right beneath the crescent before. I know that symbol. It's Black Moon Lilith in astrology.
Meet Black Moon Lilith, an elusive astrological "placement" (I’ll explain) associated with deep desires, sexual liberation, and the extraordinary power of claiming (or perhaps more apt, reclaiming) your identity.
Slight Maria spoilers beneath the read more:
(symbols.com)
Maria is not doing too well in this particular shot, but leave that aside for a moment. (She'll be back.) A little bit more from that article:
First things first: Black Moon Lilith doesn’t exist. Physically, that is.
Bear in mind that Maria is a manifestation from James' psyche, and can't interact with other people because she isn't real.
Black Moon Lilith is located at the point that mirrors Earth’s location in the oval on the side of the lunar apogee. In other, shorter, words: It’s basically the real-life version of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. (In fact, it’s occasionally referred to as the "Dark Moon"!)
This isn't the first time Lilith has appeared in the game. At the very, very beginning, I turned right around and went back into the restroom and pointed out graffiti on the wall: a rendering of an actual parchment amulet "showing the female demon Lilith."
So I immediately fuck up here by calling Lilith a "Biblical figure," which she is not—she doesn’t appear in the Bible at all; she’s a figure from Jewish (and Mesopotamian) mythology that some rabbinic authorities reject entirely.
[…]
In fact, as I thought it over the weekend after recording the video, it occurred to me that maybe the Lilith graffiti isn’t about any of that [a theory about The Order] at all. (Or it might also be, who knows.) We’ve immediately seen verses contrasting Maria and Mary, and it may be that Lilith is simply representing Maria in opposition to Mary as Eve. (Mary is also represented throughout the game by saintly Madonna-type imagery. The soundtrack melody “Magdalene” specifically associates Maria with another Mary. A parallel Lilith & Eve contrast is not far-fetched.)
[…]
In the context of the game, as something the devs chose to include: I think the word "Shaddai" could be intended to refer to the fact that Silent Hill as James experiences it is not a full, real world. (Later we will see the word "FAKE" in a record store.) Maria is a temptation for James to stay in a dream world (and there is an ending where he chooses her), but that would not be a real, complete life. Given the Mary vs. Maria imagery elsewhere in the room, I think this is a fairly solid interpretation.
On the way to meet Maria in Rosewater Park, I point out a Bible verse referenced on a license plate (emphasis mine): 1 Corinthians 10:20, "No, I imply that what they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons."
(I know I'm not the first person to figure this out; I saw an "iceberg of SH2 lore" meme that mentioned "Maria's bracelet," but I thought it referred to the "null moon" aspect. I did do the legwork here on my own, but it's more in the spirit of "No, I want to figure it out for myself!")
I personally don't think of Maria as a villain or a demon, but rather a woman who didn't ask to be "born from a wish" and is doing her best to survive on the understanding that she was made "for" James, and in order to exist, she needs him to love her. But in terms of the game's symbolism, yeah, Mary is presented as a sacred "soul friend" Madonna figure, and Maria is her opposite, the literal "scarlet woman" in the red jacket, Mary Magdalene, and Lilith to Mary's Eve.
While I discuss all of this in the commentaries for videos 7 and 8, I wanted to sort all the scattered documents and hints and implications by subject to get some clarity. James is the only person in Brookhaven Hospital that we know for sure is real (you might or might not count Laura, depending on which theories you believe); the patients and Director may represent himself and/or other people he's encountered in the game. Also, while we're here, let's talk about the nurses:
Patient 0050, symbolizing James
Patient 0090, symbolizing Eddie
Patient 0130, symbolizing Angela
"A Page from a Diary": Mary?
The Director of Brookhaven Hospital
Bubblehead Nurses: The Jacob's Ladder head shake
Bubblehead Nurses: The full discussion
Not to use weasel words, but it's widely believed that the three "hopeless cases" parallel James, Eddie, and Angela in various ways, and so Ian and I are working off that assumption. In the original game, per the fan wiki,
All three of these patients have striking similarities to three of the main characters in the game: Jack Davis is very similar to Angela Orosco, Joshua Lewis is reminiscent to Eddie Dombrowski, and Joseph Barkin shares traits alike to James Sunderland. However, another theory says that all three notes refer solely to James, since all the names begin with the letter "J". Jack represents the part of James who is normally a model person, yet also has suicidal feelings; Joseph displays the part of James who feels guilt and regret for [SPOILER] and the delusions James is immersed in; and Joshua portrays the part of James who feels he needs to be persecuted and also represents his violent self ([SPOILER]).
The three patients in the remake aren't named, removing the "J" theory, and one of the patients is specifically referred to as "she," making the 3:3 parallel stronger. I do still think that all three patients can resonate with James on some level, particularly the use of the word "bliss" with the "Eddie" patient, given that there's a "Bliss" ending, but the remake has put more focus on the patients as three individuals. Ian really spearheaded our efforts to figure this out (I helped!), particularly the idea that the "him" the patients are so afraid of is actually the Director himself.
When you first walk into the Director's office—which holds the ultimate goal for this level, a key to the rooftop—there's a tape you can play.
They are beyond hope... that's what they keep telling me. My three patients. My three "hopeless cases." But I do not believe it to be a matter of hope. It is a matter of diligence, discipline, trial and error, of being as bold as one can be. To go as far as one needs to. I WILL find what it is that truly ails them. And I WILL cure them.
The voice is not just deep—it has that distinct, artificial "altered to hide this person's identity" sound, which immediately made me suspicious. As I say in the video, I have so many nutty theories that I really needed a win, so I'm proud that I was right about this one: Ian was able to confirm for me (via the Japanese credits) that it's actually Luke Roberts, the same actor who plays James, with his voice pitched down. So what I discuss here is the idea that the Director, like the janitor in the early hours of the game, is a dreamlike parallel or projection of James; both characters' words and actions reflect James' own obsession with finding Mary, and this is especially supported by using the same actor.
(Tape #2 and two portraits under the cut.)
In this case, those parallel actions are the Director's increasingly irrational fixation on "curing" his three "hopeless" patients at any cost—including their deaths. (While we're here, bear in mind Maria's toast to "hope undying," and how well James responded to that.) That being said, we'll discover late in the game that James wasn't fixated on Mary's recovery—but, having lost her, he's now obsessed with trying to get her back.
Tape #2: "She will not be cured"
We will find this much, much later—in the Lakeview Hotel after the big reveal of the game, while James is still wandering around, stunned. (This clip is from my first run of the game, and doesn't give away anything but the tape.)
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.
Notice here that the "Director" is admitting that his "three patients" were really James' one "She"—Mary. (Again, this is the same actor.) At this point, I'm still not talking about the Big Spoiler—"this newfound understanding"—but to my mind, the second tape supports the idea that the endings as a collective show James learning—or not—from what he's done. The way I see it, all the endings happen, one after the other in whichever order you want, but the one that you think should go last shows whether you think James learned or bettered himself in any way. The Director hopes he will, at least.
The portrait
Here's what the Director looks like, based on the 2001 and 2024 versions of his portrait in the Historical Society:
The name on the plaque (portrait on the right) is missing, which is another point in favor of the Director not being real. He also looks surprisingly young to me, especially considering the portraits of much older men in his office. More than one streamer has said that he looks like James in some ineffable way, particularly the remake Director—I don't know how he does, because he doesn't look like James at all, and yet he... kind of does...? As Ian put it, it kind of looks like someone scribbled a disguise onto a picture of James. Again, I don't know why this sounds right (the brow?), but I'd had the same thought myself.
I'll also say—I don't personally buy into "blond = good and dark-haired = bad," but this is the third time by my count that we've seen a male figure that the game might intend to be a visual Jungian "shadow" of James:
The lighting in the secret videotape (brief glimpse here) that seems to give James dark hair and a dark jacket
The "Jack" pinup in Heaven's Night and the nurses' locker room, who also has dark hair and a dark jacket
The Director here, who may have an "evil twin" look
As much as I argue that the South Vale janitor is also some sort of projection of James, we never see what he looked like.
Once we get into the eighth video—the latter parts of Fogworld Brookhaven and then into Otherworld Brookhaven—I'll post documents that are (or might be?) written by the Director. I'm not entirely sure of some of them, except for the note that we find in the safe with that rooftop key; we'll have to compare the handwriting.
