Alessa and K. Gordon

[St. Aatos]

What, no theories here at all? Ahh, well time to change that. Since the arrival of SH0 and SHH I've had more theories come to mind.

This one however is for Silent Hill 1. (Note that I originally wrote this for the Hell Descent forum, and nothing has been altered.)

***

Earlier tonight I got an IM from Samael. We were talking about Silent Hill, and he mentioned something that got me thinking.

In the school Harry finds the roster, and one of the names on it is 'K.Gordon' Later, after defeating the giant lizard, Alessa appears and then disappears. Harry finds a key on the floor. The key to Gordon's house.

I never thought much of it, until Samael mentioned that in Gordon's house there are broken plates. One in the kitchen, and one in the dining room. He then said that there was blood on the garage door.

I immediately thought of the key, and wondered how Alessa got a hold of it. Now, I suppose we could assume that the key was some kind of magic illusion thing, but every other item in the game was real. Why make one key an illusion? If the key is real, then Alessa had to have gotten it somehow.

So I started thinking, what if Alessa killed Gordon? It would explain the broken plates, the blood on the garage door, and Alessa's acquirement of the key.

I was asked why Alessa would do such a thing, and the best answer I could come up with is the following;

According to one of the developers, Alessa wants a complete death. It is also mentioned that by using the Seal of Metatron, Alessa was hoping to annihilate the God, herself, and the town/other world. In order to do that, Alessa had to get people away from her. I also have a feeling that Alessa wanted to kill them as an act of benevolence. What if in the back of Alessa's mind, she thought there was a chance that she wouldn't succeed? By killing everyone in her world, she would be sparing them from the coming of 'God'.

So how does Gordon fit? Well, it about seems obvious that everyone in the Other world has a strong link to Alessa. Dahlia is Alessa's mother; Harry is Cheryl's father, and by proxy sort of Alessa's father; Lisa was Alessa's caretaker; Dr. Kaufmann seemed to be the one over seeing Alessa's 'care'; (and I'm figuring out Cybil's)

Now, we know that Gordon was Alessa's former teacher, and quite likely the one that suspected that Alessa was being abused. I can't say for 100% sure, but is it not possible that Alessa had a certain amount of respect for Gordon? Perhaps (s)he could have been one of the few adults that Alessa trusted (although perhaps not fully.) If this is the case, then Gordon could have easily been pulled into Alessa's world.

Also, does anyone else find it just a bit peculiar that when Harry is heading for the school he can't go through the Gordon house. It's not until after he receives the key that he's able to do so.

Thoughts?

[AlexY]

Well, I'm pretty sure K. Gordon was her class teacher and he noticed what was happening to her. Maybe he tried to do something about it and Dahlia promptly intervened and... well, killed him?

Maybe Alessa lead you intentionally through Gordon's house to notice that. I don't remember the broken plates, but I do remember the blood on the garage door - it is the only garage door Harry can check and he says it's covered in blood. I know there's a same texture used in the northern part of Old Silent Hill, but he can't check that one.

Yeah, it does make sense. Gordon wanted to help Alessa, so with this key, Gordon is actually helping Harry, which in turn helps Alessa. So the cycle kinda comes full circle.

[St. Aatos]

I thought about that too, but there's a bit of a problem. Dahlia seems to only want to kill those who know about the whole PTV ring, and that are trying to stop it. As far as we know, K. Gordon didn't know about this.

In fact Gordon only noticed what was happening with Alessa, and with SH0 as indication (which I consider canon.), some investigated the situation, and decided that everything was fine.

Dahlia's a smart woman. If she killed Gordon, or had Alessa do it; the entire school (hell maybe even the community) would have raised a huge red flag.

[AlexY]

Jan 27, 2009 2:29:54 GMT St. Aatos said:

Dahlia's a smart woman. If she killed Gordon, or had Alessa do it; the entire school (hell maybe even the community) would have raised a huge red flag.

You mean, an entire community which followed a strict cult and dared not to oppose anyone from it? Somehow, I doubt it.

It's very well possible that the "investigation" that Gordon initiated with social services was also organized by Dahlia/the Cult. The report about the fire starting in the Gillespie house in the city records is proof that the Cult has major influence on high levels of authority. (It says in type that the fire started from the living room or similar, but someone crosses it out with a pen and states a malfunctioned boiler was the cause. This is proof enough in SH.)

Gordon was a normal guy, a caring person, maybe not originally from SH and so not involved with the local religion. My guess is he was watched from the beginning.

[St. Aatos]

You mean, an entire community which followed a strict cult and dared not to oppose anyone from it? Somehow, I doubt it.

The entire community was NOT a part of the cult though.


Q: How about an outline of the town of Silent Hill?

A: At first glance, it's a deserted rural town, but...

Silent Hill, the setting for the story, is a rural town located somewhere in northeast America.
Its chief industries are tourism and, to a lesser extent, agriculture. It is a small town with a
population below 30,000, and its key industry-- tourism-- is in a state of steady decline.
Some of the town's conservative residents oppose modernization and the transformation
of the town into a tourist attraction, and although Silent Hill appears at a glance to be an
innocuous rural town, this has brought about an unexpected "darkness" of drug distribution
here. It is rumored that a religious cult of a considerable scale exists behind the scenes.
It also seems to be a place where young people are spirited away, workers from the town's
development group die mysteriously, and sinister traditions continue to be handed down
from long ago.


and

...Although it isn't mentioned in the game, Dahlia assumes the role of a
spiritualistic medium in a certain cult that has been established in Silent Hill's underworld.

and finally

Q: What sort of partnership did Dahlia and Kaufmann have?

A: One centered around drugs and magic.

Dahlia and Kaufmann were connected by the trade of White Claudia, used to make the drug PTV. In the game, the white powder in the safe at the general store is PTV. The cult has used White Claudia, the raw material for the drug, during its rituals since ancient times. In short, despite the fact that the religious cult to which Dahlia belongs is a secret society, they have come to possess the sort of structure and organizational capability that allows them to manufacture narcotics beyond the reach of police surveillance.


Taken from the Silent Hill Official Guidebook. silenthillchronicle.net/shkgb.htm


So there you go. The cult is something that exists behind the scenes of Silent Hill; is underground; and is a secret society. Which means that the whole town is NOT involved with the cult.


So my point still stands. Dahlia would have no reason to kill Gordon just because he showed concern for Alessa.

Also, the entire town can't be a part of the cult, because Dr. Kaufmann was used to cover up things. He's the one that wrote Alessa's fake autopsy report, and it was also him who decided to keep the real Alessa in the basement of the hospital. So that other people couldn't see her, because if they saw her they'd report that crap immediately.

[AlexY]

OK, maybe I haven't explained my opinion well... Let me try again.

Obviously, not everyone, as in every single person, was involved with the Cult. The town was slowly losing its population until a lot of newcomers came with the expansion of the tourist zones and the locals, and by this I mean the Cult, promptly showed to them that they are a force not to be messed with - Lisa mentions the deaths of people closely connected to the development of the town ("People said it was a curse.") and I'm pretty certain others who behaved "differently" or were too nosy were dealt in the same way. K. Gordon is just one of those poor individuals, that's all.

Also, Dahlia (presumably) killed Gordon not because he showed concern but because he acted and tried to find out if there are problems in her family - which would eventually lead to the Cult. This was something Dahlia did not want.

But that's just my 2 cents.

(Also, I'm curious about this guide thingie you gave the link to, I haven't seen it before. It tells everything we know already, but what is it actually? Something which came after SH1's release but before the rest and Lost Memories?)

[St. Aatos]

(The link given is a translation of the Q and A section of the Official Silent Hill 1 guidebook, published in Japan.)

Strangely enough, in that same link they say something about these disappearances.

Incidentally, the "mysterious deaths of a development group" that Lisa mentions during her conversation with Harry is a kind of urban legend, so whether or not that sort of thing actually happened is uncertain.

Also, Dahlia (presumably) killed Gordon not because he showed concern but because he acted and tried to find out if there are problems in her family - which would eventually lead to the Cult. This was something Dahlia did not want.

According to Silent Hill: Origins; Dahlia is investigated, and they find nothing wrong. They note that there's no signs of neglect of abuse, but that Dahlia is raising Alessa in a strict religious environment. After finding nothing wrong, they close the case.

K.Gordon had no reason to suspect that Dahlia was in some secret cult, because...well it's a secret cult. (Knowing Dahlia, I wouldn't be one bit shocked if she took Alessa to a regular church every Sunday just to keep up appearances.)

So with the case closed, Gordon probably did something like, "Well I guess there's nothing I can do about it now." And he/she drops it.


My belief is that if Alessa doesn't have a strong connection with Gordon; then there's no reason for her to have the key to his/her house. Well, it's in the original post.

[lemex]

Anyone ever noticed that all the named teachers (the only named teachers) at Midwich are named after members of the band Sonic Youth sans the drummer.

[St. Aatos]

Yep, that has been noticed!