Amnion
From Silent Hill Wiki
Amnion is the final boss of Silent Hill: Homecoming, and a possible manifestation of Joshua Shepherd's angry and vengeful side or Alex Shepherd's overwhelming guilt over his brother's demise. Amnion appears as an androgynous humanoid figure attached to a large mechanical apparatus that resembles a spider. The human body is pale and bloated, like a waterlogged corpse, or a woman in the final days of pregnancy. It has no arms and its eight spider-like mechanical legs are fused into the sides of its ribs. Another feature is a hose-like structure that comes out of its mouth and attaches between its legs, like an umbilical cord. However, it convulses and flows as if it has water circulating in it. Amnion's face (which greatly resembles Alex and Joshua's mother's face) also extends forward in slices, all attached to a mechanical frame which fits back together. The spider limbs also end in very wicked claw-like instruments, much liken to that of the horrific surgical tools seen in the game's opening scene.
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Silent Hill: Homecoming
Amnion appears when Alex discovers the ritual chamber where The Order buries their sacrifices. After learning it was he who had accidentally killed Joshua by taking him out to the lake, where he fell off the boat and drowned, he realizes that it was he, Alex, who was destined to be sacrificed, as stated on the sacrificial slabs. It was not Joshua's death that ruined the ritual however. The emotional strain of now lacking both children broke Alex's parents, and so they refused to carry out the sacrificial ritual. After this sudden realization, Alex returns to the Otherworld and Amnion descends from the ceiling, initiating the final boss fight.
After defeating Amnion, Alex slices its bloated stomach open, revealing Joshua's corpse. Alex finally accepts what he'd done. Taking responsibility for Joshua's death, he begs for his brother's forgiveness and leaves him with both the ring which they fought over while on the boat (the fight that led to Joshua's death) and the flashlight that Alex had given to Josh years before.
Character
Amnion has a wide attack radius and can knock Alex down with most attacks. It can take a great deal of damage before falling. It attacks both with wide, sweeping motions and vertically angled assaults with its front legs. Also, when it inhales and extends its face, it sprays gallons of toxic bile from its mouth that can damage Alex. When Alex comes within arm's length of the creature, it will sometimes leap straight up in the air and slam down, knocking Alex back if he doesn't evade the assault in time.
After taking significant damage, it will shift its form, no longer depending from it's mechanical legs it now faces forward, standing upright, using the forelegs more like arms. Its attacks in this state are swifter and more brutal, retaining its attack pattern from it's previous stage while varying it with the addition of some new attacks. It will slam both of its arms down, which inadvertently causes them to get stuck in the floor, leaving it vulnerable to attacks for a moment. It can also spray its toxic bile up in the air, causing a rain of the deadly liquid. Finally, it can also grab Alex when he's underneath its legs, lifting him up and throwing him down without giving him a chance to break free.
Symbolism
Amnion could be seen as representing Joshua's anger towards Alex for his death, also his desire to have Alex accept what he'd done. Another view on the creature argues that it could represent Alex's guilt regarding Joshua's death.
Its form is derived mainly from Joshua's death via drowning and his love of insects and arachnids (namely spiders), as evidenced by his collection and drawings. It is also representative of the fact that Josh was "babied" by his parents, and was in fact called a baby by Alex not long before his death; this notion is supported when Alex cuts open Amnion to see Joshua's body in the fetal position.
Further symbolism of the theme of birth and Josh's death include: the name "amnion" referencing the amniotic sac that surrounds a fetus, the tube of water protruding from her mouth referring to the act of drowning as well as the imagery of an umbilical cord, and the iron lung component used for Amnion's "neck."
Trivia
- The photo found in the playground is foreshadowing of the final boss battle, the spider representing Amnion and the toy soldier representing Alex.
