Mary Shepherd-Sunderland

Mary as she appeared before becoming ill

Gender

Female

Age

25 (born 1968)

Status

Deceased

Cause of death

Suffocation

Hair color

Auburn brown

Eye color

Hazel brown

Occupation

Housewife

Appearance(s)

Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill 4: The Room (mentioned)
Hunger (cameo)
Silent Hill: Downpour (cameo)
Silent Hill: Book of Memories (cameo)

Voice actor

Monica Taylor Horgan
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (Silent Hill HD Collection)

This article is for the character. For the boss monster, see Mary (boss).

Mary Shepherd-Sunderland is the deceased wife of James Sunderland. The couple had vacationed in Silent Hill a few years prior to the events of Silent Hill 2. Mary was a kind, sweet young woman who spent the last moments of her life in turmoil after being stricken with a terminal disease.

Biography

James and Mary had met at a house party held by a mutual friend, and their affection evolved from a blazing passion to a peaceful and stable relationship. Before Mary and James were married, James would listen to Mary playing the piano. Mary liked to play the piano and even though she wasn't very good at it, James still loved to hear her play anyway.

Prior to the events of Silent Hill 2, Mary and James vacationed in Silent Hill. They stayed in the Lakeview Hotel, where James recorded a videotape of Mary in Room 312, although James accidentally forgot the videotape in the hotel and the couple left Silent Hill. Mary stated in the videotape that she loved the town and would love to go to Silent Hill again one day.

Not too long after their vacation, Mary fell ill with an incurable, terminal disease and was bedridden in a hospital. She was given three years to live, which she was forced to spend in the hospital. The disease had altered her skin tone to a sickly shade of tan and promoted hair loss, dissolving any traces of beauty she once possessed.

Mary did not take her predicament well. In anger, she lashed out at those closest to her, especially James. It is understood that James did not visit Mary in the hospital very frequently because the disease seemed to bring out tensions between the couple. James states that he drinks "a fair bit", most likely due to missing Mary and the joy they once had. Nevertheless, Mary was able to find sanity in thoughts of Silent Hill, the last place where she was happy. She talked about the town with another patient, the orphan Laura, and the two bonded. Often, Mary would wait for James, and Laura would console her when he did not show up; this is most likely why Laura states that Mary was always waiting for James and is hostile towards him. If things had worked out differently, Mary was willing to adopt Laura; in the "Leave" ending of the game, James leaves Silent Hill with Laura, possibly to carry out Mary's wish.

In the later days of her life, Mary wrote farewell letters to Laura and James and requested that her nurse, Rachel, give the notes to them after her death. Mary was permitted to return home for a short while, although it was only because her death was imminent and she was afraid James would not see her again before she passed away. At their home, James was tasked with being Mary's caretaker.

It was not the disease that killed Mary, but her husband James, who suffocated her in her bed with a pillow. James sees himself smothering Mary on the videotape that he forgot at the Lakeview Hotel years ago, and this is how he eventually remembers his homicide, having repressed the memory previously.

While the Book of Lost Memories suggests the possibility of James taking Mary's body with him to Silent Hill in the trunk of his car, the novelization affirms it and follows the "In Water" ending. However, Masahiro Ito, on his Twitter page, said that that he believed Mary's body was actually on the back seat. [1] When asked how James didn't notice her body, Ito replied that James had repressed the memory of her murder. [2]

Silent Hill 2

Although physically dead, Mary lives on as James's delusion. Repressing the memory of murdering Mary, James believes that he received a letter from Mary beckoning him to come to Silent Hill, where she is waiting for him in their "special place". He uses this as the basis for a delusion that Mary is still alive. He is also convinced that Mary died three years ago, when in reality, she was still alive one week ago.

Her voice and likeness appear numerous times throughout James’s journey, for example, Mary's dress is where James obtains his flashlight in the Wood Side Apartments. Another example is if James attempts to visit Room 312 and leave the gate, Mary's distant voice may cry out "James!" beyond the gate. It is also notable that when James first hears Mary's voice in his radio's static, she can be heard asking "Why did you kill me?"

Mary was also re-imagined as Maria, a creation of James’s will. Maria appears to be a sexier, more wild version of Mary, possibly what James thought Mary had lacked in some areas. Maria's scenario title, Born from a Wish, has some truth to it due to this. At one point in Born from a Wish, Maria can examine a teddy bear and she thinks that Laura would love it, showing that she has Mary's memories. Maria remembers what James did to Mary, but also remembers that underneath, he is a kind person. Occasionally, Maria reveals knowledge of Mary's past to James.

Near the end of the game, Mary's voice calls James to find her after James tells Laura that Mary is dead. James is led to a hallway in which the player hears a previous conversation that he and Mary had while she was still alive. In this conversation, James offers Mary flowers he has brought her. She immediately rejects them, lashing out at him and protesting that she is too disgusting and ugly to receive flowers. Shortly after this, she experiences another mood swing and begs James to forgive her, pleading for him to stay with her and assure her that she is not going to die.

Mary says various things in each ending to James, who has become aware of the crime he has committed. It is conceivable that her death three years ago is merely James's delusion. In the "Maria" ending, Mary will be sitting on a bed at the top of Lakeview Hotel. She is pleased to see James, but is displeased about him needing Maria. "I wanted to see you... even an illusion of you," James states. Mary then angrily shouts "James, do you really think I could ever forgive you for what you did?!" Mary then turns into a monstrous version of herself. After James kills Mary again, he meets Maria but she coughs while they leave the town, implying that Maria may have Mary's illness, that James hasn't learned anything from his experiences in Silent Hill, and that the events that brought him there may repeat themselves. In all of the other endings, the woman who James has to defeat will be Maria instead of Mary.

Silent Hill 2 - Leave Ending(11:41)
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In the "Leave" and "In Water" endings, James is seen having a final conversation with Mary. In this conversation, James is able to resolve things with Mary and move on with his life. Mary says, "James... please do something for me. Go on with your life." Mary then gives James the letter that he never received.

This scene in the "In Water" ending is a bit different. Instead of Mary telling James to go on with his life, she tells him that his suffering is enough of a punishment for what he did to her. "You killed me and you're suffering for it. It's enough, James." Mary then violently coughs, and James holds her hand as she dies. He sits silently for a few moments and then carries Mary's body out of the room. James believes he can't go on without Mary and he commits suicide with Mary's body in his car, driving himself into Toluca Lake, stating "Now we can be together..."

In the "Rebirth" ending, James attempts to resurrect Mary, with unknown results, by rowing the boat he used to get to the hotel to Toluca Lake Island.

Creator's comment

Trivia

Silent Hill 2 Videotape(01:20)
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• When James discovers the radio, Mary's voice says, "James, I'm here. Come to me. James. I'm waiting for you. Why did you kill me? James...". [3]

• Audio of Mary screaming when James watches the videotape were removed from the final version for unknown reasons. [4]

• Audio of Mary reading her letter to Laura were also removed from the final version for unknown reasons. [5]

• A younger Mary and James make a cameo appearance in Hunger.

• Mary shares her maiden name with Alex Shepherd and, by extension, his family in Silent Hill: Homecoming.
  • When asked about the relation in an interview, Tomm Hulett said it was a mere coincidence, and that there is no relation between the two characters.

• In Silent Hill: Shattered Memories's UFO Ending, James suddenly comes into the therapy room and asks Dr. Kaufmann if his appointment is today, only to discover it is tomorrow. Dr. Kaufmann mentions that he hasn't seen James's wife in a while. Then the scene abruptly changes and Cheryl Mason becomes Mira and Dr. K. becomes an alien. James can be seen hiding from Mary's monster form (which is in the upper-left corner of the room) behind Dr. K's chair.

• Mary makes a cameo in the Surprise ending in Silent Hill: Downpour, strangely standing on the other side of the crowd from where James was. While this choice is open for interpretation, it still may have been a coincidence.

• When James says that his wife Mary has been dead for three years as he originally believes, it could be referencing how when Mary was diagnosed with the terminal illness she was told she would only have three more years to live, at the maximum. If this is true, then James could symbolically be saying that after the diagnosis of the disease, his wife was dead to him.

• Some fans theorized that Mary was a patient at Brookhaven Hospital, however, Masahiro Ito confirmed on his Twitter page that this is false. Due to the connections to Rachel and Frank Sunderland, it is more likely that she stayed at St. Jerome's Hospital. [6]

Gallery

Render.

Maria appearing as Mary to James.

Mary on the rooftop of the Lakeview Hotel.

Mary in Wood Side Apartments.

James reuniting with a facade of Mary.

Mary, bedridden.

Mary, bedridden.

Mary in front of the Lakeview Hotel.

Mary and James at what appears to be Rosewater Park.

A comparison of Mary's models before and after her disease.

A closer look at the effects of Mary's disease.

A younger Mary with James in Hunger.

Mary in Book of Memories.

Concept sketch of Mary by Takayoshi Sato.

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