Mary Shepherd-Sunderland

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Mary Shepherd-Sunderland

Mary in Silent Hill 2

Gender

Female

Age

25

Status

Deceased (unknown in Rebirth ending)

Hair Color

Brown

Eye Color

Brown [1]

Occupation

Housewife

Appearance(s)

Silent Hill 2

Voice Actor

Monica Horgan

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

Mary Shepherd-Sunderland is the wife of James Sunderland. The couple had vacationed in Silent Hill a few years prior to the events of Silent Hill 2.

Biography

"Are you taping again? Come on... I don't know why, but I just love it here. It's so peaceful."

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

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.

Disease

Mary's disease convinced her that she was a monster.

Not too long after their vacation, Mary fell ill to an incurable terminal disease. She was given three years to live, a time 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, removing any traces of beauty she once possessed.

Mary did not take her predicament well. In anger she struck out at those closest to her, especially James. It is understood that James did not visit Mary in the hospital because the disease seemed to bring out tensions between the couple. James in the game (upon examining some alcohol bottles) states that he drinks "a fair bit", most likely due to not seeing Mary. 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. Everyday, Mary used to wait for James, and Laura would console her when he didn't show up; this is probably why she says Mary was 'always waiting for him' and showed a reluctancy towards him. If things had worked out differently, Mary was willing to adopt Laura; and 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 to be given post-mortem. She had been permitted to return home for a short while, although it was only because her death was imminent and Mary was afraid that James didn't want her to come home.

It was not the disease which killed Mary, but her own husband who suffocated her with a pillow. For unknown reasons, footage of James killing Mary by smothering her with a pillow is on the videotape that James forgot at Lakeview Hotel, and this is how he eventually learns of his homicide.

Post death

James starts his journey with two items: A photo of Mary and a letter from Mary. Examining these items frequently will affect the ending.

Although physically dead, Mary lived on as a delusion. Through some unknown means, James received a fragment of Mary’s letter to him, containing only the part asking James to meet her in Silent Hill. He uses this as the basis for a delusion that Mary is still alive. He also believes that Mary had died three years ago, when in reality, she was still alive one year ago. Her voice and likeness appear numerous times throughout James’ journey, for example, Mary's dress is where James receives his flashlight. 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 the radio's static, she can be heard asking "Why did you kill me?".

Mary was also reimagined as Maria, a creation of James’s will. She appears to be a sexier, more wild version of Mary (and just happens to be the same age as Mary), possibly what James thought Mary lacked. Maria's scenario's title, "Born From a Wish" has some truth to it after all. 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's a kind person.

Ending

James having a final conversation with Mary.

Near the end of the game, Mary's voice calls James to find her. James tells Laura that the Mary they know is already gone. James is led to a hallway, in which the radio plays a previous conversation that he and Mary had while she was still alive. In this conversation, James decided to bring Mary some flowers but she did not accept them, saying, "Flowers? I don't want any damn flowers! Just go home already!" She stated that she felt she was too disgusting to deserve flowers and yells furiously at James. At the end of this conversation, Mary desperately pleads with James for him to be with her.

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' 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 turns into a monstrous version of herself. After James defeats Mary, he meets Maria again 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.

The Leave ending of Silent Hill 2, with Mary reading her final letter to James.

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 apparently 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 the lake. He states, "Now we can be together..."

In the Rebirth ending, James attempts to resurrect Mary, with unknown results.

Creator's comment

Trivia

• Audio of Mary screaming when James watches the videotape were removed from the final version for unknown reasons. [2]
• Audio of Mary reading her letter to Laura were also removed from the final version for unknown reasons. [3]

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