Dahlia Gillespie

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Dahlia Gillespie, the eccentric lady of Silent Hill. She is believed to be a prophet, though many others think that her sanity was lost due to the loss of her daughter who had been burned in a fire. Dahlia never gives a clear explanation of what is going on, though, she does lead Harry in the "right" direction. Dahlia always talks in riddles, and gives weird explanations to what is, and will happen. Here is an example.

"Was it not as I said? I see it all now. Yes everything! Hungry for sacrifice, the demons will swallow up the land! I knew this day would come! And what's more, the task is almost finished! There's only two left... to seal this town into the abyss, the Mark of Samael! When it is completed, all is lost! Even in the daytime, darkness will cover the Sun! The dead will walk and martyrs will burn in the fires of hell! Everyone will die!"

She is first met at the church, and she appears usually after you accomplish something important in the game, she helps you by giving you keys that enable to let you go to your next destination and a Flauros which releases it's uses much later in the game.

[edit] Past History

Dahlia Gillespie had a child. No ordinary child however. Her child had powers unlike any other child, or human for that matter. She had been called a witch, monster, and many other names for having these powers. Dahlia was intrigued by her child's power, a power in which if she wishes for someone to die, it will happen, and she can use her mind to bend reality. Dahlia thought this was the power of the Gods. Dahlia had then became determined to obtain the demon God's power. She had struck a deal with Doctor Michael Kauffman to help her in summoning the demon god. Doctor Kauffman had agreed. They had to separate the soul of the child making them wait a longer time for them to complete their ritual. Dahlia had realized that she would have been capable of doing it all on her own, though it's too late for that. The leader of the cult that is mentioned throughout the game is Dahlia Gillespie.

[edit] Character Role

Dahlia as previously stated, gives hints to Harry Mason throughout the game of where to go to so he can find his daughter. She also mentions how the town is being absorbed by darkness. Through out the game, seals are carved in the floor, and Dahlia mentions if all of the seals are complete, all is lost. Eventually you figure out, it was none other then her that had been behind the town's darkness. Dahlia had done a ritual in order to try to summon the demon god, Samael. Dahlia's plan was to take advantage of it's power, however, the demon had killed Dahlia at the end.

Beyond her involvement in games 1 and 3, Dahlia has also been given connection to the serial killer Walter Sullivan, who, when he was just a young boy, was told by Dahlia that Apartment 302 was the Mother he lost. Through out the diary entries in the Forest World, the writer wrote of an important lady with the beginning syllable "Dah", but in those words it revealed a sort of kind nature rarely seen in someone like Dahlia. But with the mentioning of his Mother, the writer (Supposedly Walter) might have took someone like that in a thankful sort of love. Further connection of Dahlia and Walter can be found in The Wish House just before the death of Jasper Gein, where Henry finds a note beside a bookshelf close to the stairs asking if Allessa was found and if Walter was ready, applying that if Allessa wasn't found than Walter would replace her in the rebirth of God. Hence the "21 Sacraments".

[edit] In The Film

In the Silent Hill movie, Dahlia is a much more sympathetic character. Christabella tricked her into allowing the cult of puritanical witch hunters to "purify" Alessa. Realizing her mistake too late, Dahlia ran to get help, showing up with the police. But the fire had grown out of control, and though Alessa survived, she suffered horrible burns all over her body.

Over the next thrity years, Dahlia remained in Silent Hill, shunned by both the cult, and the monsters that gripped the town in the decades since Alessa's union with the demon. When Rose showed up in the town looking for her daughter, Dahlia realized Sharon had some connection to Alessa, and sheltered the little girl briefly before they were both taken to the church.

At the films climax, Alessa has her bloody revenge on the cult, slaughtering them all with barbed wire, but sparing Dahlia. When she wonders why she was not taken with the others, Rose tells her that "You're her mother. Mother is god in the eyes of a child."