Theories Regarding the Dreams
It's implied that Chie either has forgotten or does not want to remember specific memories of events that have happened in her life. All of the orbs are usually hidden at a large, panoramic area, different from the rest of the game. The orbs may respresent the memories that she's forgotten/buried away. Once she remembers all of the memories (collects all of the orbs), she wakes up to find that the cabinet shelf has turned into a doorway, perhaps indicating she's finally ready to see what's beyond.
Theories Regarding the Ending
- One of the popular theories is that bloody corpse is actually Chie's mother, whom Chie killed.
- Another popular theory has connection with above one: Chie was sleep killing.
- Chie's face disappearing has been interpreted numerous ways. Some believe that she may just be hanging her head with depression as would be common in some anime and games (supported by the fact that she is seen crying later on), but others believe that she may be some kind of monster, such as the faceless Nopperabo ghost.
- Another theory suggests and going by the scenes of the ending that something happened, either a murder or home invasion gone wrong and Chie was spared but tried to escape reality using her dreams