Hallo, alle miteinander. Welcome back to Wright Wednesday, the weekly series where we recap, analyze, and review the cases of the Ace Attorney series. The end of the trilogy is approaching! Today, we cover the last investigation segment of the entire trilogy, for the case Bridge to the Turnabout. My name is Roy and I don't have a twin...that I know of.
My name is Sam, and I know a twin but they are not mine.
I mean, we both know twins. The same twins.
We certainly do!
The segment actually starts before the last one, at 3:43am in the Hotti Clinic, about six hours before the trial we just played will start. Phoenix is awake, having been up for hours researching Mia’s first two cases, which is the framing of why we played them both earlier. He hates reading them, because the Dahlia in those trials isn’t the one he knew at all. It’s clear he’s feeling terrible, the cold he caught is a bad one. But he doesn’t care, he’s going to recover so he can take over investigating the case.
If rushing to deal with something head-on despite it being bad for his health isn't peak Phoenix Wright, I don't know what is.
Agreed. Eleven hours later, Phoenix meets Gumshoe and Edgeworth at Dusky Bridge, ready to get back to work. This is despite the fact he still has a 102.2 Fahrenheit fever and he can’t stop coughing. Even though the trial just wrapped up, Phoenix has already read through the notes on what happened. The top priority is finding the real murder weapon. Edgeworth is more than happy to hand the case back to Phoenix, but says he’ll be heading back to the Criminal Affairs Department to find out what he can about Iris. After all, she seems familiar, and Phoenix won’t tell him anything.
Which kind of baffles me, to be honest. Phoenix knows the case history here, so why wouldn't he share what he knows with Edgeworth to help figure out what's going on? It would skip a good deal of sleuthing if he did.
That is definitely something we can cover in the analysis. Gumshoe isn’t joining Phoenix, since his job is to rebuild the bridge so they can reach the Inner Temple and find Maya. Heading to the entrance to Hazakura Temple, Phoenix runs into Laurice and Franziska. He’s decided she has to be the main character of his book, and won’t take her ‘no’ for an answer. He leaves, but Franzy stays to talk with Phoenix. There’s a quick recap of her whole deal from the last game, and once again Phoenix is assuming that she’s mad at him for sending Manfred to prison. But she tries to make it clear that when she beats Phoenix, it will be for herself, no one else.
Can I just say, I love Gumshoe, but no way would I ever set foot on a bridge made by him.
She explains that Edgeworth told her about the case so she came back to the country hoping to finally defeat Phoenix, and hadn’t expected to see her little brother on the defense’s bench. She also gets so over-the-top hostile about how she wants to beat Phoenix that he actually thinks it’s cute, which I have to note because I have Dumb Bitch Disease and it manifests in loving Phoenix/Franziska shipping.
I mean, not gonna lie, I get it.
...hearing you say that, I haven't felt a shipping victory this big since reading Battle Ground.
That one still makes you a sick freak though.
Heading into the Main Hall, Phoenix runs into Sister Bikini, who is very much down in the dumps. It’s all been a pretty big disaster for her: “Mystic” Elise is dead, Iris is on trial, the acolyte is trapped, and Pearl is still missing. The last one is news to Phoenix, and he wonders why no one told him before. Discussing the trial, it seems that Bikini is starting to regret some of what she said. After all, Laurice seemed really sure of himself too, and she thinks the stuff he said was nonsense. Which, fair point, being too sure of what you saw is definitely bad, the human brain is terrible at holding memories and keeping them unchanged.
There’s some extra bad news: the area is prone to earthquakes, and it’s entirely possible that the next one will destroy the cavern inside the Inner Temple. On the idea of the real killer being on that side of the bridge, it’s reiterated that it’s completely isolated, effectively an island, so anyone on that side is stuck there. Phoenix points out that isn’t good news though, because if there is a killer over there, Maya is completely at their mercy.
Again.
There’s a big question Bikini won’t answer, though: who actually was Elise Deauxnim? There have been quite a few clues so far that she isn’t who she seemed to be, not the least of which being how deferential and respectful Bikini is to her, even in death. Not only that, but Bikini keeps calling her “Mystic” Elise. Psyche-Locks appear when she’s questioned too hard, five of them. There’s no way we have enough evidence for those yet, so it’s off to the Courtyard.
I feel like this is a decent time to bring up that I think this segment has a pretty palpable buildup. You can really feel a terrible truth on the horizon, might have even figured it out, but you can always feel that something terrible is coming and just...hope it's not what you think it is.
Absolutely agreed, there's just a wonderful dread to it.
There isn’t really anything to find at the Courtyard yet. Heading back to the Main Hall has Gumshoe appear, with good news: the new bridge is already up, they can go to the Inner Temple! Bikini isn’t allowed to go across, which she doesn’t like, but Franziska asks her to trust that she can handle it, which Bikini does. Franziska is our assistant now!
Because Phoenix needs someone more assertive to crack the whip, so to speak. Also literally.
Heading to the Inner Temple’s exterior, we’re immediately greeted by Pearl! She’s been on this side the whole time, and is very happy to see “Mr. Nick”. She’s been alone the whole time, and Franziska tries to comfort her, though since Franziska she’s still serious about it. Sadly, it’s ineffective, because Pearl actually really doesn’t like Franziska for all the stuff she did last game. Pearl’s chastisement seems to actually hit her hard, and Franziska doesn’t like that Phoenix finds that funny.
Yeah, I mean, I can't blame the little child for being mad at the woman who tried to get her cousin wrongfully convicted of murder.
In Franziska's defense, even Maya thought she'd committed the crime.
Fair, it only reflects on Franziska so much. But tell that to the distraught 8-year old (or however old Pearl is, I forget).
When Phoenix asks Pearl why she’s been alone this whole time, why she wasn’t with Maya, Pearl says everything that happened was her fault and runs away crying. There’s a lot of stuff you can Examine here that you don’t need to, and it’s really fun seeing Phoenix and Franziska interact when they’re (sort of) working together. Especially because we get to see that, when not in court, Franziska has some Maya-like silliness in her after all. Her mind goes to weird places, and it’s just very cute. The only thing you have to Examine is the incinerator, which is strangely absent of snow, but empty inside. Someone clearly used it since Phoenix was last there.
The second time an incinerator has been central to a case in the series, if I remember right.
And the last time was Reunion and Turnabout, the case we (and the game) were just talking about. Takumi likes his parallels.
I thought so! Neat detail.
Going into the cavern reveals that things are pretty different from when we left Maya there two days ago. The hanging scroll that is supposed to show a picture of Misty Fey is covered in gravy, to the point where it’s impossible to see her portrait on it. The more pertinent issue is the entrance to the cavern: there’s a lock on it. One that looks exactly like a Psyche-Lock. With it there, it’s impossible to enter the cavern.
I am curious whether we'll get more detail on why this lock so resembles a Psyche-Lock. Are Psyche-Locks somehow visually inspired by these? Or the reverse? Is there some kind of spiritual connection, or did spirit mediums just decide to take inspiration from them?
Excellent questions the series will never answer, but I'd love to talk about in our analysis.
I feel like I'm getting a little ahead of us in general today, haha, carry on.
No worries! We're getting into the meaty stuff!
As they’re considering what it means, someone shows up out of nowhere: Godot. And of course he shows up while insulting Phoenix. He’s confused why Godot wasn’t at the trial, and Godot says that it was something important that Phoenix could never understand. Franziska is annoyed that Godot somehow thought there was something more important than prosecuting a trial, considering that’s literally his job and then...
Godot calls Franziska a “wild mare”, and after Phoenix properly introduces her as the person who took Godot’s place in court, Godot...let me quote him exactly. “...you can go now, princess. It’s time for the big boys to take the reins.” When Franziska, rightly, starts to call him out on that, he says (and I feel dirty even typing this), “Hey, Filly. Know your role, and shut your mouth. I can’t stand women like you.” Before ordering Franziska to leave. I am filled with rage.
Ah, right. Yes, this is where his misogyny really does show more brightly than ever. He...kind of sucks. I can abide a prosecutor being an asshole, and they can even be kind of likable as they do (I still think his rapport with Mia was kind of charming), but this? Naw, dude just sucks.
She takes her anger out of Phoenix, which is definitely rude but honestly I’m kind of pissed at Phoenix too for not saying anything about what the heck he just heard. Godot spouts a lot of smarmy angry vague stuff at Phoenix, only more intense than usual. Asking him again about why he missed court leads Godot to remind Phoenix of his introductory line, about having come back from hell.
Basically, he’s saying that he’s died and came back from it, which we know thanks to the flashback cases refers to his poisoning. However, he didn’t come back scot free, he needs to go to the doctor regularly, and he claims that’s why he missed court. This is when he makes clear the mask he wears isn’t a fashion statement, it’s a medical device, the only thing that keeps him from being blind. Even then, he still has vision problems it can’t correct.
Believe it or not, this isn't even the only time in this segment where a character could potentially be somewhat sympathetic, but just...isn't. This isn't even the worst example, in my opinion, but I'm getting ahead of myself again.
When Franziska asks exactly what Godot is talking about, how he could die and come back to life, he directs her to Phoenix, who he claims should know all about it. Which he should, considering we know Phoenix was reviewing the case files in the hospital, but he’s sick and slow to figure stuff out at the best of times, so we should give him some slack there. Phoenix feels like he might remember something, but can’t put it together.
Yeah, this isn't exactly the first time we've had to ask whether it makes sense for Phoenix to have not figured out something obvious yet, but considering how much information we have fresh in our minds compared to him, I think I can let this one slide.
Godot said something before about Phoenix’s actions having caused something that can’t be undone. What is that exactly? Well, the big reason the police are swarming the Inner Temple at that moment is to try and find Maya. The problem is, there’s no trace of her anywhere. The only place she can possibly be is inside the Sacred Cavern that’s now locked behind the physical Psyche-Lock. The cave is extremely cold, though, so even if she’s inside, the chances she’s alive after two days is low. Godot claims that if that’s the case, her death is on Phoenix’s hands. How did he come up with that causal reasoning? We’ll see with time, don’t you worry.
The impression I get so far is just that he's misogynistic enough to place blame on Phoenix because he's the man who's supposed to protect the poor, helpless women around him, but I expect there's some more personal (though likely just as illogical) reasoning in there too.
...honestly, you hit it completely on the head. I argue that's exactly his reasoning, and it probably why him being sexist to Franziska was there before this: it informs where he gets this kind of worldview from. Godot genuinely thinks of women, even the women he admires, as less than men.
That's the thing, we've got more than enough information to infer his misogyny, and it's obviously not at all reasonable to blame Phoenix for things he didn't do, didn't even know about, and wasn't in a position to stop. Especially when, in every case, he did his damndest to deal with the fallout as best he could, and succeeded.
Why haven’t they searched the Sacred Cavern yet? Well, the lock is a trick lock, and no one on the police force knows how to remove them. Godot says this is the second woman that’s died because of Phoenix, laying Mia’s death at Phoenix’s feet as well. Hell, he goes farther than that, flat-out saying that Phoenix killed her. They briefly recap the events of Turnabout Sisters, but Godot frames it as something where, because Phoenix ‘failed to protect’ Mia, that makes it entirely his fault she is dead. “You were with her at the time. You and no one else. It was your responsibility! You should have protected her!”
I wouldn't be surprised if this is also guilt-driven, to some degree. Maybe Godot feels (still, irrationally) that he should have been there himself to stop these things from happening, and he's directing that guilt at Phoenix instead of facing it himself. Either way, for all his sexist attitudes toward women I find it ironic that he's the one being emotional and unreasonable.
Going back to the trick locks, Franziska asks why they don’t just break the chains. The problem there lies with the cavern itself: as Bikini said earlier, it’s very unstable, and forcefully breaking the chains could cause a cave-in. Only the person who sets the lock can open it, and they’re sure Iris is the one that set this lock. Because of that, they’re bringing Iris out to open it. Of course, that’s under the assumption that Iris is the one who oversaw Maya’s training, which we know doesn’t fit the facts. Before leaving to get back to work, Godot makes it clear he will never accept Phoenix.
Which, like...okay? I feel like his acceptance isn't much of an issue at this point. Not sure why Phoenix would care. "Oh no, the guy who irrationally hates me and has tried to get multiple people executed just to spite me will never like me, so disappointing."
Heading back outside, Phoenix and Franziska overhear Gumshoe wondering if he should wash something off, going back and forth on the idea. After they reveal they heard what he was saying, Gumshoe tells them not to go into the Garden behind the Inner Temple, which of course means that’s exactly where we need to go next.
Impressive that Phoenix actually decides to, considering it's usually Maya that convinces him to break the rules.
Well, Franziska does push him into it. It’s certainly a strange area, with a large stone lantern with Maya’s name written upside down in the victim’s blood, and all the snow surrounding the lantern removed. There’s also a red charm hidden in the story, with a cord attached that makes it look like it came from a necklace. It belonged to the victim, which they found out by comparing a broken cord found around her neck to the one on the charm, as they matched perfectly.
Talking to Gumshoe, it’s apparently strange how clean this area is, there aren’t as many clues as there should be. Which is a red flag tip-off, even if like how Farewell, My Turnabout, the amount of evidence we see isn’t that abnormal. As for the whole “Iris coming to help open the locks” thing, Edgeworth is the one personally escorting her. Not only that, but he wants to talk to Phoenix about something, and whatever it is, it doesn’t sound like good news.
Oh, and from what they’ve found, they’re now pretty sure that this Garden area is the real crime scene. After all, it was isolated right after the murder occurred, and thus couldn’t have been tampered with, unlike all the other evidence.
I mean, Pearl was there. But yeah, not likely to have been tampered with anything.
Heading to the Main Gate, Iris and Edgeworth have arrived. Phoenix isn’t allowed to accompany them to the Inner Temple, because this is also an official investigation, and they can’t have him tampering with anything they find. For now, Dusky Bridge is a dead end. Going into the Main Hall, Bikini is torn up from seeing Iris, and the way Phoenix isn’t as supportive to her as Franziska is doesn’t help.
Phoenix doesn't always come across as the most empathetic and understanding person.
We finally have the evidence to break her Psyche-Locks regarding the victim’s true identity. The talisman we found at the real crime scene proves that Ms. Deauxnum wasn’t just a picture book author, considering it’s clearly a Fey family item. Specifically, Bikini identifies it as a talisman, and it has the same symbol as the scroll that’s now covered in gravy. What isn’t covered on it is that very crest, which is the sign of the Master of Kurain. When Phoenix says that Maya is the one who told him that, and that she is the next Master of the tradition, Bikini is shook.
Kind of amazing that she never knew that. Was there not paperwork or something?
It was made clear before that she knew Maya was a Fey, but just assumed she was another branch family member, as many of them still have the Fey last name, like Pearl does. Oh, and Bikini herself is a branch family Fey, though we don't know if she has the name.
I suppose that makes some sense, just seems like the branch families would know the names of the main ones. But maybe not.
Either way, this entire time, she had no clue Maya was the daughter of Misty Fey. It’s that revelation that shatters all five locks in one blow: Elise Deauxnim was Misty Fey. She showed up a week before, and showed the talisman to prove who she was to Bikini. The nun was surprised, since Misty had been gone for 17 years. The talisman is something the Master must carry until they die, and she only appeared anew because something was happening that needed her attention.
So yeah, that's...a thing we'll no doubt be talking about a lot.
Before they can get into what that is, an earthquake starts. Everyone is terrified that it might be what finally destroys the Inner Temple, and hearing that, Phoenix and Franziska run to see what happened on the other side of the bridge. Phoenix remembers Edgeworth’s fear of earthquakes, and also hopes he is okay, something Franziska is thinking about as well. As soon as they leave the Main Hall, they run into Edgeworth, who has no Iris with him. She escaped in the confusion, something she was able to do because of Edgeworth’s reaction to the tremor.
Poor Edgeworth. I feel very sorry for him in all this.
Edgeworth wants to get a manhunt under way for the whole of Eagle Mountain, but Phoenix asks if they thoroughly checked the Inner Temple. They didn’t, because it’s a dead end, with no reason for an escaping defendant to go there. Phoenix brings up what is more likely, considering Iris’s personality: knowing that the earthquake put Maya in danger, Iris ran into the Inner Temple to help her escape before it was too late. They all head to the Sacred Cavern, and the place is luckily still standing. But none are ready for what they find in the process: there isn’t one lock on the cavern door anymore, there are five. Iris is standing there...and that’s where the save point is. Take it away, Sam!
When the earthquake hit, Iris ran to the Inner Temple. Not to escape, but to make sure Maya was safe. But these extra locks were there when she arrived, meaning someone else put them on and she doesn’t know how to remove them. She commits to trying all the combinations, but says unlocking them that way would probably take the whole day. When Phoenix asks for clarification on where she was during the murder, three Psyche-Locks guard the truth.
Which is odd, considering she's already answered the question through Psyche-Locks. Wonder if that means anything.
For now, Phoenix moves on to gather clues from everyone else while Iris works on the locks. At Heavenly Hall, both Laurice and Peal are sulking in their failures. Laurice insists the picture he drew is exactly what he saw, which draws even Pearl’s skepticism. Phoenix asks Pearl what she was doing the night of the murder, since she was supposed to be reading a book with the victim and somehow ended up at the Inner Temple, but Pearl clams up, saying she’s been bad and locking up with a whopping five Psyche-Locks. What she is willing to say, however, is that she’s lost her spiritual powers as punishment.
Honestly, this whole bit is kinda cute.
It is, actually. Back in the Main Hall, Phoenix fills Sister Bikini in on what’s happened, and gets back to talking about Misty Fey. Apparently she showed up a week ago, saying someone was trying to destroy the main Kurain family line and she was here to stop them. We’re then treated to exposition for players who haven’t played (or don’t remember) the previous games.
The DL-6 Incident comes back up, since it was the point at which the Kurain Channeling Technique lost its credibility in the eyes of the public, and we’re reminded that this channeling power is passed down through the women in Fey bloodlines. This also leads to a reminder of Morgan Fey: Misty’s sister, Maya’s aunt, and Pearl’s mother, who tried to frame Maya for murder in the previous game to put Pearl at the top of the family line in Maya’s place.
It's...a better summary than was given earlier in the game, I'd say.
But it all culminates in another big reveal: Iris is Morgan Fey's daughter. What’s more, Morgan had twins before Pearl: Iris, and her twin sister. No points for guessing who that is. Apparently, Morgan’s husband left her after the DL-6 Incident tanked the Kurain tradition’s reputation, taking their twins with him. This, obviously, will be important information very soon.
In the Courtyard, Gumshoe is searching for the real murder weapon. But all he’s found is a partially-burnt letter; apparently it was in the incinerator Phoenix noticed earlier. It seems to be instructions on how and when to channel a certain spirit to take revenge on “the master.” Gumshoe lets Phoenix use the metal detector he’s been using to search for the weapon that actually killed the victim, which results in a shocking amount of completely useless examinables…
...and finding that the victim’s staff is actually a sword cane. There’s no blood on it, and if the murder took place at the garden it must have been moved, but Gumshoe resolves to run some tests on it once Maya is found. There’s also a really nice bit where Gumshoe tries to assuage Phoenix’s fears by promising to take him and Maya to a restaurant when this is all over.
Wait...Sam! You missed the most important metal detector examinable! It's key to the whole franchise! The stepladder!
I assumed you would cover that in examinables!
We always do a stepladder bit in the recap, though!
...except for the time I forgot about it entirely
Oh, and also this time, when I also forgot entirely about it.
Also, like...this one is definitely a stepladder.
Gumshoe doesn't think so though, he is Team Ladder. So far, we know that Phoenix is Team Stepladder, and Gumshoe has Maya and Ema for back-up
Of course. Phoenix can't have anyone in his corner, that would be too fair.
Well, not so far. But who is on what team over the course of the series is actually quite interesting
I look forward to seeing how that develops!
I am pretty sure I've seen Civil War memes about it.
At the garden, we get a recap of Edgeworth’s bad experience with earthquakes, and a reminder that this garden is likely where the murder actually took place, and that Maya is necessarily being treated as a suspect due to her name written in blood. Edgeworth also looked through his case files to confirm whether he knew Iris, and found that he’d seen her face before on someone else. He refuses to give the details to Phoenix, and Phoenix doesn’t talk about his own suspicions for some reason, but Edgeworth does say that “that woman” (Dahlia) cannot possibly be related to this case. But, of course, Phoenix now knows that Iris had a twin sister, and the conclusion to be drawn here is rather obvious.
Well, to be fair, you can have this conversation before learning about that, which is actually what I did.
Ah, that's fair. Once we do know about it, though, Phoenix and Edgeworth talk about it and paint a more complete picture. Dahlia had been raised by her father, while Iris was raised at the temple, having been given by her father at a young age for unknown (but probably quite selfish and terrible) reasons.
We know the rest of the story: Dahlia and her step-sister Valerie conspired to steal a diamond, and years later, Dahlia killed Valerie to keep the truth from getting out. The trial led to the suicide of Terry Fawles, and later, Dahlia tried to kill Phoenix as well. It seems Dahlia could very well be related to this case now, too, except for one complication: Dahlia Hawthorne is dead. Executed, just last month: five years after Mia Fey proved her guilt.
Which makes me pretty sure that, when they say Manfred von Karma is "gone", he had to have died for unrelated reasons, if it took five years for Dahlia to get the noose.
So then, time to break Iris’ Psyche-Locks. We begin by pointing out that Bikini claims to have left her to watch over Maya at the Inner Temple, conflicting with Iris’ insistence that she was in her room the whole time. Iris admits this, saying she left for the Inner Temple around 9:40pm. But of course, this conflicts with the fact that she rang the lights out bell at 10pm, and she gave her hood to Phoenix around that time too. And, even more damning, she was supposedly ringing the bell and murdering the victim at the same time. The only explanation is that there were two of her on that night. This sounds ridiculous, but Phoenix reveals that he knows about Dahlia. And he posits that someone channeled Dahlia’s spirit on the night of the murder, resulting in an Iris look-alike making it look like she was in two places at once.
I am gonna have some hinty hints to say about this later.
This truth revealed, Iris finally opens up about what really happened that night. Iris was at the Main Temple, and knew exactly what was happening when she heard that she’d been seen at the Inner Temple. But she didn’t say anything, because she believes her sister always does the right thing, and having apparently betrayed her before, she didn’t want to get in the way. Iris, it turns out, was also involved in planning the diamond heist. It wasn’t for money, but for revenge against their father who abandoned their mother when it was clear he had no power to gain from their marriage, then sent Iris to a temple rather than raise her as his own. But Iris backed out and ran away at the last second, and sees Dahlia’s subsequent spiral into crime as her responsibility.
Those are all things that person says, yes.
A pretty nasty picture is beginning to form, and it’s time to talk to Pearl and confirm it all. Pearl says she didn’t end up going to read a book with Misty after all, because she was worried and had somewhere else to be. That place is the Inner Temple, because she was worried about Maya. But she also knows the exact time she got to the Inner Temple, because she heard the lights out bell when she arrived. Phoenix shows her the burned instructions, which instructed her to listen for that bell.
What’s more, Phoenix posits that the spirit the note meant for her to channel was that of her secret half-sister, Dahlia Hawthorne. The instructions must have been from someone Pearl really trusted: more specifically, her mother, Morgan Fey. Pearl is still holding out though, saying there’s no proof it was her who channeled Dahlia, but Phoenix realizes that one piece of evidence only fits if the instructions were carried out by a child who didn’t fully understand the directions: the gravy on Misty Fey’s portrait. Pearl misunderstood the words, “gravely roast the Master in the fires of Hades,” since she couldn’t read it well and had asked Misty about the word “gravely” at dinner, and she poured gravy all over the portrait of the Master. And finally, Pearl’s Psyche-Locks are all broken.
This is perhaps why keeping the innocent kid in the dark about how terrible her mother is was a bad idea.
Yeah, I have some feelings about Morgan Fey to talk about after this.
On the most recent of Pearl’s monthly visits to her mother in prison, Morgan led her to the instructions, saying they were her final wish. Pearl, in her naivete, believed that anything her mother said was good for the Fey clan would be good for Maya as well, so she was excited to do it. And in a small detail, the letter had already been opened before Pearl found it.
On the night of the murder, Pearl went to the Inner Temple, both out of worry for Maya and intent to follow the instructions her mother had given her. But she was too late to see Maya before the training began, so she waited outside the cave and fell asleep. When she woke up, she realized she was trapped on that side of the canyon. What’s more, she had apparently tried to channel Dahlia’s spirit, but couldn’t. This is why she thinks she’s lost her powers. But she also admits that, however unlikely, it’s also possible she couldn’t channel Dahlia’s spirit because someone else already was.
The pieces are all coming together now.
After all this explanation, Godot shows up just to say that it won’t matter when Iris gets through the locks. Maya isn’t coming back, and it’s Phoenix’s fault for being so oblivious to the needs of both of the Fey sisters. This worries Pearl, but Phoenix assures her she’ll see Maya alive tomorrow. And the segment ends with Morgan Fey, alone in prison, praising Pearl for a job well done, and celebrating the end of the main family line.
That is it! There is...I'm going to say a lot to talk about. Normally, I'd hand things over to you, my dear professor, but before I do I am making a request: for this segment's analysis, can we not discuss Iris or the motives she talks about here at all? I can't say why, but I feel like those are better covered after the next segment.
Sure, that's fine by me.
Okay, that in mind: where do you want to start?
As usual, the penultimate segment in a case brings a lot of clarity to both the events and themes of the story, while still leaving a lot of room for where things will go and what it will all eventually mean. But I think this one is actually more thematically illuminating than most.
We've been talking this whole time about how this game's overarching theme is a bit weaker than the previous two. Namely, these cases all have to do with masks: people hiding who they are, usually to deceive others (or themselves). This case not only carries on that thematic thread, but escalates it significantly.
Previous cases in this game have, essentially, used these masks to disguise identities or motivations. Dahlia acting sweet to deceive Phoenix, Fawles, and...pretty much everyone, Ron DeLite hiding his true identity behind Mask✰DeMasque while also hiding his life of crime from his wife, Luke Atmey hiding behind his "ace detective" persona to hide his true crimes, El Tigre pretending to care about Violetta to protect himself and enlist her help in his criminal attempts to pay off her medical expenses. But there's been a bit of a crescendo here, specifically in that the early examples are a matter of using false pretenses to deceive people, while it increasingly morphs into using these false pretenses to use them.
The difference is subtle, enough so that I hadn't really noticed this escalation until now. By this point, the differences are rather stark. Lying to someone to get a bottle back from them, or to shield yourself from prosecution, that's one thing. Literally using someone else's body to accomplish a nefarious goal, like Morgan tried to do with Pearl (and like Dahlia may well have done with someone else) is something else entirely.
I find this interesting because, in my opinion, it rather nicely elevates this relatively lackluster theme at the center of the game. This progression from hiding behind a lie to manipulate others to literally, physically using their bodies as the mask is interesting, and I think elegantly makes the point of just how far this kind of depravity can take us.
All that to say; this segment finally makes the game's thematic throughline really click with me, and I find my opinion of the game as a whole elevated by association.
That's wonderful! I can definitely see what you mean, and while it doesn't elevate it quite as much for me, I respect the analysis.
The entire twin revelation adds so much to this case and previous cases that it's going to be hard to cover it all in one go, so let's take it piece by piece. As you said, it does a lot thematically.
Since she first arrived, Iris and her true identity has been a mystery. Was she someone wearing a mask, or the real deal? Now, we get at least part of an answer: Iris is really Iris, but with the help of spirit channeling it's hard to tell when Iris is or has been Iris, and not Dahlia disguising herself as her sister.
Should that turn out to be the case, Dahlia was doing what she always does, pretending to be sweet and nice when she's actually, well, terrible. But now we have added context for that mask we've seen her using so much before: Dahlia's mask is an impression of Iris, only taken up to 11. In a way, Dahlia has been pretending to be her sister for a long time, as a way to gain people's sympathy. The addition of spirit channeling after Dahlia's death only makes the possibilities of such switching around of who is who far more dangerous for all involved.
Pretty much. It's made even worse by the fact that Dahlia has managed to pull this act on Iris herself, as well. I'm not sure whether Iris has any illusions about Dahlia's character, necessarily, but she does say that her sister "always does the right thing." So on one level or another, Dahlia has Iris deferring to her in important matters, much like Pearl unquestioningly followed her mother's instructions.
Something else this revelation brings up: do you remember the last case?
Do you remember when Dahlia first took the stand, and immediately knew Mia's name before she introduced herself? And Mia was confused?
They're cousins! Clearly, Dahlia just remembered her older cousin, while it took longer for Mia to realize just who it was she was trying to send to prison. Did she ever learn? I'd argue that, by the time of Phoenix's trial, it would be odd if she didn't.
It's just an interesting white space the game gives us to consider, and I think it's neat. Especially because, weirdly, the game actually seems to go out of it's way to never refer to Mia/Maya and Dahlia/Iris as cousins, despite the fact that's clearly their direct relation.
That's true! I hadn't connected those dots.
Do we want to talk about Dahlia or Morgan first? I think you have a lot to say about the evil matriarch.
I mean, I have strong feelings about both of them, but lets's go with Morgan first.
Do you remember your little rant in Reunion and Turnabout about how Morgan should have been a sympathetic character?
Absolutely, and that's an important point here. This case actually did get me to sympathize with her a bit; finding out that Misty displaced her as the heir to the Fey family leadership, and that her husband left her and took her children in response, really humanized her. It helped make clear that her crimes in the previous game weren't driven purely by a lust for power, but by a desire to take back what was traumatically taken from her. I get it, and that's a really nice addition to the character.
Then we find out she tried to trick her nine-year old daughter into channeling the spirit of a murderer to kill her own aunt.
So like, yeah, more sympathetic. Also still an irredeemable garbage person.
What I find so interesting is that, even moreso than the last time she was here, Morgan is like the black void where a character should be. But where last time I was annoyed by how little we really saw from her or got to know her, here that works a little better for me.
She's this looming presence on the story, the one pulling the strings behind this crime despite still being in jail. Her motivations are, like you said, strangely humanizing, and yet also almost alien, the sheer extent to which she will go for her plans is ramped up.
Consider: the plans she sent Pearl to find were left behind before she was arrested. This lady had contingency murder plans!
Not only that, she's using Pearl for this crime, obviously, but she's using one of her other daughters as well. Dahlia is no saint, but the way her mother seems to just be using the fact she has a psychotic murderer on-call, and doing so as a stepping stone for the only daughter she seems to really care about, is just truly awful.
That's all true. And it's part of what made me realize the way this case escalates the whole theme; there's a point after which Morgan Fey, the person, isn't even present anymore. But instead, unwitting people are manipulated into doing heinous things in her place. It even uses one of my favorite narrative devices by using made-up fantasy magic as a metaphor to turn this concept up to 11, by literally using other people's bodies against their will.
Is there a trope for that? I feel like there should be, but I'm drawing a blank. Fantasy magic as metaphor for a more grounded concept, that is, not body-stealing.
I don't know if there's a specific term, but I'm picking up what you're laying down.
I do still wish that Morgan was more of a character? She still feels kind of two-dimensionally evil, and there are a lot of other big players in the series that feel more well-realized than she does, at least for me.
One way she does work as kind of a character incarnate of something we hear talking a lot about in this segment: the eternal struggle from within the Fey Family.
The way Bikini talks about it, situations like this aren't new, not at all. Branch family members are constantly scheming for ways to take control of the family, and Morgan is merely the newest head of this hydra.
I think it's an interesting concept, though...it also feels a bit too over-the-top? Like, I just don't think they sell enough why all these people want to be Master of Kurain, what it really gets them. We're told that the Feys used to be world-renowned by the right people, always politically important, and that it's only recently that they've lost status and money. But I feel like it's an area where exposition doesn't really convey the emotions necessary to make this blood feud feel like it's over anything important.
Of course, it doesn't necessarily have to be, not all struggles like this need a concrete backing, but one of the reasons why all this Fey family drama has never really 100% worked for me is because it feels a bit too melodramatic. This is a feud within a family of spirit mediums, but the conflict is treated like this impossible to solve problem that's plagued them for years.
Am I making any sense? I don't know if I'm quite getting across my point correctly.
I definitely get what you're saying, and I agree to a not-insignificant extent. The whole Fey family drama still feels like a background detail, like lore that hasn't been properly, emotively plugged into the larger story despite being the cause of pretty much everything in it.
We can compare this to the role the DL-6 Incident played in the first game, I think. It overshadowed the whole thing, but in the end it not only got explained, but the details of the case itself became a crucial and emotionally-invested part of the current-day story. It really felt like that case mattered beyond simply explaining things, despite its age and our absence for its actual events.
The Fey family drama is already a bit more melodramatic than that, on account of relying so heavily on implausible plots and magical implausibilities, but it's never quite brought into the current story in quite the same way, I think. It remains backstory.
That said, while I do see this as a weakness, I also think I understand why it is this way? This story is focused less on the grand scheming and more on the humans caught amidst it all. I can definitely see an argument that getting too far into all the Fey family drama could distract from the sense that these characters are all being played by something bigger and older than them. But that's a hard feeling to really sell in a game.
Games necessarily depend on a player overcoming challenges and "winning" to progress, and it can be difficult to balance that element of game design with a story that essentially robs the player of that very agency. This is why most games that do it end up subverting it rather blatantly, like Bioshock, Final Fantasy VII, or Spec Ops: The Line. I can only think of two games off the top of my head that don't really subvert it at all--Bloodborne and Dragon Age II--and the latter of those still didn't really work for a lot of people (even if I'd argue that's more on them than the game, but that's a whole other can of worms).
So like, I get it. Keeping all that stuff in the background is the easiest way to sell the dreadful inevitability of all this, and I think that's valid. But I also do agree, it doesn't all work as well as it could, especially considering things like details and motivations are more important in a mystery story like this than in other genres (such as, to invoke the two aforementioned games, cosmic horror and fantasy political thriller).
I'm very happy to see you largely agree! DL-6 is a great point of comparison, though I have another I'll bring up in a moment. It feels like they're trying to go for this sense that the Fey drama has been here since the beginning of the trilogy, so for its last case they're tying it all together. However, the foundation just isn't really there. Turnabout Sisters is great but barely touched on it, and while Reunion and Turnabout did its best, we both agree it was a weak case that didn't shoulder the burden of being kind of the entire set-up for this case very well.
Which is kind of my problem. The Fey stuff, I feel, needed more backing to feel worthwhile and impactful as a huge finale for the trilogy...but I wouldn't have wanted that anyway. This is mostly my own personal preference, but I find the larger Fey plot one of the most dull and boring ones in the series, and I don't really know if investing more time into it would solve that or if it would just be propping up an already weak premise.
In the next game, we're going to have a similarly pivotal plot based on family drama and the long-term fallout from it, but there it works far better for me. It's so much more tightly told and strongly sketched, a specific conflict between specific characters, and yet one that, for me, doesn't ever reach the level of ridiculous melodrama the Fey plotline does.
I was going to say, I was thinking of the way family secrets and such are handled in Apollo Justice, and thinking that was handled in a far less explicit but also more meaningful way (based on my admittedly patchy memory, since it's been a while).
And yes, I think I can agree there. Honestly, I think a number of things contribute to the Fey plotline falling short of its potential, not the least of which is that the trilogy mostly treats the entire enterprise as a way to justify its many deus-ex-Mia's, as well as its nasty habit of removing its most invested character (Maya) from the picture whenever things get serious.
Which is actually another thing I have to say about this: I'm annoyed that Maya is once again put on a bus/damseled for an entire case, let alone one so important to the overall story. And what's worse, I could forgive it in the final case of Justice for All because, frankly, it was a damn good case that gained a lot from the tension of Maya's life being rather directly in our hands.
But here...not so much. Her absence feels a lot less personal, and the fact that Phoenix has literally no say in how she'll fare removes a lot of the tension. While Maya's situation in Farewell, My Turnabout puts it high the list of most emotionally engaging and stressful video game stories I've played, this one just feels kind of flat. Which isn't great on any level, but especially when she's such a central figure in the whole storyline this case is wrapping up.
Absolutely in agreement. This case is, on some level, built around Maya and her destiny and her arc...and so not having her around for so much of it just feels like a terrible move. The series has, in general, really struggled on doing anything with Maya's arc after the first game took the first steps to set it up. She is now fated to being the Master of her school of channeling and her family, a position that she isn't entirely cool with, that brings danger to her, and that kind of dictates how the rest of her life is going to go. It stresses her out, and it doesn't help that her spirit channeling abilities aren't nearly as good as her sister, her mother, or her cousin Pearl.
It would be great if the series did something with that.
Seriously. It sucks, because Maya is one of my favorite characters in the series. But it feels like it just doesn't know what to do with her after Turnabout Sisters, despite pretty much centering the entire trilogy on her. It's really weird, and kind of a big letdown. Not just in this case, but in the whole trilogy.
But enough about good characters that I like and want the best for. Let's talk about just the absolute worst person ever.
Wait, Lotta Hart isn't in this case though. Luckily.
I mean yes, thank God for that, but no. Dahlia Hawthorne.
Okay, so, Dahlia. She's dead! Just, extremely, deader than dead dead.
Well, except for the fact someone channeled her spirit. That's the key that solves the Iris mystery, but I'll dig into that more in just a moment.
What I find so interesting about all we've seen as we learn more about her is how it explains how she became the way she is, while never making her sympathetic. Dahlia's mother seems to have never really cared for her, and her father seems to be much of the same. It's entirely possible her tendency towards manipulation comes from the way Morgan Fey herself operates, as she tried to follow that terrible example.
A lot of wrong was done to Dahlia, but the same is true for Iris, though only moreso. Was it Bikini's nurturing preference that made the difference? Or was Dahlia working with a different framework from the first place? It's hard to tell, though I doubt anyone will be crying over Dahlia's execution, even those of us who disagree with the death penalty.
That's the thing. Much like my sympathy for Morgan was tempered by the whole "tricking her 9-year old daughter into murdering someone" thing, Dahlia is just too terrible of a person for her sympathetic backstory to really matter. She isn't even the only one who grew up in that situation; if anything, I'd say Iris had it far worse.
So yeah, no sympathy for Dahlia. The death penalty aspect of all this does make me kind of uncomfortable, but I don't get the impression the series will be tackling that element of the justice system anytime soon.
Oh, completely agreed. Just to be clear, not trying to say it made her sympathetic in the least, merely that we have a better understanding of how she came to be the way she is.
For sure. And she's still the absolute worst, as I'm pretty sure the next (and final) segment of this case will reinforce.
I do want to talk about what her being around, being channeled, means in terms of the mystery. At this point, we know that someone was channeling Dahlia on the night of the murder, hence the two Iris's being in different places at the same time. We also know that, since the "Iris" who set the lock on the cavern was the one who went to go "oversee Maya's training", that isn't the same "Iris" who stayed at the Main Temple and ran into Phoenix.
There are a lot of contradictions with the things we hear from Iris on this day of the investigation, and a lot of things that don't seem to add up, but the twin revelation and the channeling of Dahlia is the clue that gives us a chance to work it out.
One piece of Kurain Channeling lore that makes solving it even easier is this: channelers take on the body of who they channel, but their hair remains as unchanged as their clothes. To pass as Iris, whoever ended up channeling her instead of Pearl must have also had black hair, and (obviously) been able to channel spirits. That narrows the suspects for bringing Dahlia back, um, a lot. But I won't say more than that, we'll see how that plays out next week.
I've been catching onto this too, and I'm not sure I like where it's headed. But that'll be a discussion for next week.
You know who we can discuss this week? Literally any of the main prosecutor rivals from the trilogy, because like Super Smash Bros Ultimate, "They're all here!"
If only Payne could have made it...
...you're right. 0/10, terrible case, no Payne.
No Payne, no gain.
Okay, let's for-real go in order though and talk about our dear Edgeworth.
Love him, sad that he had his trauma triggered with that earthquake, it's not his fault and he's a good boy.
Still have no idea why Phoenix didn't just tell him about Dahlia so they could have exchanged information as soon as he realized that connection, but that's not Edgey's fault.
I guess we can get into that now? It seems like Phoenix is kind of back to seeing all prosecutors as the opposition, and it feels very hypocritical. Throughout this segment, Phoenix gets a lot of pertinent case info that no one else has and refuses to share it with Edgeworth, Franziska, or Godot. He claims it's because he's worried what it could mean for Maya, but...dude, Edgeworth and Franny aren't even prosecuting this case?
Especially considering how often Phoenix gets upset at prosecutors hiding evidence, it feels a bit odd. When they reveal info they never told him, it's a villainous moment of them being unfair. When Phoenix hides who the victim actually is, that's totally fine.
Yeah, I hadn't really thought about that angle for why he withholds so much information over the course of this case, but that...I don't want to say it makes sense, because it doesn't, but it does sort of explain it. In a weird, not-very-good way.
Franziska I at least get a bit, since she did prosecute against him just this morning and he doesn't have much of a connection with her. But Edgeworth? Come on.
She didn't prosecute against Phoenix, but Edgeworth. I get what you mean, though. Also, was it just me, or was Edgeworth way more emotionally open than he usually is?
I think you're not wrong there. I chalked it up to character growth.
I thought he just got a therapist, which like...damn does Edgeworth need one.
That is absolutely true.
It's interesting how, even after everything, including having the Magatama himself and seeing the Psyche-Lockes, Edgeworth still holds that the Fey family are a bunch of frauds and their magic doesn't exist. It's pretty obviously just denial, but for someone who is usually so logical, it feels like that's a very deliberate character beat.
Considering his involvement in DL-6 I can understand how he feels strongly about that.
What is a bit odd is that, well, Maya. As far as I can tell, Edgeworth either doesn't really know that Maya is from that family/a spirit channeler herself, or he mentally ignores that as best he can. Of course, it's also been made clear in this case that while he is definitely worried for her, that he...honestly doesn't know Maya very well. Which is so weird to think about but...yeah, in terms of what we've seen in canon, they have barely interacted at all.
I guess that's true, isn't it? I never really did think of the two of them as particularly close, and I guess that's why.
Kind of a shame, actually. I'd enjoy seeing the two of them interact more. Actually, is that a ship? I don't know if I'd ship it, but I'm sure some cute art or comics or something could come from it.
I don't know about shipping them, but I definitely see a lot of fans seeing them as like...very good friends, bonding over their shared love for the Steel Samurai. Which is cool, just... doesn't seem to be canon.
Never let that stop your dreams, though, people!! Be unbound by the shackles of canon!
For sure, breaking free of canon is what fan creations are for!
I think we've mined good old Edgeworth as best as we can, so we should move on to the next prosecutor, Franziska. I don't know about how you felt about her in this segment, Sam, but I loved so much of what they did with her, especially in contrast to last segment.
I agree, it was really nice to see her in a more casual setting after her development in Justice for All. She was a fun companion to have around, too.
I agree on both counts, and I have a lot of specific stuff I want to call out as just being wonderful pieces of characterization. I pointed out in the recap that I like her interaction with Pearl, it's a cute little scene that shows the hidden softer side to the character.
But even more standout for me is the scene right where your part of the recap started. Edgeworth is still clearly shaken from the earthquake and in a really mopey mood, but refusing to leave the Inner Temple to go get fresh air to properly recover from his ordeal. That's when Franziska whips him, the first time she's done so that we've seen, and tells him to leave immediately. It's done a bit harshly, but I feel like the tone behind it makes it obvious that she's trying to get her "little brother" to take care of himself, for once.
That's true, I think her affection for him is rather plain. In her own way, at least. Which is nice to see, especially since we didn't see them interact a whole lot in the previous game, and it humanizes her a lot. She's just a really nice addition to the sequence overall.
It helps me be a little more forgiving of the previous segment, too, since the complaint that it does little with Edgeworth and Franziska can be easily countered with the fact that it set up their involvement to deliver on more in this next bit. I don't think it completely absolves the previous segment of that particular issue, but it at least feels like their inclusion matters a lot more now, so I'm willing to accept the first court day as putting the pieces in place for this investigation section.
I can see that, even if I don't particularly agree with it helping with setting this one up really well.
Another thing I love about Franziska here is how obviously contrasted she is to her brother in terms of their relationship to the Kurain Channeling Technique, and through that how open their minds are. Franziska hasn't held the Magatama or seen Psyche Locks, but she knows the magic is real because she studied it, and she takes its history and that of the Fey family very seriously, while her brother is entirely closed to the topic due to his trauma.
The relationship between the courtroom and the magical elements in these games is weird, since there doesn' t seem to be a particularly consistent way that the fact-based courtroom setting regards the magical (but also totally observable) mysteries of its universe. So I much prefer this personal difference between how Edgey and Fran approach it, compared to the courtroom's "I don't believe in this but I guess it can count as evidence" approach.
Okay, you've brought this up a few times before, and I feel like now is my turn to take a stand: I don't agree with that reading of the courtroom's approach to magic.
Throughout the first game, spirit channeling is never brought into things at all, court-wise. The closest we get is how Misty was involved in DL-6, but even then it was made clear she wasn't brought in as a witness, but only used to guide their investigation. That's a bit odd, considering the set-up for the murder basically left them with only one reasonable suspect anyway, but whatever.
The second game is where that changed, with Reunion and Turnabout. The case was, of course, heavily based around spirit channeling, since the prosecution was trying to make it clear that the defendant killed the victim in the middle of a channeling. She submitted evidence supporting the idea that the Kurain Channeling Technique actually worked, that was the stance of the prosecution, and Phoenix didn't challenge that because he agreed with her.
Recently, we had the crappy other judge make it clear he thinks spirit channeling is a bunch of nonsense, but we haven't heard our Judge's thoughts on it in detail, only that he seemed to be willing to accept its reality in Reunion and Turnabout. There is some more evidence for this whole discussion next week, but I'd argue that the court isn't inconsistent, it's just not something that's been proven to exist unless evidence appears to suggest it does.
I suppose you have a point about it not being challenged since both Franziska and Phoenix agree on its existence. I guess the use of magical reasoning strikes me as similar to the times when Phoenix will just reference a random thing someone said outside of court. It seems strange that it would just be taken as fact despite the fact that it clearly isn't considered concretely so, and has no evidence to make it that way.
Except the one time it was court-revelant, it was proved! Franziska had photos of "Maya channeling" Mimi Miney, as well as (illegal) pictures of her in the Detention Center. Is that, like, super hard evidence? No. But Franziska seemed confident it was true, and the Judge didn't challenge too hard. If he had, she likely had more evidence to prove for a fact it did exist. I don't think it equates to using out-of-court statements as evidence at all.
I suppose that's fair. I also don't remember the details as well as you, so I'll yield to that. I just remember feeling like it was weird that the Judge reacted so skeptically to certain magical reasoning before the court simply operated as though it was true.
I know we discussed it quite a bit during the recap, but we should refocus on the scene between Franziska and Godot. Starting with it from the Franziska perspective
Oh, is there more to share about it? I thought "Godot is a misogynistic asshole" just about covered it.
I hate this scene, a lot...but I also kind of like it? Just because, and bear with me I might be talking out of my ass here, I think it makes Franziska more sympathetic. It's hard to play through that scene, I would argue, and not feel like at least a little more admiration for her, and it feels like this segment on the whole is trying to make Franziska more likable where it can.
Why? Well...no matter how aggressive Franziska can be, there is something humanizing about seeing someone being aggressively dehumanized, which is absolutely what Godot is doing. Godot isn't just using garden-variety sexism, he's calling into question Franziska's status as a person, something that can be directly traced to his habit of using animalistic nicknames for many people, especially women. Franziska is rough around the edges, but seeing a woman in a male-dominated profession being talked down to like that...I don't know, it inspires a lot of sympathy from me.
That's definitely understandable. I'm sure there can be a lot of discussions had about whether that's worth it, especially since "sympathize with this woman because she has suffered" is a pretty common trope that sometimes has issues. But I agree it accomplishes that, and it's good to give the player reasons to sympathize with Franziska since her main role in the series up to this point has been antagonistic.
I see what you mean, that's why I think it's a bit of a sticky topic, but at the same time I'd argue it isn't quite falling into that trope? At least externally, Franziska isn't intimidated or sad or hurt by what happens, she's just pissed off. It gives me the impression that she's had to face these kinds of taunts and jeers her entire career, and that perhaps part of the reason she's so proud and prickly is as a defense against this very sort of verbal assault. Maybe that's a bad read, but I appreciate what it does for her regardless.
I agree, I think it works. Even if it is hard to stomach. And I feel vindicated in my "Godot isn't that great, actually" hot take from earlier.
Before we totally move on to Godot, I just have one last Franziska note: I just adore her being Phoenix's assistant, and I wish there was more of it. Their dynamic is unique and fun. It gives a fresh perspective on her that feels really true to her character.
I agree there as well. I was surprised to see it happen, but it turned out to be a really fun pairing.
So...the Godot side. Like I said in the recap, I definitely think part of the purpose of that scene was to underline his misogynistic worldview to show how it informs the way he sees the past and the present. We don't know everything about Godot just yet, but we know a hell of a lot.
I'm definitely on your side about him not being a great character, in the sense that he's far too sexist and callous to be likable for me, but I do kind of appreciate that it makes him a bit more menacing, at leastfor me. He's not just a prosecutor doing his work for selfish reasons, and in the process risking innocent people's lives, he's someone who took the job for personal reasons and doesn't care in the slightest about the potential ramifications of his actions, at least from what we've seen so far.
My issue with all that is...well...like I said, Phoenix never really calls him out, he almost ignores the dressing down of Franziska completely. Godot's sexism is inarguable, I would contest, but I don't know if it's as big a negative trait in the eyes of the writers as it is for us, and that's...kind of a problem?
As a general rule, I feel like Phoenix is too passive when it comes to this sort of thing. He's weirdly quiet pretty much any time he's surrounded by bigotry or abuse. Sometimes it makes me think the game doesn't understand what it's depicting is wrong, and other times (like this one) the game obviously does, but for some reason doesn't think Phoenix would take issue. Which...I don't love, to be honest.
But yeah, the thing for me is that Godot is, especially as of now, just a colossal asshole. There's no underlying ideology to work through like with Edgeworth, and he's just not as fun or interesting a character as Franziska. Just some asshole with an obviously irrational grudge based in events we only found out about just now. He's the mystery box of Ace Attorney prosecutors; no actual substance, just a jerk who's kept out of sight long enough to give the illusion of depth.
Maybe the last segment will change my opinion on that, but at this point I kind of doubt it.
That's such an interesting stance, and it isn't one I'm going to try and argue against. While I do think there are things to find interesting about him, they're a lot less substantial than they are surface-level cool. I also agree, I think they make Phoenix too passive, especially in contrast to some later protagonists.
In terms of less important characters, did you have any particular thoughts on Bikini or Laurice?
Eh. Bikini is pretty meh for me in general. She occasionally annoys me, but mostly is just... there. And Laurice pretty much just wallowed this time around so I don't have much to say about him.
I liked him more than I did last segment? He didn't actively annoy me?
I can agree with that, though I wonder how much of it is just because he doesn't play as large or active a role. Fewer opportunities to do the stuff you hate.
I mean, the pity party with Pearl was just kind of cute.
Pretty much. I did actually enjoy Laurice just hanging out with the small child being sad about their respective failures.
You okay if I move into smaller observations, or was there any other big stuff about this segment you wanted to discuss?
Nope, you're good! Honestly, I think I stuffed most of my input into that giant wall of text earlier.
Franziska brings up an interesting point if you Present Godot’s profile to Gumshoe: if the reason he wasn’t around for the trial was because of a medical condition, surely the police wouldn’t have been so confused as to his whereabouts. After all, they should know about his health problems.
That is true. Godot's explanation makes sense, but it is weird the police wouldn't know about it. Though I wouldn't be surprised if he just failed to tell them the date and time of the appointment.
Presenting Gumshoe’s profile to himself reveals that Maggey is going to buy him a new coat, and Franziska sent back the one he has now from Germany. She's a bit annoyed that he's just getting a new one so soon after she laid all that money to send this one back to him.
Aw, but Maggey.
Meanwhile, Mia’s profile shown to Edgeworth leads to him making clear what Mia had guessed, that the trial traumatized him too, though he plays it down by saying it made him a bit sad.
Which trial are we talking about?
Apologies for being vague, the previous trial we played, Mia and Edgeworth's first trial.
Ah, yeah that definitely makes sense. Even Edgeworth isn't hard enough for that not to affect him.
If you Present Gumshoe's profile to Edgeworth, he reveals that he recently treated Gumshoe to a pasta dinner as thanks for his hard work, but Phoenix gets on Edgeworth for the fact that it’s his fault that Gumshoe is so poor to begin with, and he should do more for him. Holy crap, Phoenix is being a good friend?!
Examining the skis during the metal detection scene leads to the revelation that Gumshoe can ski, ice skate, and snowboard. He’s the least good at skating but the best at snowboarding.
I'd pay to see that, honestly.
Which would be the most worth your money?
Snowboarding, for sure. Skating comes in second, followed by skiing.
So...that's kind of it, at least for my notes? Weirdly enough, neither today or the previous investigation day were we able to visit the Wright and Co Law Offices or the Criminal Affairs Department, so there are no examinables. Meaning the last ones we get in the original trilogy are the ones from Recipe for Turnabout. That feels...strange.
I hadn't actually thought of that, but you're right. This entire case takes place out at the temple. If anything, I feel like that helps it feel more strange and disconcerting, which is part of its goal.
I think it works well for the goals of this case, definitely. However, it is an odd fit for the final case, the ultimate climax, of the original trilogy. This is the last case where the Wright and Co Law Offices exist...which makes it a bit strange that we barely see them. This is probably more a topic for next time, but I would say this is one more area where the story being told just feels like an odd one to end a trilogy on.
That's entirely fair, and I'll look forward to talking about it next time.
Did you have anything else?
Nope, I think I'm good to move on to the next and final segment of the Ace Attorney Trilogy!
Auf wiedersehen!
Until next time!!
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