Board 8 > KCF plays Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice

(+) Yeah! (+)

Ga'ran is arrogant and power-hungry, but Amara reveres herself as a god and has no issues abandoning family. I have no idea who is the worst human being, but their parents must have been real winners.

It kind of annoys me that Amara has yet to open her eyes and she keeps slowly waving her arms around.

Ga'ran is standing down and putting Nah back in the saddle. I suppose that I must humiliate Nah quickly to bring Ga'ran back.

Amara somehow summoned a bunch of animals and the tiger is go goddamn goofy looking that I am oddly mortified.

Aww, she scared the animals away. Anyway, Amara channeled a second person? And they had to be someone that was at the tomb? Oh my god...Dhurke was already dead wasn't he? Holy shit...His body must be in the sarcophagus then. It was, he had a blue butterfly, and he has been dead for days, assuming the temperature control is not a factor. Does that mean he was already dead before coming to the US? The three unaccounted for bullets from Inga's gun were lodged in Dhurke's chest.
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Ah, Maya was the one who channeled Dhurke when “he” arrived at the beginning of the episode. I hiope they explain how and why Maya was tied back up again at the tomb. Amara must have channeled Dhurke after Maya. Oh, they say forcibly so and not a team effort.

I didn't think of the reason for the extra magatama. I totally forgot about the Magatama of Parting. It feels like forever ago since that was relevant. It's location doesn't make much sense, though I guess Amara just had to throw it somewhere since she couldn't leave the tomb again.

Oh no, the poor animals came back only to be quickly scared away again.

Now is the time to bring up the different colored butterfly pendants, and that was the key to finally make her open her eyes and stop moving her arms. This does seem to suggest that Amara killed Inga, but I don't see a motive yet. I spoke too soon.
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haven't read anything but

KCF0107 posted...

Aww, she scared the animals away. Anyway, Amara channeled a second person? And they had to be someone that was at the tomb? Oh my god...Dhurke was already dead wasn't he? Holy shit...His body must be in the sarcophagus then. It was, he had a blue butterfly, and he has been dead for days, assuming the temperature control is not a factor. Does that mean he was already dead before coming to the US? The three unaccounted for bullets from Inga's gun were lodged in Dhurke's chest.

yessssssssssssss
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Amara was the one who was entertaining that king with a spirit channeling (the player once again had no chance of figuring out that the person who did had a burn scar). That also means it has to be Ga'ran who killed Inga. We have come full circle to my belief that Ga'ran has no spiritual power and that's why she wanted the Founder's Orb so badly. I also think this might confirm that Rayfa is Amara's daughter, assuming that spiritual power is hereditary.

I will be disappointed if this ends with Amara regaining the throne. With Dhurke dead, you know that the revolution will probably not succeed in overthrowing the royal family because who else do you have to take control of Khura'in? Datz? Beh'leeb? I guess it could be Nah, but he is technically part of the royal family too. I bet it will be some sort of compromise where Amara is barred from reclaiming the throne. It would be a huge travesty if the rebels would be okay with someone who is mentally incapable of making decisions on her own or coming to her own conclusion rule over a country, not to mention her inability to connect and empathize with her subjects (she reveres herself to be a god remember).

Aaaaand Amara was shot. Good I hope she dies, though this is just getting to be too much. I still have to prove that Ga'ran killed Inga and that Ga'ran/Inga committed arson and killed Jove, but I'm kind of getting burned out on this trial even though the recent reveal that Dhurke was already dead was amazing.
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iirc it's outright stated that rayfa is amara's daughter in the investigation
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SeabassDebeste posted...

iirc it's outright stated that rayfa is amara's daughter in the investigation

You do NOT recall correctly (don't click)

wow. okay. man, a lot of those 'twists' were pretty obvious then. <_<
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Yeah I know, I thought it was drop dead obvious too. I specifically remember however that they hold onto that reveal until the last part of the trial! It barely qualifies as a real spoiler

In the lobby, Rayfa is acting like she knows Amara and Dhurke were her birth parents. So Amara ran away with Dhurke eight or nine years after her house was burned down, had another kid with him, and decided he must have been the arsonist after all? What a joke of a person.

Nah is confessing to murder to protect Rayfa's name or something. I understand that in the Khura'inese culture, children of a criminal are alledgedly dead to everyone. Of course, that doesn't apply to Nah who became a revered among the people as prosector. Nah, you are living proof that nobody gives actually shit if you are the child of a criminal.

Okay, can we tone down the rapidfire of flashbacks and sentimentality and get back to lawyering?

With the long-awaited séance of Jove, I must say that it is underwhelming. It took me several views though to see that was a mirror and a lighter was reflected in it. Said lighter looked like one a smoker would use, so I initially thought it was Inga. Then I thought that the bluish image from the reflection was a wrist tattoo, but nothing in the court record helped me determine someone until I was told it was a wristband for the Minister of Justice. THEN I realized it had to be Ga'ran since she held that position back then. Of course, Apollo didn't realize that and had to be bailed out by Nah of all people.

Clothing to dress up like Dhurke was in the sarcophagus, but I would have to see Inga's séance again to see if they matched up the blood from his actual clothing to the disguise.
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Aha, Ga'ran doesn't have spiritual power! Trial over.

Trucy stowed away in Edgeworth's luggage. I have no faith in a man who doesn't realize that he's wheeling around 100 more pounds than usual.

Nah will be regent (I think that means temporary king) until Rayfa learns to channel spirits. At least that means Amara is given the boot, or better yet dead. Oh, Amara will still be there in some capacity, probably to help Rayfa learn to channel spirits. LOL rebels. Not quite disaster averted, but it will have to do.

This I believe is the first time all game that we've seen Apollo from Phoenix's perspective. He's staying in Khura'in, but he didn't take Athena with him to allow Phoenix to regain the full spotlight in any future games. I will take this partial victory.

I assume that Laramir (or however it is spelled) was the person speaking to Phoenix at the end.

End of Episode 5
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These aren't pros or cons for the case since they didn't really have an affect, but I want to mention that:

1. I am disappointed that Athena was once again useless as she came to Khura'in, did nothing, and wasn't used in court. Had Trucy been tagging along, you know she would have recovered something with her magic panties.

2. It is laughably ludicrous that Inga actually wrote that note and kept it in his safe. It is the absolute dumbest thing that I can recall a murderer doing since Furio Tigre unknowingly confessed to murder, but that was actually awesome in context.
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Now for the actual Pros and Cons

Pros
+ Dhurke already being dead since the start of the episode was one of the most pleasant shocks of the series
+ Nah partially redeemed himself
+ Despite being over-the-top cartoony, we haven't had a menacing presence like Ga'ran since probably Manfred Von Karma in the first game
+ An eventful and engaging investigation (you might have realized I prefer the investigation over trials)

Cons
- Uncomfortably bloated even for a final case
- Off-putting how much “foresight" from Dhurke was necessary
- Too many breaks in court proceedings for long-winded sentimentality
- Yet another villain who had ample opportunities to squash the defense
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I think that I should probably wait to talk about my final thoughts on the game, post episode rankings, top new characters, and whatever else I can think of until I beat the DLC case.
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I disagree. the DLC case is tonally dissonant and nowhere near as epic as 6-5, which is a fitting finale - I'd rather hear your thoughts on the game as a package now, and then enjoy the gaiden!
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Well I, uh, have nothing prepared. If I have time after doing other stuff, I will try and think of something to type up.
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your call!
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Ran out of time to post. Will do so tomorrow with DLC progress too
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I totally forgot to type out DLC progress, but I can post other stuff
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Case Rankings

3 > 2 > 5 > 1 > 4

3 and 4 were the ones I was 100% sure where they would be ranked, and I'm sure everyone figured this out as well. The others had a wide variety of pros and cons that made it more difficult to determine.

The second case may not have had a much going for it as 5, but its cons were a lot easier to stomach than the other two. 5 had some of the best moments and segments in the game, but it was a severely flawed one that fell victim to Capcom trying to one-up themselves. The first was actually one of the better introductory cases, and it did well to help introduce to the player to Khura'in and the séance. Unfortunately, poor logic doomed it to this spot.
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Best New Characters

1. Tahrust
2. Trial Paul
3. uhhhhhhhhhhhh...I can't cheat and say Khura'in Judge? Maybe Rayfa

While a step up from Dual Destinies, new characters have really gone downhill in quality after Apollo Justice. Tahrust made the third case an all-time great. Trial Paul made an otherwise underwhelming trial something worth going through. It was very tough coming up with a third one.

Ga'ran had a true villainous presence but it's unfortunate that she was a queen with absolute power because it became tiresome to watch her not use said power to end the trial whenever she wanted to even after making at least five threats to do so. I know that Apollo was obviously going to win the case, but I would rather it be through true merit than the opposition being stupid. We call that a hollow victory for the player.

Dhurke was an inoffensive character who just never really stood out. He was less of a character and more of a narrative device.

Datz was a pure comic-relief character who had a decent success rate as one. Unfortunately, I cannot forgive him for his testimony in Case 3.

If they didn't make Retinz' facade so over-the-top and unlikable, I'd say he had the best shot at #3, but alas it was not meant to be.

I think it has to go to Rayfa by default despite her role in the final case being that of depressed, confused girl who, to the surprise of nobody who played even 30 minutes of the first case, was forced to grow up a bit. She said some variation of the same few things over and over, BUT, she was kind of funny and adorable at times during investigations. She also had some of the best animations. I suppose that's enough to put her at three.
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Interesting rankings. You're definitely in the minority for not preferring 6-5, but that's fine

As for where I would rank Spirit of Justice among all the Ace Attorney games, it is nowhere near the bottom tier that houses Dual Destinies, but it is probably in the next tier above it in the Sort of Good, I Might Have a Slightly Different Outlook Depending On the Day tier that includes Investigations and Apollo Justice. While it had more complex and interesting crimes than most Ace Attorney cases, I disliked how (and the series has seldom strayed from this) there are few suspects, someone (usually the defendant) passes out at the crime scene, and it is there isn't much focus on everyone's questionable alibis and unknown motives.

5-3 totally missed an opportunity, but for the majority of the case, you were were trying to figure out how the victim was killed while also trying to dissect the alibis of the two students to see who was lying. While it lasted, it was a lot of fun and when done right when make for one hell of an investigation/trial combo.

Spirit of Justice pretty much held the line and focused on the how while the motives were either obvious from the get-go or were saved until the very end where it didn't matter. That makes the trial portions more than anything kind of a slog to get through.
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Still need to catch up on this... bump for now
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That was, uh, some opening animation. I swear that I saw Butz among the dozen flashback images they gave you a microsecond to view.

For someone who's working as a magic performer solely for the cash, I doubt Athena realizes that her part-time job likely prices life insurance policy out of her range.
- On Athena complaining that she's too young to take out a policy

Wait, Trucy has accounting skills? I'd like to see her try. I assumed that Athena would at least take over cleaning duties since Apollo left (I am merely guessing this takes place after the events of the game).

Aww yeah Butz! He mentions Phoenix playing the piano, and I think that I vaguely remember that. He used to during Apollo Justice correct?

Ellen is the name of the girl from the opening. She is about to get married and works as a maid for an aviation baron's residence. Please don't tell me that she's marrying Butz...the poor woman. Butz is an aspiring picture book author? I feel like that's news. His pen name is Laurice Deauxnim. Hmm, wasn't Maya's mother using a similar pseudonym?
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LMAO, Butz had the wrong idea. Ellen wants to marry some Sorin guy. She's also a murder suspect. This is lovely. Dumas Gloomsbury is both an unfortunate name and also the name of the victim. Seeing a picture of him, I remember that mug from the opening supposedly trying to kill Ellen. His hair looked darker in the video, but that may be because it was during the night.

Ellen is upfront about this time travel stuff. Dumas was already dead when she went back in time. So Butz made a fake bomb threat to get Ellen out of polic custody.. I'm sure that it will end up being swept under the rug, but doing so without an explosive device could still carry about a year in jail time. Butz appears to be Phoenix's investigation partner. I hope this lasts.

Going to the detention center, I find out that Ellen is actually a psycho. She sounds perfect for Butz. Why does she have a ladle and is banging stuff together like a toddler? On second thought, we might have found a woman that Butz is too good for.

Phoenix takes the case without really knowing anything about it. I guess that's better than what Athena did just two cases ago. Phoenix should at least be prepared for court. Ellen has no idea why Dumas tried to kill her. Her pendant apparently contains a part of the time machine that her fiance made. Dumas was found dead inside a lantern during cleanup of the wedding reception. Maybe it wasn't a wedding reception because that would imply that they were now married. Is there such a thing as an engagement reception?

Ellen plans to marry someone from the very same family that she serves. How scandalous!
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KCF0107 posted...

His pen name is Laurice Deauxnim. Hmm, wasn't Maya's mother using a similar pseudonym?

That was Larry's pen name in 3-5, so yes.
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Ellen claims that she saw someone hit Dumas in the future/alternate timeline. I'm not sure how I should be labeling it.

Butz' tenure as an investigative partner (maybe assistant is a more apt term) comes tp a swift end as a pretty lady strolled by. I spoke too soon, he's back after a just-as-swift rejection!

The reception hall is on the airship, so the crime scene must also be up there. Whether or not the murder took place there is another matter (but 99% likely it was).

I was hoping for a Phoenix, Butz, and Edgeworth triple investigation team. Maya instead of Edgeworth is perfectly acceptable. Oh, Edgeworth stepped out of the car and could make it a quadruple team. Even better! Oh, it is going to be a Phoenix vs Edgeworth court case. The best!

Noooooo, don't take Butz away from me Edgeworth! I have no leg to stand on though since he's totally justified in hauling Butz away.
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I actually made it up to the trial, but I wasn't able to post it all because I forgot that I had to take my sister to the nursery. After I get back from taking my mom to lunch, I will finish the update.
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lol Maya comparing a tower to a single mom of three working a full-time job.

Mentioning time travel to Ema was a swing and a miss.

Large info dump with commentary:
- Murder occurred after 10 PM
- Dumas was a servant to the the same family as Ellen
- Murder weapon is believed to be a clock and blood was wiped off. Said clock might be a time machine
- Nobody supported the marriage between Ellen and Sorin
- Victim was found in a lantern shaped like a flying bull. There are two of them when there should be one bull and one cow
- The position of the body seems odd to me given how the lantern must have toppled over, but they probably just wanted to give the player the best look at the body
- Dumas' hand is all bloody and he has these weird papers around him. Maya says they might be petals
- Unless Dumas' took a page from Inga and the Idiot Murderer Handbook, someone either instructed Dumas to go after Ellen or the note implicating that was fabricated
- Phoenix objects to the idea that Dumas or alternate timeline Dumas wrote it but not when Inga did it
- Butz has his business card holder here. I wasn't under the impression that he was here and only met Ellen at/near the police station or something
- There are two fog machines. I guess that's important since it is now under evidence
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A mute guy or someone severely lacking in social skills wants Phoenix and Maya to leave the airship. Just my luck, he happens to be Sorin. He's also kind of a dick. I hope he is the murderer, but it's probably this other guy with pretentious written all over him. His name is Pierce, and he's a butler.

How did...how did Maya break the radio back at the mansion of that one family whose name I already forget and so fast? She said that she was going to check out the radio and two seconds later, she broke it. I would kick her out if I had the power.

The airship has a few rooms that you need a keycard to enter, namely the staff room and hold. There is a keycard in the mansion here, and it belongs to Ellen. However, they are saying Ellen hasn't been here since before the reception. I would say that the plot thickens if the witnesses didn't say a man resembling Butz was here earlier.

That's right Phoenix, never play along with Maya ever again!
- Phoenix was schooled on bulls not producing milk and dairy vs beef bovine breeds

There's a wedding photo that I didn't see anything particularly suspicious about. The fog machine is working, and you can see Sorin, Ellen, and Pierce. They say that Ellen looks nervous, but there's no way any of us can make out any facial expression from here. An awkward and perplexing conversation about time travel followed.
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There's another photo, but this one contains a person we haven't seen yet with the pocket watch that Pierce has. Her name is Selena and she "was" a great lady. That means she's probably dead. She might have even been romantically involved with Pierce since this is apparently that kind of environment. The jury is out on that, but she is dead and from a car accident.

Of course, Butz had a larger involvement with the case than he initially let on. He made a sign for the wedding but was not invited to the reception hall. Someone else brought the wallet it, which may or may not end up being important. I forgot to check if it was part of the evidence. He also saw a flying object outside of a window. It obviously wasn't a real pterodactyl, but Phoenix and Maya did not object.

Photos are all the rage this case, and this new one does warrant some questions. It was in the hold where only keycard holders are allowed to access. Somehow Butz got in, but that's not important to me. Anyway, the questions:
1. Flowers with petals matching those found in the lantern are here. Is the hold the actual scene of the crime?
2. The cow lantern can be seen next to the bull one. Where did it go?
3. Ellen was writing something while walking. Will the prosecution end up making the argument that she wrote that note found near Dumas?

I thought it was a good idea to show Butz the photo on Serena to see his reaction. It was a great idea!

Time for lawyering!
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I will resume tomorrow
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oh man i fell behind

i'm disappointed that you didn't like 6-5 that much - and especially that you were bothered by ga'ran not shutting down the trial - that's just the nature of the beast you face when presented with an UNSTOPPABLE OPPONENT, unfortunately, but i don't think it detracts from how otherwise awesome the case was

also thought that rayfa's awesome role as investigative partner greatly outweighed the 'sad girl' object role she played later. in general i thought much more highly of the game's cast than you did.

KCF0107 posted...

While it had more complex and interesting crimes than most Ace Attorney cases, I disliked how (and the series has seldom strayed from this) there are few suspects, someone (usually the defendant) passes out at the crime scene, and it is there isn't much focus on everyone's questionable alibis and unknown motives.

5-3 totally missed an opportunity, but for the majority of the case, you were were trying to figure out how the victim was killed while also trying to dissect the alibis of the two students to see who was lying. While it lasted, it was a lot of fun and when done right when make for one hell of an investigation/trial combo.

Spirit of Justice pretty much held the line and focused on the how while the motives were either obvious from the get-go or were saved until the very end where it didn't matter. That makes the trial portions more than anything kind of a slog to get through.

can agree with this sentiment in general, though
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The problem with Ga'ran in the last trial was that the repeated threats of her being capable of doing whatever she wanted were wholly unnecessary (threat of the DCA was all that was needed) and severely diminished the sense of accomplishment at the end. While it was likely the case all along, Khura'in was officially established to the player as being an absolute monarchy with Ga'ran constantly saying that she can end the trial whenever she wanted and rewrote laws when she felt like it. Thus, she had every opportunity to get away with murder, but she didn't because...why didn't she get away with murder? The writers overplayed their hand.
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Edgeworth looks so old without his glasses, but he's listed at being just 35. Japan is infatuated with making people much younger than their appearances suggest.

Dumas was hit and "fell into the lantern?" That just creates half a dozen new questions. Dumas was also struck twice. I'm glad this info wasn't just sprung on me now.

I guess we now know why they had Dumas in such an odd position in the toppled lantern.
- To "embarrass" Ema and refute the claim of the second attack coming from Ellen

Ouch, Phoenix passive-aggressively told Edgeworth that he is alone and unloved. I didn't know he had it in him.

After Ema's testimony, I was wondering if now was the time that we bring up time travel until I realized that the fog machine used ice, so we are instead establishing the ETD being off. I wonder the percentage of cases where a death had their ETD be off.
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Pierce entered the hold between Dumas and Ellen. He was entertaining people or something, but he has to be the killer unless a new character is introduced.

Since Phoenix wants to establish that someone other than Ellen used her keycard, I'm guessing that he's going to throw Butz to the wolves. Butz did not take that well. LMAO his testimony is titled "Nick is a Jerk Face!" It was also empty, but that's okay with a title like that.

Ahh, so the note that we see Ellen writing in Butz's photo must have been this one talking about exchanging statues. I'm surprised that Edgeworth didn't use this opportunity to accuse Ellen of forging that note found near Dumas.

I think that the image of Butz getting nabbed by securityy was what I saw from the opening animation when I said I swore that I saw Butz.

Butz said that he moved statues twice, and the reason for that was because of time travel. He didn't know about time travel until much later, so that actually doesn't explain why he moved the statues twice.
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I didn't even have to cross-compare the photos to know that the difference had to be the color of the flowers Ellen was holding. They were so bright that I'd imagine the vast majority of players came to the same conclusion. I'm actually wondering, given the elevation and angle of the photo if Butz's card holder also acts as a camera. Otherwise, I have no idea how he snapped a picture if he wasn't in the room at the time.

Uhhhhh, the Sprockets held the reception twice to cover for Ellen? Yeah, that reasoning isn't going to fool anyone, well the players anyway.

If the real murder scene was the vista deck, then there's no way the prosecution has evidence to get Ellen convicted. The trial has been suspended for further investigation.
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Update might not come until tomorrow.
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KCF0107 posted...

Edgeworth looks so old without his glasses, but he's listed at being just 35. Japan is infatuated with making people much younger than their appearances suggest.

edgeworth has had a pretty damn stressful life, though. wouldn't say that is out of ordinary for a guy who's worked as hard as he has.
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How old would Gumshoe be? He's probably had the most stressful life out of anybody.
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lol Butz is giving the office 10 copies of his book but still charge them for it. I hope it is at a discount.

It is odd that none of the evidence was discarded even with having 3-4 full pages.

"Why am I being treated to the view of someone's underwear?" - Phoenix on Ellen showing us underwear
- Phoenix and I were on the same page, almost verbatim.

Pierce has been with the Sprockets for less than a year. When did Selena die? If it's before he joined the family, I'm guessing that it was solely because he thought there was more than what meets the eye regarding her death.

How did Ellen not notice holding different sets of flowers? I would think that the bride and groom would be able to pick up on such differences. I'd also imagine that there were several other differences that the player wasn't privy to.

Sorin obviously wishes to go back in time to change the car accident. Why are we even wondering what it could possibly be?
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Phoenix and aya forgot that you need a keycard to enter the hold. They will remember soon enough. I actually wanted to visit the Vista Deck first since that sounded like an option, but the game is forcing me to go into the hold. I guess we won't be needing a keycard.

The hold also acts as a lift and can take you to the Vista Deck. The police didn't find anything of "particular interest."

If almost everybody was involved in the cover-up of Dumas' death, then how super inconvenient was it that Ellen met up with the only three people who weren't at the exact time that Dumas' corpse was found and she was holding the murder weapon?

I thought that the suspended airplane in the hold could have been what Butz saw through his cabin window since the hold has a lift, but the cabin is on the opposite side of the airship, and the cabin's window must be on the south side of the room.

Dumas was left-handed and his prints were on the candelabra. Butz's hold photo from prior to the first reception has the candelabra missing.

There's a huge bloodstain on the lift. There's no way that all came from Dumas' hand, especially since it wasn't mangled.
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Uh, I wasn't done investigating the hold, but I was forced to go onto the deck. It didn't last long, but since I was there, I wanted to investigate!

I totally forgot about Maya breaking the Sprocket radio in two seconds, so good call by Phoenix to keep her on a short leash and forbid her from going near the fancy dishes.

A broken candelabra pin might have something to do with Dumas' bloody hand. Since we are doing a luminol test, I would be shocked if that wasn't the case. Ema saved me the trouble of having to do that myself. I was hoping that I could show the photo of Dumas' bloody hand to Ema as a possible source even though it isn't humanely possible for that to come from a single hand. Well this was unexpected, it isn't even Dumas' blood. Did they ever check to see if the blood on his hand matched his own blood? Ema needs to step up her game.

What was the point in going up to the vista deck at all if there was absolutely nothing to do there?

Well Sorin had an odd reaction to the candelabra, and he's bleeding. I can put two and two together. This makes me further question what kind of dirt Pierce had on Dumas to carry out the former's plan.
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I like how everyone in the foyer is back to acting like nothing happened.

Sorin's notebook mentions Match 8th, which I can only assume is the day of the car accident. How inconvenient, it fell in a pool of blood that the maid only 10 feet away should have cleaned up already. Dumas was driving the car? I now have a theory:

- Dumas drove the car and was at fault for the accident
- Pierce somehow knew that and blackmailed him to kill Ellen
- Sorin must have had an altercation with Dumas in the hold that turned bloody
- Dumas proceeded to follow instructions
- Pierce then killed Dumas, must have knocked out Ellen or something, completing his revenge for Serena and have someone take the fall for him.

"...normal, peasant phones" - Phoenix annoyed with the object on Pierce's shoulder
- And just what is a peasant phone?
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Pierce confirmed that Dumas was at fault for Serena's death, and that Sorin asked for Dumas to stay on. Perhaps Sorin was conspiring to murder Dumas after all, but there's an even bigger question. What leverage did Pierce have on Dumas? I haven't budged on being 99.9% sure that Pierce is the murderer, but if everyone knew that Dumas was at fault for the accident, what could force Dumas to a plan that would have him commit murder?

Serena's fiance was a surgeon, which I guess means Pierce was a surgeon in his mid-20s, possibly earlier. However, the game wishes to hold that info from the player and try to surprise them later. They've had Pierce take out his pocket watch 79 times too many for that to be a realistic possibility.

Pierce knows about the candelabra and a pysch-lock appears. Dumas brazenly went to Ellen after the first reception in Sorin's presence, so that clears up the reason for the violent altercation in the hold.

The wheel handle from the bull lantern that Dumas was found in had blood on it when we were first investigating the reception you dolt! I filled up my old writeup book and do not have it with me, but I'm pretty sure that the white was the inside wheel handle, so Ema erred in reconstructing it.
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A key to activate the time keeper, whatever that entails, was found near where the bride and groom sit at the reception, It is eerie that Phoenix used the word entail immediately after I thought of it. The maid said that it was to be used for their version of the cake-cutting ceremony. They also mentioned love ceremonies, startups of love, and symbols of love that I have no idea what they are talking about.

Sorin is freaking out, probably looking for the notebook that Pierce either has or has destroyed. What kind of logic is not being allowed to talk to someone for fear of their wounds reopening? I'm not asking him to physically exert himself, and if they didn't reopen from him frantically moving around, I'd say that finally taking him to a hospital after his latest episode puts him in the clear.

You know, I wonder how much time was between the first and second reception if Sorin was fucking stabbed and lost enough blood to warrant serious medical attention, which I have to assume came from Pierce.

Athena has been absent essentially the entire time. Even if Phoenix mentioned stuff about the case, she's not intimately familiar with it and thus can't reasonably say that Sorin "always seemed suspicious."

Back to lawyering!
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I should finish this case up over the weekend and post on Monday. Not to sound like a broken record, but it is obviously Pierce and the why has to do with Serena's death. The how is not exactly known, but it isn't really important as there isn't too much wiggle room on that. All that I am really intrigued about is why Dumas got caught up in all this.

This plan by Pierce was all contingent on Dumas responding to whatever threat was issued toward him, and if it isn't something that the Sprocket family all knew about in him being at fault for the accident, what could it be?
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Bumpers
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It really isn't hard to upset Edgeworth, but to his defense, Sorin is infuriating all the time. Now I feel bad for Edgeworth since everyone is ganging up on him.

Sorin's very first sentence of being stabbed in the hall does not reflect the facts, but nothing I am presenting seems to work. With the amount of blood at the lift, he was clearly stabbed in the hold or he'd have been dead long before reaching there.

Sorin said that Dumas grabbed the Time Keeper when he grabbed Ellen. Why would he make his hands full? Why would he even bring the Time Keeper? How did the candelabra get back to the hold then?

Why are they even bringing up tossing the Time Keeper over the deck? The piece of paper only mentions Ellen, so anything else is pure conjecture. Phoenix, I have come up with half a dozen things that there's hard and circumstantial evidence that you can reroute the conversation to.

Wait, so if Sorin didn't go to the hold, then Pierce was also stabbed with the same candelabra? How could Dumas hold Ellen, the Time Keeper, and the candelabra? Nothing makes sense so far. Edgeworth is saying that the blood on the lift is Sorin's, which I always thought was the case. Okay, I am confused as fuck.
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Oh, the hold entry record is what I needed to present. Sorin went through the escape hatch from the reception hall. I never thought about it, but it actually never occurred to me that the airship was ever flying because I always see it tied to the ground. Thus, I was receptive to the idea that it was grounded during the receptions.

They are calling Butz' drawing a poor attempt at artistry. Maybe Edgeworth thinks anything made by someone other than Picasso or van Gogh is garbage, but I thought it was pretty great and far better than any drawing I could ever muster.

The only thing that remotely resembles the pterodactyl was the sign and regardless of how they say it did resemble it, I don't see how Butz could have seen it the way he did since the cabin window is at a much higher elevation. Oh, they are saying that at the exact moment that Butz was looking toward the windows, it blew into the air a little.

I completely missed Sorin saying that he was stabbed by a knife like three times. I still refuse to believe that he was stabbed in the reception hall. Just look at how much blood was found in the hold! If he was bleeding that much all the way back in the reception hall, he would have collapsed and died no later than when he reached the vista deck!

Phoenix says that Sorin has no recollection of the stabbing incident. More importantly, he believes Sorin has a memory disorder. That makes sense given his accident and how detailed his notebook was after it. It also explains his panic attack when he couldn't find it.
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