It seemed more like a fleshed out tragedy to me.

-Maya's mother,who she had not seen for 17 or so years,was killed by Diego,Misty's second daughter's boyfriend.

-Pearl Fey,although unwillingly,fully cooperated with the plan against Maya.Although Maya survived,her mother, Pearl's aunt,was killed.

-Although Iris was found innocent of murder,she was still guilty of being Diego's accomplice and would have to face the consequences.

-Although Diego succeeded in his goal to protect Maya,he killed her mother who she had not seen for 17 years, and was found guilty of murder.In addition it is implied in the ending credits that he died too.

-During the final trial, Mia accuses Dahlia saying every single of her plans failed.Specifically talking about the jewel theft,she says although her plan worked, the truth was later exposed when Terry Fawles went to meet Valerie Hawthorne. But who cares the truth was exposed? Mia lost that case, Dahlia got away with her crime while keeping the jewel, and Terry Fawles commited suicide.

-Once again refering to Mia saying Dahlia failed in everything, Dahlia indeed did not succeed in killing Maya as she swore she would, but with everything that happened she could have as well been pleased due to all the sorrow and distress everything that had happened would have normally caused.

-The only thing that can be considered happy, is Morgan's failure to kill Maya. But that still is terrible enough for Pearls.

What I want to conclude with,is that I really don't see why PW3's ending was supposed to be a happy one.Sure,it is stated in the end that Maya is cheeful for Pearl's sake,but thats a tad too simple.

This is what you're saying, condensed:
-Misty died


Dahlia was put to rest, we found out the truth about Iris, at least she didn't get a murder charge, Godot's conflict was resolved, and Phoenix has surpassed Mia as a lawyer.

Yes, there are sad elements, but you gotta expect that when every case is a murder trial >_>

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It's more of a bittersweet ending, IMO.

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Indeed,but I could not just say that to show my point.Its her death in relation to the other characters that extends the sad(soap operatic to some extent) elements.


Yeah I see your point.I especially agree with Godot's conflict being resolved being a happy element.

1. Iris got 10 years, not death, which is big.

2. Godo is alive and in jail.

3. Misty was considered dead.

4. Pearl is fine now.

It's like Godo Blend 37- bittersweet.

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1.Do we actually learn that from the game? @.@

2.Same as above.

3.Still,finding out she was alive and was killed right after having met Maya while Maya did not know the truth is pretty tragic...

4.OK...

I'll assume you are half-kidding with 1 and 2.


This couldn't be more true ;) xD

One bonus, Pearl can just channel Misty at anytime for Maya now that Misty is dead.

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Which would be more contact with her than Maya's had in a very long time. It would probably help with getting over her disappearance and her death, too.


I wouldn't consider it happy, but bittersweet like others have said. Too many of the events were not good ones and would have caused people a lot of pain for the ending to be considered happy. There were some positive outcomes, however. Those can't be ignored because of all of the sad ones.

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Your comment just pointed out this plot hole to me:They didn't know what had become of Misty,but simply trying to channel her would have been enough to show she was alive and well.

Really,to the greatly designed world of AA,most plot holes exist due to the series's supernatural elements.

I think that by the time Maya was able to channel people, she might just have wanted to leave it alone.

I think Mia was trying to locate her (My memory's a bit fuzzy on this one), but probably didn't want to involve Maya in it just in case it would have hurt Maya in some way.

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They 'knew' or rather felt that Misty was alive. trying to channel her would be like getting a photo or letter giving the truth. People prefer hope to truth alot of the time, ignorance when hope is gone.

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For 1, I read that an accomplice (in a minimal way, such as Iris) gets up to 10-15 years in jail.

For 2, I said Godo is fine. It means he's fine. Or do you want to suffer the same fate as Glen Elg? (Wow, I didn't know I remembered the guy)

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Daughter's intuition right there.

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You made up everything but #3

No one knows how long Iris spent in prison (if at all), but past precedent (aka Adrian) would imply less than half a year. Godot's fate is not mentioned. And Pearl may have gotten over the trauma of 3-5 to some extent, but I wouldn't say she's "fine" knowing she helped her mother get her aunt killed. She'll come to terms with it but I'm not sure "fine" is the right word, at least immediately after 3-5.

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I am sorry to say, but I think Godot is going to have the same fate as Dahlia. Murder is murder. Just because you have a great reason to kill does not mean killing is right, and I think Godot knows this. He's probably thinking 'I can finally see Mia now'

I’m sure this has been discussed to death (har har) elsewhere on the forums, but one more blurb about it can’t hurt. You gotta remember that justice and law in Phoenix Wright’s world is loosely based off of Japanese, not American or European systems. The difference being in this case that capital punishment has a greater range of support in Japan than in the US, where the legality of the death sentence is determined at the state level where popular support varies greatly. Executions are unconstitutional in New York, whereas Texas has the highest number of criminals on death row. Incidentally, the localized version of PW takes place in California where there is a current moratorium (temporary ban) on executions until the matter can be formally debated and settled.

In either case, in the eyes of the law and for purposes of justice, murder is not always murder*. Circumstances, motives, premeditation and other variables determine the severity of the crime and appropriate punishments. I’m sure you’ve heard terms such as manslaughter, first and second degree murder. They all describe acts of one individual killing another, but each carry different weights. According to its wiki article (lulz I know, but I don’t feel like doing real research), the death penalty in Japan is rather uncommon and only reserved for the most extreme cases. "A single act of murder does not attract the capital punishment without additional aggravating circumstances such as rape or robbery"

What does this mean for Godot? I’m sure his defense team would push for a “justifiable homicide” charge, as he has a somewhat legitimate claim of ‘defense of another’. Of course the most damning case against him is that he could have prevented the entire mess from playing out if it weren’t for his pride and grudge against Phoenix. I doubt he would be sent to the gallows, but being locked away in prison may as well be a figurative death sentence in terms of future involvement with the series.

*I’m aware that the Judge states the opposite once, but come on, he’s old and unwieldy. He probably said that to intimidate the accused.