Headscratchers / Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva

• Nothing was explained about the eternal nature of Ambrosia. NOTHING.
  • Are we talking about the ruins which rise upon the music being played, the people of Ambrosia, or Melina? We're given a sort of throwaway comment about how the people of Ambrosia didn't last forever because they had eternal life, but rather because we remember them — their story is passed down to each generation. It's a bit kitschy, but it's something. I'm more annoyed about the fact that, as a man of science, Layton tells Luke that Melina could well have been a reincarnation of the Queen of Ambrosia.
    • The kitschy explanation bugs me a lot, to be honest — the whole movie in general just feels like it's being written by a different writer from the games. The explanation feels tacked on, something they made up at the last minute. The whole ruins rising up because of the music annoyed me a lot too, but as a friend of this troper said, there were pipes all around Ambrosia and the different frequencies of the music could have been detected by the pipes as a password of some sort. But yeah, in general, the conclusion just really bugged me.
    • The explanation for what "eternal life" actually means is hardly "tagged on". The fact that people process "eternal life" through memories, rather then through literal physical eternal life, is literally the entire point of the movie. It's the basis behind every single major plot point, and it's the big reveal behind what the "game for eternal life" actually is. Melina died physically, but Whistler wanted to extend her life, artificially, by swapping her memories into another body. In that sense, "Melina" lives on, even though she is dead. That was the entire basis behind his plan. The movie's aseop is that people move on, people die, and that's a fact of life that you can't change, but the memories you have of someone live on forever. If you want to get even more in depth with it, Whistler's plan actually involved in a more literal & evil variation on what you should actually do with your loved ones when they die. Whereas he was literally trying to transfer Melina into someone else's mind; at the cost of that person's own mind and life being overtaken, what you should actually do is live your own life while remembering the person who died. However Whistler was trying to do the same sort of thing, but in a more literal sense, and at the cost of suppressing the lives of 'new people' just to keep Melina alive inside their brains. The aseop is simply that you should keep them in your mind, but while living your own life at the same time. And this, in turn, ties into the legend connected to the kingdom of Ambrosia. Considering the entire story arch relating to Melina, it isn't at all a stretch for Layton to comment that she might be the reincarnation of the Queen of Ambrosia. Her story mirrors the story of the queen, and quite purposefully so.
    • Time Travel exists in that universe, as do clockwork automatons realistic enough that they can perfectly imitate living beings, and devices that are able to copy minds/souls around. It's not implausible for reincarnation to be a realistic possibility in that universe.
• Why does Descole want Ambrosia anyway? Profit?
  • If the fan theory that Descole is really Lando is true, then he might be trying to one-up the guy he taught archeology to, seeing how super awesome and famous Layton's become. That would also explain why he was so furious about Layton being the one to raise Ambrosia instead of being all 'Oh hey, thanks for doing my work for me' about it. I'm guessing we'll get the answer when it's revealed who Descole really is.
  • That fan theory is Jossed, since it's revealed at the end of Miracle Mask that the Masked Gentleman is actually Randall, and Randall and Descole appear on-screen together. Descole's reason for seeking Ambrosia is also revealed in a short clip after the credits. It's one of the Aslant legacies, and unearthing it was necessary to obtain the power of the Aslants. This will be further elaborated on in the sixth game.
  • He sought their power of eternal life. When that wasn't, he probably hoped to at least net himself some fame, and prove himself the better over Layton, by getting credit for the discovery. Layton revealing it in place of him, despite that, was probably what made him so mad, after everything.
• Was the reason why the Melina inside Jenis was different than the one implanted into Emily because Jenis accepted Melina's memories? Also, how could Melina choose to just "move on" at the end if "she", as in her memories, was just a bunch of electronic information? Does that mean her father actually did something like a soul upload and not just a memory upload? If that was the case, the ending would make sense, because then it would be essentially her spirit leaving Jenis to leave for the afterlife. We were told, however, that Jenis was only implanted with Melina's memories and that she accepted it. Thus, Melina shouldn't have been able to disappear like that. Melina, in all likelihood, probably retreated to the furthest recesses of Jenis' mind so that she wouldn't bother Jenis anymore..
  • Likely, yes, the mind transfer is more of a soul transfer. The memories don't appear to be just data, otherwise, they could have been perfectly preserved without degrading, or needing that countdown timer on the Detragan that Whistler was worried about. It's likely part of why an incompatible transfer would be rejected, and the original person put back in place, since their soul would reassert itself. We see that Jenis isn't just implanted with memories, despite claims to the contrary, as the version of Melina inside her head appears to have a continuing and separate consciousness.
• In the beginning, when Layton is explaining the story of Ambrosia during the play, I got a little bothered. The villagers drink the immortality potion AFTER the queen is already dead. Why? They know she's dead and gone, if they want to meet her again, why not commit mass suicide and meet her in the afterlife? Living forever won't bring their queen back.
  • Because they believed their queen would be reincarnated and they wanted to wait for her. And besides, it was all only symbolism anyway
  • Maybe the Ambrosians didn't believe in an afterlife, only in reincarnation? So they took the elixir of eternal life, and waited for their Queen to come back one day.
• Why didn't Descole just use Nina to sing "a song of the sea"? She knew the song, why waste so much money to find another candidate for Melina's memories?
  • Two reasons. 1) Nina's copy of Melina's memories was incomplete and unstable; she might not remember the entire song (or be able to remain as Melina long enough to sing it). 2) For all Descole knew, the "song of the sea" was something that required the singer to have a trained/'adult' voice.
    • Nina, being a child, might also not have the attention span, or recall to properly sing the whole thing.
• In the very beginning, how is Layton's silhouette being illuminated against the brick wall? Luke hasn't turned his flashlight on yet, and Layton's flashlight is being held out in front of him, so his profile could not have a shadow.
• One thing I really didn't understand, and was never explained to my satisfaction, is why Amelia was chosen. Melina's father notes that he 'searched far and wide' for a 'special young woman' to receive a free ticket to the opera. Of course, the real purpose was to find a new house for Melina's memories and personality, I get that part - but what was so special about Amelia? She was supposed to be a gifted chess player. That didn't exactly guarantee that she'd have the vocal range necessary for Melina to sing the Song of the Sea So why did they pick her?
  • I thought they picked her because she was capable of housing them, which was what was most important to Oswald, anyway. Not sure exactly why she was compatible, just that she was.
    • Presumably her compatibility was somehow linked to her intelligence level. She was, after all, one of the few to solve nearly every puzzle first. That would also explain why Oswald briefly tries to use Luke, who also did very well on the puzzles, as a fallback for his plan.
  • In regards to the Song of the Sea part, the vocal range didn't seem to be the issue. The problem was that Melina was the last person to know what the song was, so when she died, all knowledge of how to sing it was gone. Putting Melina's conscious in someone else's body would ensure that there'd be someone alive who could say what the song was. And if Amelia's body didn't have the physical ability to sing it, they could have just ordered her to write it down and found someone else to do so
    • I'm not sure about that. The notes having to be precisely played would suggest that it would have to be sung, or played perfectly, or at least close enough without the relevant note registering as another. Otherwise, it might fail. It's unclear whether the songs could all be played on an instrument to the same effect.
• At the beginning of the movie the Professor says that the one who silenced Big Ben escaped from the room and then solves a puzzle to unlock the door but the puzzle he solves was covered in dust and still in the floor. How could the culprit get out if the puzzle wasn't solved when Professor Layton and Luke got there? Who reset it?
  • It was definitely an oversight. Either that or the Eternal Diva was given the format of the video game. Giving us, the players, the feel of needing to solve the puzzle ourselves, regardless of whether it was solved already or not. As for Big Ben being dusty, who cleans it up everyday anyway? Probably at least once a week or month.
  • It's implied Don Paolo was the one that did it, maybe he had another avenue of escape that Luke and Layton couldn't use? His helicopter umbrella let him fly over the Thames, so "up and out", or through a window isn't entirely out of the question.
• Maybe I'm just missing something, but what exactly was the point of the entire shtick with the food and wine? The way it's presented makes it seem like it's important, but after everyone decides to just eat it, it's never even brought up again. Amelia specifically brings up that it could be a puzzle, so it seems especially out of left field how it's just never used afterwards.
  • They had arrived at the opera house around sunset (judging by the sunlight when Emmy drops Luke and Layton off), and the meal was given to them around late morning the next day. Descole]] probably knew that he needed to feed the contestants, and the potential of a puzzle was just Amelia being properly skeptical.
• Why did Amelia hide that the Detragan worked on her? She could have saved a lot of girls from getting kidnapped and almost brainwashed.
• How did putting three components into the tower door restart Big Ben, even without someone touching the wind-up key in the door? The clock presumably functioned without them previously, and there was nothing to start the gears moving after they were inserted.