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laytonslife · 4 years

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Marina - The Compass of Layton’s Mystery Detective Agency

I was inspired by @chewyloon‘s post on Marina. So here we go…

Marina is the compass of the entire Relic Stones plot line. Lemme explain.

When Luke goes missing, Marina actively seeks Layton out for help.

Throughout the series, most of the characters we see requesting Layton’s aid- including his old friends and his own brother- write letters to him. The only ones who set out to find Layton are Espella, Flora and Emmy.

Espella didn’t know Layton- she went to him on Carmine’s instruction. Flora visits Layton’s office in Lost Future when she’s waiting for him and Luke to get back. Emmy was sent by Targent to spy on Layton. (Though, she may have wanted to become Layton’s assistant before she was assigned her mission, but there’s still that connection already existing between Layton and Bronev.)

Marina’s just moved from America to London and she decides to go to Layton’s office. She’s never met the man himself- all she has to go off is what she might have read in the newspapers and what Luke has told her. Luke never stopped telling her about Layton and their adventures. Marina probably already feels like she knows Layton from Luke’s stories alone.

She knows she can trust him to bring Luke home. So, she goes right to him. No mysterious letters, no masks, she just wants his help to find Luke.

Luke trusts Marina enough to tell her a little about his adventures with Layton and to let her see the photos in his study. I say ‘a little’ because she didn’t realise how the charms Luke had given her were linked to the mysteries- Flora’s ribbon, the Molentary Express, Subject 3… Luke has kept the finer details of these mysteries secret, for the sake of Spoilers! (in a meta sense) and for the participants of these cases. Flora wouldn’t be very pleased if Luke revealed St Mystere’s true secret. It kind of implies Marina hasn’t met Flora- or at least doesn’t know her well enough to recognise her ribbon- which makes me sad…

Oh, well. Layton knew nothing about Luke’s marriage which is still RIDICULOUS but moving on…

Luke didn’t want Layton to doubt Marina. She can trust Layton and much as Layton can trust her.

Marina informs Layton that she and Luke used to solve mysteries together in America- which we don’t have time to see outside of a quick picture- but Luke pushed Marina way from the Relics mystery. There’s this short scene I really like where she’s delivering Luke tea but he’s locked himself in his study. She looks dejected, but we don’t see her screaming and banging on Luke’s door. She gives Luke the space he wants.

This is an in-character reaction for Luke. He did the same thing back in Spectre’s Call when he was focussed on the spectre and again when he ran away from the hotel in Future Luke. Luke isolates himself from his loved ones when he’s upset, and on both those occasions Layton was the only one who could comfort him. Marina was worried about him, so of course she turns to Layton when Luke disappears.

(She’s known this professor guy for like 5 minutes but welcomes him to her house. She’s practically accepted him as her father-in-law already.)

I actually like Luke’s map puzzle in his study. If it had been in the games, it would’ve been one of the first puzzles you solve. (Shame the anime couldn’t give the viewer time to solve puzzles like Eternal Diva did…)

Ya girl Marina can’t solve puzzles and isn’t all that observant (yet), but in her defence, she’s only lived in this house- in this city- for like a month at tops. How was she meant to know where the British Museum was? I couldn’t walk to the British Museum without google maps and I live in Britain!

Luke’s left another message of his whereabouts at the museum. This is another puzzle I like- and Layton gives Marina a chance to solve this one. (GOOD REDEMPTION RIGHT THERE. THANKS HINO.) What’s nice is that this puzzle is a bit more accessible to the viewer too. It sets up the bookshelf and the chandelier and we even get a hint from Layton. We get to solve the puzzle alongside Marina- we see a scrolling view of the room from her perspective. (You can imagine a DS stylus scrolling across the screen here.) Then Layton confirms the answer.

Next we get that fight between Layton and the thugs, Don Paolo’s reveal (which still doesn’t make much sense, given his change of heart in Lost Future…) and finally, they rescue Luke.

Layton says Luke pushed Marina away from the Mystery was so she wouldn’t be in danger, but he still chides Luke afterwards for upsetting her.

We get emotional hugs and Marina demands for Luke to explain the Relics stones to her as well, which they thankfully do. Luke reveals that he didn’t want to tell her because the Relic Stones were thought to be cursed and brought misfortune to anyone involved with them… Kind of like a certain ‘witch’ who thought she was cursed and pushed everyone- even her closest friend- away.

There are so many Spectre’s Call vibes in this episode I’ve never noticed. Luke shut his loved ones out just like he did during SC, but Layton reminds him you can’t just do that. And Marina was the one to request Layton’s help.

Marina asks if these dumb Relic rocks are really that dangerous. Luke gives her a brief history- blah blah blah- and after scientific analysis brought not results, the stones started emitting light in a certain direction, like a compass. The general gist is that the stones will eventually lead to the treasure of the Relics.

Luke still insists there’s no need for so many people to get involved in the mystery but he apologises for trying to solve it alone. Layton says the two of them can work together to solve it. Then he suggests that the light of the relics forms a loop, leading back to the original stone. We get a circling shot overhead of our four heroes. Yay! We’re all connected and we’re all in this together….

NOT.

Episode 2 of the Relics begins with the backstory of how Luke saves Kat, and how Layton raised her. Okay, strong start. But then it turns out Layton and Luke are leaving to finish solving the Relics mystery when Kat is like… 11. Rosa even calls Layton on this. (Thank you, Rosa.) It’s just the two of them going, not Rosa or Marina or anyone else. I know, they’re our iconic duo, but what about those themes of everything being connected from the first episode? What about Luke’s acceptance of letting Marina get involved? What about not shutting people out…?

Right, w meant to be talking about Marina’s character. I don’t think Marina gets so much as a mention during the second Relics episode. We see Luke writing to Rosa, but not his wife.

After Luke and Layton almost get caught by cult members, Layton asks Luke to tell Marina not to meet with anyone. I hope he means ‘don’t meet with anyone involved in the Relics’ rather than ‘don’t meet with anyone, period’.

Turns out this idea was pointless because Marina still gets captured by the cult. They never explain how- maybe she was following Layton and Luke, who knows.

The evil priest uses her life as leverage to make Luke and Layton surrender.

At the end of this episode is where the ‘cult member Marina’ theories stated appearing. Which is still an awesome theory and would make a great AU!

Imagine if the helpless damsel in distress who requested for Layton’s aid is actually the main villain. Kind of like Clive!

That’s not quite what happens in the next episode, but what we do get is still a cool alternative to Marina being a helpless victim. And it really does her character justice.

Whenever Flora followed Layton in the past, she usually ended up getting kidnapped. (Nothing wrong with Flora, but we all wanted more for her than that.) Whenever Emmy followed Layton she always ended up saving the day… but she turned around and betrayed them in Azran Legacy. (Nothing wrong with Emmy- she still helped save the world- but I personally wanted her to stick in to Bronev.) Marina is a blend of both Flora and Emmy. She does get captured, but she gets her own back on her kidnappers too.

She enters the Relics chamber, all spooky-like, and warns Kat she can’t touch the pods yet. Marina knows what she’s talking about (and she has probably seen some shit).

Marina explains how she was captured by the organisation eleven years ago. However, she infiltrated the cult and investigated the Relics. We don’t know what happened to her during those eleven years, though, she does say, ‘Because you apprehended the priests, I’m able to work freely now.’ Chances are, she was held captive by the cult for ELEVEN YEARS. Otherwise she would’ve, I dunno… gone to the police? Told someone?

She didn’t know where Layton and Luke were being kept, but she stayed with the cult long enough to obtain valuable information on the Relics. She found out how to free the inhabitants of the coffins. So, she frees Layton and Luke. (And to think, they were so determined to leave her behind…)

It must’ve been horrible being captured, but without her, Layton and Luke would still be frozen. She used the villain’s knowledge against them and saved the heroes. (She even hints at the secret organisation hired by Dellender called ‘Witch’…)

Layton and Luke get taken to the hospital. Marina shares an emotional conversation with Kat. Marina assures Kat that Layton and Luke will be alright. Marina wonders what Luke will think of her now that she’s aged eleven years. (Interesting point of comparison- this must’ve been how Layton felt when he saw Claire after ten years… ) Kat assures her that a reunion in a reunion.

It’s one of Kat’s more sincere moments- she’s comforting Marina but it’s implied she can’t wait to reunite with her dad too.

Kat and Layton finally reunite… We hear from Luke about how he reunited with Marina. Luke says he’s sorry for dragging her into this- though he didn’t really, he tried not to involve her- and for being gone for so long. Marina tells him it’s ok and then gives one of the best lines in the anime:

She’s being more forward about her feelings now. She won’t be hovering outside Luke’s door anymore - she’ll be knocking it down until he gives her a straight answer. but that’s fine, because she still loves his adventurous side. She listened to his stories about Professor Layton and when Luke was lost, she knew they could turn to the professor. She led the professor back to Luke, led the cult to their downfall when she got caught, and her actions led to Kat reuniting with her father.

Marina is the compass because she brings everyone back together.

#marina triton #layton mystery detective agency #long post #meta

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