| Crusading for a Turnabout - Part 9 | |
|---|---|
 ~The Resolve of Athena Cykes~ | |
| Date added | May 27, 2023 |
| Duration | 2:16:51 |
| Transcript | Available |
| Part of | My Little Ace Attorney: Elements of Justice |
| ⇐ Crusading for a Turnabout - Part 8 |
⇒ Turnabout Discharge - Part 1 |
Picking up right where the previous episode left off, Fair Devotion testifies that she and Royal Order teleported to the Everfree Forest together to search for Turning Page. During their search, they got into a heated argument about Turning Page that ended with Fair knocking Royal into the Nightmare Moon statue and killing him. She covered up the murder by making it look like a timberwolf slaying (while also explaining Sugar Stamp and Turning Page's subsequent actions and motives).
With everything Fair has explained, the judge feels a cross-examination would be pointless; instead, Athena proposes a therapy session with the Mood Matrix. Fair Devotion opposes the idea; she calls attention to all the false assertions Athena has made in this case (accusing Zecora of murder, suggesting the involvement of clones, and now accusing Turning Page after promising to save him) and believes Athena took on this case not to defend Turning but to prove herself as a lawyer.
Fair's harsh tirade deeply affects Athena and even starts to turn the courtroom gallery against her. But upon inwardly reflecting on why she became a lawyer in the first place and acknowledging her faults, Athena resolves to press forward in pursuit of the truth. After briefly consulting with Twilight, Athena stands by her therapy session proposal, and Princess Luna and the judge agree.
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Using the Mood Matrix, Athena analyzes Fair Devotion's testimony; Fair claims to have kicked Royal Order into the statue with her bare hooves, but based on the dent in Royal's armor, he could only have been struck with something long and rectangular, like Turning Page's toy sword (the sword and dent are tested and found to be the same shape). Fair confesses that her and Royal finding the sword at the statue is what instigated their argument.
Turning explains that, after the blackmail deal with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, he teleported to the statue to get ahead of Scootaloo and ensure her safety. There, he heard his parents approaching and hid behind the statue, but he dropped his sword, inadvertently causing their argument. In a flashback, Fair angrily berates Royal for drilling the royal guard mindset into their son's head, exposing him to the Everfree Forest's dangers, and giving him a hero complex. She also admonishes Royal for being away from home all the time and not giving Turning Page proper discipline.
Fair Devotion interrupts Turning's recounting of events and claims that is when she killed Royal Order; Athena demands to hear what happened in Turning's own words, but he falls silent. Returning to Fair's therapy session, Athena notes much surprise when she mentions the clang of Turning's sword hitting Royal's armor, suggesting she was not present at the scene when it happened. She requests hearing from Turning again, but Fair once again objects, challenging what the Mood Matrix says and demanding actual proof that she was not at the scene when Royal was hit with the sword.
Athena turns to Sugar Stamp, Private Eye, and Sweetie Belle to try and support her claims, but they either repeat Fair Devotion's words or say nothing, with Sugar even being driven to tears by the proceedings. Athena turns back to Turning Page, reminding him of his earlier request to Athena to save his mother "no matter the cost". In a desperate plea, Athena reveals to Turning how she previously thought she killed her own mother, how someone dear to her took the blame for it, and how that guilt ate her up inside for years afterward; she is trying to save Turning from a similar fate. Clutching the ribbon Scootaloo gave him on the night of the murder, Turning decides to confess.
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Turning Page explains that Fair Devotion ran off in the middle of her and Royal Order's argument, leaving Royal alone with his thoughts before Turning came out from behind the statue. Fair cuts Turning off yet again, telling the judge that he is just confused, but Athena and Luna demand she let her son speak. A frantic and overemotional Fair Devotion continues to insist she is Royal Order's killer, causing the Mood Matrix to overload. In her new testimony, Fair claims that Sugar Stamp and Private Eye helped cover up Royal Order's murder in order to protect "the one who actually killed Royal Order".
Athena realizes that Fair Devotion, Sugar Stamp, and Private Eye all worked together to protect Turning Page; Sugar Stamp and Private Eye were both close to Royal Order that they would have wanted to shield his son from punishment. In an effort to get Fair to allow Turning's confession, Athena brings up the legal clause of double jeopardy—a defendant cannot be prosecuted for the same crime twice—and Turning was already acquitted of Royal Order's murder. However, Turning would be forced to carry the stigma of having killed his father for the rest of his life, and everyone would look at and treat him differently.
Athena points out that the alternative is Turning Page having no one left to look after him because Fair Devotion, Sugar Stamp, and Private Eye would all face punishment for their actions. Sugar and Private are swayed by Athena's words and ready to come clean, and even Turning is prepared to face whatever happens, driving Fair to snap her teaching baton in half and break into tears.
Turning Page continues to explain what happened: after his mother ran off in the middle of her and Royal Order's argument, he came out from behind the statue. He told his father what happened with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, and Royal realized his teachings had given Turning an overinflated sense of justice and a reckless attitude. When Royal suggested they slow down on Turning's royal guard training and even enroll him in school, Turning got angry, mistakenly believing his father was telling him to give up on his dreams. He eventually got so upset that he struck Royal Order with his sword, causing Royal to stumble on his weak, poison joke-affected legs and impale his head on the statue. Turning Page had unintentionally killed his father.
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Fair Devotion chimes in, confirming what Athena said to be true, and continues: she returned to the scene after hearing the clang of Turning Page's sword hitting Royal Order's armor and found Turning standing over Royal's dead body. Turning suggested turning himself in to the police, but Fair, unwilling to lose both her husband and son in the same day, covered it up by making it look like Royal was killed by timberwolves. Sugar Stamp, having been in the forest at the time delivering a letter to Zecora, observed the scene from the trees and overheard Fair's plan.
As Fair and Turning moved Royal's body to the crossroads, they heard the clang Sweetie Belle caused to scare the timberwolves away. While Fair went to investigate and move the blood and armor to the forest clearing, Turning was left alone with Royal's body when Scootaloo crashed into them with her scooter. Turning eventually teleported the body to the castle ruins to frame Diamond and Silver for the murder as payback for their blackmail scheme. Unfortunately, he had also teleported the scooter and wagon, causing Diamond and Zecora to discover them. When Turning confronted his mother again at the statue about wanting to turn himself in for killing Royal, Sweetie Belle heard the whole thing while hiding behind the statue, giving her the idea for sending the anonymous tip. Afterward, Turning Page was forced to watch as Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Sugar Stamp all came under suspicion of murder while Fair Devotion pressured him not to turn himself in.
When Turning himself got arrested after Sweetie Belle sent the anonymous tip, Sugar Stamp approached Fair Devotion and offered to take the blame for the murder, and they worked together to concoct a fake story about Royal Order and Sugar having an affair. Private Eye eventually got roped into the scheme as well, and he agreed to help for the sake of his dear friend's son. Despite Fair's best efforts, however, her scheme unraveled in the end because she could not hide her true emotions from Athena Cykes. With everything now out in the open, Fair asks Athena if pursuing the truth of this case was worth the tremendous cost, but Athena does not have an answer. For the crime of murdering Royal Order, Sweetie Belle is found... Not Guilty!
However, it is a hollow victory; Fair Devotion, Sugar Stamp, and Private Eye all face criminal charges for their roles in Fair's conspiracy, and though he cannot be found guilty of murder due to double jeopardy, Turning Page faces punishment for crime scene tampering and perjury. In lieu of potential jail time, Princess Luna proposes that Turning be enrolled in a royal boarding school to teach him the discipline and temperament necessary for him to become a royal guard. Athena and the judge both agree with this sentencing. Fair Devotion and Turning Page have a sorrowful goodbye as they are forced to be separated, with Turning giving his mother the ribbon that Scootaloo gave him. Though he will likely be stripped of his authority as detective, Private Eye promises to find a way for Sugar Stamp to be named Turning Page's legal guardian until Fair's release.
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In the courtroom lobby, Twilight offers halfhearted congratulations to Athena for winning the trial, but with the way it ended, no one in the group feels like celebrating. Apollo in particular feels this case left too much collateral damage in pursuit of the truth, but the others agree that the truth should always be a lawyer's ultimate goal in court, regardless of the fallout it causes.
When Rarity and Sweetie Belle enter, Twilight's friends immediately deal with such fallout when Scootaloo berates Sweetie for sending the anonymous tip. This leads to a very heated argument between them, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, despite Apple Bloom and Applejack's efforts to calm everyone down. Twilight is doubly concerned when Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, who have been absent for much of the case, are once again absent and Applejack appears to be hiding the reason why. Lawkeeper Equity then appears, seeming to find amusement in the disharmony among Twilight's friends. She congratulates Athena on her trial victory, agreeing with her that the pursuit of truth is always more important than the consequences that come with uncovering that truth.
Equity announces to the group that, thanks to the investigations of a new lead detective, a new suspect has been identified in the death of Overall Concept: Rarity. Shaken by this sudden development, Twilight trusts that the Wright Anything Agency will prove Rarity's innocence, but Equity casts doubt on their trust in Twilight for the secrets she is keeping from them; Phoenix mentions the Psyche-Locks he saw around Twilight, and Athena remembers the discord she heard in her heart. As Rarity is placed under arrest and dragged away, the case comes to a bleak end.
Trivia[]
- This episode and Part 8 were originally planned to be a single episode, but with everything that happens in the episode, splitting off events into Part 9 was necessary.
- A scene was cut from this episode in which, when Luna sides with Athena against Fair Devotion, Fair blackmails Luna by threatening to reveal what Royal Order had been doing in Canterlot.
- In the episode's original draft, Turning Page's flashback to Scootaloo giving him the ribbon was not included; it was added at the suggestion of team writers Everett Toews and Jarvy Jared.
- Also in the original draft, Fair Devotion was intended to be Royal Order's killer; this was changed to Turning Page at the suggestion of Everett Toews to give the story more emotional/tragic impact.
- The scene where Turning gives the ribbon to Fair was also not in the original script and was conceived by Jarvy Jared and James Boote.
- Also in the original draft, Fair Devotion was intended to be Royal Order's killer; this was changed to Turning Page at the suggestion of Everett Toews to give the story more emotional/tragic impact.
- Fair Devotion's breakdown animation is similar to that of Dee Vasquez in the Ace Attorney case Turnabout Samurai.
- Phoenix's line "The exposure of truth sometimes results in tragedy. However, it would be an even greater tragedy... to avert one's eyes from it" is paraphrased from a line spoken by Miles Edgeworth in the Ace Attorney case Rise from the Ashes.
- Official MLP voice actress Michelle Creber almost reprised her role as Apple Bloom in this episode (several EoJ cast members take voice acting lessons from Michelle and her mother Monique), but legal limitations prevented her from reprising the role.