canonklapollo: canonklapollo: im still laughing at capcom calling klavier apollo’s nemesis when their entire relationship in AA4 is klavier doing him favors to try and get friendly with him “we need to get into this crime scene” “allow me to escort you right in immediately” “hey here’s a contradiction” “wow nice catch!” “I’m having a… Continue reading
Here we have Klavier’s profiles in the court record – also a very interesting view on how Apollo sees Klavier, in his own words.
The first two are from Turnabout Corner. The first one is gained when you first bump into him at the crime scene, and he allows you access. The second is obtained after you talk to Phoenix Wright about the ‘prince’ Trucy is going on about.
Note that in both of these, he’s first and foremost described as ‘spitting image of Mr. Gavin.’ Something that brings up a lot of contention in Apollo’s emotions, I’m sure. Also, probably doesn’t give a lot of immediate trust, since Apollo’s likely judging the guy by his brother’s actions at first, as well as Klavier’s own flighty nature.
The last one is shown from Turnabout Serenade onwards. So Apollo’s views on Klavier change from anywhere between some point during the Wocky Kitaki trial (June 16-17), and the concert (July 7th). And during that concert, there are lines where Apollo states that Klavier ‘…was kinda cool. And I’m kind of envious. Not that I’d admit it to Trucy.’ (Internal monologue)
It’s an interesting and rather heartwarming progression of Apollo warming up to Klavier, starting to see him as his own person, and starting to respect him and like him for who he is and the talents he has, even if he’s not willing to admit such things to anyone else.
And that last bit, I think… is actually beneficial. Klavier already has enough people fawning over him – it’s good to have someone who can see that he’s cool, but won’t go easy on him just because of that.
WAIT A SECOND FRIENDS BECAUSE THIS IS ACTUALLY A SUPER IMPORTANT MOMENT THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED.
I mean at first glance this scene is just sort of funny but also a little bit sad because aww Phoenix didn’t really know if he could rely on Apollo at first.
But wait a minute.
Phoenix didn’t know if he could rely on Apollo.
That actually makes a lot of sense and explains SO MUCH about Phoenix in AJ.
I mean, think about it. Phoenix has been down and out for seven years. He’s been working to clear his name for just as long. He knows who did this to him, all he needs is the right evidence at the right time. And judging by the way he went about taking Kristoph down, he was probably getting fairly desperate.
And then Phoenix meets Apollo, and soon the Shadi Smith case happens. Phoenix knows he can’t let Kristoph defend him. Best case, he goes free but another innocent person goes to jail in his place. So he thinks of Apollo, and decides it’s finally time for Kristoph to go down. He asks Kristoph if Apollo can defend him.
But Apollo is a rookie. He’s never stood in trial before, he’s young, inexperienced, a bit naive, and to make matters worse, he was trained by the man Phoenix hates most, the man he’s trying to bring down. So of COURSE Phoenix isn’t sure if he can fully rely on Apollo. Phoenix has no way of knowing if Apollo’s up to the task. He has no way of knowing if Apollo would even WANT to help him expose Kristoph’s lies. Kristoph is, after all, his mentor. So it kind of makes sense, at least from Phoenix’s perspective at the time, for him to leave Apollo in the dark. He wanted to make sure that he was on top of everything, that everything fell into place like he wanted and that the trap closed shut without a hitch. He hurt Apollo immensely in the process, and he’d have to face that eventually (as he should), but he wasn’t trying to hurt Apollo on purpose.
And even after that, Phoenix had to learn that he could rely on Apollo. I never really noticed it before, but Phoenix grows less and less cryptic as AJ goes on. He’s most distant in 4-1 and 4-2, and he starts to open up a bit and help out a little in 4-3, culminating in him finally explaining everything that had happened to him to Apollo and letting Apollo handle the case on his own in 4-4.
But that’s the really, really nice thing about Apollo and Phoenix. Phoenix DID grow to rely on Apollo. And he grew to know that he could. Throughout AJ he saw again and again what Apollo’s true values are: finding the truth, helping people in need, never giving up. He saw more and more that Apollo wasn’t Kristoph. And he saw more and more that Apollo was worthy of his respect and trust. By the time AJ ends, Phoenix really cares about Apollo. And that continues on into Dual Destinies, by which point Phoenix thinks of Apollo as a trusted colleague and friend. By the time Apollo and Phoenix stand at the bench together for the second time, they’re a team. A team that trusts each other and believes in each other’s capabilities.