#UF is so good at this but it's such a bitter pill to swallow

[angelofdiamond]

Is really a nice thought you have about their bond and if I may say my own, I think that the professor himself was actually suffering at the fact that Luke had to leave and that's why, compared to before, he is even more open (and I'm not saying that in the old games he wasn't but here more so) towards him to show him, for the sake of argument, that Luke is not a "mere" friend but someone much more important on the same level as someone who is your other half in a love sense. Layton often calls Luke: " my boy" (a term used to refer to someone you care about and are attached to on an emotional parental level) and the fact that in UF he drops everything, knowing the stakes, to look for him makes me realize how much he actually cares about the boy. Also, Luke knows from the beginning that the professor is not perfect (and a chronic slob XD) but he did not think he would break a promise to a young lady especially to Flora though, he is quite aware that it was an extreme case to protect her not because it pleased him and the fact that he cried in the finale shows how thanks to Luke he is finally freer to show the other side of himself that according to society, a gentleman is not supposed to show (a reason, to me at least, why Claire had told him to be an open mind) but with Luke he did: " who cares, I want to show this guy. ..to this adopted son of mine in bonding and feelings, how much I care about him." Moreover, the speech that theirs will never be a farewell is also his way of gaining strength and making it clear to Luke and himself that nothing can ever separate them even if they are far apart, they will always find a way to reunite and that their bond will never die or break.

I'm just leaving these two sequences here, do with them what you will while I go cry in the corner

[lesiasmadness]

RIGHT??? RIGHT? BUT YEA I THINK THAT WAS INTENTIONAL

It was a swing and a miss on my part but up until that scene where Luke runs off to the statue I was convinced that the game was aiming for some sort of conflict between Luke and Layton, since every other event in the stroy was a hit to Layton's status as Luke's parental figure. Layton teases Luke way more in this one, brakes his promise to Flora and then proceeds to treat her coldly, runs off often, and it's not as explicit but I think Luke also picks up on his apprehension towards Big Luke, but while Layton clearly at least suspects it's not Luke at all the whole game, Luke himself believes Clive so on his side of things it looks like Layton is just critical of and not too warm towards what Luke will grow up to be. On top of that there is the first dualogue near the statue where Luke gets a glimpse at how Layton views their relationship, plus there's moments like this

Also I don't know how intentional that is but a lot of NPC interractions now involve Luke practically on his own and Layton doesn't step in where I'd expect him to. I have sincere beef with Layton for letting that one NPC be a creep towards Luke so many times in a row. I'd usually write it off as Layton believing he can't go against what a lady wants but than look at how he treats Flora.

Aaaaand a cherry on top is that people keep saying that Layton will become a terrible person and abandon Luke constantly

For the most part I thought it was a result of Layton being preoccupied with being thrust back into his biggest unsolved case and personal darkest hour of his life, that he's letting the gentle parental guide persona slip under all the stress, but after it's revealed that he knew Luke would be moving away I'm convinced that he's deliberately slowly letting Luke peek behind that shield he's put up, because Luke has to get used to being independent and acting without progessor's comstant guidance and protection, plus maybe a dose of reality will make it easier to leave the professor behind emotionally.

So what I thought was a set up for a third act breakdown between Luke and Layton, maybe even leading to Luke actually believing Layton could become his "future self", was actually a set up for their relationship to instead evolve into a more genuine friendship on more equal terms, since Layton lets Luke in on his more real thoughts and emotions, and trusts him to do his own thing, and Luke gets closer to seeing professor more as a friend and less as a guide (I had a whole thing in a different post... about how Luke writes "your friend and apprentice" in his letter at the end after never letting Layton say "my firend" when introducing Luke before...)

SO YEA I THINK HE'S GENUINELY PISSED AT LAYTON FOR BREAKING THAT PROMISE

I think he's having a moment of dissolutionment with the idea of Layton as a perfect role model that he's had in his head since the events of Last specter

I'm just leaving these two sequences here, do with them what you will while I go cry in the corner