Edgeworth has a disdain for Mia’s Feys methods… Hm…
I notice something very interesting replaying this case. The whole reason we see Edgeworth as a villain here, at least in the beginning, is because we are playing from Nick’s Point of View. This colors our view of Edgeworth immensely. Viewed objectively, however… They aren’t too different. Both of them are genuiely just trying to fight for their ideals. Edgeworth wants a dangerous murderer to be put away, Nick wants to save an innocent girl. We know that Nick is in the right here, but just ignore that the Defendant is Maya for a moment, OK?
Let’s imagine we were playing Edgeworth: We come into this case, knowing that a Defense Attorney he faced years ago was murdered and all evidence is pointing towards her sister as the murderer. Edgeworth believes himself to be his own father’s murderer at this point. And he would love to see himself punished for that “crime”. So, no, the “But she loved her sister!” excuse doesn’t count for Edgey. If he could kill his father, this girl could also kill her sister. He wants everyone to atone for their sins, including himself. In his mindset, punishing Maya isn’t just legit, but maybe even in Maya’s own interest… To give her “atonement”. He’s traumatized after all, remember that.
Anyway, let’s just consider the situation from an objective standpoint now:
We know Edgeworth has a disdain for Defense Attorneys, but not because he considers them “worthless and annoying”, as Von Karma does, but because he (thanks to DL-6 and Robert Hammond) thinks they all use dirty tricks to free horrible criminals for money and status. That’s not unlike Nick’s behaviour towards Prosecutors in JfA, I would like to note. In fact, it’s almost identical.
So Edgeworth comes into the case. He wants the defendant declared guilty for his (sadly at that point quite twisted) ideals. So he investigates. The autopsy says “Blood Loss, died instantly”.
That logic does obviously not flow, so Edgeworth knows the autopsy must contain a mistake. He orders a second one. Naturally, Gumshoe doesn’t inform Nick of the fact that he’s giving him a soon-to-be-outdated Autopsy Report. Thank you, Gumshoe.
So, he goes to court and sees who the miserable Defense Attorney is he is facing off aga-
He rubs his eyes. No. That can’t be right.
…Certainly, this is a coincidence, correct? After all, “Phoenix” is indeed not *that* rare of a name and “Wright”, too, is quite common! It doesn’t mean-
…He checks a photo. Spikey hair. No doubt. Same guy.
So, Edgey faceplams a bit. Phoenix Wright. Why him? What is he doing in court?! Why in the world did that timid, somewhat whiney little boy he used to play boardgames and cards with become a Defense Attorney of all possible kinds of people he could have been? And then maybe, just maybe, Edgeworth realizes “Could it be because of my constant preaching regarding the greatness of this occupation back then…?” In that case, he caused it. What a delicious irony of fate. His former BFF has become an ally to the common criminal, thanks to him.
And then, they stand in court and face off.
Compare the situations. Nick faces off against a former best friend knows has become corrupt. Edgeworth, too, faces off against a former best friend who (at least from his Point of View) has become corrupt. The difference is that Nick wants to make Edgeworth snap out of it, While Edgey just wishes someone would come and tell him that whole case is just a cruel joke, set up to purposefully give him the most uncomfortable day in court he has had ever since the two mid-trial murders he was unfortunate enough to witness.
And then, just to crown it all with a cherry on top, Nick suddenly starts wildly accusating Edgeworth of autopsy-report forgery during the trial… The very same thing his father did to Von Karma before he was killed, I would like to remind you.
And Edgeworth knows he didn’t forge anything. He knows. Can you imagine what this must be like to him, have that guy who used to be his friend and playmate, suddenly stand in front of him and act like his father acted, just an hour before he died, defending a woman who probably killed someone, and calling him a sham and forger? That must be hell to go through for a psychological damaged person like him!
Nick is a very well-intentioned person, as I mentioned previously, but once he gets rolling, he tends to go too far. He leans out of the window too far, becomes too harsh and acts too rashly. We see this here, we see this a few times in JfA, and he gives his a disgraceful climax with what caused his disbarment in 4-4. Nick doesn’t mean to hurt people, but when he does, he does it quite painfully. You make all the jokes you want about “unecessary feelings”, as Edgeworth calls it, but I can imagine him getting quite some sleepless nights from this one trial.
Then again, I assume this all was necessary to finally solve the mess once and for all and get Edgeworth back to his senses. Perhaps sometimes forceful action *is* what’s needed and “overdoing it” becomes just the right thing to do…
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