Why the attic is locked in the "final" chapter.

[PrincessJennifer]

It was a room we all wanted to be open, in hopes of getting some more of the insight from Jennifer in the "Once Upon a Time..." chapter. It was also an important room in her life. And yet, it is locked. Why?

I think that it is locked for the same reason that all the orphans besides Wendy and Jen are nowhere to be seen, though you can hear them. Jennifer wanted to remember the happier aspects of her life, thus the presence of Brown, Wendy, and Gregory-the only people who showed her kindess and gave her happiness during that series of tragic events in her childhood. The attic was the headquarters of the Aristocracy that had bullied her, where she had found her murdered friend, and where she had stopped being friends with Wendy. For her, it is a sad place. It is enough that she remembers what happened there, but it is not a place she ever wants to think about again. Like the other orphans, it is something she will never again forget, but has already put behind her, much like how she leaves Wendy at the orphanage gate. She is moving on from her guilt, but will not forget her.

[PrinceJoshua]

I was wondering why the door was locked. At first I thought it was because it wasn't really important in this chapter. Like how some doors are locked because they don't have any purpose. After reading your theory, it all makes sense now. Thanks PrincessJennifer!

[bluebutterfly]

Thank you PrincessJennifer. I never really thought about why the attic was locked, but you've made good points

[bucketknight]

I'm not going to win many fans with this, but I'm going to say it anyways (after all, I'm a God, HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA . . . okay, I'll get to my point).

I felt that RoR was very rushed (in terms of production) and that many things were left hanging either to get the game out on time/under budget or they just did not feel like they could finish it (like the drawer in the sick bay). I'm not too inclined to think of the reason why the attic is locked because it is a 'scary' place. Here's why. Jen reminiscences about being tied up to the pole in her room. She reminiscences about the 'bad' letters she had with Wendy. She reminiscences about those evil voodoo dolls in the cells. And I'm sure there's other things she reminiscences about that weren't pleasant. While I'm sure the events of the attic were worse, I'm just more inclined to believe it was something the writers could not come up a good yarn for (like Clara's drawer). Plus, I don't believe all the events in the attic happened in the attic.

Then again, it's been a while since I've played the game, so who knows?

[Carmichan]

I agree with bucketknight. It's fun to theorize about the Rule of Rose plot holes, but I seriously doubt they had that in mind (or any of our other theories for their respective plot holes) when they locked the attic door. It seems more likely to me that they were rushing to finish and didn't want to think up any dialogue for it. I remember in an interview one of them said they felt it was only about 80% done when it was released, so...

I'm not saying that it's a bad theory in any way PrincessJennifer, and I honestly really like that thought (it helps soften the blow that game designers hate me with white-hot passion), but I don't think they were thinking with that much depth. ^^;

Then again, maybe they DID have that in mind and forgot about all the other bad things they included that bucketknight mentioned. Either way, .

[PrincessJennifer]

True, Jennifer does remember a lot of other bad stuff. But the attic is where the worst stuff happened. It symbolizes the Aristocrats, Brown's death, Wendy's downfall, etc. It is the place where Jen lost everything in order to become a princess.

[coinoperated]

hmm, that dose seem to me to sound like a pretty sound theory. whether or not the developers ment for there to be any deeper meaning beyond 'well, gee gosh, we don't have time for this' for certain aspects of RoR, the whole game's pretty subjective due to the fact the player has no real way of comfirming alot of things within it. as carichan said, it certainly is comforting to be able to percive it as such a thought prevoking experience rather than the result of a lack of time/money.

[bucketknight]

coinoperated said:

hmm, that dose seem to me to sound like a pretty sound theory. whether or not the developers ment for there to be any deeper meaning beyond 'well, gee gosh, we don't have time for this' for certain aspects of RoR, the whole game's pretty subjective due to the fact the player has no real way of comfirming alot of things within it. as carichan said, it certainly is comforting to be able to percive it as such a thought prevoking experience rather than the result of a lack of time/money.

Yeah, I'd like to think there would be something worthwhile behind the doors and all the other stuff, but considering the fact that RoR consistently left me with a rushed to production feeling and the almost definite no chance of a sequel or anyway to explain a lot of things, I just tend to be more pessimistic about the game in general. While it is fun to come up with theories, I can't help but to feel like we are like those PhDs who sit around and do nothing but come up with theories that the author never even thought of.

(You can tell I've some gripes with the game. The below picture shows how I feel whenever I find out I have to fight in the game, or have to use Brown's nose to drag me in a couple hundred circles around the airship)

[PrinceJoshua]

bucketknight said:

coinoperated said:

hmm, that dose seem to me to sound like a pretty sound theory. whether or not the developers ment for there to be any deeper meaning beyond 'well, gee gosh, we don't have time for this' for certain aspects of RoR, the whole game's pretty subjective due to the fact the player has no real way of comfirming alot of things within it. as carichan said, it certainly is comforting to be able to percive it as such a thought prevoking experience rather than the result of a lack of time/money.

Yeah, I'd like to think there would be something worthwhile behind the doors and all the other stuff, but considering the fact that RoR consistently left me with a rushed to production feeling and the almost definite no chance of a sequel or anyway to explain a lot of things, I just tend to be more pessimistic about the game in general. While it is fun to come up with theories, I can't help but to feel like we are like those PhDs who sit around and do nothing but come up with theories that the author never even thought of.

(You can tell I've some gripes with the game. The below picture shows how I feel whenever I find out I have to fight in the game, or have to use Brown's nose to drag me in a couple hundred circles around the airship)

Same here bucketknight....only I wouldnt look like a girl.

[fayeaznable]

I like your theory, PrincessJennifer. It makes sense!

While it's true that there are alot of holes in the game that are just holes, I don't know, it seems like the attic is sort of a huge thing for a reflection chapter, and if I was a developer, not something that I'd just leave out.

[PrincessJennifer]

That Chio-chan clone looks like the girl from those Clock Tower spoof videos.XD

Yeah, they should have had some reflection in the attic.

[coinoperated]

As stated elsewhere, it IS a huge part of her past. while things like Clara's drawer don't have that much gravity on the plot, it dose seem weird that they give no explination for something so integral to the plot.

[PrincessJennifer]

Another possible reason for the attic being locked is reflection. For all the other parts of the game, Jennifer pretty much remembers, though in a twisted sense, all the horrible things that made her life so unfortunate during that period of her childhood. The final chapter could be considered as her actually reflecting on the happier things that happened during that bad time, since thinking only of the bad is not good for anyone. She thought of Wendy, Gregory, and Brown-the people whom she grew to care for, who also cared for her. The attic held no good memories for her-it was the main point of all her bad memories,-so there was no need for it to be open at that point.

[TheDuchessDiana]

Nonsense! I locked the attic to keep the unworthy from entering without permission!