Spoiler for Act 3: How old is Maelle?

[DmonHiro]

MAJOR SPOILERS! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

So.... if Maelle is 16, and Alicia was also around that age when she became Maelle, does that make Maelle technically around 30? Or do we consider the two lives parallel? I'd go the parallel option since she did live from 0 to 16 twice.

[Kangaxx]

I think, the time flow is different in those worlds. Maelle is 16.
Alicia - IDK.

[DmonHiro]

I'm definitely sure times flows differently. No way did Alina and Renoir spend 67 actual years in the canvas.

[Shin Happens]

Time in the canvas is greatly accelerated. When Maelle regains her memories from the real world she now has two overlapping memory sets, one of her 16 years in Paris and one of her 16 years in Lumière. But those 16 years in the canvas are at best a few hours / days maybe weeks in the real world.

If anyone remembers the TNG episode The Inner Light, where Picard's mind is somehow transported by an alien probe into a recreation of their destroyed world and lives out an entire lifetime in it until his death in that reality, whereas in the real world Picard is only unconscious for a fre moments or so... it's like that. Picard never forgot his life spent in the simulated reality.

So Alicia/Maelle is still 16, only with two completely different sets of memories now. She briefly talks about that in the game.

[Phat Joe]

The game explicitly states she is 16 years old. During one of the camp cut scenes, Verso tells her that she is awfully bold for a 16 year old, and Gustave says she has 9 years before her Gommage.

Monolith Year 34-9 = 25 is when she'll Gommage; 16 + 9 = 25

[Unrealtairo]

If we're going to say....go on a neuro scientist route with this analysis?

Shes 16 at the burn IRL.
Shes 16 in the Canvas.

Once she becomes Alicia again however, its back in her "real" body, that's existed for 32 years. Meaning her brain has hit the development stage of a 30+ year old yes

"Alicia", would have fully developed Myelins in her brain by this time, something that vastly alters personality and NO 16 year old would have, however she still only holds memories of 2 different 16 year olds.

You could probably say this is why she suddenly sort of had moments of sociopathy while still behaving like a child. And if you're not looking for it you probably won't even notice it (or may even chose to ignore it as a one off but that's not exactly the case).

I think the team writing her actually took something like this into account, because it perfectly explains her sudden shifts at times, like gustavos death explanation, 86'ing her painted self like it was nothing, and enslaving Verso in her ending.

[Ratsplat]

You can look at it in two ways.

In total she has experienced 32 or so years of life. However, she has never experienced life with an adult mind. Additionally, she experienced both lives separately. If she were to live as Maelle while knowing of Alicia the whole time, I could see her being considered older than 16. But with how things actually happened, I wouldn't put her any older than 17 or 18.

[Genosse Kommissar]

Originally posted by DmonHiro:

MAJOR SPOILERS! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

So.... if Maelle is 16, and Alicia was also around that age when she became Maelle, does that make Maelle technically around 30? Or do we consider the two lives parallel? I'd go the parallel option since she did live from 0 to 16 twice.

Since Maelle did not have the memories of her life as Alicia, she had to experience life again as a new beginning. And since Alicia/Maelle did not experience life above the age of 16 she technically never matured beyond that.

So no, I would argue this still makes her a 16 year old girl.

[Shin Happens]

Originally posted by Unrealtairo:

Once she becomes Alicia again however, its back in her "real" body, that's existed for 32 years. Meaning her brain has hit the development stage of a 30+ year old yes

No, she now has two sets of memories, both are that of a 16-year-old girl, and NOT of a 32-year-old adult.

She merged memories with her Alicia version, but those memories do not add years to her Maelle memories, they entirely overlap. She now remembers two 14th birthdays, the one in Lumiere and one in Paris. But mentally she's still a 16-year-old.

Alicia in the real world is still 16. Time in the canvas is GREATLY accelerated.

[Unrealtairo]

Originally posted by Shin Happens:

Originally posted by Unrealtairo:

Once she becomes Alicia again however, its back in her "real" body, that's existed for 32 years. Meaning her brain has hit the development stage of a 30+ year old yes

No, she now has two sets of memories, both are that of a 16-year-old girl, and NOT of a 32-year-old adult.

She merged memories with her Alicia version, but those memories do not add years to her Maelle memories, they entirely overlap. She now remembers two 14th birthdays, the one in Lumiere and one in Paris. But mentally she's still a 16-year-old.

Alicia in the real world is still 16. Time in the canvas is GREATLY accelerated.

If you're going to quote me then quote the whole context and address it. My entire response was specifically to do with Myelin development. We're not going to cherry pick to make it seem like I'm talking about something else entirely.

Also let us know the specifics of how much time 1 day is in the canvas vs IRL so the myelin development can be discussed correctly.

[Xaphnir]

Maelle is 16.

You're not escaping Chris Hansen on some technicality here.

[Genosse Kommissar]

Originally posted by Unrealtairo:

If you're going to quote me then quote the whole context and address it. My entire response was specifically to do with Myelin development.

Since space and time work differently in the canvas, I dont think your previous argument applies here. We dont know exactly how much faster the time moves in the canvas, therefor it is impossible to give a precise answer but I am pretty sure, that she is not 32 years old.

[DmonHiro]

Originally posted by Xaphnir:

Maelle is 16.

You're not escaping Chris Hansen on some technicality here.

DAMN IT!!!!

[Genosse Kommissar]

Originally posted by DmonHiro:

DAMN IT!!!!

If its really that bad, man, just wait two more years and you are safe.

[HoRRoRFieD]

Originally posted by Unrealtairo:

If we're going to say....go on a neuro scientist route with this analysis?

Shes 16 at the burn IRL.
Shes 16 in the Canvas.

Once she becomes Alicia again however, its back in her "real" body, that's existed for 32 years. Meaning her brain has hit the development stage of a 30+ year old yes

"Alicia", would have fully developed Myelins in her brain by this time, something that vastly alters personality and NO 16 year old would have, however she still only holds memories of 2 different 16 year olds.

You could probably say this is why she suddenly sort of had moments of sociopathy while still behaving like a child. And if you're not looking for it you probably won't even notice it (or may even chose to ignore it as a one off but that's not exactly the case).

I think the team writing her actually took something like this into account, because it perfectly explains her sudden shifts at times, like gustavos death explanation, 86'ing her painted self like it was nothing, and enslaving Verso in her ending.

Oh this is actually an interesting take. Ahem, especially since it has nothing to do with why most people are asking on this page, weirdos.

The only real question here is how much time is lost & gained in the canvas world.

Clearly, it is impossible the brain is still 16 in her real body again, the canvas does not stop time entirely. It is such a wide window? Would be somewhere between 17 and 32 neurologically.

If it's based on how she acts in certain scenarios in act 3, I would have to say shes somewhere early 20s when it comes to brain development. Especially when you have to pair those changes with potential trauma and de-sensitization from all of the loss she's had.

This has nothing to do with memories before someone tries to jump in on that.

[Shin Happens]

Originally posted by HoRRoRFieD:

Clear, it is impossible the brain still 16 in her real body again, it does not "stop" time entirely. However she doesn't completely behave like a 16 year old either. If we base how she acts in certain scenarios in act 3, I would have to say shes somewhere early 20s when it comes to brain development.

This has nothing to do with memories before someone tries to jump in on that.

People, really, just watch the Verso ending on YT or so, Alicia is in the "real" world here, standing by the grave of Verso. You can clearly see her in the cutscene. She looks just like when she entered the canvas, same character model. She's basically the same age.

Renoir and Aline both spent 67 years in Verso's canvas, but they still look like people who have adult kids with the oldest being in their mid 20s and not like 100+ year old people. They both seem to be in their 50s, which would mean they got their first child in their late 20s or early 30s. And we know about Renoir etc that he spent even a LONGER time period in different canvases.

While the game never tells us how much faster time flows in the canvas, Alicia, at best, spends a few weeks in real time in the canvas as Maelle.