Headscratchers / Tomb Raider II

• How exactly did all those animals manage to get into certain areas and remain there, seemingly for thousands of years, without any source of food?
• How did two dinosaurs survive for 65 million years in the great wall of China without a source of food or anyone noticing them? Surely Lara could have made far more money revealing their location than she ever could from finding the dagger.
• How did Lara manage to get away with killing all those people in several different countries and places. In Europe, where self-defence laws are less flexible than in the US, she would likely have had to go to court and demonstrated she killed in self-defence. Even if she didn't, you'd assume there would at least be a mention of the police looking for a woman who had gone into several countries and slaughtered people there.
• What happened to the man accidentally locked in the chamber with the dagger in the introductory video? It wouldn't have been as bad if they had showed a skeleton somewhere, but the cutscene at the end of the first level suggests the door was waiting for the right person and the right time to arrive, not that it could be opened arbitrarily to rescue someone who got stuck inside.
• Why did the army in the introductory video give up just because the dragon had been destroyed? They clearly had the numerical, tactical and material advantages. They could have conquered their enemies by brute force if they wanted. Why didn't they take the dagger back and use it on someone else? No-one could doubt the power of the dagger as they had seen what it could do, and they had the military advantage so waiting for the transformation wouldn't have been that bad.
  • The power of the dagger is too much of a temptation. You certainly wouldn't want to risk your fellow warrior becoming Drunk with Power, pulling a Face–Heel Turn on you and terrorize you. Either an infighting would ensue or they'd have to dispatch the dragon after the victory since they've already seen that the power comes with a price of remaining in the dragon form forever or dieing and probably nobody was willing to pull off the sacrifice.
• Why are there no bodies on the Maria Doria? The ship crashed and we are told everyone on board died, but not even a single fragment of bone is ever found.
• If the Maria landed in air-filled caves that were warm enough for people to survive in, they had enough fuel still on board for fires to burn continuously for several decades and both fish and plants to eat, why couldn't they have lived and created their own civilisation like in the film The Goliath Awaits?
• What exactly are the secrets and who put them there? It's as if somebody knew in advance what was going on and decided if Lara could collect all three per level she'd be given weapons and ammunition.
• Why did Lara not expose the dagger to the world, rather than keep it buried in the basement as later games showed? She could have made herself a household name for the rest of time if she was able to prove magic existed beyond a doubt. If she isn't earning money through the treasure, how is she earning money? Eventually she'd end up destitute.
  • Same as the ancient war case above. Think about it: the only way to reveal the Dagger's power is to stab them in their tummy cursing them with awesome in the process for the rest of their life or even eternity. Along with that you put yourself at risk of them becoming Drunk with Power and embarking on a fiery rampage just for the kick of it. Just learning of the artifact's capabilities would cause power hungry people to do whatever it takes to get their hands on it. The rest of the more responsible authorities would probably decide that No Man Should Have This Power and insist on destroying the dangerous artifact.
  • To answer the second question, Lara's backstory from the old websides state that she makes her money through writing journals and travel guides about the locations she explores and sharing her other, more mundane discoveries with the world. It's implied that she only ever keeps the most dangerous artifacts to herself to keep them out of evil hands.

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