How does Ariadne know that Saito is dead in the upper level?
When they are in the limbo, we see Ariadne asking Cobb to find and get Saito and not to lose himself before jumping from the building. However, before they entered this limbo Saito was still alive.
He dies protecting these dreaming people - Fischer, Cobb and Ariadne in the Snow Fortress in third level.
But, how does Ariadne know that he is dead in the upper level, when she asks Cobb to find and get him? He was alive before they started dreaming, so they shouldn't know it right? Am I missing something or is it a mistake?
Best Answer
I think the answer is in what Cobb says:
Saito is dead by now.
The by now being the important part. Based on the injuries sustained by Saito it is obvious that he only has a short time to live. And while time passes differently at the different levels, Cobb is aware it has passed. He may not know with 100% confidence but biased on how long it looked like Saito had to live, and how much time has pass he can say with a fair degree of certainty that Saito is dead by now
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Why is Saito so much older than Cobb in the final dream level?
Why is Saito so much older than Cobb in the final dream level? [Answer] - There are two potential explanations for this. The first is that Cobb took a while to find Saito. And it was during this time where Saito aged 10 times faster every layer you go deeper.How did Cobb find Saito in Limbo?
After using the grenade to kill many projections, Saito dies, and goes into Limbo. Cobb and Ariadne go down into Limbo to find Fischer, and after Ariadne pushes Fischer off of the highest floor of Cobb and Mal's home, she jumps herself, administering the kick, and leaving Cobb alone to search for Saito.How did Saito know he was in a dream?
In the train scene, when Saito was having information extracted by Cobb, the extraction team were using a two layer dream. In the first layer of the dream Saito knew that he was in a dream because of the Carpet. Saito said: I've always hated this carpet.Why did Cobb tell Ariadne about his totem?
In the movie Cobb (DiCaprio) tells Ariadne (Page) that the most important rule in choosing a totem is to make sure that no one else has ever touched it. This is emphasized with flashbacks showing him changing his wife's dream by using her totem which is the spinning top.Inception 2010 Saito gets shot and Cobb blames Arthur.
More answers regarding how does Ariadne know that Saito is dead in the upper level?
Answer 2
(Personally I do have a lot of sympathy with your thought that this is a plot hole - but here is a train of thought that might explain it)
To be fair on Ariadne, it is actually Cobb who first asserts that Saito is dead. From the script:
ARIADNE
Cobb, I'm not going to let you lose
yourself in here! You have to get
back to your children!
COBB
Send Fischer, I have to stay
ARIADNE
You can't stay here to be with her
COBB
I'm not. Saito is dead by now. That
means he's here. I have to stay
here and find him.
I know that making the distinction between Cobb and Ariadne first suggesting that Saito is dead seems very nitpicky, as we can ask the same question 'how does he know?'. However it does give a sliver of a reason why this might not be a plot hole. As pointed out earlier in the story when it is revealed how strong their sedation is:
EAMES
So what happens if one of us dies?
COBB
That person doesn't wake up. Their
mind drops into Limbo.
ARIADNE
Limbo?
ARTHUR
Unconstructed dream space.
ARIADNE
What's down there?
ARTHUR
Raw, infinite subconscious. Nothing
there but what was left behind by
anyone on the team who's been trapped
there before. On this team... just
Cobb.
Cobb is the only person in the party who has been to Limbo and what was left behind by Cobb is the only thing filling Limbo. This residual Limbo can only have lived on within Cobb's mind - almost like Limbo is his dream. Cobb as the only visitor to Limbo has got some more ownership over it than the others until they inhabit it and claim it for their own. Ariadne and Cobb have only been in limbo a few minutes or perhaps a few hours, which would only be a very short time in the dream layer above, but perhaps Cobb through his stronger connection with Limbo and the world he created in it, he can sense that Saito has died and entered it with them.
Tenuous I know - but it is my only 'in universe' explanation.
Answer 3
Agree with aidenO. He sustained a GSW to chest. In movie that means he either blows up, immediately dies without firing weapon or in this case is dead by now. There is no suggestion anywhere in the movie that Cobb can sense what is in limbo
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