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This article is about the character in The Sands of Time. You may be looking for Dastan from the Sands of Time film.
Biography


"Most people think time is like a river, that flows swift and sure in one direction. But I have seen the face of time, and I can tell you, they are wrong. Time is an ocean in a storm. You may wonder who I am and why I say this. Sit down, and I will tell you a tale like none that you have ever heard..."
—The Prince to Farah[5]

The Prince is the protagonist in the Sands of Time Trilogy. In The Sands of Time, young and arrogant, the Prince discovers the Dagger of Time and claims it as the ultimate prize. When he is tricked by the Vizier into releasing the Sands of Time, he allies himself with the Princess Farah of India to recapture the Sands. The Forgotten Sands sees the Prince using the experience of his previous adventure against the Sand Army and their leader, Ratash, again with the help of an aid named Razia, a Djinn. Warrior Within and The Two Thrones finds the the Prince on a dark path when he becomes the target of the Dahaka, Guardian of Time, and the road of redemption when he seeks to avenge his city when it falls under siege from the Scythians and a resurrected Vizier.

Official Description

The Sands of Time

"The youngest son of King Shahraman of Persia and a gifted athlete and swordsman, the Prince is eager to prove himself in battle. Instead, his desire to win honor and glory leads him to inadvertently unleash an evil force upon the Sultan's kingdom. Saving the day will take all his wits, agility, and courage."
—Instructional manual[6]

Forgotten Sands

"The Prince is the son of Shahraman, a great Persian King. He was raised as a warrior and athlete, but until recently he had no experience in battle. Since his adventures in India, he has become a skilled warrior. Unfortunately, his adventures there have been forgotten by everyone but him, so his family still regards him as an untried youth. The Prince is distrustful of magic which he realizes often causes more problems than it solves. He is sarcastic, and enjoys commenting on situations he finds himself in--- even when he's the only one around to hear."
—Official booklet Guide[7]


"Master of his destiny, the Prince wants to prove to his father that he can be a worthy ruler. Guided by a young djann in his search for a kingdom of his own, the Prince accidentally frees the evil lying dormant in the mystical Kingdom of Izdihar.

The prodigious warrior of Persia will need to use all his skills and harness the phenomenal forces of nature in order to unravel an epic journey in the Sands of Time."

—Instruction Manual (Wii)[8]


"The Prince is a warrior, a master of sword fighting, with uncommon acrobatic agility. His magic sword allows him to control the sand and the time."
—Instruction Manual (NDS)[9]

Warrior Within

"The Prince is a vastly different character from the one we met in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. His actions during the events of that game inadvertently unleashed the Dahaka: an invincible creature that has been stalking him ever since. Pursued relentlessly by this beast, unable to eat or sleep, the Prince has become a dark and callous shell of his former self. His fate has been written. He will die."
—Instruction manual[10]

The Two Thrones

"The Prince of Persia is back from the Island of Time, where he prevented the creation of the Sands of Time and rescued Kaileena, the Empress of Time. He eventually changed his fate and escaped death. He is now sailing to his homeland of Babylon, only to discover it ravaged by war and invaded by a powerful enemy"
—Instructional manual[11]

Characteristics

Appearance

In The Sands of Time, the Prince is described as a nimble and athletic trickster.[12][13] Jordan Mechner explains that the Prince was designed in a manner in which the character would differ from the typical muscle-bound protagonist and would rely more on his abilities to solve puzzle and navigate dangerous terrain.[12][14]

In the Warrior WithinThe Forgotten Sands and The Two Thrones, the Prince becomes muscular and akin to a brooding character, relying more on his swordplay and physical prowess in combat, though he maintains his athleticism. In The Forgotten Sands, the appearance of the Prince is perhaps likened more to Dastan[15], who reflects the Prince’s appearance in The Warrior Within and The Two Thrones.[16][17][18]

Personality

The Prince begins his journey as a self-confidant, but arrogant young man. Eager to please his father in the heat of battle, the Prince steals the Dagger of Time from the Maharajah's Treasure Vaults without thought to its reason for being there. He is easily persuaded into making foolish decisions on the appeal to his pride. In keeping with his upbringing as a royal, the Prince does not take kindly to be ordered around by Farah or women in general[14], even when conceding to their knowledge in any given situation. In the face of Farah’s headstrong nature, the Prince looks forward to the challenge of taming her should they ever be married. Initially, he is quick to blame others (like the Vizier and Farah) for the consequences of his own actions. However, he is also quick to learn humility and accept his responsibility as the one who would bring to world to ruin with the Sands of Time on the basis that he should fail. The weight of his responsibility in regards to the Sands of Time forces the young Prince to mature and consider his actions and consequences more thoroughly as his journey progresses through The Sands of Time.[14]

The Forgotten Sands sees a wiser Prince shouldering the responsibility of his brother, Malik's, actions during the siege of King Solomon’s Army and the battle against Ratash, the Ifrit who was imprisoned in the treasure vault of Malik’s palace. He is stubborn and often does not follow the wisest route or advice until his own choices create an even worse situation. As his brother is being influenced by the powers "Solomon’s Army", the Prince attempts to use non-violent and peaceful means to get his brother to see reason as opposed to meeting Malik’s aggression with equal hostility until one altercation forces them apart. Even when possessed by Ratash, the Prince struggles with the idea of killing his brother until he has no choice to. Though the Prince sought wisdom and learning from his brother, he fears bearing the weight of any responsibility put before him and is quick to shy away from the heavier aspect of what it means to be a leader.[16]

The Forgotten Sands Wii story characterizes the Prince as a young man seeking to find his placement within the world, yearning for his own kingdom and princess as a means to climb out of King Shahraman's shadow and be his own individual. He's promised by the genie, Zahra, of a wondrous kingdom and beautiful Princess. Once more, however, he inadvertently releases the Sorceress and the Haoma and must undo his mistake.[19] However, it is noted that he is still rather adventurous, though only to a point.[19]

In the Warrior Within, however, after seven year of being hunted relentlessly by the Dahaka, the Prince develops a much more violent and aggressive personality. He shows no mercy for his enemies during his battles. His emotional maturity regresses. He falls back on his selfish and arrogant ways. He ignores the council of his elders and thinks only of himself, desperate to survive the Dahaka’s desire to kill him in order to restore the timeline. His defiance of the Dahaka’s will and Kaileena’s survival leads to a completely different timeline and unlearned lessons for the Prince.[17]

In The Two Thrones, the Prince continues on his destructive path, caring nothing for the safeguard of the people around him in his quest for revenge and to save Kaileena. When she is killed, the negative aspects of the Prince are brought to sentient fruition through the Dark Prince. Despite retaining his aggressive violent fighting style, he slowly begins to relearn lessons from his previous adventures. Without the fear of death promised by the Dahaka, the Prince becomes much less violent and angry. The Dark Prince, the amalgamation of his darker personality’s greed and lack of apathy for his environment, is a sharp contrast to his hesitation as he starts to think more of his people when reunited with a hardened Farah. After finding his father dead and being taunted by the Dark Prince, who mocks him by suggesting he should perform another Grand Rewind or return to the Island of Time to save his father, the Prince finally snaps and accepts that his actions have been fueled by naivety, immaturity, selfishness, fear and arrogance. More importantly, that he never thought of how his actions effected other people around him. Seeing the error of his ways, the Prince finally overcomes his darker alter ego and reinforces the lessons taught throughout his adventures.[18]

Skills, equipment, and abilities

Mentored by Darius[20], Malik[21], and the Old Man[22], the Prince was initially a gifted athlete and swordsman.[6] Throughout his journeys in his life, his experiences enabled him to become a more skilled warrior.[7] After undergoing seven years of experience fighting off threats both mortal and supernatural alike, his skills elevated to a level befitting a master warrior.[22]

ScreenShot1

The Prince engaging in battle.

As a master[9] warrior, the Prince is an extremely accomplished swordsman capable of executing a array of advanced and deadly fighting techniques, using the environment to his advantage against other opponents, use enemies' fallen weapons as his own, and use his uncanny agility to get the upperhand on his foes.[22] Due to his prowess, he dubbed himself the "King of Blades"[1] and has bested a variety of opponents even more experience than him such as who're more experience and/or stronger then him such as the Vizier[14] , Kaileena[1] and Klompa.[1] Despite his skill, he is not invincible; Although he had defeated Shahdee in their rematch, he lost to her in their first match.[1] He was also was seemingly outmatched by Mahasti, despite holding his own and only manage to defeat her after becoming the Dark Prince.[2] He also had trouble fighting the duo, the The Twin Warriors and was only able to defeat one on his own.[2]

The Prince also has uncommon acrobatic agility[9] that allows him to be able to gracefully scale buildings, perform both horizontal and vertical wall runs, sprint at high speeds, climb vertical columns, swing from horizontal structures, and use acrobatic maneuvers to his advantage in battles with multiple opponents by vaulting over them and/or even grabbing them while vaulting into a hold.[1][14][2]

The Prince exhibits great physical prowess, able to move stone and with durable swords, break through walls.[1] He also can push other objects like furniture, statues and crates.[2]The Prince is also very fast, able to outrun the Dahaka without the usage of the Dagger of Time.[1] In addition, he is a very durable individual for a human, having been hit by the Dahaka in one instance and able to get back up.[1] In another instance, as the Sand Wraith, the Dahaka had thrown him into a door and into a deep well, crashing through various wooden poles on the way down. Despite being dazed, he was able to get up.[1] His reflexes are also astonishing, feeling the presence of the Dahaka multiple times[1] as well as enemies. Though there's some cases in which he wasn't able to sense some of the Sand Monsters monsters approaching him.[1][2]

The Prince also exhibits general skills such as riding horses[14][2] and to sail, construct, and command a ship.[1]

Originally, the Prince exhibited no natural of supernatural powers of his own. However, He was somehow immune to curses cast by Kaileena in her attempts to kill him with the Serpent Sword.[1] It's speculated by his darker personality that repeated altercation with the Sands of Time had left him capable of resisting the effects of corruption of the Sands of Time unlike other victims and was able to even suppress the personality and corruption by sheer will.[2] Throughout his adventures, he has gained various magical abilities temporarily; During his partnership with Razia as they battled Ratash and the Sand Army, the Prince was bestowed the Powers of the Djinn, making him able to manipulate the natural elements of earth, fire, wind, water, and sand (time control). These powers were relinquished shortly after his final battle with Ratash.[23] He also gained Creation Powers from Zahra and attained immortality though he relinquished these gifts to save Nasreen Rahman from certain death.[4]

Biography

Childhood

The Prince and his brother, Malik, are the son of the Persian kingShahraman, and Mehri, an Indian woman[20]. Growing up in the palace of Babylon, the Prince was trained to use a sword by his older brother Malik as their father was often away fighting wars. He used to sneak out from the throne room as a child, presumably to avoid responsibility or his education[21]. He was also known for his kindness and good heart, often going out to speak with his people. This is where the Prince learned and refined his acrobatic skill; his years of playing among the street and rooftops, pretending to be "all manner of creatures".

The Sands of Time

First Battle

One year, the Prince travels with his father to India where the Maharajah's Vizier promised the king to betray his master in exchange for his pick of the Maharajah's treasures.

Shahraman accepts, and the Persians manage to conquer the Indians. Seeking his father's favor, the Prince infiltrates the treasure vaults and steals the Dagger of Time, which he is later allowed to keep as a souvenir, angering the Vizier, who had wanted it for himself.

Opening the Hourglass

The victorious Persians stop in Azad, where Shahraman decides to present the Hourglass containing the Sands of Time to its Sultan. The Sultan marvels at the glow within the Hourglass, and the Vizier claimed that this was because of a marvel that lay within, which could only be unlocked by the Dagger. The Prince unlocked it, much to the glee of the Vizier, and unwillingly turned the entire court into Sand Creatures[24].

Fighting the Sands of Time

Seeing his father turn to sand, he flees the Vizier who would surely stop at nothing to get his precious dagger. Desperate to stop the spread of the Sands, the Prince takes the Dagger of Time and agrees to work with Farah, the captured Princess of India, in an uneasy alliance[25]. During their journey through the ruined palace, the Prince and Farah begin to develop mutual affection for each other, but neither is willing to act on their feelings. The Prince and Farah survive great peril and manage to reach the Tower of Dawn where the Vizier keeps the Hourglass; within it, the Sands of Time.

However, in a moment of hesitation, the Prince questions Farah's true motives for helping him reach the tower. Distracted from the task at hand, the Vizier is able to use the Staff of Time to banish Farah and the Prince from the tower and into a tomb. Angry, Farah inquires why he hesitated and did not trust her. Seemingly trapped inside the tomb, the two reconcile themselves to an apparent doom and begin opening up to each other[26][27].

In a moment of vulnerability, the Prince reveals he does not like close spaces, which prompts Farah to tell him of a secret word her mother told her about as a child. Repeating the word "Kakolookiyam" appeared to open a secret pathway to a cavern of winding stairs. Baffled by Farah's disappearance, he follows the path to a mysterious bath house where he finds Farah. She prompts him to join her in the water and he sets aside his sword and the Dagger. Shortly thereafter, the two make love. The Prince wakes, unsure if the moment they shared together was real or not, and finds Farah and the Dagger missing[27][28].

Realizing what has happened, he takes the Medallion she left behind and pursues her. However, he is unable to catch her because of her use of the Sands. When he reaches the top of the Tower of Dawn, he sees Farah being pushed over the edge of a broken walkway by a Sand Creature[28]. Using the sword he obtained in the tombs below, he defeats the monster in front of him and catches her by grabbing the blade of the dagger. He appears to hesitate, ashamed of Farah's actions. Acknowledging his disappointment, Farah repeats her mother's secret word and and lets go of the blade. The Prince is unable to prevent the fall to her death and cannot rewind time to save her[29].

After defeating the remaining Sand Creatures, he manages to get to the level below and weeps at the sight of her dead body. Unable to live with the guilt for being responsible for all that happened, the Prince rejected the Vizier's final temptation of immortality and plunged the Dagger into the top of the Hourglass, triggering the Grand Rewind[30].

Going back into the beginning

With the timeline restored, the Prince finds himself back in the war camp of his father's army at the gates of India, with the Dagger of Time in his hand. The Prince enters Farah's tent and explains to her what happened before the rewind. Upon the conclusion of this tale, the Vizier enters the tent, intending to kill the Prince, now that his true intentions were exposed to the princess. Exhausting the Vizier's repertoire of spells at last, the Prince defeats the Vizier by delivering a coup de grâce. Upon kissing Farah and realizing he overstepped his boundaries, relying on familiarity that only existed before the rewind, he winds back time one last time and returns the Dagger to Farah, though retaining her medallion, leaving her wondering whether his unbelievable tale was true after all.

What the Prince is unaware of, however, is that by changing the timeline and defying his own death, he has brought upon himself the wrath of the Guardian of Time, Dahaka, who is now after him in order to maintain chronological continuity in the Timeline.

Forgotten Sands

Malik's Kingdom

Forgotten Sands Screenshot 4

The Prince squaring off against Solomon's Army.


Malik: "You picked a bad time for a visit!"
Prince: "I would say you picked a bad time for a war!"
—The Prince and Malik[23]

Some time after the events in Azad, the Prince travels to his brother Malik's kingdom in order to study under his brother so that he can become a fitting ruler and warrior of his respective kingdom[21].

He arrives as an army is laying siege to Malik's palace. Traversing the war-torn environment, he eventually reunites with his brother. After a quick exchange of banter, the two separate and meet in the treasure vault below where King Solomon's Army is said to rest[21].

Malik, desperate to be rid of the army before any further harm can come to his people, decides to unleash Solomon's army of yore. The Prince, having experienced firsthand the volatility of such an endeavor, is against the idea, but Malik releases the seal that holds the fabled army within, inadvertently releasing another consumptive Sand terror on his own people. The two are forced to separate and flee the vault before the Sand can touch them, the Prince unaware that the medallion he retrieved from the vault protects him. To get rid of the attacking army, the Prince turns to Razia, a Djinn and guardian within the palace to guard Solomon's Army[21] whose essence is contained in a sword. Razia tells him to use said sword.

Malik becomes infected by Ratash, an Ifrit, and is defeated by the Prince with the Djinn Sword containing Razia's essence. Much to his regret, the Prince is unable to save Malik from the damage caused by Ratash (and him) and watches helplessly as his brother dies in his arms. Later, he retrieves the Djinn sword that carried Razia within and notes that the blade is cold. Razia does not respond when he calls for her and he assumes she perished in the battle. He returns the sword to the underground city, knowing Razia would want to be laid to rest there, unable to take the sword (and by extension the guilt) with him. The Prince then journeys back to Babylon and tell his father of Malik's death.

Battles of Prince of Persia

After the battle in his brother's kingdom, the Prince is determined to prove to his mentor, Darius, and his father that he is worthy of becoming a worthy heir and warrior. However, during a conversation between the Prince and Darius, the Dahaka emerges. Darius throws the Prince out of the way and is killed by the Dahaka. The Dahaka haunts the Prince for weeks until he finds a way to restrain it.

He had traveled to the library and learned of the Box of a Thousand Restraints and planned to have use it on The Dahaka. The Box was held in India. Despite the treaty between Persia and India, The Prince marches in with an army after convincing his father to do so. As they marched to India, him and his father come across a Indian General. After defeating his forces, The Prince decides to go to Aresura, but his father protests and says they must journey to India's capital, Patna. The Prince ignores his father's orders and goes to Aresura, greatly angering him.

Along the way, he meets a mysterious woman who knows about the box and says that someone has used the box. The Prince questions the mysterious woman and comes to find out the Vizier has used it and is surprised of his inadvertent involvement. He later battles the mysterious race of Daevas and force them to retreat. He later finds the Box and breaks the seal.

However, to his displeasure, he accidentally releases the imprisoned Daevas. The Box is rendered useless and he begins his journey back to Babylon. On the way, he is captured by his father's forces and learns that he has set the Daevas free, and by going to war with India, caused the death of his mother. The Prince explains to him the events of Azad but his father is furious at him and doesn't believe his story. He is then surprised as his father knows about the Box of a Thousand Restraints and listens to his father's story.

His father tells him of the Daevas and their ruthlessness and how he had dealt with them and the Vizier's involvement, who has assisted India in battling the Daevas, but failed to convince Kalim to join forces. When the Prince discovers him dead, he decides to team up with the Daeva, Sindra, and helps capture the Daeva leader, Saurva. Afterward, he leaves and does not return to Babylon, knowing the Dahaka would continue chasing him.

Warrior Within

Pursued by the Dahaka

Prince and Kaileena

Kaileena helping the Prince before his dicovery of her true identity.

Seven years later, the Prince has developed a more violent personality as a result of the events that have transpired, as well as the Dahaka's continuous hunt. Besides his dark, morbid, and restless mood, the Prince's physical appearance show that he has suffered from the crushing knowledge of his own inevitable doom.

In an act of desperation, the Prince seeks council from the wise Old Man that participated in rearing him at a young age It is with him that the Prince learns of the existence of The Island of Time, the birthplace of the Sands of Time, and governed by the Empress of Time. At the time Prince arrives to seek advice from the old man, the Tower of Babylon is starting to grow up from the ground. Thinking only of his survival, the Prince sets sail for the island to prevent the sands from ever being created.

His belief is that if the sands never existed then the Dahaka would have no quarrel with him. However, many obstacles have ominously designed in order to prevent the Prince from reaching the island and achieving his goal. His ship is attacked by an army led by a mysterious woman in black named Shahdee. During the ensuing combat, she manages to throw him overboard, ravage his ship and slaughter his entire crew. The Prince manages to survive on a piece of wreckage, which incidentally brings him to the shores of the Island of Time.

Wandering along the massive cliffs, he encounters Shahdee once again, whom he chases deep into the fortress of the island. During his chase, he inadvertently follows her into one of the many time portals in the fortress, which connect the present with the past. Continuing his pursuit into the past, he finds Shahdee trying to murder an unknown woman in red named Kaileena.

The Prince engages Shahdee once more in battle and kills her, saving Kaileena. Denied an audience with the Empress of Time to state his case, the Prince is then faced with the task of activating the two island towers, which will unlock the doors to the Empress' throne room. The Prince eventually succeeds in reaching the throne room only to discover that Kaileena is the Empress of Time.

The Empress of Time

Kaileena has seen her doomed position in the timeline - to die at the hands of the Prince. Motivated by his persistence, she also attempts to defy her fate. Ironically, it is only because she attacks that the Prince kills her, fulfilling the timeline. At this point the Prince believed it was all over. However, Kaileena's remains became the Sands of Time itself. So just like her, while the Prince sought to prevent the Sands from coming to be, it was his own actions that created them, leading him along his destructive path. Losing all hope, and still pursued by the Dahaka, the Prince eventually stumbles across a mural which shows the impossible: the tale of the Mask of the Wraith.

Using this artifact, the Prince becomes the Sand Wraith, and is allowed one last chance to avoid his destiny. He heads out to prevent himself from killing Kaileena in the past, planning instead to take her with him into the present. This way the Sands of Time would not be created in the past, the Maharajah would never find them, and the Prince would never open them.

After reaching the entrance to the passage for the Throne Room, the Prince finds his alter-ego from the past once again; but aware of the Dahaka's attack, he lets his past self get captured by the monster, allowing him to take off the mask.

Kaileena, however, does not belong in the present, and by saving himself the Prince has resigned her to the same stalking menace who once chased the Prince. In a last effort to save Kaileena, the Prince confronts the Dahaka, and defeats him by stabbing him through the skull with the mystical Water Sword, plunging the demon into the sea below. The Prince and Kaileena build a ship to sail home to Babylon. During the voyage The Prince and Kaileena spend the night together and began their relationship.

The Two Thrones

Return to Babylon

142053-prince-of-persia-the-two-thrones-windows-screenshot-prince

The Prince looks upon the destruction of Babylon in horror.

After the Dahaka's defeat, together, the Prince and Kaileena set sail for Babylon, finally at peace. Wary of the constant peril he has faced, he looks forward to a glorious return to Babylon with his companion. He promised that no harm would come to her.

Sailing between the massive cliffs that protected his city from the open sea, the stones as old as the world marked the entrance to his home.

Babylon and its signature tower appeared before him, the walls of his homeland were on fire, his palace was besieged. The Prince and his ship was attacked by a flaming catapult. Both the Prince and Kaileena were sent overboard as the ship was destroyed. They both washed ashore, separated, but alive. When the Prince awakens, he spots soldiers dragging an unconscious Kaileena away.

Birth of the Dark Prince

"When the Prince was struck by the sands of time something was woken within, something strange and cunning, something dark"
—Kaileena[31]
POPT2T Throne Dark Prince

The Dark Prince on the Throne

Making his way through the palace, he learns that his enemies' leader is none other than the Vizier he believed long dead. He realizes that without the Hourglass, most of the past events never happened. The Vizier had never craved the Maharajah's treasures, had not perished at the Prince's hand, but he still had his reckless ambitions of immortality. Following a voice from the Dagger, he had seized power and led the Indian army to Babylon.

When the Prince finally finds Kaileena, she is held captive by the Vizier who plans on murdering her in order to obtain the Sands. The Prince leaps forward but is attacked from behind by Mahasti, one of the Vizier's lieutenants. With her Daggertail whip stuck in his arm, restraining him, the Prince is forced to watch as the Vizier, Dagger of Time in hand, murders Kaileena in front of him and unleashes the Sands of Time once more.

The promise of power fulfilled, the Vizier stabs himself, gaining immortality and transforming his body into a giant winged creature. The sands, as before, sweep across the palace and infect all in their wake. As the terrace begins to collapse, the Prince grabs the dagger and falls into the darkness.

When the Sands were unleashed the Prince was also infected. However, for a then-unknown reason, the infection progressed much more slowly than in the other victims, giving the Prince the opportunity to grab the Dagger in time to halt the progression of the infection. Unlike the Vizier's army, whom have all been wholly tainted by the sands, the Prince is still himself.

The only initial sign of his infection is his Daggertail wound glowing with the sands. Soon, though, the Prince begins to hear a disembodied voice in his mind. The nameless voice initially acts helpful and guides the Prince, but over the course of his journey, it's criticism becomes less and less constructive. It identifies itself as the manifestation of all of the Prince's darkest attributes.

The "Dark Prince" constantly taunts as well as advises the Prince but it seems to have motives on its own. During random intervals the Dark Prince has the power take over the Prince's physical body, turning him into a sand monster. As the Dark Prince, Prince uses the Daggertail in his arm as a weapon and is much stronger and faster.

But the corruption of the sands constantly drains his life. The Dark Prince implies heavily that, should the Prince's health and mind be exhausted while in this form, then the Dark Prince will gain complete control of the body and Prince's identity. It is only through contact with water that the Prince can revert to his normal state.

While this duality proves to be of advantage at times, it becomes more of a problem when the Prince, fighting his way through the city, encounters this timeline's version of Farah, who was captured by Vizier. She seeks vengeance for her murdered father and kingdom. A stranger to her once again, he tries to gain her trust by hiding his darker side - something he regrets after she finally finds out, though the Dark Prince insists that losing her was for the better.

The Prince still has feelings for Farah, but demoralized by her lack of familiarity, he tries to make up for his misdeeds. In a desperate attempt to make up for what he has done, he rescues captives from a burning building and chases off after their captor; in a hard battle between two sand-corrupted generals, he is nearly killed, but Farah returns in time to save him.

She praises him for the heroism he has shown, and with the Prince now more hopeful, they begin to fight their way towards the palace to end the Vizier once and for all. As night falls and they near the entrance, the Vizier's army finally finds and surrounds them, intending to kill them. It is only the timely arrival of the Old Man and an army of Babylon's citizens that allows the Prince and Farah to escape into the palace.

Moving through the palace, the Prince and Farah only grow closer. As they near the end, however, the Vizier captures Farah and casts the Prince into the palace's well system, which is now drained and totally dry. After being taken over by Dark Prince form for an extended period of time, the Prince finds his father's body. Finally, he realizes the truth: He has been childishly running from conflict all this time, instead of dealing with his troubles like a man.

Over-reliance on the sands' ability to turn back time cultivated the habit of erasing his mistakes rather than facing the consequences. The Prince had been hiding from his personal failures rather than accepting that they exist and moving forward.

This inner denial, coupled with over exposure to the Sands of Time is what gave birth to the Dark Prince. Coming to grips with this, the Prince takes up his father's sword, which illuminates the darkness and with his realization and full acceptance of all his mistakes and their consequences, the Dark Prince's influence over the Prince's body is destroyed and he is able to revert permanently to his normal form at will. The Prince then goes forth to save Farah.

The Ultimate Victory

After a long fight, the Prince manages to destroy the Vizier with the Dagger of Time and thus freeing the city from the sand monsters. After slaying the Vizier and apparently losing the Sands' taint, the Dark Prince appears once more and in a last attempt to regain control, pulls the Prince into a strange dream-like realm of his mind. The Prince chases his dark counterpart through shifting landscapes.

The Dark Prince intends on distracting the Prince in this world, playing on his insecurities and making him angry. In the end he is thwarted by Farah's voice, who urges the Prince to let go of his hatred and turn away. Instead of fighting his darker side any longer, the Prince ascends a staircase leading into a bright light and the Dark Prince is left behind once and for all, forever alone, afraid, and shouting into oblivion, as the Prince awakens. As the two warriors look out over Babylon, Farah asks the Prince how he really knew her name; he responds by telling her the tale from the very beginning, bringing the story full circle.

Trivia

  • The Prince was voiced by Yuri Lowenthal in The Sands of Time, The Forgotten Sands and The Two Thrones. Robin Atkin Downes voiced the Prince in Warrior Within. It is the only time in the Sands of Time Trilogy where The Prince is portrayed by a different actor.
  • The Prince's favorite color is blue.[32]
  • The Prince hates pomegranates. He believes they're messy and impossible to eat with dignity.
  • The Prince can kill Farah in The Sands of Time, but before she dies she can shoot the Prince with an arrow.
  • The Prince's given name is never revealed in the Sands of Time Trilogy. In the Wii port of The Forgotten Sands, it is revealed he is uncomfortable with others saying his actual name.
  • According the now defunct website, "Prince of Persia Legacy", that was run by gamespy.com, the Prince was 20 years old during the events of The Sands of Time.[33]
  • During The Sands of Time Farah notes that the Prince's eyes are green. However, in promotional artwork and the game itself, the Prince's eyes are blue.[34]

See Also

References

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
  3. Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (PSP)
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (Wii)
  5. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
  6. 6.0 6.1 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time official instructional manual, page 6
  7. 7.0 7.1 Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands Prima Official Strategy Guide, page 24
  8. Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (Wii) instruction manual, page 8.
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (DS) instruction manual.
  10. Prince of Persia: Warrior Within official instructional manual, page 4
  11. Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones official instructional manual, page 4
  12. 12.0 12.1 Prince of Persia: Warrior Within Review PT1 skip to @2:59
  13. Jordan Mechner: "We always knew he was going to be a really agile, acrobatic kind of guy. He's not muscle bound, he's more of a kind of clever trickster."
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (game)
  15. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (film)
  16. 16.0 16.1 Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
  17. 17.0 17.1 Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
  18. 18.0 18.1 Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
  19. 19.0 19.1 Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (Wii)
  20. 20.0 20.1 Battles of Prince of Persia
  21. 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 Prince of Persia: Warrior Within official instructional manual
  23. 23.0 23.1 Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
  24. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time: You Have Unleashed the Sands
  25. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time: Death of a Sand King
  26. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time: The Hourglass
  27. 27.0 27.1 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time: The Tomb
  28. 28.0 28.1 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time: "Farah, Come Back!"
  29. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time: Climbing The Tower of Dawn
  30. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time: The Setting Sun
  31. Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
  32. As revealed in a conversation with Farah in The Two Thrones.
  33. POP Legacy: The Prince
  34. Conversation won't happen unless the player stares at Farah in first person

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