I know that the Sands of Time trilogy has been out for a number of years now, but about more than a year ago I finally played this collection of games. They were all awesome, so awesome that I wanted to write about them. Actually I've been meaning to do this for a while, but only now do I get around to it.
The first part is a concise yet detailed account of the sequence of events in the games. If you want anything original, you're going to have to go down near the bottom
I have met many a scholar and a philosopher who claims to know the very nature of time itself. They seem to believe that they can discern its characteristics and quirks through thought experiments alone. While I do not pretend to be nearly as educated as the likes of men such as these, I can say that I have a very unique understanding of time. Indeed, time and I are very strange bed fellows, to put it mildly. I cannot necessarily claim that mine is the most objective of perspectives, but in my lifetime I have seen many strange and exotic magics that would seek to command time itself. I can also say with certainty that while it is possible to harness the powers of time, none can ever truly control them.
I, Cyrus the "Prince" of Persia, named in honor of Cyrus II the Great, who truly began the Persian Empire and brought it to a golden age, record on these cuneiform tablets my adventures and deeds. I do not record them in the interests of preserving my tale. I have no fear that my story will be told and retold; I have recounted it to hundreds of people several dozens of times, who I am sure will re-create their own versions of it. But it is precisely because they will inevitably alter it that I now put it down on this clay, so that some day, when I am long since dead and my kingdom is no more, someone might find these tablets and know what really happened. And with that knowledge, they might learn from my mistakes and understand the dangers of tampering with time.
To understand it all, I have to go back to the moment when my journey truly began. When I was but a lad, my father, Sharuman the Great, had marched an army down to the south and laid siege to the Maharaja of India. None will recall this event, and I shall explain why eventually. We enlisted the help of the Maharaja's Vizier, a treacherous and foul man known as Zervin, and with his aid we successfully raided the city and seized all of its treasures and exotic wonders. During the raid, I had infiltrated the Maharaja's palace and broke into his vault, which contained a giant ornamental hourglass and several other treasures. One of these items was the Dagger of Time, a weapon of unimaginable power.
Upon initial inspection it appeared only as a highly ornate dagger whose blade had a blue finish, but when I pressed a switch that was present on the hilt of the Dagger, I discovered that it would reverse the flow of time. I wager that it would reverse only up to ten seconds or so, but during the reversal I would retain my sense of awareness, and could consciously halt the reversal by simply willing it. In this manner, I could undo any serious or fatal mistake, provided that I did not wait too long to press the Dagger's switch. There were also a series of sand-colored jewels on the grip, one of which would turn dark after pressing the switch. I would later learn that the Dagger fueled its strange power with a substance known as the Sands of Time, and that each jewel represented a "tank" that would store the Sands until they were summoned.
In any case, I had claimed the Dagger as a trophy, and triumphantly marched with my father and his army to the kingdom of Azad. There we presented the Hourglass and several other quantities of treasure to the Sultan, as an offering and as a symbol of our continued friendship. But Zervin, whom we had granted immunity in return for his services, informed me that even greater wonders slept within the Hourglass. All I had to do was insert the Dagger into a slit in the Hourglass. Not thinking twice about his words, I entreated my curiosity and obeyed. Upon inserting the Dagger, the sands that were contained within the Hourglass were released, and as soon as they touched the ground they spread everywhere like a mad plague of locusts.
The Hourglass was the vessel of the Sands of Time. It contained them much like the sand tanks on the Dagger, except that it held vastly more. The Hourglass was not meant to harness the Sands in any way, but rather to contain them, prevent them from spreading everywhere. And the Dagger was the key that opened and closed the Hourglass. To my horror, I watched as the Sands tainted everything they touched, turning people and animal alike into undead creatures. I watched as my father, a good…no, a GREAT and noble man who was as fair and as wise as his namesake, turned into another nameless demon. I discovered too late Zervin's true intentions, and I knew that the only way to remedy this nightmare was to confront him.
Watching all of this was one of the women we had captured, who turned out to be the Maharaja's daughter, Farah. She had tried to warn me as I approached the Hourglass, but I paid her little heed. During the ensuing chaos, she escaped her bindings and had disappeared, later confronting me and attempting to take the Dagger away. She claimed that the only way to fix my error was to use the Dagger on the Hourglass again, but I was not prepared to be betrayed once again. I had no reason to trust Farah, because she had no reason to trust me. I had invaded her home, captured and subjugated her people, divided up her property, and imprisoned her. She had every right to bare me animosity and no reason to treat me with any respect. But since she seemed to be the only person aside from myself who was somehow guarded against the Sands' corruption, I thought that my chances of survival would increase by working with her.
We advanced through the Sultan's palace, which was an epic trek unto itself. We had discovered that the Hourglass had been relocated to the Tower of Dawn, where Zervin presumably resided as well. We made it all the way to the top of the tower, but my suspicions of Farah caused me to hesitate. Zervin appeared before us and attempted to steal the Dagger away, but both Farah and I narrowly escaped the tower. We found ourselves at the bottom of the tower, in an old crypt. Farah (rightly) berated me for my paranoia, and I shortly passed out. When I came to I discovered that Farah had liberated the Dagger from my possession. Burdened by the guilt from her words and concerned that she would do something rash, I pursued after her.
After a harrowing and very dangerous climb up the walls of the tower, I finally caught up with Farah, who had been ambushed by sand monsters. They drove her to the edge of a hole in the floor, and she slipped and fell. I tried to rescue her, but I succeeded only in rescuing the Dagger. She plummeted to her death, multiplying my guilt and grief a thousand fold. I rushed to the Hourglass once more like a man possessed, and plunged the Dagger into the Hourglass, fearless of the outcome.
When I came to I found myself back in the camp where my father's armies were lying in wait, the night before the raid. Oddly enough, the Dagger was also in my possession. I knew that the only way to prevent future events was to sabotage the raid. This would mean betraying my father and all of Persia, but it was for a greater good. I rushed to the Maharaja's palace with the intention of slaying the Vizier, but instead ran into Farah. I explained to her what had taken place (or rather, what would take place). She remained skeptical, but was swayed somewhat when I presented to her the Dagger as proof of my veracity. Zervin had been listening in, and tried to brand me as an assassin and a liar. I quickly stilled his tongue by plunging the Dagger into his chest, obliging his previous request that I hand the Dagger over to him.
Farah came to believe Zervin's betrayal, but was still unconvinced of my tale. I decided not to press the matter. Her belief was not necessary, what mattered to me was that a greater tragedy had been prevented. I placed the Dagger into Farah's keeping, and disappeared into the night. When the signal to attack did not appear the next day, my father decided that the Vizier had failed. We could not win without the advantage of surprise and were unwilling to fight a war of attrition, and so we returned to Babylon empty-handed. Now you understand why no one else recalls that any Persian army had captured any Indian city; my actions had prevented the event from taking place.
It was not long after we returned that I was pursued relentlessly by some sort of creature. It easily stood as tall as two grown men. Its body was as dark as the night sky, and it had horns on its head and slimy tentacles swimming all around its body. Its eyes shimmered red like hot coals. Its feet pounded the earth relentlessly, announcing its arrival with violent quakes, and its very presence seemed to drain the color from the world, as if time itself shriveled within its proximity.
No matter how many blades and arrows I plunged into its disgusting body, it would not die. It would barely flinch, and a few times I think it even laughed at my efforts. The first few times that I encountered it I barely escaped with my life. It did not take me long to realize that I could not kill it and that fighting it was pointless, and so whenever I stumbled across it I simply ran. Unable to inform my father of what was happening or to even bid him farewell, I disappeared into the desert beyond the walls of Babylon, entering a self-imposed exile.
I would later discover the identity of this creature. It is known as the Dahaka, the guardian of the timeline, charged by the gods of old to impose order upon the flow of time. I felt as if the gods themselves were playing a cruel joke upon me, for the Dahaka had decided that I was its next victim. No matter where I took refuge, it would not be long before it found me. I could not reside in any one place for more than a few hours at best.
As I remained on the move, I slowly taught myself how to take quick cat naps and learned to eat whatever happened to be immediately available. Such a lifestyle wreaked havoc upon my body at first as I was unaccustomed to it, but the pure terror the Dahaka instilled into me forced me to press on. Eventually I became accustomed to the lack of sleep, and the constant running and dodging hardened my body over time, enhancing my physical prowess.
During my travels through the desert, I would meet a band of pirates and thieves. Like me they were in exile for one reason or another, and had banded together to etch out a living from the harsh terrain. While they doubted my story, they were appreciative of my combat skills, and I was quickly welcomed into their fold. I would eventually become their leader. I would spend the next seven years or so traveling with them through the desert, all the while evading the Dahaka's pursuit. My life among my men would serve to harden my body and mind further, replacing the naivety and optimism of my youth with countless battle scars and the erosion of my concern for others. In retrospect, I did not always treat them as well as I should have, but they remained loyal to me nevertheless. They even offered to help me find a way to rid myself of the Dahaka.
In our search for answers, I met a wise sage who resided in solitude on the outskirts of Babylon. When I explained to him my adventures in Azad, he informed me that whoever opens the Hourglass and releases the Sands is fated to die. Several times at Azad I did have visions of my own death, but with the Dagger's power I cheated death countless times. I had also returned the Sands to the Hourglass, which undid their releasing to begin with. The old sage informed me that it must have been my fate to die by releasing the Sands, and that in preventing this outcome I was now an anomaly within the timeline. The Dahaka was now bound by its oath to remove me.
I pleaded with him to give me any information that might help me in my quest. He referenced a place called the Island of Time, where the Sands were rumored to have first been created by a demoness known as the Empress of Time. She is said to assume the form of a beautiful woman, but instead of flesh her body was made from the remains of the creation of the cosmos. The gods had made both the universe and time, and not wishing to waste anything, they took what was left and made the Empress. He said that the Hourglass and the Dagger were also made in this manner, and that they too were originally from the island.
It was told that the Maharaja had journeyed to the island some number of years ago in order to acquire the power of the Sands. The Maharaja was said to have found several portals on the island that granted one passage to the past. He used these portals in order to complete his mission. I reasoned that I too could use these portals. I could arrive before the Empress was to create the sands and stop her. If the Sands are never created, I could never be fated to open them, and as such I could never actually defy this fate. The Dahaka could no longer view me as an anomaly to be removed.
Fearing that the Dahaka would arrive soon, I asked the old man for a map to the island and went on my way, but not before he warned me that my efforts would be in vain and that no man can change his fate. My men and I chartered a boat and we set sail. It was a four week's journey to the island, and I was afraid that the Dahaka would appear on our ship, leaving me with nowhere to run. But with no other way to reach the island, I simply had to make do. I even allowed myself to hope that the Dahaka could not possibly cross the ocean and follow me to the island.
With less than half a day's journey left, a terrible storm struck our ship. I could not afford to waste any further time, and so I ordered my men to push through it. No sooner after I had given the order that our ship was assaulted by flaming arrows. Another ship appeared in the darkness, approaching us at ramming speed. The inhuman monsters that it carried boarded the main deck and began to slaughter my men in earnest. I slaughtered them in kind. I then confronted their general, a warrior woman who taunted me. Our blades clashed, but I underestimated her skill and she knocked me overboard. I lost consciousness and felt myself sink into the void.
When I came to I found myself washed ashore on a small beach, surrounded by the wreckage from my ship and the corpses of my friends. The tides had miraculously carried me to the Island of Time. I had finally made it to the island, albeit at the cost of my ship and my crew. I vowed to hunt down the warrior woman and avenge my men. I scaled the rock walls of the cliff side, advancing from the outer perimeter of the island to the interior. I found the woman, who was trying to surprise attack me, and gave chase. She led me to one of the portals the old man had mentioned. Once I passed through it, I found myself in a place radically different from the badly decayed ruins I had passed along the way.
I advanced forward and made my way to a grand fortress, which was well-guarded by traps and hordes of more demon monsters. Eventually I found the warrior woman again, but she was having a very heated dispute with what appeared to me to be a priestess of some kind. Still wanting my revenge, I forced myself into the middle of their argument and finally managed to kill the warrior woman. Having saved the priestess, I asked her where I could find the Empress. She refused to tell me and instead commanded me to leave the island and never return, running away before I could ask her any more questions.
Once again I was on my own. I explored the fortress to look for more clues and found another portal. I returned to the present, only to learn to my dismay that the Dahaka was here on the island. It spotted me and once again I ran away. As I ran under a waterfall, I noted that the Dahaka reacted very painfully to the water. At long last, I had found a weakness that I could use against the beast! Examining this fact, I couldn't help but note with a sense of humor that running around in the desert, a place largely devoid of water, turned out to actually be the worst place to hide from the Dahaka.
I went through another portal and returned to the past. As I wondered through the fortress, I found a room containing the Hourglass. The priestess was in here as well, tending to the Hourglass. I pressed her for more information, and she informed me that the Empress was beyond this room, and that the way was locked by a giant mechanical door. The only way to open the door was to power and activate the machinery that opens the door.
Once I had operated said machinery, I returned to the Hourglass room. But along the way, the Dahaka appeared before me. Up until now I had assumed that I would be safe in the past, but alas even time itself could not stop the guardian of the timeline. A third character made itself known at this time; a strange sand-like creature that had been stalking me throughout my trek on the island. It jumped between the Dahaka and me, and I decided that I would have no qualms about the two of them having a battle. I jumped out of the reach of the Dahaka's tentacles, letting the sand creature take my place instead. The Dahaka seemed to be sated by this since it chose to leap away. I did not want to press my luck by questioning good fortune, and continued onto the Hourglass room.
With the priestess's help, I managed to navigate the various trials that barred me from opening the door. She gave me vital information, as well as better weapons. I eventually learned that her name was Kaileena, and that in spite of her assistance she did not think I would succeed. She felt depressed by the fate of the Empress, and yet also seemed to submit to it. Being the first woman I have seriously interacted with in some time, I found myself beginning to fall for her beauty and charm. I offered to let her come with me to Babylon once I had stopped the Empress. She refused me, for reasons I would not quite understand until the door had opened and I had advanced to the throne room.
It turns out that Kaileena was the Empress of Time. She said that it was her fate to die by my hands, but that my quest had given her some inspiration. She decided that if I could cheat my fate, perhaps she might be able to as well. She had deliberately told me about the trials necessary to open the door in the hopes that I would fail or that the Dahaka would finally catch me. She had even sent her woman general after me to stop me from reaching the island. I wished Kaileena no ill will and did not want to kill her, but seven years of hardship would not allow me to grant her any mercy. If nothing would stop her from creating the sands, then I was simply going to have to kill her.
Originally I had expected the fight to be next-to-impossible. If Kaileena truly was the Empress of Time, I would have imagined that she would have abilities such as clairvoyance or precognition that would leave my attacks worthless. But by this time I had acquired some tricks of my own, and after a long duel I finally managed to land the finishing blow. Kaileena still defied me and claimed that I would still fail, just as she had, before collapsing to the ground. Before I could apologize to her, her body seemed to explode. A find sand-colored mist appeared everywhere and a shockwave rang throughout the fortress. I brushed myself off, satisfied that my mission was a success, and decided to return to the present.
With no ship, I had to figure out how I was going to leave the island. But before I could even begin to think about the possibilities, I felt the same earth-shaking footsteps of the Dahaka approaching. This confused and demoralized me to no end; I had stopped the creation of the sands, so why was the Dahaka still after me? It chased me into an old tomb, but it was too large to fit through the front entrance. The Dahaka had the only immediately available exit guarded. I bruised, broken and cornered. I replayed the battle with Kaileena in my mind, trying to figure out where it was that I went wrong. And then it finally occurred to me that the sand-like mist that sprang from her body was none other than the Sands themselves. Kaileena's body was made from the sands, and her death was the catalyst that triggered their "creation."
I felt the remains of my spirit wither away. I had set into motion the very thing I sought to prevent. And now I was to die, in a tomb of all places. The gods certainly have a twisted sense of humor. The old sage's warning played in my head over and over, telling me that I could not change my fate, that this journey could not possibly end well. I resigned myself to my end and waited for death.
But then I noticed some carvings on one of the walls of the tomb. It was a mural, made by the Maharaja of India himself. He told of his quest to obtain the Sands of Time, and that like me he had failed. He found only ruin and death. But then he found a mystic artifact known as the Mask of the Wraith. It took him back through time and granted him a second chance to perform his quest, using his knowledge of future events to ensure that he succeeded. It allowed him to exist as a doppelganger of himself, allowing two "versions" of himself to exist simultaneously at the same time; his "present" self, and his "past" self. Only by killing his past self, the version of himself that would fail, could he then remove the mask.
It was a long shot, but given all of the things I had seen up to this point it seemed within the realm of the possible. The mural had indicated that the final resting place of the mask was in a shrine just beyond the throne room. With renewed determination, I managed to find an alternate exit from the tomb and made my way to the throne room. When I got there, I discovered that there was another time portal just behind the throne. I began to wonder what would happen if I managed to lure Kaileena into one of these portals. I felt that there would be no getting around the fact that I would kill her, but if I did it in the present instead of the past, the Maharaja would still come to the island, but find the Hourglass empty. With no Sands in it, there was no way I could ever release them, and the Dahaka would have no more excuse to pursue me.
I now had a new plan. I went back into the present and began my search for the mask. Eventually I tracked it down and placed it upon my face, allowing the primal energies it contained to flow into me and transform me. The process was more painful than any injury I had ever received, and once it was complete, I discovered that I had become the very same sand creature that had intervened in my confrontation with the Dahaka in the past. I now fully understood why it followed me; it was attempting to stop me from killing Kaileena in the past. Instead, it had perished in my place. This made me question if I could really succeed, but according the Maharaja's mural I could not return to normal unless I killed my past self. There was no way to go but forward at any rate, and so I fought my way to where the Dahaka and I met in the past.
I was overtaken by the power that the mask granted me, and for a time I became drunk with that power. I no longer knew fear of the Dahaka. Instead my fear was replaced by the rage at all the grief it had caused me over the years. I redirected some of that hatred at Kaileena, blaming her for this entire situation. I had visions play out in my head of how I would kill her once more, taking great pleasure in her death. Her squirms of agony would represent the death throes of this life that I did not choose; my exile, my constant life on the run, knowing only pain and never again knowing comfort, having to fight and kill and bleed for even basic necessities. Even though I had adapted and grown accustomed to life on the run, I hated every moment of it. It was a bastard child that I did not wish to claim but was forced to nurture anyway, regardless of the inconvenience it caused me.
But much of my anger with Kaileena subsided when I overheard a conversation between her and the warrior woman, from before the attack at sea. I learned of how much torment the knowledge of her death was causing her, and that she desperately wanted to change her fate. I realized in that instant that Kaileena was not my enemy. If anything, we were kindred spirits. We were both fated to die, and neither of us particularly welcomed it with open arms. My survival instinct said that it was either me or her, but I could not help but wonder if there was a way out of all of this that would involve both of us surviving. Once I forced Kaileena into the present, was there really any need to kill her? Simply removing her from the past would be enough to stop the Maharaja from finding the Sands.
But before I could concern myself with any of that, there still remained one obstacle in my way; I would have to stop my past self from reaching the throne room. After following my past self around for and roaming the fortress for a while, I finally caught up with him just as the Dahaka had appeared in the past. I used my knowledge from the previous fight and out-dodged myself, causing my past self to get caught in the web of tentacles. The Dahaka vanished with my past self into the abyss below. I can only imagine the horror and despair that went through my other self's mind, not knowing that, ironically enough, he had actually succeeded. The mask released itself from my skin, and I became myself again.
With no more time to lose, I met up with Kaileena once again. I went through the same actions as last time, partly to stay off her suspicions and partly because I was hoping that maybe she would change her mind about leaving this island. Like the last time, she refused, and it was then that I knew what I had to do. But instead of engaging her head-on, I revealed the way to the time portal and allowed her to chase after me. With a hard shove, I pushed her into the portal and jumped in after her. It was then that I had to make a choice; kill Kaileena, or spare her life.
There are some who say that I chose to kill her, that this was enough to finally appease the Dahaka, and that I returned to Babylon alone. I am unsure as to how this version of the story began, but it is far from the truth. Instead, against the instincts I had honed in the past seven years, I stood down and told Kaileena that I had no intention of fighting her. She would hear none of it, claiming that no matter what I wanted fate would always dictate my actions. Before I could convince her otherwise, the Dahaka appeared before us. I thought this to be impossible, that I had correctly calculated that it had no more reason to go after me.
I actually was correct that it was not after me, because it swept me to the side and went after Kaileena. What I did not factor into my plan was that Kaileena was fated to die in the past. She was never supposed to be alive in my time, and so she became the anomaly. I suppose I could have let the Dahaka kill her, but instead I decided that it was the monster that deserved to die. Working together with Kaileena and exploiting the Dahaka's fatal weakness against water, we managed to slay the beast. Finally, my quest was at an end. For the first time since in seven years, I sighed with genuine relief. Although Kaileena stood before me speechless I knew the depths of her gratitude.
Kaileena finally agreed to go with me to Babylon, and commanded her demon army, which had previously been trying to kill me, to construct for us a ship. We set sail for Babylon, and to pass the time I would entertain her with stories of how grand the city was, as well as some of my escapades through the city as a child. But above all, I promised her that her life would be better from now on, that I would allow no more harm to come to her.
With the threat of the Dahaka no longer a reality, I began to slip out of my hardened ways and allowed some measure of hope to overtake me. I anticipated being surrounded by people and civilization once more, instead of relentless sun and endless, lifeless desert. I looked forward to daily feasts and a good night's sleep instead of meager portions and day-after-day without rest. But most of all, I longed to being at my father's side again, and alleviate his agony over where I had gone to.
When we were finally within view of the city, my heart sank as I saw the various buildings ablaze with smoke. Our vessel was spotted, and archers rained down their flaming arrows upon us. The sail began to burn and was losing its effectiveness, and we were all but defenseless. Suddenly the solid deck became splintered, sending debris and broken wood everywhere. I felt myself flying through the air and finally landed hard into the river. I swam to the surface, greedily taking in air. I looked for Kaileena, and saw that she had drifted to shore. One of the enemy guards spotted her and carried her away. Naturally, he ignored my command to release her.
My first priority was to find Kaileena and ensure that she was in good health, but I was also preoccupied with the fate of Babylon. Taking note of the carnage, I concluded that it was war. But who would dare declare war upon the might Persian Empire, let alone attack her jewel of a capitol city? I observed some of the enemy soldiers, and their armor was unlike any design I had ever seen. Then I saw the guard from before with Kaileena. He was carrying her in the direction of the palace. I decided that it was best to head in that direction. In addition to rescuing Kaileena, I would probably encounter father or someone else who could tell me why we were under siege.
I made it all the way to the palace and made my way further into the interior, sneaking around my own home like a common thief. In spite of the palace's many traps and defenses (which I was now having to circumvent, no less!), the enemy had clearly taken control. I killed as many as I could, seeing to it that they paid for their transgressions against my kingdom. I had fought my way to the throne room, finding it to be devoid of father or any other kind face. I rushed ahead, going towards the place where I believed the guard to be taking Kaileena.
When I arrived outside to one of the palace's decks, I found Kaileena bound and helpless. And beside her, clutching the Dagger of Time in his crusty hand, was Zervin, the Maharaja's Vizier, the old man who was not above betraying his own king. This I believed to be some sort of sick cosmic joke; my old arch nemesis, whom I had killed before, had captured Babylon, was holding the very tool I had used to stop him, and was holding hostage the very person I had charged myself with protecting. Everything had suddenly come full circle in the cruelest way possible.
He greeted me as if we were acquainted and proceeded to educate me on the past few years. The Maharaja had gone to the Island of Time as I had predicted, and they recovered the Hourglass and all of the other items. However, the Hourglass was now empty, much to Zervin's dismay. With no Sands to steal, he eventually plotted and successfully executed the Maharaja, and with the aid of his dark sorcery he conquered much of India. But by about the time that Kaileena and I reappeared into the present, the Dagger gave him visions that told him to go to Babylon and wait there for the arrival of the Empress of Time. From there I can only imagine that he believed that his perverted fantasy of power would come true.
He then proceeded to murder Kaileena in front of me with the Dagger. She turned to sand and her remains scattered everywhere, undoing everything I had worked for. Zervin then began to rave about some kind of promise of power and thrust the Dagger into himself, assuming the power of the Sands for himself before discarding the Dagger. He could not contain all of it; much of the Sands flew outward and began to corrupt everything.
I felt my killer instinct rising again, scolding me for allowing any measure of hope back into my life. Despite all of my efforts to rid myself of the Sands of Time, they were once again thrust upon me, forever following me like a curse. But I quickly stowed my bitterness and ran at the Vizier, hoping to do some sort of damage. Instead the deck began to crumble beneath me. But I managed to once more recover the Dagger of Time, finding this to be an odd, if not slightly welcomed, reunion. The palace was still quaking violently and I made my way out as fast as I could, but I tripped over my own two feet and fell into an opening for Babylon's sewers.
Despite being injured and tired, I made my way through the sewers to find the nearest exit to the surface. Along the way, I discovered that the sands had infected my body slightly, causing strange, glowing twisted tattoos to appear on my left arm. Periodically, I would turn into one of the sand monsters I was fighting, albeit I would retain my consciousness and free will. I would only revert back to my human form once I bathed myself in water.
I also began to hear the voice of someone speaking to me. I have come to recognize him as the instincts that I had developed over the past seven years, that portion of me that I had to call upon to save me from death and destruction. He represented that part of me that was concerned only with my self and my own well-being. A "Dark Prince," if you will.
The Dark Prince conversed with me, plotting how I might best take my revenge upon Zervin. I reasoned that much like the Dagger had both initiated and ended my conflicts in Azad, it might also be able to reverse what Zervin had done to himself. Seeing no better alternative, the Dark Prince concurred.
I finally found a way out of the sewers, only to discover that I was very far away from the heart of the city. It would be quite a trek back to the city, and could not be done in a reasonable amount of time without the use of horseback. And so I fought my way to a chariot and rode back into the city. All the while I obliged the Dark Prince's lust for blood, finding his motives to align closely with my own.
After we had arrived into the city once more and explored for a while, we encountered Farah of all people. She was as noble as ever, although with the additional armor and equipment she carried with her it would appear that she was just as acquainted to combat as I was. I called out to her, and she demanded an explanation as to how I knew her. Since I did not possess the time to explain it to her in sufficient detail, nor would she believe me even if I did, I made up something along the line of how I had heard tales of her exploits. She seemed to buy into it, dismissing me as an eccentric who was lucky to still be alive.
Seeing Farah alive and well was a great relief to me, especially since it had been so long since I had last met her. It saddened me that she did not know me or remember me, but at the same time it was enough for me that I remembered. The Dark Prince mocked me for even giving her a second thought, telling me that she would cause me to lose sight of my main objective. Yet it was not long before we encountered one another once again. Making with formal introductions this time, I proposed to Farah that we should work together to defeat Zervin. She accepted, and for the second time (from my perspective) we set out to stop the old man. We learned that Zervin had established his headquarters at the top of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and so we began our journey.
I could not help but think it remarkable how fate had thrust all of us back together again. Here I was, with Farah at my side, working together to stop the Vizier and undo the damage caused by the Sands. Yes, it can only be called fate that all of these same elements would gather together once again. Or rather, as the old saying goes, "history is doomed to repeat itself."
Farah was exactly the same as I remember her personality-wise, if not a slight bit more serious and independent. But beyond that our interaction deviated slightly from what I remember. In Azad, I was much more optimistic and viewed combat as some sort of game, while Farah was not nearly as skilled in combat as I was. Now I looked at everything in a negative light, getting an attitude every time we encountered an obstacle. And my finishing moves were no longer simply efficient, they were brutal and ensured my opponent's total submission. Compare that to Farah's fighting style, which was much improved but used the minimal amount of lethal force necessary.
As we advanced through the city, we overheard the cries of women being murdered by Zervin's foot soldiers. Farah wanted to go help them, but I wanted to listen to the Dark Prince and go after Zervin first. Once he was dead, the soldiers would quickly follow him. Farah looked at me in disgust, berating me for refusing to help my people. She then ran off on her own to go help the women.
The Dark Prince was personally glad that she was gone, considering her to be a dead weight and distraction. But the pain of seeing Farah died surfaced within me, and even after so long I became uncertain that I would be able to tolerate it again. I pursued after Farah, wanting to ensure that nothing happened to her. I had failed to protect Kaileena, and so I was determined not to fail to protect someone else.
I caught up with Farah and explained to her that she was right and I was wrong, but we had little time to talk about it when one of Zervin's personal assassins came and attacked us. I told Farah that I would deal with the assassin if she would lead the women to safety.
Unfortunately, I could not hold my own against the assassin. My human form was not enough. But then I spontaneously became a sand monster again and got the edge that I needed. I slew the assassin, but not before Farah came to my aid and saw my sand monster appearance.
I tried to explain myself, but the damage had already been done. She ran away from me, and I ran after her in pursuit. I managed to find a bath to restore myself and catch up with her, but she said that it was my lust for killing and revenge and my willful ignorance of my people's suffering that proved I was a monster. She ran off once more, but I did not give pursuit this time, letting her words sink into my mind.
I began to question many things; my behavior since I arrived back into Babylon, my need to take my anger out on my enemies, my need to alleviate the pain of my failures. I continued onward to the Hanging Gardens, all the while debating with the Dark Prince as to the nature of combat. He clearly believed in merciless violence, thinking that any problem could be solved throw a show of sufficient force. Were this back during my time of exile, I have to say that I would have agreed with him. But with so much of my drive to stay alive now obsolete, I began to become unsure of many of things I had come to believe in.
Before we could finish our discussion, I caught wind of some civilians being trapped inside of one of Babylon's construction workshops. I thought that I should go and help them, but the Dark Prince said that it was potentially a trap. I decided that we could afford the detour and went to investigate. There genuinely were people being held inside the building, but sure enough it was a trap. Using the internal machinery, I managed to force open the front door, allowing everyone to escape. My people had learned of my return, but before celebrations could be had, the monster captain responsible for trapping us inside sped past us in a chariot. I wanted to give chase and teach him a lesson about hurting my people, despite the Dark Prince's protests.
I chased him for quite a ways and managed to cause him to crash, wrecking my own chariot in the process. Before I could engage him, one of his friends arrived onto the battle field and surprise-kicked me. Between them they had heavy armor, a broad sword, and an axe; all I had was the Dagger of Time. I knew that this was not going to be a fun fight.
I managed to take down one of the captains, but I became weakened from such an unbalanced fight. The other captain was about to kill me when he was pummeled by arrows. Farah had come to my aid, making the understatement that her return to me was auspicious.
We made it back to the city and snuck around under the cover of night, but Zervin's armies managed to locate us anyway. We were surrounded on all sides by hundreds of soldiers, and we knew that we were going to lose. But my people appeared, led by the old sage, wanting to express their gratitude at being rescued. I did not believe that they could fight off undead sand creatures, but the sage assured me that they could at least distract them long enough for me to destroy Zervin and end the occupation. With his assurances, Farah and I dashed towards the Gardens.
As we made our way up the Gardens, I made my peace with Farah, admitting the error of my ways and that she was right talk down to me so. Farah told me not to worry about it, and expressed her own remorse at having not believed in me. With our alliance and trust restored, we fought our way to the final lift. But Zervin decidedly appeared before us and took Farah captive, exclaiming that she would make the perfect queen for himself. He then sent me plummeting to my death. It felt like the Tower of Dawn all over again.
As I fell, I transformed into a sand monster again, narrowly surviving the fall. The Dark Prince lambasted me for coming so close to victory and then letting it slip through my fingers. I had personally grown sick of the Dark Prince and his cruelty, and as I advanced down through the ruins I began to let my contempt of him known.
In hindsight I can say that there was a time and a place for the Dark Prince, but with so much at stake he was causing me to lose sight of the things that truly mattered to me. He had helped me during my travels through the desert, had found ways for me to survive and push on. But with the Dahaka gone, I had no more reason to act so selfishly. And even if the Dahaka was still a problem, my kingdom and my people were now in danger. This was not the time to be bickering about some stupid vendetta or pride. There was an entire world outside of myself that stood to lose much if I did nothing. In short, the Dark Prince was no longer necessary, and in fact it was something that I needed to be rid of. More to the point, I needed let go of my anger and rage, and just go help the ones I cared about most.
But none of this had really cemented into my mind until I found the broken corpse of my father. Here, in the bottom of an abandoned well, a great man had fallen to his death, never to be seen again. It was not fitting. I had arrived too late, and the Dark Prince laughed at me for thinking that he could have possibly still been alive. He then asked me if I would attempt undue the timeline once more and make things right.
Although he mocked me, there was wisdom in his words. Up until now I had kept trying to fix everything that I didn't like, instead of just accepting it for what it was and taking it in stride. Instead of just accepting the fact that every decision has a consequence, I had been trying to tailor the timeline to something that I found to be more acceptable. I decided from that moment on that no matter what happens, no matter how bad the mistake is, I would accept the consequences and move on with my life. With this decree, the Dark Prince lost has last remnant of control over me, and without the aid of water I returned to my human form.
The time had come to work my way back up the Hanging Gardens and face Zervin once and for all. The journey was wrought with peril, but I pressed onward, focused not on revenge or honor or even duty, but for the people in the streets who were defenseless against the tainted power of the Sands. For Farah, whose own people and nation suffered at the hands of Zervin. And for Kaileena, who was thrust into these events against her will.
I had finally caught up with Zervin, and his Sands form was just as twisted as his original. But he was blinded by power and his own superiority, whilst I fought with a purpose and had the home advantage. As we dueled, he tried to justify his actions, claiming that an undead army terrorizing innocent people was "the price of progress." I became unwaiveringly certain that Zervin was beyond saving, that his own greed for power had corrupted him long before the Sands did. The fight was long and drawn out, but at long last I managed to plunge the Dagger into him once more, releasing the Sands contained within.
The Sands coalesced and reformed into the shape of Kaileena. She lamented that there was no place for her among us mortals, but said to me that there were others to whom she could go. I was saddened to learn of her departure just shortly after meeting her again, but I knew that this was for the best. With Kaileena gone, no one could ever abuse the power of the Sands again. I gave her the Dagger and she cured me of my corruption, promising me that my journey was finally complete.
And yet there was still one final thing to do. I lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground, becoming a prisoner in my mind. My memories took shape in this place, and I revisited places of old while I had one final showdown with the Dark Prince. He claimed that I owed all of my kingdom to him for all the times he had saved me, and that under his command Persia would soar to new heights. He made the effort to tempt me with promises of power, fame and fortune, but I could no longer be fooled by his words.
I decided that the violence of my life was something I would have to put behind me, and as such the Dark Prince was something that I would have to leave behind. He tried to goad me into fighting him once more, but I would not fall prey to his tricks. I would no longer let him control me.
When I came to, it was dawn and Farah was standing over me, wanting to know the status of my health. I let her know that I was alright, and together we greeted the new day. She proceeded to ask me how I really knew her name, to which I couldn't help but laugh that she had seen through the deception. And once again, I found myself recounting my adventures in Azad to Farah.
When I had completed my tale, she still did not believe everything. In spite of all that she had seen and in spite of knowing a great deal about the various artifacts from the Island of Time, still she doubted me. At least until I asked her if "kakulukia" held any significance for her (one of the few things that I will decidedly not explain in these tablets). I remember it as though it had only occurred the day before; she stared at me for the longest time with a look of shock and confusion, then shrugged at me and said my tale was far too mad for it to not be true.
The only thing I left out of my story was that, during our adventure through Azad, Farah and I had fallen for one another. One reason I did this was because, upon contemplating it, I am not certain that Farah truly had fallen for me. Our adventure had only last about a day or so, hardly enough time for two people to meet and fall in love. At best it could have been something akin to Stockholm Syndrome. And the only reason I had even fallen for her was because I had believed that she had fallen for me, which I suppose would have made our love a rather shallow one. And finally, I said nothing because I had decided to put an end to using my knowledge of future events to alter the outcomes. I decided that if Farah and I were truly meant to be together, then fate or the gods or whoever would see to it that it is so.
Alas, it did not come to pass. Instead I met my beautiful wife, the daughter of an Athenian senator, while taking a tour of the Greek countryside (some time had passed since Xerxes had launched an assault upon the Greeks, and so there was some time for the rivalry between our two respective cultures to simmer and cool). Not quite royal blood, but you cannot really choose who you're crazy for. She has a wonderful sense of humor and a sharp wit. We also have two sons, the eldest being of seventeen years and the other being of ten at the time of this writing. Both possess my agility and their mother's tongue, which is more than I could have ever bargained for.
As for Farah, she has had several suitors follow her and it took her a while to make her decision, but she is now officially the Queen of India. She tells me that should she bare a son, she will name it "Prince" in honor of my pseudo-name (practically no one has ever called me by my real name in all of my life, and even upon becoming king the citizens still light-heartedly refer to me as "Prince"). I could not help but laugh at this news, and said that she had my blessing, so long as no one would mistake him for me. But even though we are both married, our friendship has only grown stronger over the years. Farah and I have grown inseparable, and it is not uncommon for us to visit one another frequently, to the point where my wife jokingly calls her my mistress.
My wife has a penchant for legends, myths and stories. When I first told her about my adventures with the Sands of Time, she naturally did not believe me, but found it to be a fascinating tale, and whenever we receive guests or diplomats she requires that I entertain them all with the tale. I have recounted my adventures so many times that I have long since lost count. Many see it simply as a creative masterpiece, "a tale which they have heard like no other," while others believe it to be a fever dream that I had while I was in exile. Still others find critical fault with its logic.
A common complaint that I get is all of the time paradoxes that would result were these events true. For example, if I prevented the Sands from being created in the past, and therefore the Dahaka never came after me, then I would have had no reason to travel to the Island. So why was I still there? Or if my past self perished before he could obtain the Mask of the Wraith, then why did I not perish as well? And why, if I reversed time in Azad, did I still possess the Dagger and remember everything?
I actually asked the old sage about these matters. I told him of my time on the island, and all of the events that had unfolded, and asked him what lasting effects such paradoxes would have. He laughed and laughed, and when he had regained his composure he said to me "I probably cautioned you against this journey for precisely that reason." Rips in the fabric of space-time, and all manner of other implausible theories.
I did learn some interesting facts, however. Instead of having disappeared for seven years, it seems that I had only disappeared for four weeks. This cast further doubt upon my story, since my presence in Babylon during that time was well-documented. But it would seem that once I had returned from the past, the version of me that would have existed had I not been hunted by the Dahaka was cast aside in order that I might exist. Many have found this to be a convenient excuse, however.
And since much of my personality from my pre-exile days has been restored, the more harsh critics have accused me of trying to make myself sound "tougher" or "bad ass." Instead of a mischievous, adventure-seeking Prince that others normally see, they say that I have tried to paint myself as a dark, brooding anti-hero for the sake of making my tale more appealing. I cannot really take this personally, however, as I cannot expect any of them to understand the transformation that I underwent. I cannot expect them to truly understand the meaning of pure terror and what a person can be capable of when enough pressure is applied.
In the end, it would seem that only the old sage and Farah believe me. And frankly, that is more than enough. Even so, even as you read these words and you decide that it is just all just a flight of fancy, at least read on slightly further, that you might benefit from the knowledge that I have gained from all of this.
I believe one thing that I have learned is that it is truly futile to defy your fate. At first I had believed that my mission on the Island of Time was a success, but having had many years to think it over, I no longer believe this to be the case. Consider for a moment the old sage's prophecy that whoever opens the Hourglass is destined to die.
First, let me go ahead and say that his prediction is not quite accurate. He looked through his library for this prophesy and discovered that he had made a slight error in the translation. It says that whoever "releases" the sands will die. He had translated "releases" as "opens," and naturally assumed that it was referring to the Hourglass. Instead, it would seem to reference the killing of Kaileena, whose death causes the Sands' release.
So anyway, consider the old man's prophesy. Because I "opened" the sands, I was fated to die. I was also fated to be responsible for Kaileena's death. Now recall that I did originally kill Kaileena, and that my past self had perished. This fulfills both prophesies. Even though I continued to live, I was still technically caught by the Dahaka, and so I managed to circumvent my fate. Bend the law without breaking it, you understand.
But now consider that I rescued Kaileena and brought her to Babylon. Had I not done this, Kaileena would have never been discovered and killed, which means that I was still responsible for her death, albeit indirectly this time. Zervin was the one who murdered her this time, but he was ultimately slain. That fulfills the first prophesy, that whoever should release the sands will die.
Come to think of it, I should have realized that my quest to prevent the Sands' creation would ultimately fail the moment I stood up to the Dahaka. A curious property of the Sands is that it is possible for them to exist in the present, past, and future alike, provided the moment of their conception comes to pass. In this manner, I was able to harness the power of the Sands even before I had killed Kaileena the first time. But during our mutual battle with the Dahaka, clumps of the Sands had appeared before me, aiding me in battle. I should have realized right then and there that Kaileena would die eventually.
I have had much time to think all of this over and could easily pour over every last detail of it, but this is the lesson at its core; I actually failed to change my fate. Even when I had believed that I had succeeded, everything still came to pass as predicted. But in spite of all that, I believe that another lesson I have learned from my adventures is that it is important to never cease trying. Do not allow the notion of destiny or pre-destiny or whatever you wish to call it to stop you from achieving your goals. If you are truly destined to fail, then nothing you do will matter, but you can never actually know the limits of your fate until you try. At any time I could have allowed the Dahaka to catch me, but because I pressed onward, I eventually found a way.
I suppose I've also learned to relax and simply let life run its course. In the grand scheme of things, everything will eventually work out. Even though I could not escape the prophesies, they were fulfilled in ways that ultimately did not prove detrimental. My life has surely been altered, true, but it did not end. The world did not end, and things concluded more positively than I could have possibly imagined.
And lastly, I have learned that no matter how many time-manipulating powers you have at your disposal, time will always turn on you in the end. I do not want to come across as being cliché here, but I cannot stress this point enough: time conquers all. In my elder years, my joints have become inflamed and my back has begun to perpetually ache. I am also sorry to say that years of surviving on less than refuse has made my appetite too eager, and I am no longer in the prime physical shape that I once was. I am saddened that I can no longer run along the walls and rooftops, imagining myself to be a myriad of creatures, large and small.
But I obtain some satisfaction in having been able to pass on my acrobatic feats to my eldest son, who is in turn teaching his younger brother. It gives me great pride seeing them being able to live the life that my body can no longer achieve, and I suppose in that sense I live vicariously through them. Farah claims that they are mirror images of me, while my wife raises all manners of hell at me for even introducing them to such behavior. But oddly, at the same time, I cannot help but worry that they will seriously injure themselves. I often wonder if my own father felt the same way when he would witness me running along the palace walls.
At those times I cannot help but think of the despair that my father had when he died, not knowing where his son was or if he was safe. It is one of my deepest regrets that I was unable to speak with him again, to put his fears at rest. I can only hope that he has come to learn of my fate in the afterlife and that it brings him some peace. It is that same hope that helps me to put my own sadness to rest. I believe that this is most important lesson of all; learning to let go of your mistakes.
Even with the Dagger of Time, I still made mistakes. There is no escaping the fact that we mortals stumble through the timeline, blind and helpless, able only to make educated guesses as to what the future will bring. It is inevitable that we will make mistakes. But this is nothing to be ashamed of. What matters is that we learn from them. If we do not remember them, we will only doom ourselves to repeat those mistakes over and over.
But it is also important to not become fixated upon the past. No amount of wishful thinking will ever change what has happened, so do not waste your time worrying over it. And even it could, it would only result in a new future, fraught with new mistakes to be made. So instead of overly worrying about was, you should pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and learn your lesson. Be mindful of the past, but live in the present of the moment and look to the future.
These are the words of the current King of Persia, Cyrus the "Prince" of Persia, the youngest son of Sharuman the Great. Remember these words well, and may the gods walk beside you, over you, beneath you, and stand between you and all of your enemies
I had hoped to pin the Sands of Time trilogy somewhere within established history, but after thoroughly researching the history of the Persian empire (read, skimming over the Wiki article), I didn't really find this to be feasible. The closest I can come is by making the Prince's father Cyrus II the Great, but even that doesn't work perfectly. So I suppose that, fittingly enough, the games take place in an alternate universe, with little-to-no actual historical basis.