Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones Preview

A Tale of Two Cities, The Two Towers, and now The Two Thrones? Am I missing something here? Is there some kind of international literary conspiracy that aims to put subliminal messages about breasts into story titles? Think about it - some sort of 17th century secret literary society obsessed with mammary glands came up with that concept and passed it on to its disciples who ALL became pillars of the literary community like, Charles Dickens, J.R.R. Tolkien and uh, Corey May, scriptwriter on the next Prince of Persia game, Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones.

We are playing a little game...

guess The Dark Prince.

Ubisoft finally revealed Prince of Persia 3's title yesterday. It's something to do with thrones. Hear now the words of Yannis Mallat, executive producer for PoP: TTT. (When I look at that acronym, I have a sudden hungering for Pop Tarts. - Six) (I fear you. - 2Lions) "Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones will allow players to explore the two different sides of The Prince's divided soul," said Yannis. "The Prince will battle with his inner demons and explore his alter ego. He'll struggle with the boundaries between good and evil in his quest to regain his rightful place as ruler of Babylon." One throne will be reserved for The Prince, while The Dark Prince will sit on the other... so to speak. In a nutshell, The Prince of Persia, a seasoned warrior, returns from the Island of Time to Babylon with his love Kaileena. Instead of the peace that he longs for, he finds his homeland ravaged by war and the kingdom turned against him. The Prince is rapidly captured and Kaileena has no choice but to sacrifice herself and unleash the Sands of Time in order to save him. Now cast to the streets and hunted as a fugitive, The Prince soon discovers that past battles have given rise to a deadly Dark Prince, whose spirit gradually possesses him...

Scriptwriter Corey May offers a more in-depth account of the story and one of the character who makes her triumphant return to the series: "Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones is the final chapter of the Sands Trilogy and we're aiming to end the trilogy with a climatic episode, which will bring back all the major characters of the franchise. Obviously, Farah is one of them, she brought a lot of emotions and wit to PoP: Sands of Time, and fans have been commenting her every actions and words since then on forums!

Farah's return is linked to the invading army that has conquered Babylon. She and the Prince will clearly have a similar goal in attempting to defeat the person who leads it. (Someone who sits atop the omnipresent mythical Tower of Babel, which looms ominously over the city of Babylon. - 2Lions) To say much more would be to give away key story points. Essentially, prior to the attack on Babylon, the Indian capital was assaulted as well (by the same people). Farah's father has presumably been killed, and her people enslaved by this new enemy. At this time, Farah was imprisoned - forced to watch as these terrible events unfolded.

As the invaders set their sights on Babylon, she was transferred to the city as well. Clearly, the leader of the invading army has something 'special' in store for her. The reasons for this will become clear over the course of the game."

The real hook in The Two Thrones is The Prince's duality of character. When his nerves fail him, the Sands of Time infection can take control and The Prince will transform into The Dark Prince. Still, in light of what was revealed of the story, my guess is that Farah will be the one to save The Prince when he goes all Darth Vaderey, edging ever so closer to the point of no return. May all but confirms my theory in the following statement: "Farah's role in the game is quite significant. In addition to the practical assistance she provides by helping The Prince defeat his enemies, she serves a more character-oriented one as well. Farah is going to help The Prince learn compassion... she's going to help him learn how to be a better person. She's also going to provide some of the classic back-and-forth fun fans remember from Sands of Time. To say anymore would give too much away."

Secondary characters will play an important role in the game, and I'm not just talking about The Dark Prince. Take Kaileena for example. She is a Daeva; descended from a mythical race of creatures said to come from the hidden province of Aresura, and she and The Prince go way back (I just love these stupid time puns). Through a rather tragic (and ironic) series of events, Kaileena fled to the Island of Time and built a grand fortress there - all in an attempt to ward off her untimely demise. She had glimpsed her future - and knew that one day The Prince would find and kill her. Too late, she realized, she had not built a fortress, but a tomb.

But The Prince - not content simply to change his fate - also endeavored to change hers. He fought FATE itself - physically manifested in the form of a creature known as the Dahaka. And The Prince won, slaying the monster! Kaileena - who had spent centuries awaiting her end, suddenly found herself free. The Prince offered her a chance to begin life anew - in HIS time. Together, the two of them left the Island (and the past) behind them.

And so the story should be over: happily ever after. Unfortunately, it's not that simple.

For Kaileena was a Daeva. And even in death, she had power. As The Prince would learn during the adventure of Warrior Within, Kaileena's remains WERE the Sands of Time. In bringing Kaileena OUT of the past, he created a ripple effect: Without the Sands being created, they were never found by the Maharaja of India - never stolen by King Sharaman - never unleashed upon the unsuspecting people of Azad. History had been altered.

Besides further explaining the plot outline, this also sheds some more light on the relationship between The Prince and Farah. When she and Prince meet again, she won't have any recollection of their past history. "Farah and The Prince have not seen each other for around seven years. And really, Farah's never seen The Prince. No Sands of Time in the past means no adventure at Azad. (And what else could it mean...) However, if we base our assumptions about her development on the young woman introduced in the first game, it's safe to say that she has changed (time does that to a person) but not that much," May explains.