If you get to have the chance to be given a superpower, what would you choose? Invisibility? Flight? Teleportation? How about time travel? In our world, the thought of having a superpower may reside in our fantasies and imagination.
However, in the magical world of the Prince of Persia, there are relics that can allow you to manipulate time. Imagine being able to go back in time to either undo the things you’ve done or change the course of time in some way.
It would be a magnificent power. With it, you can gain unimaginable wealth, power, reputation and more. In this article, we shall discuss an artifact from the world of Prince of Persia called the Dagger of Time. If you want the Dagger of Time for yourself, check it out here on Amazon.
The Dagger of Time
The Dagger of Time is a popular and iconic weapon in pop culture today. The weapon was popularized by the game, Prince of Persia. If you don’t know it yet, the game Prince of Persia is very successful.
At the time of this writing, Prince of Persia has had 8 sequels. But there’s more to it than just that. The games can be played on more than 10 different gaming platforms. That’s how successful the games are.
It is even said that Prince of Persia was the inspiration for Assassin’s Creed. More than the games, there’s also the film, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Some might have even been introduced to the franchise by the film and not by the games.
The Dagger of Time is one of the “artifacts of time,” according to the lore. It has incredible powers to manipulate time but requires the “Sands of Time” to function. Without the Sands of Time, the dagger becomes an ordinary bladed weapon.
The Sands of Time are stored on the handle and are activated by the pummel when pressed. To put it simply, imagine the Dagger of Time as a car and the Sands of Time as gasoline. While the car can go forward, backward or any other direction, once the gas runs out, it no longer works.
Each time the power of the Dagger of Time is used, a portion of the sand will be spent. This means that while the Dagger of Time is an incredibly powerful artifact, it is still limited by the amount of sand it can store.
The number of times the power of the Dagger of Time can be used varies. More of that will be discussed later. Another is that the dagger makes up for it by having the ability to collect Sands of Time restoring some of those that have been spent.
However, doing so is not a very easy task. With the different versions of the game, acquiring sand for the Dagger of Time is the same. Although just how much sand can be stored or just how much the power of the dagger can be used differs, the Sands of Time can be collected by the dagger through defeating “Sand Creatures.”
Sand Creatures may not sound very terrifying but they are actually almost immortal beings that can only be killed using an artifact of time.
What Does the Dagger of Time Look Like?
Within the different versions of the game and the film, the aesthetics of the Dagger of Time have some slight variations. The early designs of the dagger didn’t have a jewel by the pommel as a button to activate its powers.
Instead of having a jewel as a button, the way the power of the dagger is activated is seemingly through a conscious or even through an unconscious means of casting its powers.
More than that, although the graphics of the game at its time were great, it’s still hard to really get a grasp of the details.
One thing we can say for certain about the dagger in this game though, is that it’s not a straight blade. It’s a bit curved, with a blue glow. It has a pointed handle and intricate designs by the base of its blade.
From Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, we can get a better look at the Dagger of Time. Unlike its previous design, the Dagger of Time from The Two Thrones has a straight blade. Its blade still has a blue glow while its sand chamber has gold. The tip of its handle is still pointed.
Understandably the most detailed design is the Dagger of Time from the film. It has a lot of minute details all across the weapon from the tip of its blade to the very bottom of its pommel.
Unlike its variant in the games, the blade of the dagger in the film doesn’t give off a blue glow. It does, however, retain the golden glow of the sand chamber but it only glows when used. The blade of the dagger in the games, seemingly also have a bluish tone.
With the film’s design, it appears to only be a regular weapon but just with intricate designs. Its blade is metallic silver in color but nothing is known about the materials that were used to forge the dagger.
Its blade is a bit curved and also have some runes or inscriptions etched on it too. The guard is asymmetrical, having two pointed edges branching out from one side and only one on the other.
The weapon is adorned in gold spiraling down from the guard to the pommel. For its sand chamber, it is also not known what material is used for the glass to hold the sands of time. But it definitely isn’t any ordinary durable glass.
It has to be something that is endowed with magic because what is known is that the Sands of Time can only be harnessed using artifacts of time. Moreover, even in the photo, one can easily notice that the dagger doesn’t look sharp.
This was mentioned by Princess Tamina. The reason for it was never stated, but could it be that the dagger as a weapon was meant for something else rather than cutting or slicing through human flesh?
Perhaps for killing sand creatures? Unfortunately, it was never stated in the movie. No sand creatures were ever shown or mentioned either.
Who Made the Dagger of Time?
The creation of the dagger is filled with mysteries. While there is some information that is known about the creation of the Dagger of Time, including the other artifacts of time, the cause or reason for their creation is unknown.
With regards to the Dagger of Time, its creator differs from the games and the film. Although there are still a lot of similarities in the overall story, the origin of the weapon was changed. In the games, it was told by Vizier that the Dagger of Time and the other artifacts originated from the Island of Time.
The Dagger of Time and all the other artifacts have one creator. Imagine just how powerful the creator must be. It is believed that Kaileena is the one who created the Dagger of Time and all the other artifacts.
Kaileena is the very essence of the Sands of Time. She was created by the gods inadvertently when they created time. This means that Kaileena possessed the power to control time itself.
In the film, the creation of the Dagger of Time started with what was supposed to be the apocalypse of man. The gods upon looking down on Earth were dismayed because all they ever saw were the greed and treachery of mankind.
Because of this, they decided to wipe the Earth clean of men by sending a very powerful sandstorm capable of cleaning the very face of the Earth. They went about doing this until one girl begged the gods to spare mankind.
In exchange for eradicating all of men, she surrendered her life to them. Because of the girl’s action, the gods changed their minds and kept all the sand in one gargantuan hourglass. This reminded them of men’s potential to do good.
As the cataclysm was put into a halt, it was told by Princess Tamina how the dagger was made from a stone located near a temple. The gods offered it to her to protect. As the Dagger of Time possesses incredible power, options were given to the princess, should the dagger be needed to be kept away.
One was to bring back the dagger to the hidden temple and store it there. The other option was to place the dagger back into the stone where it came from. Doing this will allow the dagger to be sent back to the gods.
However, committing such an action requires the promised tradeoff. As payment for sending back the dagger to the gods, Princess Tamina’s life would be sacrificed. It is only her life and no one else’s that can be made payment for the option of giving back the dagger to the gods.
What Are the Abilities of the Dagger of Time?
Let’s begin with the abilities of the dagger that were shown in the film. Like in the game, the power of the dagger was limited. At most, the dagger was used twice until its sand container was emptied.
Even when Prince Dastan refilled it with the Sands of Time from Tamina’s necklace, the Dagger of Time’s power was only able to be used twice afterward. Due to the limited usage, little of its abilities and powers were shown in the film.
Dastan first learned about the power of the dagger after a fight with Tamina when he accidentally pressed the Jewel of the Hilt. This caused time to reverse. Dastan realized that he was only able to return one minute into the past and only he was aware of this time manipulation.
Though Tamina stated it was forbidden, reversing further into the past was possible when Dastan pierced the Sunglass with the Dagger of Time, opening its sand container. Tamina warned this would release the mighty sandstorm that would destroy mankind. However, Dastan was able to close the dagger before all the sand escaped. This placed him right at the time they had just conquered Alamut. Other than reversing time, Dastan was also able to slow time during the first ambush of the Hassansins.
After time had been slowed, it was then reversed letting Dastan know every attack that is going to happen. He was able to kill off every snake saving them from harm. It was not clear if the dagger sped up his movement at this moment or if he just used his knowledge of the attacks to save them. The Dagger of Time in the film can store, absorb, and unleash the Sands of Time from the Sandglass. In other words, the Dagger of Time was capable of unleashing doom on all humankind.
It’s also worth mentioning that other than the Dagger of Time, another artifact worn by Tamina as a necklace was capable of also storing the Sands of Time. Dastan used the sand from the necklace to replenish the Dagger of Time.
The sand was a very limited resource in the film. There were no sand creatures. In fact, Dastan only ever had Tamina’s necklace to replenish the dagger.
In the games, you are able to experience what the Dagger of Time is fully capable of. Here are the different abilities of the Dagger of Time in the games:
Capable of Killing Sand Creatures
One of the many opponents that the prince will face along his journey are sand creatures. As mentioned and described earlier, what makes the sand creatures formidable is their immunity to any physical damage. They are nearly immortal. Only the Dagger of Time is able to kill the sand creatures. In comparison to the film, the sand creatures play a huge role in the storyline of the games.
Can Absorb Sands of Time
In the game, the dagger gets replenished each time it slays a sand creature by absorbing its sand.
Can Turn Back Time
The most widely known power is the reversal of time. The Prince is still aware of the time manipulation while everyone else is not. This helps to avoid certain death or provide an opportunity to make better decisions.
Can Slow Time
Slowing time is a great power to use in battle. Reversing time isn’t always the best solution. Slowing time to reevaluate a battle strategy can be very useful.
Can Slow Down a Target
The dagger can pinpoint an exact target to slow down as well. This allows the prince to bombard the target with many attacks or deliver a killing blow while the spell is in effect.
Can Speed Up a Target
The dagger can also speed up a target. This is used as an offensive and defensive strategy. The prince can deliver very quick attacks or avoid just about every attack that is coming.
How Was the Dagger of Time Found?
In the film, the Dagger of Time was safely kept in Alamut under the protection of Princess Tamina and her people. However, when Tus decided to attack Alamut, Princess Tamina decided to give the dagger to one of her people for him to safely hide it.
While running away with the dagger, he encountered Dastan and was bested by him. Intrigued by the dagger, Dastan took it with him.
In Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the prince found the dagger neatly placed on an altar in the heart of the treasure vault when they invaded the Island of Time.
He took it and claimed it for his own after his father refused to accept it. He wanted the prince to have it as his “souvenir”. Sadly, not all went well for the prince as he would later be manipulated by the Vizier, releasing the Sands of Time.
Summary and Thoughts
The lore between both the games and the film of Prince of Persia are rich. While there are differences from the origin of the dagger, to how it looks, and its abilities; the film is still very reminiscent of the game.
Here are the abilities that the Dagger of Time have in common between the film and games:
- Can Store Sands of Time
- Can Rewind Time
- Can Slow Time
- Can Pierce the Sandglass
Here are other abilities of the dagger that has only been displayed in the games:
- Can Slow a Target
- Can Speed Up a Target
- Can Kill Sand Creatures
- Can Absorb Sands of Time
Understandably, the abilities of the dagger are vastly explored in the game, as the nature of the game calls for it. The prince makes use of it as he progressed with his adventure fighting sand creatures and getting through a lot of obstacles. The games can better optimize the full use of the dagger while the live action adaptation has a lot of factors to limit what can only be included in the film.
The Dagger of Time is a spectacular weapon with incredible powers with a story rich in lore. We hope this article has helped you with getting to know more about the Dagger of Time from both the games and the film.