Potential KQ6 plothole

Anakin Skywalker

I was thinking about this after watching a Playthrough of KQ6....
Shamir's mission, if you will, is to kill Alexander, is it not? In any event, Alhazred views Alexander as a threat pretty much as soon as they meet--Probably due to Graham foiling Mordack*, as well as Alhazred's desire to keep Cassima under lock and key.

Not only is Shamir sent out to the other Isles to tell their leaders that Alexander is a dangerous foreign saboteur (which leads all of the leaders to either try to kill him or distrust him), but we also see Shamir attempts to lure Alexander to his death multiple times:

-Tries to get him to jump into the ocean, which would cause him to drown.
-Tries to get him to eat the nightshade berries, which would poison him
-Tries to get him to go into one of the trap rooms in the Minotaur's lair, which would lead to him falling to his doom
-Tries to get Alexander to come into the Isle of the Beast's garden, which is booby trapped with those stone archers--If Alex/the player falls for it, Alex would be shot and killed by the archer.
-Is about to zap Alexander out of existence but is stopped by Alex either taking command of the Genie with his lamp, or, alternatively, killing him by intoxicating him with the Mint, thus causing his spell to backfire on him and kill Shamir himself.

My question is, if part of Shamir's mission is to ensure Alexander gets killed, why doesn't he just zap Alexander out of the living world with one of his spells in one of their many encounters? Seems a much easier and foolproof way of taking care of Alexander than trying to trick him to his death.

*= I think there are three motives in wanting Alexander dead on Alhazred's part. One, revenge for Mordack (even if it was Graham's doing). Mordack getting killed very likely set Alhazred's plans back--He was counting on Cassima never returning, thus removing any barrier to his claim to the throne with the King and Queen dead. When she unexpectedly returned, that set him back and he had to cobble together the Marriage plot in order to make himself the legitimate King of the Green Isles.*

Two, letting Alexander live given his desire to meet Cassima and their past friendship is a possible danger to his plans, since a big part of his plan is keeping Cassima in seclusion.

Third, if the first guy who was supposed to keep Cassima away was desposed of by a member of this family, who's to say this young Prince couldn't somehow muck up Alhazred's plans as well? (which is what Alex ends up doing). How was Alhazred to know what Cassima told him in Mordack's Castle? Perhaps she told him something damaging about the Vizier. In Alhazred's mind, perhaps Alexander came there with the express intention of saving Cassima rather than simply visiting her.

BagginsKQ

Probably had to make Alexander's death look like an accident, so that there was no evidence of foul play.... Direct murder might have lead to more questions on the part of the inhabitants of the other islands if they discovered Alexander's 'zapped' body. It would have led them to distrust Alhazred further. It wasn't as if leaders of the other islands truly liked or trusted the vizier as many of them tell Alexander when he finally proves himself to them.

Also keep in mind that Alhazred also didn't want to do anything, that would raise Alexander's suspicions towards himself. So that he could maintain the ruse that Cassima was in 'mourning', and that he had valid reasons to keep Alexander away from the castle. So while Alexander might suspect him, he had no direct evidence against him, and he could maintain his legitimacy in the castle and surrounding lands.

Alhazred didn't want to directly implicate himself in the murder attempts. Thus the reason the genie took on different aliases. In case Shamir failed, it would be less likely for Alexander to accuse him of being involved.

Once Alexander uncovers the Genie's identity during the wedding though, Alhazred was more desperate, and at that point no longer could distance himself from the genie, and used the genie in a more direct way to aid his attempted escape from the guards and Alexander. At that point it didn't matter if he ordered the genie to kill Alexander, since his gig was up anyways.

Also keep in mind it was the genie that stole each of the island's treasures so the less the other islands knew about Shamir the better. Lest they figured it out, and turned on him.

Btw, you missed another obvious attempt by the genie to kill Alexander indirectly... Using the guise of Cassima, to order the guards to eliminate Alexander, as a threat to the Crown! The 'I don't love you' bit.

Blackthorne519

Shamir was a dope.

Oh, and it's a game. It's a fun fantasy game. Don't apply too much real world logic on it.


Bt

BagginsKQ

Interestingly enough in other 'fantasy' logic, to 'kill another person' is one of the forbidden wishes/limitations, that a genie cannot actually grant. The limitations of genies are somewhat different in KQ lore (see Guidebook to the Land of the Green Isles).

A genie does have some limitations, however: it cannot cure ills, change the weather or bring back the dead.

It says of the Prince who became the master of Mali Mellin;

"His enemies lay slaughtered on the fields without provocation."

Other, than that the 'motives' and 'reasonings' behind it are actually mentioned or implied in the game at various points. It's also discussed in the KQ6 Hintbook, IIRC.

One place it may be mentioned in the game is those cutscenes with Alhazred issuing orders to the genie (after you trade for the magic map). There are two or three versions of that scene (depending on if you meet Alhazred first, or if the genie informs Alhazred of your coming to the island).

In those scenes we find that Alhazred doesn't directly order Shamir to kill him. He tells him to spy on him, and he tells Shamir to tell the other leaders of the islands to look out for him and stop him by any means necessary. You learn later, that Shamir had described Alexander as an 'assassin', 'saboteur', or 'spy' among other things to convince the island's leaders to stop him.

In a later cutscene, after Alex fakes his own death. Alhazred doesn't believe it at first, and thinks Alexander is extremely devious and may have just tricked him. But is glad that he's gone, if its true. He calls it 'convenient'. But there is still no indication, that he directly ordered the Genie to "kill Alexander".

Lambonius

Blackthorne519 wrote: »

Shamir was a dope.

Oh, and it's a game. It's a fun fantasy game. Don't apply too much real world logic on it.


Bt

Yeah seriously, Anakin. You're always trying to tie all the KQ games together into these convoluted overarching meta-plotlines. Jeez!

Chyron8472

Jollo says that Shamir is a trickster. It is part of Shamir's character to use the tactics that he did. Also, as has been said, Alhazred was trying to gain power through deviouness. For Alhazred to have Shamir attempt murder so overtly would risk calling too much attention to himself.

techie775

The game would be sorta boring and not really an adventure if you had to keep escaping Shamir so he doesn't kill you. Plus I agree with the trickster and "making your death seem like an accident." logic.