King's Quest Discussion

Anakin Skywalker

KQ1 and KQ2 have Graham as the hero...Then in just the third game we basically skip forward to it being "King's Quest: The Next Generation." Do you think Roberta should've waited a few sequels before jumping things forward a generation?

I'm simply saying we could've gotten at least a few games in the period between KQ1 and KQ2 or between KQ2 and KQ3. I mean Graham is THE King in King's Quest....Would've been nicer if there had been more games with a younger Graham as the protagonist.

MtnPeak

To be honest, I love the fact that Graham isn't exactly a spring chicken in KQ5. I actually find him to be a more interesting character as someone with more life experience, so having more quests with a young Graham was never something that I really longed for. I think it's cool how, even though Graham has been around the block a few times, he still seems very strong in KQ5. At least he seems strong in the close-up shots; sadly, in KQ5 he isn't always such a strong swimmer nor someone who can survive a fall from a height of a few meters. :-)

Having more King's Quests would have been nice, though. Maybe a future game can take place between the events of KQ2 and KQ3.

jonathanfrisby

I've always liked that King's Quest let their protagonists rest and live a little between adventures -- it made their quest seem a bit more momentous when they happened, and let the characters grow outside of the unrelenting puzzling.

Jeaz

I agree with MtnPeak on this. King's Quest 1 & 2 had it's charm, but I think it's in the following three games it really established some personality and made me care about Graham and his family. Then the decline started in 6, went on in 7 and went underground in 8.

I have high hopes for TellTales take on KQ, but the complete lack of updates is worrying.

BagginsKQ

These are a few observations I made based on an interesting bit made in the epilogue of KQ1SCI;

In KQ1SCI, in the game's epilogue it states;

And thus ended Sir Graham's great quest for the lost treasures of Daventry. Despite the loss of their beloved King Edward, the people of Daventry grew happy and prosperous and flourished for years to come. And whenever King Graham looked into his magic mirror, he saw visions of adventures yet to come...for him, for his children, and for Daventry, the land he loved so much.

Which strangely suggests that Daventry was successful and avoided the dragon for many years (but that Graham would have had to have known about future events from visions he saw long before they happened; including KQ3, KQ4, etc).

KQ1SCI can be argued to be somewhat alternate/reboot of the universe (as it diverges from the original versions of KQ1-3 and KQC continuity in someways), though the novels at least seem to follow it (the novels appear to be set in the same version of the universe based on a few descriptions of the castle, though there is a kind of blending of some of the original universes details in some of the descriptions, and a few King's Quest Companion references as well). That taken into account may suggest that the novels followed the KQ1SCI account as far as 'prosperous' kingdom for most of the years, up to the events of the dragon.

In the novels, the kingdom is portrayed completely fine and prosperpous some 15 years after the birth of the twins other than a few troubles with an endless winter (which may have destroyed a years crops 7 years after twins birth), and outbreak of insects and lizards destroying another years crops). There is no sign of the dragon, any earthquakes, or any sacrifces during those two events. Everyone seem to be pretty pleasant (other than a couple of scenes where Graham holds back some sadness over the loss of his son).

On the other hand, the KQ1SCI epilogue could imply another alternate history in which the dragon never really attacked Daventry, and Daventry was quite prosperous. For Graham saw his children's adventurers long before they were born; yet if he had seen that his son would be kidnapped, or that his kingdom was to be overun by a dragon, why didn't he prepare to try to prevent those events from happening?; unless he knew that his kingdom would be destroyed unless he let Alexander be kidnapped, and be trained with the knowledge that would allow him to defeat the dragon. Did he allow earlier sacrifices (only 3-4 girls), and giving up Rosella, knowing it would delay the Dragon long enough for Alexander to return? He would have had to known she would survive, and find the magic fruit (otherwise he might have died to his inevitable heart attack).

Seriously, makes you wonder about Graham even more if he knew, he probably long agreed to sacrifice girls to a dragon, long before the dragon even invaded.... Seriously 'lesser of two evils' for the 'greater good' arguement, and other ethical considerations... Derek Karlavaegen, Rosella, and even valanice in the King's Quest Companion even questions Graham's sanity and virtue, tosses afew criticisms on those choices to a certain degree. Derek makes the most criticisms, but putting most of the blame on Gerwain for making the suggestion to sacrifice girls in the first place, Rosella was a little upset, but knew it was for a good cause, but ultimately forgave her father, and Valanice tried to stand and guard Rosella's room with a sword to keep Graham from taking her away, but ultimately agreed to let her go.