Prince of Persia: Before the Sandstorm
Author(s)	Jordan Mechner
Artist(s)	Todd Mcfarlane, Niko Henrichon, David Lopez, Bernard Chang
Publisher	Disney Press
Published	April 13, 2010
Type	Graphic novel
Series	Sands of Time film

Prince of Persia: Before the Sandstorm is a graphic novel anthology prequel setting up the characters and world of the movie Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. It is written by Jordan Mechner and was published by Disney Press in April 2010.

PlotEdit

Five people, including Sheik Amar, Seso, two women and a porter are about to be put to death for a crime they did not commit. Though, one of them may infact not be as inoccent as they claim. The only way they can escape the hangman's noose is to find the common thread that ties them together. The one man they have all encountered, and who changed their lives, Prince Dastan:

Sheik Amar sets out to tell his story about how he met prince Dastan. He says that the sack of items which they found were tossed to him by a horseman who appeared at his tent earlier that day, giving him the thanks of Prince Dastan. Since he is an otherwise simple man with simple needs, he threw a party with the proceeds.

But the governor finds it ludicrous that such a disreputable man as the Sheik has known Prince Dastan, so the sheik tells them a story of meeting Dastan when he was just a street boy, and had fallen in love with the Princess. When the Vizier who was attempting a take over of the Kingdom at the time found out, he had Dastan thrown in Prison, where the boy meets Amar, who lends Dastan his knife, they then help each other to escape, for which Sheik Amar earned Dastan's gratitude.

The governor is not inclined to believe him, so Sheik Amar's companion, Seso, steps up to attest to Sheik Amar's truthfulness and veracity, while telling his own story of how he met Sheik Amar.

But the governor doesn't believe him either. One of the dancing girls, Dinarzad steps forward to claim that the Ngbaka tribesmen are well known as being truthful and honorable, and tells her own story, of another slave in the Hareem who knew an Ngbaka, who rescued her from being used by the Hassansins.

Needless to say, the governor is not convinced by her tale, either. And so the second dancing girl Sharzad, tells the story of the woman Prince Dastan is marrying. Again, the judge is unconvinced.

But when the porter speaks up, also revealing a connection to Prince Dastan, he tells a tale about his brother's wife's cousin Roham, who once helped prince Dastan to defeat a demon king on an island they were both stranded on, upon which the prince rewarded him princely.

When the final story, fails to impress, the governor. He sends the women and the porter away, but orders Sheik Amar and Seso to be executed. But the pair have already managed to escape in the confusion.

GalleryEdit

TriviaEdit

• Sheik Amar's version of prince Dastan is actually very reminicent of the Prince from the original 1989 game, he even wears pure white clothes.
• One moment in Sheik Amar's story has him catching a glimpse of the prince jumping through the mirror and The Dark Prince (in his The Two Thrones design) emerging.