The Frozen Lair is the bonus gameplay content included in the Collector's Edition of The Exiled Prince. In it, we play as the Fairytale Detective and investigate a frozen area deep within the Underground Kingdom.
This bonus game is based on elements of the German fairy tale Snow White.
Plot
WARNING: This section contains massive spoilers! Read at your own risk!
The Frozen Lair begins directly after the events of The Exiled Prince. We find ourselves at Princess Ivy's tomb (previously accessible only in Hard Mode of the main game, after acquiring the Golden Crown by finishing the game entirely the first time around). Prince James' spirit appears and breaks the ice barrier at the back of the room for us, so that we might venture further and find clues to our next investigation.
In the next room, we find a beautiful statue of the Frog Prince and his fifth wife, Snow White. Venturing further, we find a well-preserved painting of the couple, as well as another painting that is entirely covered by ice. The nameplate on this painting is also missing. When we finally fix this painting, we find an image of an old woman holding an apple, accompanied by a skeletal companion. Behind the nameplate, we find a mostly-obscured letter signed by Snow White, referring to an evil Godmother.
Further in, we find a grave labeled "Queen" that appears as if it could belong to Snow White's mother. We also gain access to Snow White's bedroom. In it, we find a beautiful portrait of Snow White and a locked box containing the Princess' diary. Reading it, we learn that Prince James' fifth wife did not die, as we might have assumed, but left him for unspecified reasons. We also learn that she had lived here with James, in the Underground Kingdom, for some time.
We follow clues that lead us to place a small stand and a frozen mirror shard in front of the portrait of Snow White. Doing so causes her portrait to change from a sweet young woman to a cold, harsh-looking witch with piercing eyes. A rolled map is revealed on the painting. When we grab it, a blast of ice knocks us back and almost kills us.
There's a visible path of ice and destruction leading away from the painting, as if an entity was released from it and left a trail. We find the painting of the old woman has been iced over again. The document we found below it is gone. We follow the path still further and find a portal. Using tools we've picked up along the way, we activate the portal and step through it.
A pop-up informs us that, map in hand, we've stepped through the portal to the Snowfall Kingdom, the location of our next case...
Parables
This game was released before Parables were introduced into the series. This was the second game that doesn't have any. The first was Curse of Briar Rose.
Connections
- We find Princess Ivy's tomb. An inscription on it reads, "Sister Ivy and Sister Briar Rose: Release the spirit of one and you shall free the other."
- We see gorgeous artwork and statuary of Snow White and her husband, Prince James.
- The entire area is cold and we see symbols and evidence of snow and ice everywhere, foreshadowing the Snowfall Kingdom locale, where our next adventure awaits in Rise of the Snow Queen.
- We learn that Snow White did not die, but instead left the Frog Prince.
- We see Snow White's portrait change into a portrait of the Snow Queen.
- Hidden in a wall cache, we find a document signed by the Snow Queen, titled "Details pertinent to the death of the Godmother". We still don't know what Godmother this refers to or if it's a typo meant to say Stepmother.
- We enter a portal directly to the Snowfall Kingdom, the locale of the next Dark Parables game.
Gallery
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