The Magic Mirror was the greatest treasure in all of Daventry (far surpassing that of the Chest and the Shield) in the stories of the land.
Background[]
At some point between time the time of the Queen's death (Edward the Benevolent's queen) and after. When the Queen Died, Edward's heart was broken and he stopped funding the kingdom, except for his guards, and the bells he put up in her rememberence. The kingdom went into decline, and became poor. It was at some point during this time, that the Magic Mirror was stolen (apparently by Stone Goblins, or whoever the magic user was who lead the Goblins), but no one knew who stole it for sure.
Edward had missives and wanted posters put up asking for people to find the Missing Magic Mirror".
Some time later Graham came to Daventry from Llewdor to take part in a Knights Tournament to become one of the Knights of Daventry (and possibly win the position to become the new King of Daventry).
Graham was successful, and helped restore the land, and fix issues with the Bridge Troll Guild so funds began to flow around the land again, and in just a few short years he became known as the greatest knight in Daventry, and caught the King's eye.
A few years later, as Edward neared the end of his life, Edward had one final request, he sent the young knight on the 'quest to return his stolen mirror', with the promise to reward him with the kingdom on his return. Graham searched high and low all over the kingdom for the mirror, with no luck luck. The last place he looked, was a place had not been back to in years (the Dragon Cave under the Forest Well he had explored with Achaka, and faced the Legendary Beast, a large, hideous dragon in his youth).
He did not want to face the Dragon again, but it was his last chance to honor the king's request. He snuck through the caves discovering signs of stolen beds, butter churns, and other debris, he spotted the shining Mirror while crossing a bridge far above. Exploring through the tunnels he discovered a bedroom with magic books inside, belonging to who ever controlled the dragon.
Finally he reached the dragon's chamber, distracting it meat, using a strange contraption, he was able to finally sneak over to the mirror. Examining it for a few moments he saw a vision of wearing the Crown of Daventry on his his head. He put the mirror away in his cape's large pockets. The dragon spotted him however, he was forced to a mad escape back to the well, where he had a final confrontation with the dragon (with three decisions that would have future consequences for him).
With the Dragon out of his way, with the last of his strenth, he climbed out of the well and headed back to the castle to return the Magic Mirror. He thought of the kingdom he would receive for returning the Mirror, and what it would become.
Ever since the Magic Mirror had returned, its reflections have warned the kingdom of danger, kept the royal family safe, and it has exposed many troublesome crumbs tangled in Graham's beard.
Not long after Graham became king it showed him a future where he as an old man in his 90s was being chased by a dragon.
Many years later, Graham uses the mirror to tell stories to his young granddaughter Gwendolyn. Perhaps embellishing them a bit.
This was Graham's most prized treasure that it was always guarded inside the castle, and not just left out in the King's Glen exposed to the weather and tourists.
Features and traits[]
The Magic Mirror is a iron, silver or platinum mirror with fancy scrollwork along the edges. The backside appears to be basic wood, with two hooks for hanging it up.
The mirror is capable of showing at least the past, or possible pasts, and the future or possible futures. Graham has figured out how to even use it to show his past adventures and even show choices that did not actually make that would have killed him. It can presumably show the present or contact others in the present as well, assuming Genesta contacted Rosella in a similar manner in this universe.
It is not known if the magic mirror is capable of lieing or not (these images as mentioned just may be possible outcomes). But it does seem that users do have some control over what it can show. The original 'gold gilded mahogany' magic mirror from the original canon was said to only be able to tell the 'truth' when showing visions and prophecies under its own power.
Infact the mirror maybe almost completely 'unreliable', as it's possible that it showed him a princess in the mirror, being held in Hagatha's Tower, only for there to actually be two princesses being held. He had to choose between the two.
In King's Quest: Adventures of Graham, see Magic Mirror (KQGS) Graham uses it as a tool to tell the stories of his life to his daughter Gwendolyn (infact it is made to be part of the interface, including his inventory interface). It is kept in his bedroom at this point, as he lays in his bed, feeble and near the end of his life. Note: As one of the elements of the game's story is that Graham might be embellishing his stories, this might contradict the 'never tell a lie' rule of the mirror from the original lore, but the new game is a reimagining, not necessarily maintaining everything from the original universe.
See also[]
- TOG universe
- Merlin's Mirror
- Three Great Treasures
- Treasures (KQGS)
Behind the scenes[]
It is not clear if the chest or the shield were ever stolen in this universe, though they do clearly exist. For more detailed discussion see TOG universe. There is however a clearly different order of events concerning the Queen's death, and the downfall of the kingdom, and on the specifics of Edward's quest to retrieve the 'greatest treasure' (that certainly overlooks the other two treasures). Other details seem to deny the shield or the chest had been stolen.
Additionally without further information its not even clear if the other two treasures were ever even owned by Edward. It's possible that Graham discovered them while searching for the Magic Mirror, and they were two things that brought recover to his new kingdom. But Edward may have not even known of them previously. Or possible he discovered them later while he was king.
Graham refers to the Magic Mirror as the 'important treasure' and 'rare treasure'. Gwendolyn seems to imply that for returning the 'lost treasure' (singular?) the magic mirror he was made king.
Chapter 3 and cut lines from Chapter 4 seem to indicate that Graham stole the magic chest from a giant. But that it was an earlier quest that he went on as a knight.
A cut line form Chapter 4 indicates magic chest was obtained form leprechauns, and in chapter 3 that it was probably another quest before his final quest as well in over the years of being a knight.
While the account of the recovery of the magic mirror is different as a whole from all versions of the original King's Quest I, including the AGI, SCI, and Sega Master System versions (one of the biggest differences being, the already mentioned focus on a single "lost treasure" the magic mirror).
Another noteable change is that Graham escaped from the well, and there is no swimming in the well itself. In the original game, the canonical exit (or rather the version that offered the most points), see also Quest for the Crown: From the Chronicles of Daventry, Part I, was throwing water in the Dragon's face, and escaping through the main cave entrance which had been blocked off by a boulder. Exiting by the well actually lead to less points.
In the original game it was also his original 'discovery' of Dragon's Lair under the well, and he had never been there before, and the kingdom did not know of the Dragon living there.