Mad Prince/History

Reveal

Sunny and Nephis discussed their strange entry into the Nightmare, considering their roles they had assumed. Sunny theorized that the Mad Prince died where Sunny was first located in the Nightmare. It was strange that a Corrupted Titan could have become an Ascended Tyrant, but it was not impossible. The Third Nightmare was different from previous ones, with challengers entering with their own bodies, suggesting that the Spell may have decided this was the best option.^[1]

Reveal

Another theory is that the Mad Prince possibly could have been conjured into the present by some strange quirk of the Great River as there was a mention about Tomb of Ariel's unpredictable flow of time. There is a possibility that the Mad Prince is the future version of Sunny who had been devoured by the Corruption or the Sin of Solace itself.^[1]

Reveal

Reveal

The Mad Prince, possibly in his earlier versions, may have realized the cyclical nature of the Great River and changed each cycle accordingly. Sunny became a variable and tried to conquer the Nightmare in such a way that none of the members of the cohorts died and Nephis survived till the end. He failed for some reason, possibly due to the mission's doom from the start.^[4]

See also: Six Plagues § Truth

Reveal

Cassie confronted Asterion, declaring that her newborn Supreme Domain was already vast because it was built from memories, and she remembered everything. She used her power to mark Asterion and see through his eyes while secretly spreading her Will to mark the soldiers of the Hunger Domain. Asterion revealed that he could read her mind and knew she was stalling for time in order to erase the idea of him from humanity's minds and weaken his Domain. He also exposed the limits of her Supreme Ability, explaining that she could only manifest beings of her Rank or lower, and since she was already manifesting herself, she could only summon weaker beings against him.^[7]

When Cassie admitted that only one abomination could possibly challenge him, the hall grew darker and filled with a sinister chill. A terrifying presence awakened in the darkness, and a figure appeared: a scarred man in tattered clothes holding a white jade jian. The being Cassie summoned was revealed to be the Mad Prince, the darkest horror of the Great River.^[7]

The Mad Prince was a Corrupted Titan that wore a human face and possessed dark, frightening eyes that sometimes showed a distant hint of lucidity. He spoke in a hoarse voice with undertones of a rabid growl and displayed erratic behavior, including a demented laugh and moments of violent self-harm where he clawed at his face until blood spilled, only for the blood to reverse and return under his skin. He referred to Cassie as Torment and recalled their "little game", acknowledging that he had lost because she was the one who made it out, in the end. He also expressed relief upon learning that Nephis was alive, stating that he had not failed completely and referring to another version of himself as the little wretch who escaped becoming him.^[8]

The Mad Prince carried the cursed jade sword known as the Sin of Solace, which was described as a blade that infected everyone it cut with insidious madness, making it a particular threat even to Asterion, a Dreamspawn and a creature of the mind. He reacted with mocking amusement and detachment when questioned by Asterion, warning him against attempting to peer into his mind. When informed that Asterion had harmed Nephis and sought to ruin what he had achieved, the Mad Prince's demeanor shifted into intense obsession. He declared that Nephis is his with demented, dire conviction, and his presence expanded until it felt like a physical force that affected the environment, causing shadows to move in demented frenzy and the hall itself to react to his power. He then engaged Asterion in combat, moving with extreme speed and force as he attacked.^[8]

The Mad Prince had been forced into a desperate defensive battle as Asterion systematically weakened the Hunger Domain and stripped away its Great Citadels. Despite being severely wounded and reduced to only two incarnations, he continued fighting while protecting Cassie, exploiting Asterion's need to target her. He mocked Asterion even as he was overwhelmed, insisting he could not truly be erased as long as Cassie remembered him and could manifest him again. In the end, he failed to stop Asterion's advance and was bypassed, but Cassie ultimately dismissed him from the battlefield, temporarily removing him as the cleansing of the world neared completion.^[9]