Jaffar

I never wanted the lamp for power and glory like the stories would have you believe. Like he would have you believe.

As royal vizier to the Sultan of Agrabah, what need would I have for more power? More power means more responsibilities means more problems and I already have enough to deal with trying to run this kingdom and its ungrateful citizens.

Now, before you look at me like all the others do, I said, “Run this kingdom.” Not rule. There’s a difference. Running a kingdom is akin to managing in the absence of a higher authority, like the Sultan. Ruling a kingdom is exerting absolute authority over land and people. Understand?

I never wanted to rule Agrabah. That’s another lie the stories told. A lie he started. Why would I ever want to rule a kingdom in the middle of the desert with these barbaric ingrates? I’m not saying I couldn’t rule Agrabah, I most certainly can, but to rule a kingdom, you need the respect of the people. You need to be a symbol, someone they can trust, someone they can turn to. In other words, you’d need to be a selfless fool and I am far from selfless.

Hamed Bobolonius the third, on the other hand, is the very definition of selfless. There is nothing he wouldn’t do for his family, people and kingdom. He was a man who strived to change Agrabah’s outdated customs and forge relationships with neighboring kingdoms to improve life for his people. He was a man worthy of respect, a man who would have changed Agrabah...were it not for the untimely death of the Sultana.

The Sultana was everything to Hamed and with her death, Hamed ceased to be. Lost in his grief, he reverted into a blubbering man-child. Princess Jasmine lost both parents the day the Sultana died.

Within months, everything Hamed and the Sultana worked to achieve slowly crumbled. With no one to lead, Agrabah and her people were in a state of unrest. Crime rates rose. The slums got worse. Corruption seeped into the overworked royal guards. Princess Jasmine became increasingly intolerable and the other royal advisors left before they became babysitter to the Sultan.

With no support, there was only so much I could do to keep the Kingdom from burning.

….And then he came along.

In hindsight, I should have killed the boy. I’ve grown soft in my old age. The boy is a criminal - a thief! And thievery is not tolerated in Agrabah. First time offenders lose their hand. Steal again and you lose your head. It’s barbaric, but hey it’s home.

I’ll admit not all the stories are lies. Most of the stories are fabrications of an overactive imagination, but there are some truths.

Look -  everything I did was for the protection of Agrabah.  If we didn’t get the lamp, surely our enemies would have. The temptation of the lamp and its power was too dangerous to ignore.  It had to be stashed away safely within the vaults of Agrabah.

No one understands the power of the lamp, all they hear is “three wishes” and their minds go blank. No one ever stops to think about the consequences of that power. No one ever stops to think about the all-powerful being granting those wishes. No one ever stops to think about the bad reputation associated with those all-powerful beings.

No one ever stops to think...but I digress.

I did send thieves into the Cave of Wonders to retrieve the lamp. Most of them...Okay all of them perished, but it was necessary and they would have died regardless. Those thieves were already sentenced to death - all I did was give them a chance to do something meaningful before their death.

Me? Go into the cave? Don’t be ridiculous. Why endanger my life? It’s more valuable than petty thieves - besides who else would run the kingdom? No, the thieves were the obvious choice. I just regret sending him into the cave.

Now there was no “diamond in the rough” nonsense - that’s something the boy cooked up. He was a skilled thief - that’s all there was to it. He was able to evade all the traps set...well, most of them.

Just like the boy and the thieves before him, the Cave’s Guardian was clear: “Touch nothing but the lamp.” I even told the fools before they ventured in: “Everything within the cave is forbidden treasure - save for the lamp. Do not touch anything except the lamp.” But did they listen? Of course not. The greedy fools couldn’t resist the treasures within the cave and they were devoured. It wasn’t the gold that did the Boy in though - It was the carpet. A magic flying carpet.

The boy tried to escape, he almost made it to the entrance too, but the cave swallowed him whole and there was nothing I could do.  It was not the outcome I was expecting, but it was an acceptable outcome. The lamp was gone. Agrabah was safe from its powers and the enemies who would have used the lamp against us. I thought the boy dead like his predecessors before him….

And then that street rat came parading into Agrabah with an entourage of soldiers, dancers, elephants, gold, jewels and exotic animals. He announced himself as Prince Ali Abubu. Or was it Ali Abubah? Not important. It was some ridiculous asinine name.

I didn’t recognize him at first because of all the glamour and flashy garments. I thought him to be another suitor for the Princess, but then I saw the carpet. Then, the lamp. The emblem.

You see, there’s another quality you need to rule a kingdom. Royal blood. No matter how powerful a Genie is, it cannot grant you royal blood. There are rules and limits to its powers. It can create natural disasters that strip a once lush land into an arid desert, but it cannot create things out of thin air. It can produce things out of thin air, but that isn’t the same thing.

Do you see where I’m getting at?

Prince Abubie’s “wealth”, his entourage, everything he had when he marched into Agrabah, while real, were not his. A neighboring kingdom whose Prince happened to be a suitor for Princess Jasmine, but was humiliated when her overgrown cat bit his pants off. The Djinn took his kingdom’s wealth and distributed it all to Prince Abubu - which wasn’t good because the Djinn’s spell would eventually wear off and this illusion of wealth would result in the humiliated Prince declaring war on Agrabah.

The minute he stepped foot in the palace, I knew exactly what he was scheming. He wanted Agrabah for himself. I tried to stop it, but the Sultan was not the man he once was and he was easily swayed by the lavish gifts. The Princess was no better - she was smitten by him. It was impossible. If I didn’t do anything, Agrabah would be lost.

Now let me set one thing straight - the stories would have you believe...he would have you believe that I tried to force a marriage upon the princess. That I stole the lamp. That I tried to kill him. I should have slit his throat, but I did not and that was the beginning of my undoing.

The truth is far less interesting. I simply underestimated the Boy’s cunning. He charmed the entire palace and began a blaze of rumors and whisper campaigns that villified my character. I was stripped of my position and thrown out of the palace.

Amazing, isn’t it? The power of stories and lies.

All I wanted to do was protect my city, but now I must watch as it is plagued with misfortune all thanks to that Boy and the stupid lamp.