During the intro, the Empress will recount the events of the last game, and how they lead to this one. During her narration, she will say "Some believe when the Prince journeyed to the Island of Time to escape death, he returned alone, the amulet destroyed, the Dahaka appeased, the Empress dead. The Prince was free at last. But, this is not how it happened." This line is actually a reference to the bad ending of the previous game, Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within, in which those events occur.