Death Ring

"Once the Casket of Doom has opened, Mordroc will place the Death Ring upon Daphne's finger in marriage, and she will be lost forever... "

—Narrator, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp

The Death Ring is a magical object that debuted in Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp. It is the golden ring that Mordroc used in attempt to force Princess Daphne into marriage with him. Throughout the majority of the game, the ring is said to be locked in the Casket of Doom, until Mordroc is able to open the casket at the beginning of the seventh stage, somehow as a result of his time travelling.

Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp[]

The Death Ring plays a crucial role in the Dragon's Lair II arcade game. In Stage 7, Mordroc puts the Death Ring on Princess Daphne's finger, which turns her into The Banshee, a large monster that seeks to devour Dirk. Dirk slides the ring off of Banshee's finger and throws it to Mordroc, causing Mordroc to bloat and petrify while Daphne gradually returns to normal. Dirk destroys Mordroc by swinging his sword into him, causing Mordroc to explode.

Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp was produced with two fully animated scenarios for the final level, portraying different sequences for how the Death Ring affects Daphne, depending on whether or not Dirk had collected all Treasures. The longer version, which ultimately became the only version seen in the original Leland Corporation arcade release, was that the Death Ring transforms Daphne into The Banshee if Dirk fails to collect all the treasures. An alternative, shorter version would appear if Dirk collected all treasures, where Daphne disappears almost immediately after receiving the Ring, leaving the Death Ring behind to drop to the ground. Dirk then seeks to catch the Ring from falling as the stage implodes, and he finally succeeds in using his belt to toss the Ring onto Mordroc's finger. After defeating Mordroc, the ending sequences would unify again, as Dirk discovers the sleeping Daphne, whom he awakens with a kiss despite fearing her dead.

The Leland Corporation's programmers decided to include only the longer version that features The Banshee transformation in the 1991 arcade game release, requiring players to collect all Treasures in order to complete the game by forcing a replay of any stage in which Dirk missed a Treasure.^[1]

A simplified recreation of the shorter version first appeared in ReadySoft’s 1990 home computer releases of Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp as the sole climax to the game. The fully animated sequence was eventually restored into subsequent re-releases of the game by Digital Leisure as a feature of a "Director's Cut" mode.

Although most of the arcade games utilize the option to horizontally flip animation sequences for additional gameplay challenge, the arcade game's default playback sequence on Stage 7 creates inconsistencies regarding the corresponding ring hands of Daphne and Mordroc. During the attract sequence and the opening to Stage 7, Mordroc slips the ring onto Daphne's left hand; during her transformation sequence, the Ring has flipped to her right hand; after her completed metamorphosis into The Banshee, the Ring is consistently on her left hand until Dirk removes it. When Dirk throws the ring at Mordroc, it lands on his apparent right hand, then switches to his left hand as it transforms him into a bloated creature.

Development[]

The inspiration for the Death Ring stems from Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) and the Norse legend of the Nibelungenlied, with the implication that the Death Ring is the same ring known to Germanic mythology. An early plan for the game might have expanded upon the Death Ring's history and resulted in a different type of transformation for Daphne. In a 1984 interview with Computer Games, Don Bluth revealed: "The Wizard plans on marrying Daphne and making her the Queen of the Underworld. But to marry her, he has that famous ring called the Ring of the Nebelungen [sic] which is the big ring that Wagner wrote about. If you have this ring you have power over anything in the world, but you must forsake all love. So the Wizard has this ring. It's locked tight in a box with a timer and when it opens, he can put it on her finger and she becomes his. He has to keep her out of Dirk's hands until that box can be opened, then he can marry her."^[2]

Although the game repeatedly implies that the effects of the Death Ring upon Daphne would become permanent, Dirk is able to completely reverse them by removing the ring from her finger. All things considered, the Ring’s effects on Daphne were much preferable than its “tudball” effect upon Mordroc.^[3]

A physical model of the Casket of Doom was constructed for animation reference and photography.^[4]

Trivia[]

Both the Ring and the “Brunhilda” qualities of Dirk’s Mother-in-Law carry connotations of Germanic heroic mythology and Wagnerian opera.
Throughout the game, neither Dirk nor Princess Daphne wear any visible wedding ring prior to receiving the Death Ring from Mordroc, perhaps insinuating some illegitimacy in their romantic union giving Mordroc the opportunity to marry her himself. On the other hand, Daphne's mother may have confirmed their formal union when she appears to say "I raised a princess who married a frog."^[5]
Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair features a golden ring as one of the six magical Essences that Dirk must collect to complete the game. The mid-game cutscene appears to emphasize Mordroc's special interest the Dragon's Ring, perhaps as an homage to Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp.
The Death Ring and the Casket of Doom appear during loading screens of the Readysoft home computer version.
In 2023, the "Casket of Doom" was featured among the six "Preview Pack" cards in Cardsmiths' Dragon's Lair Trading Cards Series One. In the full Series One set released in 2024, “Casket of Doom” features as card #28 with the description: “The Casket of Doom holds the most dangerous of curses: A wedding ring. Specifically, a cursed wedding ring that will condemn Daphne to a fate worse than death.”^[6] Curiously, card #28 is the only one in the series in which the title isn't written in all capitalized letters. Card #43 (“PUT A RING ON IT”) includes the description: “Mordroc put a ring on Daphne, but it’s not just any ring. It’ll slowly turn the lovely Daphne into the Banshee if Dirk can’t get it off her finger.”^[7]