Talking Ico: Part 2 - The Gate Once More

So they have done it. They have unleashed both keys to the gate, turning the castle inside out in the process, and now they stand before the gate. It only remains for Yorda to open it.

It seems some people are confused as to how this gate works. I think that detail is unimportant. We only need to understand that it operates the same way all the other magic doors at the castle operate. Since this is the main entrance, however, it is double bolted just as our own front doors have multiple locks while the doors inside only have one. It must be unlocked in order to respond to the girl's magic; like an electric security door it has to be switched on before it will accept the password.

Opening the immense gate saps Yorda's strength. She sinks to her feet exhausted. Ico tends to her in concern. A little more, she breathes. Almost there. Just a little more.

A bridge of stone extends from the castle, connecting to the bluff ashore. The mystery of the unusable gate which we observed in the prologue is at last answered. The existence of the bridge also lets me guess that the castle used to be in communication with the land, which agrees with my suspicion that the queen has or had ties with the outside world. Why then did she withdraw the bridge and isolate her realm?

The green shore stretches before them. At the other end of the bridge Ico can see the portico he had visited earlier in the knights' custody. He takes Yorda's hand and leads her between the gateposts. For the first time the princess breathes the air beyond the castle walls. But her first steps outside the prison are shaky. She barely keeps herself upright. Slowly, cautiously, the children make their way across the narrow bridge. There are no safety rails, and the sea is a long way down.

With no warning a globe atop a gatepost, the same they had used to unlock the gate, flashes white. A streak of bolt springs from it, striking the girl with deadly accuracy. She collapses upon the bridge. Ico is knocked away from the impact and nearly rolls off to the sea. The bridge splits--it begins to retract. The pair is left separated at each end, she on the castle side and he on the shore side.

Ico scrambles to his feet. At the other side, the princess moves weakly to the edge. For a moment the children gaze upon each other helplessly. The gap is fast widening. Then the boy makes a decision. He will rather rejoin his companion than return ashore without her. Darting to the edge he throws himself over the chasm.

He falls short by a step--the princess reaches out, and grasps his hand. He dangles a thousand feet above the waters. Desperately he claws at the stone with the free hand. The girl strains to bring him up. Her drained strength is already at the limit holding onto his weight. More than once her thin arm nearly gives out. Then displaying a grit we should hardly have expected from her, she almost hauls him onto the bridge--

But a shadow grows behind her. Bit by bit it devours her form, crawling up her limbs, turning her black as soot. The shadow rises and takes the form of the queen. It is the last thing the boy sees before he falls. "Thank you," the princess whispers. Then she is enveloped in darkness.