It was not long after we started planning Q3 and working in the rough plot and in the first drafts of the scenes, when one night Kristin told me that she was listening to a song that she could picture being played at A+A's wedding. That song was Enigma's 'Return to Innocence'.

I've always liked that song, even if I never paid special attention to it until that night. And as I was listening to it, I was thinking how perfectly well it worked for Q3 and how, definitely, it HAD to be Q3's musical theme. From that night on, I think I never wrote anything Q3 related not having that song playing in the background. It not only captures the middle east rhythms but it also has a mystical sound and very powerful lyrics that fit Q3's plot in such an amazing way that there were no second thoughts about it. This song HAD to be our official theme.

The entire CD of Enigma, 'The Cross of Changes' was a very powerful inspiration during the writing of Q3. For me it was the 'Karakian sound' I was looking for. But RtI was definitely THE Q3 sound.

Return to the Innocence
(Enigma - The Cross of Changes)


Love - Devotion

I really think that a point that is very emphasized in Q3 is that total, absolutely, devouring love that exists between Ali and Azul. A love that goes way beyond just a feeling. It is an entire way of life. They only live for the other, they only breath for the other. It's a deep love that has reached a level of devotion that goes beyond their own lives. It's the love-devotion relationship. A burning flame that is slowly consuming the hearts of Ali and Azul. If they don't have each other, life loses its meaning. They only live to love and to devote themselves to each other.


Feeling - Emotion

Ali and Azul were always two lonely souls, yearning for love, longing for someone who could understand them, who could love them for who they were, who could make their lives worthy.
When they met they found in each other what they had been looking for all their lives. They fulfilled each other's dreams and hopes. And those feelings that they dreamed for suddenly became reality. A powerful reality full of emotions.
In Q3 we are constantly making references to the heart, the body and the soul. I think love goes for the heart, devotion goes for the soul and this combination of feelings and emotions go for the body, reaching such a deep level, that they invade even heart and soul. That thrilling emotion that Ali and Azul feel whenever they are together is a magical light between them. A light that the people that know them can clearly see reflected in their eyes when they are together... or even at the mention of the other's name.


Don't be afraid to be weak
Don't be too proud to be strong

Q3 is a story of contrasts. Good and evil. Light and darkness. Pain and bliss. Love and hate... strength and weakness.

Seeing Ali and Azul together we always think that Ali is the strong one and Azul is the weak one. Physically at least. But as the story develops we find out that Azul may be little and weak, but she has a strong heart and she fights, she's determinate to go the whole way. Ali is fighting as well, but when the ultimate test is before them, Ali is the first one to show signs of weakness, while Azul only shows how strong she really is.

At the same time, this is an analogy between the two forces that are fighting at the moment: the dark powers of Karak, the Dark city of Karak, city of black magic, of evil sorcerers. Home of Aswad, the Lord of Karak. And that dark power has summoned evil forces all over the Seven Deserts. The entire dark side of the magic is trying to stop a single man: the Lion of the Desert. And yet, all those powers would be nothing without the strength that Azul's blood is giving to them. As hopeless as Ali and Azul's journey might seem, at the end they prove that together they were stronger than the dark powers of the universe.


Just look into your heart, my friend
That will be the return to yourself
The return to innocence

Ali and Azul are, in essence, pure souls. They are simple people, leading simple lives but living them in an extraordinary way. They never wanted to be involved in this kind of conflict. They only wanted to live their lives alone. Happy, blessed lives filled with nothing but love and happiness. They are playful, they are mischievous, they are sincere, they are concerned about their people. They are good people.

They have a powerful magic between them, and yet they are forced into the dark side of the magic. But at the end, even if they had to go through pain, hate, evilness, death, tears, blood… they had to mature in a very rude and violent way. And those dark powers were strong enough to break their bodies, but never their spirit. Because after Karak they are together again, and they have the chance to return to their true selves and to that blessed life they used to live. They learned from their adventure but they weren't corrupted by it. They learned what they needed to learn. They fought the battles they had to fight. But at the end they returned to their true selves. They really returned to innocence.


If you want, then start to laugh
If you must, then start to cry
Be yourself don't hide
Just believe in destiny

Being the roller coaster of emotions that Q3 is, we knew from the beginning that there were going to be very emotional scenes in the story and we wanted the guys to open themselves. We never wanted them to hold back their emotions in any way.

Fate arranged for them to be together because love was their only destiny. But that love had to be proved before it could be consumed. And when hearts are burning, emotions are unleashed.

There were moments in the story when the guys laughed, when they had great times, when they enjoyed themselves. But there were also those moments when they had to cry... when they had to let out all the pain and all the frustration. When they wanted to die. And we wanted to clearly show all those emotions. We never wanted them to hide their feelings, what they believe in, what they love, what they hate... in Q3 we got to know the real Ali and Azul, their bare souls with all their goodness... and their dark side.

I think this was particularly obvious in chapter 9, when they learn of each other's death. They really let out all their emotions in those scenes. They didn't hold back anything. But as the story went by, they laughed when they needed to laugh, they cried when they felt like crying… and I think those emotions made them real and believable. Those emotions were the breath of life that made Ali and Azul the complex and wonderful characters they are.


Don't care what people say
Just follow your own way

I believe that Ali and Azul are the perfect example of two people that are so lost in each other and their love that they never have cared about other people's opinions or ideas. They have gone a long way from the day they first met and they challenge the world when they decided to give themselves the chance to love.

They are the kind of people who follow dreams (even literally), who follow their hearts and once their hearts have made a decision, they never stop until they reach the peak.


Don't give up and use the chance
To return to innocence

Ali and Azul were through a lot in Q3. And no matter how dark the path seemed, no matter how hopeless their causes seemed, no matter how lost they felt, they never ever lost their hopes, their faith. They never stopped believing in themselves and in their love. They never gave up, not even when the journey seemed an endless night.

And love was always their motivation. There were no other motives in their journeys but love: love for their parents, for their family, for Agrabah… but most of all, that burning love between them. They went the whole way and at the end they found themselves right at the beginning, at that point where they were before Karak had came into their lives: in a world of love and devotion full of feelings and emotions. In that world where life was good and they were just a man and a woman in love, willing to spend the rest of their lives together, in a neverending love story.


That's not the beginning of the end
That's the return to yourself
The return to innocence

Happy endings are always new beginnings. And at the end of Q3, Azul and Ali's love reached its peak: they fused into each other. They decided to spend the rest of their eternity together and they joined in a sacred ritual: marriage.
But for them Marriage was not the end of their love story, but only the beginning. The beginning of a whole new life full of new challenges and new roads that have to be taken. Life is a neverending quest and they understood that with their sacred marriage a new life was starting for them. The ultimate quest and their ultimate adventure: the adventure of their own story together. A story of love and devotion that will be immortal among the golden sands of time. The story of Ali and Azul of Agrabah.

~~~

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