 As the King of the country of Bajan-Du suddenly passes away, it is expected that his young son, Prince Mikos, should continue his father s work and take his father s place on the throne. However, according to Bajan-Du tradition, no one can be king of the country without first passing "the ceremony of the golden lions" - a ceremony the late King s brother Ki is determined to fix so that the Prince can have no possibility of solving it. Moreover, he wants the Prince to die trying to find the answer to the puzzle. Ki, who next in line to the throne, hopes to thereafter rule Bajan-Du single-handedly and put an immediate stop to all the modernisations and western influences his late brother was so determined to bring into their ancient country. Jim Phelps and his team of agents get the mission to save the life of Prince Mikos, and ruin all of Ki s plans.