Legends Episode Ranking System - COMPLETE

[The Red Jaguars]

Wow, two temple games used in all four episodes then? I am pretty sure the knock down the soldiers temple game was used in both Mummified Hand and Metal Beard too since both of those episodes had the mummy looking guards. That is pretty uninspiring though, especially for Season 3. And I expect Ahmed Baba to rank around Lost Taj Mahal Turban's range too. Except that the legend probably won't be as bad as the Taj Mahal Turban one.

And also, I added Taj Mahal Turban to the original post. I knew I forgot to do something.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Yeah, both the "boulder pushing" game and the "swinging boulder" game were used in all four episodes. That's a lot of boulders. That is probably the most repetitive Legends has ever been when it comes to temple games. But then again, the majority of Season 1 used a lot of the same games over and over again too. Plus, 3/4 episodes that day had the whole Middle Eastern theme going on. So that could explain the lack of variety of games that day.

[The Red Jaguars]

That is probably the most lazy production day put together ever. Not to mention, Metal Beard and Mummified Hand both featured an Egyptian King and Queen as part of their plot. Not even the last production day of the show lacked that much variety.

And once I am done with my claimed episodes, I am going to knock out a lot of those forgettable S1 episodes. Zenobia, Golden Ship, and Lost Fountain of Youth are some that come to mind. But first, I must finish Poseidon. 

[Purple Parrots Fan]

My turn to do an episode review. And this time, it's "The Very Tall Turban of Ahmed Baba."

THE VERY TALL TURBAN OF AHMED BABA

MOAT: 6/10

For this moat, the players had to swing across a moat, one at a time. This round was rather uneventful, and for some reason, the moat crossing music started at a later spot. Which was odd because that usually happens with longer moats. And this moat was about average length. In the end, the Silver Snakes, Green Monkeys, Purple Parrots, and the Red Jaguars ended up advancing to the Steps of Knowledge.

LEGEND: 5/10

This legend centered around Ahmed Baba, who was captured and brought to Morocco in chains. The caliph of Morocco reviewed the prisoners, and was informed by the guards that some of them need to stay imprisoned for 10 years. Ahmed Baba then stepped forward and asked the caliph to show himself. The caliph was hesitant, but Ahmed Baba told him it must be lonely hiding behind a curtain for such a long time. The caliph agreed, and gave Ahmed Baba a tall turban and freed him from prison. I personally didn't care about this legend. It just seemed like it was only about Ahmed Baba and his one stint in prison. We don't really hear anything about his background or just in general more stuff about him. Furthermore, it wasn't detailed at all, this was definitely not one of the strongest legends.

STEPS OF KNOWLEDGE: 7/10

The Steps of Knowledge was a decent round. The Green Monkeys and the Silver Snakes had an early lead, with the Green Monkeys finishing first on the final step. Jamie was very smart on the Steps and answered all the questions for her team. Not long after that, the Purple Parrots made a miraculous comeback and answered three straight questions in a row, all made by Jason, the male Purple Parrot player. Naturally, they joined the Green Monkeys on the final step, ending the round. The Silver Snakes sort of blew their load by having an early lead, only to not answer another question again after a while. The Red Jaguars answered one question somewhere in there too, so they weren't entirely left out.

TEMPLE GAMES: 7/10

The temple games featured a very unique sequence of games, and featured close competition. In the first game, Shane and Jason had to pull themselves to the top of the ceiling using ropes, and grab the turbans above. Both players tied this game. In the second game, Jamie and Tiffany had to climb up a slanted log and turn the camels head, all while the camel spits at you. Jamie struggled in this game, but Tiffany had no problem, and ended up winning game. Once it was over, Kirk makes a comment on how "If they had this much water in the Sahara, they'd be in good shape!" With the Purple Parrots leading the Green Monkeys 1-0.5 at this point in the round, it was time for the final game. In the third game, the players had to climb up a bunch of tubes, and rebuild a minaret. This game was extremely rare, having only been used in one other episode (being Ivory Elephant), and it wasn't timed. I was so disappointed in the Purple Parrots here. They HAD that game! They had a commanding almost the entire way through, but couldn't get the minaret thing around the poll, and blew it. Needless to say, the Green Monkeys came right from behind and beat them, giving them a full pendant, and earning them a trip to the temple with 1.5 pendants. Shane and Jamie got extremely lucky in the final game, just barely edging out the Purple Parrots 1.5-1.

TEMPLE RUN: 6/10

Shane was just lucky with his temple layout. The concentration of the temple guards was just begging for a win. Very few of Shane's objectives were hard at all, and he made a major mistake that a lot of other contestants have made. He took the Mine Shaft elevator, instead of trying any shortcuts. By the time he reaches the King's Storeroom with about 45 seconds left on the clock, he STILL doesn't run into a second temple guard. Once the King's Storeroom objective is completed, Kirk comments "When you coming back, Shane?" And Kirk takes it upon himself to repeat Shane's name numerous times throughout the temple run. -_- The Very Tall Turban (which really wasn't that tall at all), was reached with 30 seconds left on the clock, and he escaped with 15 seconds to spare. And the victory music starts in a REALLY late spot, which goes back to the odd music placement that the moat had. All in all, I find this win to be unexciting and completely lucked into.

FINAL VERDICT: 6.2/10

Overall, this episode was just plain average. While I did like the set of temple games used, I found every other round to be lacking and just in general uneventful. And I personally find Shane overrated, and I think he gets way too much credit for his temple performance. Any other player would've won in that exact same temple layout. Aqila would've won, Chandra would've won, even Renee from Nzinga would've won with that layout. I always compare this temple run to Leopard Skin Cloak because it's almost the exact same temple layout. Both Shane and Chandra make the mistake of taking the elevator, and both artifacts are in the central shaft. The only difference is Chandra had a MUCH harder layout, and made better time than Shane did. And of course, Shane won, and Chandra didn't. Shane enters the King's Storeroom and still gets to keep going. But when Chandra enters that exact same room, she's taken out one room away. Furthermore, I really don't see how this is "such an impressive run," and "so breathtaking," and "the hardest, most groundbreaking run ever." You want a hard layout? Watch Discarded Seal and Lost Hornpipe. This layout was way too easy, and Shane just lucked into it. That's not skill, that's called luck. He was just plain average at best. I just find both this temple run, and this entire episode to be completely unexciting and overrated. I honestly forget this was even a win half the time. I prefer wins like Billy the Kid and Galileo over this one. Despite this, I still recommend the episode. It's still watchable at the end of the day.

[GreenMonkey546]

Is it me or the markings in the Steps for this episode look like the ones on Season 3?

[The Red Jaguars]

Ahmed Baba is just an overall average episode. Even Lost Taj Mahal Turban outranked this episode, and that episode ended in triple capture! It is only fitting though, because nothing of note happens in Ahmed Baba. I honestly don't remember any details from this episode because I have not bothered to watch this episode in a long time. And wow, the legend does sound very vague in this episode. I mean Ahmed Baba got a Tall Turban because he told a person to step forward from behind a curtain? Sounds like your typical Legends plot. I do remember the temple games though at least. First off, Jamie was Joel from "Enormous Iron Nose Ring's" little sister. And secondly, I remember the Green Monkeys comeback in the team game. And I never realized that the final team game was that rare either. So it was only used in Ivory Elephant too? That is like the "Tiera y Libertad" temple game used in Emiliano Zapata and Electrified Key, Bamboo Forest temple game in Great Seal and Amelia Earhart, and the Mine Shaft maze used in Thornwood Gavel and Bandit Queen. I swear I learn something new all the time about this show.

As for the temple win, I don't care for it at all. I know it sounds like I bash it all the time, but there is nothing good about it at all. I mean Shane handled all those rooms fine, but any average player would've won with that layout. There are some teams that made the same mistake as Shane did with the Mine Shaft elevator like in Napoleon and Annie Oakley, yet Shane is labeled as amazing for completing all those temple rooms. This run is very similar to Annie Oakley, and Chandra is always given a hard time in the past for taking the Mine Shaft elevator. But yet, she had a tougher path and made it to the King's Storeroom with more time than Shane. Nothing remarkable about this win at all. It is near the bottom of my list for temple wins, and I would honestly take The Trojan Horseshoe over Ahmed Baba.

Good job on this one as usual. I am pretty sure that Ahmed Baba is the lowest ranked Green Monkeys win too now. The only Green Monkeys win that needs to be reviewed is Sforza, and I am sure it won't rank anywhere near Ahmed Baba. Ahmed Baba is a pretty average and boring episode when we get down to it. I will not be surprised if Poseidon (my next review), ranks higher than this episode.  

[The Red Jaguars]

Is it me or the markings in the Steps for this episode look like the ones on Season 3?

I am not sure if the markers in S3 were the same ones as the one used in Ahmed Baba or the rest of S2. Weren't the markers in the S2 Steps all the same? I am not exactly sure since I never paid much attention to it. But the S3 ones look different from S2. Here is a comparison between both Turban episodes:

Very Tall Turban

Lost Taj Mahal Turban

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Electrified Key didn't have the Tierra y Libertad esque game. Iron Mask AND Missing Weather Maps did.

And yeah, Very Tall Turban was just plain average. It honestly annoys me when people call Shane's temple path "the hardest layout in the shows history." The layout was too easy, he didn't have to pass through 9 rooms, but he did anyways. The only time I don't give people a hard time for taking the long way is when you're forced to, like in Discarded Seal or Apanuugpak. Otherwise, you should never add extra rooms to your path. If Shane had taken the Shrine/Forest passage and still won, would people still call him amazing? I prefer temple runs like Annie Oakley and Billy the Kid over this one. I like a lot of Green Monkeys wins, but this one is my least favorite. Not only that, Shane had no enthusiasm whatsoever. I can count on only one hand how many times he smiled throughout the episode. It looked like he didn't even want to be on the show. I just find Shane overrated, both his performance and the temple run itself was just average, and not as great as people make it out to be.

As for me, I'll probably rank either Scheherazade or Sforza next. I might rank the latter, since it's the only other Green Monkey win that hasn't been covered yet, like you said. And you're right, it will probably rank MUCH higher than Tall Turban.

[GreenMonkey546]

Is it me or the markings in the Steps for this episode look like the ones on Season 3?

I am not sure if the markers in S3 were the same ones as the one used in Ahmed Baba or the rest of S2. Weren't the markers in the S2 Steps all the same? I am not exactly sure since I never paid much attention to it. But the S3 ones look different from S2. Here is a comparison between both Turban episodes:

Very Tall Turban

Lost Taj Mahal Turban

I was talking on Very Tall Turban particularly, but now it's clear for me. Must be the camera angle

[The Red Jaguars]

I can't believe I mixed Electrified Key and Iron Mask up. Probably because the Iron Mask temple game had the players collecting the keys that look exactly like the Electrified Key. And both episodes were Blue Barracuda runs. And speaking of Missing Weather Maps, that is one I think I will cover in the near future once I am done with the ones I claimed.  

And no way is the Ahmed Baba path tough at all. You should never take the Mine Shaft elevator in your run unless you are forced to like in Dr. Livingstone. Otherwise, look at how many runs it ruined: Ivory Elephant, Two-Cornered Hat, Gordian Knot, and Joan of Arc. The elevators were always too slow. And speaking of Ivory Elephant, I forgot that episode was still even on the list. I am sure you are going to have "fun" reviewing that one. But it is not a bad episode in anyway. It is very forgettable and boring. It will probably rank on the same level as Hans Holbein, since both episodes are pretty identical. And yeah, Shane had to be the least enthusiastic temple victor. Either him or Tracy from Snake Bracelet.

And Sforza will easily rank higher than Ahmed Baba. Even if that win was easy too, I like that episode a lot and it is very fun. Lacey and Asher were more fun to watch than Shane. Hell, I will take the Sforza win over Ahmed Baba. And if you do Sforza next, I will follow-up with Ruby Earring since both episodes had easy layouts and we will be done with that production day.        

[The Red Jaguars]

And speaking of the Steps of Knowledge quirks, what is with the Steps of Knowledge in Golden Ship? I rewatched that episode the other day and the Steps of Knowledge sound was off key. It sounded higher than usual. I think that problem occurred in Lost Hammer too. I guess there was a glitch in those episodes?

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Yeah, Sforza is much more exciting than Ahmed Baba by a long shot. I mean, Lacey and Asher's layout was pretty easy, yes. But they had MUCH more work to do going all the way up the central shaft. And in a Season 3 temple no less. Plus, their enthusiasm added on to the overall excitement to the temple run. I think I'm definitely gonna rank Sforza next, then Scheherazade, the latter being an utterly boring episode.

And speaking of the Steps of Knowledge quirks, what is with the Steps of Knowledge in Golden Ship? I rewatched that episode the other day and the Steps of Knowledge sound was off key. It sounded higher than usual. I think that problem occurred in Lost Hammer too. I guess there was a glitch in those episodes?

I have been bringing this up for months now, and nobody acknowledged it. I noticed that too during all of S1L2's filming day. The Steps of Knowledge buzzer sound is way off key. It did sound normal in S1L3's filming day though, so the quirk was obviously fixed.

[The Red Jaguars]

You're right, the sound is also present in Map to the Lost Gold Mine and Golden Cricket Cage too. I honestly never noticed that until I watched Golden Ship a few days ago. I am guessing that it was only exclusive to S1L2? Because I don't remember S1L1 episodes like Galileo and Dead Man's Hand having that sound. Got to love the early quirks of Season 1. Luckily they fixed half of those problems before the season was over. I liked how they used the "Bring it back to it's rightful owner" line in Belshazzar and Galileo.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Yeah, the off key sounding buzzer on the steps was only for S1L2. Even S1L1 had the normal sounding buzzer, just like all the other episodes did. As for the buttons themselves on the steps, I assume they were the same in every single episode. The set was just darker in Season 3, (if you couldn't already tell in the Taj Mahal Turban picture), so that's probably why it looked different.

[The Red Jaguars]

And here is my review for Poseidon! I had this episode claimed for months, but I finally finished it. It didn't take me that long to write this review as I remember most of this episode since I reviewed this production day in THK's player ranking thread. It was a good watch and I enjoyed rewatching it. It is like Icarus where everything about this episode was good up until the temple run.

THE BROKEN TRIDENT OF POSEIDON

MOAT: 7/10

The six teams had to cross three floating icebergs in order to make it to the other side. The first player will step out onto the first iceberg and work their way across the moat to the other side. Once they reach the other side, then their partner must advance the same way. If either player falls into the moat, then they will have to start over again. The first four teams that made it across will go onto the Steps of Knowledge. The idea for the moat was pretty interesting, and it was challenging for the kids too as every team fell into the water at least once. While the teams did struggle quite a bit, the ending to this was pretty exciting. The Purple Parrots and Green Monkeys were fighting for the last spot. So at the last second, the Green Monkeys edged out against the Purple Parrots and earn the last spot. It was sort of a nailbiter ending.

LEGEND: 9/10

Poseidon, god of the sea, was one of the most feared gods in Greek Mythology. The Greeks feared Poseidon's tempers, which manifested itself in thunderstorms and earthquakes. Poseidon's power was strengthened by his mighty Trident, which never left his side. Legend has it, Poseidon awakened one morning to find his Trident missing. He asked his wife Amphitrite if she found the Trident, but she had no clue where it was. Poseidon left a warning to all of Greece that if his Trident was not found by midnight, then he would unleash an unspeakable fury on Greece. They looked high and low for it, but only a young sailor recalls seeing his Trident stolen by a string ray. Poseidon was thrilled to find his Trident, and gave half of it to the young sailor as a token of his gratitude.

This was a very interesting legend like all of the Greek mythological stories on Legends like "The Stone Head of the Evil King" and "The Broken Wing of Icarus". I like how serious this legend tried to act too, and it didn't have any lame modern day references or bad voice-acting. I enjoyed the part where Poseidon promised to unleash his fury on Greece if his Trident was not found. In my opinion, this was one of the best legends on the show.

STEPS OF KNOWLEDGE: 7/10

Tony of the Silver Snakes was very impressive in this round as he swept the Steps after answering all of Olmec's first three questions. He even got the last answer correct before Olmec revealed any choices! Olmec's response to his last answer was "You got it, kid.". The Red Jaguars and Green Monkeys were tied on the second to last step, but the Green Monkeys earned the second spot as they entered the temple games with the Silver Snakes.

TEMPLE GAMES: 6/10

The temple games featured Elizabeth of the Green Monkeys, who was from Mississippi and loved to skate, and her partner James wants to be an archaeologist when he gets older. Going up against them was Kimberly of the Silver Snakes, who liked the play softball, and her partner Tony, whose friends call him "Little Man". For the most part, the temple games were pretty average and dominated by the Silver Snakes. The most irrelevant temple game though had to be used in this episode. It was the bucking horse game which had NOTHING to do with the legend at all. It seems like the producers were desperate to try and find an extra temple game for this sequence.

Temple Game #1 - Poseidon's Storms

Kimberly and Elizabeth had to jump up and grab Poseidon's lightning bolts from the ceiling and place it into their team bin. When they were done, they had to jump back up and grab another lightning bolt. The player that grabs the most lightning bolts after 60 seconds will win. Elizabeth was horrible during this temple game. She could not jump up at all to reach any of her lightning bolts. Kimberly absolutely curbstomped her in this temple game. Kimberly won this game 7-2.

Temple Game #2 - Bucking Poseidon

Tony and James were on a moving horse and must hold onto it while it was moving around. If one of the players fall off, then the horse will stop and the other player will get a point. The player that has the most points after 60 seconds will win. Tony wins this temple game 3-2, putting the Silver Snakes up with a pendant score of 1-0.

On a side note, one of Kirk's quotes during this temple game is "It's a bucking Poseidon!" However, it sounds like he is saying a derogatory F-word when he is saying that quote.

Temple Game #3 - Poseidon's Four Mythical Children

In the team game, the Silver Snakes and Green Monkeys had to make an offering to Poseidon's four children. Elizabeth and Kimberly had to climb up the wall and catch the offerings that their partners shoot to them. Once they give an offering to one of Poseion's children, they must up the wall to Poseidon's next child and give them an offering. The team that gives the most offerings after 60 seconds will win. In the end, the Silver Snakes and Green Monkeys both gave three offerings a piece to Poseion's children. With a final score of 2-1, the Silver Snakes go to Olmec's temple.  

TEMPLE RUN: 4/10

If you are an avid Legends fan like me, you will know how infamous this temple run is. If you are not familiar with it though, you are about to witness one of the biggest temple run fails on the show. Kimberly enters the temple first and makes decent progress along the bottom floor of the temple. She moved at a good pace too as she completed each of her bottom floor rooms with good time. She makes it to the Quicksand Bog with about 1:50 left on the clock and hasn't even met a temple guard yet. After being denied access to the Shrine, she was forced into the Room of the Secret Password where she shouted out the correct password and entered the Shrine with 0:50 left and grabs the Broken Trident too. Victory seems like a lock for Kimberly at this point!

But wait, Kimberly is about to do something really stupid. In the Room of the Ancient Warriors, Kimberly drops the Trident as she tries to escape from the temple. The rules of the temple were that the contestant must bring the artifact back to the temple gate. Well, Kimberly was trying to exit the temple without the Trident in her hand. Kirk yelled at her to go back for it. After going back to the Trident, she still has 25 seconds left on the clock. That should be enough time to escape right? Well, as Kimberly entered the Chamber of the Sacred Markers, she took the Tomb of the Headless Kings out of the temple. -_- Time expired for her as she entered the Pit of the Pendulum. This temple run ranks among one of the biggest fails in the temple. Kimberly had everything going for her including a convenient temple guard layout and easy layout, and she still failed to bring the artifact. No excuses for this chokejob at all. She deserved to lose after that pitiful exit performance.

FINAL VERDICT: 6.6/10

"Poseidon" is very similar to "The Broken Wing of Icarus" where everything about this episode was good up until the temple run. I enjoyed watching this whole episode and liked the Greek Mythology theme they used throughout it. The temple run makes this episode look bad though. Kimberly was a big fail in the temple and she deserved to lose after dropping the Broken Trident and failing to bring it out. Which is too bad because she was doing decent up until she reached the Shrine. I do think that this episode as a whole gets a bad reputation due to the temple run. It was definitely fun to watch and I do recommend it for anyone to watch. The temple run does deserve the criticism it gets though. But I do thing that this episode is worth your time in watching.