Mummified Hand Episode

[Frogger49]

I was just looking at the description of the run earlier today and was thinking to myself.  Could this be done?  Both of the reviews on the site claim that it would have been possible.  I'm not so sure.

Had Josh stayed on his partners' path, he would have had to finish the objective in the Tomb of the Headless Kings (one of the longer ones of Season 3, I guess), and the Chamber of the Sacred Markers at a bare minimum.  Where the paths merged would have determined whetther Josh could have even reached the hand, let alone got out with it.  I think that if Josh was required to go to the King's Storeroom, it would have been impossible to get out.  Thoughts?

[The Red Jaguars]

Looking back at this episode, had Josh taken Maggie's path, I don't think he would've even came close to the Mummified Hand. That would've been one tough layout that team would've went through in that run. I think it was smart of him to try the top level rather than continue onto the bottom level. I would think that the Tomb of the Ancient Kings route would've forced them up the central shaft.

But that usually happens though anyways when the team takes the direct path because they could usually avoid extra rooms and temple guards if they don't take the direct path.

[The Ancient Warrior]

I figure you're thinking of the configurations in "The Melted Head of Madame Tussaud," where two room objectives could have been avoided by climbing out of the Pit; and "The Thornwood Gavel of Judge Roy Bean," where the low and high roads merged at the Room of the Ancient Warriors rather than the King's Storeroom.  I definitely agree that whichever of those two episodes' configurations the low road in the "Mummified Hand" run would've mimicked would at least change things dramatically, but how much is the question.

Reviewing the episode, Josh was at least faster than average, and maybe that would've helped him with the lower objectives of the Tomb and the Chamber.  Seeing as he had about fifty seconds to go when he was caught in the Room of the Secret Password, he might have used up the rest of his time getting there if he had to traverse the whole central shaft.  Taking out the King's Storeroom, though, would have saved about thirty-five seconds (counting from when he bypasses the Tomb door with exactly two minutes left to when he enters the Room of the Ancient Warriors), so I'm positive he could've at least gotten to the Hand if the Chamber-Warriors door had been active and used during the run, but only then.

[The Red Jaguars]

I figure you're thinking of the configurations in "The Melted Head of Madame Tussaud," where two room objectives could have been avoided by climbing out of the Pit; and "The Thornwood Gavel of Judge Roy Bean," where the low and high roads merged at the Room of the Ancient Warriors rather than the King's Storeroom.  I definitely agree that whichever of those two episodes' configurations the low road in the "Mummified Hand" run would've mimicked would at least change things dramatically, but how much is the question.

Reviewing the episode, Josh was at least faster than average, and maybe that would've helped him with the lower objectives of the Tomb and the Chamber.  Seeing as he had about fifty seconds to go when he was caught in the Room of the Secret Password, he might have used up the rest of his time getting there if he had to traverse the whole central shaft.  Taking out the King's Storeroom, though, would have saved about thirty-five seconds (counting from when he bypasses the Tomb door with exactly two minutes left to when he enters the Room of the Ancient Warriors), so I'm positive he could've at least gotten to the Hand if the Chamber-Warriors door had been active and used during the run, but only then.

Yeah, we will never know how the path would truly work in that run. It could've forced Maggie and Josh into the Chamber and into the Room of the Ancient Warriors, or send them all the way up the central shaft.

One thing though that the Thornwood Gavel, Melted Head, Mummified Hand, and Lost Hornpipe have in common is that the artifacts were all located on the bottom floor, and all the teams had a choice between the top and bottom floor. They chose the direct path though which added a couple of more rooms on (and more temple guards) when they chose the bottom path. At least the Lost Hornpipe of the Pirate Captain team won though.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

I figure you're thinking of the configurations in "The Melted Head of Madame Tussaud," where two room objectives could have been avoided by climbing out of the Pit; and "The Thornwood Gavel of Judge Roy Bean," where the low and high roads merged at the Room of the Ancient Warriors rather than the King's Storeroom.  I definitely agree that whichever of those two episodes' configurations the low road in the "Mummified Hand" run would've mimicked would at least change things dramatically, but how much is the question.

Reviewing the episode, Josh was at least faster than average, and maybe that would've helped him with the lower objectives of the Tomb and the Chamber.  Seeing as he had about fifty seconds to go when he was caught in the Room of the Secret Password, he might have used up the rest of his time getting there if he had to traverse the whole central shaft.  Taking out the King's Storeroom, though, would have saved about thirty-five seconds (counting from when he bypasses the Tomb door with exactly two minutes left to when he enters the Room of the Ancient Warriors), so I'm positive he could've at least gotten to the Hand if the Chamber-Warriors door had been active and used during the run, but only then.

Yeah, we will never know how the path would truly work in that run. It could've forced Maggie and Josh into the Chamber and into the Room of the Ancient Warriors, or send them all the way up the central shaft.

One thing though that the Thornwood Gavel, Melted Head, Mummified Hand, and Lost Hornpipe have in common is that the artifacts were all located on the bottom floor, and all the teams had a choice between the top and bottom floor. They chose the direct path though which added a couple of more rooms on (and more temple guards) when they chose the bottom path. At least the Lost Hornpipe of the Pirate Captain team won though.

I really feel bad that I keep bumping all of these topics, but I feel the need to comment about this unsolved "mystery." I believe the producers meant for the team to go up the whole central shaft, rather than from the Chamber of the Sacred Markers to the Room of the Ancient Warriors. The only lead I have, which I think is a substantial one, is that the half pendant for the episode is located in the Chamber of the Sacred Markers, on the upper left-hand column of the markers. If I recall, every episode that featured the half pendant there, with the exception of Helmet of Sir Gawain, forced the player up to the King's Storeroom.

And as it stands (even though this is a bit farther off topic), I believe that the intended path for the Sir Gawain episode was to also go upstairs, since the lights flashed when the room objective was completed (that was the only time where the light flashed and the ladder to the King's Storeroom was not revealed). Since that run featured no temple guards, it is most probable that one of them was behind that door, and then the others were most likely in the Ledges and Room of the Secret Password (since the Ledges were so dark, and the camera did a sweeping view to the Room of the Secret Password when the Shrine of the Silver Monkey was completed).

So now that I've completely gotten off topic, let me conclude this bump by restating that I believe the intended path for "The Mummified Hand" was to go all the way up the central shaft, as explained by my longwinded, roundabout argument.

[The Red Jaguars]

Yeah, I remember people theorizing in the past that one of the temple guards in the "Sir Gawain" run was in the Chamber of the Sacred Markers. The door to the King's Storeroom never opens though even though it looks like it should. As a result, its possible that Tiffani avoided a temple guard when she shouldn't have. I mean after all she took the most direct path to the artifact and still encountered no guards. I guess the Ledges, Chamber (?), and Quicksand Bogs were the possible locations of the temple guard in that run. Also, one interesting note is that its possible that the entire temple was screwed up for that production day.

In the "War Fan" run, there was a person that claimed he was Jeremy on Youtube (which I do believe was the same Jeremy from that episode) in one of the videos for that temple run. He said that the power went out when he first ran through the temple, so they had to do the run all over again. That explains why the skull was sitting on the chair in the Tomb of the Headless Kings. It could also explain why the door malfunctioned to. Tiffani's temple run was right after Jeremy's temple run and if you notice, the temple is very dark for her run. Just look at the Ledges for example - they were pitch black! So its possible that the door malfunctioned because the temple was screwy that day.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Yeah, I remember people theorizing in the past that one of the temple guards in the "Sir Gawain" run was in the Chamber of the Sacred Markers. The door to the King's Storeroom never opens though even though it looks like it should. As a result, its possible that Tiffani avoided a temple guard when she shouldn't have. I mean after all she took the most direct path to the artifact and still encountered no guards. I guess the Ledges, Chamber (?), and Quicksand Bogs were the possible locations of the temple guard in that run. Also, one interesting note is that its possible that the entire temple was screwed up for that production day.

I probably will get reprimanded for straying from the topic, but I'd like to say that I doubt that there was a guard in the Quicksand Bog in the "Helmet of Sir Gawain" run. During the panoramic/sweep view at 1:14, there's a brief glimpse of the Bog. The Styrofoam blocks are not piled up like they are when there is a guard there... Please compare the Helmet of Sir Gawain with the Turban of Aurangzeb (Courtesy video on youtube.com posted by ChargerTheWolf).

In the "War Fan" run, there was a person that claimed he was Jeremy on Youtube (which I do believe was the same Jeremy from that episode) in one of the videos for that temple run. He said that the power went out when he first ran through the temple, so they had to do the run all over again. That explains why the skull was sitting on the chair in the Tomb of the Headless Kings. It could also explain why the door malfunctioned to. Tiffani's temple run was right after Jeremy's temple run and if you notice, the temple is very dark for her run. Just look at the Ledges for example - they were pitch black! So its possible that the door malfunctioned because the temple was screwy that day.

The same door malfunction occurred in the Comet-Embroidered Battle Flag of William the Conqueror, also, when Jonathan went into the temple. He pushed the door aside so vigorously that it swung and recoiled, closing as he ran into the Jester's Court. It did not affect his run, however, since he never receded back in that direction, and his partner had already entered the temple. Since the Battle Flag theoretically occurred before War Fan (even though it was the same production day), the power outage would not likely have caused the door to get stuck.

As far as the Ledges being dark, it could be a sign of when there was a temple guard located there. The only time a guard captures someone in the Ledges is in the Dried Apple Half of William Tell. Before the run starts, the Ledges are dark in comparison to when the temple guard captures the contestant:





For this reason, I think that the Ledges were kept dark before the temple run began in those specific episodes (note that the Ledges were lit in other episodes, like Thornwood Gavel) because they wanted to keep the temple guards hidden from the contestants' view. The guards were most likely stationed at the top of the Ledges in Season Three because, in the event that they were stationed at the bottom like in Season Two, when the contestant went from the Crypt down to the top actuator in the Ledges, they were out of reach of the temple guard (if that makes any sense). In other words, in order for the guard to  physically be within reach of the contestant, they would need to be stationed at the top of the Ledges. It would have been blatantly obvious if a temple guard were there if the producers were to have kept the Ledges lit during those runs where a guard was stationed in the Ledges.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Yeah, I remember people theorizing in the past that one of the temple guards in the "Sir Gawain" run was in the Chamber of the Sacred Markers. The door to the King's Storeroom never opens though even though it looks like it should. As a result, its possible that Tiffani avoided a temple guard when she shouldn't have. I mean after all she took the most direct path to the artifact and still encountered no guards. I guess the Ledges, Chamber (?), and Quicksand Bogs were the possible locations of the temple guard in that run. Also, one interesting note is that its possible that the entire temple was screwed up for that production day.

In the "War Fan" run, there was a person that claimed he was Jeremy on Youtube (which I do believe was the same Jeremy from that episode) in one of the videos for that temple run. He said that the power went out when he first ran through the temple, so they had to do the run all over again. That explains why the skull was sitting on the chair in the Tomb of the Headless Kings. It could also explain why the door malfunctioned to. Tiffani's temple run was right after Jeremy's temple run and if you notice, the temple is very dark for her run. Just look at the Ledges for example - they were pitch black! So its possible that the door malfunctioned because the temple was screwy that day.

The same door malfunction occurred in the Comet-Embroidered Battle Flag of William the Conqueror, also, when Jonathan went into the temple. He pushed the door aside so vigorously that it swung and recoiled, closing as he ran into the Jester's Court. It did not affect his run, however, since he never receded back in that direction, and his partner had already entered the temple. Since the Battle Flag theoretically occurred before War Fan (even though it was the same production day), the power outage would not likely have caused the door to get stuck.

As far as the Ledges being dark, it could be a sign of when there was a temple guard located there. The only time a guard captures someone in the Ledges is in the Dried Apple Half of William Tell. Before the run starts, the Ledges are dark in comparison to when the temple guard captures the contestant:

For this reason, I think that the Ledges were kept dark before the temple run began in those specific episodes (note that the Ledges were lit in other episodes, like Thornwood Gavel) because they wanted to keep the temple guards hidden from the contestants' view. The guards were most likely stationed at the top of the Ledges in Season Three because, in the event that they were stationed at the bottom like in Season Two, when the contestant went from the Crypt down to the top actuator in the Ledges, they were out of reach of the temple guard (if that makes any sense). In other words, in order for the guard to  physically be within reach of the contestant, they would need to be stationed at the top of the Ledges. It would have been blatantly obvious if a temple guard were there if the producers were to have kept the Ledges lit during those runs where a guard was stationed in the Ledges.

I was just able to get a good screenshot comparison of the Ledges from before "The Comet-Embroidered Battle Flag", "The War Fan", "The Helmet of Sir Gawain", and "The Discarded Seal" runs, in comparison to that of the "Dried Apple Half" run photos posted previously. We are certain that there was a temple guard in the Ledges for "Dried Apple Half" (they ran into it) and that there was no temple guard in the Ledges for either "The Comet-Embroidered Battle Flag" or "The Discarded Seal" (they ran into all three, none of them being in the Ledges). The first three photos were from consecutive episodes taped on the same day. Then the final photo was taped the same day as the "Dried Apple Half" episode. Hopefully this series of comparative photos will subside any remarks that "The lighting may have changed day to day," or that "the lighting change happened because of the power glitch":


Episode 82


Episode 83


Episode 84


Episode 97 (to compare with "Dried Apple Half", Episode 99)

(courtesy video on youtube.com posted by ChargerTheWolf)

[The Red Jaguars]

I know that the season 3 Ledges were usually darker than the season 2 Ledges. The one thing unusual about the "Sir Gawain" Ledges is that they were totally pitch black. I mean look at the Ledges in the "William the Conqueror" and "War Fan" Ledges and they had some  though sort of lighting in them. The Ledges for "William Tell" even had some lighting in it. But the Ledges were totally pitch black in "Sir Gawain" and you can't even see a single thing. But it was the first production day of season 3 so its possible that the producers were testing things out still. I mean notice how Olmec's face is lighten up in the first three photos? So I don't really compare those episodes with later production days.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

I know that the season 3 Ledges were usually darker than the season 2 Ledges. The one thing unusual about the "Sir Gawain" Ledges is that they were totally pitch black. I mean look at the Ledges in the "William the Conqueror" and "War Fan" Ledges and they had some  though sort of lighting in them. The Ledges for "William Tell" even had some lighting in it. But the Ledges were totally pitch black in "Sir Gawain" and you can't even see a single thing. But it was the first production day of season 3 so its possible that the producers were testing things out still. I mean notice how Olmec's face is lighten up in the first three photos? So I don't really compare those episodes with later production days.

I don't think you see my point. I am not comparing the lighting of Seasons Two and Three. Nor am I saying that the change in lighting was a malfunction in the lighting production. I don't think that the dim lighting for the "Gawain" run was because the producers were "still testing things out." I am saying that the different light settings used for the Ledges were done so by choice and for a purpose. The dark lighting was used only when a temple guard was stationed in the Ledges. This was done so that way they would not be seen by the contestants when they were first getting the temple overview at the gate.

My comparison to the other episodes was also for a purpose. I gave screenshots of the two episodes shot prior to the "Gawain" episode, to show that the lighting in the Ledges was not completely dark every episode during that production day. I also gave screenshots of "The Dried Apple Half" because that was the only Season Three Episode where a temple guard in the Ledges caught a contestant. In the first screenshot, taken during the temple overview, there is absolutely no light being emitted out of the Ledges. It is not until the contestant is in the temple, descending from the Crypt to the Ledges that the Ledges becomes lit, revealing the temple guard's location there. My screenshot of "The Discarded Seal" was meant to give another comparison between episodes taped during the same day. "The Discarded Seal" and "The Dried Apple Half" were shot the same day; however, as my screenshot reveals, the Ledges were lit during the temple overview of "Seal" but not during "Apple Half."

That should clearly demonstrate that the Ledges being lit during the temple overview was a sign that there was no guard in the Ledges, while a dark Ledges during the temple overview was a sign that there was a guard stationed in the Ledges. For this reason, I strongly believe that one of the guards in the "Gawain" run was in the Ledges.

Again, my apologies for being so off topic from the thread title.

[The Red Jaguars]

I know that the season 3 Ledges were usually darker than the season 2 Ledges. The one thing unusual about the "Sir Gawain" Ledges is that they were totally pitch black. I mean look at the Ledges in the "William the Conqueror" and "War Fan" Ledges and they had some  though sort of lighting in them. The Ledges for "William Tell" even had some lighting in it. But the Ledges were totally pitch black in "Sir Gawain" and you can't even see a single thing. But it was the first production day of season 3 so its possible that the producers were testing things out still. I mean notice how Olmec's face is lighten up in the first three photos? So I don't really compare those episodes with later production days.

I don't think you see my point. I am not comparing the lighting of Seasons Two and Three. Nor am I saying that the change in lighting was a malfunction in the lighting production. I don't think that the dim lighting for the "Gawain" run was because the producers were "still testing things out." I am saying that the different light settings used for the Ledges were done so by choice and for a purpose. The dark lighting was used only when a temple guard was stationed in the Ledges. This was done so that way they would not be seen by the contestants when they were first getting the temple overview at the gate.

My comparison to the other episodes was also for a purpose. I gave screenshots of the two episodes shot prior to the "Gawain" episode, to show that the lighting in the Ledges was not completely dark every episode during that production day. I also gave screenshots of "The Dried Apple Half" because that was the only Season Three Episode where a temple guard in the Ledges caught a contestant. In the first screenshot, taken during the temple overview, there is absolutely no light being emitted out of the Ledges. It is not until the contestant is in the temple, descending from the Crypt to the Ledges that the Ledges becomes lit, revealing the temple guard's location there. My screenshot of "The Discarded Seal" was meant to give another comparison between episodes taped during the same day. "The Discarded Seal" and "The Dried Apple Half" were shot the same day; however, as my screenshot reveals, the Ledges were lit during the temple overview of "Seal" but not during "Apple Half."

That should clearly demonstrate that the Ledges being lit during the temple overview was a sign that there was no guard in the Ledges, while a dark Ledges during the temple overview was a sign that there was a guard stationed in the Ledges. For this reason, I strongly believe that one of the guards in the "Gawain" run was in the Ledges.

Again, my apologies for being so off topic from the thread title.

I will admit that you do have a point in regards to both the "Sir Gawain" and "William Tell" temple runs. Both Ledges in that episode were pitch black and we know that the "William Tell" team encountered a guard there at least. And I do believe one of the guards in "Sir Gawain" was in there also. But I want to point out that I don't think a pitch dark Ledges = temple guard there all of the time. Watch the temple run for "The Metal Beard of the Egyptian Queen", and the Ledges were not pitch dark in that run. And the last guard had to be in the Ledges in that run too because neither the Chamber or King's Storeroom door opened at all. Just had to point that out.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

I know that the season 3 Ledges were usually darker than the season 2 Ledges. The one thing unusual about the "Sir Gawain" Ledges is that they were totally pitch black. I mean look at the Ledges in the "William the Conqueror" and "War Fan" Ledges and they had some  though sort of lighting in them. The Ledges for "William Tell" even had some lighting in it. But the Ledges were totally pitch black in "Sir Gawain" and you can't even see a single thing. But it was the first production day of season 3 so its possible that the producers were testing things out still. I mean notice how Olmec's face is lighten up in the first three photos? So I don't really compare those episodes with later production days.

I don't think you see my point. I am not comparing the lighting of Seasons Two and Three. Nor am I saying that the change in lighting was a malfunction in the lighting production. I don't think that the dim lighting for the "Gawain" run was because the producers were "still testing things out." I am saying that the different light settings used for the Ledges were done so by choice and for a purpose. The dark lighting was used only when a temple guard was stationed in the Ledges. This was done so that way they would not be seen by the contestants when they were first getting the temple overview at the gate.

My comparison to the other episodes was also for a purpose. I gave screenshots of the two episodes shot prior to the "Gawain" episode, to show that the lighting in the Ledges was not completely dark every episode during that production day. I also gave screenshots of "The Dried Apple Half" because that was the only Season Three Episode where a temple guard in the Ledges caught a contestant. In the first screenshot, taken during the temple overview, there is absolutely no light being emitted out of the Ledges. It is not until the contestant is in the temple, descending from the Crypt to the Ledges that the Ledges becomes lit, revealing the temple guard's location there. My screenshot of "The Discarded Seal" was meant to give another comparison between episodes taped during the same day. "The Discarded Seal" and "The Dried Apple Half" were shot the same day; however, as my screenshot reveals, the Ledges were lit during the temple overview of "Seal" but not during "Apple Half."

That should clearly demonstrate that the Ledges being lit during the temple overview was a sign that there was no guard in the Ledges, while a dark Ledges during the temple overview was a sign that there was a guard stationed in the Ledges. For this reason, I strongly believe that one of the guards in the "Gawain" run was in the Ledges.

Again, my apologies for being so off topic from the thread title.

I will admit that you do have a point in regards to both the "Sir Gawain" and "William Tell" temple runs. Both Ledges in that episode were pitch black and we know that the "William Tell" team encountered a guard there at least. And I do believe one of the guards in "Sir Gawain" was in there also. But I want to point out that I don't think a pitch dark Ledges = temple guard there all of the time. Watch the temple run for "The Metal Beard of the Egyptian Queen", and the Ledges were not pitch dark in that run. And the last guard had to be in the Ledges in that run too because neither the Chamber or King's Storeroom door opened at all. Just had to point that out.

Would it be fair to reform my hypothesisas "The darkened Ledges often described a guard being stationed at the top of the Ledges (where the one in "Dried Apple Half" was located)"? This would account for the "Metal Beard" episode, where, if the guard was stationed at the bottom dead-end (where they were during Season Two), they would have been concealed by the wall and flora.

As for the "Gawain" episode, the guard clearly had enough time to maneuver his way down to the bottom of the Ledges by the time Tiffani cleared the entrance, grabbed the Helmet, and made her way back toward the Ledges... either that, or they stayed where they were at the top of the Ledges, and the producers never turned up the lights when Tiffani was running out, since that would have revealed the "vanished" temple guard.

[The Red Jaguars]

I always wondered why the Ledges were pitch black when Tiffani tried exiting the temple. No wonder she exited via the Crypt, she probably couldn't see her way round in it. And it didn't help that she dragged that huge Helmet through the dark Ledges. It looks like she is about to collapse at the end of her temple run.

Back to the "Egyptian King" temple run. I agree with PP4L, I do think Maggie and Josh would've been forced up the entire central shaft had they continued from the Headless Kings. I know people like giving Josh a hard time for straying from Maggie's path, but I thought it was actually brilliant for him to stray from her path. Its not like he knew that he would encounter all three guards. He even found her pendant that she dropped. To this day I wonder how she found it so easily.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Okay, I've done some more in-depth research about the Ledges for Season Three. The only episodes where the lighting is dark in the Ledges during the temple overview (when Olmec is saying "The choices are yours, and yours alone..." all the way up until "Return through the gates with the artifact in three minutes, and you will both be handsomely rewarded, and here's how!") were:

Episode 84- The Much-Heralded Helmet of Sir Gawain
Episode 98- The Mysterious Manuscript of Mary Shelley
Episode 99- The Dried Apple Half of William Tell
Episode 103- The Lost Hornpipe of the Pirate Captain
Episode 117- The Jeweled Scabbard of Sforza
Episode 118- The Good-Luck Watch of Empress Eugenie

We know that there was a guard in the Ledges for "The Dried Apple Half of William Tell." In all of the other five episodes, only two or fewer of the guards were encountered: Gawain had none; Manuscript had Chamber and Shrine; Hornpipe had Chamber and Ancient Warriors; Scabbard had Crypt and Chamber; and Watch had Storeroom and Shrine. We have already discussed the Gawain and Scabbard episodes at length, and I believe we all agree that the Ledges probably contained guards for each of those episodes. Now I'd like to focus in on the Manuscript, Hornpipe, and Watch episodes. Each episode provides clues as to why the third guard was most likely stationed in the Ledges, one at a time. (And as always, photos used here are courtesy video from youtube.com posted by ChargerTheWolf.)


MANUSCRIPT: 



The path consisted of the Crypt, Pit, Chamber (avoidable, but Kate took it anyway and encountered the first guard there), Storeroom, Ancient Warriors, and Shrine (second guard). The object was in the Dark Forest, so it is possible that the team would have had to have entered the Secret Password and/or the Quicksand Bog. I can't make any assumptions about the Room of the Secret Password, but it seems statistically improbable for the third guard to have been there. Even though the television viewer never gets a view of the entire Quicksand Bog, I have a screenshot of the largest portion of the room shown during the temple run. It seems like there should have been some Styrofoam blocks piled high enough to get captured within the camera's view if there were a guard in the Quicksand Bog.




HORNPIPE:



The path consisted of the Crypt, Pit, Tomb of the Headless Kings, Chamber (first guard), Storeroom, Ancient Warriors (second guard), Shrine, Secret Password, and finally the Quicksand Bog. Before I proceed, I just want to point out that the step in the staircase from the Pit to the Storeroom dropped upon knocking over the column, so the Pit/Storeroom door should have unlocked in addition to the Pit/Tomb door. In addition, when Jarrid is exiting the temple, the Pit/Storeroom door can be seen, and it still sealed shut. This implied that that door malfunctioned, and that Jessica and Jarrid could have used it, providing a shortcut that would have eliminated the need to pass through the Tomb and the Chamber. You can even see that Jarrid tried to use the Pit/Storeroom door upon entering the temple; that would have saved the team a whole lot of time. It probably would have also reduced the amount of admiration this particular run gets.

Okay, now that I've mentioned that, let's continue on to talk about the guards and the Ledges for this episode, shall we? Even though Jarrid was only in the Secret Password for a few seconds before he doubled back to the Shrine, the guards in the Secret Password have been noticeably prompt and speedy at coming out of that room in Season Three: just look at "Thornwood Gavel" and "The War Fan" episodes, for example (Don't give me any of that "Well, that was earlier in the season" shmaltz). The team entered every room, excluding the Jester's Court, Dark Forest, and the darkened Ledges. Neither the Tomb/Jester nor the Shrine/Forest doors opened, so the path could not have led them into either of those rooms. I think that eliminates all of the rooms besides the Ledges to house the last guard. And, conveniently, it is one of the few episodes where the Ledges are completely dark.


GOOD-LUCK WATCH



The path consisted of the Crypt, Pit, Storeroom (first guard), Ancient Warriors, Shrine (second guard), Dark Forest, Jester's Court, and finally the Tomb of the Headless Kings. Only the Chamber, Secret Password, Quicksand Bog, and Ledges were left unentered. The Pit/Chamber door, the Shrine/Password door, and the Shrine/Bog doors did not open after each of the respective room objectives was completed. In other words, the Chamber, Secret Password, and Quicksand Bog were not to be entered for this run, and therefore should not have housed temple guards. The only other room left unentered was the Ledges. This means that the team traversed through every room that they could have in their path, except the Ledges. That means that the Ledges, therefore, should have housed the third guard for the "Good-Luck Watch" episode. And once again, it is dark in the Ledges during the temple overview.



I am very sorry that this post is so long, but I really, truly believe, that the lack of light in those particular episodes is very suspicious. Those select episodes are the only ones of the entire third season to have the Ledges dark like that. Moreover, the episodes are not all from the same production day. And each of these episodes has clear evidence, which I have stated above, to support the idea that the unencountered temple guards were in the Ledges.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

I know that the season 3 Ledges were usually darker than the season 2 Ledges. The one thing unusual about the "Sir Gawain" Ledges is that they were totally pitch black. I mean look at the Ledges in the "William the Conqueror" and "War Fan" Ledges and they had some  though sort of lighting in them. The Ledges for "William Tell" even had some lighting in it. But the Ledges were totally pitch black in "Sir Gawain" and you can't even see a single thing. But it was the first production day of season 3 so its possible that the producers were testing things out still. I mean notice how Olmec's face is lighten up in the first three photos? So I don't really compare those episodes with later production days.

I don't think you see my point. I am not comparing the lighting of Seasons Two and Three. Nor am I saying that the change in lighting was a malfunction in the lighting production. I don't think that the dim lighting for the "Gawain" run was because the producers were "still testing things out." I am saying that the different light settings used for the Ledges were done so by choice and for a purpose. The dark lighting was used only when a temple guard was stationed in the Ledges. This was done so that way they would not be seen by the contestants when they were first getting the temple overview at the gate.

My comparison to the other episodes was also for a purpose. I gave screenshots of the two episodes shot prior to the "Gawain" episode, to show that the lighting in the Ledges was not completely dark every episode during that production day. I also gave screenshots of "The Dried Apple Half" because that was the only Season Three Episode where a temple guard in the Ledges caught a contestant. In the first screenshot, taken during the temple overview, there is absolutely no light being emitted out of the Ledges. It is not until the contestant is in the temple, descending from the Crypt to the Ledges that the Ledges becomes lit, revealing the temple guard's location there. My screenshot of "The Discarded Seal" was meant to give another comparison between episodes taped during the same day. "The Discarded Seal" and "The Dried Apple Half" were shot the same day; however, as my screenshot reveals, the Ledges were lit during the temple overview of "Seal" but not during "Apple Half."

That should clearly demonstrate that the Ledges being lit during the temple overview was a sign that there was no guard in the Ledges, while a dark Ledges during the temple overview was a sign that there was a guard stationed in the Ledges. For this reason, I strongly believe that one of the guards in the "Gawain" run was in the Ledges.

Again, my apologies for being so off topic from the thread title.

I will admit that you do have a point in regards to both the "Sir Gawain" and "William Tell" temple runs. Both Ledges in that episode were pitch black and we know that the "William Tell" team encountered a guard there at least. And I do believe one of the guards in "Sir Gawain" was in there also. But I want to point out that I don't think a pitch dark Ledges = temple guard there all of the time. Watch the temple run for "The Metal Beard of the Egyptian Queen", and the Ledges were not pitch dark in that run. And the last guard had to be in the Ledges in that run too because neither the Chamber or King's Storeroom door opened at all. Just had to point that out.

Let me clarify one thing about what you've said about my hypothesis. My hypothesis about the Ledges is NOT "The Ledges had to be dark in order for there to be a temple guard there." Rather, my hypothesis is "When the Ledges were dark, there was a temple guard located there." My statement is a one-way statement; it is not meant to be a contrapositive.