Legends Episode Ranking System - COMPLETE

[The Red Jaguars]

Here is the statistics that I have been meaning to post about the half-way point for the episodes we covered. There is nothing special about them, they just point out how strong and how weak some teams are right now. Of course, we have 60 more episodes to cover too so the scores are more likely to either raise or lower. But here are some stats to the 60 episodes we covered:

- Each season has half of their episodes reviewed so far.
- The Blue Barracudas has the highest completion percentage for episodes reviewed. We only need to cover 16 Barracuda episodes left.
- The Red Jaguars have the fewest covered episodes at 6/20.
- The Purple Parrots have the highest ranking overall, while the Silver Snakes have the lowest.
- Both the Barracudas best episode and worst rated episode both had "Lucky" artifacts.
- The Orange Iguanas have yet had an episode reach the 8.0 rankings.
- Two of the highest rated episode both come from the same team (Green Monkeys). 

I am also going to post a new review tomorrow. I am not saying which episode that I am covering. All I can say is that it is a surprise.

Team	Episodes Completed	Highest Rated Episode	Lowest Rated Episode	Overall Score
	6/11	"The Snakeskin Boots of Billy the Kid" - 8.0	"The Golden Pepperoni of Catherine de Medici" - 6.0 "The Upside-Down Compass of Henry Hudson" - 6.0	6.97
	12/24	"The Mussel-Shell Armor of Apanuugpak" - 8.9 "Lawrence of Arabia's Headdress" - 8.9	"The Plumed Headdress of Cosa Rara" - 4.2 "The Marble Armrest of Xerxes" - 4.2	6.92
	13/19	"The Lucky Pillow of Annie Taylor" - 8.4	"The Lucky Pig of Amelia Earhart" - 4.5	6.19
	14/25	"The Levitating Dog Leash of Nostradamus" - 7.8	"The Bifocal Monocle of One-Eyed Jack" - 2.8	5.84
	6/20	"The Jewel-Encrusted Egg of Catherine the Great" - 8.4	"The Keys to the Alhambra" - 2.7	5.82
	9/21	"The Secret Map of the Bandit Queen" - 8.0	"The Snow Cone of Mt. Kilimanjaro" - 3.2 "The Golden Cricket Cage of Khan" - 3.2	5.80

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Well, it's easy for the Purple Parrots to have a high percentage of episodes reviewed, since they went to the temple the least. Though we have reviewed half of the Green Monkey episodes too. And the two highest rated episodes are from that team too. Amazing. As for the Orange Iguanas, I have a feeling a 7.8 average for the Nostradamus episode is as high of a ranking you will get with them. We've already covered all of the wins, unless you decide to review Blue Pearl next, and that gets a high ranking.

Interesting stuff there, and I look forward to your next "surprise" ranking. If you ever do decide to review Golden Stallion, I'll review Silver Cannonball right after that as a follow up. Since those episodes were filmed back to back.

[The Red Jaguars]

Here was the "surprise" episode I decided to review - Lost Lion Tail. Even though I didn't originally claim this episode, I wanted to review it to see how bad it ranked. It is definitely the weakest Purple Parrots episode. I am not sure why TPP liked this episode either.

THE LOST LION TAIL OF LITTLE JOHN

MOAT: 4/10

In front of the six teams were three hanging Babylonian wheels. When the challenge started both players on each team had to reach out and grab the first hanging wheel. They then must swing over to the next wheel until they reach the end of the moat. The first four teams that reach the other side will move onto the Steps of Knowledge. The idea for the moat was pretty good, however there were so many things that went wrong for this one. First off, it seemed like half of the teams were leaving their partners behind while moving onto the next wheel. Secondly, the Green Monkeys made it across second but it took them a while to hit their gongs. They were lucky that the other teams were not across yet because they might've not went onto the Steps if they never hit their gong like they were suppose to. This moat would've gotten a higher score if it wasn't for those problems above.

LEGEND: 7/10

One of the boldest French women of the early 1800's was Jean La Mystere. When her fiance Pierre left her to go journey off into the New World, Jean begged to go with him. Pierre would not allow it because the voyage would be too dangerous and long for a woman. Jean did not want to hear about it though and disguised herself as a cabin boy named Little John. Pierre did not recognize her and gave her difficult chores. All summer she trudged along with the other members of the expedition. Legend has it, in Arkansas Pierre was attacked by a wild cat and Little John wrestled it into a hammer-lock. The wild cat was so scared that it took off without it's tail. Pierre was impressed by Little John's bravery. Moments later, Little John revealed himself as Jean, Pierre's fiance. Pierre and Jean made their way back to France while the Lion Tail made its way to the temple.

I actually enjoyed the story the production crew used for this episode. It was very interesting to sit through and listen. However, the story was sort of filled with holes. First off, how did none of Pierre's men not know that Little John was really a girl for a WHOLE summer. Secondly, wouldn't the lion be dead if it lost it's tail? Although the idea for the artifact was pretty interesting either way. It was still a good story though, and Dee Bradley Baker did a good job with the French accents.

STEPS OF KNOWLEDGE: 6/10

Nothing really to say about the Steps of Knowledge in this episode. The Blue Barracudas got the first two questions correct, but did not proceed onto the temple games. Pretty pathetic if you ask me. The Silver Snakes and Purple Parrots got all of their questions correct and they both went onto the temple games.

TEMPLE GAMES: 2/10

The temple games featured Claude and Marie of the Purple Parrots and Amanda and Chaz of the Silver Snakes. This had to be one of the worst temple games rounds on the show. There was absolutely no competition at all and each temple game was boring and uneventful to watch. The biggest fail though was the team game where a certain team had the temple games in the bag until a certain mishap. Scroll down to the team section to see what I am talking about.

Temple Game #1 - Voyage to the New World

In the first temple game, Claude and Chaz had to voyage to the New World and plant their French Flags. To do this, they must pull their boats to the New World side of the game and plant their flags there. Once they were done, they had to pull themselves back to the other side towards France and put both feet on the dock in order for them to complete the game. The first team that plants their flag of France and makes it back home wins. Chaz on the Silver Snakes beat Claude of the Purple Parrots handily in this temple game. Claude didn't even have his boat in the right direction when returning back to France.

Temple Game #2 - Brings Supplies to the Expedition

Marie and Amanda had to deliver supplies to the members of Pierre's expeditions. Each player had to place a backpack around their should and cross to the other side on the zipline. Once they were done, they had to return to the other side to grab a new backpack. The player that delivers the most backpacks will be the winners. In the end, Marie had more supplies and earned the Purple Parrots their first half-pendant.

Temple Game #3 - Mt. Petite Jean

The final temple game had the Silver Snakes and Purple Parrots scaling a mountain in Arkansas in order to plant a sign of "Petite Jean" on it. The teams had to work together by climbing up a giant set of stairs an drag the sign up with them. The first team that reached the top of the mountain and put the "Petite Jean" sign up would go onto the temple games. This temple game had to be one of the biggest fails on the show. The Silver Snakes were beating the Purple Parrots throughout this temple game and were so close to reaching the top step when Chaz kicked the sign off the step and knock it down to the ground level. There was nothing that the Silver Snakes could do to get the sign except go down and retrieve. By then, the Purple Parrots had a window of opportunity to get their sign up and they easily won because of this. The Purple Parrots did not deserve to go to the temple at all. The Silver Snakes were performing much better in this temple game, yet their screw-up gave this Purple Parrots team a free pass to the temple. In the end, the Purple Parrots won the temple games 1.5-0.5.

TEMPLE RUN: 2/10

After being gifted a free pass to the temple, you would think that the Purple Parrots would've made some use of it, right? Guess again, because you are about to witness one of the worst runs of the second season. Marie started off in the Ledges where a temple guard knocks her down off her feet. A little aggressive, don't you think? As Marie entered the Rock Quarry, she wastes time there missing a couple of rocks in the bucket. She makes up for this time though in the Laser Light Room where she finds the White Light on her first try! Marie is taken out in the Swamp with 1:45 left. Claude was a lost cause of a second runner though. He moved way slowly for a second runner and looked very confused too. He somehow found the half-pendant in the Swamp too. It was a good thing he did because there was a temple spirit in the Dark Forest. He had no idea what to do in the Dark Forest though and wasted time meandering around it. He does find the key, but never tries the door to the Shrine. He eventually plows through the wall into the Mine Shaft and with his remaining time, he decided to stick his finger into the Mine Shaft temple guard peep hole.

The Purple Parrots had very few temple appearances on the show. There were a lot of episodes where I would've liked to see the Purple Parrots in the temple over another team (Xerxes, Enormous Feather, Golden Cricket Cage), however this was NOT one of those episodes. It was bad enough the Parrots got to the temple from a Silver Snake screw-up, but Claude makes it even worse with his sorry excuse of a performance. I'd rather see this run end in triple capture then to watch Claude piss all his time away. Marie is the only reason that this suckfest does not get a 2.

FINAL VERDICT: 4.2/10

"Lost Lion Tail" was a poor representation of the Purple Parrots and brings shame to them. The Purple Parrots didn't have many temple appearances on the show, but this episode is just a disgrace to them. There are so many things wrong that  you wish this Purple Parrot team did not go to the temple. The big disappointments in this episode are the temple games and temple run. The Purple Parrots got a free pass to the temple due to a Silver Snakes fail, and yet they screw up in the temple. This was mostly thanks to Claude who was a huge disgrace to the team and was a lost cause. Besides the two notable moments above, this episode was pretty poor all around. I would not recommend this episode, even if you are looking for a Purple Parrot episode to watch. Watch this episode for only for completion and not recreational pleasure. Even Purple Parrots fans should be aware of this one.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Lost Lion Tail is definitely the weakest Purple Parrot episode, and overall weakest episode ever of Season 2. I remember Marie and Claude barely scraping by and of course their free pass to the temple. Marie pretty much led the team, Claude just didn't belong on the show. -_- I also remember certain points of this episode besides the temple games, like the Blue Barracudas' near sweep on the Steps of Knowledge and the legend itself. I don't know if I'm alone on this, but I personally hated the legend. It was just some sort of woman scaring off a lion.... in Arkansas? I thought the US didn't have lions. And those men didn't know "Little John" was a girl? How stupid can you be? I would've given the legend a 3/10 personally.

But oh well, great review. I'm gonna rank Grandy Nanny next, then you can rank Golden Stallion as a follow up.

[The Red Jaguars]

Lost Lion Tail is the only Purple Parrots episode that I can't tolerate. Even though Oracle Bowl and Sultan Suleiman had bad temple runs, at least the earlier rounds from them were actually pretty good. Too bad the Silver Snakes lost the way they did in the temple games too. Claude though is the reason why I cannot stand this episode. He doesn't do anything at all. Marie answered all the questions in the Steps, Marie won her individual game, and Marie was the one that performed well in the temple. Any criticism this episode gets is all on Claude. And I never understood the power forward reference for Claude either? Kirk kept saying that to him in the temple games and temple run. He deserves to rank on John and Tia's level.     

And good luck with Grandy Nanny too. I hate that episode and Orange Iguanas team. It was so boring and awful that I never go back to it. Although this was the episode that made us believe that it was the first episode ever of Season 2. And if whenever you get around to Grandy Nanny, I will definitely post Ali Baba. I actually have half of that episode written up, but I always pass on it because it is so boring and uneventful. But I only need to type up the temple games and Steps of Knowledge section. Same thing with Broken Trident, I am almost done with it too.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

My turn for an episode review. And this time, it's "The Silver Cannonball of Grandy Nanny."

THE SILVER CANNONBALL OF GRANDY NANNY

MOAT: 5/10

For this moat, the players had to cross the moat using crisscrossing ropes. They had to grab a hold of the top rope, and make their way along the bottom rope. Once across, their partners had to cross in the same manner. This round was just unexciting and uneventful, and for some reason, the mist machine wasn't working that well. And the moat wasn't even that long either. I guess there were a few kinks to work out with the moat's mist on the first filming day of Season 2. Regardless, the Purple Parrots, Silver Snakes, Orange Iguanas, and the Red Jaguars advanced to the Steps of Knowledge.

LEGEND: 6/10

The legend was about Grandy Nanny, who was a troublesome problem of the British Army on Jamaica. She was a queen of escaped slaves who fended an army off, and British were sent to recapture them. Grandy Nanny taught her men to do flips, so they could pose as moving targets. She could even catch the British cannonballs, and chuck them back twice as hard. The colonel had enough, and plotted to throw a silver cannonball at Grandy Nanny, to put an end to her once and for all. When they saw Grandy Nanny, they shot it at her, but she miraculously caught it with her teeth! She kept it as a souvenir, and bounced off into the woods. The British then granted the slaves freedom, and the silver cannonball disappeared. This was an alright legend. Not the worst, but certainly not one of the best legends on the show. I've got to say though, I would love to catch a ball with my teeth. I'm not gonna lie.

STEPS OF KNOWLEDGE: 5/10

The Steps of Knowledge was just an average round. Jonathan answered most of the questions on the Steps of Knowledge, and were first to finish. The Red Jaguars eventually joined them as the second team to qualify for the temple games. Really nothing to note here.

TEMPLE GAMES: 6/10

The temple games, like the Steps of Knowledge, were just average. If there is one thing to note though, Kirk almost introduces the temple games in the same manner that he did in Season 1. "And the first one is.... Olmec, tell us about it." He also did that during the moat too. You're not on a roll today, huh Kirk? Anyways, in the first game, Jonathan and Sammy had to place cannonball between their feet, swing out and drop the balls in the 3x3 grid. This game would be used quite a bit in Season 2. The concept of the game was about how many holes contained a cannonball, instead of how many cannonball ended up in the grid. Jonathan ends up beating Sammy 5-4 and earns a half pendant for his team. All while running out of the arena like a crazy person after winning the game. -_- In the second game, Amber and Debbie had to use the very underrated plugging holes/squirting game to predict where Grandy Nanny was. This was the mere "guessing" aspect of the game instead of the memorization aspect, the latter of which I like better. At the end of the game, beats Debbie 4-1. So now it was a 1-0 lead for the Orange Iguanas at this point. In the third game, the players had to take turns knocking down the British Soldiers. The Red Jaguars sucked at this game. They couldn't even knock one soldier down until the last second, while the Orange Iguanas knocked three down. That gives the Orange Iguanas the full pendant, granting them access to Olmec temple after shutting out the Red Jaguars with 2 full pendants! After sweeping the temple games, Jonathan starts running around again and takes his helmet off and throws it up in the air. You and your ADHD antics, Jonathan. Real funny.

TEMPLE RUN: 3/10

Like most Orange Iguana temple runs, it was pretty lackluster. And it didn't help that the pendant and temple map took a long time to show up. Oh yeah, and the temple run music was delayed in starting too. I swear, I'm glad the editing got better as Season 2 wore on. Anyways, Jonathan goes in first, and he has no idea what he's doing. In the Throne Room, it takes him a while to realize you can go up to the Heart Room. Boy, did he not pay attention or what? He eventually makes his way to the King's Storeroom, where he's removed from the temple with 1:50 left on the clock. And more signs of terrible camerawork appears as it shows Jonathan being taken backstage by the temple guard. The camera doesn't even pan over to Amber until she's just entering the Ledges. As for Amber, she wasn't any better than Jonathan. She took her sweet time getting to the King's Storeroom, where one of the pots she knocks over has TWO keys in them instead of one. After completing the objective, she backtracks to the Observatory for no reason, which would be "accomplished" again by Jason from Icarus. But, she quickly corrects that mistake and eventually makes her way to the shrine, where time runs out. It's funny how the third temple guard emerges and nearly chokes Amber as she tries to take her out of the temple. As seen in the above picture. Overall, this temple run sucked because the players were way too slow and incompetent.

FINAL VERDICT: 5.0/10

This episode was very lackluster and weak for an early Season 2 episode. First of all, the camerawork was absolutely terrible, and second of all, Kirk kept Fogging Up and kept trying to take over Olmec's duties of explaining the moat and temple games. Plus, Jonathan's (and to an extent) Amber's ADHD antics got old pretty fast. For such over enthusiastic contestants, and for a team that swept the temple games, I expected them to make MUCH better progress than they did. Instead, the didn't make it anywhere near the artifact and completely choked in the temple. This entire episode was extremely boring, like most Orange Iguana episodes are, and I really don't recommend it at all.

[The Red Jaguars]

Grandy Nanny was that one episode that everyone thought for sure was the first episode of Season 2 due to many quirks to it. Of course, this was before we knew the production order. And of course, Nick GaS overplayed this episode way too much.

The whole episode was boring though and I try avoid watching it. The crisscrossing rope moat was pretty bland, and I can't believe they brought this moat back later in the season. I expect that from a S1 moat.   I do remember the part of the legend though where Grandy Nanny catches the Silver Cannonball in her teeth, that was pretty neat at least. I can't stand the Orange Iguanas team in this episode though. Both of them were jumping around too much and Jonathan was making all those "gangster signs" in front of the cameras. The temple games were pretty quirky though. It seemed like Kirk wanted to read the instructions for the temple games like in S1, which is why we thought that this was the original episode of S2. The temple games that were used though were some of the better ones from S2. I definitely liked the trapeze game and the catapult one where the players had to knock down the soldiers. I didn't care for the water plugging game though. I only liked the memory one used in "Sultan Suleiman". And as annoying as Amber and Jonathan were, I have to give them credit for sweeping the temple games.

After having a pretty average episode with some half-decent rounds... we get a huge disaster of a temple run. This run was probably the worst overall team performance in S2 because both players were bad and had no idea what they were doing. I know "Lost Lion Tail" and "Cracked Crown" were worse runs, but those runs had at least one good player. These two didn't know what they were doing at all. Which is very disappointing, because Jonathan and Amber finished first in the Steps and swept the temple games. Both players were too slow and Amber backtracked for no reason into the Observatory. This run was also quirky for the sloppy camerawork, delayed map appearance, and the offbeat temple run music. It made the temple run even more hard to watch in addition to the Orange Iguanas' incompetence. -_-

Overall, Grandy Nanny deserved the low score it got. I thought it would actually rank lower, but I forgot the earlier rounds were okay up until the temple run. This is good timing too for your review, because I am almost done with Golden Stallion.   I will try to have this up by tomorrow.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

This moat was NOT brought back later on in the season. The "swing on a vine" moat was the one that was repeated. Missing Eye/Tall Turban's filming day and Icarus/Polynesian Girl's filming day had that moat. The crisscrossing moat was NEVER brought back. And yeah, this episode was just terrible. But the temple run wasn't THE worst of Season 2. That goes to either Lost Lion Tail or Stone Head.

[The Red Jaguars]

The bottom 5 temple runs from S2 were Lost Lion Tail, Nathan Hale, Cracked Crown, Grandy Nanny, and Stone Head in that order. I actually can tolerate Stone Head a little more than Grandy Nanny because the Grandy Nanny kids had the Heart Room in their run and they still only made one extra room of progress compared to Heather and Tony who had to complete Medusa's Lair.

And I am finishing up Ali Baba as we speak. I will have it up by tomorrow morning. 

[The Red Jaguars]

Here is the long awaited review for "Golden Stallion".    I didn't expect this episode to take this long to review but it was so hard and dull to sit through. If an episode is really good and exciting, then I can review it in one sitting. But if it is boring and uneventful, then I break it up into pieces. But this episode takes the meaning of boringness to a whole new level. I am just glad to get this episode done for good. Not even Stone Marker or Captain John Smith was as boring to sit through as this one.

THE GOLDEN STALLION OF ALI BABA

MOAT: 5.5/10

There were three ropes that were extended across the moat: One straight rope over the heads of the players and two ropes that criss cross. The first player had to cross by grabbing the rope over their head and walking across the crisscrossing rope. They had to switch ropes though in the area where they crisscross. Once they make it across, their partner had to make it across the same way. For the very first moat of Season 2, this was pretty disappointing. It felt like a moat that came from Season 1 since they loved to use the rope crossings during that season. There was nothing special about the moat crossing player performance wise. It was a close call for the first spot between the Orange Iguanas and Blue Barracudas. Other than that, this moat was pretty uncreative and boring.

LEGEND: 3/10

Ali Baba was one of the most famous woodcutters of Ancient Persia. Legend has it, he was out cutting wood in the forest when one day a group of 40 horsemen rode up to a cliff and shouted a pass ("Open Sesame!") that opened a secret door to the cave. Ali Baba waited until the horsemen left when he went to the same cave and shouted the same password. Inside the cave were various treasures. He concluded that the horsemen were thieves and he fled the cave with a Golden Stallion. Back home, he told his brother Bobby Baba about the treasure in the cave. Bobby Baba took 5 mules with him to the same cave his brother told him about, but forgot the password. (Open Peanut, Open Sunflower, Open Canola). When the thieves returned, they did away with Bobby Baba. Ali Baba remained at home safely with his Golden Stallion, which made it's way to the temple.

This legend was really absurd and nonsensical. The whole plot to this episode was lame and had terrible writing. The wrong passwords that Bobby Baba shouted were lame. I know they were suppose to be a pun for different types of seeds because Sesame itself is a seed, but it did not work well with this legend. Furthermore, the name Bobby Baba is ridiculous. It felt like the whole Bobby Baba part of the plot was thrown in to make it longer or something. But it just sounded lame though. This legend would've been much better if they didn't include the Bobby Baba part.

STEPS OF KNOWLEDGE: 6/10

There weren't many questions asked in this Steps of Knowledge round since the Orange Iguanas and Silver Snakes answered almost all of them. However, the Red Jaguars got shafted though on one of the questions. One of Olmec's questions was, "The command 'Open Sesame' opened a secret passage to what?" The Red Jaguar boy answered "Cavern", but Olmec did not accept the answer. The Orange Iguanas answered a "Cave", which was the right answer. Really? Last time I checked a Cave and Cavern are one in the same. I guess the producers still had the Season 1 syndrome with the earlier episodes of S2.

TEMPLE GAMES: 7/10

The temple games featured C.J. and Kendra of the Orange Iguanas facing off against Jonathan and Shannon of the Silver Snakes. There was nothing special about either team in this episode, but I like the set of temple games the producers used. Especially the second temple game where the producers actually didn't use the "luck squirting" game and used the memory one instead (like in "Sultan Suleiman").

Temple Game #1 - Caves of Gold

Jonathan and Kendra had to collect pieces of gold and fill nine different caves with them. They had to grab a piece of gold with their feet and swing on a trapeze and drop the piece of gold into one of the cubby holes. The player that fills the most caves after 60 seconds will be the winner. The concept for this temple game was good, but both Jonathan and Kendra sucked at getting their pieces of gold into the cubby holes. After the temple game was over with, there were almost a dozen pieces of gold on the ground. In the end, Kendra and Jonathan tied 2-2.

Temple Game #2 - Remember the Password

In the second temple game, C.J. and Shannon had to memorize a sequence of passwords that were used to open the thieves' treasure cave like in the legend. Once the password sequence was revealed, then each player had to recreate the sequence by putting a plug into the correct number. If the player was correct, they would not get squirted and earn a point. If they were wrong, they would be squirted by a gush of water. In the end, C.J. got more correct guesses then Shannon and puts the Orange Iguanas ahead 1-0.5.

Temple Game #3 - Cave of the 40 Thieves

In the final temple game, the Orange Iguanas and Silver Snakes had to climb a spider web and grab a bag of gold from one of the cubby holes. Once they grab the gold, then they must put them into a balance beam that will weigh the bags collected. The heaver bags of gold were located at the top of the spider web. At the end of 60 seconds, Kirk will weigh both teams' bags and the team who has the heavier set of bags will be the winner. The Orange Iguanas had the heavier set of bags, and they won and entered the temple with two pendants.

TEMPLE RUN: 5.5/10

There were very few losing teams on the show that I would be willing to give a second chance to, but CJ and Kendra deserved one after how crappy their temple run turned out. The Orange Iguanas lost a lot of time in the temple due to the Throne Room door to the Swamp being stuck for both players when they tried using it. CJ entered the temple first and when he entered the Throne Room, he met a temple guard while the Throne was still spinning towards the other direction. The only door that opened up for them was the Heart Room, where CJ got taken out. Apparently, Kirk was not paying attention to him being taken out and Kenda lost about 5 seconds because Kirk missed his cue to send her into the temple. Kendra entered the Throne Room and actually tried the Swamp door but it would not open for her. As she followed CJ's steps, she got lost in the central shaft because none of the doors would open to the left portion of the temple. After finally descending into the Swamp, she enters the Dark Forest and meets her final temple guard as time runs out.

This wasn't a bad Orange Iguana team at all, they got screwed by a production error. It was obvious that something was not right with the Swamp door because both players tried opening it. Why did it get jammed? Many believe that it had to do with the Throne Room mechanism. In fact, the Throne Room seemed out of sync in this temple run. If the Orange Iguanas had actually saw the Throne Room door open, they might've not wasted time with the central shaft. Overall though, this temple run was very forgettable and I have a hard time recalling both player's performance. Aside from the production error, the Orange Iguanas looked like an average team.

FINAL VERDICT: 5.4/10

"Golden Stallion" is one of the most forgettable episodes on the whole show. There is nothing really special about this episode, and it was dull for the most part. The lowest point in this episode was the absurd legend that contained irrelevant plot points, bad jokes, and bad voice acting. It was this round of the show that makes the episode score lower than it should rank. Other than that, the rest of the episode is just plain average. The Orange Iguanas though had some real bad luck in the temple. They were honestly not a bad team at all, they lost because of faulty equipment in the temple most likely. Otherwise, I think C.J. and Kendra would've won had the Throne Room door opened correctly the first time. They deserved a second chance. I have nothing against this episode though, but I don't think I would go as far as to recommend it. It wasn't bad, but it was so boring and average that even you will forget about it after watching it for a first time.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Ali Baba was definitely a forgettable episode. I do remember the ridiculous legend, and how Bobby Baba forgot the password. Didn't Ali Baba tell him the password beforehand, or does Bobby Baba just have short term memory problems? The temple run sucked, but not because of the players. It was because of the faulty mechanisms the Throne Room had. I'm completely convinced it was a production error, which would've made two teams in a row that day to get screwed over in some way. Assuming the Battle Plan kids had the problems in the King's Storeroom. I also remember the first temple guard choking CJ while trying to get the pendant from him. And I remember the 3 second delay of Kendra entering the temple. Pay attention Kirk!

Overall, good job on the review. Mid 5 range is fitting for this episode, since it was so forgettable. It was an immense improvement over Grandy Nanny, but not by much. As for me, I'm gonna do "Chandragupta" next, and then "Lost Hornpipe" after that. I bet you're looking forward to that.

[The Red Jaguars]

I really think it was a production error that screwed CJ and Kendra over in the Throne Room. You don't see the Throne Room door open at all when Kendra first entered the room. But when she returns back down, the door is wide open. So something had to happen between the time Kendra first entered the room and returned later. Which is too bad, because the team still made it far despite getting screwed over by the Swamp door. Other than that, the episode's low score came from the ridiculous legend. It would've ranked closer to a 6 if it wasn't for it. I don't really mind Golden Stallion though, it was just so boring and uneventful that I skip over it. Much better than Grandy Nanny though.  And speaking of Nathan Hale, that is the last episode from that production day we need to cover. It will be interesting to see how that ranks. I might take that one somewhere down the road.

And I was wondering when you were going to get to Pirate Captain. If there is an episode that could unseat Lawrence of Arabia/Apanuugpak, it would be this episode. Great episode and every round was memorable and fun to watch. Even the Purple Parrots were a great team despite losing. Chandragupta is another good episode to even though I haven't watched this one in quite some time. I remember the cat reference at the Steps and Andrea's enthusiasm. The Green Monkeys have too many great episodes that it is almost unfair.      

And my next episode is going to be Silver Saddle Horn. I am mainly doing it because I have a feeling it is going to rank pretty low. It had the longest recorded moat, average rounds, and the temple run was pretty disappointing. I want to knock some of the S1 episodes out. So I plan on doing Sir Edmund Hillary or Buddha afterwards.    

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Yeah, I have a feeling Pirate Captain might unseat Lawrence of Arabia and Apanuugpak. On the other hand, an 8.9 average is hard to beat, no matter how good the episode is. Also, John Sutter might rank just as high too. Regardless, it would be awesome if Pirate Captain cracked the 9 range. But first things first, Chandragupta comes next for me. And good luck ranking Silver Saddle Horn, that episode was extremely boring. Though it does have the British player on the Green Monkeys, if it's one positive thing to look forward to.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Here it is, my episode review on "The Lion-Headed Bracelet of Chandragupta."

THE LION-HEADED BRACELET OF CHANDRAGUPTA

MOAT: 10/10

For this moat, the players had to balance on a boogie board, with one player holding the board, and the other player standing on it. This moat was literally flawless. None of the six teams fell off even once, not even the moat crossing losers. Why couldn't more moats be like this? Especially balancing moats like these. Simply amazing. The Silver Snakes, Red Jaguars, Orange Iguanas, and the Green Monkeys end up advancing to the Steps of Knowledge.

LEGEND: 6/10

This legend was about Chandragupta, who was one of the greatest warriors of Ancient India, and the first Indian emperor. In 323 BC, he raised an army of half a million men, and conquered one of the largest empires ever. As a kid, he herded cattle, and would even sleep in the herd with his friend, Jamba. One night in particular, he felt a nudge. First he thought it was Jamba, then he thought it was Daisy, his favorite cow. But if it had been Daisy, he would've heard a cow bell. As he sat up, he came nose to nose with a lion! He asked Jamba for some help, but just then, the lion simply bowed his head and went on his way. It became apparent that if a lion salutes a person, they are destined to be king. That ended up coming true, as Chandragupta adopted the figure of a lion for a golden bracelet, which eventually ended up in the temple. This was an interesting legend, but I felt like the encounter with the lion was a bit anti-climatic. One minute Chandragupta is an inch away from a lion, and then suddenly the lion loses interest and leaves him alone. I don't know, the legend could've been executed better, which is the reason I only gave this legend a "6."

STEPS OF KNOWLEDGE: 8/10

The Steps of Knowledge, like the moat, were over in a heartbeat. The Green Monkeys and the Silver Snakes double swept the steps, and were first and second teams respectively to reach the final step. Nothing much else to note here, other than Kirk's "Watch out for the cats!" remark as the teams were stepping down, referring to the tiger statues. Why they were so close to the team in the first place is beyond me.

TEMPLE GAMES: 8/10

The temple games featured some great competition, and a very unique set of games used. In the first game, Andrea and Katy had to rotate the giant Olmec wheels, which represents a country Chandragupta conquered. Katy won the game 13-9. In the second game, Shaun and Matthew had to spin in giant wheels and touch base with the smaller empire borders as many times as possible within 60 seconds. This game ended in a tie, with the Silver Snakes leading the games 1-0.5 before the final game. In the third game, the teams had to take turns launching themselves onto a net and collect scrolls. The white scrolls were worth one point, and the blue ones were worth two points. In the end, the Green Monkeys barely edge out the Silver Snakes 8-7, giving them a full pendant and winning them a trip to the temple with 1.5 pendants!

TEMPLE RUN: 9/10

This temple run was a solid performance by Andrea. Besides a brief stuck door in the King's Storeroom/Room of the Ancient Warriors, and being slowed down by a temple guard in the latter room, she blazed through the top floor with ease. She even signaled back the half pendant to Shaun in the King's Storeroom, which was a very smart move. Andrea grabbed the Lion-Headed Bracelet with 44 seconds left, and escaped through the whole bottom floor with 6 seconds to spare! And great enthusiasm all around, as Kirk, Andrea, and Shaun were all very excited over their win. Temple runs don't get any better than this.

FINAL VERDICT: 8.2/10

Chandragupta is a very strong and overlooked episode. Every round was close, all the way down to the temple run. Andrea was a great player, and knew what to do in each room. Both her and Shaun totally earned their win. I also found this episode rather quirky too. For Olmec's strange lighting that he has in the early Season 3 episodes, and for his mouth squeaking more so than usual. Also, Kirk doesn't end the show on "Join us again next time...." like he usually does at the end of each show. Instead, Kirk just announces the prizes, and the credits roll soon after. This led most of the fandom to believe that this was the final episode of Season 3. But, it was probably just some bad editing. Regardless of quirks, I definitely recommend this episode.

[The Red Jaguars]

Wow, a pretty high score for Chandragupta! It finished very close to Catherine the Great and Annie Taylor when it came to overall score. Not that I am complaining though, because this is an amazing episode. 

This moat was pretty solid and one of the most unique moats in S3. Unlike Thornwood Gavel or Bandit Queen, none of the teams struggled with this moat at all. A very creative moat + a flawless performance = very exciting moat crossing. Also, the flawless performance is pretty impressive too considering how picky the rules were for this moat (you weren't allowed you touch your partner). The legend though kind of sounded silly to me. I mean a lion coming to to you and bowing? I would've loved to hear more about how Chandragupta conquered one of the biggest empires with an army of half a million men. The Steps of Knowledge round was quick too since it was literally a double sweep like Icarus and Mummified Hand. And I definitely remember the cat reference too. I guess Kirk was trying to play up on the cat theme in the legend? I don't think he made that reference in Lion-Slashed Jacket though.

The temple games were very close too. The Green Monkeys barely won overall, and Andrea's enthusiasm made this round fun to watch. She was a pretty good sport too despite losing her game. I liked the giant wheel game the most. Too bad they didn't make a team game out of it like in Lion-Slashed Jacket. The temple run was amazing though, and Andrea was a very good contestant. There is not much to say about it, but she definitely didn't do anything wrong. She even waved her half-pendant back to Shaun! This was a very exciting win, and Andrea earned the win.

Good score overall for Chandragupta. I thought that it would've ranked in the mid 7.5 range, but I am glad it got a high score.  It really was an amazing episode to watch. I remember people use to think that this was the last episode recorded. I wonder why? Other than that, good job on this episode. 

It looks like I am up next, and I am going to do Silver Saddle Horn.