Possible Alternative Routes

[Purple Parrots Fan]

It could've been an alternative route. But then again, wasn't the half pendant on the Rock Quarry's avatar? Justin could've very well have been forced down into the Ledges. If not, Justin could've ran into his two temple guards in the Crypt and the King's Storeroom.

[The Viper]

This isn't really about alternate paths, but just the layout in general. In the Bent Shaving Pan Episode, I think only the Chamber opened from the Ancient Warriors. The sound effect that played when Irish activate the armor was the same one that played in Apanugpak and William the Conqueror when the Chamber door opened. I also compared the sound effect to the ones that played when the Storeroom opened from the Ancient Warriors (the only runs that fit this criteria were Me Linh and Bifocal Monocle) and the noise is different from the one in Bent Shaving Pan/Apanugpak/William the Conqueror. Just an interesting observation.

[The Viper]

It could've been an alternative route. But then again, wasn't the half pendant on the Rock Quarry's avatar? Justin could've very well have been forced down into the Ledges. If not, Justin could've ran into his two temple guards in the Crypt and the King's Storeroom.

The Observatory/Troubled Bridge passage was definitely open, you can see it in the top left corner when Jessie is the Wheel Room. Similarly, the Observatory/Troubled Bridge passage was open in Leif Erikson, which means that Keely (i think it was her name) could have avoided the the dickish alternative path/dead end combo and a guard as well.

[The Red Jaguars]

I don't think Keeli actually turned the Sundial during the Stone Marker run. So it doesn't really show the Observatory-Bridge door opening. However, I do think that it would've opened though if she actually pushed all three tongues in the first place. I don't see the producers forcing the team up the central shaft and then taking a long path on the top floor. But then again, Season 1 also had ridiculous paths in the first place. Also, Roberto from Leonardo Da Vinci tried to do the same thing, but he never pressed all three tongues though. But I agree, this layout was unfair from the start. It was even more cheap that Stone Marker's layout was identical to Leonardo Da Vinci.

[GreenMonkeys#1]

I just remembered that in Lost Love Letter, the Observatory door opened from the Storeroom which could possibly be convincing that the Throne Room & Medusa's Lair was avoidable and that Derrick could've made this a solo run.

[The Red Jaguars]

I just remembered that in Lost Love Letter, the Observatory door opened from the Storeroom which could possibly be convincing that the Throne Room & Medusa's Lair was avoidable and that Derrick could've made this a solo run.

The same thing also happened in the Grandy Nanny run too where the Observatory opened for the Orange Iguanas after they completed the King's Storeroom. Except there was no solo chance in that run.

I assume the Observatory would've opened for the Blue Barracudas in Stone Head too since that layout was almost identical to Captain John Smith. And Tony wouldn't have to worry about the four snakes Medusa's Lair at all. But Heather moved slow and Tony looked clueless anyways. So I am not sure if that run would've been any better.

[The Red Jaguars]

Bumping this very old topic, but one run that was never mentioned was the Golden Chains run. During this run, BOTH the Wheel Room and Troubled Bridge paths opened. When Jennifer first entered the Cave of Sighs, she tried the wrong door to enter the Wheel Room. She tried to door that blocked by the Wheel instead of the door that had the ladder. When Justin later completes the Room of Harmonic Convergence, you can see the Wheel Room door open. If Jennifer used the right door and stood low the entire time, this would've been a solo win.

[Legends Explorer Alec]

Also, if any of you get a minute, you can play this new temple run improvement game I made.

[The Silver Monkey]

Just noticed that in the War Fan run, the door to the Dark Forest opened after Jeremy completed the Monkey. Admittedly it's possible that there could've been a temple spirit down there and/or the wall wouldn't break down like in Alhambra and Empress Theodora, but the possibility exists that this could've been a solo win.

[The Red Jaguars]

I want to say the last temple guard was hiding in the Dark Forest in the War Fan run. The only unentered rooms in that layout was the Ledges, Jester's Court (locked), and Dark Forest. I doubt the last guard was in the Ledges since they rarely put 2 temple guards in both entrance rooms except for "Sforza". The other guard could've been in the Ancient Warriors too similar to Discarded Seal and Chandragupta also. But with 1 Pendant, that would've been really cheap. Do we ever get a shot of the Dark Forest in the War Fan run? Sometimes you can see a tree limb raised if a Temple Spirit is in the Dark Forest.

[PurpleParrot319]

The team in the War Fan episode also didn't enter the King's Storeroom. I haven't seen this run in a long time. Did any of the doors leading to that room open up? If not, then that room could be ruled out.

[The Red Jaguars]

I rewatched the War Fan run on Youtube and none of the doors leading to the King' Storeroom opened. Some people on Youtube think the last guard was in the Ledges, making a double entrance temple guard encounter. I really doubt the temple guard was in the Ledges, although it's not impossible since the Sforza run had temple guards in both entrance rooms.

[GreenMonkeys#1]

Remember that this was a one pendant run. The Dark Forest did open from the Shrine after Jeremy completed the Monkey. It’s logical that this could be where the other guard is. The only other place is in the other two armors in the Room of Ancient Warriors. That also hinges on whether the wall was breakable or not (see Alhambra and Empress Theodora runs).

[PurpleParrot319]

I think I remember thinking in the past that the final guard in the War Fan run was located in a wrong Ancient Warrior armor. King's Storeroom can be ruled out since apparently there was no way to access it. Jesters' Court gets ruled out too because there's never a guard there, it's a safe room. Given how many rooms had to be entered in this run, I think it's fairly safe to rule out the Ledges since one of the guards was in the other entrance room, the Crypt. Having two guards in the entrance rooms given what this layout ended up being would be really weird and doesn't make much sense to me. That leaves the Dark Forest and the other suits of armor in the Room of the Ancient Warriors that didn't get tried. Honestly, I really don't think the Dark Forest housed the final temple guard. I know it's possible, but unless the wall in this room couldn't be broken a la Alhambra and Empress Theodora runs and this room ended up being a trap dead end, I just think it's unlikely that the last temple guard was hiding in the Dark Forest. I see that room as being the correct choice after completing the Shrine of the Silver Monkey with the Room of the Secret Password being the wrong choice, similar to how Jeremy chose the wrong entry room at the start (and similar to several runs at that). So that leaves the Room of the Ancient Warriors. It's not unheard of for the wrong suit of armor to have a temple guard behind it. The Discarded Seal and Chandragupta runs had this, so it's highly likely that a guard was hiding in an incorrect armor. I think that was the case here, but we'll never know for sure, even after 25 years (that's crazy to think; man, we're all old, lol).