Season Three Introduction Footage

[PurpleParrot4Life]

During the pre-taped introduction for Season Three, Kirk Fogg swings in on a rope and then gives his opening spiel, welcoming the audience and introducing Olmec. During this introduction, it is clear that the column in the Pit of the Pendulum is knocked over and the door to the Chamber of the Sacred Markers is open, while the doors to the Tomb of the Headless Kings and the King's Storeroom are both closed. Also, the markers are all properly aligned on the columns in the Chamber of the Sacred Markers, and the statue is assembled in the Shrine of the Silver Monkey.

Given this scenario, do you think it's possible that the pre-taped introduction footage was actually taped directly after one of the temple runs? Or did the production crew just have it set up like that?

[The Silver Monkey]

Might be, since the last episode filmed the first day of the season was "The Much Heralded Helmet of Sir Gawain", and that was the path Tiffani took, and she completed both of those objectives. Only real issue is that (needless to say) all of the doors opened after she grabbed the Helmet.

[The Red Jaguars]

Well, the Olmec in the pre-taped introduction did not have that weird glow as present throughout the "Sir Gawain" production day. I think it was taped in a later production day. I mean how about "The Thornwood Gavel of Judge Roy Bean"? I mean the team entered both the Chamber and completed the Shrine, and did not make it past the Quicksand Bog.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Well, the Olmec in the pre-taped introduction did not have that weird glow as present throughout the "Sir Gawain" production day. I think it was taped in a later production day. I mean how about "The Thornwood Gavel of Judge Roy Bean"? I mean the team entered both the Chamber and completed the Shrine, and did not make it past the Quicksand Bog.

But in that episode, the Chamber of the Sacred Markers did not open from the Pit, and the doors to the King's Storeroom and Tomb of the Headless Kings did. The pre-taped footage shows the reverse for the doors that were opened and closed.

[The Silver Monkey]

It could've been filmed after "The Dried Ear of Corn of Sojourner Truth"s run. Last of its' day, and an almost identical layout as Sir Gawain.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

It could've been filmed after "The Dried Ear of Corn of Sojourner Truth"s run. Last of its' day, and an almost identical layout as Sir Gawain.

That makes sense. The right series of doors are opened, and it was the last run of the day. The pre-taped footage doesn't have the Dried Ear of Corn in the shot, but all the production team had to do was remove it and then go on with the recording. Another strengthening piece of evidence is that the Ledges are well-lit in both the pre-taped footage and the "Dried Ear of Corn" temple run. And I don't know if this would be credible, but Kirk Fogg finished that particular temple run with a great deal of enthusiasm and energy, and he maintains a similar amount of energy in his pre-taped introduction.

[The Red Jaguars]

The only other layout that fits the temple layout description is "The Smashed Printing Plate of Frederick Douglass". But that episode was first on its production day though, so I don't know if that could be it. "Sojourner Truth" kind of makes sense anyways. Did Tess ever grab the Dried Ear of Corn from the Jester's Court or did she leave it there? I don't remember.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

The only other layout that fits the temple layout description is "The Smashed Printing Plate of Frederick Douglass". But that episode was first on its production day though, so I don't know if that could be it. "Sojourner Truth" kind of makes sense anyways. Did Tess ever grab the Dried Ear of Corn from the Jester's Court or did she leave it there? I don't remember.

She got into the room as time ran out, then she went over and picked it up. When Kirk started running in circles and saying, "She got into the room!", she put it back down. Then the camera cut back to Kirk and Eddie. When Tess came back into the camera shot with them, she was not holding the Dried Ear of Corn. All she had in her hands was her mouthguard.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

The wall between the Quicksand Bog and the Dark Forest also appears to be intact during the pre-taped introduction. In the "Smashed Printing Plate" run, Jason plowed through the wall; in the "Dried Ear of Corn" run, Tess did not. This reinforces my belief that the pre-taped footage was taken after the "Dried Ear or Corn" episode.

How do we know that the "Dried Ear of Corn" was taped on the penultimate production day? It seems a bit strange to me that the production team would have waited until the second-to-last day to shoot the introduction.

[The Silver Monkey]

We know because Nick GaS aired every episode in production order near the end of its' lifespan. And Nick aired about half of the season 3 episodes in reverse production order (Dried Ear of Corn included) in May and June of '07.

[The Red Jaguars]

I took a picture of the intro while watching "Sojourner Truth" and it look likes the bottom door to the Tomb of the Headless Kings was open after all. Its hard to see though when watching it, but it definitely was opened along with the Chamber door.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

I did a frame-by-frame look through of the intro again, and it does indeed look like the Tomb of the Headless Kings door was open along with the Chamber of the Sacred Markers' door for the intro. However, I did a frame-by-frame of the "Dried Ear of Corn" run, and it is clear that ONLY the Chamber door opened from the Pit (photo courtesy video from youtube.com posted by OlmecFan25):

[The Red Jaguars]

Looking back at the intro, I think I was wrong when I said that Olmec did not have the same glow in the intro like he did on the "Sir Gawain" production day. Right before he announces the legend for "The Dried Ear of Corn of Sojourner Truth", he glows for a brief moment. This makes me believe that the layout was indeed from the One-Eyed Jack/Lion-Slashed Jacket/War Fan/Sir Gawain production day. The layout itself must've been taped after "The War Fan of the 47 Ronin".

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Looking back at the intro, I think I was wrong when I said that Olmec did not have the same glow in the intro like he did on the "Sir Gawain" production day. Right before he announces the legend for "The Dried Ear of Corn of Sojourner Truth", he glows for a brief moment. This makes me believe that the layout was indeed from the One-Eyed Jack/Lion-Slashed Jacket/War Fan/Sir Gawain production day. The layout itself must've been taped after "The War Fan of the 47 Ronin".

But as I've mentioned before, the door to the Chamber of the Sacred Markers was not opened from the Pit in the "War Fan" run. To my knowledge, the only times that the Tomb of the Headless Kings and the Chamber of the Sacred Markers both opened from the Pit were in "The Secret Map of the Bandit Queen" and in "The Upside-Down Compass of Henry Hudson" (but not until the second player ran in).

[The Red Jaguars]

Forgot about the "War Fan" detail in the Chamber. Thanks for pointing that out.

And yeah, I am pretty sure "Bandit Queen" and "Henry Hudson" is the only time both of those doors opened. But the problem is that the Silver Monkey is fully assembled in the Shrine in the pre-taped footage. And neither Zac or Miriam assembled the monkey while Derek failed to assemble the monkey in time before the time went out in "Henry Hudson". So I am not sure what the episode the layout could be from?