Does Josh from Mummified Hand get too much criticism for his mistake?

[The Red Jaguars]

During the "Mummified Hand" run, we all remember it for Maggie dropping her Pendant of Life in the Pit of the Pendulum and being removed from the temple by her first guard. Josh (surprisingly) finds her Pendant of Life, but instead of following her path he chooses to go up into the King's Storeroom. This mistake would prove to be costly as he bypassed the half-pendant in the Chamber and was forced to meet his other two guards. Basically, Josh's mistake was like "Harriet Tubman" where he strayed from his partner's path with less than 2 Pendants. He seems to receive a lot of negative criticism for this mistake despite being very fast in the temple.

My question is do you think that Josh gets too much criticism for his mistake? I feel that he gets criticized too much and it is even blown out of proportion. If I put myself in his situation, I can see why he strayed from Maggie's path. With one full pendant in his hand, he probably thought that he would be safe from the last temple guard. And can you blame him for taking the high road? He knew that sticking to Maggie's plan would've resulted him going up the entire central shaft. So he saved a lot of time by avoiding two of the most time consuming rooms of Season 3. And he was wicked fast in the temple too and had one of the fastest Silver Monkey assemblies ever. I believe that he receives too much criticism and that the real problem with this run was that the Pendant drop messed up the Blue Barracudas' strategy. And this layout was so hard anyways.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

No, he deserves the criticism. Straying away from your partners path with less than 2 pendants is NEVER okay. If he had simply just continued up the central shaft, he would've found the half pendant, and then the triple capture never would've happened. Obviously their plan was to stay high all along, but of course that plan failed when Maggie dropped her pendant. Josh as fast, and he did everything else right, but scaling the entire central shaft was a huge mistake.

Sorry, but I can't back you at all on this one. It was a huge mistake, he should've just stuck with Maggie's path.

[GreenMonkeys#1]

Josh made the bad move to go to the King's Storeroom even with 1 1/2 Pendants. It is a very deadly move if you stray from your partners path and your team didn't have 2 Pendants or found the 1/2 Pendant. In this case, since the 1/2 pendant is in the Chamber of Sacred Markers, he should've completed what Maggie tried to do and not go up. Even if it is 1 extra room, he could've won. 

[The Red Jaguars]

I don't know, I was never really bothered by Josh's mistake even when I first watched this run. I can totally understand his reasoning for taking the higher road. He had a full Pendant in his hand already, so he thought that he might luck out and not meet his third guard. On top of that, I think he knew that if he followed Maggie's path that he would have to complete two extra rooms (Chamber and Headless Kings). Too bad the layout was so brutal though because he would've entered almost every room if he followed Maggie's path.

I don't think he would've won though if he stayed low. He was taken out two rooms away with 53 seconds left on the clock. If he stayed low, he probably would've barely grabbed the Mummified Hand.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

But only having a 1.5 pendants and taking an different path is NOT something you do. If I were Josh, I would've just stayed on Maggie's path. That way, he'd grab the half pendant, not being removed from the temple next temple guard he ran into, and maybe possibly win? And who's to say he'd be forced up to the King's Storeroom? He probably would've been allowed access to the Ancient Warriors room, ala Thornwood Gavel. So the layout wasn't THAT hard. I'm not understanding this reasoning of condoning Josh's straying away of Maggie's path. What's next, are we gonna feel sorry for Ryann from Harriet Tubman for doing the exact same thing? Josh's move was deadly, risky, and decided the whole fate of the game. If he had just stayed on the same path Maggie took, this never would've happened.

It was a big mistake. He never should've taken a different path with less than 2 pendants. There's a reason I eliminated him in the strikes thread.

[The Red Jaguars]

Oh yeah, I wasn't thinking about the Mummified Hand run being similar to Thornwood Gavel's layout. I was assuming that the layout was similar to Useless Map, where both runs were Dark Forest runs and both the King's Storeroom and Headless Kings doors opened in those runs. If this layout was similar to Thornwood Gavel, then this run would've definitely been winnable. Probably a failed escape at worst. But yeah, Josh taking a different path was the real reason this team lost. As I mentioned, it was like Ryann's mistake but not as dramatic. I don't mind if people criticize him for taking a different path, but I don't really have any hard feeling towards him like I do with players like Jeremy, Renee, and Christina from Nathan Hale. It is like Kamehameha where Robbie and Tina are to blame for the triple capture, but I don't have any ill feelings towards them because the run was still exciting and memorable. Same with Mummified Hand. 

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Yeah, Maggie and Josh probably would've won with Thornwood Gavel's layout. At least both Maggie and Josh put together were more competent than Kelli was. Even though Kelli's run did not in triple capture, it was still stupid and a waste of time for her to enter uncleared rooms. And I do consider Josh a great player despite his major mistake, but his "new" path was basically the reason the team lost. Imagine if Jared from Useless Map pulled a stunt like that in his run. Going up to the King's Storeroom instead of the Tomb just like Josh did. He probably would've shattered Golden Ship's quickest loss record. Just like Tina detouring into the Gargoyle Room would've been VERY costly, had the third guard been in there instead of the Dungeon. Oh well, they're still solid runs, like you said.

[AimYourBrent]

I have to wonder if the players were intuitive enough to even understand the concept of staying own your partner's path. I mean, I did as a kid watching it growing up, but I was a pretty intuitive kid. (Not saying I was/am smarter than everyone. I'm not. But I was/am pretty good at reading situations and finding logical conclusions. Aka, intuitive!)

All of that said, you NEVER stray from your partner's path! You DON'T. DO IT.

[The Red Jaguars]

With only three minutes to themselves, it wouldn't surprise me if a contestant acted too hastily when making a decision. For example, Josh might've not thought it would've been a big deal for taking a different path. I mean he had a full pendant to himself and probably thought nothing of meeting a final guard. But that doesn't mean he shouldn't get a free pass because the mistake was deadly. Brent pretty much summed it up where you should never stray from your partner's path. Both Ryann and Josh find this out the hard way. Other contestants did the same thing and were lucky they didn't get captured for it. Runs like Jean Lafitte and Thornwood Gavel come to mind.