Temple Guard Locations

[PurpleParrot4Life]

I'm going to do a trio in this post: Useless Map of the Chibcha Chieftain, Golden Spider Web of Robert the Bruce, and Discarded Seal of Ivan the Terrible.


Useless Map of the Chibcha Chieftain
Guards Encountered: Crypt, Tomb of the Headless Kings, King's Storeroom
Number of Unencountered Guards: 0


Golden Spider Web of Robert the Bruce
Guards Encountered: King's Storeroom, Ancient Warriors (armor 1), Quicksand Bog
Number of Unencountered Guards: 0


Discarded Seal of Ivan the Terrible
Guards Encountered: Chamber of the Sacred Markers, Shrine of the Silver Monkey, Ancient Warriors (armor 3)
Number of Unencountered Guards: 0


The teams in all three of these episodes encountered all three guards. There should be no question as to where they were for any of these runs.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Up next is the "Mysterious Manuscript of Mary Shelley."

Guards Encountered: Chamber of the Sacred Markers, Shrine of the Silver Monkey
Number of Unencountered Guards: 1
Rooms not Entered: Secret Password, Quicksand Bog, Jesters' Court, Tomb of the Headless Kings, Ledges

Notes: There was some talk about there being a guard in the Secret Password, Quicksand Bog, or Ledges. The majority of the discussion regarding this run was that the middle armor of the Ancient Warriors behaved suspiciously when Kate got inside of it.

My Thoughts: The last guard was most likely in the Ledges. Before Kirk starts the run, we can see that the Ledges were incredibly dark. I have provided an image below courtesy video posted on youtube.com by ChargerTheWolf. As I mentioned at the start of the Season 3 episodes, the darkened Ledges were only seen in a few runs spread over the whole season. It was most likely a lighting effect used to conceal a guard hiding in the top of the Ledges, as seen in "Dried Apple Half of William Tell." Given that Kate tried all of the books in the Crypt and was given access directly into the Pit, my guess is that going into the Ledges would have forced the team to encounter both a guard and a dead end.




-- Now to discuss the unusual headdress in the Ancient Warriors. When Kate got inside of the middle headdress in the Ancient Warriors, she flinched a little bit, and the whole armor spun a considerable distance. Once she got inside, the armor sprung back to a straight position and she was allowed to exit into the Shrine of the Silver Monkey. I have done my best to create a frame sequence of these events in the image below, courtesy video posted on youtube.com by ChargerTheWolf. All of the frames were taken from the same camera angle; the camera did not move in any of those shots. Take note where the relative position of the arm of the armor was in each frame, and you will be able to see that the headdress swiveled.




Since a headdress only swiveled when there was a temple guard behind it, it would seem as though there should have been a guard in the Ancient Warriors. To further support that statement, also consider Kate's flinching, as well as the unusually long amount of time it took for the Shrine guard to capture her. Finally, keep in mind that the middle armor was the one that activated the door to the Shrine, and it was nearly always the case that the guard was kept in the armor that activated the next door. Additionally, it was incredibly common for the Chamber of the Sacred Markers/Ancient Warriors to hold a combination of guards. All things considered, it is to my belief that the Shrine guard was actually supposed to be encountered in the Ancient Warriors.


-- It is strange to think that the Ledges guard was avoided, the Chamber guard was potentially avoidable since the King's Storeroom opened directly from the Ledges, and the only forced guard did not make his capture in the proper room. This run could have been a potential solo victory, but instead things went very off course- from the mishap with the middle armor to Larry's assembly of the Silver Monkey. This is why I find the "Mysterious Manuscript of Mary Shelley" run to be so unusual yet intriguing.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Up next is the beloved "Dried Apple Half of William Tell."

Guards Encountered: Ledges, Tomb of the Headless Kings
Number of Unencountered Guards: 1
Rooms not Entered: Shrine, Secret Password, Quicksand Bog, Dark Forest, Jesters' Court

Notes: Everyone felt that the team did not progress far enough into the temple to make a reasonable guess as to where the final guard was. However, one person theorized that since Brett and Lauren had two pendants, the last guard did not need to be avoidable and guessed that he was in either the Dark Forest, Quicksand Bog, or Shrine.

My Thoughts: I agree with the Notes. It is hard to guess where the final guard was, especially since the team did not get very far, nor was any part of the inner temple shown during the credits. But we do know that the guard was not in the Jesters' Court.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

The last guard in Dried Apple Half was probably in the Dark Forest. Since the layout was similar to Bullet Riddled Handbag, only without the Ledges.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

The last guard in Dried Apple Half was probably in the Dark Forest. Since the layout was similar to Bullet Riddled Handbag, only without the Ledges.

That is a very good point, PPF. My only question about that comparison is that there was also a guard in the Quicksand Bog in the "Bullet-Riddled Handbag" run. And to elaborate on that comparison, it was also suggested in the past that Brett and Lauren would have completed enough rooms by the Dark Forest for the Shrine to open directly. However, as we saw in "Bullet-Riddled Handbag," they were not given that luxury. So would the "Dried Apple Half" team have been granted direct access from the Dark Forest to the Shrine, or would they have had to enter the Quicksand Bog? And furthermore, would the final guard have been in the Dark Forest, Quicksand Bog, Secret Password, or Shrine?

[Purple Parrots Fan]

I have a feeling they would have been given access to the Quicksand Bog/Shrine passage, but not the Forest/Shrine passage. Also in "Bullet Riddled Handbag," the first two temple guards were in the Tomb and Dark Forest, with a third guard in the Quicksand Bog. In "Dried Apple Half," we saw guards in the Ledges and Tomb, but not consecutively. With the third guard in the Dark Forest, it would have had nearly the same temple guard placement (and layout for that matter). Only in "Bullet Riddled Handbag," the third temple guard would be moved all the way back to the Quicksand Bog, instead of the Ledges. That's my take on it at least.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

I have a feeling they would have been given access to the Quicksand Bog/Shrine passage, but not the Forest/Shrine passage. Also in "Bullet Riddled Handbag," the first two temple guards were in the Tomb and Dark Forest, with a third guard in the Quicksand Bog. In "Dried Apple Half," we saw guards in the Ledges and Tomb, but not consecutively. With the third guard in the Dark Forest, it would have had nearly the same temple guard placement (and layout for that matter). Only in "Bullet Riddled Handbag," the third temple guard would be moved all the way back to the Quicksand Bog, instead of the Ledges. That's my take on it at least.

But then one could argue that having a guard in the Quicksand Bog for "Dried Apple Half" would have been nearly identical to the "Bullet Riddled Handbag" layout as well. The only difference from your suggestion would have been that the Dark Forest guard got moved to the Ledges instead of the guard that had been in the Quicksand Bog.

[The Red Jaguars]

I say the last guard in "William Tell" was in the Dark Forest or Quicksand Bog. The temple guard layout during that whole production day was really unusual. Each of the temple runs that day had temple guards dispersed all over the temple. Like the "Hans Holbein" temple run had guards in the Room of the Ancient Warriors and Room of the Secret Password. While the "Ivan the Terrible" temple run had temple guards in the Shrine and Room of the Ancient Warriors. So the guard being in the Dark Forest/Quicksand Bog wouldn't be unusual since the whole production day in general had unusual temple guard placements. And also following the "Belle Boyd" temple guard placement, it wouldn't be surprising to see a guard in one of those two rooms either.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

If you look at the guard placements for the other runs from the "William Tell" production day (and most other Season 3 runs, in general), you will notice that there was usually two or less rooms between the last two guards, and they were never more than 3 rooms apart.

Discarded Seal of Ivan the Terrible: Shrine, Ancient Warriors (1 rooms apart)
Mysterious Manuscript of Mary Shelley: Chamber of the Sacred Markers, Shrine/Ancient Warriors depending on the funky middle headdress (2-3 rooms apart)
Missing Portrait of Hans Holbein: Ancient Warriors, Secret Password (2 rooms apart)

It seems likely that the final guard for "Dried Apple Half of William Tell" was in either the Dark Forest or Quicksand Bog. The Secret Password seemed too far out of the way, and it would have been unlikely in my opinion for the guard to be in the Shrine because the gap between the final two guards would have been unusually large (unless the Dark Forest opened directly to the Shrine, which I don't think it would have). It's a shame that Brett and Lauren didn't make it far enough in the temple for us to tell which room held the guard. I bet Lauren's reaction upon encountering a guard would have been pretty good.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

And next up is "Missing Portrait of Hans Holbein."

Guards Encountered: Crypt, Ancient Warriors (armor 2), Secret Password
Number of Unencountered Guards: 0

All of the guards were encountered during this run, so there should not be any question as to where they were.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Next on the list is "Ivory Hunting Horn of Roland."


Guards Encountered: Tomb of the Headless Kings
Number of Unencountered Guards: 2
Rooms not Entered: King's Storeroom, Chamber of the Sacred Markers, Room of the Ancient Warriors, Secret Password, Quicksand Bog, Ledges

Notes: It was thought that there was a guard in the Quicksand Bog because of the piling of Styrofoam blocks. The other guard was suggested to be in the King's Storeroom or Chamber of the Sacred Markers because of the fact that the King's Storeroom opened from the Pit.

My Thoughts: I agree with the suggested placements of the guards mentioned above.

-- Both the Tomb of the Headless Kings and the King's Storeroom opened from the Pit of the Pendulum. It seems likely that one of the upper central shaft rooms held a guard because it was common for a guard to be stationed in the extra rooms of the path. I have provided an image below, courtesy video posted on youtube.com by ChargerTheWolf.




-- The half pendant was seen above the left-hand column of markers in the Chamber of the Sacred Markers when Yakerra was exiting the temple. I have provided an image below, courtesy video posted on youtube.com by ChargerTheWolf. I personally think the King's Storeroom was more likely to have held the guard than the Chamber because it was not so common for guards to be in back-to-back rooms in Season 3.




-- During the credits, the cameramen had fun and showed a bunch of different angles of the temple. They did one of the Quicksand Bog from the Shrine. I have provided an image of the camera angle, which showed a nice pile of Styrofoam blocks underneath the slide. If you compare it to the same camera angle from "Red Sash of Tokugawa Ieyasu," also provided below, you will see that the blocks were arranged similarly. We know that the "Red Sash" run held a guard in the Quicksand Bog, so it should make sense that there was a guard in the Quicksand Bog for "Ivory Hunting Horn of Roland" as well. Both images provided courtesy video posted on youtube.com by ChargerTheWolf.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Next is "Royal Torque of Queen Boadicea."

Guards Encountered: Crypt, Chamber of the Sacred Markers, Shrine of the Silver Monkey
Number of Unencountered Guards: 0

All of the guards were encountered during this run, so there should not be any question as to where they were.

[The Red Jaguars]

If the last guard in "Roland" was truly in the Quicksand Bog, then this team was given a win on a silver platter. I mean come on - Dark Forest, Jester's Court, and Tomb of the Headless Kings? That is pretty much like the "Robin Hood and Marian's Ladder" temple win of Season 3. Easy temple layout aside, I agree that the other guard would've been in the King's Storeroom. It would be just like the Snow Cone run if Yakerra went up into the King's Storeroom, she would probably be forced down the central shaft.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Yeah, the Quicksand Bog and the King's Storeroom was probably where the other two temple guards were. And yeah, the layout was way too easy. Maybe it was fixed considering how many losses their were in the runs before this?

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Next on the list is "Lost Hornpipe of the Pirate Captain."

Guards Encountered: Chamber of the Sacred Markers, Ancient Warriors (armor 2)
Number of Unencountered Guards: 1
Rooms not Entered: Ledges, Jesters' Court, Dark Forest

Notes: Nearly everyone was convinced that the last guard was in the Ledges.

My Thoughts: The half pendant was in the King's Storeroom; we can see it during the credits. Since the half pendant was next to a clay pot that was not smashed, my guess is that the producers expected the second runner to come across it. In other words, I believe the last guard was in a room prior to the King's Storeroom. That would leave the Ledges.

-- The Ledges were dark before the run started, when Jarrid entered the temple, and when he exited the temple. Images of each are provided below, courtesy video posted on youtube.com by ChargerTheWolf.










-- The Jesters' Court never held a guard, nor did it open from the Tomb of the Headless Kings. Also, the Dark Forest did not open from the Shrine of the Silver Monkey. I have provided an image below, courtesy video posted on youtube.com by ChargerTheWolf.




-- Also note that Jarrid entered the Secret Password, although very briefly. Some people suggested that Jarrid may have been fast enough to get out of the Secret Password to avoid a guard in that room. But if you consider how quickly the guards came out during the "Thornwood Gavel" and "War Fan" runs, then it should make sense that there was not a guard in the Secret Password.


-- All things considered, the Ledges is the only possible room that could have held the last guard in "Lost Hornpipe of the Pirate Captain." Everything about this run points to the fact that the Ledges held the last guard.