Temple Guard Locations

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Next on the list is "Moccasins of Geronimo."

Encountered Guards: Observatory
Number of Unencountered Guards: 2
Rooms not Entered: Room of the Three Gargoyles, Heart Room, Shrine, Room of Harmonic Convergence

Notes: There are several reasons why any of the remaining rooms could have held the two remaining guards. Some people say that the Room of Three Gargoyles could have had a guard because the temple guard door was slightly ajar during Olmec's temple rundown. A photo is accompanied below, courtesy video posted on youtube.com by ChargerTheWolf. Some people think either the Heart Room or Room of Harmonic Convergence had a guard because guards were common in those rooms. Other people believe the Shrine held a guard because the room was directly next to the room with the artifact.



My Thoughts: All of the rooms appear to be good possibilities because all of the explanations seem legitimate. It would be nice to know where the half pendant was in this run, because that would help point to where the guards were. Even without the half pendant, I have made some deductions about the run, and the most logical places for the last two guards to have been are the Gargoyles and Heart Room.

-- I agree that the cracked door in the Gargoyle Room is a hint that there was most likely a guard in that room. In a few other episodes, cracked doors are seen during Olmec's rundown that held guards during the run.

-- When Mitchell spun the sundial in the Observatory, there were a number of sound effects going off at once. The temple guard theme was playing, and the noises for the opening door(s) also played at the same time. It is hard to discern, but I believe there were two door sound effects- one for the Heart Room and one for the Treasure Room. If both of those sound effects played, that meant the Heart Room easily could have held a guard while being an extra room to enter en route to the Treasure Room (similarly to "Electrified Key of Benjamin Franklin," among many others).

-- Unlike most people, I don't think there was a guard in the Shrine, and here is why:
One important note about this run is that during Olmec's temple rundown, the block between the Pirate's Cove and the Dungeon was already up. This may suggest that, if Mitchell had gone into the Shrine, the only door that would have opened would have been the one that led down (like in "Edmund Hillary" and "Mush Pot Hat"). The Shine, therefore, would not have been the room directly prior to the one with the artifact. Also, I'm not 100% sold on the idea that the Treasure Room would have led to the Shrine, because it seems unlikely for the path to have diverged between the Shrine/Dungeon and Swamp/Tomb/Dungeon. For that reason, I am hesitant to believe there was a guard in the Shrine.

[The Red Jaguars]

Yeah, I think one of the guards was in the Gargoyle Room. The reason the door is slightly cracked because it might've been hard to open that door in Season 1. Plus, the other temple runs that day (minus "Magellan") all had temple guards in the entrance room.

It is kind of hard to pinpoint where that last guard is though. But I have to say that the Shrine does seem like a logical spot. It fits the "one room away" guard criteria for Season One pretty much. Plus, it would be silly to put it in one of the other central shaft rooms when the Observatory already held one. I mean if Mitchell started in the Room of Harmonic Convergence, would they force him up the central shaft and then make him switch floors again? So maybe in a way taking the Treasure chest was more beneficial to Mitchell because I do think the last guard would've been in the Shrine.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Yeah, I think one of the guards was in the Gargoyle Room. The reason the door is slightly cracked because it might've been hard to open that door in Season 1. Plus, the other temple runs that day (minus "Magellan") all had temple guards in the entrance room.

It is kind of hard to pinpoint where that last guard is though. But I have to say that the Shrine does seem like a logical spot. It fits the "one room away" guard criteria for Season One pretty much. Plus, it would be silly to put it in one of the other central shaft rooms when the Observatory already held one. I mean if Mitchell started in the Room of Harmonic Convergence, would they force him up the central shaft and then make him switch floors again? So maybe in a way taking the Treasure chest was more beneficial to Mitchell because I do think the last guard would've been in the Shrine.

Having the guards in the Gargoyle Room, Observatory, and Heart Room would mimic the temple guard placement from "Priceless Portrait." There were also many variations of that placement, such as with "Sacred Ring." Even though both of those examples are from Season 2, there were other instances from Season 1 where an avoidable guard was stationed in the Heart Room.

Also, perhaps the Room of Harmonic Convergence was locked, and the only way out of the Wall Climb was either by climbing into the Observatory or Heart Room. That would have required as much floor-switching as the path Mitchell took. And although all of the other S1, L4 paths featured two early guards and one guard in the room directly prior to the artifact, the last "Moccasins" guard could not have been one room away because the last room was the Dungeon, which we know did not hold a guard.

There were several Season 1 episodes where all of the guards were in the early temple; maybe this was another such episode. I know the paths and temple guard placements were generally similar across a production day, but every other run from the "Moccasins" day featured a guard in the Heart Room (either encountered- "Magellan" and "Great Seal"- or had to have been there-"Lucky Pig").

[PurpleParrot4Life]

To finish the S1, L4 day, I'm going to do both "Henry VIII's Great Seal" and "Lucky Pig of Amelia Earhart."

Henry VIII's Great Seal:

Encountered Guards: Cave of Sighs, Heart Room, Tomb of Ancient Kings
Number of Unencountered Guards: 0

All of the guards were encountered in the "Great Seal" run. There shouldn't be any question of where they were.


Lucky Pig of Amelia Earhart:

Encountered Guards: Observatory, Swamp
Number of Unencountered Guards: 1
Rooms not Entered: Cave of Sighs, Heart Room

Notes: Past beliefs included that the final guard was in the Heart Room because it would have been too brutal to put the other guard in the other entrance room. There was "99% confidence" that the producers would not have forced such a difficult layout, but everyone was hesitant to believe there would not have been two guards in two entrance rooms. No one could totally commit to having the guard in the Heart Room.

My Thoughts: I'd like to definitively point out the fact that the Cave of Sighs did not have a guard, since the bottom of the Cave could be seen during the credits. The image below, courtesy video posted on youtube.com by ChargerTheWolf, clearly shows that there wasn't a thick blue mat on the floor. There was always a mat on the floor in the Cave of Sighs when a guard was located there. By default, the last guard must have been in the only other unentered room, the Heart Room.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

I'm going to jump back ahead to our next set of episodes: S1, L6. First up is "Golden Chains of Zenobia."

Encountered Guards: Cave of Sighs, Treasure Room
Number of Unencountered Guards: 1
Rooms not Entered: Well, Room of Three Torches

Notes: It is undeniable that one of the leftmost rooms held the final guard. However, only one guard was encountered in each of those spaces throughout the entire first season, so it makes it hard to determine which room held the final guard. Some people think the Well/Shrine door would have opened because so many rooms had already been entered, making a guard in the Well more probable than in the Torch Room. Other people believe the door from the Tomb of Ancient Kings would have led directly up to the Shrine because the path was already so long, making the final guard- regardless of which room it was in- completely avoidable.

My Thoughts: Neither contestant tried the upper crawl tube door from the Cave of Sighs to the Wheel Room, and the Room of Harmonic Convergence opened up backwards into the Wheel Room. I believe this team could have gone straight across the bottom floor without getting caught up in the "triangle to nowhere." If so, this team would have only needed to clear between five and seven rooms, depending on which door(s) gave access to the Shrine.

-- When Justin placed the key on the golden door after time ran out, the door did not open. Even though time had already expired, I think that door would have opened, had it been unlocked.  For this reason, I am very hesitant to believe the Tomb of Ancient Kings would have led directly to the Shrine.

-- The Well door might have led to the Shrine, but I am also a bit unsure of that shortcut as well, simply because of the short length of the possible path straight along the bottom floor. That being said, I think the guard was probably in the Well because of the way the temple layout and other guards were laid out.

[The Red Jaguars]

I say the last guard in "Zenobia" was in the Well and I think the team would've been forced into that room anyways from the Tomb as it seemed like the Tomb-Shrine door was locked. Since the Cave of Sighs and Treasure Room guards were avoidable, I felt that at least one guard should've been forced. The Well makes perfect sense since the team was forced into that room either way.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

The next episode is "Belly Button of Buddha."

Encountered Guards: Treasure Room
Number of Unencountered Guards: 2
Rooms not Entered: Room of the Three Gargoyles, Heart Room, The Well

Notes: Everyone seemed to believe one of the guards was in the Gargoyle Room. It was common in Season 1 for one of the guards to be in an entrance room. Some people thought the other guard was in the Heart Room, to create a double trap if the team went up from the Room of Harmonic Convergence. Others believed the last guard was in the Well, since it would have been superfluous to put a guard in both the Heart Room and Treasure Room.

My Thoughts: The only guard encountered was the black-masked guard with the leopard-print shawl. Since he was the only one ever stationed in the Gargoyle Room, I believe the two remaining guards were in the Heart Room and Well. The gold-masked guard was sometimes stationed in the Heart Room, and the green-masked guard was stationed virtually everywhere in the temple at one time or another, so he very easily could have been in the Well.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

"Stolen Arm of Shiva" is up, and "Stone Marker of Leif Erikson" is on deck.

Encountered Guards: Cave of Sighs, Observatory
Number of Unencountered Guards: 1
Rooms not Entered: Room of the Three Gargoyles, Room of Three Torches, Well, Tomb of Ancient Kings

Notes: Since Evan found the half pendant in the Shrine, the last guard had to have been beyond this point, eliminating the Gargoyle Room from contention. Most people believed the guard was in the Tomb of Ancient Kings because it would have been a "one room away" guard. Other people wanted to be cautious and also consider the Well.

My Thoughts: After the delayed guard coming out of the Dungeon during the "Kamehameha" run, I doubt the producers would have stationed another guard in that space with the team going through the temple counterclockwise.

-- And while it wouldn't surprise me to have the guard one room away from the artifact in the Tomb of Ancient Kings, why was the Torch Room so quickly eliminated as a possible room? It was common practice in Season 1 for the half pendant to be located in the room directly next to the room with the final guard. There were not that many Season 1 episodes where the door leading down from the Shrine to either the Well or Tomb of Ancient Kings opened directly, so the next room was most likely the Torch Room.

[The Red Jaguars]

I am going with the Tomb of the Ancient Kings for this one. It will only be fitting for the temple guard to be one room away. It depends though which path the producers forced the Orange Iguanas to take. If they let the Ancient Kings door open from the Shrine, then I definitely see the last temple guard being in the Tomb. If they only opened the Torch Room. then it is more possible that the temple guard was in one of the far left rooms.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Next is the "Stone Marker of Leif Erikson."

Encountered Guards: Bamboo Forest, Observatory
Number of Unencountered Guards: 1
Rooms not Entered: Treasure Room, Shrine, Room of Three Torches, Well

Notes: This team's path and known temple guard placements are identical to the "Paintbrush of Leonardo da Vinci" run. People thought the last temple guard would not match in both episodes, or it would be too "suspicious" on the producers' part. Some people proposed the last guard was more likely to be in the Treasure Room or Shrine over the Torch Room or Well, though there was no explanation behind their rationale.

My Thoughts: While the prizes were being announced, the camera's shot of the Cave of Sighs showed that there was no guard at the bottom of the room.

-- It would be nice to know where the half pendant was, because that may point to where the final guard was. Since the half pendant did not seem to be in any of the rooms Keeley entered, including the Observatory, I don't believe the guard was in the Treasure Room.

-- The bucket in the Well was up in the Room of Three Torches during Olmec's temple rundown, which suggests the team would have been forced all the way around the horn to reach the Tomb of Ancient Kings. For this reason, the temple guard could have been in any of the rooms, since they would have all been entered. At the same time, though, I don't think the guard would have been in the Well. As I mentioned previously, I don't think the production team would have put a guard in the Dungeon space for the Season 1 counterclockwise runs after the delayed guard incident from the "Pendant of Kamehameha" run.

[The Red Jaguars]

It is hard to tell where that last temple guard in "Stone Marker" is. Like the "Leonardo Da Vinci" run, the team did not make it far enough to tell where it could be. But good observation on the Well -- I do believe that the producers left it up expecting the Red Jaguars to ride it down to the Well. So in this case, I can see a temple guard being in the Torch Room for once. So I am going to guess the last guard was in the Shrine or Torch Room. I don't think it was the Well either for the same reason you listed.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

To finish S1, L6, let's look at "Helmet of Joan of Arc."

Encountered Guards: Room of the Three Gargoyles, Room of Harmonic Convergence
Number of Unencountered Guards: 1
Rooms not Entered: Treasure Room, Observatory

Notes: Everyone in the other topic seemed to think that the final guard was in the Treasure Room, saying the Observatory would have been a useless detour.

My Thoughts: None of the clockwise "Center of the Rooms" runs forced the team into the Observatory, except possibly the "Golden Earring of Henry Morgan." Given this pattern, I don't believe the "Joan of Arc" team would have either. Still, it is a possibility.

-- During the prize sequence, the bottom of the Cave of Sighs was shown to have no guard.

-- Since the Gargoyle Room guard was avoidable, it was not necessary for the last guard to be avoidable as well. It is possible that the last guard was stationed in the Observatory and allowed for this run to be a potential solo victory. Another possible, but unlikely, scenario is that the team would have been forced into the Observatory, where the final guard was located. Placing the final guard in the Observatory would have created a scenario similar but upside-down to "Ponce de Leon and the Lost Fountain of Youth," with the team instead going clockwise and with the entrance guard in the other entrance room.

-- The only guard not seen in this run was the green-masked guard, who was sometimes stationed in both the Treasure Room space and the Observatory space. During the "Joan of Arc" production day specifically, he was seen in the Treasure Room during the "Zenobia" run and in the Observatory during the "Stolen Arm of Shiva" run. For this reason, I believe he could have been stationed in either of the two rooms.

[The Red Jaguars]

I say the last guard was indeed in the Treasure Room. It wouldn't make much sense to put it in the Observatory when it most likely would've been a useless detour for the team. None of the "center of the temple runs" ever required a team to enter the Observatory. And the path for the team was already long (minus the Well/Torch Room detour), so I don't think they would force them into the Observatory. The temple guard being in the Treasure Room would've been similar to the "Mata Hari" temple run layout. Except in "Joan of Arc", the Red Jaguars met a temple guard also in the Room of Three Gargoyles. So it was kind of good that the Red Jaguars met all three temple guards, or they might've had another "one room away" guard like in Mata Hari. Although Mandy should've gone in first and then Eddie.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

We are now on S1, L7, starting with "Medal of Sir Edmund Hillary."

Encountered Guards: Room of the Three Gargoyles, Heart Room, Shrine
Number of Unencountered Guards: 0

All of the guards were encountered. There shouldn't be any question of where they were.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Up now is the "Mask of Shaka Zulu."

Encountered Guards: Cave of Sighs
Number of Unencountered Guards: 2
Rooms not Entered: Gargoyle Room, Observatory, Heart Room, Treasure Room, Shrine, Torch Room, Well

Notes: The guards' locations in this run is anybody's guess. People threw out the idea that there was an alternate path from the Gargoyle room to the Observatory. Other people suggested the path should have mimicked the "Paintbrush of Leonardo da Vinci" and "Stone Marker of Leif Erikson" paths. Other people noted the open chest in the Treasure Room during the temple overview, suggesting the Holes of Python should have led up to the Treasure Room. Many people agreed there was probably a guard in the Treasure Room, while the Observatory, Shrine, and Torch Room were all suggested as well as possible locations.

My Thoughts: This was another 1.5 pendant run, so finding the half pendant would point to where the guards were. The Treasure Room actuator and the base in the Shrine of the Silver Monkey were two known half pendant locations in Season 1, so perhaps the half pendant was located in one of those rooms in this run. That being said, there are some clues about what the path probably should have looked like for this run. The open treasure chest and the Well's bucket position suggest to me that the team was supposed to take the bottom floor to the Holes of Python, then go up to the Treasure Room, across to the Torch Room, and then back down. I don't know whether there would have been an alternate path going straight along the top floor, though it would not have been the first time it happened.

-- Just like I have said with other clockwise runs, I doubt there would have been a guard in the Well. I don't think the producers would have chanced having another "Kamehameha" incident.

-- It may be helpful to use the temple guard placements from the other runs the same day to help deduce where the remaining guards would have been placed in the "Shaka Zulu" run. Two of the runs featured guards in the Heart Room/Shrine combination (two rooms apart), another run saw guards in the Harmonic Convergence/Tomb of Ancient Kings (again, two rooms apart), and the other run featured the popular Treasure Room/Holes of Pythons space combination (a commonly-seen pair of guard placements). Since none of the guards from the rest of that production day were placed in back-to-back rooms, it would make the most sense to me that the guards for "Shaka Zulu" were placed in either the Treasure Room/Torch Room, Observatory/Shrine, or Heart Room/Shrine. The last two combinations would have been possible if there was the alternate upper floor route. The first combination would allow the half pendant to be located in either the Treasure Room or the Shrine, two rooms that were known to hold a half pendant in Season 1.