Legends: Rebirth-The Letter-Embroidered Cloth of Nathaniel Hawthorne

[The Bandit King]

Episode 65: The Letter-Embroidered Cloth of Nathaniel Hawthorne

The camera winds and twists its way through a thick jungle of strange and exotic plants.  After a few wrong turns, it finally stops in front of an ancient Mayan temple.  At the base of the temple, a giant stone head sits.  Suddenly, a torch on either side of the head begins burning.  The head’s eyes light up, and it begins to speak:

“Legends of the Hidden Temple: Rebirth!”  The words appear on the screen, along with a picture of a Pendant of Life.  “With your guide, Kirk Fogg!  And here he is now!”

As the Pendant of Life shatters, the camera cuts to a middle-aged man wearing a denim shirt and blue jeans riding in on an ATV.  He dismounts the vehicle and runs up the Steps of Knowledge, microphone in hand.

“Thank you!  Thank you very much!  Nice to see everyone!  Nice to see you, Olmec!  Welcome to Legends of the Hidden Temple: Rebirth.  The rooms are filled with lost treasures protected by mysterious Mayan Temple Guards.  Only Olmec knows the legends behind each of these all-new treasures in his Temple…which one are we gonna hear about today?”

“The legend of the Letter-Embroidered Cloth of Nathaniel Hawthorne,” Olmec replies.

“Oh, the Letter-Embroidered Cloth of Nathaniel Hawthorne,” Kirk repeats.  “Well, the legend is set, and one of these teams will get a chance to retrieve the Cloth—will it be:

“The Red Jaguars?”  The camera zooms in on each team as they are introduced.
“The Blue Barracudas?
“The Green Monkeys?
“The Orange Iguanas?
“The Purple Parrots?
“Or the Silver Snakes?

“They’ll have to pass some tough physical and mental tests, but in the end, only one team will have the right to enter Olmec’s Temple.  But first, they’ll have to cross the Moat, and Olmec’s gonna tell us how they’ll have to do that today…”

Olmec begins to explain the Moat Crossing:
“Before you are two long rods which stretch across the Moat, and suspended from each rod is an ancient pedaling mechanism invented by Leonardo da Vinci himself.  When Kirk gives the signal, one player from each team will grab one pedal of the device with each hand, and then pedal across the Moat, just like if you were pedaling a bicycle.  Once you’re safely across, that’s your partner’s signal to cross with their own device.  If you fall off, you must go back and start again.  Once both players reach the other side, run over and hit the gong.”  Kirk hits the Silver Snakes’ gong to demonstrate.  “The first four teams to hit their gongs will go on to the next round!”

“All right, let’s get started,” Kirk says.  “Teams, are you ready?”
The teams all scream and cheer as a response.
“Olmec, are you ready?” Kirk asks.
“Let’s boogie,” Olmec replies.
“All right,” says Kirk.  “On your mark, get set, GO!”

The first members of each team reach up to grab the pedals with their hands.  “This takes strength and determination,” Kirk narrates as the players work to pedal their way across.  “You can’t go too fast, but you can’t go too slow either!”  The Purple Parrots’ boy pulls out in front, with the Red Jaguars’ and Orange Iguanas’ boys close behind.  The Blue Barracudas’ girl falls about halfway across, while the Green Monkeys’ girl’s hand slips from one of her handles, sending her plummeting into the Moat in her surprise.  The other four team members hang on, though, and as the Green Monkeys and Blue Barracudas set out across for a second time, the other four teams manage to get one member across, and their teammates grab onto their pedal mechanisms.  “Oh, this is gonna be a close one, I can feel it!” Kirk narrates as the Silver Snakes’ girl falls in the Moat almost immediately.  The Blue Barracudas’ and Green Monkeys’ girls hang onto as they continue to pedal, slowly but surely making their way across.  The Silver Snakes’ girl starts to cross for her second time as the other three teams’ second members are now almost across.  The Blue Barracudas’ girl gives out and falls into the Moat just as the Orange Iguanas’ girl makes it across, and she hits her team’s gong.  “Oh, there’s our first team—whoa, second team!” Kirk exclaims as the Red Jaguars hit their gong next.  As the Blue Barracudas’ girl pedals for dear life on her third attempt, the Green Monkeys’ girl has now made it across.  Meanwhile, the Purple Parrots’ girl has made it across, and her team becomes the third to hit their gong.  “Three teams now…we need one more!” Kirk narrates as the Blue Barracudas’ boy now starts to pedal across.  However, the Silver Snakes’ girl makes it over to the other side, and lets go of her pedaling device (almost falling in the Moat in the process) before hitting her team’s gong and ending the Moat Crossing.

“That’s it—four teams, right there!” Kirk shouts as he goes over and stands beside the Silver Snakes.  “Silver Snakes fell in once, but they toughed it out on the pedals, and they’re going on to the Steps of Knowledge…along with the Purple Parrots…” Kirk pauses between each team’s name to allow for applause.  “…and the Orange Iguanas…and the Red Jaguars!  The Blue Barracudas and the Green Monkeys gave it a great effort.  They’re not going home empty-handed; we’ve got a great gift for ‘em, and here’s what it is!”  They receive a $50 gift certificate from GameStop.

[The Bandit King]

Kirk and the remaining four teams are now standing atop the Steps of Knowledge.  “As the quest continues, it’s time for Olmec to tell us about the Letter-Embroidered Cloth of Nathaniel Hawthorne.  But pay attention, guys, because your knowledge of the legend can bring you a step closer to Olmec’s Temple…”

Olmec begins to tell the story:
“One of the greatest authors in all of American history was Nathaniel Hawthorne.  He wrote such classics as The House of the Seven Gables and The Blithesdale Romance, but his masterpiece was The Scarlet Letter.  Written in 1850, this work of fiction told the story of a young woman scorned by her community.  But this story may not be fiction after all.  Legend has it that while working in the customhouse in Salem, Massachusetts, Hawthorne discovered an interesting portfolio in a filing cabinet.
“‘Hmm,’ he said.  ‘These documents date back to the 1750’s…I thought I’d already categorized everything from that period.’
“Just then, a small scrap of black cloth with a huge letter ‘A’ embroidered on it fell out of the portfolio.  Hawthorne picked up the scrap of cloth and placed it on his chest, but immediately dropped it.
“‘Ouch!  It burns like a hot iron!’
“Hawthorne sat down to read the documents inside the portfolio, and learned of the tragic story of Hester Prynne, a woman forced to wear a large red ‘A’ across her chest as a symbol of her impurity.  Moved by the tale, Hawthorne was inspired to write The Scarlet Letter.  The story became a bestseller, but the original piece of cloth that inspired it disappeared—until now.  Your quest is to find the Letter-Embroidered Cloth of Nathaniel Hawthorne and bring it back here.”

“Thank you, Olmec,” says Kirk.  “But tell us, where is the Letter-Embroidered Cloth?”

“The Letter-Embroidered Cloth of Nathaniel Hawthorne can be found in the Dark Forest,” Olmec replies.  The camera zooms in on a small scrap of black cloth with a large red uppercase “A” printed on it nestled between the trunk and the right arm of the left-hand tree in the room before fading back to Kirk.

“Ooh…spooky,” Kirk replies.  “Teams, you’re now standing on The Steps of Knowledge.  In a moment, Olmec’s gonna ask you a question.  If you think you know the answer, then stomp down on the ancient marking in front of you.  If you’re right, you’re gonna move down to the next level, but if you’re wrong or run out of time, the other teams will get a chance.”  Kirk begins descending the Steps.  “The first two teams to make it to the bottom level will be one step closer to Olmec’s Temple.  Olmec, we’re now ready for your first question.”

Olmec begins:
“Was Nathaniel Hawthorne: English, American, or Scottish?”
The Red Jaguars ring in.  “Uh…American?”
“That is correct,” Olmec replies.  The Red Jaguars proceed to the second step.
“Step down, Red Jaguars,” Kirk instructs.  “Next question, Olmec.”

“Was Nathaniel Hawthorne’s occupation: a painter, an author, or a mechanic?”
The Purple Parrots ring in.  “An author…?”
“That is correct,” Olmec responds.  The Purple Parrots now step down to the second level.
“Purple Parrots can step down now,” Kirk says.  “Next question.”

“Was Hawthorne’s most famous novel: A Tale of Two Cities, The Scarlet Letter, or The Cat in the Hat?”
The Purple Parrots ring in again.  “The, um…Scarlet Letter.”
“That…is correct,” Olmec replies. The Purple Parrots step down to the next-to-last step.
“All right—the Purple Parrots are just one step away from the Temple Games,” Kirk observes.  “But anything can happen…next question.”

“Did Hawthorne work in: a courthouse, a customhouse, or a greenhouse?”
After a few seconds, the Silver Snakes ring in.  “A courthouse…?”
“Incorrect,” Olmec booms.
A few more seconds go by, and the Orange Iguanas ring in.  “A custom…house?”
“That…is correct,” Olmec answers.  The Orange Iguanas proceed to the second level.
“Orange Iguanas are on the board now,” Kirk observes.  “It’s still anybody’s game…next question, Olmec.”

“Was Hawthorne from the state of: Maryland—”
The Purple Parrots ring in early.  “Massachusetts…?”
“That is correct!” Olmec booms, and the Purple Parrots jump down to the bottom level.
“And the Purple Parrots are goin’ to the Temple Games!” Kirk exclaims as the Purple Parrots high-ten one another.  “We need one more team.  Who’s it gonna be: the Silver Snakes, the Orange Iguanas, or the Red Jaguars?  Olmec, continue.”

“According to our legend, what did Hawthorne discover in a filing cabinet: a letter, a portfolio, or—”
The Silver Snakes ring in.  “Um…a folder?”
“That is not one of our three choices,” Olmec replies.  “The three choices are: a letter, a portfolio, or a newspaper?”
The Orange Iguanas ring in after the third choice is given.  “A portfolio…?”
“That is correct,” Olmec replies.  The Orange Iguanas step down to the penultimate level.
“Orange Iguanas are now only one step away,” Kirk narrates.  “Still plenty of time for our other teams, though…next question.”

“According to our legend, what fell out of the portfolio—”
The Red Jaguars ring in early.  “Um, the…piece of cloth?”
“That…is correct,” Olmec replies.  The Red Jaguars join the Orange Iguanas on the next-to-last level.
“And now the Red Jaguars are just one step away,” Kirk states.  “The Silver Snakes can still catch up…next question, Olmec.”

“What letter of the alphabet was embroidered on the piece of cloth: A, B, or C?”
The Silver Snakes ring in as Olmec gives the last choice.  “Um…A?” the boy asks, clearly looking at the scrap in the Temple.
“That…is correct,” Olmec responds.  The Silver Snakes happily step down to the second level as the audience applauds loudly.
“And the Silver Snakes are on the board now!” Kirk exclaims.  “Could this be a comeback in progress?  Olmec, next question.”

“Did Hawthorne drop the scrap of cloth because: there was a spider on it, it burned him, or he was in a hurry?”
The Red Jaguars ring in first.  “Uh…it burned his…burned him.”
“That…is correct!” Olmec booms, and the Red Jaguars jump down to the bottom level.

“We’ve got our first—two teams for the Temple Games!” Kirk says as he rushes over to stand next to them.  “They are the Red Jaguars, and the Purple Parrots!  All right—Orange Iguanas and Silver Snakes, you guys were great, too.  It was really close, almost a four-way tie—we’re not sending you guys home empty-handed.  Here’s what we’ve got for you!”  They receive Rio on DVD.

Kirk is now seen standing between the Red Jaguars and Purple Parrots.  “These two teams will be playing for the right to enter Olmec’s Temple, and they’ll do it right after this!”

The camera flies over Kirk and the teams, turns to the left, and zooms in on a small waterfall at the edge of the Moat before the title appears onscreen, and we go to a commercial.

[The Bandit King]

We return from the break to find Kirk standing in front of the Temple with the remaining teams.

“Welcome back to Legends: Rebirth,” he says.  “Now, the glory goes to the fastest and the strongest…”

“So let’s hear it for Jeremy and Susan of the Red Jaguars!”  The audience applauds for the blue-eyed girl with auburn hair and freckles and the taller brown-haired boy with blue eyes and braces.

“And Chris and Julie of the Purple Parrots!”  The audience claps for the slender girl with dark brown hair and brown eyes and the slightly taller brown-skinned boy with equally brown eyes and hair.

“All right, are you guys ready to play?” Kirk asks.

“Yeah!” the teams reply.

“Okay, go get ready for the Temple Games,” Kirk says.  “Now, in the Temple Games, our teams will be competing for…”  Kirk retrieves a Pendant of Life from a pouch at his side and holds it up to the camera.  “…Pendants of Life, see?  They’ll need Pendants just like this to protect them from the dreaded Temple Guards that protect Olmec’s Temple. There are three Temple Games—Olmec, tell us about Temple Game #1, please…”

The black lights and torches under Olmec come on as he begins to explain the first Temple Game:
“Although The Scarlet Letter was his most famous work, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote many short stories before then, and in this game, you’re about to help write them.  When Kirk gives the signal, adjust your weight and start running to turn the wheel.  For each rotation you make, it symbolizes one short story written by Hawthorne.  If you fall off, we’ll stop the wheel so you can get back on.  The player who helps Hawthorne write the most stories at the end of thirty seconds…wins.”

“All right, I hope our players can get creative,” Kirk says.  “Let’s put thirty seconds on the clock!”  The clock slams down in the bottom right-hand corner with a loud gong sound.  “On your mark, get set, GO!”

Susan and Julie begin running on the giant Pendant-shaped wheels, as the spotters turn over cards in the background that both indicate the scores and feature the name of a Hawthorne short story on them (i.e. Card #1 has “Roger Malvin’s Burial” on it).  Julie is a little faster than Susan, and makes it to Card #4, “The Gray Champion”, before falling off with thirteen seconds left, allowing Susan to make it to Card #5 (“The White Old Maid”) as she climbs back on.  Susan is consistent in her endeavor and doesn’t fall off once; however, Julie keeps a slightly faster pace and manages to stay on for the remaining seconds of the game.

“Okay, that’s it!” Kirk says as he rushes back onscreen.  “Come on down here, girls…whoa, they’re dizzy!  Let’s take a look at the scores here…”  Kirk glances back at the scorecards for the game.  “It looks like the Red Jaguars got all the way to “The Ambitious Guest”—that’s seven turns.  And the Purple Parrots got to “The Minister’s Black Veil”—that’s eight turns, so the Purple Parrots get the half Pendant of Life!”  The audience applauds for a few seconds.  “Red Jaguars are behind, but they can catch up really easily in this next Temple Game.  It’s also worth a half Pendant—Olmec, tell us about Temple Game #2…”

Olmec begins:
“According to our legend, Hawthorne got his inspiration for The Scarlet Letter by reading a long-forgotten portfolio in the customhouse where he worked.  In this game, you’re going to discover some long-forgotten portfolios of your own.  When Kirk gives the signal, jump up, grab a portfolio from the ceiling, come back down and place it in your bin.  Then jump up, grab another portfolio and do it again.  The first player to retrieve all their forgotten portfolios, or…the player who retrieves the most portfolios at the end of sixty seconds…wins.”

“I always thought portfolios went in a filing cabinet or something,” Kirk muses.  “Anyway…let’s set the clock for sixty seconds!”  The clock slams down in the corner with the usual sound effect.  “On your mark, get set, GO!”

Jeremy and Chris each jump up and grab a portfolio off the small scaffold they are tethered to with little trouble, and each one drops it successfully in their bin with a good 54 seconds left.  As the game progresses, though, Jeremy begins to miss several portfolios on his trips to the ceiling, allowing Chris to pull ahead by three about halfway into the game.  Chris misses a portfolio with ten seconds remaining, giving Jeremy a slim chance to catch up, but when the timer reaches zero, Jeremy misses getting a portfolio in his bin.

“Okay, that’s it!” Kirk says as he appears back onscreen.  “Stop right there, guys; we’ll count it up and see how you did.  Let’s get the bins over here…”  A spotter moves the bins closer to Kirk, and he kneels beside them.  “Let’s start with the Red Jaguars; they got one, two, three, four, five, six…seven portfolios.  Did the Purple Parrots get more?  Let’s see, they got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven…two more makes nine!  The Purple Parrots get the half Pendant of Life!”  The audience applauds for a few seconds.  “So now, the Purple Parrots have a full Pendant; the Red Jaguars don’t have any yet.  But now, we go to the third and final Temple Game.  It’s worth a full Pendant—Olmec, tell us about Temple Game #3…”

Olmec begins to explain the final Temple Game:
“After Nathaniel Hawthorne read the chilling contents of the portfolio, he was moved to write The Scarlet Letter, which featured some of the most colorful characters in American literature.  On the wall above you are the names of four of those characters: Hester Prynne, Pearl, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth.  When Kirk gives the signal, one player from each team will load a ball into their slingshot and shoot it at their partner, who will then catch the ball and place it on the character’s name there.  Then climb up to the next name.  The first player to cover all four character’s names, or…the team that’s further along at the end of sixty seconds…wins.”

“This is for the Temple,” Kirk reminds us.  “Let’s put sixty seconds on the clock!”  The clock slams down in the corner, ready to go.  “Ready, aim, FIRE!”

Both teams successfully cover up the first name within the first five seconds, and the boys climb up to the second name.  The Red Jaguars miss their mark, but the Purple Parrots manage to cover up “Pearl” with a well-aimed shot.  Forty-nine seconds remain as the Red Jaguars cover up their second target, tying it up as they move on to the next target.  A few more seconds go by until Chris catches one of Julie’s cannonballs and places it on “Arthur Dimmesdale” with twenty seconds left.  Seconds tick by as both teams miss shot after shot, but Jeremy finally catches a ball and places it on his team’s third target with nine seconds left.  Just as it seems as though the game will end in a tie, though, a lucky shot from Julie is caught by Chris, and he places it on Roger Chillingworth’s name with only one second left.

“All right, that’s it!” Kirk says as he rushes back onscreen.  “Come on down here, let’s see the results—well, the Purple Parrots got all four names covered up first, so they get the full Pendant.  That…”  Kirk stops as the audience starts to applaud.  “…that gives them two; the Red Jaguars don’t have any—the Purple Parrots are goin’ to the Temple!”  Julie whoops in excitement as Chris can be seen in the background clapping as he’s brought down off the wall.  “Red Jaguars were a great team, too—it was really close.  They’re not goin’ away empty-handed, because we’ve got a great gift for ‘em, and here’s what it is!”  They receive a custom-made Legends of the Hidden Temple: Rebirth watch.

As the prize disappears off-screen, Kirk is now seen standing between a now-grounded Chris and Julie.  “We’ll now see if the Purple Parrots can make it through Olmec’s Temple; retrieve the Letter-Embroil—Embroidered Cloth of Nathaniel Hawthorne, right after this!”

The camera pans in on the Temple and zooms in on the picture of South America on the map in the Geographer’s Study before the title appears onscreen, and we fade to a commercial.

[The Bandit King]

We return from the break to find Kirk standing in front of the Temple with the winning team.

“Welcome back to Legends: Rebirth,” he says.  “Chris and Julie have proven themselves worthy, and now have earned the right to enter Olmec’s Temple.  But first, Olmec will give them some information to help them retrieve the Letter-Embroider Cloth of Nathaniel Hawthorne…”

Olmec begins to explain the layout as the camera gives us a first-person runthrough of the Temple:
“You could start…by running up the stairs to the Crypt!  Grab the book from the skeletons, and pass into the Bottomless Pit.  Swing across the gap, and climb into the Lookout Tower.  Focus the telescope to read the ancient print on the far wall, and a door may open into the Geographer’s Study.  Find the missing pieces of the map and correctly place them, and pass into the Shaolin Dojo.  Place the yin-yang on the correct suit of armor, and open the door to the SHRIIIINE of the Silver Monkey!  Assemble the statue and you may be headed toward the Lightning Ball Room!  Connect the power cords to create your own lightning, which will blast open the door to the Pharaoh’s Secret Passage.  Slide down the tunnel to the Dungeon, where you could smash through the wall into the Dark Forest…but beware of the Temple Guards that may inhabit the trees!  Find the key in the tree, and you’ll enter the Chamber…of the Four Elements.  Place the elements in the correct order, and you’ll gain entry to the Jewel Mine!  Place all the jewels into the mine cart, then…race through the Pit, climb through the Ledges, rrrrace down the stairs and back through the Temple Gate!  The choices are yours and yours alone!”  Olmec pauses.  “You won 2 Pendants in the Temple Games.  Who’s going first?”

“I am,” says Chris, raising his hand.

“Very well, Chris,” Olmec replies.  “When Kirk gives the signal, you’ll race through the Gates into the Temple and make your way toward the Letter-Embroidered Cloth of Nathaniel Hawthorne.  Hidden inside the Temple are Temple Guards assigned to protect three specific rooms.  You can trade your Pendant for an extra life and go on, but…if you’re caught without a Pendant, you’ll be taken out of the Temple, and it’ll be Julie’s turn to enter and try her luck.  If you can reach the Embroidered Cloth, all the doors of the Temple will instantly unlock, and the Temple Guards will vanish.  Return through the Gate with the Embroidered Cloth in three minutes, and you will both be handsomely rewarded…and here’s how!”

• Just for making it to the Temple, they’ll get a DVD player from Sony.
• If they can reach the Embroidered Cloth within three minutes, they’ll also receive a bicycle from Mongoose.
• And if they can bring the Embroidered Cloth out of the Temple before three minutes expires, they’ll win a trip to Hawaii.

“All right, Hawaii…let’s see if we can get ‘em there,” Kirk remarks.  “All right, Chris, let’s get you ready to go here.  Okay, Julie, do you guys have any kind of strategy about how you can reach the Embroidered Cloth?”

“Yeah, we’re gonna try to take the upper path,” Julie says.  “The bottom path’s probably not gonna work, so we’re gonna go high and…come down when we can.”

“All right, that’s worked before—let’s see if it’ll work this time,” Kirk remarks.  “Chris, mouthpiece in…let’s put three minutes on the clock!”  The clock slams down in the bottom right-hand corner, ready to go.

“Olmec, lower your gate.”  Olmec moans gutturally as the gate is lowered, and the black lights and torches under him go out.

“Are you ready, Chris?” Kirk asks.

“Yes, I am,” Chris says through his mouthpiece.

“On your mark,” Kirk begins, “get set, GO!”

Chris darts up the stairs, clutching one of his team’s Pendants.  He enters the Crypt, where he pulls two books before opening the door to the Bottomless Pit.  However, he also opens the secret door at the back of the room, revealing the first TEMPLE GUARD (2:50).  “Whoa, Temple Guard, right off the bat!” Kirk narrates as Chris reaches for his Pendant.  “Good thing he’s got that Pendant, or he’d be out right there!”  The Guard disappears behind the door, and Chris continues on into the Bottomless Pit.  He grabs the rope and swings across the gap, almost falling off the narrow ledge.  “Whoa, careful!” Kirk narrates as Chris recovers and hits the actuators leading to both the Lookout Tower and the Geographer’s Study.  However, only the door to the latter room opens, so Chris heads here (2:35).  Once in the room, he looks around for a few seconds before finding a missing piece of the map on the wall leading to the Pit.  He heads to the map at the back of the room, finding the spot where Saudi Arabia goes and placing it there.  He finds another piece—Argentina—and takes it to the back and places it as well.  Chris finds the last piece of the map, the island of New Guinea, and places it on the map.  However, nothing happens (2:19).  “Oh, wait—turn that last piece around!” Kirk shouts as Chris heads back to the map.  Realizing that he’s placed New Guinea upside-down, he turns it around, and the door to the Lookout Tower opens (2:12).  Chris climbs the ladder up to the room, but before he can even get off the ladder, the second TEMPLE GUARD jumps out from hiding (2:04).

“Whoa, Temple Guard!  Go, Julie!” Kirk exclaims, and Julie takes off up the stairs.  She heads for the Crypt, effectively retracing Chris’s path.  “She’s got plenty of time to make it to the…the Cloth!” Kirk assures us as Julie climbs the ladder up to the Lookout Tower.  She heads to the telescope at the front of the room and begins to turn the knobs to focus it.  After a few seconds, she takes out her mouthpiece and shouts “One giant leap for mankind!”, and the door to the Shaolin Dojo opens up (1:49).  Julie heads into the Dojo, where she grabs the yin-yang at the front of the room and brings it to the back.  She places it on the stage-left suit of armor, but nothing happens.  She goes to the middle suit of armor and places it there, but again, nothing happens.  “Oh, it’s the last one—it’s always the last one!” Kirk laments as Julie places the symbol on the stage-right suit, opening the door to the Shrine (1:33).  Julie heads into the room, where she climbs on the ledges at the back and grabs all three pieces of the monkey before bringing them to the pedestal at the front (1:24).  She places the base, unknowing by the front view that it’s slightly off (1:20), then places the middle correctly (1:15).  She then tries to jam the head onto the statue, but it won’t go.  She inspects the statue to find that she hasn’t got the base on straight, so she corrects it, then jams the head down, opening the door to the Lightning Ball Room.  Julie heads into the Lightning Ball Room and looks around for a few seconds before the third TEMPLE GUARD jumps out from behind the secret door in the room (0:50).  “Whoa, I was wondering when he’d show up!” Kirk says as Julie screams.  “Give him the Pendant…there you go!”  Julie hands over her Pendant, and the Guard heads back behind the door as Julie heads to the front of the room.  She takes all four power cords and plugs them into the slots on the base of the Lightning Ball.  A flash of light and a sound of thunder signals to Julie that the doors to both the Dungeon and the Dark Forest have opened (0:36).  Julie starts to head down the Pharaoh’s Secret Passage, but then realizes that the door directly to the Dark Forest opened, so she heads back into the Lightning Ball Room (0:30).  “Wait, what’s she doing?” Kirk asks as Julie heads down the slide and soon appears from behind a door in the Dark Forest (0:22).  “Oh, she’s in the room!  Get the cloth!” Kirk shouts, and Julie does just that, snatching the LETTER-EMBROIDERED CLOTH from the stage-left tree’s arm (0:18).

“All the doors are open!” Kirk shouts as Julie moves to exit the Dark Forest.  “She’s got twenty seconds left—can she make it?”  The camera now shows Chris clapping and cheering Julie on.  We now see Julie scrambling through the Chamber of Four Elements (0:10), and heading into the Jewel Mine as the audience starts to count down.  She maneuvers around the dark room and heads into the Bottomless Pit, but time expires before she can enter the Ledges!

“No, they ran out of time!” Kirk laments as Chris looks slightly disappointed.  “She got the Cloth, but she couldn’t get out with it in time!  They both cleared out a big path in there; they did great.  But they still get the, uh…the DVD player, and they also got the bikes; that’s not bad at all.  But we’ve gotta get out of here, though.  We’ll see you next time, and remember: it’s not just Legends, it’s Legends: Rebirth!  Buh-bye!”

Chris and Kirk start to talk as the credits begin to roll.  Julie soon comes down the stairs with the Cloth in her hands, and Kirk pats her on the shoulder as she holds it up in the air.  The camera shows various parts of the set, such as a small statue of a jaguar near the bottom of the Steps of Knowledge, a group of orange flowers near the edge of the Moat, and a side-view of Kirk’s red ATV.  Kirk, Chris and Julie wave to the crowd as the credits finish rolling, and the Stone Stanley logo appears onscreen.

[The Bandit King]

The Letter-Embroidered Cloth of Nathaniel Hawthorne
Season 2, Layout 2
Artifact Location: The Dark Forest
Team: Purple Parrots (Chris Bretherton & Julie Hartline)
Pendants: 2
Result: Ran out of time (acquired artifact)

This episode may not have ended on a winning note, but it was still a very exciting one to watch.  The players seem to be getting better at working that pedaling mechanism at the Moat, and the Steps of Knowledge round (which featured an apocryphal story involving how Nathaniel Hawthorne received inspiration for The Scarlet Letter) was quite exciting to watch.  In the end, the Purple Parrots shut out the Red Jaguars in the Temple Games 2-0, and were headed to the Temple.

Chris wasn’t a bad player, but he was heavy on the slow side, and failed to notice an incorrectly placed puzzle piece in the Geographer’s Study.  Still, he knew what he was doing, and was taken out of the Temple with just over two minutes left on the clock.

Julie, fortunately, was faster than Chris, and seemed to know her way around the Temple.  Unfortunately, she had bad luck in the Shaolin Dojo, and spent just a little too long in the Shrine putting the statue together.  Her speed was her friend, though, and she grabbed the Letter-Embroidered Cloth with 15 seconds to go.  Knowing that she had to hurry, she sped through the bottom half, but only made it to the Bottomless Pit before time expired.

This team really seemed like a good one, but they were forced to endure a painful layout that featured some of the most time-consuming rooms in Rebirth’s tenure.  If Chris had moved just a little faster, this would have been a close win.  Still, it was exciting, and I’m inclined to give it the highest rating of any non-win among Rebirth episodes.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Notes and Trivia: This is the second-to-last time the Purple Parrots reach an artifact in the Temple, and also the last time in Season 2 that an artifact in the Dark Forest is reached.

Julie is the only female contestant to complete the Lightning Ball Room’s objective.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

Wow, I'm flattered. Is "Chris" related to TSM by any chance? Just wondering. Great choice for your little "tribute" there either way.

Looked like a hard layout too, and a strange one at that. I've never seen any temple path go from the Secret Password room space to the Dark Forest room space. If only the monkey could have been assembled faster. All in all, great story!

[The Bandit King]

Yeah, I added the passages to both the Secret Password and Ancient Warriors spaces from the Dark Forest in my fics.  It gives more options for paths, I think...

And no, I didn't intend Chris to be a tribute to TSM. I would've made him faster if that were the case...

[The Ancient Warrior]

But the tribute was still good either way. The occasional mistake made the team seem well-rounded but didn't detract from this probably being the most exciting failed escape to read so far.

[PurpleParrot319]

I wonder if Chris is related to "The Pepperoni Man", one of my few aliases used this month.

[PurpleParrot319]

Also, how do you get those temple diagrams?

[The Ancient Warrior]

There was actually a thread about this much deeper in the board: http://phantomstemple.us.to/index.php?topic=198.0


Hope that helps!