The Shrine door in The Sacred Ring of Sultan Suleiman

[PAK Man]

Hey all! I decided to randomly check and see if my login credentials still worked and not only do they, but I also wanted to see if I could get a discussion going!

Reading through old posts, there seems to be a debate as to whether or not the Shrine of the Silver Monkey door opened during "The Sacred Ring of Sultan Suleiman." This episode is one of the more well-known losses in the show's history, with Gracelyn passing up the half-pendant and getting caught by a third guard in Medusa's Lair, as well as her partner not pulling all three books in The Crypt and ending up in the dead-end Ledges (where he also found a Temple Guard).

Here's what I think; I believe the Shrine door did open, but Gracelyn chose not to go that way. Why do I believe this? Well, it's incredibly circumstantial, but once she enters the King's Storeroom, the first thing she does is turn around and press the inactive actuators for both The Observatory - which she just came from - and Medusa's Lair. This implies to me that, for some reason, she was determined to go that direction. I don't know if she had a bad map of the Temple in her head or what, but I feel like she had always wanted to go back that way. Plus, Kirk seems incredibly confused as to why she's going back. I don't think he would have been if the Shrine door was locked.

I'm curious to see what others think about this.

[Olmec is #1]

It's possible that the Shrine of the Silver Monkey opened from the King's Storeroom. Also, do you happen to know when in 1994 that episode aired?

[PAK Man]

I don't have an exact date, but I believe it was sometime in the summer. I actually have half of this episode recorded from either its original broadcast date or a rerun. The episode after it on my tape is The Secret Battle Plan of Nathan Hale.

[Olmec is #1]

I don't have an exact date, but I believe it was sometime in the summer. I actually have half of this episode recorded from either its original broadcast date or a rerun. The episode after it on my tape is The Secret Battle Plan of Nathan Hale.

Like which month? June? July? August?

[PAK Man]

I'd have to go back and watch my VHS tape for the commercials. I couldn't tell you off the top of my head. The tape is at my 91-year-old grandfather's house, and I'm not going over there for awhile.

[GreenMonkeys#1]

I rewatched the run but it looks like that while Gracelyn went to Medusa’s Lair, she did appear to look at the Shrine door for a brief second before going back the other way. However, the camera did not pan to the door and only faced the right so that part is unknown. I don’t know if the producers wanted her to take the Medusa, Laser Light, Swamp route to get the Ring or go through the Shrine then hopefully the Forest door opened otherwise go through the Mineshaft (or the Lightning room). That could explain the dead end in the Ledges because if the route was open to the Laser Light Room via the Rock Quarry it probably would have been too easy. No excuse for skipping a half pendant though.

[PAK Man]

It's a shame we can't tell if the Swamp doors opened, because that could have provided at least another option for her. Hard to say. The really poor editing on this show really was a pain sometimes.

[The Red Jaguars]

Based on the other Season 2 layouts with the Swamp, I assume that the King's Storeroom-Swamp door was locked. Which is unfortunate, since it would've created some interesting layouts if it the ladders were accessible like the S2 Jester's Court. Plus, didn't Gracelyn check the ladders to see if those doors were opened? It seems like the two corner ladders never opened at all, even when the contestants grabbed the artifact. My guess is that the King's Storeroom was just a deadend. It would be strange for Gracelyn to miss th eShrine door opening. It would also be strange for Kirk to not mention it opening either.