Temple Guard Locations

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Let's move on now to "Leopard-Skin Cloak of Annie Oakley."

Guards Encountered: Laser Light Room, King's Storeroom
Number of Unencountered Guards: 1
Rooms not Entered: Observatory, Ledges

Notes: Everybody was in consensus that the final guard was in the Ledges. They believed it would have been too harsh of a layout to force the team into the Observatory, let alone place the last guard in that room. Having the guard in the Ledges, on the other hand, would have followed the pattern seen in most Center of the Rooms runs: the avoidable guard was in the "wrong" entrance room, and the team decided the difficulty of the run by either entering or avoiding that first guard. If the frontrunner was caught by the entrance room guard, they would have been taken out of the temple quickly, allowing the second runner to spend less time following up on the frontrunner's path. Contrastingly, if the team avoided the entrance room guard, the frontrunner would have been taken out very deep into the run, leaving the second runner with minimal time to follow the path and clear the final room(s) en route to the artifact.

My Thoughts: See "Notes." 

[The Red Jaguars]

It pretty much makes sense for the last guard in Annie Oakley to be in the Ledges. THK put it perfectly in the other topic: the team would not have to worry about being taking out one room away if they started in the Ledges. Even though they would've won if Chandra never took the elevator at all.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

And to complete S2, L4, let's also look at "Snakeskin Boots of Billy the Kid."

Guards Encountered: Crypt, Laser Light Room
Number of Unencountered Guards: 1
Rooms not Entered: Observatory, Medusa's Lair, King's Storeroom, Secret Password, Ledges

Notes: Most people eliminated the Ledges as an option because there was a guard in the other entrance room. Since the only room that opened from the Pit was the Laser Light Room, and it didn't appear that the door opened to Medusa's Lair, the only unlocked room left would have been the Room of the Secret Password.

My Thoughts: The first thing I'd like to mention about this run is that I find the guard in the Laser Light Room to be very peculiar. When Kelly first enters the room, the camera angle is different from normal and the room seems unusually foggier than normal. Additionally, the guard came around from the other side of the wall, rather than waiting perched directly to the side of the wall. He seemed to also come out from hiding after a much longer delay than usual. Overall, I find the Laser Light Room guard out of place. Perhaps he was originally not supposed to be stationed there, but then was moved for some reason at the start of the run, and was not ready to come out when Kelly entered the room?

Okay, enough of my hogwash. Let's move on to finding the unencountered guard.

-- Medusa's Lair most certainly did not open from the Laser Light Room, nor did the Jesters' Court give access to the King's Storeroom. There were no lighting changes to indicate those doors opened.

-- Since there was already a guard in the Crypt, I don't see why there would have been a need to station a guard in the Ledges as well.

-- This only leaves the Room of the Secret Password, which makes sense. In addition to probably holding a guard two episodes earlier ("Golden Goblet of Attila the Hun"), stationing a guard there would have punished the team for not trying the door from the Mineshaft to the Shrine. The guard would have also been one room away from the artifact. Since the elevator was down in the Mineshaft in this run, and there were a number of episodes where teams bypassed the chance to try the ladder but instead going straight to the elevator (i.e. "Leopard-Skin Cloak of Annie Oakley," "Two-Cornered Hat of Napoleon," and "Very Tall Turban of Ahmed Baba"), it would not be out of the question.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Since we are now moving into S2, L5, I'll jump back to "Secret Battle Plans of Nathan Hale" and then continue on with "Golden Pepperoni of Catherine de Medici." Afterwards, we will move on to the final seven episodes of the season.


"Secret Battle Plans of Nathan Hale"
Guards Encountered: Crypt, Observatory, King's Storeroom
Number of Unencountered Guards: 0


"Golden Pepperoni of Catherine de Medici"
Guards Encountered: Crypt, Laser Light Room, King's Storeroom
Number of Unencountered Guards: 0

All of the guards were encountered in both episodes. There should not be any question about where the guards were.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

We shall now move on to "Golden Earring of Henry Morgan."

Guards Encountered: Laser Light Room, Mineshaft
Number of Unencountered Guards: 1
Rooms not Entered: Ledges, Secret Password

Notes: People shared ideas expressing why both rooms had potential to hold the last guard. A guard in the Room of the Secret Password would have "complicated" things a bit, by punishing the team for not using shortcuts. Back-to-back guards like that was seen in "Tokugawa Ieyasu." On the other hand, the Ledges would have been likely because so many other runs in Season 2 featured a guard in an entrance room, especially one pendant runs and Center of the Rooms runs.

My Thoughts: I think having the final guard in the Ledges seems more likely. A lot of runs in Season 2 featured a guard in an entrance room, especially the one pendant runs. The Center of the Rooms runs almost always had a guard in an entrance room as well. Since this episode had both of these qualities, it would make the most sense to me to place the last guard in the Ledges.

-- In addition, this team's success would not have been ultimately decided simply by choosing the "wrong" entrance room. Ashley found the key in the Dark Forest but did not try the door leading directly to the Shrine. Later, when Shem assembled the Silver Monkey, the door leading back down to the Dark Forest opened, meaning Ashley could have avoided the Mineshaft and its guard entirely. Aside from it being a potential solo victory, this run may not have been forced to end in triple capture if the team had chosen to begin in the Ledges instead of the Crypt because the Mineshaft guard was avoidable as well.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

Up next is "Milk Bucket of Freydis."

Guards Encountered: Laser Light Room
Number of Unencountered Guards: 2
Rooms not Entered: Crypt, Room of the Mandarin Hand, Mineshaft

Notes: Many people believed there was a guard in the Crypt because it would follow the common trend of placing a guard in an entrance room. Since the Room of the of the Mandarin Hand opened from the Laser Light Room, some people thought the other guard would have been in there to create a dead-end/guard double whammy. Others suggested the final guard was in the Mineshaft because Tarrah never plowed through the wall from the Dark Forest.

My Thoughts: The door from the Laser Light Room to the Mandarin Hand definitely opened upon revealing the white light, and the door leading back to the Mineshaft when the Silver Monkey was assembled. Both of those rooms were clearly accessible during the run. And, as with every run, the team had access to the Crypt because it was an entrance room. Since all three rooms were clearly accessible and have very solid explanations as to why they could have held a guard, it makes this analysis quite difficult.

-- Since the room opened from the Laser Light Room, rather than the King's Storeroom, the Mandarin Hand room would have been a dead-end instead of a detour. In most Season 2 runs where the Center of the Room was a dead-end during an Observatory run or a detour during a King's Storeroom run, there was a guard stationed there. Another thing worth mentioning is that there was an encountered guard in the Mandarin Hand three times of the nine episodes that room was featured. It would not surprise me if that room held a guard in the "Milk Bucket" run as well.

-- In the "Golden Earring of Henry Morgan," the run immediately prior to "Milk Bucket of Freydis," there were encountered guards in the Laser Light Room and Mineshaft. It is quite possible that the guard placement for the "Milk Bucket" run was identical, with guards in the same positions on the bottom floor. There was a guard in the Laser Light Room, and we know how similar guard placements were usually seen throughout a production day, so it would be a good guess to think that the other guard was in the Mineshaft.

-- The Crypt seems like a very logical guess, simply because all of the S2, L5 runs either featured a guard in an entrance room or most likely had a guard in the unentered entrance room (we can rationalize this through deductive reasoning). We know how similar guard placements were usually seen throughout a production day, so it would also be a good guess to think that the other guard was in the Crypt.

[Purple Parrots Fan]

I always thought the guards in "Freydis" were in the Crypt and the Mine Shaft. If "Golden Earring" (the run before them), featured a guard in the Mine Shaft, then it's plausible that there was a Mine Shaft guard in "Freydis" as well.

[The Red Jaguars]

I say the Mine Shaft also for the last guard in the "Freydis" run. Tarrah already encountered a temple guard in the Laser Light Room, so I don't see any need to put one into the Room of the Mandarin Hand when it would've been a useless detour/deadend anyways. If the temple guard was layout was similar to "Montezuma" or "Iron Mask", than I would say that it was more likely in the Room of the Mandarin Hand. And like mentioned above me, the temple guard layout is almost identical to the "Henry Morgan" run. Except Ashley and Shem busted through the Mine Shaft when they didn't need to.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

My biggest reservation about placing the guards for "Milk Bucket" in the Crypt and Mineshaft is that the Mandarin hand room would not have had a guard, and to me, that seems unlikely. In all of the Observatory runs where the team was given access to the Heart Room space from the bottom of the central shaft, it was a dead end and featured a guard. I doubt the producers would have only allowed the Mandarin Hand to be a dead end. Additionally, the "Milk Bucket" production day saw the guards get stationed all over the temple in rather unusual patterns and clusters; therefore, it would not makes sense to eliminate the Mandarin Hand as a viable option simply because there was a guard in the Laser Light Room.

But I agree that the other guard was most likely in the Mineshaft because of the similarities to the "Henry Morgan" run.

[The Red Jaguars]

One thing the episodes do have in common during that day is that the temple guards were spread out.

Golden Pepperoni: Crypt, Laser Light Room, King's Storeroom
Henry Morgan: Laser Light Room, Mine Shaft, and Ledges (most likely)
Charles Lindbergh: Laser Light Room, King's Storeroom, Shrine

So the temple guards were a little more spread out during that day. I think one of the guards were in the Crypt to create a direct path guard in "Freydis". I just don't think the other guard was in the Room of the Mandarin Hand. Let's assume Tarrah entered the Crypt - she would've most likely swung across the top of the Pit and tried the door to the upper floor rooms. If the Mandarin Hand room did have a guard, then Chris would've met another one right after that in the Laser Light Room. I only think the producers would've clustered the guards together like this if the Purple Parrots had 1.5 pendants like the "Nathan Hale" and "Polynesian Girl" runs.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

The guards may have appeared to have been spread out over that production day, but if you look at the paths that each team took, all of the guards were placed every other room, plus or minus one room between the second and third guards. Based on this "pattern," the only way to uphold the pattern for "Milk Bucket" would be to have the guards be stationed in the Crypt, Laser Light Room, and Mineshaft.

Even though that configuration would be the only way to uphold the pattern, I am still hesitant to believe that the Mandarin Hand was only a dead end without also being a guarded room.

And another thought regarding the "Milk Bucket" path: I'm guessing the Crypt would have only led down to the Ledges because it would have made that entrance room entirely obsolete for this run. With most Season 2 runs, the entrance room guard was more often in the "wrong" entrance room. And since the Mandarin Hand was most likely a dead end, it would not have been accessible from the Pit, making the Crypt/Pit doorway and rope swing unhelpful to the "Milk Bucket" team anyway.

[PurpleParrot4Life]

The next episode on the list is "Missing Weather Maps of Charles Lindbergh."

Guards Encountered: Ledges, King's Storeroom, Shrine
Number of Unencountered Guards: 0

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

[PurpleParrot4Life]

We are quickly drawing toward the end of Season 2. Please continue commenting on previously-mentioned episodes if something was skipped over or if you would like to discuss something in more detail. But for right now, we will be looking at "Levitating Dog Leash of Nostradamus."

Guards Encountered: Laser Light Room, Mandarin Hand
Rooms not Entered: Ledges, Observatory, Mineshaft, Dark Forest, Jesters' Court

Notes and My Thoughts: Everyone seemed to believe the guard was in the Ledges. The Jesters' Court was locked from the Laser Light Room, and none of the doors leading down opened from the Shrine. The only other room that was accessible during this run was the Observatory, which would have only been entered if the team backtracked. Although it was seen, placing a guard in the Observatory would have been unlikely because it would have meant that the entire central shaft was stocked with guards. Since the half pendant was located in the Pit, it would have made sense to place the guard in the only room prior to it, the Ledges. In all of (or at least most of) the S2, L5 runs, a guard was stationed in one of the entrance rooms. I don't think the "Levitating Dog Leash" run would have been an execption.

[The Red Jaguars]

Another thing a couple of the S2L5 1.5 pendant temple runs had in common were that the temple guards were more stationed near the beginning of the temple. Both the "Nathan Hale" and "Polynesian Girl" run had temple guards in one entrance room and the next two entered rooms after the Pit. Jason and Elizabeth already encountered a temple guard in the Laser Light Room and Room of the Mandarin Hand. So if this temple run were to follow the pattern of the two runs listed above, then the last guard would be in the Ledges. Plus, the half-pendant was on the Laser Light Room actuator. So usually that means there was at least one temple guard encountered before the half-pendant location.

[PurpleParrot319]

I can't wait for season 3. There are a couple of runs that I want to see you talk about, like the War Fan run.