Okay, I found the "article" I made a few years back that I never got around to posting. Its kind a long read, but covered most of the episodes with horrid layouts. There are a few of them missing from the list like Tokugawa Ieyasu, but I think these are all the ones featured on the show. I removed the pictures also as it would've made the post too long.
TOUGHEST LAYOUTS IN LEGENDS
Throughout Legends three year tenure on Nickelodeon, a total of 120 episodes were produced. Each of these episodes were unique in their own way for the most part, but other stood out for some reason or another. In this article, I will explore some of the toughest layouts ever featured on Legends.
THE GOLDEN CUP OF BELSHAZZAR
And the episode for the "Most Brutal Dead-end" goes to this run right here. The frontrunner, Katherine, seemed like a fairly competent contestant in the temple and even chose not to take the direct path. Unfortunately, she met a dead-end in the Room of Harmonic Convergence after trying every step possible. She was then forced to retrack her steps to the Room of the Three Gargoyles. How time consuming was the dead-end? Between the time she entered the Gargoyle Room from the Room of Harmonic Convergence she wasted almost exactly a minute. But the brutalness of this run doesn’t end there; she meets another “dead-end” in the Treasure Room, where supposedly the Treasure Chest opens after she tries opening it. By the time her partner entered the temple, it was too late.
Now, its entirely possible that the dead-end in the Harmonic Convergence was a possible production error, but nevertheless the dead-end consumed 1/3 of their time in the temple, which is why it gets a nod on this list.
THE LUCKY PIG OF AMELIA EARHART
A lot of fans remember this run for Kristen’s stupidity, and rightfully so too because she was too slow and stupid in the temple. However, this layout was just too brutal for a season one episode. During the entire run, Kristen was not granted access to ANY of the shortcuts. Not even any from the Shrine of the Silver Monkey. And if that’s bad enough, the temple guard layout wasn’t much better either as the team either had to start in the Cave of Sighs or enter the Heart Room at some point in order to avoid being taken out one room away. This is asking too much for a season one team.
PONCE DE’ LEON AND THE LOST FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
This run earns the reward for “Toughest Temple Guard Placement” in the temple. The layout for this run itself wasn’t too bad, as the team was granted access to the Shrine-Ancient King shortcut. But the temple guards were laid out in a way where the only way for the team to win was by encountering all the temple guards. It didn’t help that James didn’t take any shortcuts during the run either. But in order for this team to have a chance at winning, they would’ve needed to enter the Cave of Sighs and encounter the temple guard there before even having a chance to win.
THE SHRIVELED HAND OF EFOUA
Season two in the temple did not have many lengthy or hard layouts featured on the show, but this one stands out as the team was forced to enter eight rooms before reaching the artifact. It didn’t help that both players were short and kind of slow in the temple. Either way, they were pitted up against some of the most time consuming rooms of season two, and thus deserve a mention on this list.
THE BULLET-RIDDLED HANDBAG OF BELLE BOYD
This episode is often overlooked when it comes to tough layouts on the show. In this run, the Leah and Matthew had to reach the artifact in the Room of the Ancient Warriors. The only problem was that the team was forced down the entire central shaft. As a result, the team had to complete at least 9 rooms in order to reach the artifact. It didn’t help that Leah entered the King’s Storeroom, which added an extra room onto the team. The team did manage to fare well in the temple though despite putting up with a brutal layout.
THE DRIED-APPLE HALF OF WILLIAM TELL
A lot of people remember this run for Lauren’s annoying voice, but this is hands down the most brutal layout on the show. First off, the team was forced down into the Ledges where they met their first temple guard. Next, from the Ledges they were only granted access to the bottom door of the Ledges. And after knocking down the column in the Pit of the Pendulum, the team was forced to scale the wall in order to reach the top most door of the central shaft. If that was bad enough, after Brett scaled to the bottom of the central shaft – which featured some of the most time consuming rooms of season three – the team met a temple guard at the bottom of the central shaft.
By the time Lauren reached the temple, she really had no chance to reach the artifact. Brett had already faced the most challenging rooms in the temple, and she had a minute left to herself. And the team still had four more rooms to complete in order to reach the Room of the Ancient Warriors. To this day, I never understood the reasoning behind this brutal and hellish layout. I bet Lauren’s loud mouth pissed off the producers at one point.
THE GOLDEN SPIDERWEB OF ROBERT THE BRUCE
Artifacts that were located in the center of the temple are always tricky and hard for a team to reach. But reaching an artifact in the center of the temple via the bottom floor was a much harder task. This run exemplifies how hard these center of the temple runs were. During this run, the team was granted NO shortcuts at all. In order for the team to get anywhere near the artifact in this run, both of these players had to be fast and hesitate little or at all during the run. Unfortunately, Christine and Jeremy weren’t cut out for this layout. I don’t think any team would’ve reached the portrait also.
And if you think the layout was impossible, the temple guards were situated where all three guards were unavoidable. Perhaps this was an attempt to bank on the Green Monkeys since they had a half-pendant, or perhaps the producers just felt like being dicks. Regardless, this layout was beyond impossible.
THE MISSING PORTRAIT OF HANS HOLBEIN
This layout is pretty much similar to the above layout, “The Golden Spiderweb of Robert the Bruce”. Unfortunately, this team was not cut out for this layout either. The team did not help their cause out though because Rachel failed to try all three books in the Crypt. Nevertheless though, the team was denied access to any shortcuts during their run. As a result, they didn’t even make it close to the artifact.
THE MARBLE ARMREST OF XERXES
Here is yet another center of the temple run in season three with another impossible layout. Although the team had it a little easier since they did not have to retrieve the artifact from the bottom floor of the temple. Regardless, they still had to enter almost every room in order to reach the artifact. It didn’t help that the Green Monkeys were not fit for this task and were pretty incompetent. The Purple Parrots would’ve fared better than these two jokes would have. Still though, it would’ve taken a lot of speed and little errors to reach this artifact.
THE DISCARDED SEAL OF IVAN THE TERRIBLE
This episode is probably memorable for a great team that got screwed due to a tough layout. Both Travis and Elisa had to travel through a total of 10 rooms at minimum in order to reach the artifact. And the team didn’t make ANY mistakes at all during the run. Travis made it back to the platform, he used all the shortcuts had was granted, and didn’t hesitate in any room. Elisa did a great job covering his tracks and even made it one room away from the artifact. Due to the impossible layout though, they made it one room away from the artifact. The temple guard layout made it impossible for the team also during the run as Travis got taken out two rooms away from the artifact and Elisa had to cover almost eight rooms to make it.
To keep it simple, it wasn’t the team’s fault that they lose – the layout was near impossible and too much for any contestant to handle. If this team had any other layout not mentioned on this list, they would’ve won!
Poll
Topic: What do you think was the hardest layout? (Read 5783 times)