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Echoing Wombstar's message here, a bizarre episode and an equally bizarre quest. Only one right in the Level 1 clue room and yet they've progressed well into level 2. Mildread tells them she'd have preferred a bone instead of a potion (and you can see the team's "Oh crap, we're dead" expressions) but lets them pass anyway. Then they end up being one of the few teams to actually successfully use an object like a dagger (normally you're a fool if you take it)...and obviously there's the infamous 'Letter O' scene, but has anyone noticed that Mogdred starts laughing before they've finished errornously dispelling the word? How on earth did he/John Woodnutt know they were going to get it wrong and miss the O so quickly? Unless it's a clever editing trick so the picture's a few seconds faster than the audio, so there's no awkward pause before Mogdred's laugh. It feels like they've got away with a ton of errors yet the backstage crew like them so they're being let off, for now at least.

And then there's the whole issue about the "word" Stalactite, but that's for the next episode I guess!

I like the combat chess games, it's a nice addition to level 2 or even level 1.

The team is quite entertaining, that's always good.

And isn't this the first time Merlin's room has appeared in series 2?
In fact we haven't seem much from him recently. What I like at the moment is the amount of variation. You never know exactly what room you're gonna get next.

This is a remarkable episode. Remarkably bizarre and remarkably frustrating.

I liked this episode's Paul Simon song reference. Did anyone else pick up on it? I'll give a hint later.

Billy wrote:Mildread tells them she'd have preferred a bone instead of a potion (and you can see the team's "Oh crap, we're dead" expressions) but lets them pass anyway.

Given Mildread's nature, it's possible that if they had given her the bone, she'd have told them that she'd have preferred a potion. But on the face of it, this was an explicit let-off. Combine that with life-saving clue object advice from Granitas (would they have taken the weapon otherwise?) that they arguably should not have earned from a score of 1 and we get, in my opinion, one of the most outrageous Level 1s ever seen in Knightmare. Regardless of how the previous team had done, I don't feel that this team should have been allowed to get to Level 2.

Previously, Mildread had tried using her impersonation magic to deceive Martin from Team 1 of Series 2. Like Neil, he didn't have the gift she particularly wanted. Unlike Neil, he couldn't placate her with either of the objects he did have, and unlike Neil, it seemed that Martin entered losing status as a result.

Stalactite: my guess is that a Gumboil password scene was written for this Level 1 but wasn't filmed.

It seems an odd point of semantics that a cavernwraith can't harm a dungeoneer but can harm his or her Life Force.

I wonder why they didn't do a retake when Treguard stumbled over his lines at the beginning of Level 2.

If the key is Casper, it looks like he's been through quite a traumatic experience. This would explain why he's gone mute. Or maybe he's silently contemplating how helpful it is for the team not to have a choice of clue objects on Level 2. Teams 3 and 4 didn't either, and got through the whole level; Team 5 did, made a wrong choice and entered losing status.

The 'SHRUD' scene (about which I wrote this) ended up demeaning everyone concerned: team, characters and actors. And yet when the dust settled, there stood the only Knightmare team ever to get the best of Mogdred in a face-off. What a travesty. The TOAD scene in Series 3 (Quest 6) went some way to overwriting this.

Doragon Shindaisha wrote:After winning Battle Chess, the team seemed very relieved. They were certainly pleased with themselves, even though the puzzle itself was a piece of cake to solve.

I'm guessing that the sprig of energy on the Combat Chessboard was there to speed things up by allowing the team to plot a route more easily. A shame that it reduced the challenge significantly. I was amused when Neil got to the far wall and appeared to have stopped to relieve himself. Ironical really, since it seems his advisors couldn't p*ss this quest away even if they tried.

Annie wrote:http://twitter.com/WatcherMark/status/3 ... 1380070400

That sheds some light on why Merlin liked to be called Bert. He told Neil to call him Sir. Neil didn't. But while Merlin is merely magnificent, Neil is invincible, so what do manners matter to him?

How can a person know about Pegasus and about Jason but draw a blank on Theseus?

Watching this team bumble indestructibly through the Dungeon has me wanting to fall to my knees in agony. I may have to change my name to Kneel Pain.

And the Paul Simon song reference? Think about the state that Neil briefly took on while stepping around in the room of cards. If you can't get it from that, look up the Graceland track listing. It also puts me in mind of the song Play Me... by Neil Diamond. If they're not careful, which isn't much of an 'if', the diamond could come back to haunt them later in the quest. Perhaps one of the other suits will too.

The cavernwraith is like the skulls and pookas, They only drain life force.

I'm surprised the production team didn't do a retake when Hugo fluffed his lines. At some point later in series 2 he fluffs his lines again!

The fact that such a valuable clue was provided by Granitas despite them only getting one riddle correct did seem strange, and inconsistent with other teams. For example, Julie from Series 3 scored 2/3 against the Brangwen She, and was told nothing except for the object of her quest!

The 'SHRUD' incident is in my opinion the second funniest Knightmare moment ever (second only to Simon, sidestep to your left...) This is possibly the first time that Mogdred appeared in a non-terrifying capacity.

Incidentally, the riddle that the team was given on the magic plant that doubles was identical to the one that me and my team were given when auditioning for Knightmare Series 8! We got it right, but didn't make the cut!

Same here actually. We got exactly that riddle too.

Obviously a Knightmare-crew favourite.

It must be! I was the one to get it right, despite being the youngest team member! I also remember one about two watches, where you had to state which the more accurate was.

Yep. Had that too

I would have hoped that all teams of around the same age auditioning for a particular series were asked the same riddles. That said, not sure if Fair Selection existed back then!

I've just noticed something. Granitas gives them a hint about using the dagger to dismiss the cavernwraith, which they later do. But in between, Mildread gives them this mysterious word STALACTITE, remarking that "the word is mightier than the sword". Were they perhaps supposed to use the word instead of the dagger? That would explain why it has no use later in the quest, but then why would Granitas have given them the dagger clue in the first place?

I think Mildred gave them a fake password for having giving her the wrong item.

Canadanne wrote:I've just noticed something. Granitas gives them a hint about using the dagger to dismiss the cavernwraith, which they later do. But in between, Mildread gives them this mysterious word STALACTITE, remarking that "the word is mightier than the sword". Were they perhaps supposed to use the word instead of the dagger? That would explain why it has no use later in the quest, but then why would Granitas have given them the dagger clue in the first place?

It was strange in the first place for a weapon of the opposition to be used as it goes against the grain. But then again Granitas clearly indicated that the team should take the dagger. As previously mentioned, this was a strange quest!

wombstar wrote:I think Mildred gave them a fake password for having giving her the wrong item.

If that was the case then the production team should killed them off!

Maybe the other team hadn't arrived?
Or they wanted to drag it on a bit longer as the previous quest was quite short?