Those that were denied...
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It was the same with a team from series 4. On 1 occasion the team needed magic to pass the block and tackle room but they didn't have any and unfortunately perished. Other occasions magic wasn't required.
Yeah, and that's another example that reeks of being an invented explanation after the fact, because surely the spell was meant for Ariadne rather than the Block & Tackle...
Another 2 examples was Sarah's team from series 5 when Elita refused to help her and perished on the corridor of blades. Also Daniel's team from series 8 when he didn't have a sight spell and again perished in the corridor of blades.
I think maybe the teams could have conquered the corridor of blades unaided but it seems strange that without the help they perished so it would appear they needed the help or a spell.
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Just so we're all on the same page, this is what happened in Nathan's quest:
Maldame was on a balcony in Linghorm. Treguard warned them to be cautious as she didn't seem to like anyone: "She's very powerful, very dangerous and very unpredictable." She complained about Nathan's lack of respect because he hadn't kneeled in front of her, and also stated that when she was his age, she didn't require help or handouts from anyone else. She then observed that his quest would take him to Marblehead.
Maldame: "Would you care to carry a small gift to Lord Fear for me?"
Nathan: "I would do that for you."
Maldame: "You will? Very good. You will find it aboard a Golden Galleon. It is a glass globe. Do not hand it to Lord Fear in person. Place it on the ground wherever you are when it starts to glow with an amber glow. Perhaps you're not such a frightful child after all! Thank you Nathan. Dismiss."
Seemingly during the next scene (but possibly filmed separately, as the team were neither shown nor heard during the conversation), Majida asked Treguard, "Was it right to accept task from Maldame without getting some kind of reward?" Treguard: "Well, in the circumstances, it seems extremely generous, but it's done now."
Later, when Nathan had sidestepped down a hole in the fireball chamber, Treguard told them: "Some extra magic might have helped you with this very difficult puzzle, team - and you could have got that magic from Maldame. But you didn't, did you?"
It is certainly open to interpretation whether or not this sequence of events can be taken at face value. In my opinion, if the team really were supposed to ask Maldame for a reward at that point, it was extremely unfair. She gave Nathan ONE brief opportunity to speak, and it's implied that he should have instinctively answered "What will you give me in return?" instead of politely agreeing to carry out a task for her. The team had no way of knowing there would be no further opportunity to negotiate the terms of the agreement, but once she had explained what she wanted him to do, she made it clear that the conversation was over. Harsh. Especially as she had only just ranted about young people being rude and expecting handouts, and they were trying not to get on the wrong side of her, as per Treguard's advice!
It should also be noted that when Hordriss asked Kelly to do him a favour in Series 5, she asked him what he would do for them in return, and he simply replied, "Ah, that is for you to discover when you have agreed to help me." It was supposed to be a risky decision that they would have to make. There was no reason to believe that the situation with Nathan and Maldame was any different.
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Sometimes a teams needed a spell for the Play your cards right room.
If a team dies in the Blades you don't need to tell them they should have needed a spell, you let them think they just weren't good enough, I like to think theses rooms can and should be done without magic (magic should make it easier, but if they're good enough to survive without then far play to them, those rooms are tough)
But had a team insisted on getting help I doubt any info or magic would have been related to the block and tackle or blades. but we shall never know.
It's like the producers have already decided which team they're gonna allow or help win.
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Also for Barry's quest he needed to take a sight potion to help him with play your cards right but for Julie's quest no spells were needed.
I still say for all the teams affected how come they all perished if they required magic or extra help but didn't earn it? If they genuinely didn't need any spells or anything else then I would put it down to the teams panicking and it got to them.
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How does the sight spell work? His in a green screen room LOL.
and how on earth does seeing that room help in solving the puzzle?
For Barry's quest in series 7 when he had to take the sight potion, Barry indicated he could see the playing cards. I don"t know if there was a device in the helmet to enable him to see something. Prehaps Alan could shed some light on this?
It obviously helped Barry because he stated he could see the playing cards. Also when Ben from series 7 took a site potion he said he could see the whole room. I.e he basically sees what the team, Treguard and Madija are viewing on the screen in the antechamber.
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I always thought with the sight spell he might have been able to open the visor and saw the room from a screen opposite him, at the room goes left to right the screen wouldn't be in sight for the viewer.
Still not sure how it would help, you've still got to solve the puzzle and most deaths were from teams not touching the correct card and nothing to do with navigation. Other teams certainly didn't need a sight spell, but is sad that a team would be forced killed in that room had they not picked up magic, magic should be an aide no necessary essential for that type of puzzle.
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There must have been a reason why Barry needed to use the sight potion for play your cards right. Otherwise it would have been a pointless exercise. I get that teams should not rely on magic to conquer a puzzle but for the odd scenerio the producers must have changed certain rooms so magic must be used in order to complete them to mix things up. Otherwise the rooms would have been too generic. And that would have made the puzzles boring and predictable.
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The sight spells/potions feel a bit like blocking off the gutter lanes in a bowling alley ie a bit of unnecessary hand-holding. When Barry used it for PYCR it made it easier for him to walk from block to block but I'm not sure the producers could have forced a kill if he didn't have it; the gameplay was the same as before.
These post death explanations do seem to just be a bit of colour added to the script - you could take any death and say 'magic would have helped here team' and who's to say any different.
As for the mechanics of the sight spell, the later style helmet does seem to be built around a 90s virtual reality headset so I assume dungeoneers were allowed to see the rooms from within the visor.
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But if the sight spell helped him jump the blocks would they have killed him off if he didn't have it? Many teams did it without a spell I think.
If I team is good enough to navigate they're player without the need for magic I think that's far more rewarding, and the production teams killing them off for making a mistake.
It's the end of level quests in later series that make laugh, what if they didn't get back with the hammer or lightning rod? sometimes Km was fixed.
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For me one of the most unfairly denied teams was Leo's in Series 3. They had performed really well and Leo interacted well and didn't just wait to be told what to do all of the time. To fail because they got just one (very hard) riddle wrong seems desperately unfair.
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For me one of the most unfairly denied teams was Leo's in Series 3. They had performed really well and Leo interacted well and didn't just wait to be told what to do all of the time. To fail because they got just one (very hard) riddle wrong seems desperately unfair.
Totally agree with this and along with Martin, also in series 3 perished just because of a very hard question. I guess the problem was it left the producers no choice after they both got their questions wrong but to kill the teams off.
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So the sight spell doesn't really help the team in any way? What's the point in just being able to see the cards.. that's not going to help!! It sounds like a half baked idea to me that didn't quite work.
The one that bothers me in series 3 was the death involving the axe and the tiny ledge, I can't recall how well the team did up to that point but that room was deadly. It was only used the once, maybe because it was too hard?
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So the sight spell doesn't really help the team in any way? What's the point in just being able to see the cards.. that's not going to help!! It sounds like a half baked idea to me that didn't quite work.
The one that bothers me in series 3 was the death involving the axe and the tiny ledge, I can't recall how well the team did up to that point but that room was deadly. It was only used the once, maybe because it was too hard?
Yes the room was only used once. It was a bit harsh because the path wasn't very good and it was very zig zag from what I remember of it. It would have been very hard for any team to navigate the path.
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It was a good room to force a kill, the way the path really narrows and twists, the axe making matters worse as the team panic.
While it wasn't an unfair death the one I really feel sorry for was the team to slightly over stepped their jump in Merlin's room.. that was so unlucky.
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Yes, in practice, the sight potion/spell/whatever is a macguffin. It's sole purpose is to be collected so that you can use it. I discussed it with Tim a while ago, and he mentioned that they were never entirely satisfied with it.
In practice, I recall that one team dies as a result of not having sight when a troll steps in front of the advisor's "view" - at least according to Treguard. I guess that's the sort of situation in which sight might be useful. But, again, it's a bit of a fix. They justified the use of the solution by introducing a new problem.
I don't think any of the team were particularly happy about how this feature worked out.
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