El Rescate del Talisman
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OK, I've never learned Spanish so I understand even less of this programme than the French one, but here's what I got from the episode on YouTube. Once again it'd be great if any Spanish speakers can help make sense of the rest.
I believe this is the first ever episode, hence the Magician's long speech at the beginning, presumably explaining what the programme's all about. He says something about how the Lord of Evil has stolen the Talisman. The team are called Roberto, Juan José, Marta and Mercedes.
They start in Brangwen's room, though I'm not sure what the Magician calls it (the chamber of something). I guess she tells the kid to pick up that scarf from the bench, for reasons which elude me, as he puts it down again after she's gone. She talks about different types of animal skin (tiger, seal, Astrakhan) and asks him "But what kind of animal is the Astrakhan?" - I think she adds that it's either a sea monster or a lamb. They answer "A lamb" and she says yes, "The Astrakhan is a lamb skin". Then she says something about the Ring of Salvation, which he picks up and puts in his bag.
Beardy Bloke creates the pit with the broken path, which the Magician calls "el paso de león" (the lion passage).
They meet Beardy Bloke again in the kitchen - he says something about the lion passage. Then he starts talking about mushrooms: "In the field, there were mushrooms of all kinds, all colours, all sizes - white, green. But God only chose the red with white [somethings]." Not sure about the next bit; then he says "A good friend or a bad friend?" They answer "A good friend" which is apparently wrong - he says something about "white with black [somethings]" being poisoned. Then he tells Roberto to give him the ring, "for my collection".
The Magician calls Morghanna's causeway "el pasadizo de la caverna" (the cavern passage) and says something about the flute on the cushion. Roberto steps off the path and disappears.
He's replaced by Juan José, who appears in the cave from the end of Level 2. The Magician says this dungeon is the domain of Tados (obviously based on the skeleton guy from Le Chevalier du Labyrinthe). I can only make out odd words and phrases that Tados mentions - "tombs", "immense monuments", "triangular form". He asks the kid a question and he correctly answers "Pyramids". Tados then gives him a handkerchief, says some more stuff including "solve the riddle", and sends him away.
They briefly wander through "el paso de la cascada" (the waterfall passage).
The Magician says they're in "la cueva de los enanos" (the cave of the dwarves, which is what they call goblins in this version), and that it's the home of the witch. I'm not sure how you spell the witch's name, which seems to be pronounced "Ura-oot". She says something about the dwarves, then mentions a handkerchief, so Juan José shows her the one Tados gave him, which makes her laugh. Then she gives him some sort of rhyming riddle, to which he answers "Tears" and seems to get it right. She sends him away past the "dwarves" at the back.
The next challenge is "la pasarela del foso" (the pit walkway). Note the phrase "un paso lateral a tu izquierda" (a sidestep to your left). About 20 seconds later, Juan José steps off the bridge when Mercedes tells him to turn right instead of left!
Marta takes his place, and finds herself in the throne room. The White Lady appears in the window and says something about the Lord of Evil.
Her first question relates to what Beardy Bloke told them in the kitchen: "What colour were the poisonous mushrooms that [something]?" Marta correctly answers "They were red with white [somethings]" and the first step appears.
The second question is about the object on the causeway where Roberto died, as I can make out "What [something] the cushion, the first emissary?" Marta incorrectly answers "A ring". The White Lady says something about the Lord of Evil, and they both disappear.
Mercedes picks up where Marta left off (guided by the Magician as there are no advisors left). The White Lady comes back, says "The answer was a flute" and creates the second step.
The third question is "Who accompanied the witch in her cave?" and again I can't make out the witch's name. Mercedes correctly answers "Four dwarves" and the third step appears.
She summons a king, who says something about the Talisman and the Lord of Evil, then tells her the magic word she needs to defeat him: NOSFERATU.
Once the king has gone, Mercedes sits on the throne and is transported to the villain's cave. The Lord of Evil approaches and tries to grab her, but she kills him by saying the magic word. He drops the Talisman, she picks it up and wins the game. She pulls a sword from a stone to release her kidnapped teammates, and they surround the Talisman and repeat the magic word to make their prizes appear on the table.
That seems to be the gist of it, but some extra detail would be nice!
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I've also watched the episode on KM.com which seems to be from the third series, but I have to agree that one is virtually incomprehensible...
The Magician (now played by Beardy Bloke from Series 1) rambles on about something before summoning and dressing the team, whose names don't appear to be mentioned. He randomly asks the first emissary something about Don Quixote?? I notice they've had to change the style of helmet to match the new title sequence nicked from Knightmare. They also have an Eyeshield now, which is only used once in the whole episode, though interestingly it's an Eyeshield sequence we never saw on the British version.
The king from the throne room turns up at the beginning instead this time. I dunno what he's telling them in this scene, apart from the password for the Blocker (POLIFEMO). He also gives her an item before sending her out the same way she came in.
Between every scene, the Magician can be seen ranting hysterically or chatting with the advisors about god knows what.
The first emissary gets toasted in the fire cave, which is obviously more dangerous than the one in Knightmare. This appears to make the Magician cry, though I can't tell whether he's being sincere or sarcastic. The boy advisor volunteers to go in next.
A princess says something about a warlock. She asks them a couple of questions, but the only part I can make out is "For example, in ancient Greece..." He apparently answers correctly and she gives him some kind of garment.
A Blocker demands "la contraseña" (the password), which they provide.
They meet a jester who asks a question - they correctly answer "Olympia" and he gives them something. A pooka appears above the exit, the significance of which isn't clear, as it doesn't seem to worry anyone.
The jester leads them into another room and creates a pit with narrow paths across it.
The witch whose name sounds like "Ura-oot" asks them a couple of questions, then gives them a tabard or something.
A monk says something about Greece, Socrates and the Parthenon. He asks a question and they correctly answer "Athena". He gives them some sort of huge jug. (Note the dungeoneer is now carrying a total of five items - I wonder if there's any limit at all!)
They meet a frog prince and give him all five of their objects. He doesn't seem to give them anything in return, and they leave. What the hell?
In the throne room, they get all three of the White Lady's questions right. I think the first one is something to do with the princess they met, but I can't catch anything else. They don't summon the king this time, just sit on the empty throne.
On the Great Causeway, they have to spell out FOSO ("pit") and PASA ("pass").
As before, the Lord of Evil is defeated by saying some magic words, though I'm not sure what they are or when they learned them. (Maybe the frog guy told them??) They free their teammate, and the Magician conjures up some computers, then shouts at the viewers.
Could anyone actually follow what was being said in any part of that episode?
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Can't believe no-one has posted this yet - there are two new clips of El Rescate del Talismán on YouTube! How exciting. They're both from the first series - one complete episode and the second half of another. Wish I had a considerably better grasp of Spanish...
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Thanks for these Annie, they were brilliant!
That kind of 'boss fight' at the end has brilliant music (along with the antechamber music at the start) but I keep laughing when the kids are just standing there like, "...please just stop with your random dancing and get over here."
And that slow-motion fall at the end...I loved it!!!
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I keep laughing when the kids are just standing there like, "...please just stop with your random dancing and get over here."
Yes, it's pretty hilarious how the so-called 'Lord of Evil' never seems particularly scary or powerful, just flails about laughing and waving the talisman in their face for no apparent reason! And there was me thinking the final encounters with Lord Fear were too easy... at least he actually had something to say for himself, and you couldn't make him fall over dead just by saying a word and poking him.
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Oh wow, I've been wanting to see the third series of El Rescate del Talismán for ages! Someone finally found a recording of it. Featuring the Gandalf-like Treguard figure, purple woodland scenes, various new characters including a guy dressed as a tree and a Gundrada type, a Smirkenorff flight (yes, he even has the same name in the Spanish version!), a talking raven, the demonic new villain and his Lissard-esque sidekick, a Causeway (not entirely sure of the rules??), and lots of incongruous '90s dance music. They've also now introduced quests that last for more than one episode. It seems a LOT more watchable than the second series with the hysterical ranting host!
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Just found a couple more clips of the third series, uploaded by one of the actresses (not sure if that makes them "official" and OK to link). They had annoying elves in the Spanish version too! Their names are Lindal and Ghendan, according to the actress' blog.
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Sadly not, since the actresses don't own the rights
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The official Archivo RTVE website currently has six episodes of El Rescate del Talismán available to watch, at https://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/programas-y-concursos-en-el-archivo-de-rtve/. No registration required.
Interestingly, the lengths vary from just under 25 minutes to just over half an hour.
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Because of changes to the Archivo RTVE website, the link in my previous post no longer works in the way it did.
However, the latest El Rescate del Talismán episode they've uploaded has links to the other episodes (eight in total).
This latest episode is from the third and final series (1994). It's fascinating in how it differs from El Rescate del Talismán Series 1 and 2 (e.g. rolling gameplay) and from Knightmare, while mixing handpainted rooms and photo locations in an almost fanfiction-like way.
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The official Archivo RTVE website currently has six episodes of El Rescate del Talismán available to watch, at https://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/programas-y-concursos-en-el-archivo-de-rtve/. No registration required.
I've finally had a chance to watch all of these - wow, I can't believe how many episodes are available now (21 at time of writing)! Some scattered thoughts, spoilery in places...
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The "first programme" that's available to watch, dated 29th May 1991, is not the actual first episode (I think it's about episode 6, as the series started on 24th April 1991). Having trawled through the TV listings in the Spanish newspaper archives, I believe the reported total of 78 episodes is also too low - it's somewhere around 85/86, but Series 2 is a mess of regional variations so it's hard to pin down exactly. Series 1 probably had 31 episodes and Series 3 had 29. The first series was the only one to air across two years, with a gap of more than a year before Series 2 in April 1993.
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It has become apparent that the Series 1 & 2 character credits on the IMDb are completely wrong. María Sanz is listed as "witch" and Marga González as Velda/Amazon and "maid", but it must be the other way round because María Sanz is credited on screen as the Lady of the Lake in Series 3 and it's definitely the Velda/princess actress.
Similar confusion exists with the male cast of Series 1 which has taken me a while to untangle. I'm pretty sure the Lord of Evil actor is also playing both Rufo and Tados (guy's got range!), and I had previously read somewhere, probably on the IMDb, that the Lord of Evil was Daniel Fortea. This seemed to fit with Miguel Ángel Suárez playing the king, as he would have been in his fifties at the time. However it's Miguel who is credited on screen as the phantom in Series 3, and that's surely the same actor who played Tados and the original Lord of Evil (his voice and movements are so distinctive). It's now clear that the wrong Miguel Ángel Suárez has been associated with ERDT on the IMDb - the fifty-something was a Puerto Rican actor who mostly worked there and in South America rather than Spain, and I found a clip of him in Stir Crazy which bore no resemblance to anyone in this show. I think it should be this actor who can be seen as a window cleaner in a 1991 Spanish comedy film, looking very much like Rufo! This must mean Daniel Fortea was actually the king?? (Helpfully he has no other screen credits whatsoever and shares his name with a composer who died in 1953, so I'm unable to find anything that confirms it.)
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Sometimes they do nothing to earn a clue object (just find it on the floor) and don't even have to figure out when or how to use it, because the Magician just tells them. What's the point?!
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Marga González does a good raven voice!
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Quite a comical scene in the second episode, with the Magician doing a little dance with hand signals to help with the guiding, and then the male advisor getting really carried away screaming directions at the top of his lungs - take a chill pill, little dude!!!
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Love the random pussycat in a couple of episodes!
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OMG, the fourth team are an utter shambles from the outset, with the poor dungeoneer practically doing the hokey-cokey while all three girls gabble directions at him - the Magician has to tell them not to talk all at once as they'll confuse him, and Rufo has to start beckoning him forward to help with the guiding! None of them can tell left from right either, which doesn't help!
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I like the Rock/Paper/Scissors scenario where they use the paper to clear some rocks from the path. (I initially thought they'd taken the wrong item as it seemed like they were meant to choose the "winner" out of paper or dagger - I must have missed something in the explanation. Or does it not matter which item they take, as the later obstacle will be adjusted according to their choice?)
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Aww, cute bunny in the intro to the fifth episode!
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So the snake in the broken arch room really can get you - quite scary!!
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I feel like there's a slight overuse of tricky winding paths in this programme. They have to navigate them sooooooo slowly, it's not exactly riveting television! (Side note, I've started to find myself shouting "Sigue, sigue, sigue!" at the screen whenever the emissary stops unnecessarily, LOL.)
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Unexpected Grimwold cameo!
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Using the magic sponge to empty the pool is a nice variation. I was startled to see Rufo carrying the emissary on his shoulders - can you imagine Paul Valentine doing that?!
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Oof, mangled by the Mills of Doom - I was reminded of Stuart on the Geek Week episode ("It was the smallest jump ever!"). Fun to see people being killed in ways that never happened on Knightmare!
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Wow, it really was possible to fail on the Spanish version despite all those extra lives (and it's quite refreshing to see, after most episodes have the same formulaic climax). They don't half rub it in, with all this "You've made me sad, you've made the king sad, you've let your families down, you don't get any of these amazing prizes"... how bad do you want these kids to feel?! The shot of the Lord of Evil fondling the consoles was hilarious and I'm not sure if it was meant to be!
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Interesting to see that the Spanish version borrows rooms from Le Chevalier du Labyrinthe as well as original Knightmare!
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Uraut flying away on her broomstick looks really cool.
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I was quite disappointed not to see the cobra after all the talk of it being on the loose!
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One team were clearly doomed to failure on the serpent's tongue, but I wasn't expecting a massive axe to materialise out of nowhere and smash him into oblivion - that really made me jump! (Having seen something similar happen in later episodes, I'm starting to get the impression they didn't have a falling animation to use in the Spanish version?!)
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Did anyone understand Grom's scorpion riddle? I couldn't make head nor tail of it, with something about wings and thunder??
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The one where they grab everything off the table at the end is funny, especially as the one item they don't bother with is the sacred talisman they've supposedly been questing to recover for their family.
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I can't quite imagine Paul Valentine kicking a female dungeoneer up the arse either, LOL!
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I know they don't consume the contents of the knapsack in this version but I couldn't help feeling alarmed by Uraut putting hemlock in it!!
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Grom telling the emissary "Don't be scared, I don't bite" before biting her arm was quite funny!
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Wow, a team that actually manage to win without losing any lives, Knightmare-style!
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I enjoy feeling smug when I figure out a riddle and the team don't, and since I'm already familiar with all the Knightmare riddles it's been a while since I got to experience this, haha.
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It took me ages to work out how the four objects from Uraut were connected to Grom's riddle. Some of these "clues" are so obscure they're more confusing than helpful!
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Good lord, the Magician is really starting to get carried away with his long irrelevant storytime at the beginning of each episode. (Also, when he told the anecdote about the maiden who offered him food & drink, was anyone else expecting it to be "the Lord of Evil in a dress" rather than "a forest fairy"?)
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Amused by the subtitles "a step to the right no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no" - says it all really!
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Ooo, the Magician has a bit of a Treguard moment, telling off Uraut like Mildread!
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I'm learning lots of nice Spanish names from the contestants on here! Marta seems to have been popular among girls at the time - I wonder if it inspired the naming of our Series 7 character?!
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LOL, what's with the random disembodied voice moaning "Stooooone!" after they walk their emissary off the side of a bridge and a huge boulder squashes him?! (It seems to become relevant later in the quest but it's not at all clear to me how they knew what to do...)
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I love Rufo mimicking all the emissary's movements as the advisors make a hash of guiding him out, hahahaha.
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What happened to emissary Fernando??? They were seemingly told to investigate some rocks, but when they guided him over to them, he vanished for no apparent reason and got replaced. What did they do wrong, apart from taking an age to navigate the room??
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Ooooooooo, Tados and Velda fencing is very cool now I'm more familiar with these characters!
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The last available episode of Series 1 is all kinds of bizarre. First we have Rufo inexplicably diving into one of the holes in the stained glass window room, with a bubbling sound effect. (It seems that both these gaps and the black void in Merlin's throne room have been interpreted as pools of water rather than holes you can fall through.) Then the first appearance of the minecart ride, complete with the actual Indiana Jones theme music - and a couple of scenes later they've added TARDIS sound effects to the fire cave!! Was it getting towards the end of the quest season and they decided to blow the remaining budget on licensing some famous audio tracks for a laugh?! (I reckon they had two huge let-offs in this quest too, in the scorpion room and the fire cave!)
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Interesting that the Vale of Banburn is referred to as Death Valley, which seems to be its original name in Knightmare based on David Rowe's image filenames!
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Onto Series 2 now, with many changes including the introduction of Smirkenorff. Oh no, just when I thought I'd identified pretty much all the filming locations, here's a flight sequence along a river valley that we've never seen before - where's THAT?!
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We appear to have a medieval monk talking about a character from the Asterix comics. It's so weird when they put this pop culture stuff in the French and Spanish versions!
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The host is now physically attacking the advisors because they declined his offer of an enema. It's quite different from Series 1, isn't it!!
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Imagine Treguard deliberately shouting wrong directions like this guy while they're in the Corridor of Blades or trying to navigate a causeway. It's hard enough as it is!
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Blimey, I was not expecting the weeping doors to find their way into the Spanish version! Quite nice to meet a new one after all this time, I suppose...
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Cracking up at the giggly ghost with the high-pitched Mickey Mouse voice! (Miguel Suárez again? He sounds kind of like Rufo and then more like Tados when he drops his voice down low. And he moves like the Lord of Evil...)
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And now a Peggatty appearance!
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I don't think I've ever seen a team use "diagonal left" and "diagonal right" directions before (except possibly in the lion's head room where they have to take a diagonal step to cross the broken path). It's quite efficient for crossing a causeway but also quite risky - he steps very close to the edge at times!!
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Interesting that on one occasion they're given the spell for the final confrontation right at the start of their quest. (I was expecting them to use it for something else along the way, and briefly wondered how the hell they were meant to defeat the Lord of Evil before remembering they had that spell!) This makes it much more believable that there are teams who lost because they forgot the magic words, which is something I've read online but found hard to imagine during Series 1.
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Oh hello, the Sphinx gets a bit of an origin story instead of posing riddles for once! Perhaps Brangwen has a similar tale?
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It seems odd that in Series 2 they're only rewarded with the ring of salvation if they fail a question and then get lucky with the dice roll! (I don't quite understand when the dice comes into play and when it doesn't in this series - not enough episodes available to identify a pattern. It's obviously not after the first question any more.)
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Flippin' heck, did Isel have to put the male emissary's hands round her waist to demonstrate how the transporter pads work? It's quite intimate...! (Then she's holding his hand and promising to "carry you in my heart" - get a room, you two!!)
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I can't get over how quickly and efficiently they complete the transporter pads challenge on this show, compared to Knightmare! (On that note, at least there's a lot less tedious shuffling about in Series 2!)
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A query: in Series 1 they could get away with losing three lives if they made it to the throne room as the Magician would then guide the last emissary forward, but in Series 2 it's no longer the last room, so does that rule still apply? I can't imagine the new Magician guiding them across a causeway, considering he's normally trying to guide them off it!
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LOL at the host suggesting "The phone book" in answer to which book told of Ulysses' adventures!
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I would very much not like to be the advisor who sits next to the Magician in this series - they're constantly in danger of being whacked round the face with his cloak, poked in the eye and god knows what else!
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Why are pookas randomly used as door markers in this show?!
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It took me quite a while to understand Uraut's riddle about the ducks! (It seems to hinge upon the Spanish "pata" meaning either a leg or a female duck, but I was totally bewildered until I realised this.)
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Is it me or are the Lord of Evil's glowing red eyes a bit skewiff in the last Series 2 episode?! This is the first time we've seen an emissary snatch the talisman off him instead of waiting for him to drop it - this kid is badass, haha!
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And now a couple of eps from Series 3... the third host is considerably more helpful and encouraging than his predecessor, to the point of quite often taking over the guiding when the advisors aren't doing a great job of it! (It's odd how he keeps randomly addressing the camera in between scenes - is he talking to the advisors or the viewers at home?)
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The Lord of Evil has had quite a transformation - it's weird that he's suddenly become chatty when we only ever saw him dance around laughing in the previous two series! I'd love to know if there were any in-universe explanations for this and the changes of host etc.
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Hmmmmm. They must have reclaimed a good 70 talismans by this point, which according to the premise of the show ought to have significantly weakened the Lord of Evil's power (how many of the damn things are there exactly?!) and yet he's now extending his influence across this forest as well, and not reacting half as dramatically to the spells they use against him. I am forced to conclude the plan isn't working!!
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Aww, I love that Smirky's firestones were carried across to the Spanish version! (And his name, which sounds great in a Spanish accent!)
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EVERYTHING IS PURPLE. They've gone all Knightmare Series 4 on us!!
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Did the Druid just say that dragons are absolutely harmless? Are you sure about that?!
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Series 3 seems ridiculously easy - they're always being given information and clue objects without doing anything to earn them, and even when they do have to answer a question first, the rewards are so vital to their quest that they surely would have been given them anyway. On one occasion they appear to get a question wrong, but don't lose a life (even though he said they must answer it "in order to move forward") and still get to choose an object??
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Ooo, the other episode features a never-before-seen view of the charcoal burner's tent. It's fun seeing Knightmare leftovers being used in this!
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The ferryman drops some unexpected Knightmare lore on us, claiming that firestones come from the Earth's core!
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I am super confused as to why the Druid keeps saying they've reached Level 3 when they land on Smirkenorff. Both times this is about five minutes into their quest and there was no mention of Level 2 that I noticed?? What do the levels mean in this show?
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The "spyglass scene" is very Lord Fear & Lissard, although not as funny. I assume the reptilian henchman is Kagor, and he sounds pretty much the same as when Rufo puts on a voice at one point in Series 1, which adds further weight to Miguel Suárez being him as well. It appears he went from playing the Lord of Evil to playing his servant!
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Oh, this team are very good at the causeway with "11 o'clock" and "1 o'clock" diagonal stride directions! (Oops, spoke too soon - they deaded him...)
Damn, I'm really into this programme now and invested in the backstory. Moar episodes pleeeeeeeeeeeease?!
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I've now written a much more detailed and accurate Lexicon entry for the show, if that's useful for anyone: http://interactive.knightmare.org.uk/lexicon/entry/1191
I'm not great with Spanish so any corrections or additions are welcome!
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Damn, I'm really into this programme now and invested in the backstory. Moar episodes pleeeeeeeeeeeease?!
Yay, they've added another episode from Series 2! Perhaps there will be more on the way soon?
This one includes a treat for filming location nerds (....that'll be me and Jake, then), with a nice shot of Smirkenorff outside the entrance to Carew Castle, which never appeared in Knightmare. (I don't think we've seen the preceding Eyeshield sequence in Orford Castle before, either?)
LOL at the troubadour taking the piss out of the dungeoneer for mumbling his answer - the female extra seems quite amused by it too!
The Block & Tackle makes its first known appearance in ERDT and I really thought we were about to get a Simon moment...
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A new Series 1 episode has appeared! More than half of that series is available now.
Good job this isn't Knightmare as it would have been the shortest quest ever - I thought they were going to send her into a pit with only her second step, and they managed it with her fourth step!!!
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Another Series 2 episode showed up last month, though I've only just had a chance to watch it. Never seen a dungeoneer perish on THAT obstacle before! (The host remarks "*I understand that it's extremely difficult
to distinguish between left and right*", hahaha.)
(I don't quite understand when the dice comes into play and when it doesn't in this series - not enough episodes available to identify a pattern. It's obviously not after the first question any more.)
This episode features TWO rolls of the dice, which has me even more confused as to what prompts its appearance in this series?!
I'm also not sure when the hell they were told what their quest was - either I missed something or a scene has been cut for time (possibly the conclusion of the ghost encounter).
The host picking a team via his mirror at the start is the closest thing we've seen to someone using a spyglass in ERDT!
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