Series 3 - Episode 13
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The end of Julie-my favourite Knightmare death! So unfair they didnt get the magic from Merlin-think they caught him on a very bad day. Can't help thinking if they'd got through to level 3 they'd have gone all the way?!
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Had a chance to view today's episode and it was a bit bizarre in places.
Firstly they couldn't answer Merlin's two riddles (I was expecting for a moment for Merlin to use some magic and blast away the path beneath the dungeoneer's feet to send them down into the chasm when they got it wrong, but he's not an evil sorcerer. (Lillith would not hesitate to show no mercy)
I think the proper response on the first question was (a) Persian Cat, but they supplied enough of the answer to grant them truth. I knew the second was a kind of Bat and when they answered 'squirrel', it was a laugh out loud moment. In the end that one mistake was their ultimate demise.
Another appearance of the Raven and then a giant toad in the next room but Goblins appeared and they had to rescue the woman. (Velda ?)
Soon after that they took too much time in one of the corridors, Goblins returned, they got cornered, and the team suggested "Say Hello to the Goblins" (offer them a present) ?
That didn't work, and the quest abruptly ended.
Next team along only featured briefly before end of episode but had to question the Shark Pool incident (wouldn't being in water normally harm the dungeoneer or result in life-force damage) and then 'The Jaws Theme'
(Isn't Knightmare supposed to take place centuries before the introduction of cinema (or indeed Steven Spielberg !) Not sure what was going on there
Motley was ahead, although I think I prefer this one over the often irritating Alec Westwood.
Tells a 'Joke' - why did the Punk cross the road.... Did they get it out of a Christmas Cracker ?
Couldn't quite recognize the wall monster (was not Granitas or Igenous or the 'female' one) and the riddles were quite difficult I found (only got one out of three ashamed to say)
Treguard advised the dungeoneer to keep his head down through the corridor (as the head room was limited) but I thought a greater danger could be had by the flying bat's. (This is now perhaps a nice touch after previously just going through one door to another in order to progress)
Believe the last room featured was the fire pit with skull presence. Not much to report here as the dungeoneer had hardly moved from his starting position before time had beaten us all.
Quite a silly episode to say the least, but nonetheless enjoyable.
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(Isn't Knightmare supposed to take place centuries before the introduction of cinema (or indeed Steven Spielberg !)
It's ambiguous. The original idea appeared to be that it was set in the late 13th century, but in later series it was stated that it's set in a world that lies 'beneath' our own. It's been left vague enough that viewers can make of it whatever they wish.
Couldn't quite recognize the wall monster (was not Granitas or Igenous or the 'female' one) and the riddles were quite difficult I found (only got one out of three ashamed to say)
Igneous, Olgarth and Granitas were all written out at the end of season 2, as the technology to portray wall monsters a bit more convincingly had been figured out. The production team replaced the very obvious foam puppet-masks (which seemed to be falling to bits anyway if you looked closely at them) with animated drawings of most of the face overlayed on video of the voice actor's mouth. The animation of Golgarach and Brangwen (as well as Oakley and the door monsters in season 4) still looks limited and stiff by today's standards, but they were a clear step up from the 'stuffed-dummies' look of their predecessors.
It also allowed the wall monsters to become a fair bit larger in season 3. If you look at Golgarach, he fills up the entire wall of the 'original' clue-room, whereas Granitas and Olgarth were a lot smaller, leaving room for that filled-in doorway on the back wall (gone in season 3). In fairness, the introduction of Igneous in the red clue room in season 2 had been a step on the road to addressing that, as he was the first wall monster to fill up an entire wall.
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Treguard always talked about how the difference between our world and his world, and it was our heros going off to adventure in his world. So it was always in the present day.
They enter Treguards room via a portal, and then another takes them to the dungeon itself.
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He also often talked in the early years about our "time" being different from his, and about dungeoneers "crossing the boundaries of time". He called his era "The age of adventure", or "The time of adventure", and made it clear that that is not our time, so it might not have been the present. "Beyond the boundaries of time lies the Age of the Fantastic," he said on one occasion. On another, at Temporal Disruption, he said, "It's back to your own tedious time for you lot." While he never explicitly referred to our time as the future, he did on one occasion say, "Perhaps wits and skill have been out-bred in your era?" which does seem to imply that he was speculating about times ahead.
Of course, all of this terminology could be interpreted as some form of inter-dimensional travel rather than time travel, but then one is given to ask why the series wasn't explicit about it until about season 4. On the other hand, Treguard said on many occasions, early years and later, that he 'can't look into the future', and yet he seemed to know a lot about our time e.g. knowing about rugby, referring to the country as the United Kingdom etc. That would imply that he does live in the present.
As I say, it's ambiguous.
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I remember reading one of the early Knightmare books and recall vividly that it stated the dungeon quest was set in around the 14th or 15th century. (Oddly enough in the same publication it also had mention of a Car, I merely put it down as a printing error)
Point being, it would indicate the series of books and the actual television series aren't set in the same time period, although we still see names that are consistent in both, such as Treguard himself, Merlin etc.
Bear in mind, the target audience of the Knightmare TV series (and books i'd imagine) are for younger teenagers, and they're there just to watch the show and take in the experience, not necessarily to debate what century or period of time it is. (Sorry if rambling, it's late, and I was merely trying to get a point across)
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I remember reading one of the early Knightmare books and recall vividly that it stated the dungeon quest was set in around the 14th or 15th century. (Oddly enough in the same publication it also had mention of a Car, I merely put it down as a printing error)
Is that Merlin's alleged reference to 'a car and a bar of soap' in The Labyrinths of Fear gamebook section? There are anachronisms throughout the Knightmare episodes and books - Treguard actually complains about anachronism in (I believe) Series 6 Episode 1. I like to treat them as being there for the entertainment of the watcher/reader, although some may just be inside jokes by the writer. When magic and time displacement are involved, anything goes.
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Team 10 used the three steps to reach Merlin, but his 2nd question was a tricky one and they gave the wrong answer. So no magic for them, but he told them that they could still succeed. (yeah right, as-if!)
In the caverns they encountered Lady Velda, who had been captured by goblins. She gave them a beryl as thanks for releasing her.
As the goblins returned, the team fled and entered the corridor of the catacombs. Unfortunately there was a goblin ambush waiting there and without Merlin's magic they were defenceless. With no other options, one advisor suggested that Julie offer the goblins the beryl. The goblins weren't interested in gemstones off course.... Ooooh naaaasty!
I feel rather sorry for team 10. They were another competent team who failed due to one wrong answer. The idea of trying to bribe the goblins was not brilliant, but they had nothing else. Some people have rubbished them, ignoring the fact that they had done well until that moment.
Team 11 had a shaky start.
In the pool room Martin was given the hurry-up by a shark. (Seriously? A haunting might have been more suitable.) They had major confusion before finally getting him to climb out to safety.
When i originally watched this episode my initial reaction to this was that they wouldn't survive to the end of level 1.
Nice detail that Martin pretends to shake the water from his feet after he gets out. This was the first of several amusing moments in his quest. Were they his improvisations or were they scripted?
After this room however, the team quickly settled down and made good progress.
Nice scene with Motley in the kitchen. Martin's joke for Motley was better than Leo's team managed.
2/3 against Golgarach, but massive inconsistency: They were told which item not to take, so didn't have to guess. Team 10 received no further knowledge for 2/3 answers....
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