Series 5 - Episode 16
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I really loved this final episode - the end of season drama really worked for (terrified the life out) me at that age (7). There was the typical humour; Paul Valentine really starting to find his feet with the character of Sylvester Hands, and Mark Knight, as ever, showing his terrific dexterity for a potentially dead-end character that was made to work.
The interesting comparison for me between the end of seasons 5 and 6 is the focus on end of season and a tension build up. Especially given the (arguably) weak ending for Season 4, the light-heartedness in this final episode wouldn't have given away that a plot was underway to freeze the dungeon, and therefore it seems quite rushed to spot the happenings in the spyglass just a few minutes before the end, and for the spell to begin instantaneously. Season 6 draws the suspense out a lot longer, over a few quests even, and that gets my vote for the best end of season.
However, as an entire episode, I can't fault this for having a little of everything, and not being rigged fully with tension: the hobgoblin making a prize rare appearance, and putting me behind the sofa; Michael Cule's haunting distorted voice and heroics in blasting the brute; Sir Hugh; and Hordriss adding a great urgency, which really heightened the ending. It did sum-up Season 5 in my estimations ~ really progressing and having moments of brilliance, but in the shadow of the two following years and showing where experimentation was helping to further the game to new and greater heights. Great stuff.
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Nice scene with Sir Hugh and Sly Hands.
Hark back to S4 with the pact with Hordriss. Made a pact to take a staff and put it in the blue fire.
Aesandre took a dislike to the dungeoneer as she was blond, but I wonder what the production crew had against her, surely noone else has been stuck with a staff, the eyeshield, a spyglass, a book and gold!
Called MANIFACT three times but Hordriss came anyway.
Saw the number causeway below the credits.
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Really enjoying watching a team who all contribute, it makes such a big difference!
It's interesting how this team managed the causeway fine with the usual walking forwards and side-stepping moves and no panicking.
One question to get the token from Gwen and it wasn't a very difficult one. There's been a large range of question difficulty this series. The gatekeeper is a legend! He totally zapped the hobgoblin it is a shame that he doesn't come back again complete with booming voice. Smirkenorff's landing command is so much better than just saying 'land' too.
In the clue room from the scroll it seemed clear to take the book, then with the choice between the gold and the green stone it was less clear so I suspect it would have worked out okay no matter which one they would have taken. At this point it seems like it's all still set up like a normal quest despite the impending end of the season.
Good to see Hordriss again, I don't think we've seen him since the Elita's voice/BAG incident. Is he wandering around with bare feet? I've never noticed that before. The team agree to recharge a staff with blue fire, incidentally the blue fire affect looks pretty cool (pun fully intended ). I liked the introduction of the short story to end the season rather then just timing out on the team. I liked Aesandre in a pantomime evil way and the reason for trying to get Kelly (that she's a blonde) was delivered in such a way that I actually did laugh out loud.
I've enjoyed S5, it's taken a lot of the elements of S4 and improved upon and refined them. The eyeshield sequences add to the themeing but don't drag so much and the rooms look better now that the colours are more muted and less pixellated. The introduction of the spyglasses and the face of the opposition really turned up the tension a notch and made it feel more like an epic battle between good and evil which carries across the different quests and makes the series feel a lot more coherent. The move away from answering 3 questions to get clues is a bit more contentious but I think the causeways go some way towards providing more of a challenge to replace the need for sometimes quite specific general knowledge. We also have the introduction of several characters who last through the next few seasons and some brilliant one-liners .
However I think that there have been some big problems with this series; more than once we've had teams where only one advisor has spoken which reduces my enjoyment of watching. I also think that the difficultly of some of the quests has varied a lot; from the difficultly of questions asked to the level of hinting that some teams got. Some teams were punished with death for things like counting the wrong number of floors in the descender or taking the wrong clue object when there was no clear hint, while some teams seem to pass through the dungeon with some kind of halo, it seems whatever items they take it will work out in the end. I don't think the first team to make it to level 3 were particularly good and I feel a bit sorry for the teams I thought were better who didn't get as far. Some of these problems are dealt with by the time we get to the next series, so there is a positive outcome
I'm trying to decide if I should dive straight into watching S6 or if I should wait and mull over S5 first with the happiness of still having S6 to watch since it's my favourite...
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I really liked this episode.
Kelly's team were a really good team, excellent guiding on the causeway in particular (since they do it by sidestepping rather than turning her at odd angles; always a better strategy, in my opinion) and they clearly had good interaction. Could they have won? Maybe, maybe not. If Duncan hadn't blundered about for a while in the previous quest they might have done. We'll never know, but at least they didn't actually die, so they should be proud of this. They weren't sent on a massive side quest like Chris from S6 or Barry from S7, but the whole thing with Hordriss and the staff actually set it up nicely.
I don't know if this was a deliberate set-up or not. Had the scene happened in an earlier episode he might have rewarded her with spells. As it was, it was nice timing as they needed to complete a task to escape the big freeze. They did so quickly and efficiently and deserved to get out alive. They also weren't given an unceremonious disappearance á la S6's end team. They got to sit and watch the ending in the antechamber, and well-deserved it was too.
Lord Fear came into his own, which was nice. He was still finding his feet in this series, but really got into his stride during the last two scenes, especially his anger at the end about being frozen himself and having a Dungeoneer slip through his fingers. He was really building himself up to become a feared villain in the next series - which, of course, he was.
End credits were odd. Obviously they never used this puzzle. It looks tricky; I can't work it out, myself. My guess is that it was a prototype of a puzzle that was going to be used in Series 6, so they put it in as a teaser for the traps that were to come. It clearly wasn't finished, though - hence the sudden freeze towards the end and the superimposition of Smirky - presumably in order to continue movement for the Watchers to look at while ignoring the words.
Good ending all round for a series which I originally thought I didn't like, but after rewatching it, I think it's become one of my favourites. A vast improvement over Series 4 and certainly a good variation in every quest.
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Notice the status bar at the start of this episode is incorrect - it shows them carrying only a bag of silver, but they gave this to Sly in the previous episode. Their remaining clue object is actually a lantern! (I think Pickle may even have said they were carrying silver, and it's been edited out. "10 minutes into Level 1, master. Pledged to redeem the sword..." He seems to pause mid-sentence and it goes silent for a couple of seconds before he continues.)
What does Pickle mumble at the start of the Eyeshield sequence after the scene with Sir Hugh? It sounds like something about Christmas!
The Gatemaster mistakenly introduces himself as the Gatekeeper here, almost certainly because Michael Cule has just heard the advisor say "This looks like the Gatekeeper" and it's confused him into forgetting the character's name. g
It's incredibly strange how this team (and this team only) have to give Smirky some unintelligible landing command. Why does he not respond to plain English?!
Something can be heard falling over during Aesandre's speech, just as she says "The nasty little dungeoneer..."
Quite amusing how Aesandre hates blondes, presumably including Gwendoline.
Was Pickle not paying attention during the spyglass scene?! Lord Fear & Aesandre discussed their evil plan in great detail, yet as soon as the scene ends, Pickle asks what's going on and Treguard has to explain it to him all over again!
I wonder why Hordriss will happily respond to both "Manefact" (Series 5) and "Marryfat" (Series 7) but stubbornly ignores "Marefact" (Series 6). I also wonder why so many teams mishear it despite Clifford Norgate being a perfectly clear speaker!
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Team 9 made good progress. Crossed the causeway quickly and competently.
Nice moment when Hands reappeared with Gwendoline's arrow thru his hat.
Also a good scene where the Gatemaster majestically eradicated the hobgoblin. Nice final appearance for Michael Cule.
Into level 2 and they encountered Hordriss, who asked them to magically restore his staff in blue fire. Notable how he placed the staff over her shoulder, "so that she could still carry her full quota of two clue objects".
Next was the clue-room. Kelly could have done with some help to deal with the eyeshield, grub, scroll, two clues & the staff.
Amusing spyglass moment between Fear & Aesandre, who stated that she hated Kelly because she's a blonde.
Interesting that Treguard stressed that team 9 were undefeated before the closing scene. It was a great shame that their quest was cut-off incomplete as they were a really likeable team, intelligent and very enthusiastic. One of the best teams in series 5.
The final scene with Hordriss was nicely done, but still didn't quite compensate for the disappointment.
Great shot of Fear covered in ice after Aesandre's spell was too powerful.
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Here at the end of the series, it becomes ironic that one of the first things we learned about Lord Fear, during his first appearance way back at the beginning of this series, was that he has "an intellect that can freeze rivers".
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This being her last appearance, we never do find out why Aesandre hates blondes so much. Does she have a dark and traumatic history with a unknown fair-haired figure? Or maybe it has something to do with a certain White Witch?
But the real question is what Lord Fear would have done if Kelly was a brunette.
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This being her last appearance, we never do find out why Aesandre hates blondes so much. Does she have a dark and traumatic history with a unknown fair-haired figure? Or maybe it has something to do with a certain White Witch?
I've always seen it as an in-joke based on Juliet Henry-Massy, who played Aesandre, having blonde hair herself. As for an in-game explanation, perhaps a wider prejudice resulted from Elita helping a dungeoneer (Ben) to quest through Winteria. Or was it something Sidriss did? Maybe there's a fanfic in this.
Speaking of which, I liked your Knightmare fanfic, DragonsBeHere - particularly your use of second person narrative and the reference to the books.
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