Series 5 - Episode 16
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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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