The Quest - Recap: God Save the Queen
Recap and results of The Quest Episode 3:
Welcome to the recap and results for The Quest, Episode 3! Last week's episode ended on a cliffhanger, as the Queen Ralia (Susanne Gschwendtner) was poisoned at a banquet following the elimination of Ashley. Will the Queen survive? Can the Paladins save her? And who will be eliminated tonight? It should be a fun episode.
ALL OUT OF IDEAS
We open on the Queen's bed chamber. The Queen is pale, with blue lips and a stiff frame, and everyone is absolutely beside themselves with worry, even Sir (Peter Windhofer). The Grand Vizier (Marcello de Nardo) has done all he can for the Queen, but he's all out of ideas. Adria (whose name is so stunningly perfect for this setting, I struggle to buy it's her real name) finds this suspicious, since the Vizier supposed to be the kingdom's inexhaustible source of knowledge.
All out of ideas, the Paladins begin searching scrolls upon scrolls that feature lists of symptoms. They need to find the scroll that accurately describes the Queen's symptoms so they can begin to search for a cure. This is easier said than done, as Christian notes that there are "too many cooks in the kitchen," as everyone is talking over each other, trying to be the hero. Eventually, Patrick discovers a scroll that everyone agrees is the proper diagnosis, however, the risk remains that if they get the wrong diagnosis, the antidote just might kill the Queen.
The Vizier infuriates Andrew by insinuating that one of the Paladins had something to do with the Queen's poisoning, saying these sorts of calamities didn't happen before they arrived. Of course, this is coming from the Vizier, who seems like the most transparently villainous character in the history of ever. I'd be STUNNED if he had nothing to do with this. That said, with the symptoms confirmed, the group heads out in search of the ingredients, which include banshee's blood and dragon's tears. Only Crio (Jan Jutter) knows the location of the dragon's tears, so he leads the group out into the woods.
Credit: ABC
THE UGLIEST HUMAN BEING ON EARTH
Crio brings the Paladins to an undisclosed location in the forest with a hut. Out steps a funky-looking witch (whom Shondo describes as "the ugliest human being on Earth," and I'm not sure he's far off) who reveals that the ingredients they need are located behind a series of doors. Naturally, because there are more Paladins than ingredients, the Paladins need to hurry up and unlock the door in order to get to those antidote ingredients before the others.
In order to get into the enclosed space where the various ingredients are, the Paladins must open their assigned door. However, to do this they must search for a key and then scrub all the tar and gunk off of the padlocks to reveal the keyhole. Patrick, Andrew, and Adria take an early lead, while the others struggle. Christian, in particular, is having a hell of a hard time getting through, as he can't find his key, nor can he get enough of the gunk off of his padlock. Bonnie and Jim decide to work together, since they're having so much trouble with their respective doors. Leticia is annoyed by this, as she and Christian remain pretty far behind in the challenge.
Each door reveals the path to an ingredient...and another door that must be passed. As the challenge nears its conclusion, Patrick and Andrew have a commanding lead. In fact, it gets pretty exciting at the final door, as Patrick and Andrew practically burst through at the same time. Naturally, the final ingredient is the dragon's tears, and there's only one vial. Andrew grabs it just before Patrick can manage, winning the challenge by just a hair's breadth.
ANDREW wins the challenge!
Christian is dejected to be in the Bottom 3 again, and Andrew feels for him. But it gets worse for Andrew, as he mixes together the ingredients at the behest of the witch, only for her to absolutely FLIP OUT on him once it's completed. She tells them all to run, prompting an adorable reaction from Bonnie, who says "run" is pretty much her devil word.
So they return to the castle, not knowing if they have the right potion or not. The Vizier places it on the Queen's lips, and she begins to show signs of improvements. As she awakens, she thanks the Vizier for saving her, but Crio is quick to correct her and state that Andrew was the one who did it. Andrew, whom I love because he's clearly the one who's most into all of this, bows and says he was honored to do what he could. I think I might be falling in love with this show.
FAMILY FIRST
So Jim, Christian, and Bonnie are in the Bottom 3, and Jim is struggling to keep it together, as it's now two straight weeks in the Bottom 2. Shondo gives him a pep talk and tells him he's capable of surviving, noting in a confessional that no one gets into this story like "Jimbo Slice". Christian, meanwhile, is terrified since it's now THREE consecutive weeks in the bottom for him. Jasmine recalls telling Christian that if he landed in the Bottom 3 again, and he didn't save himself in the Fates' Challenge, she would not vote to keep him around. Lisa agrees with Jasmine and adds that if they stand with Bonnie, they could "start a war," although I really don't see how other than that it implies an all-female alliance of some sort.
For his part, Patrick counsels Bonnie on how to tackle the challenge, telling her not to rush or to worry about the other two competitors. He says Bonnie is like a little sister to him, and so he'll always stand behind her, noting that in this challenge, it's "family first". For some reason, I feel like this is foreshadowing bad times for Bonnie, although that's just a wild guess on my end. I hope I'm wrong, since I really, really like Bonnie. Case in point, she sings this absolutely beautiful song she wrote called "The Ballad of Everealm," which everyone seems to love. Shondo notes that Bonnie may lack the right physical attributes for this game, but she more than makes up for it in the heart department. Lisa notes that if they lose Bonnie, they group could stand to lose "a lot of light".
Andrew receives a medal of wisdom for saving the Queen, and it's a moment of celebration. But it's broken up by the arrival of Crio, who notes that it's time for the Fates' Challenge to begin. Jim feels the other Paladins are his brothers and sisters, while Christian notes in his confessional that each of them will be eliminated one-by-one. For her part, Bonnie notes she's legit terrified at the prospect of banishment.
THE FATES' CHALLENGE
The challenge involves putting together the potion they failed to make in the challenge, but to do so by placing the correct amount of ingredients in one of four separate, colored bowls. They'll know if they used the right amount of each ingredient if none of the four scale arms are touching any of the golden rings above or below the scale. I'm making it sound more complicated than it is, but I genuinely have no idea how to explain it better than that, since I'm really terrible at explaining game rules, in general. Of course, the Paladins have to grind the ingredients first.
Now, I say all this, but the challenge itself turns out to be an almost non-challenge, as it's over virtually before it starts. Bonnie tears through the gringing portion of the challenge, mixes together her ingredients...and wins in almost no time, to her own great surprise, and the immense joy of her other Paladins.
BONNIE wins the Fates' Challenge and is safe from banishment!
However, Jim and Christian will now face banishment. The Paladins retire to the round table to discuss the pros and cons of each possible choice.
Shondo throws Christian under the bus by saying this is his third time at risk of banishment. "That's CRAZY," he notes, in a confessional. Patrick agrees with Shondo, even though he hates to have to say bad things about Christian. Andrew feels Christian is better with weapons, and is more valuable to the group. Adria says that, from a pragmatic standpoint, Christian still has a lot more to offer. However, Shondo claims there's no one who puts more into this game mentally than Jim. Adria fights back tears when talking about the bonds that form in these dire situations, and Jim (who seems really dejected to be in the bottom) reflects how no one is safe.
The Paladins enter, and only Shondo and Jasmine stand with Jim, as everyone the roundtable discussions apparently changed more than a few minds.
CHRISTIAN is safe!
JIM is eliminated from THE QUEST!
Christian is emotional, while Jim seems numb, as if in disbelief. He says he's proud to have been here, to have done the deeds he's done, and to have made the friends he has. He says he may not be the One True Hero, but notes that anyone who can find the necessary courage should be.
AFTER THE ELIMINATION
Leticia theorizes that people voted for Christian because he helped Bonnie in the first potion challenge, noting that she doesn't think Christian really tried to help Bonnie all that much, since her door was never opened. Shondo, for his part, is upset that his fellow Paladins couldn't see the "facts" in the debate of Jim vs. Christian. Jasmine notes that as soon as she saw Patrick stand behind Christian, she knew Bonnie and Adria would fall in line. However, that threesome isn't the only alliance, as Andrew, Lisa, and Christian appear to have joined together.
As the episode draws to a close, the Paladins help Crio clean up the courtyard...when Sir Ansgar comes charging in, shouting about a looming threat. What danger looms ahead? We'll find out next week!
What did you think of tonight's show? Did the Paladins make the right choice in who to send home? Sound off in the comments! Until next week, thanks for joining me!