The Quest - Recap: It's On Again
Recap and review of The Quest - Episode 4 - Battle Dome:
Welcome to the recap and results for The Quest Episode 4, "Battle Dome"! Last week's episode featured the Paladins rescuing Queen Ralia (Susanne Gschwendtner) from poisoning, although the assailant remains a mystery. Was it The Grand Vizier (Marcello de Nardo)? Sir Ansgar (Peter Windhofer)? Or could it have even been the Paladins' closest ally, Crio (Jan Hutter)? Someone poisoned the Queen, and it's exceedingly unlikely that the poisoner wasn't someone the Paladins have been made to trust. But there are bigger problems facing the world of Everealm, as Verlox's forces are on the move! Who will save the day, and who will be eliminated tonight?
DRILL SERGEANT
We pick up where last week's episode left off, as the forces of Everealm scatter upon sign of an impending attack from Verlox's forces. Everyone is losing their minds, scrambling to find weapons and put on chain mail before all hell breaks loose. However, it doesn't take long for Sir Ansgar to come storming in to announce what probably should have been obvious from the start -- there is no attack. This was just a drill.
Ansgar notes that the Paladins were completely unprepared for the attack, and that the castle would be taken already if this had been a real attack. Yet, in a surprising turn, Ansgar says the fault for their lack of preparation is all his. "You saved the Queen. MY Queen. And I thank you for that," he says, adding that he wants to show his thanks by preparing them for what's ahead. And so he calls Bonnie, Shondo, and Andrew to the center to choose teams, telling them to select the Paladins with whom they would want to go into battle.
Andrew chooses Christian and Lina, Shondo picks Patrick and Jasmine, and Bonnie chooses Adria and Leticia. With that, the group heads into the courtyard to train, and the Paladins are loving this, particularly Christian and Shondo, who are stoked to have swords in their hands. They do some training, and they all actually look the part, even Bonnie. It's pretty cool, to be honest.
However, Sir Ansgar lines up the Paladins after training to grill them on what they think each other's weaknesses are. Lina feels left out of Andrew and Christian's alliance, believing that they privilege their own friendship over the strength of the team. Ansgar picks at those scabs, and ends up exposing the truth -- these Paladins are just too damn nice. So, in a twist, it turns out they won't actually be battling alongside their team members, they're going to be battling against them...
Credit: ABC
BEYOND BATTLE DOME
Naturally, Lina is terrified because she expects Andrew and Christian will gang up on her. Jasmine is also miffed about being paired with the two biggest guys in the competition. Leticia, however, feels she went from being on the worst team for her position, to being on the best for her position, since she feels she's much stronger than Bonnie and Adria.
The Paladins don their helms and head for the Battle Dome, which is pretty much what it sounds like, as townspeople look down on the combatants, who must enter a ring that is shaped like a giant peace sign. Each round, three combatants will compete, and the first person to be knocked from the platform will be sent to the Fates Challenge, while the victor will advance to the next round.
In the first matchup, Lina squares off against Andrew and Christian, and it goes pretty much exactly as you'd expect, with Andrew dominating and sending Lina to the Fates Challenge before defeating his buddy Christian in the finals. I bet Christian is just glad it's not a fourth straight trip to the Bottom 3.
In the second matchup, Adria is quickly eliminated and sent to the Fates Challenge in her round, leaving it down to Bonnie and Leticia. Leticia loses her sword and is left with only a shield, causing her to grow nervous about her prospects of winning. However, Christian shouts to her that she shouldn't worry about the sword, since she has everything she needs already. Leticia realizes he's absolutely right, and manages to use her shield to send Bonnie sailing off the platform.
In the last matchup, Jasmine holds her own in surprising fashion against Shondo, nearly using his own momentum against him and knocking him off, twice. But Shondo is able to recover and send her off the platform, leaving Jasmine bitter about getting paired with the two biggest guys in the competition. Shondo continues his dominance, easily knocking Patrick off the platform.
In the championship round, Leticia scores the biggest upset of the competition so far, knocking MMA Fighter Shondo and wrestler Andrew off of the platform in blazingly quick fashion. Her fellow Paladins go CRAZY for her, cheering her like wild. Although Shondo doesn't like losing, he's not at all a poor sport about it. In fact, everyone seems proud of her. Leticia says this is vindication for her childhood, when she could never get the win over her older brothers.
LETICIA wins the challenge!
LINA, ADRIA, and JASMINE are the Bottom 3, and will compete in the FATES CHALLENGE!
Leticia receives this week's medal, and notes this was what she wanted more than anything -- to leave a mark in the competition.
However, her happiness is undercut by concern for Jasmine, who is her best friend here. She doesn't want to lose Jasmine, and Jasmine doesn't want to leave, so they get to strategizing. Yet neither Adria nor Lina are pushovers either. Lina, in particular, stresses how badly she wants to stay, and is looking to prove her merit in the Fates Challenge.
THE FATES CHALLENGE
This week's challenge features each Paladin entering their own circle, with a sword in hand. They will have skulls catapulted at them from a distance, and the winner will be the Paladin who smashes the most skulls. Pretty straightforward.
Jasmine is up first, and she makes an impressive showing, nailing five of the eight or nine skulls (maybe more, maybe less. I lost count) catapulted at her. Adria smashes that record by destroying seven skulls. Lina is last up and does abysmally on the first few skulls...until she focuses and begins smashing skulls like a boss. However, her score is not enough to best Adria, so Lina is in the Bottom 2 with Jasmine.
A CHOICE YOU HAVE TO MAKE
The Fates send the other Paladins away to contemplace the "Choice you have to make," as they must decide who they're going to send home. Leticia feels Jasmine has what it takes to become the One True Hero, but notes that Lina hasn't lived up to her full potential just yet.
Christian believes in Lina, but feels Jasmine is fearless. Meanwhile, Andrew thinks Lina is a strong woman, but doesn't appreciate how she accused him of only caring about his roommate. Shondo, for his part, is backing Jasmine for showing "balls" ("ovaries," Adria corrects) in coming at him head-on during the challenge. As for Bonnie, she can't make up her mind, saying she'll go whichever way her feet take her, arguing that it's too hard to pick between the two. Perhaps Sir Ansgar is right about some of these Paladins being too nice.
Jasmine earns the backing of only Shondo and Leticia. Meanwhile, Lina earns the backing of Bonnie, Patrick, Christian, Adria, and Andrew, for reasons I can't possibly fathom.
JASMINE is eliminated from THE QUEST!
Credit: ABC
Jasmine laments not getting a chance to do everything she wanted to do, saying that she isn't sure what went wrong, whether she alienated people or what. Honestly, I have no idea either. I think Jasmine had way more merit to the group than Lina, who is strong in her own way, but who doesn't seem as resilient. But maybe she'll prove me wrong. I'd certainly love to be proven wrong, anyway.
And she may get a chance along with the other Paladins, as this week's cliffhanger features a breach of the outer walls. And only moments after a visit by the recuperating Queen Ralia! Oh, and this time...it's not a drill. Yeah, it looks like it's on again.
How will the Paladins defend Everealm from Verlox's latest threat? We'll find out next week. Until then, thanks for reading!