The Quest - Recap: Dragon Con
Recap and results for The Quest - Episode 7 and Episode 8 - Verlox Attacks / The Dragon's Lair:
Welcome to the recap and results for The Quest Episode 7 and Episode 8, "Verlox Attacks" and "The Dragon's Lair"! Last week's episode brought us featured the banishment of Christian and Adria! Two more Paladins are eliminated as Verlox finally makes his move! Who will advance and who will be banished? The competition is heating up as we come closer to crowning the One True Hero!
A GRAND ENTRANCE
After six episodes of build-up, Verlox finally makes his appearance! And it's exactly as grandiose as you would expect of a villain the caliber of Verlox. He comes striding in, looking like a cross between Dave Grohl's depiction of the Devil in Tenacious D works, and something out of Milton's Paradise Lost. I guess those are sort of the same thing, but needless to say, he looks ominous and intimidating, exactly as he should look. And, naturally, he starts wreaking havoc right away, appearing in the middle of Castle Saenctum, and causing a building to fracture with a mere touch. Soldiers die while Sir Ansgar, the Queen, and the Paladins all escape the chaos, and it's pretty much the best opening sequence the show has ever done.
Credit: ABC
But the drama is far from done there, as the Paladins escape through the tunnels with Ansgar and the Queen only to find the Grand Vizier, who seems to always be around when trouble breaks out. Suspiciously, he offers the Queen a mysterious amulet for her protection, although we're given no real indication of just how it'll protect her. The Paladins grow even more suspicious of the guy, as he stays behind while the others advance through the tunnels. Ultimately, they remain in the tunnels through the night and into the morning, before reaching the end and continuing on to a command outpost in a place called Darvia.
FLAG NOR FAIL
So this challenge involves the Paladins deciphering messages encoded in a series of flags. Of course, this all sounds much easier than it actually is, since there are literally dozens of flags, and they all appear to be similar, yet only with minor differences in appearance. The teams are split down the middle between males and females, leaving us with Andrew, Shondo and Patrick vs. Bonnie, Lina and Leticia.
Credit: ABC
It's a challenge that seems to be going to the women, who take an early lead in the decoding process. However, they run into a snag over what constitutes a "pentagon", causing them to lose their lead. Meanwhile, the guys are able to retake the lead by switching out their decoder. It doesn't take long for them to piece together the solution to the flag puzzle, which gives them just enough of a lead to ultimately defeat the women.
Patrick, who came up with the idea to switch decoders, receives the Mark of Intelligence badge for his ingenuity. Meanwhile, the girls must now face the Fates Challenge.
Credit: ABC/Rick Rowell
However, the upcoming Fates Challenge takes a backseat to the continued concern about the Grand Vizier, as the Paladins wonder just what the hell he's up to. I almost feel like it would be too obvious for the Grand Vizier to actually turn out to be a bad guy, since he seems so transparent that it wouldn't really be much of a surprise. Nobody who looks that evil can actually be evil, no? Especially when they're doing so many things that could easily be misinterpreted. It's almost like a Severus Snape situation. Of course, the Paladins, the Queen, Crio and Ansgar are concerned about what's ahead, as Verlox has conquered the eleven surrounding kingdoms, leaving only Everealm.
Of course, before facing off with Verlox, the bottom 3 must compete in the Fates Challenge...
MEMORY ZONE
The challenge involves the bottom 3 women squaring off in a memory challenge, as they must climb up into an outpost of trees in order to spy on Verlox’s army and report what they see to Ansgar. They must then answer specific questions from a series of scrolls about what they've seen.
It's a pretty interesting challenge, all things considered, as it tests a different aspect of the Paladins' abilities, and not just the physical. Naturally, because she's awesome, Bonnie tears through the challenge, answering the highest number of questions, such as how large the army was, and how well-equipped. Bonnie is safe from elimination for another round, while Leticia and Lina will have their fates chosen by the remaining Paladins.
In a move that's kind of inexplicable to me, none of the Paladins seem keen on saving Leticia. It could be that she's a physical threat, or simply that she didn't make a strong enough alliance to proceed, but the writing is pretty much on the wall for her, as the Paladins make their judgment -- and it's unanimous, for what I believe is the first time in the show so far.
LETICIA is eliminated from THE QUEST!
Yet we hardly have time to mourn her, as a freakin' DRAGON is on the loose!
Credit: ABC
HOW TO CAGE YOUR DRAGON
Well, I have to admit that the show's production values continue to impress. We actually get to see a dragon burning a small village to a crisp from above, and it's an impressive sight to behold for a reality show.
The Paladins arrive at the ruined village, stunned by all the destruction, as the town is basically a smoking ruin. But this means things are getting pretty serious for the Paladins themselves, as they must now track down the actual dragon's lair in order to rein the dragon in and prevent it from causing any more destruction. Luckily, thanks to the tracking skills of Ansgar and Crio, finding the lair is as easily done as it is said. And with the lair located, we're able to get into our next challenge, as the remaining Paladins must find a way to cage this scaly beast that Verlox has unleashed on Everealm.
In short, the Paladins must build a clockwork device using gears and other bits of machinery. With the device, they will be able to lower the gate on the dragon's lair, effectively sealing the beast away and protecting Everealm from another fire attack. What I like about this challenge is that it's the rare "every man for himself" ordeal, as there are no teams here. This means each Paladin has a real chance to step it up. And Shondo does, assembling his gear in record time, remaining neck-and-neck with Andrew, who also assembles his device to being cranking at the gate. Patrick is close behind, but his gear won't work on the gate due to a problem with its assembly. Still, he's farther along than Lina, who hasn't even gotten all her tools because she skipped over the second bag she needed to find. Yet even Lina is still better off than Bonnie, who has no blessed idea what the hell she's doing. It's actually kind of cute -- or would be, if it didn't lead to Bonnie being in danger, since I love Bonnie and wish she weren't on the chopping block. But alas, she ends up in the bottom 3 again after Andrew is able to pull out the come-from-behind victory, while Shondo takes second place.
Credit: ABC
MOTHER OF DRAGONS
The Fates Challenge here is fairly interesting, in that both Ansgar and the Queen are on-hand to watch, since the Queen has just revealed the existence of dragon eggs. In essence, the bottom 3 Paladins must find a way to deal with this burgeoning issue, and they have to do so in a hurry, since these eggs are on the verge of hatching (although why you'd leave such an important task to the bottom 3 Paladins is beyond me. Presumably, within the world of the show, you'd want your best people on that job)
So Patrick, Bonnie and Lina must climb into a pit and use a network of planks to transport the eggs to the surface for destruction, and it's a surprisingly close challenge. Patrick and Lina are in a pretty heated race, while Bonnie (once again) trails behind. Ultimately, Patrick is able to finish before Lina, allowing him to win the challenge and ensure his safety for another week.
This leaves the decision down to Bonnie and Lina, and although Patrick tries to convince his fellow men to spare the girl he's seen as a "little sister" since Day One, Andrew and Shondo pretty much have their minds made up about whom they're standing behind, as they don't feel Bonnie is strong enough to help them defeat Verlox. Patrick stands behind Bonnie, but Andrew and Shondo are the deciding votes, and they choose Lina.
BONNIE is eliminated from THE QUEST! (NNNNNOOOOOOOO!!!!)
So Bonnie vanishes into the ether, and the show lingers a bit on the loss of Bonnie, whose cheery, upbeat personality, her singing skills, and her overall passion for Everealm will be missed. However, we don't linger long on Bonnie, as the Queen is once again in danger. Turns out the necklace the Grand Vizier gave to her is beginning to glow an ominous green, as we see through the green-tinted vision of someone/something in the forest. Danger is on the horizon for Castle Saenctum, and the Paladins might not be as lucky in saving the Queen as last time.
It's an interesting cliffhanger, if nothing else. This was a fun two hours of programming, even if my favorite Paladin was banished just to save Lina yet again. But as we head into next week's finale, I'm genuinely not sure who's going to win. And that's kind of exciting, honestly.
What do you think? Did the Paladins make the right choice in the banishment ceremony? And what do you think is up with the Grand Vizier? If he is a traitor, is he the only one? Sound off in the comments!