Team 3: Alex, James, Neil and Richard from London.
The third quest of Series 7 was for the Shield and lasted 50 minutes.
Level 1
Sidriss is outside a castle with a giant toad. It turns out to be Fidjit.
- Sidriss: "Sidriss the Confused they call me. I can't imagine why..."
- Fidjit: "I ruddy can!"
Fidjit asks Alex to help him find a transformation spell such as UNDO, REMAKE, or RESTORE. He promises to get Alex into Level 2 if he succeeds.
Into a clearing, where they find clues. These are: a key, a crossbow, and a bottle titled 'Shadow'. They leave the crossbow.
Spyglass: The Brollachan cannot find Smirkenorff. Lord Fear tells it to search in Level 1.
Lissard reports that he has negotiated with a troll to make life tougher for the dungeoneer.
The troll is standing on guard in the next courtyard. Alex uses the Shadow potion to slip past it.
Grimaldine is sat pensively in a privy chamber. Alex asks him for a spell to help return Fidjit to his normal form.
The key Alex is carrying will open a chest, which contains a RESTORE spell.
Alex emerges at the edge of a staircase. He descends to a moving block puzzle (no fireballs on this occasion).
James guides Alex across carefully, earning a hug from his teammates!
A forest clearing, where they find the toad again. James spell-casts RESTORE to reverse Sidriss's spell. Fidjit opens the door to Smirkenorff.
Smirkenorff is cautious of the Brollachan and refuses to budge. Alex persuades him that he would be safer in Level 2 as the monster is now searching for him at his current nesting place.
Very well. Level 2 it is.
Level 2
Alex emerges in the rift valley. A large troll is sat outside the cave entrance with a large axe.
Treguard: "I think I read somewhere that trolls go through a sort of hibernation - it's asleep."
Spyglass: Lord Fear and Lissard are in Level 2. They have trapped Hordriss within a forcefield.
Lord Fear: "First, I set the forcefield on delay. Hordriss sets in, reaches up, and - zing! - completes the circuit!"
Fear says the team need an 'anode of power' to release him. Such objects are only held by witches or wizards.
The troll wakes up. In their haste, the team almost guide Alex straight into the path of its rising axe.
Into a dwarf tunnel, where they find some clues. Before they can investigate, a monk (Brother Strange) appears.
He tells them the only remaining sorcerer on Level 2 is the Witch Queen, Greystagg.
The clues are: Witch-Hazel, a glowlight, a gemstone, and a bar of gold. The scroll reveals a spell, SIGHT. The team choose the Witch-Hazel and the torch.
Alex arrives at the puzzle filled with spikes. Romahna appears.
She is suspicious of Alex until she discovers he has flown on Smirkenorff. She warns him of a grayling in the level.
Romahna: "They're quite deadly, and very hard to spot. They attack you only from the rear, so the trick is always to turn and face them."
She announces the puzzle as the 'Trial by Spikes'. As she crosses, the team makes a note of the combination.
Treguard: "That Romahna was very fast, and she only just made it..."
They then cast the SIGHT spell to help Alex. He keeps pausing on the final row, but makes it across safely.
Next, they meet the Brollachan and answer his questions before being chased by a troll.
They reach an antechamber to Greystagg's throne room. She agrees to swap the Witch-Hazel for an anode of power.
Greystagg: "It is as fair a bargain as any man and witch may achieve."
Into a dark dwarf tunnel. Alex turns on the glowlight just in time to see the grayling, wielding a dagger.
Remembering Romahna's advice, James tells Alex to face it and aim the light towards it. It retreats as Alex advances.
They find Hordriss inside the forcefield. He instructs Alex how to release him.
Take the anode and roll it very carefully across the floor into the field...
The forcefield is broken. Hordriss converts the whole room into the Descender to Level 3.
Level 3
The Descender only travels a short way, and the anode is still visible on the floor.
Alex emerges in one of the corridors of Goth. A skeleton is stood in the stocks.
Few dungeoneers get this far, team. From this point on, every chamber that Alex survives is an achievement.
In the adjacent tunnel, they find a barrel with four potions: Dragonsbreath, Goblin Juice, Starclimb and Stonepower. The scroll reads: "Juice for a Goblin; Stone for a hard heart."
The advisors convince Alex to take the less obvious two - Dragonsbreath and Starclimb.
Further into the fortress, they find a spyglass.
Spyglass: the alarms sound in the Black Tower of Goth as the team has reached Level 3. Lord Fear tells Lissard to summon the Brollachan, which is being kept in the troll pens.
No sooner has Alex dropped the spyglass then the Brollachan appears in front of him.
Brollachan: "As you can see, I move through walls. I reach beyond bars. Now, I hunger..."
The Sewers of Goth. Grimaldine rows them across in exchange for the whereabouts of the Brollachan.
He gifts Alex the spell VISOR.
Onto the 'Play Your Cards Right' puzzle, which puts the advisors on high alert.
Stop. Dead. You're on a very, very thin ledge...
They cast the spell, but continue to struggle because it's not helping Alex to manoeuvre without direction. He gets increasingly frustrated at the delay...
Death
With goblins in pursuit, they touch the wrong card at the penultimate set...
Treguard: "This has been the best and longest adventure so far this season."
Hear from the team
In August 2000, advisor Neil signed the Guestbook:
I was part of a 1993 team that died on the very last screen of the game. I was a fat little schoolboy who thought Knightmare was the greatest show on earth! Looking back at the movie clips brings up all the emotion I felt sitting on that bench!
"Oddly enough, my brother (who was also in the team) and I bumped into Treguard outside our local Safeway. He was riding a bright red motorbike he had called Smirganoff [sic]. He remembered us. That's all I needed!"
Advisor's notepad
In June 2002, Tom Davis, a friend of James (one of the advisors in this team) posted on the discussion forum that James still had his clipboard notes from his time on Knightmare.
