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Alexander and the Gordian Knot
Gordian Knot of Alexander the Great
The Gordian Knot on the sundial.

Production Number

1-31 (31)

Airdate

December 12, 1993

Team

Orange Iguanas

Contestants

Tim Kunkel & Retina

Artifact Location

The Observatory

Pendants of Life

1½ + ½

Temple Layout

VII

Previous Episode

The Silver Saddle Horn of Hannibal (Production Order)
The Collar of Davy Crockett (Broadcast Order)

Next Episode

The Belly Button of Buddha (Broadcast Order)
King Tut's Cobra Staff (Production Order)

Alexander and the Gordian Knot is the 31st episode of Legends of the Hidden Temple. It was the 22nd episode to air.

Moat Crossing

One player of each team swam a rope over to the other side. Once out of the water, he had to tie the rope off on a pole that held a second tied rope higher up; both connected to the other side. Once tied, the second player had to use the two ropes and maneuver across the moat. Once he was across, the team could run over and hit the gong.

Moat Results
Finish Team Time
First Orange Iguanas 0:25
Second Blue Barracudas 0:29
Third Green Monkeys 0:32
Fourth Silver Snakes 0:32

Steps of Knowledge

"Only one man can be called the greatest conqueror in history: Alexander the Great. When Alexander was twenty, he became king of Greece and decided to conquer Persia. On his way, he came across a wagon tied in a huge complicated knot. It was called the Gordian Knot, and according to legend, the person that could undo it would rule all of Asia. Instead of untying it Alexander took out his sword and cut through it in a single stroke. After defeating the Persians, he pushed on through the mountains of Afghanistan and the deserts of Turkestan, and finally came to India. There, he stopped, and thinking he had conquered the entire world, Alexander declared himself a God. On the way back to Greece, disappointed that there was nothing left to conquer, Alexander went to bed and died. Legend has it that one of his generals took the Gordian Knot, and it ended up in the Temple."

Steps of Knowledge Results
Question Answers Team
Which of these cultures did Alexander spread throughout Asia?
  • Roman
  • Greek
  • Aztec
Orange Iguanas (Correct - Two steps left)
Which great empire in Asia did Alexander conquer?
  • Persia
Orange Iguanas (Correct - One step left)
When Alexander invaded Asia, did he get as far as…?
  • Japan
  • India
Green Monkeys (No - Wrong Answer; Not one of the three choices)
Orange Iguanas (Swept - Advanced to the Temple Games)
Which of these countries in Africa did Alexander conquer?
  • Morocco
  • Somalia
  • Egypt
Silver Snakes (Correct - Two steps left)
Which of these cities in Egypt did Alexander found and name for himself?
  • Alexanderville
  • Alextown
  • Alexandria
Silver Snakes (Wrong Answer)
Green Monkeys (Wrong Answer)
Which of these philosophers was Alexander's tutor?
  • Aristotle
  • Plato
  • Yoda
Silver Snakes (Correct - One step left)
According to legend, was the destiny of the man who untied the Gordian Knot…?
  • To rule Asia
Green Monkeys (Correct - Two steps left)
Which of these rivers in India did Alexander sail down?
  • The Ganges
  • The Indus
  • The Mekong
Green Monkeys (Wrong Answer)
Silver Snakes (Correct - Advanced to the Temple Games)

Temple Games

The Orange Iguanas are 12-year-old Tim Kunkel, who plays baseball, and 13-year-old Retina, who does flips off of diving boards. The Silver Snakes are 12-year-old Molly, who wants to be an architect, and 14-year-old Beau, who wants to be a marine biologist at SeaWorld.

​Alex's World (Knotted Rope Mountain)[]

It took Alexander the Great twelve years to cross the deserts and mountains and conquer the ancient world. Tim and Beau thankfully have 60 seconds. There were two maps of the world on the opposite side of the mountain, and when Kirk gave the signal, both players had to grab a picture of Alexander, stick it to their shirts, and climb the mountain using the ropes. When at the opposite side, they had to stick their picture of Alexander on the globe, head back to the starting point and repeat the process. They first player to place all three of their pictures of Alexander on the globe or the player with the most pictures of Alexander on the globe won. Although both boys placed two pictures of Alexander on each of their globes, Tim deemed further was further along as he half up the mountain with his third picture while Beau only had just grabbed his third, so he won a half pendant of life.

​Empire Expansion (Water Chute)[]

Alexander made conquests look easy, and in only nine years he expanded his empire to the edges of the world. Retina and Molly get a chance to expand their borders. When Kirk gave the signal, they had to slide belly down and glide along the chute as far as they can, then get up, run back, and repeat the process. The player glides the farthest and expands their boundaries in 60 seconds won. Molly was deemed to be farther than Retina, awarding Molly a half pendant of life.

​Column Reconstruction (Pulley Pillar)[]

Some cities resisted Alexander so strongly and practically had to dismantle them stone by stone. Here, both teams get to reconstruct some of the destroyed columns. Before each team was an ancient column, and when Kirk gave the signal, one player had to jump up with a ring and slide it down over the pole. their partner had to do the same. They had to keep alternating until their column is complete or 60 seconds is up. An oddly amusing moment in this temple game is when Retina dropped her ring and knocked over Tim's rings. Neither team got all eight of their rings over the poles, but the Orange Iguanas placed four rings over Silver Snakes who placed three, sending the Orange Iguanas to Olmec's Temple with 1½ pendants.

Temple Games Results
Team Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Pendants Won
Orange Iguanas Won Lost Won 1½ Pendants
Silver Snakes Lost Won Lost ½ Pendant

Temple Run

Tim made it across five rooms of the bottom floor, meeting his first Temple Guard in the Throne Room and finally getting taken out in the Tomb of the Ancient Kings with 1:52 to spare. Retina, apparently discouraged from taking shortcuts when she saw that Tim could not go up from the Holes of Python, went straight into the Well after a few moments and took the elevator without even trying the diagonal passage. She got lucky in the Room of Three Torches, with the first torch holder she tried being the correct one. In the Shrine of the Silver Monkey, she found the other half of her Pendant of Life attached to the base of the statue; time ran out two seconds before she put the head on the monkey, opening all the doors leading out of the room.

Temple Run Results
Victory No
Grabbed the Artifact No
Reached the Artifact's Room No
Method of Loss Failed Acquisition
Temple Guard Locations The Throne Room
The Tomb of the Ancient Kings
The Treasure Room
Half Pendant Location The Shrine of the Silver Monkey (acquired)

Watch Episode

Notes

  • This is the final use of Temple Layout VII and the final appearance of the Room of the Three Gargoyles.
  • Retina's name is commonly mispronounced as "Regina".
  • The first Temple Game in this episode marked the first time that Kirk overemphasized the "further along" rule for a combined distance-and-collection-type game, although it would have no effect on the final outcome.
  • This is the first episode where a team of Orange Iguanas attempted to retrieve an artifact placed in the Top of the Central Shaft.
  • Tim is the only player to try going up from the Holes of Python, even though countless other players in the middle of the first season also tried going up into the Treasure Room.
  • Retina was the second contestant to find their hidden half pendant and the first female contestant to do so. The first contestant was Evan Ziller in The Stolen Arm of Shiva. Kirk, however, failed to notice they had the half pendants and did not announce it.
    • The fact that Retina found the half pendant in Shrine of the Silver Monkey indicates that the third guard was in the Treasure Room.
    • Coincidentally, both contestants were on the Orange Iguanas.
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