The Steps of Knowledge are the second round of the game show. They consist of a large set of stairs located between the Moat and Olmec's Temple.
Olmec began the Steps of Knowledge by telling the four remaining teams the episode's legend. After finishing, he would reveal where the artifact that pertained to the legend was located in the Temple. As the round began, Olmec would ask the teams a series of multiple-choice questions to test their memory of the legend. Each question had three possible answers. A team that thought they knew the answer buzzed in by stomping on the "ancient marker" on their step; this causes their staircase to light up and emit a chime sound, and they give their answer. If Olmec was in the middle of asking the question, he would stop talking immediately. If a team answered correctly, they moved down to the next level. If a team answered incorrectly, gives a choice that is not one of the three choices, or took longer than three seconds to answer the other question, one (or, on a few occasions, two) of the other three teams received a chance to buzz in. The first two teams to make it to the bottom level by answering a total of three questions correctly moved on to the Temple Games.
Promo photo on the steps for Season 1
A promo photo of Kirk with a pair of Orange Iguanas and Purple Parrots at the bottom of the steps in a season 3 promo photo
The CW version is the same as the previous, only the teams participating has been reduced to three. The bottom step is engraved into the ground and also does not light up when a team reaches the bottom.
The Steps of Knowledge as they appear in the TV movie
In the movie, the Steps of Knowledge serve as the main gateway to the rest of the temple, right next to Olmec, and have a forcefield separating them between the Throne Room and the hallway. Once Sadie, Noah and Dudley pass through said forcefield, they are unable to pass back until the Pendant of Life has been found and reassembled.
Trivia[]
- If one looks closely during the Steps of Knowledge throughout any episode of the series as they watch, the way to tell each team is one boy and one girl is while the boys wear cyan, dark blue or black shoes, the girls wear magenta, lavender or black shoes (these would have a pink stripe along the heel).
- Younger players would generally wear magenta or lavender shoes, while older players generally wore any of the other colors.
- However, in Season 3 of the original series, all players wear the same blue shoes.
- In the original series, the ancient marking was a painting of Olmec. In the reboot, this was changed to hieroglyphics which translate to "Steps of Knowledge".
- In Season 3 of the original series, an actuator was added to the ancient marking for the contestants to activate easier.
- 31 teams who were 1st in this round were also 1st in the Moat (12 in Season 1, 12 in Season 2, 7 in Season 3).
- 31 teams who were 2nd in this round were 1st in the Moat (14 in Season 1, 10 in Season 2, 7 in Season 3).
- 30 teams who were 1st in this round were 2nd in the Moat (11 in Season 1, 10 in Season 2, 9 in Season 3).
- 27 teams who were 2nd in this round were also 2nd in the Moat (6 in Season 1, 10 in Season 2, 11 in Season 3).
- 27 teams who were 1st in this round were 3rd in the Moat (8 in Season 1, 7 in Season 2, 12 in Season 3).
- 33 teams who were 2nd in this round were 3rd in the Moat (10 in Season 1, 14 in Season 2, 9 in Season 3).
- 32 teams who were 1st in this round were 4th in the Moat (9 in Season 1, 11 in Season 2, 12 in Season 3).
- 29 teams who were 2nd in this round were 4th in the Moat (10 in Season 1, 6 in Season 2, 13 in Season 3).