Two of the doorways in Series 1's Level 3 clue room (only seen once) had signs: one depicted a grail or chalice, the other read 'NILREM'. Team 6 of Series 1 seemed to pay little attention to the latter, as they recognised the former as a true quest object (i.e. the Holy Grail), and so dungeoneer Richard took the grail exit. But NILREM remains intriguing.

As it stands, 'nil rem' is almost the Latin for 'no thing' - and in Level 3 of the Dungeon, oblivion was indeed only a step away - but personally, I regard that as coincidence. Like the username Drassil that originated 16 years later, NILREM is straightforward to decode - it's the name of a Knightmare character spelt backwards. So was this simply a puzzle which the team had to solve to learn that they would encounter Merlin again via that portal? I think that's unlikely, as having two correct exits out of a possible three offers more leeway and less difficulty than Watchers came to expect from Level 3.

What is particularly interesting (to me, at least) is that Merlin had previously discussed the existence of an alter ego and dark side of himself, Mogdred. Mogdred was not seen in Series 1, as no team penetrated the Dungeon deep enough to encounter him; although when he appeared in Series 2, Mogdred was physically similar to Merlin (i.e. they were both played by John Woodnutt) whilst having an evil nature, the reverse of Merlin's beneficence. One might even call him a backwards version of Merlin.

So could it be that if Richard had taken the NILREM exit, he would have run straight into Mogdred? It's another of Knightmare's tantalising unknowns. A copy of the faxed brief for the room artwork, published in David Rowe's Art of Knightmare, adds intrigue with the words 'NILREM DOOR CHOICE TRIGGERS WIPE-OUT.'

For discussion of NILREM that predates this entry, see this thread from the Knightmare Discussion Forum. Most of the views expressed there centre around Mogdred and around the team's unused spell OPPOSITE.

A scan by David Rowe of his 'NILREM Room' artwork can be seen on his website. He revealed in his Art of Knightmare book how, in the original artwork for the room, the NILREM door was on the right-hand wall and curved staircases led down from the upper doors.
The room also served as a Level 3 clue room in Series 2 and 3, though without the NILREM constituent. The underlying artwork was also adapted into Series 2-3's stained glass window room.

SEE ALSO: Dread Mog.

[Earlier versions: 2005-09-14 02:52:10, 2006-07-20 17:55:34, 2007-12-12 00:46:43]

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