From TES issue 15 (May 2002)

Series 1/2/3/4/5/6. Level 1/2/3
GIANT ARACHNIDS
  The first giant arachnid seen in Knightmare was the spectral scorpion, which first appeared on level one to menace Helen I in the sixth episode of series one. In a chamber with only one usable exit, Helen was faced with crossing the path of the scorpion's swinging tail. Treguard explained that the blurred white monster did not quite exist in the true sense, but would certainly damage Helen's life force if she made contact with its sting. The scorpion returned for series two, presenting the same challenge.
  Some teams simply ran across the sting's path when the tail was retracted, as Helen had done, but a couple - such as Tony's and Stuart's - realised that there was enough room to the right of the monster to cross the room without coming into contact with it at all. Consequently, part of the floor had been removed when this challenge returned for series three, making it impossible to exit with crossing the path of the sting. Cliff, Leo and Julie I all did this successfully, but dim Douglas was too slow and got hit by the tail, causing the loss of one life force grade. The scorpion did not return after series three.
  By far the most famous giant arachnid from Knightmare is surely Ariadne, the giant tarantula. Described by Treguard as the Queen of Arachnids and Great-grandmother of Arachne on occasions, wherever she was disturbed in the Dungeon she would be very keen to eat dungeoneers. Those who encountered her in her large stone web-spanned room in series two - when she first appeared - would have to exit speedily or all the exits would be blocked by Ariadne's sticky thread. Jamie was Ariadne's first victim when she trapped him in her lair [pictured].
 
The team had been too slow earlier to pick up a spell they needed to escape, while being chased by the Automatum. A smaller giant spider - possibly Ariadne herself - appeared in level one in this series, menacing dungeoneers as they crossed a stone ledge. This challenge returned once in series three for Kelly I. Ariadne returned, full sized, in series 4 as the final challenge of level two, when dungeoneers had to get out of her lair to escape Dunkley Wood and reach the Dunswater, the way to level three. Most often a spell would be needed to escape from Ariadne, usually acquired from Merlin. When Nicola I failed to earn a HIBERNATION spell from the wizard to use against the spider, she became Ariadne's second and last victim.
  Successful attempts to escape involved a FREEZE spell from Helen II, a RUN spell from Alistair, and a joker card from Giles. This magic playing card summoned Motley, who ridiculed Ariadne so much that she was forced to retreat. The spider had one appearance in each of the following two series. Richard II had to make a mad dash out of her level two lair in series 5, as Ariadne interrupted the team as they were choosing clue objects. Such was the rush to escape that Richard was hastily directed into choosing an incorrect object - a horn rather than a bar of gold - which led to his eventual demise at the hands of Skarkill.
  Ariadne's last appearance came late in series 6, when Captain Nemanor charged winning dungeoneer Ben II with stealing an astrolabe from the spider's lair, now in level three. He did this successfully, but Ariadne appeared one last time to chase Ben out. Ariadne is undoubtedly one of Knightmare's most infamous threats, as everyone who saw her was absolutely terrified - and who can blame them? She is a giant tarantula, after all! It is not only dungeoneers and advisors whom Ariadne scared, but also several characters. Cedric and Gundrada - two seemingly brave and powerful characters - turned tail as soon as they saw her, Gretel got caught in a web, and Pickle was terrified and panicky whenever the spider appeared in series four, five and six. Personally, I enjoy watching Ariadne as her scenes remind me of some of the moments when I was most excited and even scared by Knightmare when I was younger.
 
Fear Factor: 8 Both arachnids were large and threatening.
Killer Instinct: 6 Two fatalities for Ariadne, and one hit for the scorpion.
Humanity: 1 Large invertebrates are very distant human relatives.
Gore Factor: 7 Partly why they were so scary.

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For many years, 'Ariadne's Layer' persisted as a spelling error on Knightmare.com. It lives on within the Knightmare.com Forum, where spiderman (joined August 2007) changed his display name to Ariadne's Layer. This member has made over 65 posts.

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A Very Large Spider:
Is the politest way to describe this lady. Her first appearance was in Series 2, her last appearance was in series 6.

Series 2: Her Lair was a square room, with 3 exits. the task: usually to grab what you can and leg it before the three exits become blocked by the web.

Series 3: Her lair was the side of a cliff, yellowish in colour. the task: To leg it!
Series 4: Series 4 was the only season to have 2 parts to Ariadne's Lair. The first part was a clearing in a forest, exit in a tree. Ariadne would first start to chase after you on the ground. The second part was another clearing with a web overhead. the task: grab the clue objects and then usually use some form of magic to escape (usually obtained from Merlin)

Series 5: Her lair was a web in a clear in the forest. Same task as before, but without the magic to escape.

Series 6: Her lair was once again a web, but in an abandoned old room in a building. Task as before.

Ariadne claimed 2 teams over the years. First in series 2, where they didn't have the correct spell to escape (Medal), and once in series 4 for the same reason (Magic not obtained from merlin)

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