From TES issue 26 (March 2004)

Series 2/3. Level 1.
THE LION’S HEAD AND THE LASERS
This challenge involved a room that featured a lion's head above the door. When the dungeoneer entered the room, yellow laser beams started to shoot from the lion's head and demolish large sections of the floor. Needless to say that a speedy exit was then required, as pretty soon there would have been no floor left to stand on. Despite its alarming appearance, this challenge was fairly simple, as the dungeoneer always entered the room at a point where they were pretty much in a straight line with the doorway. All that was really required was a quick walk forwards in a straight line, but this seemed to be beyond the capabilities of some teams. A few dungeoneers like poor ill-fated Scott from series 3 were sent side-stepping all over the place before they reached the door, a phenomenon brought about by our old friend advisor panic. Even with the best advisors, though, Claire from series 2 was always bound to find this challenge a bit difficult, as she always tended to walk a little wonkily. When Claire did finally manage to make it to the door, the floor had practically all gone.

With most teams, though, the challenge was completed fairly easily. A little extra task was sometimes included in this room to add to the challenge. Series 2's Tony [Team 5 of Series 2] found a large table in this room with a chicken on a silver platter. You'd think that putting this food item in his knapsack would have been easiness itself, but the team were so spooked by the sudden appearance of the lasers that he was delayed in his attempts to restore his life force while his advisors stopped for a short panic session. Later in the series, Steven had to grab a key from a green rug on the floor while the lasers shot into the room, but, as in Tony's case, he managed to get out in the end with no real difficulty. This room was never a major obstacle or a favourite puzzle, but it was a challenging and surprising early room that was the scene of several moments of classic Knightmare drama.

Difficulty: 5 It should have been incredibly easy, but wasn't.
Killer Instinct: 1 Not really meant to be a killer.
Gore Factor: 1 The dungeoneer would probably just have disappeared.
Fairness: 8 There was plenty of time to get out, as long as the advisors could keep their heads.

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