From TES issue 38 (March 2006)

Series 1/2/3. Level 1.
THE SERPENT'S MOUTH

The Serpent's Mouth was first seen in the very first episode of Knightmare, formed out of the cliff in Lillith's lair. The fanged snake's head was hewn out of the blue-grey rock, and provided a formidable exit from the chamber. Most of the time, however, its function was merely to add to the threat of Lillith's lair, and it worked in exactly the same way as any other Dungeon door or exit, transporting the dungeoneer safely to the next chamber, if they managed to please Lillith enough for her to create a causeway. Twice in series 1, the Serpent's Mouth led down into the Monster's Maw, but, in both cases, the correct clue object was held to escape. In series 1 and 2, then, the Serpent's Mouth provided no real challenge to the teams itself - it was just another scary aspect to the Knightmare Dungeon.
In series 3, however, the cave of the Serpent's Mouth was used as the setting for one of the tougher level one challenges. With Lillith gone, the blue cave she had inhabited became a formidable obstacle for dungeoneers, because it presented them with the prospect of a very long, and doubtlessly fatal, drop into the abyss. Arriving on a tiny ledge of rock opposite the Serpent's Mouth, the dungeoneer would have to reach a small rocky path on the far left of the cavern, by means of a bridge created by a long, pink tongue that came out of the Serpent's Mouth and up to the ledge, but drew back after a few seconds. The challenge was simple - a quick dash across the tongue, a step to the left, and the dungeoneer would be safe. Simplicity itself! Er, isn't it?

When Cliff encountered this challenge, the tongue was extending and retracting so fast that an egg timer was needed to stop time in order for the dungeoneer to cross safely. Later, Ross was whipped into the Serpent's Mouth when he had barely started to cross, dumping him in the Monster's Maw. However, this was done so that he could use one of his clue objects - a rotten egg - to escape. When dim Douglas encountered this challenge, his team ignored the safe path and walked him straight into the Serpent's Mouth, despite Treguard's warnings. Although a nice animation sequence of walking through a monster's gullet followed, the team was not penalized for this particular mistake. And what of Gavin, the first dungeoneer of the series? According to some reports, he fell off the tongue and died during this challenge, but was allowed to carry on and be killed off in the quicksand. I don't know how much truth there is in this report, but it shows how a fairly simple challenge seems to have caused a whole lot of problems. Of all the dungeoneers who encountered the Serpent's Mouth in series 3, only Julie accomplished the challenge as it was supposed to be completed, and even she had Mellisandre to set her off.
A strange challenge indeed, readers, so let's dwell on it no longer, and get to the scores.

Difficulty: 8 Very tricky, especially for level one.
Killer Instinct: 2 What part did it play in Gavin's death? I'm not sure...
Gore Factor: 9 When you think about it...
Fairness: 5 Perhaps it would have been better suited to level two.

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