When Merlin introduced himself as Marlin during Series 1, little did John Woodnutt know that Knightmare had yet more out-of-context fish remarks in store. Six seasons later, a grayling is mentioned.
How the name of a type of grey-coloured salmon came to be applied to a type of assassin too scared to attack head-on is anyone's guess (perhaps it's a contraction of 'gray lingerer'), but when Team 3 of Series 7 encountered a grayling in Level 2 dwarf tunnels, it was the latter kind and not the former. Alarmed by the grayling's long blade and shadowy appearance, the advisors panicked, forgetting Romahna's earlier advice about graylings only attacking from the rear. Treguard attempted a subtle reminder of this, and in doing so, could well have saved the team. Using his glow-light for added security, Dungeoneer Alex duly advanced towards the grayling, who backed away. When Alex emerged from the tunnels, the grayling was gone. The encounter had lasted barely 20 seconds!

Though graylings were mentioned again by Romahna in a later quest - dungeoneer Ben of Team 5 of Series 7 was "too noisy" to be mistaken for one, according to font-of-grayling-knowledge Romahna - there were no further appearances on Knightmare of this bizarrely-named, ill-conceived, ill-executed menace.

[Earlier version: 2006-03-28 23:16:23]

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From TES issue 37 (January 2006)

Series 7. Level 2.
THE GRAYLING

This creature was a mysterious assassin, which made a very brief appearance in series 7. It appeared to be human, carried a very long knife, and seemed to be wearing grey chainmail, or some similar attire. From the grayling's one and only appearance in the subterranean darkness of the dwarf tunnels, however, it's hard to be sure of these facts.

The grayling's unsuccessful attempt at butchering a dungeoneer occurred during the sixth episode of series 7, when Alex II was in level two. Was the creature acting on Lord Fear's orders, or was it out to kill merely for the fun of it? We may never know, readers.

Alex was alerted to the danger of the lurking grayling by Romahna, who described the creature, and how to deal with it, in some detail: "They attack only from the rear, so the trick is always to turn and face them." - Romahna. So it was that, when Alex encountered the murderous creature in a subsequent tunnel, he had to walk boldly towards it, holding a glow-light out before him, which forced the mysterious being to retreat.

Of course, this scene might just as well have had an unhappy ending for Alex. His advisors seemed slightly confused when the grayling appeared, and the one in the yellow T-shirt who hardly said anything throughout the entire three-level quest (Richard) was all for Alex turning back the way he had come! However, with Treguard's encouragement, the other two advisors (James and Neil) managed to deal with the situation properly.

So, why didn't we see any more graylings on Knightmare after that? I guess that will remain one of life's many unanswered questions, which is a shame in a way, because the grayling could have been developed into a fearsome foe, particularly if more than one had attacked at once and managed to surround the dungeoneer. Still, one grayling appearance there will always remain, and, although it would have been good to see further development, take my advice, readers, and don't lose any sleep over it!

Fear Factor: 3 The knife looked nasty, but...
Killer Instinct: 1 The opportunity didn't really arise.
Gore Factor: 4 A mysterious figure in the shadows.
Humanity: 9 Looked distinctly human from what was visible.

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