Skip to main content

indiana jones - Were the traps in the Last Crusade made by the three knights?


Were the traps in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade made by the three knights?


In the "Name of God" trap from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade question there is a comment that the "J" shouldn't even exist on the trap, because there isn't a J in the Latin alphabet. Since the answer is spelled out in Latin, that means the trap wasn't written in a language written or spoken at the time of Christ (ie Aramaic or Hebrew).



Answer



Technically, they weren't traps: they were tests, albeit ones that rewarded failure with death.


Given their elaborate nature, it's unlikely that Medieval knights would be responsible for their manufacture, and it is much more feasible that The Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword are responsible, as Stefan has pointed out.


It's not the aim to make access impassible, but to allow only the Truly devout and Holy pass through, those who are worthy of the gift of God.



Hence;




  • Only a Holy man would know the true name of God, and thus traverse the stepping stones.




  • A Holy man would kneel in submission of the Lord, and avoid being decapitated by the blades.




  • A Holy man would have faith to trust in the Lord, and commit to the leap of faith.





Whilst these puzzles have relatively simple answers in retrospect, in prospect they require very specific knowledge and a very learned interpretation of the 'Clues' in order to decode.


They were likely crafted between 11th-13th Century (with enhancements possibly modified in the Interim), in a time when only scholars and the wealthy elite would have had access to the level of education to understand the Holy Passages; let alone interpret them accordingly, launch an expedition and find the site in the First place.


Considering the Crusades were 'waged' against Muslims and Heretics (in a time of Dogmatism), traps as simple as the spelling of 'The word of God' could even be interpreted as a deterrent to non-Christians; who would either not be educated enough to know the word of God, or more likely consider claiming the Name of the Lord to be anything other than Allah, Vāhigurū, (insert monotheistic Deity name) to be an act of Heresy.


If the Brotherhood of the Cruciform sword are responsible for the maintenance of the location, they could have modified the traps in keeping with modern developments (gramatically speaking), but considering the point in the tests is to reward those would would seek the cup, making the answer less obscure seems to defeat the purpose.


To step out of the narrative universe for a moment, it's most likely an oversight by the writing team. The idea of the tests fits nicely into the narrative, but the ramifications of centuries of change were perhaps not as thoroughly poured over as we might wish, but who can blame them?


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

Which Doctor Who works are canon?

I have been watching a Doctor Who documentary and they mentioned that Paul McGann did audio stories so he wasn't just a one-hit Doctor (and that there are novels featuring his Doctor as well). My question is: is Doctor Who canon just the show, or is it like Star Wars where some books and audios are canon and some are not? The documentary also shows that before 2005 they did audio stories where the Doctor is female and obviously that cannot be — not the female part, but the show doesn't count any female Doctors in episodes like The Day of the Doctor . Answer Nothing, and also everything The definitive piece of writing on Doctor Who canon is this blog post by writer Paul Cornell . I'm essentially going to be summarizing his post here, much less eloquently, but one section I want to quote directly is this: Nobody at the BBC has ever uttered a pronouncement about what is and isn't canonical. (As I'm sure they'd put it, being such enthusiasts for good grammar.) Be...
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more