Tales from the SMP/The Maze

The Maze is the first installment of the second season of Tales from the SMP. It streamed on February 11, 2022 at 6PM EST. The episode takes place in the future within the few generations of the events in The Pit. It follows Karl and eight other people who have been taken and placed into a maze called "The Labyrinth of Ceaseless Agony" while being guided by the host, Mr. Cicle.

Welcome to the maze
Karl wakes up and meets eight other people who also have no recollection of what happened before arriving. They introduce themselves and check their surroundings. They notice a screen and it turns on, revealing a crying person. The person realizes that the cameras have turned on and completely shifts their demeanor, eagerly welcoming the players to "The Labyrinth of Ceaseless Agony" and introduces himself as the host, Mr. Cicle. "[Sniffling and sobbing]

Oh- oh we're live- Hey everyone and welcome to The Labyrinth of Ceaseless Agony! I'm your host Mr. Cicle and is everyone ready to have a good time today?

Great, don't be. This maze is full of puzzles and challenges the likes of which that none of us has ever seen and it's your job to get through them all and become champion, but of course if any of you are still in the labyrinth when the sun sets..

[Shuddering breath]

Don't be in the labyrinth when the sun sets. Welp! Good luck out there, I'm really rootin' for ya."

The First Puzzle
Going through the maze in a hurry, the group find themselves in their first puzzle. A maze garden surrounding the middle portion that containing 16 podiums arranged in a circular pattern, each with a button. They see another screen and receive another message from Mr. Cicle.

"Uh Oh! The road ahead is blocked off. Looks like you'll need to figure out how to unlock it, as a team. Let's see how much you can push each others buttons. Oh and hang on to anything you find it could help you later. Okay bye!"

They hesitantly push one of the buttons and the podium turns black, turning into a cup with soul fire. A wither rose descends from the sky and lands in the middle of the podiums. Mike picks it up and finds no meaning to it, promptly throwing it away. Karl retrieves it for safe keeping. Toby presses another button without hesitation and suddenly levitates off of the ground, the players catch him when he falls and his head is surrounded by azalea leaves. He panics and runs around. Pills presses another button and is launched into the sky, he falls back down safely now with a chicken sitting on his head. Mike presses another button and it transforms into a lever, when flicked it then transformed into a wooden button, after pushing it, the button turned into a redstone torch and Mike is teleported to the hedge maze but makes his way back easily. George presses another button and gets teleported behind the gate. Mike and Orion press a button each at the same time, Mike gets launched into the air, now with a redstone lamp for a head, while Orion is teleported in the middle, now trapped in a cage.

They press more buttons in hopes to find a way out for Orion, the remaining buttons only spawn a sign that says "USE YOUR HEAD", They use the redstone lamp in the torch and it makes a small explosion, opening the gate, but also causing the walls to close in. Orion pleads for help and to not be left behind, only to be fruitless as the others run away from the walls. Orion ends up crushed between the walls.

Credits

 * Poster: @reinfallz
 * Storyline: Karl Jacobs
 * Production manager: @notbramsy
 * Editor: @SkytroLive
 * Cinematographer: @BrettTomadin
 * Skins, end credits book, and background: @brieggna
 * Text animation: @jacketisyours
 * Realm art: @LilyPichu
 * "Tell Your Story" (song): @derivakat

Bloopers

 * During the stream, people kept accidentally dying when they weren't supposed to. They were teleported back to the rest of the group.

Trivia

 * George named his character Toby, which is Tubbo's real name, and in response, Tubbo named his character George.