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.
Characters[]
- Main article: Tales from the SMP/The Maze/Characters
Episode details[]
Welcome to the maze[]
Karl wakes up and meets eight other people who also have no recollection of what happened before arriving. After panicking for a bit, they introduce themselves to each other.
Karl has a hole in his jacket, hence wearing overalls. Parker gets interrupted by a person with a bandanna, but is able to say he has a holster, with what's inside a mystery. Everyone else decides to call him Blondie. The person with the bandanna introduces themself as Mike Hunt. Karl quickly comes to like him. Toby didn't realize he had earrings put on him when he was abducted. Hamilton Billiam and his younger brother George descend from the legendary Sir Billiam. Frodo Haggins notes he's been out of prison here and there (he was abducted from prison), and Karl notes that his parents must be "extraordinarily original" for naming him that. Frodo reveals that he killed them in response. Orion asks for a number 7 with fries, saying he last remembered being on a 23rd street diner. The old man is seen by the wall, and when Karl tries to talk to him, he suddenly yells that he needs his pills. When Karl asks for his name, he only replies "Qock Pills".
As Pills tries to see what's in Parker's holster, Orion notices a giant screen and calls everyone over to it. After a few seconds, it turns on.
“ | [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 as you all know 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. |
” |
George offers to lead the group, but a confused Qock Pills wanders into the maze before them. Karl makes from his rambling that the group should work together to complete the maze, and that he should leave. Pills, however, just forces Parker to lead him to his pills.
The First Puzzle[]
The group walks through a small made with stone walls and botany growing on it. When Mr. Cicle comes on the intercom to remind the group of the consequences of not making it out by sunrise, the group picks up the pace and enters a large room with a maze garden surrounding a circle of 16 podiums, each with a button. They notice another screen on the other side of the room 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! | ” |
Qock Pills starts to pressure Parker for the pills, but the conflict is broken up by Karl, who promises his pills are at the end of the maze, and Mr. Cicle, who tells the group to hurry up.
Karl notices most of the group standing on one podium, and Hamilton presses the button on the podium right next to them, turning it into a black 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, throwing it away. Karl retrieves it for safe keeping. Toby presses another button, which turns into another soul fire cup and levitates Toby; when he his the ground, his head was replaced by azalea leaves causing him to panic and run around. Qock 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 transformed into a wooden button, and when pushed, 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. As the rest of the group runs towards the exit, Orion pleads not to be left behind, but is ignored, suffocating between the walls.
The Second Puzzle[]
The group pays little mind to the death of Orion, and messes around a bit until Hamilton urges them to continue. The group travels through a small forested maze before entering a large open stone room, with a chasm in the middle, purple platforms emerging from it, and two buttons on a purple and blue block before it. A screen on the other side turns on, with another message from Mr. Cicle.
“ | You found yourself at the edge of a cliff that is sheer, but perhaps with teamwork, a pathway could appear! I could've just said what was happening but instead I rhymed just because I felt like it. What's the point? Anyway, you guys are doing great or something. Keep it up! | ” |
The group quickly discovers that pressing the buttons raises platforms of the same color and lowers platforms of the other color. They deliberate who should stay behind to press the buttons, with Mike punching Toby into the chasm in the process. Mike quickly falls off soon after when Karl toggles the purple platforms, before Parker decides to stay behind to press the buttons and hopefully find another way across.
George misses a jump about halfway through the parkour, and Mike mysteriously reappears with the group soon after, having "climbed up". The group completes the rest of the parkour, but stops to try and get Parker across. Mr. Cicle suggests Parker use what's in his special holster, but the group refrains from doing so until they decide to give up trying to get him to the other side. Before they leave, however, they ask Parker what is in his holster, and he reveals he has the pills Qock Pills was looking for. Qock Pills, suddenly enraged, runs toward Parker, jumping off the cliff in the process. The group, now angry at Parker for doing such a thing, quickly leaves the area.
The Third Puzzle[]
The group quickly runs into Toby on a mushroom, who demands an apology from Mike for pushing him off the cliff. Mike refuses, and a fistfight breaks out before Karl has them stop and focus on finishing the maze. The reunited group continues through an maze section with dripstone and lava, before reaching a room with four colored corners with some terrain in them and a circle in the middle. A nearby screen turns on and Mr. Cicle addresses the group again.
“ | Okay, can everyone please make their way to the center circle? Now, it might look like there's no way out of this puzzle but trust me, sometimes all you need...is a little push. | ” |
The group makes their way to the center circle, and the rest of the floor disappears, revealing a sea of lava. Another fistfight between Toby, Mike, and Hamilton breaks out. Frodo attempts to stop it, but is "rewarded" when they push him into the lava. The floor reappears and the gate opens.
The Fourth Puzzle[]
Qock Pills reappears near the gate, and when asked about it, Mr. Cicle simply states that "The labyrinth works in mysterious ways." The group continues through a desert-based section. As everyone else messes around with dead ends, an optional parkour, the skulls of Parker and Orion, and Qock Pills's wife entering the maze, Hamilton finds the exit and leads the group to a massive, Egyptian-inspired area. A screen in the center turns on, and the group tunes in to another message from Mr. Cicle.
“ | Well there's...more of you left than I expected. This might...Okay, listen up. In this secret area there are five secret keys to unlock the next door. A gold block usually means you're close to one. You just need to complete this before the sun sets. You can do this. You need to do this! | ” |
Finding the five keys was easier said than done, involving puzzles and parkour. Mike enters through a painting in the sphinx, and the group follows him through a series of rooms with small, difficult to notice exits. The group reaches a room with armored armor stands, and don the armor, finding a lever behind one they use to proceed, reaching a wither rose. Karl picks it up, and the group leaves the sphinx out of an opening in the head. Hamilton leads the group to a wall with a wither rose and five flower pots. Karl places both of the roses he found into the pots, each calling down lightning and revealing an end portal block behind them.
Mike then leads the group to the entrance to the pyramid, and finds a hidden button, opening a passageway. Karl and Hamilton follow him, entering a room full of doors revealing one-block passageways, with the real way forward concealed by the open door. Mike discovers this trick, and the group proceeds into a maze full of doors. Karl finds a door under a gold block, revealing a hole hidden with the same trick. The hole leads into a room with furniture made of trapdoors. Mike crawls through a small vent, also concealed with the same trick, leading to a checkered room with more doors with nothing behind them. Mike figures out the two birch doors converge on a space that has a hole covered by carpet. The next room is covered with buttons, and they figure out that the buttons temporarily extend blocks. All three complete the parkour, and Mike picks up the wither rose and flicks a lever opening the exit.
The trio meets up with Toby outside, and Mike places the rose in the flower pot. As Qock Pills relaxes, Toby leads the group to a parkour across a giant Egyptian human painting, and grabs a wither rose at the end, which he gives to Karl. Finally, Mike and Hamilton call Karl and Toby to a puzzle with eight statues, each with a lever and a sign with the name of the god the statue represents. The group struggles with how to solve the puzzle, and Toby eventually gives up and tries to crawl into the chamber with the wither rose. In the process, Mike figures out the puzzle, which has something to do with the statue base material and the blocks on one side of them. Mike picks up the rose, and the group hurries to the rose wall, meeting with Pills in the process. Karl and Mike place their roses into the pots, and the wall falls, revealing the exit.
The Final Puzzle[]
The group quickly runs into Parker behind a door. Qock Pills spits at Parker's feet in anger for taking his pills. Hamilton laments how everyone except his brother seems to be coming back, and the group proceeds through a maze section made of marble with white flowers and birch trees. They reach a large room made of marble with a trapdoor and lever in the middle, and Mr. Cicle gives a message through the screen in front of them.
“ | This is...the furthest anyone's gotten in a really long time. But to complete this puzzle...someone...has to die. You can't beat it by force. For this puzzle to work, someone has to flip the center switch, and fall. The sun is setting. Make a choice. | ” |
Hamilton backs away from the trapdoor, and Karl, Parker, and Toby stand a reasonable distance away. Qock Pills stands on the door, with Mike trying to push him out of the way to sacrifice himself. Pills simply says that he "thinks it's about time", and flips the switch. As he falls through the trapdoor, lightning flashed and purple beacons shine. The others briefly mourn his sacrifice, before proceeding through the opened gate.
The End?[]
The group continues through a grass path lined with plenty of flora, and enter a small room with a screen and a hole. Parker is locked outside by the closing door, and Mike punches Toby into the hole once again, before the screen turns on with a final message from Mr. Cicle.
“ | Congragulations! You beat the maze! Despite all odds, you won, and we can finally go home!
That's...what I've been practicing to say to you. But I can't. You made it through the maze. You didn't beat it. There was always a way out. But you became so focused on running the rat race, and getting to that cheese, you didn't even think to look for the cracks. And I don't blame you. I'm just...disappointed. You're going to go back now. Like I do. Over. And over. Until something breaks. And it'll probably. Be you. |
” |
Mike panics and jumps into the hole, while Karl and Hamilton nervously stay behind. But when their hear Mike's faint voice calling from the hole, Karl jumps in himself, followed by Hamilton.
Welcome to the maze[]
Karl and Hamilton fall onto a platform at the beginning of the maze, meeting Toby and Mike. They notice the entire group of participants, who notice a screen that turns on, revealing Mr. Cicle with a message.
“ | Hey everyone and welcome to the Labyrinth of Ceaseless Agony, which still looks like it's not ceasing anytime soon!
Believe in yourself! Whoa! Not that much! That statistically leads to 35 percent more deaths! Good luck out there, and remember: I was really rootin' for ya. |
” |
DreamXD's World[]
Karl finds himself on a giant clock. Exploring around a bit, he notices DreamXD in the center, who approaches him. Karl steps back and asks who he is, and DreamXD introduces himself as "god". Karl asks where he is, and DreamXD replies that he is inside his clock. Karl then asks if he can go home, but DreamXD refuses, saying he has a choice to make. He then reveals that he's been watching Karl for quite a while, because Karl is the time traveler. Karl asks how he knows, and DreamXD reveals he made him a time traveler, and also reveals that the last time traveler forgot they were a time traveler and he got rid of them. When Karl starts to wonder if it might happen to him, DreamXD tries to give an answer, but his speech is incomprehensible to Karl. Karl just states that it was "reassuring", and asks about his choice.
DreamXD explains that there are two worlds: the Inbetween and the Other Side, both created by him. He put a demigod in each world to oversee it, calling them The Overseers. He then explains that every time Karl time travels, he will end up here, and will have to choose only one of the two to visit. This time, however, Karl will be able to see both worlds. DreamXD ends by saying that both choices will have consequences, and neither is right, only to choose which one he personally wants to visit, and wishes him the best of luck.
Karl, not trusting the Inbetween from what happened last time he visited it, decides to visit The Other Side first. DreamXD wishes him luck, and Karl enters the portal.
The Other Side[]
Karl emerges in the dark and eldritch looking, but warm and inviting castle of the Other Side. He enters the castle and meets the Overseer of the Other Side, who wrote the books that guided Karl in escaping the Inbetween. The Overseer's first sentence to the time traveler is: "Karl... I've been waiting so long to meet you." He states that he was given this world to oversee, and states once again his excitement to finally talk face to face with Karl. Karl, however, does not share the sentiment, simply expressing his desire to return home. The Overseer states his understanding, but says that Karl has much to learn here. When Karl inquites, the Overseer reveals that the Other Side is built using Karl's memories, and that he can learn from them.
The Overseer leads Karl upstairs, explaining that every event Karl experiences by time traveling manifests here. Karl recognizes the area from the Village That Went Mad and its people, and tries to talk to them. However, they do not react, with the Overseer explaining that they are just Karl's memories, and that they can only manifest while he is there, and that the longer he is there, the longer the memories have to complete themselves, to the point where Karl may able to speak to them. Karl questions why they'd want to speak to him when they were killed off, and the Overseers states that they may teach him how to avoid and solve those problems in the future. Karl finds a staircase upstairs and quickly assumes his friends from The Beach Episode will be there, but does not find anyone. The Overseer emphasizes that Karl has only been here twice; he's lucky the place has even generated. Karl, somewhat overwhelmed with this information, steps backwards. The Overseer notices, and tries to convince Karl to spend more time in the Other Side, saying he believes Karl feels a responsibility to help those he meets, and that this is the best way to do it.
Karl states his understanding, but tells the Overseer that he has decided to go to the Inbetween, as he was told by DreamXD to visit both worlds and as he still wants to return home. At this, he starts walking back to the entrance, but is followed by the Overseer, who says that Karl needs so much time to generate his memories from all his adventures. Karl retorts that he is basically asking him to wait here, and the Overseer says that there is no other way to do this. Karl continues to exit the castle, still followed by the Overseer pleading and begging for him to stay, saying that the present is just one small moment in comparison to his influence over the entirety of time, and that there people are counting on him. At the entrance, Karl stops, and sternly tells the Overseer that there are people counting on him back at home as well. Hearing this, the Overseer calms down and accepts Karl's decision, asking for him to come back again sometime.
As Karl exits the Other Side, the camera zooms out into a cinematic shot of the castle. Karl re-enters DreamXD's World, and heads toward the portal to the Inbetween.
The Inbetween[]
Karl enters the bright and sterile looking, but cold and distant castle of the Inbetween. He enters the castle and meets the Overseer of the Inbetween, who reveals he wrote the books warning Karl not to stray from the path. The Overseer has a tinge of anger in his voice as he welcomes Karl back. Karl, however, is still cautious and angry of the person who oversees the place he was told would drain his identity by the Other Side. The Overseer tries to convince Karl he was keeping him safe, but he does not buy his words. Karl then reveals he escaped to the Other Side, and the Overseer scolds him for doing so, saying that the Inbetween is the place for him. Karl deeply questions why he should choose the Inbetween over the Other Side.
The Overseer responds by revealing he knows about Karl's memory loss every time he time travels, and could teach Karl how to control his powers and prevent that from happening. He states that he didn't teach Karl up until because he was waiting until he time travels many times; now that he finds Karl worthy, he is willing to teach Karl if he gives him a chance. When Karl asks again why he should trust him, the Overseer restates that he and the Inbetween told him not to stray from the path and had nothing to do with why Karl left, and leads him to a courtyard, along the way stopping him from straying too far once again. When Karl tells the Overseer about how the Other Side allows him to help others, the Overseer responds by telling him how he should help himself first, what with how he is forgetting the people closest to him. When Karl retorts that he would never forget his friends, the Overseer tells him he doesn't realize it's already happening. The Overseer states that he can teach Karl things he "wouldn't believe were possible", such as how to control when he'll time travel and where and when he'll end up, and that is would make Karl's powers his very own instead of a random thing, and how it would improve his and his friends' lives.
As he leads Karl through a chapel and to a river, the Overseer says that if given enough time, they may even be able to stop Karl from losing his memories, as well as whatever happened when he was here last. He continues saying that the gift of time traveling Karl was given is unique and that even he can't understand it, but he should learn to better it. Karl counters by saying how his gift is supposed to help him better other peoples' lives. The Overseer expresses his understanding, saying that he believes it would be best to make it not a burden for him in the process; he promises he will allow Karl to use it the way he wants, just asking for him to allow this. Karl admits the Overseer has a valid point, but states that he just doesn't want to lose his friends, to which the Overseers states he is confident he can fix Karl's memory and prevent that from happening. Karl expresses his understanding, but stands that he still doesn't trust him. The Overseer restates again that neither he nor the Inbetween had anything to do with why Karl left, ending with the line he keeps saying to him in the books: "Fear not, this is not a place to provoke harm, but a place to feel at ease."
Karl walks towards the river, and the camera zooms out into a cinematic shot of the Inbetween.
The Library[]
Karl appears in his library, and documents his more recent time travel escapade in a book called ''The Maze'':
“ | The Maze
The Maze began as a bunch of random people were all brought together in one place, and were given a simple task: to get to the end of a maze with people you have never met before. This may seem simple enough, but some people were proven to be quite untrustworthy, which resulted in a multitude of casualties. Once the survivors made it to the end, it was revealed that they had in fact failed what they set out to do in the first place, escape the maze. Because of this, they reset the maze as if they never even began it, spiraling them into a new form of purgatory with not much of a shot of escaping. |
” |
After signing and storing the book, Karl writes a new diary entry for himself.
“ | Diary Entry #5
This is all becoming too much. I don't really understand what the right thing is to do. One hand, the other side. The other side is made for me to be able to go back and meet all of the people I have time traveled to... and in a way, it's morally correct to spend time there as it will help better my understanding of how I can better help the people I time travel to. The other hand, the inbetween. The inbetween serves as a place for me to go learn about my time traveling abilities. And although that's important I feel I do have an obligation to try and give the stories I time travel to, a happy ending. The overseer at the inbetween spoke a lot about me losing my memory, so for safe keeping I think it best to write down a list of my close ones, that way I can never completely lose touch. Sapnap, George, Bad, Foolish, Tina I feel like it's already starting, like I may have already begun losing sight in who is closest to me. It's important that I do my best to preserve what I still have. |
” |
Karl places this new diary entry with his rest, and the episode ends.
The end credits repeated the line "Karl... I've been waiting so long to meet you."
Unused skins[]
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.
References[]
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