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The ridiculous rules of the Triwizard Tournament

posted 6 years ago by Karl Aksel (1453)
12 replies | jump to latest

There doesn't even seem to be a point to the first two trials, if the winner is the one who gets the goblet in the third trial anyway. But let us assume the three trials are of equal worth: It is still ridiculous, because:

1. The first trial only has a binary premise: Did you get the egg, yes or no? They do not compete at the same time, nor does time seem to be an issue. So if you got the egg, great: one point. If not, well... no points. But would you then be out of the tournament? The egg contains a clue, after all. Which brings me to the second point:

2. They were given a certain time to figure out the clue of the egg. What if none of the contestants could do it in time? What if only one of them could? Would they still build the pavilions in the sea and gather all of Hogwarts there, even if there was one contestant who hadn't figured it out yet? Wouldn't he be able to know where to go the same way the spectators would know? Harry had to have help from Cedric, and Cedric had to have help himself.

3. Assuming everyone figured out the clue of the egg, the second trial is the only one where you have graded victory conditions. First to finish gets first place, second gets second place etc. One assumes that second place is better than third place (or the judges' decision to elevate Harry from third to second place would make no sense), but there'd be no point to that given that no other trials are like this. Also, Fleur did not finish, yet she was not kicked out of the tournament - she participated with the others for the third trial, meaning she would have to have a chance of winning. This being the case, wouldn't any competing wizard with half a brain simply not bother with the second trial? They were all equal for points after the first trial, and if the third trial is the deciding one regardless of outcome of the second trial, what's the point of doing the second trial at all?

4. The third trial can only have one winner, with everyone else equally losing - there is no silver medal for finishing second. There is the possibility of the unlikely outcome we saw in the movie where Harry and Cedric both grabbed the goblet at once. Nevermind the fact that Harry had signalled his own exit after shooting red sparks in the air. He did it on behalf of Fleur, but if one is allowed to send sparks on behalf of other contestants, that opens up a whole big grey area in which you can actively sabotage for the others, in quite a silly way.

In short, a contest involving multiple trials only makes sense if each trial counts equally. The Triwizard Tournament had trials which were not very well thought through. It was, in fact, ridiculous. Mind you, I base this on the film - I hope it's not as silly in the book.

[–] ArmadilloKnight (456) 6 years ago

I think it's the same in the books. The whole concept of the tournament doesn't make much sense. Why have such a dangerous tournament with barely legal people? It's kind of barbaric.

[–] Otter (24464) 6 years ago

All of the above criticisms are true, and I'd like to add that this terribly important tournament absolutely sucks as a spectator sport!

The only contest that would be any fun to watch is the dragons, and for the second and third challenges all the spectators would see is the contestants vsnishing into the lake and the maze, respectively. And even if they're able to watch in some way that isn't mentioned in the book or the movie, most of what they'd see is swimming around or wandering around, respectively.

[–] MIchiganJFrogg (-35) 6 years ago

[deleted]

[–] johnnm58 (545) 3 years ago

They're all wizards. Ooh I.

[–] Costumer (1789) 3 years ago

My own take is this:

Challenge 1: You have to get an egg. Without it you simply cannot compete in Challenge 2 effectively. However, from what I can tell from the dialog everyone still competes in 2.

Challenge 2: This is more important. This one, assuming everyone gets an egg in 1, determines the order the contestants go into the maze.

Challenge 3: Of course, this challenge is winner take all so even someone in last place can win it all; but the earlier one enters the maze, the better their chances.

Now, while it doesn't seem there is any way to determine a winner's order in Challenge 1, there must be: In Challenge 2 Cedric wins 1st place while Harry wings 2nd. But at the beginning of Challenge 3 Dumbledore says they are tied. So there has to be some sort of ranking after Challenge 1. It could be time to get the egg. It does take Harry quite a bit of time, but we don't know how quickly the others got their eggs. Or it could be stylistic; the judges determine a win order by the skill and technique of the contestants. Or it could be a combination of the two.

Now, all that said, the contest does seem weird and difficult to interpret, but this is how I interpret it.

[–] johnmarti59 (2356) 3 years ago

And well done.

[–] Costumer (1789) 3 years ago

Thanks

[–] [deleted] 2 years ago

That's a really good point. In the third one, you'd be sitting there for an hour or more just looking at a big green wall. Who would find that entertaining? They're not suspended like in a normal stadium to see above the maze. No commentator or anything either.

[–] Otter (24464) 2 years ago

Maybe there's some sort of big magical projection screen that the viewers can watch, which isn't mentioned in the book because the story is told from Harry's POV.

But really, as far as we know, the spectators just sit there and wait for someone to reappear...

[–] Burk48917 (11008) a year ago

isn't that like watching any marathon or bike race?

[–] johnmarti59 (2356) 3 years ago

what do you Karl Aksel do for a living?

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 2 years ago

Nor did Quidich make any sense. All that mucking about with scoring when the winner is determined by some ancillary bug hunt. Rowling is obviously one of those kind of people who doesn't like nor understand any sport at all.