The Tower of Fate is the finale destination at the far east of the Valley in Shovel of Hope, Plague of Shadows, and King of Cards. This is where the Enchantress prepares her plan to conquer the Valley, guarded by the Order of No Quarter (only in Shovel of Hope and Plague of Shadows), as well as where Shovel Knight lost Shield Knight and hopes to save her. The Tower is composed of several stages in the aforementioned campaigns but also serves as hub for Specter Knight in Specter of Torment.
Story
The backstory of the Tower is largely unknown but according to Horace, the tower was the home of several questionably dark creatures long before the Enchantress took control of it.
In the near past, Shovel Knight ventured with Shield Knight to the Tower of Fate to destroy the Amulet of Power, a powerful and evil artifact stored at the top of the tower. Coincidentally, Donovan and Luan also climbed the tower to claim the Amulet and use it to protect Luan's son Reize. The pair confronted Shield Knight, but fell to their death in the struggle that destroyed the Amulet's room. Shield Knight, however, was affected by the Amulet's terrible magic and got separated from her companion.
The Tower of Fate sealed itself behind Shovel Knight, trapping, Shield Knight who was transformed into the Enchantress. With her new powers, she found the dying Donovan and granted him immortality as the undead Specter Knight, to serve her loyally. After this incident, the Enchantress started recruiting more knights for the Order of No Quarter, vowing to take over the land with her powers and the armies at her command.
Shovel of Hope and Plague of Shadows
The Tower of Fate is accessible to Shovel Knight and Plague Knight only when reaching the fourth quadrant of the map, after defeating the last three members of the Order of No Quarter. It is divided in three stages to be played in order:
In Shovel of Hope, the Tower of Fate collapses after a climactic struggle against the Remnant of Fate. In Plague of Shadows, it is ultimately leveled to the ground when Plague Knight detonates the Ultimate Potion to show his valor as an alchemist, with the people inside it only barely escaping its destruction.
Specter of Torment
In this campaign, the Tower of Fate serves as the hub world, where Specter Knight can buy and upgrade Curios, buy new Cloaks, talk to several NPCs, and access the Magic Mirror through which he can travel to each Stages. This time, there are four stages taking place inside the tower (although two of them are flashbacks):
After recruiting a specific number of Knights, Specter Knight has a flashback of his mortal self Donovan and his first arrival at the Tower of Fate with his partner Luan. A second flashback shows his confrontation with Shield Knight for the Amulet of Power. One last flashback shows the aftermath of their fight, with the Enchantress locating granting Donovan artificial life after enticing him into accepting her offer of servitude.
Each location conquered by Specter Knight lights up, as seen from Specter Knight's patio in the Tower of Fate.
Characters
- Red, a red skeleton who trades Curios for Red Skulls.
- After collecting 79 skulls, the 80th will be the one of Red's long lost love, Scarlet, who will then show her gratitude to Specter Knight by showing a special dance with Red, which later can be seen again whenever Specter Knight talks to her.
- Manny, who sells Cloaks. In order to unlock this character, Specter Knight needs to offer 800 gold to its container for three times.
- Missy, who sells any Will and Darkness Wisps that Specter Knight missed during their visit to the main stages.
- Legion, who upgrades Curios. In order to unlock this character, Specter Knight needs to offer 1,000 gold to its container for three times.
- Horace, who offers the Tower Climbing mini-game.
- Edge Farmer, who gives gold to Specter Knight after being impressed by either performing the Cold Shoulder or by skating with the Rail Armor in front of him.
- Madame Meeber, a character exclusive to the Nintendo game versions (Wii U, 3DS, and Nintendo Switch), who can scans the Shovel Knight amiibo and summon a fairy companion who will follow them throughout the game.
- Creech, a bartender that comments on how populated the tower is.
- Dancer, who will unlock the Cold Shoulder action if interacted with. She only appears after Specter Knight clears The Lich Yard and will leave after she's talked to, because Specter Knight broke her heart.
- Gall, who demonstrates "the Kiss of Death" when spoken to. He only appears after half of The Order has been recruited.
- Goldarmor, who will be in the mirror room. Above him there will be a colored lamp which will break and fall if Specter Knight Dash Slashes through it three times. If the lamp falls over Goldarmor, the flames will tint him with the respective color. After cycling through all the colors, he will be revealed to be a dragon in disguise, dubbed by fans as "Dragonarmor".
- Memmec, next to the Goldarmor in the mirror room. Specter Knight can pet the dog-like creature or knock one of the purple orbs near the entrance at the Memmec, which will proceed to play with the orb and release treasures (this can only happen once).
- Grandma Swamp, who appears to Specter Knight through the Scrying Glass in the room next to the dining hall. Specter Knight must strike the mirror consecutively, causing it to spin and show her image.
- Dark Acolyte, who is responsible for guarding and operating the Magic Mirror that teleports Specter Knight to the stages. Later he is replaced by Reize until all the Order of No Quarter recruit stages are beaten.
In addition, each time Specter Knight defeats a member of The Order, they will appear, one at time, at the dining hall, by the feast table, where they will comment on the new base of operations. Minions from the respective Order members will also start to roam the Tower, and some will give gold to Specter Knight when spoken to (only one time).
King of Cards
In this campaign, the Tower of Fate serves as the fourth and final world of the game, becoming accessible after King Knight defeats King Birder. It consists of four stages played in a linear order:
The first stage, Shrouded Spires, also contains a secret exit that, when taken, unlocks access to the Tower of Joustus, a house of Joustus situated within the Tower of Fate.
Trivia
- It is actually possible to fall from the balcony where Specter Knight remembers his past. Should it occur, similarly to the Troupple Pond, a death sequence will play. It will incur no penalty other than distress the Dark Acolyte, or in his absence, cause Reize to mock Specter Knight for his attempt to "take a easy way out".
- The constant rainstorm around the Tower of Fate seen in Shovel of Hope and Plague of Shadows turned green and started pouring during the end events of Specter of Torment.[1]
- However, the green rainstorm is also seen during the ending cutscene of King of Cards. This implies that the green rain stopped sometime before the events of Specter of Torment and then picked up again at the end of the latter campaign, this time lasting permanently.
References
- ↑ Twitter post by Yacht Club Games