Carmen: New Zealand is where the fifth film in "The Ringed Lord" septology is being filmed! What, <Player's Name>? The books are really amazing... And the films are, too!
In Matamata, New Zealand, the Bureau begins their search for Baxter Fraser, the SOMBRA recruit they met in Thailand, to interrogate him about the organization's plans. Believing he's hiding in the set of the fantasy movie "The Ringed Lord", Chief Ripley orders Carmen and the player to investigate there, only to find the body of movie director Jackson Peters bludgeoned to death.
Tropes:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Carmen actually laughs at Lars' joke in this case, though he doesn't receive any credit as Sanjay steals the punchline before Lars can deliver it.
- Angrish: Carmen has a watered-down version of this when Jermaine insults The Ringed Lord by calling it "a goofy fantasy film".Carmen: Some... goofy... fantasy... film?!
- Blackmail Backfire: Jackson was blackmailing Jermaine by threatening to reveal he used steroids if he tried to leave the film, despite Jermaine having better opportunities playing rugby than starring on Jackson's production. For this reason, he decided to murder him.
- Bludgeoned to Death: The victim was killed by being bludgeoned with a Māripi.
- Broken Pedestal: Subverted. Despite all the evidence showing that Jackson wasn't such a nice guy, Carmen is still distraught by his death and mourns for him after the case is solved.
- Call-Back: Baxter Fraser and Ruby Armstrong reappear as suspects.
- Cathartic Scream: Elliot encourages Baxter to scream at the geyser fields to let out his frustration regarding SOMBRA.
- Control Freak: Both Jackson and his wife Bronwyn accused each other to be this on a recording, as both of them wanted to perform changes on the film without consulting the other which led to some disputes.
- Destroy the Evidence: At the start of Chapter 3, Baxter starts destroying the movie set to get hold of the photos Jackson took of him, since he doesn't want anyone to know he's in New Zealand for fear that SOMBRA will find out.
- Fangirl: Surprisingly, Carmen is a huge fan of The Ringed Lord, showing excitement about visiting where the movies are being filmed and upset due to the director's death.
- Improvised Weapon: The murder weapon is a Māripi, a traditional Māori knife made of wood with shark teeth embedded in it.
- Lampshaded the Obscure Reference: Carmen makes references to The Ringed Lord before admitting that the player probably won't get them.Carmen: Did you know that Bronwyn is also the casting director for "The Ringed Lord" septology?Ha, yeah... Why would you know that?
- Mood Whiplash: After you arrest Jermaine, a touching conversation between Carmen and Sanjay involving him giving her encouraging words gets interrupted when Baxter enters the scene to tell you he's got info about SOMBRA.
- Motion Capture: Brett Darby, one of your suspects, is a world-famous motion capture actors who was working on the movie.
- Mysterious Backer: In a villainous example, SOMBRA gave a hefty sum of money to the production of The Ringed Lord if they accepted to cast some of their "yellow-eyed actors" and bought airplane tickets for them on a certain day.
- Nature Lover: The reason why Ruby is visiting New Zealand is because she loves how you can experience almost every ecosystem on the planet in the country.
- Never Say That Again: Baxter practically flies off the handle whenever you mention SOMBRA.
- Odd Friendship: Elliot and Baxter develop a small one, bonding over both of them being captured by SOMBRA.
- Oh, No... Not Again!: Carmen's reaction when Lars attempts another of his "Knock Knock" Jokes.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Throughout the case, the very serious Carmen is shown to be very excited and sad about investigating the death of her favorite film director.
- Operation: Jealousy: The reason why Jackson had "hired" Ruby to scout for filming locations was because he wanted to make his wife jealous by taking a photo of him kissing Ruby on the cheek.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Baxter, who is supposed to be running from both an extremely dangerous criminal organization and the best agents in the entire world, decides to disguise himself with... a cap and a pair of sunglasses, which do nothing to conceal his yellow eyes (AKA the defining feature of any SOMBRA recruit).Baxter: You must have me mistaken for someone else...Carmen: Baxter <Player's Name> would know your yellow eyes anywhere. We know who you are!
- The Paranoiac: Baxter is convinced that SOMBRA murdered Jackson to show what they'll do to him if he keeps running, and also that SOMBRA was somehow involved with the film too.
- Plot Allergy: The killer is allergic to seafood, a trait shared by Bronwyn Peters, Ruby Armstrong, Brett Darby, and Jermaine Waaka.
- Prima Donna Director: Over the course of the case, you learn that the victim was a very difficult person to work with, as his outbursts and Control Freak tendencies made a lot of his cast members walk out of the film which in return gave him an even worse attitude.
- Properly Paranoid: Baxter's fears about SOMBRA being involved in the production of The Ringed Lord are proven to be true when you discover Prof. Metcalf was last seen on the set, and that an anonymous financial backer offered Bronwyn a large sum of money if she accepted to include a group of "yellow-eyed actors" in the film. In addition, he's also revealed to be right about SOMBRA spying on him when you find a hidden camera on the rugby bar he was hiding in.
- Shout-Out: The case is filled with references to The Lord of the Rings:
- The case's title comes from the inscriptions of Doors of Durin, "Speak friend and enter".
- The case is set in New Zealand, where the films were shot.
- The case centers around a film called "The Ringed Lord".
- The film features a language called Yenaque, a parody of Quenya.
- The victim, Jackson Peters, is a parody of Peter Jackson, who directed the films.
- Brett Darby is based on Andy Serkis, who portrayed Gollum in the film and is named after Bret McKenzie and Rhys Darby.
- The Fantasy Movie Set and Garden scenes parody the Shire.
- In the Fantasy Movie Set scene, there is a tower resembling Orthanc. There is also a wooden staff with a crystal and a grey wizard's hat, referring to Gandalf.
- In the Garden scene, there is a sword, a bow and quiver of arrows, and an axe, referring to Aragon, Legolas, and Gimli respectively.
- In the Rugby Bar scene, there is an orc mask, which is actually a clue in the case.
- Jermaine Waaka, the owner of the mask, wears the logo of Rocket Cow, and he resembles Ma'a Nonu.
- Skewed Priorities. Upon finding the body, Carmen laments how the death of Jackson means the movies will probably be delayed before apologizing to the player.
- Workaholic: Jackson was forcing Brett to be one, requiring him to be filming on-set for at least 17 hours at day since many other cast members were leaving the production.
