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Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail - Second "It" and More
When King Arthur returns to The Knights of Ni. The head Knight not only says "IT is a good shrubbery. I like the laurels particularly" But he then informs Arthur of the name change to "the Knights Who Say Ecky-ecky-ecky-ecky-pikang-zoop-boing-goodem-zu-owly-zhiv" and the quest of another shrubbery th head knight says "Then, when you have found the shrubbery, you must place IT here beside this shrubbery" Also after declaring the name change, the knights continue to say Ni and Head Knight says "I cannot tell, suffice to say is one of the words the KNIGHTS OF NI cannot hear. I thought they were now the Knights of Ecky-ecky-ecky-ecky-pikang-zoop-boing-goodem-zu-owly-zhiv.
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Rated 5.4/10 (113 ratings) Your opinion?
Special Requirements: i dunno
Contributed By: Anonymous on 11-28-2000 and Reviewed By: Webmaster
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Comments:
stacie_yates writes:
Notice the Knights only react badly when OTHER people say "it", just as earlier they didn't howl when they themselves said "ni". Apparently saying "ni" and hearing "ni" were two different things, so the same rules seem to apply to "it". And I suppose you could argue that they are still the Knights OF Ni (assuming Ni is supposed to be a place), just no longer the knights who SAY Ni. Even at the beginning of the scene, they claim to be keepers of other holy words, "Ni, Ping, and Nuu-wom", so evidently their pet phrases/words aren't the only thing that got them their name. Besides, part of the joke is the fact that the Head Knight can't get it through to the rest of the knights that they're no longer supposed to be saying "ni". In the script, available at http://www.montypython.net/grailmm.php3 , the Head Knight tries to shush them when they keep spouting "ni" because they're so excited about the two-tiered shrubbery with a path between.
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SpecialKB writes:
The rule about saying "Ni" and hearing "Ni" does apply, but the same rule must not apply for "it" because at the end of the scene, the head knight keeps saying "oh, now I said it", and "oh, I said it again". So apparently saying "it" does harm the knights who oh so recently said "Ni".
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mebeevilmantaray writes:
Everybody else has missed another time King Arthur has said IT in front of the Knights who say NI. When he first meets the keepers of the word, they say 'If you want to pass through this forest, there is one thing you must do' or something like that. Then King Arthur says 'What is IT you want?' And the knights don't even flinch, They just go on and say the want a shrubbery.
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jtmichaelson writes:
Reading all of the comments on the subject gives me the pleasure that all of the Pythons set out to do. Their initial goal in their comedy is to make you as confused as you are laughing. They wanted you to scratch your heads. And this here proves it. The Knights Who Say Ni is a wonderful display of collective writing on the part of the Pythons who usually, as much on film as they did on TV, improvise the most classic lines and ideas as they went along. The coconuts was actually John Cleese's idea the day after filming began. The Knights Who Say Ni was planned entirely different than what originated on the screen. It was their ploy to market themselves and judging from the commentaries here they did their job and they did it well.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
AustinFromAustinland writes:
Actually, the Knights who until recently said Ni writhe in pain no matter who says "it." After Brave Sir Robin runs into Arthur in the woods where they met the knights, he says "it" a lot and the head knight goes "Aaahh he said it! he said it again! Oh I said it! i said it again!" and all the other knight in the background were screaming and covering their heads even when it was the head night who said the forbidden word.
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booboo writes:
I noticed this too, and it is either a slip- up or you were meant to notice it, as part of the comedy. I think it's the latter, because how could someone write the script and not notice that they were writing the dreaded word?
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Yavanna writes:
booboo, I think this is actually a slipup. Consider exactly how common the word 'it' is. It's entirely possible to use it several times in one sentence and never notice it unless you read it very carefully. Let's see, that was...four uses in one sentence.
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sonofahamster writes:
There are definitely several times when the Knights don't react to the word "it," some of which I think are even after they have mentioned that they "cannot hear" it. Whether this is accidental or not I guess we will never know.
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cbak writes:
I must slightly correct jtmichaelson. Although the group improvised for cost cutting purposes for this slice of genius, they almost never improvised on screen. They were very strict at adhering to scripts.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes

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