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In my desperation, I decided to give you one last chance.
— John reveals his deception to Amanda[src]

Amanda's Test is one of Jigsaw's games in the Saw franchise, occurring in Saw III.

History[]

Preparation[]

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Lawrence suggests Lynn as a test subject

At some point during his series of murders, John Kramer, better known as the Jigsaw Killer, began to plan and prepare his final tests as he was severely weakened by his cancer disease. However, his legacy was endangered as his apprentice, Amanda Young, who was a survivor of one of his games on her own, began to manipulate the games and therefore didn't give her test subjects any chance to survive. Therefore, John planned to test her one more time to see if she could change and was still able and worthy to carry on his work after his death. Her test was going to be closely intertwined with the test of Dr. Lynn Denlon, one of John's former doctors who suffered from severe depression after the death of her 8-year-old son, Dylan, who had been killed by a drunk driver named Timothy Young in a car accident three years earlier. She began to neglect her daughter, Corbett, and cheated on her husband, Jeff. Due to this and her incredible skills as a surgeon, Dr. Lawrence Gordon, another apprentice of John who used to work at the Angel of Mercy Hospital just like Lynn, recommended using her for John's final tests. Unknown that she was going to be tested as well and eager to fulfill John's orders, Amanda abducted Lynn from the hospital and took her to their hideout at the abandoned Gideon Meatpacking Plant, where she gagged her and strapped her arms to a wheelchair. After that she left to go on some final errands for John. (Saw III, 3D)

Amanda Young's Test[]

I want to play a game. The rules of the game are simple. The consequences for breaking them are great: death. You're being tested. Your will is being tested, the will to keep someone alive. Can you do that? Can you follow the rules and grant someone the gift of life?
— John explains the rules[src]
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Amanda intimidates Lynn

When Amanda eventually returned to John and Lynn, she turned on the surveillance monitors and the light, causing Lynn to wake up from her unconsciousness. Realizing she had been abducted, Lynn immediately panicked and screamed for help. Moments later, Amanda calmly approached her from behind and told her to be quiet before she brought her to the next room, where a bedridden John Kramer was already waiting for their arrival. When the women entered the room, John greeted his new subject and former doctor, even though she couldn't remember him being one of her former patients and only recognized him from the news stories. After a brief introduction, John told her that he had chosen her for a dangerous test due to her depression after her son's death and explained her the rules for her game. Amanda put a collar on her which was connected to John's heart rate monitor and would explode if John died or she moved out of his range. It was her task to keep John alive until another victim managed to finish a series of tests. However he refused to tell her and Amanda that the victim was actually Lynn's husband, Jeff Denlon. If she was able to accomplish her task, Amanda told her to let her go after her test and then freed her from her restraints. Unknown to Amanda, the rules, which told Lynn that she had to learn to grant someone the gift of life, were also meant for her.

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Lynn and Amanda discuss John's condition

Lynn eventually began her examination of John, when Amanda told them that Jeff's game had begun. They got in an argument when Lynn told her that John had to be operated at the hospital as soon as possible to decompress his brain as it was presumably herniating. When Amanda insulted and threatened Lynn, John told her not to do so as Lynn couldn't do what she had to do under such pressure. Seconds later he suffered an epileptic attack. Lynn immediately took action and ordered Amanda, who was shocked and paralyzed, to help her, which she eventually did. However, they didn't have the right medicaments to end the seizure and therefore, all they could do was wait. After a few seconds, the attack was over and John stabilized again. Following this incident, she talked to Amanda, who had left the room in tears, and finally convinced her that he had to be operated on. However, Amanda demanded her to perform the surgery at the meatpacking plant and asked her what she needed. Realizing that every attempt to convince her to take John to the hospital was pointless, Lynn told her that she would need anaesthetics as well as a drilling machine, among other instruments. After that, Amanda left to get the necessary supplies.

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Amanda talks to Lynn

After her return, she saw that Lynn was walking around the hideout and accidentally activated one of John's traps, the one which he used on Amanda long ago. When Amanda approached her from behind and thereby frightened her witless, Lynn tried to convince her once again that John had to be operated on in a hospital. However Amanda ignored her advice and simply remarked how hard it must be for Lynn to concentrate while she was surrounded by so many things she could kill her with. To mock her she thrusted an axe into her hand and told her that if she wanted to kill her she should do it quietly to not alert John and make him rip off his heart rating monitor which would activate the collar. Amanda also told her that she was the one who built the collar, which meant she knew exactly what it could do to her if she didn't follow the rules. As Lynn was increasingly frightened by her, Amanda took the axe back from her and asked her if she had everything she needed for the surgery. When Lynn responded that she couldn't save John's life with the instruments given to her, Amanda merely responded that she'd be surprised what tools could save a life before she picked up her old trap from the floor and put it back on the table.

Just a few minutes later, she sat at John's bed while Lynn was preparing the surgery. Amanda told John about Jeff Denlon's progress in his game after he had just finished his first test in a Freezer Room where he wasn't able to save Danica Scott, the only witness of his son's death in an accident who refused to testify against the drunk driver, Timothy Young. When she told John that Lynn was ready to perform the surgery on him he encouraged Amanda to stay strong and told her about a letter for her in her desk.

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Amanda gets jealous of Lynn

Later on when Lynn made the last arrangements for the surgery, Amanda came in again and told John that Jeff had passed his second test and had managed to save Judge Halden who had sentenced Timothy Young to merely six months in prison. John was surprised by his fast progress. After that, Lynn explained the procedure of the operation to him, which was going to ease his headaches and would enhance his motor faculties, before she injected him with a local anaesthetic. Due to the complexity of the surgery, Lynn had no choice but to do it while John was conscious. Lynn then partly cut off a part of his scalp in order to lay open the skull. After disinfecting the wound with alcohol, the hardest part of the surgery began. With the power drill, she bored four small holes in his skull. Afterwards, she used an electric circular saw to cut through the skullcap and finally removed a piece of it with a small retractor to take the pressure from head. After his vital functions stabilized, Lynn told him to raise his hand and flex his fingers. However, he suddenly suffered a breakdown, causing Amanda to burst into tears out of fear. While his heart-rate declined, he had hallucinations about his ex-wife, Jill Tuck. Lynn was just barely able to save him. Due to his delirious state, John confused her with Jill and told her he loved her, causing Amanda to be jealous of the attention that John gave to her.

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Amanda prepares to mutilate herself

Distressed by the knowledge of John's impending death and her jealousy, Amanda went to her bed and took out a small metal box with medical supplies such as bandages and compresses. Remembering all the things she had done for John, she began to cut her inner thigh with a knife which helped her to deal with the stress of the situation. Once she had managed to calm down she bound her wound up and returned to John who was sleeping as he had to recover from the surgery as well as his breakdown. When she hugged him tightly, Lynn told her that he couldn't hear her and probably didn't even know she was there. This made Amanda even angrier and ultimately caused her to attack Lynn and grab her by her throat. As she was about to pull her gun, John, who had waken up by the noise, intervened and told her to put the weapon away. After some hesitation, she did as he told her and was harshly ordered to leave.

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Amanda sends Lynn back to John

When she returned after a while, she saw John holding Lynn's hand. John told her he was fine and she could go away. However she refused to do so until John asked Lynn to leave the room so he could speak with Amanda alone. After a short discussion, Amanda left the room again and approached Lynn, telling her that John needed her. However she got suspicious by Lynn's behavior and examined the door which Lynn had opened via a screwdriver. When Amanda asked her why the door was open, Lynn embraced the opportunity and attacked her with a scalpel, causing the two of them to engage in a fight. After a brief struggle, Lynn finally managed to gain the upper hand and threatened to kill Amanda. However the latter was rarely impressed by her threats and told her that she would never get the key to the collar if she killed her. Lynn ripped off a key which was hanging on a chain around Amanda's neck. Unfortunately she quickly realized the key wasn't meant for the collar. When Amanda mockingly laughed at her, Lynn left angrily and went to John, leaving Amanda behind. (Saw III)

The Letter[]

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Amanda reads Hoffman's letter

After Lynn disappeared, Amanda eventually lost her composure and started to cry. She went to her surveillance room and took out the letter from her desk which John had told her about. However the letter was actually written by Detective Mark Hoffman, another apprentice of John with whom she was on bad terms. Somehow, Hoffman had learned that she and Cecil Adams, her boyfriend at the time, were responsible for a robbery on the recovery clinic of John's ex-wife, Jill. During the robbery, Jill was accidently injured by Cecil, which caused the death of her and John's unborn son, Gideon. In his letter, Hoffman threatened her to tell John the truth if she didn't do as he said, ordering her to kill Lynn Denlon. This further distressed Amanda and worsened her emotional state even more. To take revenge on Hoffman she went to a room somewhere in the building in which Corbett Denlon, the daughter of Lynn and Jeff Denlon, had been held hostage and told her that she mustn't trust the one who would save her. As she already knew that Hoffman would be the one to free Corbett once the game was over, Amanda hoped that the girl would tell the cops about her warning which would give them a clue about Hoffman's identity as Jigsaw's apprentice. (Saw III, VI)

Culmination[]

This was your test. Your game. I was testing you. I took you in. I selected you for the honor of carrying on my life's work. But you didn't. You didn't test anyone's will to live. Instead you took away their only chance. Your games were unwinnable, your subjects merely victims. In my desperation, I decided to give you one last chance. So I put everything in place. You didn't know that Lynn and Jeff were husband and wife. I had to keep that from you for the purposes of my game. I had to leave out the ruined marriage, the cheating wife, the vengeful husband, the neglected daughter, and I let you make your own choices. I wanted you to succeed, but you couldn't. God. Game Over.
— John ends Amanda's game[src]
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Amanda holds Lynn at gunpoint

After talking to Corbett, Amanda returned to John's room one last time and told him that Jeff had finished his third test. John congratulated Lynn and told her that she was now free to go. However, Amanda refused to unlock her collar as Jeff hadn't finished his trial yet. John repeatedly told her to let Lynn go and reminded her of the rules, but Amanda eventually pulled her gun and aimed it at Lynn, angrily stating that she doesn't deserve to live. Frightened by her threats, Lynn bursted into tears and told her that Amanda had promised to let her go. When John told Amanda to put down the gun, claiming that it was Lynn who held her life in her hands, Amanda angrily yelled at him for giving Lynn the control over her. During their dispute, John asked her if this was how she had felt about her other test subjects, specifically Eric Matthews, and thereby revealed that he knew that Amanda had manipulated her traps, giving her victims no chance to survive even if they managed to accomplish their tasks. John told her that he had forgiven her for her past mistakes and tried to convince her to let Lynn go, as it would harm all of them otherwise. Amanda however still refused to do so, stating that John was just a murderer in her eyes just like her and that she didn't believe that anyone would ever change due to his games. When he told her that he had always tried to help her, Amanda yelled at him to help her now as she needed him and asked her why Lynn was so important to him. He however claimed that she wasn't important to him but to her, which Amanda denied. He then tried to persuade her one last time to lower her weapon, when all of the sudden, Jeff appeared before the door of the room. As he and Lynn noticed each other, she went to him but was shot by Amanda in the back. Disappointed by this, John revealed to her that she had just shot Jeff's wife. This resulted in Jeff entering the room and shooting Amanda in the throat with a gun he had found earlier. As she lay dying on the floor, John, saddened by her failure, revealed to her that he had tested her just like Lynn. John explained to her that his initial instructions for Lynn, according to which she had to learn how to save a life, were meant for her as well. Realizing that she had been fooled by her mentor, Amanda eventually succumbed to her wound and died on the floor in front of John's eyes, who ended her test with the words "Game Over". (Saw III)

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