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Angel Trap Shotgun Collar Jeff's Trial

Slightest knock in the wrong place could trigger it. I should know. I built it.
— Amanda threatens Lynn[src]

The Shotgun Collar is a trap from the Saw franchise, appearing in Saw III as well as the first video game.

Design and Function[]

The shotgun collar was a removable collar which could be easily put around its victim's neck. There were five shotgun shells placed around the collar, directly aiming at the victim's head. Each of these shells had an own trigger which all had to be activated individually. The collar was attuned to some kind of signal. If this signal got lost, for example if the test subject moved out of range, the collar would be activated, causing it to blow off the victim's head. (Saw III)

History[]

Lynn Denlon'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? The device you are wearing is linked to my heart rate monitor. The second that heart rate monitor flat lines, or you move out of range, an explosion will go off in that collar. Your life, and my life, will end simultaneously.
— John explains the rules to Lynn[src]

The victim of this trap was Dr. Lynn Denlon, a doctor who suffered from severe depressions 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. Due to her depression, 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, an apprentice of John Kramer, better known as the Jigsaw Killer, suggested her to John for one of his final tests. After having been subdued and abducted from the Angel of Mercy Hospital by Amanda Young, John's second apprentice, she was taken to the abandoned Gideon Meatpacking Plant, where Amanda gagged her and strapped her arms to a wheelchair.

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Amanda puts the collar on Lynn

Shortly afterwards, Lynn woke up and immediately panicked and screamed for help when she realized that she was tied up. 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 test 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 the 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. 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.

LynnAmanda2

Lynn convinces Amanda that John must be operated

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 to 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. 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 power drill, among other instruments. After that, Amanda left to get the necessary supplies.

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Lynn holds the axe

When she was alone, Lynn walked around the hideout and was horrified by the various vicious devices John and Amanda had designed. Eventually, she came across a mannequin's head with a heavy metallic device on its head, which was in fact the Reverse Bear Trap which John had previously used to test Amanda before she became his apprentice. In a twinge of curiousity, she tried to touch it, but eventually hesitated. Seconds later, she saw a phone lying on the table, partly covered by a cloth. However, when she tried to grab it, the beartrap accidently went off, destroyed the head and fell to the floor with a loud noise. Lynn stepped back and was scared witless when Amanda suddenly appeared behind her. Lynn tried to convince her once again that John had to be operated 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. She also told her that it was her who built the collar and therefore 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 took her old trap from the floor and put it back on the table.

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Lynn removes a piece of John's skull

Amanda then went to John to tell him that Lynn was going to perform the surgery on him now. Meanwhile, Lynn struggled with her tears but ultimately calmed down, knowing that her only chance to survive was to follow John's rules. When Amanda left John's room again and returned to the surveillance monitors, Lynn prepared everything for the surgery. Just when she shaved John's head, Amanda came back, telling them that Jeff had finished his second test and had been able to save the other test subject involved, Judge Halden. Therefore, 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 mistaken her for 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 threatens Lynn

Weakened by his breakdown, John fell asleep. While Lynn washed off his blood and took a look at the various paintings and drawings on the walls, Amanda entered the room and tightly hugged John. However, when Lynn told her that he couldn't hear her and didn't even know about her presence, she became angry and grabbed her by the 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. When they were alone, John apologized for her behavior, stating that while she was close to him, her strong emotions were her greatest weakness.

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Amanda sends Lynn back to John

As time went by, he talked to Lynn about her family and advised her to appreciate them. He also talked about her depressions, her neglect of her daughter, and her affairs with other men. Angered by this, Lynn told him that her marriage had survived more suffering than someone like him could possibly ever imagine. However, John merely responded that she didn't know what true suffering meant yet. Lynn then begged him to let her go, when moments later, Amanda reentered the room and saw how he hold 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. As Lynn left the room, she embraced her opportunity for an attempt to flee. She tried to open the lock of the exit door with her scalpel. This turned out to be unsuccessful. However, seconds later, she found a screwdriver and was therefore able to finally open the door. As she went on, she saw a telephone. However, it was on the other side of a chain-link fence. Therefore, she eventually went back, closed the door and put the screwdriver back. Moments later, Amanda returned from John's room and calmly approached her, stating that John needed her. However she got suspicious by Lynn's behavior and examined the door. When she asked her why it was open, Lynn embraced the opportunity and attacked her with her 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 she left angrily and went back to John, leaving Amanda behind.

Upon her return, she begged John again to let her go, reminding him that she had saved his life. John however remarked that in the end it might not have been his life that she had saved and claimed that she would be grateful one day if she survived this experience. During their conversation, he asked her to tell him about her daughter and her son, asking her why she spent so much time on grieving about him while she had a wonderful family that needed her.

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Lynn is held at gunpoint

Moments later, Amanda reentered the room, telling John that Jeff had just finished his third test. Therefore, 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 Lynn 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 Detective Eric Matthews, the cop who had innocently framed her by faking the evidence in her case, and thereby revealed that he knew that John 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 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 just 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. Angered by this, Jeff entered the room and shot Amanda in the throat with a gun he had found earlier, before carefully deposing his wounded wife on the floor. While he was comforting Lynn, who was barely conscious, John revealed to Amanda that he had tested her just like Lynn and told 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 game with the words "Game Over."

LynnDenlonHeadExploded

Lynn's corpse

After Amanda had died, Jeff aimed his gun at John. The latter berated him for not having learned anything from his test, stating that his thirst for vengeance would only harm his loved ones. Furthermore, he told him that he couldn't kill him. Despite this, Jeff eventually pulled the trigger, but didn't have any bullets left. John then told him that Lynn was about to die. When Jeff comforted her and promised to bring her home, she uttered that she loved him. John then warned him that she would die if he tried to bring her away and offered to call an ambulance. Jeff eventually agreed and asked John what he wanted in exchange for his help. John demanded one final test from him to see if he had overcome his obsession with revenge. Jeff could either kill him with the tools lying on a table in the room, or he could forgive John for all the pain he had caused him and his wife, proving that he had learned from his previous tests. Jeff got up, despite Lynn begging him to stay by her side, and grabbed a circular saw from the table. He then approached John and lay his hand on his chest, stating to forgive him. However, only seconds later he raised the saw and despite Lynn desperately yelling at him to stop, he eventually slashed John's throat, while claiming again that he had forgiven him. Seconds later, the collar around Lynn's neck was activated.

With the last of his strength, John took out and started a tape recorder, which explained to Jeff that John had been his final test of forgiveness. Furthermore, he finally explained him what he meant when he told him that Jeff couldn't kill him, stating that he had also abducted his and Lynn's daughter, Corbett, and was the only person who knew about her whereabouts. If Jeff wanted to see her again, he had to play another game. When the message ended, John succumbed to his wounds, activating Lynn's collar in the process, which killed her by blowing off her head. (Saw III)

Aftermath[]

Shortly afterwards, the meatpacking plant was found and raided by the Metropolitan Police Department. As the police secured and searched the entire building, they discovered the many corpses of Jigsaw's victims, including Lynn. All of them were sent to the morgue for their obduction by Dr. Adam Heffner and the Shotgun Collar was sent to the evidence room. (Saw V, VI)

Use in other Media[]

Saw: The Video Game[]

TappVideogame

Tapp with the collar on him

The shotgun collar was used again in Saw: The Video Game. Early on during his series of tests, Detective David Tapp, who was trapped at the abandoned Whitehurst Insane Asylum, was attacked and subdued by Pighead, an accomplice of John. After waking up again, Tapp was shocked to realize that Pighead had put one of the collars around his neck. All around the asylum were numerous other prisoners, who tried to find and kill Tapp as he had a key inside him which would free them from their own traps. Some of these prisoners wore shotgun collars on their own. If Tapp approached one of them or vice versa, the collars of both of them were activated with a loud beeping sound. If this happened, Tapp had to get away as far from the other prisoner as possible to prevent the detonation of his own collar, while the other prisoner had to get close to him in order to avoid being killed himself. Therefore, once the collars were activated, one of them inevitably had to die. Additionally, the collars somehow seemed to be connected to the heart rate of its wearer as it was seemingly deactivated and didn't go off if the wearer was killed by his opponent before the explosion.

Trivia[]

  • Originally, Lynn's collar was designed more like a bomb instead of a shotgun device. At the end of Saw III, when she was killed, the following explosion would have knocked Jeff unconscious and was even strong enough to knock the deceased John from his bed.
  • The shotgun collar in the game uses 7 shells and will result in Tapp's head being blown off completely.

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