The Curse of Oak Island S12 E20: Rick and Marty Lagina Uncover a Swamp Wall, Knights of Malta Clues, and Remnants of Shaft 6 in the Money Pit

In Season 12, Episode 20 of The Curse of Oak Island, viewers are once again reminded that the island’s allure lies not only in buried riches but in the buried stories of brotherhood, belief, and perseverance. Titled unofficially by fans as “The Wall Beneath the Bog,” the episode interweaves hard excavation in the fabled Money Pit area with a compelling search for man-made structures hidden in the northern swamp, all while a new historical theory involving the Knights of Malta brings scholarly depth to the dig.

As always, brothers Rick Lagina and Marty Lagina, alongside team members like Gary Drayton, Jack Begley, Tom Nolan, and Moya McDonald, face both setbacks and revelations, inching closer to a mystery 230 years in the making.

The Money Pit Excavation: RP3 Meets Shaft 6 Tunnel

The central effort in this episode is the excavation of RP3—a new 7-foot steel caisson placed just north of RP1 and RP2. According to historical records from 1861, Shaft 6 was dug as a bypass tunnel to retrieve treasure believed to lie at the bottom of the Money Pit. However, water and collapse foiled that attempt, creating a debris field.

As RP3 reaches a depth of 115–118 feet, the team pulls up significant timbers, suggesting that they have intersected the old tunnel. The find brings a surge of optimism. Could treasure be next?

However, the excitement fades when only clay and compact soil follow the wood. Once again, the elusive treasure evades discovery. Marty Lagina articulates the disappointment plainly—despite physical evidence of past digging, no coinage, no chests, no irrefutable proof. The team speculates the treasure may have fallen into a deep solution channel below, an idea supported by the collapse of TB1 weeks earlier.

Key Takeaway: RP3 intersects Shaft 6’s debris, confirming historical records, but uncovers no treasure—suggesting a deeper mystery lies beneath the bedrock.

Swamp Discoveries: Fred Nolan’s Theories Gain Ground

While one team battles depth, another digs into history—literally. Working in the northernmost region of the swamp, Rick Lagina, Jack Begley, and metal detection expert Gary Drayton investigate cobblestone pathways, survey stakes, and artifacts aligning with Fred Nolan’s decades-old theory: the swamp was artificially created to hide something.

They uncover more of the cobblestone path and discover a significant wooden structure, including axe-cut logs and potential wharf timbers. The episode builds dramatic weight around one revelation—large boulders are found arranged in a line, suggesting a constructed seawall or dam.

Fred Nolan, who spent years mapping Oak Island’s anomalies, believed in a hidden wall in this area. A map presented in 2016 by Zena Halpern—believed to date to the 14th century—also shows a dam at this location. When Rick and Tom Nolan, Fred’s son, uncover boulders forming a seawall, they contemplate whether this is the very same structure Fred tried to prove existed.

Key Takeaway: Physical evidence increasingly supports the late Fred Nolan’s theory of an engineered swamp, possibly hiding vaults or structures.

Knights of Malta: A New Historical Thread

The scholarly highlight of the episode comes from researcher Judy Rudebush, who continues the work of her late colleague Zena Halpern. Judy presents findings from cryptic 18th–19th century books, alongside 32nd-degree Freemason and author Scott Clarke, who earlier helped introduce the encrypted texts and maps.

According to Judy, the Knights of Malta may have inherited Templar secrets and treasures post-1312 and possessed the knowledge to build underground structures—knowledge consistent with what is found in the Money Pit and swamp. She further connects these knights to Nova Scotia via Isaac Deslauriers, a known Knight of Malta who settled in the region in the early 1600s.

The episode crescendos when the team compares a peculiar button found on Lot 5 to a Knight of Malta uniform piece—both featuring sunrays spiraling in the same rare direction. Combined with Venetian trade beads and medieval pottery also found on Lot 5, the evidence begins to suggest not one but multiple European groups might have used Oak Island over the centuries.

Key Takeaway: New historical evidence suggests the Knights of Malta may have visited—or even buried treasure on—Oak Island.

Archaeological Work on Lot 5: Beads, Bottles, and Buttons

Archaeologist Moya McDonald leads excavations on Lot 5 near the rounded stone feature believed to be a multi-era habitation site. She finds matching red Venetian trade beads, a blue bottle fragment, and another unique button—possibly further evidence tying this location to early European visitors, perhaps including the Knights of Malta.

The bead, confirmed by metallurgist Emma Culligan to date from the early 1700s or earlier, strengthens the link to Mediterranean trade routes and secretive religious orders.

Key Takeaway: Lot 5 continues to deliver unique artifacts suggesting multicultural and multigenerational use of the island, including possible links to Italian or Maltese traders and knights.

Closing Moments: Disappointment and Determination

As RP3 reaches its final depth with no treasure recovered, the episode ends on a solemn yet determined note. The team believes the treasure—if it ever existed—may now lie deeper than ever imagined, possibly in a bedrock cavity over 200 feet down. As the excavation window closes with winter looming, Rick and Marty Lagina vow to continue, driven not just by gold, but by a commitment to legacy, history, and a promise to leave no stone unturned.

Final Thoughts: A Seasoned Episode with New Stakes

Season 12, Episode 20 of The Curse of Oak Island blends fieldwork and folklore with remarkable cohesion. While it brings no treasure to light, it significantly strengthens the case for long-standing European involvement—especially by the Knights of Malta. It also revives Fred Nolan’s contributions and suggests a meaningful return to his unfinished work.

Though the shaft finds came up empty, the swamp wall discovery and Malta theory may prove even more valuable in the long run.

Rating: 8.5/10 — A historically rich, emotionally grounded episode blending loss, legacy, and layered discoveries.

Notable Finds and Theories This Episode

Find/Theory	Location	Significance
Wooden timbers at 115 ft	RP3, Money Pit	Believed remnants of Shaft 6 tunnel
Sunray button	Lot 5	Possibly linked to Knights of Malta
Venetian beads	Lot 5	Date back to 1600s, Mediterranean origin
Stone seawall	Northern Swamp	May be Fred Nolan’s lost dam
Blue bottle glass	Lot 5	18th–19th century trade artifact
Maltese connection via Isaac Deslauriers	Research	Suggests Knights of Malta activity in Nova Scotia