Quick questions for clarification!

1. Is a "Harold-like" permitted on Maker engines where his presence would normally be acceptable?

2. Does the ascent need to be a relatively gradual one like the examples listed, or would things like staircases or elevators also fit the criteria?

Does the ascent have to be increasing on height?

Does the player have to actually climb the ascent? Or can they technically go to it, but walk by it?

Would climbing a rope to get somewhere count as the ascent?

Here's a fun one on "Go on without me." Does the sentence need to be isolated, or could it be attached to a larger statement?

(Example 1: "I don't think you can go on without me.")

(Example 2: "I'm okay, go on without me!")

Are either or both of these acceptable?

Oooh good question. Rules state that he must appear "in some form," so I think he does not need to be alive. However it has to be him "appearing" (i.e. visible), not a grave or a statue, so a dead Harold needs to be seen.

Can the line "go on without me" be a choice, like in a choice menu, as long as it's framed as possible character dialog?

For example, the party comes to a mountain and the player chooses what Harold says to the party next:

1. "Let's go up the mountain together!"
2. "Let's go home!"
3. "Go on without me."

Weird question for you!
Let's say I have two entries, one that meets the criteria perfectly fine but another that is iffy. Would a disqualification on one project affect the other(s)?

1. Would both kinds of "ascent" be all right especially if the figurative one comes first? (e.g., "ascent" up a military rank comes first in the story, but the actual physical ascent comes later near the end of the game and guaranteed to appear within the one hour play time for all judges who judge the entry.) Hopefully there will not be some kind of misunderstanding that the game did not follow the jam's rules due to the figurative "ascent" that comes first.

2. How many entries can be submitted per entrant?

3. Can a submission be less than six minutes in play time?
Or maybe even two minutes total. Or maybe even mostly cut scenes of a game that is only four minutes long, and has less than one minute where the player actual controls something.

EDIT #1:
4. Following up from #1, what if the entire game is about a figurative "ascent," and the actual physical ascent the player sets foot on is only during a post-game moment? (e.g., after the player finishes the game, the credits roll, and the game says "The End." But instead of automatically going to the title screen, the player directly goes to a post-game map on the physical ascent where they walk upwards for one final cut scene.)

EDIT #2: Made the questions bold and added other examples that could be related to the third question.

EDIT #3:
Made the fourth question bold, but also adding this:
5. Following up from #4, would the player need to be controlling the walk up the ascent, or could it be purely a cut scene of the player character walking up there? And about the player needing to "set foot" on the ascent in general, can it be completely a part of a cut scene, or does the player need to be controlling the movement?