For this new season of Battlebots, The Young Folks’ music editor Ryan Gibbs and staff writer Joey Daniewicz will be giving their impressions of each episode in our recurring feature Battlebots Chat. These will be a little more informal than our regular television, film and music reviews – after all we think it’s a little complicated to give a rating to something that we both consider to be a competitive sport as opposed to a game show or a reality television program.
Battlebots is a robot combat program that aired on Comedy Central for four seasons between 2000 and 2002 and then on ABC for two more in 2015 and 2016. In 2018, the show was revived by Discovery Channel,.
If you want the history on Battlebots and robot combat in general, SB Nation ran an oral history on the show’s first run in the late 1990s and early 2000s that is well worth your time to read. You can also read more about this season’s competitors over on the show’s official site. Also worth reading is Battlebots Update, which, like us, provides analysis of each Battlebots episode.
You can watch this week’s episode of Battlebots over on Discovery Channel’s website.
Opening Thoughts
Joey: Fun episode! Tombstone on title cards in half of the first episodes is, uh, a pattern. That said, his opponents haven’t been weak and have seemed like actual threats.
Ryan: This felt like an episode that really worked better if you visited the Reddit afterwards for some context on some of the decisions and incidents. But even without that it’s a load of fun.
Joey: Yeah!
Ryan: Particularly this first match.
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Fight One: Monsoon (W) vs. Red Devil
Monsoon: Entered by Team Monsoon of Turvey, England and built by Tom Brewster. As one would expect for a British team, Monsoon is built by veterans of BBC’s Robot Wars. Brewster and his father entered Tauron in that competition, but it was eliminated early in both seasons it appeared on. Monsoon is an altered version of Tauron, using a design that would have been used for that robot had Robot Wars not been canceled. Moonson’s primary weapon is a vertical spinning blade.
Red Devil: Entered by All Black Robotics of Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, built by Jerome Miles of Spanish Fork, Utah and driven by Ravi Baboolal. This is the second time we’re seeing Red Devil and its new Canadian team this season, it having earlier defeated Brutus. Red Devil’s weapons are grappling arms and a vertical saw blade on a movable arm.
Ryan: This match was really good. Lots of nasty hits from Monsoon and some honestly impressive driving from Red Devil even without the weapon and all the damage it took.
Joey: This got unexpectedly competitive! Monsoon looked like he wrapped it up early.
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Ryan: Monsoon also has an impressive vertical spinner, but we are not short on vertical spinners this year. Even impressive or powerful ones.
Looks like Red Devil is hard to KO.
Ryan: Red Devil is more durable than it seems. I swore there was one hit where Monsoon took out Red Devil’s battery. Something of that shape flew out of Red Devil. But I guess that wasn’t it.
Joey: Yeah. Well, they struggled for like a whole minute at least, and it went to the judges.
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Ryan: Monsoon’s blade broke. Also, I think a few people watching might be upset that the judges decision wasn’t unanimous. But it was apparent that Red Devil was being driven really well, and that’s why that happened. I agree with this post from the Brutus team.
Joey: Red Devil did great, but I still think the decision was pretty obvious.
Ryan: Yeah. It was obvious who was going to win that judge’s decision.
Joey: I got a little shook.
Fight Two: Lucky vs. Skorpios (W)
Lucky: Entered by Team Lucky Canucky of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and built by Mark Demers. Demers has previous experience in Battlebots, having entered BravePart in season 5 of the Comedy Central show. He and his team brought Lucky to the second ABC season, but it lost both of its matches. Lucky’s primary weapon is a gas-powered flipper arm.
Skorpios: Entered by Offbeat Robotics of Santa Rosa, California and built by Orion Beach. Beach was previously part of the team that entered Wrecks in ABC season 1, but split off from that group to build and enter Skorpios the next season. Unfortunately, Skorpios only competed in two untelevised rumbles, losing the first and getting knocked out of the tournament, while winning an exhibition match at the end of the season. Skorpios’ weapon is a vertical blade mounted on a hinged arm.
Joey: Lucky was not so….fortunate.
Ryan: Did you catch the pre-battle thing where they said the weapon is gas powered and only has 20 flips per fight?
Joey: Yeah! That was weird, I’ve never heard of that.
Ryan: It honestly looked just your standard Biohazard style lifting arm to me
Joey: They kept talking about it like a flipper, yeah.
Ryan: Not that this mattered This fight was all Skorpios.
Joey:It sure was! Did the sparks from last episode get topped?
Ryan: I don’t think so, but these were definitely some nice sparks off of that saw.
Joey: Robots have been dying all these years. We’re only just now seeing sparks flying!
Ryan: Nice throwback reference. I like that kind of weapon on a Battlebot. A saw on some kind of pivoting arm.
Joey: Can saws beat spinners, though?
Ryan: I don’t know. I’d have to check the wiki. Can’t remember. One had to have.
Joey: I’m still wondering how viable they are in the meta.
Ryan: I mean you also severely underrated hammerbots.
Joey: Still not convinced they’re truly viable! But yeah, they’re better than I thought.
Fight three: Tantrum (W) vs. Battle Royale with Cheese
Tantrum: Entered by Team Seems Reasonable of Mountain View, California and built by Aren Hill. Tantrum’s team are Battlebots rookies. The robot’s primary weapon is a flipping arm, which has been outfitted with a spatula shaped attachment for this fight.
Battle Royale with Cheese: Entered by Team Poor Life Choices of Oakland, California and built by Miles Pekala. This team is also a Battlebots rookie, and their robot is this year’s jokiest entrant. Battle Royale with Cheese is shaped like a hamburger, with a horizontal spinning blade shaped like a piece of bacon. It’s um, something, alright.
Ryan: In the words of the great Jim Sterling: “Is this memes? I think this is memes.”
Joey: I liked it after the first second. Fun fight. Shame they chose to go on.
Ryan: I do not like this hamburger.
Joey: Haha, you gotta chill!
Ryan: I guess it’s a throwback to the goofy robots from the old show, but at least those were just wild. Like how the creator of SimCity kept entering a robot with a potted plant on top.
Joey: LOL!
Ryan: According to their AMA on the Battlebots Reddit, the hamburger team had problems with their spinner in this fight.
Joey: Ah, that would actually make sense. It seemed, uh, ineffectual. Even when it got going.
Ryan: They had a problem with their torque limiter it seems. Apparently, the burg was a last-minute entry and they had other goofy ideas that were rejected for not being TV appropriate. In the AMA, they said they pitched a robot called “Mazel Tov Cocktail” that was going to be a “a rotating Jewish star that spits flames.”
Joey: That sounds amazing.
Ryan It, again, sounds like memes. As for the robot that won. Tantrum was there, I guess. It more or less existed. It just seemed to be a pretty standard flipper. Did well in this fight, but much like vertical spinners, there are no shortage of flippers in this competition. I’d like to see it fight something other than a helpless burger.
Joey: Yup. I’m really sad Tantrum continued this fight. That was an epic moment right there.
Ryan: It flipped burg (I’m sorry, I will never say the full name of this thing out of principal) over right out of the gate, and the fight being over in seconds would have been really entertaining.
Fight four: End Game (W) vs. Lock Jaw
End Game: Entered by OYES Robotics of Auckland, New Zealand and built by Jack Barker. This is the second time we’ve seen the impressive New Zealand robot End Game this year, it having previously knocked out Captain Shredderator. The robot’s main weapon is a vertical spinning disc.
Lock Jaw: Entered by Mutant Robots of San Diego, California and built by Donald Hutson. This is also the second time we’re seeing Battlebots icon Donald Hutson and his current robot Lock Jaw this season. In the first episode of the season, Lock Jaw knocked out ABC Season 2 runner-up Bombshell. It’s primary weapon is a vertical spinning blade and two grappling claws.
Ryan: This was my favorite fight of the episode. What an impressive showing from Jack Barker and End Game against Donald Hutson, one of the best builders and drivers in the history in robot combat.
Joey: We saw End Game before, yeah?
Ryan We did. KO’ed Captain Shredderator End Game is the vertical spinner to beat in this competition, I think. Aside from Minotaur, of course.
Joey: End Game with two KOs! Looks like a contender, man. I try to not use that word lightly.
Ryan: And this time, it’s against Hutson. I don’t remember the last time a Donald Hutson robot was KO’ed! Lock Jaw lost judges’ decisions in the ABC seasons and Diesector won the Superheavyweight title in the last season of the Comedy Central show.
Joey: Lock Jaw has been kinda quiet in this new era, yeah?
Ryan: It’s because of the rules, especially in the second season, weren’t very kind to defensive grappling robots like Lock Jaw. They had that primary weapon-driven nonsense last season, but it’s been changed now. And Hutson is all about defense and strategy and driving. He’s a guy who does a lot of maneuvering and pivoting to get exactly the results he wants out of his robots. Then we have End Game knocking off one of those classic Mutant Robots angled wheels straight off Lock Jaw.
Joey: End Game just………..the offense is ridiculous.
Ryan: The aggression on that thing!
Joey: Offense in this game is better than defense.
Ryan: Offense is better than defense most of the time, unless you’re dealing robots like The Big B or Duck!
Joey: BRING BACK DUCK, DO IT NOW! Isn’t Duck kinda offensive too, though? Just is a brick that throws itself at ya.
Ryan: It has a spike shaped like a duck bill that’s there to pass the weapon requirements, but yes, that robot’s all about pushing power and its durability.
Joey: Weapon requirements smh.
Ryan: But yeah, great showing from End Game here. 2-0 for that team. Unless something awful happens, my guess is they’re a lock in the bracket.
Main event: Tombstone (W) vs. Gigabyte
Tombstone: Entered by Hardcore Robotics of Placerville, California and built by Ray Billings. If you’ve been following Battlebots even casually, you should know about Billings and his death machine Tombstone. The robot’s primary weapon is a very terrifying horizontal spinning blade.
Gigabyte: Entered by The Robotic Death Company of Escondido, California, built by John Mladenik and driven by Brent Rieker. The Robotic Death Company are the probably the most successful full body spinner team in robot combat history. They entered Megabyte into season 5 of the Comedy Central show, where it went out early. However, the robot became a legend after the show went off the air, winning match after match, championship after championship. It infamously destroyed former Battlebots champion BioHazard in a 2005 match, and basically caused its builder to retire from the sport. It’s also met Ray Billings and Tombstone/Last Rites a few times in indie competitions. Gigabyte is a full body spinner much like Megabyte, except Rieker claims this new robot is even more powerful than its vaunted predecessor.
Ryan: This was a downer. A total freak accident. In any other instance, Tombstone knocking off a spinner’s dome would have been dope, but not like this.
Joey: Oof. At least the sight of the dome spinning around like a top was kind of awesome.
Ryan: Yeah, it looked like a nasty, crazy hit until you found out about the sad, frustrating context about what happened to Gigabyte. The Robotic Death Company wrote about it here.
Joey: Damn.
Ryan: Basically, it was Tombstone hit it once, knocking off the faulty piece. The dome was noticeably loose when it hit again. And yeah, came right off. I have never seen that happen before to a full body spinner, let alone one as good as Gigabyte.
Joey: That was wild. I really wanted them to show us a good shot of how it like SHOT around the floor. That was crazy. Meanwhile, they, uh, had to beg for mercy.
Ryan: I guess we now know forfeits aren’t allowed in Battlebots. But maybe they should, given certain conditions, and this should have been one.
Joey: They at least allowed them to stay still for ten seconds, hahahaha.
Ryan: And good on Ray Billings for not attacking the exposed Megabyte. It looked very brittle.
Joey: Yeah….Yikes. Hopefully Megabyte can come back, but it doesn’t sound like it’ll be itself.
Ryan: Actually, because Ray didn’t kill the robot, it’s fine. They have a milling machine on site this year, and Robotic Death Co wound up just milling their own replacement. So they should be ready to go next time.
Joey: Oh nice! So it’s made of something good now?
Ryan: Yes, supposedly of the material they wanted in the first place.
Joey: Yay! Happy ending.
Final thoughts!
Ryan: Ok, so Whyachi and Bronco are indeed coming up sometime in the next few episodes. I guess some robots were either late to the competition, or Discovery wanted to save some for a few episodes in.
Joey: The thing is……..they don’t have to do these fights in the sequence they actually happened, right? I barely believe they actually are.
Ryan: Actually, they are trying to do that.
Joey: Wow. Surprising!
Ryan: I have heard nothing on the Reddit of these being out of order, and it’s full of builders or people who were there.
Joey: They could even theoretically have the commentary done in post-production.
Ryan: And yet they didn’t really seem to. And we still don’t know who the mystery bot that was teased is.
Joey: It might have just been a placeholder to make the graphic better. Right?
Ryan: Apparently some robot was there!
Joey: Well, that’ll be fun. In the meantime, the announcer did the “fly Eagles fly” motion, that was pretty amazing.
Ryan: Yup. Good episode. Hoping for something as cool as End Game/Lock Jaw next time
Next week: We’ll be back with more Battlebots. What were your thoughts on this week’s matches? Let us know in the comments!
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