Man, I loved it when Arthas summoned a blizzard against Sauron, but then Sauron was like "fuck Blizzard!" and casually erupted a volcano to counter it.
Arthas has to be associated with a greedy, lazy, incompetent company with a history of sexual misconduct and free speech suppression but sauron had his character assassinated by Amazon. But Amazon did lose $1 trillion of stock value this year so maybe sauron got the justice he deserved.
9:18 I'm really glad you mentioned this part. Throughout most of the fight, Sauron would mostly speak in a relatively blunt, emotionless voice and sort of just plainly states his intent, whereas Arthas spoke in a more vigorous tone, with spiteful taunts, boasts and retorts along with the occasional evil laughter. I like that it showcased Sauron's detatched, other-worldy demeanor as a being who's been around for thousands of years, whereas Arthas is still technically a man with human pride and hubris. But then that dialouge happens, and despite being less than a minute long, there was so much to unpack. First off, I love how they carefully chose that moment - the moment when a mortal man, powerful as he was, dared to insinuate that a divinity should bow down to him - was the one time in the fight when Sauron comes off as genuinely angry instead of disconnected or scheming. Along with it being totally in-character with both combatants, that was probably the one thing Arthas could've said for Sauron to have taken it personally. The Lich King probably isn't the first strong mortal enemy boldly taunting and trash-talking to him in the middle of battle, and Mairon probably heard them all already long before he was conquering Middle-Earth. But telling him to submit and serve him? That crossed a line. And second, the moment he said "I serve NO ONE" is also the exact moment when Sauron stops screwing around. Immediately after the Lich King made that demand, Sauron proceeds to show Arthas exactly how he will kill him, then shatters Frostmourne in a single heavy blow, commands his spirits to juggle Arthas like a toy within a fiery vortex, and then devours Arthas' soul while stealing the man's throne at the same time. Excluding the prophecy showboating, the second that Arthas actually succeeded in pissing Sauron off, Sauron ended the fight in just three moves. Even though it was analytically a very close fight, the amount of control Sauron demonstrated in just a few moments really captured how much power he wielded. It was well done; easily one of my favorite exchanges in any Death Battle episode ever.
As someone who didn’t come in with really any knowledge of either character, I REALLY liked this episode, and definitely became my new season favorite. Good to hear that someone who does seem invested in both characters liked it too, since that means they did a good job with them!
I will say that the most lost opportunity was not getting a secondary battle between their armies, much like the Robotnik vs. Wily. If you look at the decade of forum posts discussing this matchup, it's the main source of contention because Arthas has an insanely impressive force. Watch the Lich King cinematic and tell me you don't feel Arthas got done a little dirty by not reviving a big ass dragon for Sauron to dispatch.
@@stoheha well mostly because both of them can pretty much solo each other's armies and it's not like in eggman and willy where some of their creations are way stronger than them (like metal sonic for example). Cinematically it would be awesome but kinda hard to 3D animate 2 giant armies clashing each other when the main focus is sauron and lich king.
@@stoheha having an army battle would be neat, but trying to animate that while also having to keep the focus on the actual Sauron vs Lich King match would be insanely difficult and could lead to more mistakes than needed
@@certainfriendsThank the masterful writing of J. R. R. Tolkien for his character. In the episode, they actually quoted one of Tolkien's Letters where the author himself discussed the message he wanted to convey in the whole of the series. Of God's right to divine honor, of the Lord of the Rings being a Catholic work, and many other statements.
I'm surprised there was not mention of: "There's no life in the void. Only... Death." That line was raw, all of them were ofc. But the final line was just too badass.
In the recent Death Battle Cast they explained that the Arthas model had to be retouched in several aspects because of how bulky the model was. The shoulder pads was among the biggest issues. Not only they had the model retouched, but also tried to avoid using angles that show said shoulder for too long. I believe Luis was in charge of all that.
I love how in response to Arthas creating a snowstorm to get the jump on him, Sauron's first thought is to erupt a volcano to blow it away. It very much felt like He-Man creating a tornado after losing his sword.
@@roboticminer8843 That other guy doesnt even seem to know what he's talking about lmao, just jumping on the Torian bandwagon (I mean he entirely deserves all the praise he gets but some people just say shit to say shit)
Yeah, this is one of the best fights they've done, ever It's great how much you enjoyed it too, as a massive LOTR movie fan this has made me so happy, it does everything fucking perfectly and I love how the music sounds more "heroic" when arthas summons his own eye, as if sauron himself, is so unfathomably evil that the LITCH KING winning would be a better outcome for the world than sauron winning, it's small things conveyed by epic music
It was nice to see how well the community reacted to the episode in all its glory. Can’t say the same about the Next Time though… Edit: 17:38 Oh boy, _um…_
This was actually the first Death Battle I ever showed to my Dad because he's a huge Lord of the Rings fan, and he enjoyed it, and I'm happy this episode was so good, probably one of my favorites of the season
As a Tolkein fan this is by far my favorite episode ever, even topping He-Man vs Lion-o. the way Sauron carries himself is all I ever wanted to see and the music is great
It is I, one of the 10% that watched your review. I'm really glad you liked this episode a lot! This episode made me finally check out the trilogy as well. Super awesome high fantasy!
My hero actually said it! You're not far off - Kerapac is one of my favourite characters from Runescape 3. It's weird to think that his VA (Kerry Shale) has also voiced a lot of cartoons (Gumball and Thomas the Dank Engine in general) but your impression was pretty spot on. Kinda hoping that good old RS would get an episode in Death Battle some day (The World Guardian/Kerapac/Nex/Zamorak could all be potential kombatants.) This episode gave me hope that they could do fantasy characters justice. And yeah, that hobbit pun was terrible. That's why I included it in the first place.
5:43 didnt notice this but when lich king gets a good swing in the blue side of the background pushes forward and when sauron does the red part pushes forward. Such a tiny detail but so fucking cool.
As a man who was named after Lord of The Rings, this fight has a special place in my heart. The analysis was amazing and the fight was beautiful. By far my favourite Death Battle since Ganondorf v Dracula
They did say that the Ork had help it was something like “X ork did have help. So we are only giving him his fair share” and did say in Lich King break down he had help there too.
As someone who has never played WoW or watched/read anything LoTR, this episode was genuinely fantastic! Seems amazing for both fans and non-fans alike!
Can I just say how much I love the detail of the top down view at the start of the fight? As a StarCraft fan it makes me so happy that such a small detail like that that I thought would never be shown just made me very happy to see. This episode gave me everything I wish Ganondorf could have gotten for Sauron, this is easily my favorite my episode in season 9 so far, and I can only hope my favorite antagonist gets the same kind of respect someday.
Initial ranking was a 6/10 because I was an idiot who didn’t understand what anything meant. After a couple of rewatches, I’ve changed my review and think the episode is maybe a top 5 this season.
This was the first episode in 3 years where I knew nothing about both characters, so spending those two weeks watching and reading scenes of both, learning their backstory and powers, etc. made this easily my favorite wait time of the season The episode delivered in every front for me and ranks in my top 5 Death Battles of all time, I loved it so fucking much
I didn’t know much about either of these two. I just went for Sauron and I was not dissatisfied in this battle at all. Definitely the best battle in the season
Honestly this was one of the episodes I had the least stake in this season, but it's one of my favorite DBs ever. On the flip side I have huge investment in both series in the next episode, so I hope it's at least half as good as this one.
So as a massive BC and MHA fan: This is MY Saruon vs Lich King. It's a fight I've loved for years featuring one of my favorite characters (Asta) and a character I think is still interesting (Deku) This is a fight then when I seen I screamed so loud it broke my voice so while I understand why you're not a fan of it for me this is prolly the MU that has me the most hyped. (Also idk if Nem got confused with Meliodas but Asta supposedly groping a woman is wrong?! Idk what's up with that line.)
Asta’s a loudmouth but he’s incredibly respectful towards women and his only creep factor is constantly asking one woman ( who’s a nun.) to marry him, which honestly with her being several years older than him comes off more as a school boy crush than anything
I really do agree. It’s not my favorite episode of the season(that’s still SpongeBob vs Aquaman), but this one has topped James Bond vs John Wick, the one that has a personal connection to me and my history with the versus community, as my favorite 3D episode of the season. And it is DAMN close to second place, just barely behind Homelander vs Omni Man. What a glorious episode. 9.6/10 Also, I’m interested in what they’re gonna do with the next time.
This episode was great and it gives me hope that in the unlikely scenario we see geralt vs elric of melnibone that they would be able to do these 2 characters justice.
This was great, your review drew to my attention a lot of really great moments in this episode that I just kinda overlooked in my first couple watches. Great demonstration of the value of close reading/reviews.
This was one of the greatest death battles of all time, no doubt, might actually crack my top three, might not even be 2 or 3, but I will need to watch it a few more times to say that with confidence.
One king to rule them all is a fucking banger track, one I’ve listen to on repeat the moment I could. Going in, I figured Lich King would lose, but still went in and enjoyed the episode.
Really happy for LotR and WoW fans for getting such a good first episode. From a great analysis for both, an incredible fight, stunning effects that make it one of the best looking in the show, to a conclusion that does a great job of explaining why they believe Sauron wins, it makes me glad such a unique episode of the season was a massive highlight.
Sauron vs lich king is now my favorite season 9 deathbattle match. I am so glad they didn't do lord Voldemort vs sauron. We wouldn't of gotten a epic match sauron vs the lich is
Best Episode So Far Right Beside Spongebob vs Aquaman(which is a semi parody episode) Analysis: Both are fine enough Fight: Ok, Looks Amazing! Only like 2 Nemesis nickpicks but still breathtaking! Music: Pretty Good VAs: Very Well Done, with a side of unexpected Mathael from Diablo 3 references Death: Good concept but poor execution, pun not intended. Main reason for final score Post Analysis: Could been better but still understandable Overall, *9/10!* Sauron vs Lich King just made Jason vs Michael look as Poor as Bond vs Wick.
As someone that didn’t care about this episode when it was announced and just watched because I watch all episodes… it became one of my favorite episodes period.
I loved this episode, from its analysis being really interesting, a great fight that portray the characters well, awesome lines, and a great track. Definitely one of my favorite episodes this Season and the next time is fine. Great review Nem!
I loved the build up to this episode, I listen to your whole prediction while finishing an art project. Easily one of the best waiting periods for Death Battle for me personally.
My Dad's a huge LOTR fan, so I got to watch this episode with him. I'm not a tolkenhead or anything, but my Dad also read The Hobbit to me when I was a kid. I also got to see Bondwick, Fett vs Predator and Jason vs Michael as soon as we can get around to it. It feels great to be able to share this show I love with somebody I care about.
To briefly mention something about the model for Arthas. You brought up how it looks low poly, which is really funny to me since it’s actually double true. Not only is it low poly for the fight, but for the game it comes from, Heroes of the Storm, it is ALSO horribly low poly compared to all other models thanks to its age. It’s one of, if not THE oldest model in Heroes of the Storm.
Yeah, this episode was amazing from start to finish even as a person who doesn't know much about Lord of the Rings and World of Warcraft. I agree I hope we get some more high-quality Dark Fantasy Death Battles down the road, Chosen Undead vs Dragonborn being my most wanted Dark Fantasy fight.
16:19 Asta... never did that. Like, ever. I think you might be thinking of a different character. Most likely Meliodas who's the character most people excepted Asta to fight on Death Battle
Appreciate you looking at things objectively, whether you thought the episode was good or bad. A lot of people look down on fair criticism for some reason, but it's important to have that. It'd be neat to see your thoughts on some of the smash bracket episodes if you have any plan of doing them.
I really liked this episode, even though the only character I knew was Arthas. But the real star of the show was Sauron, the power moves he pulled were awesome. The Lich King creating a blizzard? Sauron just cause the mountain nearby to erupt. If that isn’t big dick energy, I don’t know what is. As the next time, I’m excited for Asta vs Deku even if I don’t know much about both series. The main thing that’s annoying is that the subreddit is overly negative to it. Complaining on how it wasn’t Gon or Melodias. I understand that’s a bit too early for both to fight, but nobody is talking about the positives of the MU.
Hyped for next time. Black Clover is in my top 5 manga and apparently Asta wins, and we all know episode quality is really based on if your preferred character wins.
Yeah, this was a pretty good episode (for someone who’s only seen the hobbit and never played World of Warcraft)! But, I am so hyped for the next time (especially since I called it)! I’m also excited since I’m a fan of both (moreso Black clover tbf) and have been keeping up with their manga chapters. Edit: 16:19 I think you mean Meliodas. Most know him as someone crushing hard on Sister Lily.
As someone who wasn't very familiar with either character outside of watching some Middle Earth film years back and having a lot of friends who play WoW, I thought the episode was good. The analysis and conclusion were really good, but my main issue with the fight is that it felt kind of slow to me and some of the animations, mostly on Sauron's end, looked kinda lethargic (outside of him being poisoned) and heavy, but not in a good way. Still a great episode that I give like a 7.5-8
15:55 if you want to make Tolkien fans super-happy for the second time, lmao. Anti-GRRM circlejerk among Tolkien fans will only boost the comment count, which would be nice for Death Battle / Rooster Teeth's income.
It was a good episode, I only had two minor issues with the end analysis. First their control powers. They said the blight doesn't do anything to souls but I am pretty sure it taints them as well. I can't remember the exact phrasing used but you could still make the argument that it was never meant for someone as strong as Sauron. But on the other side Sauron couldn't dominate and control the dwarves with the 7 rings for them because they were just too stubborn. The other thing was the island calc and that was more that it was just really iffy all round. You have Gul'dan raising an island (possibly with some help) smaller than the one a less powerful spirit than Sauron raised, but then Gul'dan's power is absorbed by Illidan (who was a pretty powerful magic user himself), then he gets beat by Arthas before he combines with the Lich King for a massive power spike which makes it all really vague. Also they make it sound like Sauron no selled the island's destruction when it did permanent damage to him (he lost the ability to shapeshift and so could only be in his dark lord form).
Frostmourne has powers over and related to the soul, not the blight itself. As for the dwarves, while their minds couldn't be dominated directly, the rings were still able to play into their worst parts to corrupt them overtime, making the dwarves become greedy and self destruct. The problem is that both sides are some vague level greater than the island raiser, and how powerful Illidan was at the time is debatable, so simplifying things to the islands was a better presentation. And as mentioned in a black box, the absolute best each could be scaled to was planet level for Lich King and star level for Sauron. And, technically, Sauron did no sell the island destruction. They do bring up that it took a massive chunk out of his power, but it is true that his soul did survive unscathed itself, as did the ring, which is why he was able to put a body back together in the first place. So any soul attacks on Sauron would be pretty useless unless the Lich King can hit with a greater force than Eru.
Frostmourne doesn't control the blight but the Lich King does. For the dwarf lords the point was more that Sauron's control and domination abilities aren't as powerful as the episode states (otherwise we would have the 16 instead of the nine) especially with the addition that the books suggest its possible that a powerful enough individual could rest control of the ring from him and become its new master. As for the additional island stuff Eru was not out to destroy Sauron but was breaking the world with a massive wave destroying Numenor, Sauron got his ass kicked by this as a side effect. I also wouldn't call him permanently losing his shapeshifting abilities as his soul being unscathed. In addition, even with the ring, it still took him awhile to return to Mordor and recover after the sinking of Numenor. The Lich King also doesn't need to be able to destroy his soul, just kill his body and then either destroy the ring (its unclear whether it has to be Mt. Doom or if any active volcano will do) or take control of it which its basically a coin toss how that goes though the Lich King would probably have an advantage if Sauron was still recovering from his body being destroyed. While thinking more about this match-up I was wondering something, has Sauron ever personally won a fight? The best I can remember him doing is technically a draw at the final battle of the last alliance.
Kind of a shame you’re not looking forward to the next DB; I finished rereading Black Clover some weeks back, and honestly I enjoyed it a lot more than my first read through, writing wise I think it holds up as well as One Piece. So I’m looking forward to seeing Asta clobber Deku. Also I don’t recall any scenes of Asta groping anyone, where did you hear that?
Yeah, asta only has eyes for a nun he can’t be with and is actually incredibly respectful to other women. Heck the only thing he does to sister lily is constantly ask her to marry him.
F in the chat for Popularmmos. Also, anyone else get Ganondorf vs Dracula vibes when Sauron used his ring the first time? The way the camera focused on it had the same vibe to me.
Love this review! Still on the fence on whether I like this episode or Omnilander more, cause I have more of a connection to Omni-Man then either of these two, but just everything about this episode so fucking good Also Asta vs Meliodas would be way better-
It took me awhile to like this fight, i though it was good but it didn’t make me feel anything, but after a dozen re watch’s I think this episode is incredible
I was actually really happy about the match and outcome. I was a huge fan of LotR and the Hobbit growing up, I've read all the books and played the Middle Earth games and I'm excited to check out the new HBO series. I also played a couple of the WoW games in Middle school, but didn't really enjoy them quite as much. As for the next time, I don't really care about it either. As you said, Asta should've been paired with Meliodas, and I would've preferred Deku to have faced either, like you said, Gon, Izuru (even though he would've been better against either Ayanokoji from CotE or Koro-Sensei), KO, Rock Lee, Ruby Rose (though, that probably would never happen because she's gonna be paired with Maka), Miles Morales or Will Stronghold from Sky High. But yeah, you covered just about everything I thought. It was a great episode.
My only problem with the conclusion is that DB comparison between Arthas and Gul'Dan is missing something very important Arthas fought Illidan after he added the power of Gul'Dan to his own. They just compared him to Gul'Dan tho, not Gul'Dan *+ Illidan.* And Illidan was insanely strong, comparable to Queen Azshara who stopped a country sized tsunami with her magic
@@phantafalconpunch That's what I was thinking - maybe there is some loophole I'm not aware of, despite being familiar with both WoW and LotR - but it's weird that it wasn't even mentioned as a possibility.
I adored the fight and I only wanted one big thing added to the end of the fight. I wanted to see Arthas stand back up with his eyes glowing yellow instead of the blue. Arthas being a ring wraith now showing just how powerful Sauron is and a degree of respect to Arthas' power.
Fire and Ice shall be his Throne, A Furnace of War shall be his Domain, The Frozen Plains shall be his Blade, The Army of the Dead shall be his Mace and a Crown of Blue shall be his foes bane, And in One Ring shall he find what Remains and in One Ring Dominate all.
![[UNCUT] "บอสณวัฒน์" แฉ! แหล่งซุกเงินแก๊งบอส ขยันผิดที่ไม่กี่ปีก็เข้าคุก l คนดังนั่งเคลียร์ l17ต.ค.67](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/BL56qIfXYZM/mqdefault.jpg)
![The History of Sauron [COMPILATION] | Tolkien Explained](/img/n.gif)
Sauron was in a Lego game and PopularMMOs used Lich King as his avatar
This was the Lego vs Minecraft Death Battle we’ve all waited for
@@wserthmar8908 How do you know he like his own comment and how was this far fetched bs and he has 4 likes
I waited until someone mentioned Pat
Ah, I miss those old days
You dropped 👑
Ah the good old days
Man, I loved it when Arthas summoned a blizzard against Sauron, but then Sauron was like "fuck Blizzard!" and casually erupted a volcano to counter it.
sauron is a blizzard hater, he deserved the W
Arthas has to be associated with a greedy, lazy, incompetent company with a history of sexual misconduct and free speech suppression but sauron had his character assassinated by Amazon. But Amazon did lose $1 trillion of stock value this year so maybe sauron got the justice he deserved.
Pretty based of Sauron
Damn Blowing up a volcano vs overwatch wad a w jokes aside that was raw
You could call it a BLIZZARD OF BALLS!
“Now, I'll tear out your heart…"
“You will find nothing there!"
The dialogue here was so awesome
Agreed
In the words of Homelander: It was perfect, perfect, everything down to the last minute details
9:18 I'm really glad you mentioned this part. Throughout most of the fight, Sauron would mostly speak in a relatively blunt, emotionless voice and sort of just plainly states his intent, whereas Arthas spoke in a more vigorous tone, with spiteful taunts, boasts and retorts along with the occasional evil laughter. I like that it showcased Sauron's detatched, other-worldy demeanor as a being who's been around for thousands of years, whereas Arthas is still technically a man with human pride and hubris.
But then that dialouge happens, and despite being less than a minute long, there was so much to unpack. First off, I love how they carefully chose that moment - the moment when a mortal man, powerful as he was, dared to insinuate that a divinity should bow down to him - was the one time in the fight when Sauron comes off as genuinely angry instead of disconnected or scheming. Along with it being totally in-character with both combatants, that was probably the one thing Arthas could've said for Sauron to have taken it personally. The Lich King probably isn't the first strong mortal enemy boldly taunting and trash-talking to him in the middle of battle, and Mairon probably heard them all already long before he was conquering Middle-Earth. But telling him to submit and serve him? That crossed a line.
And second, the moment he said "I serve NO ONE" is also the exact moment when Sauron stops screwing around. Immediately after the Lich King made that demand, Sauron proceeds to show Arthas exactly how he will kill him, then shatters Frostmourne in a single heavy blow, commands his spirits to juggle Arthas like a toy within a fiery vortex, and then devours Arthas' soul while stealing the man's throne at the same time. Excluding the prophecy showboating, the second that Arthas actually succeeded in pissing Sauron off, Sauron ended the fight in just three moves. Even though it was analytically a very close fight, the amount of control Sauron demonstrated in just a few moments really captured how much power he wielded. It was well done; easily one of my favorite exchanges in any Death Battle episode ever.
Holy shit that's so cool ngl
The moment lich king angered sauron it was over pretty much
You wanna know the what's scariest thing about Sauron?
He dominated this fight, but he never once raised his voice....
Exactly! Not that he needed to.
As someone who didn’t come in with really any knowledge of either character, I REALLY liked this episode, and definitely became my new season favorite. Good to hear that someone who does seem invested in both characters liked it too, since that means they did a good job with them!
I will say that the most lost opportunity was not getting a secondary battle between their armies, much like the Robotnik vs. Wily. If you look at the decade of forum posts discussing this matchup, it's the main source of contention because Arthas has an insanely impressive force. Watch the Lich King cinematic and tell me you don't feel Arthas got done a little dirty by not reviving a big ass dragon for Sauron to dispatch.
@@stoheha well mostly because both of them can pretty much solo each other's armies and it's not like in eggman and willy where some of their creations are way stronger than them (like metal sonic for example). Cinematically it would be awesome but kinda hard to 3D animate 2 giant armies clashing each other when the main focus is sauron and lich king.
@@stoheha having an army battle would be neat, but trying to animate that while also having to keep the focus on the actual Sauron vs Lich King match would be insanely difficult and could lead to more mistakes than needed
No lie this episode
This made me a legit Sauron lover.
Amazing fucking dude
Same here
I thought Sauron was cool before this episode, then I watched this episode and now he’s one of my favorite villains ever
@@certainfriendsThank the masterful writing of J. R. R. Tolkien for his character. In the episode, they actually quoted one of Tolkien's Letters where the author himself discussed the message he wanted to convey in the whole of the series. Of God's right to divine honor, of the Lord of the Rings being a Catholic work, and many other statements.
Same
Lich King: You serve me now...This is over...
Sauron: I.... DON'T CARE WHAT KIND OF POWER YOU'VE GOT!
I'm surprised there was not mention of: "There's no life in the void. Only... Death." That line was raw, all of them were ofc. But the final line was just too badass.
In the recent Death Battle Cast they explained that the Arthas model had to be retouched in several aspects because of how bulky the model was. The shoulder pads was among the biggest issues. Not only they had the model retouched, but also tried to avoid using angles that show said shoulder for too long. I believe Luis was in charge of all that.
Yeah, i believe. I work with the model in xnalara, and the shoulders are huge. Also the face isnt black in the original model.
@@naza1554 I see. I know nothing of WoW but I recall you can barely see his mouth, right?
I love how in response to Arthas creating a snowstorm to get the jump on him, Sauron's first thought is to erupt a volcano to blow it away. It very much felt like He-Man creating a tornado after losing his sword.
The sound design is so goated. Sauron clenching his hand has more impact than a lot of actual hits in lesser fights
This episode was really an upgrade in many aspects from last one
That's def a plus
Still not that great. There was a guy who worked on 3d episodes and the battles hadn't been the same since he left.
I loved Jason vs Michael but having it sandwiched between the season’s best episodes really didn’t help it lmao
@@wserthmar8908 just because torien (don’t know how to spell it, sorry) left death battle, that doesn’t mean every 3D fight after that isn’t as good.
@@roboticminer8843 That other guy doesnt even seem to know what he's talking about lmao, just jumping on the Torian bandwagon (I mean he entirely deserves all the praise he gets but some people just say shit to say shit)
@@dippin4dots yeah. "It wasn't Torrian therefore it was bad", fuckin stupid.
Sauron didn't need to erupt the volcano, that was a pure flex
Yeah, this is one of the best fights they've done, ever
It's great how much you enjoyed it too, as a massive LOTR movie fan this has made me so happy, it does everything fucking perfectly and I love how the music sounds more "heroic" when arthas summons his own eye, as if sauron himself, is so unfathomably evil that the LITCH KING winning would be a better outcome for the world than sauron winning, it's small things conveyed by epic music
Honestly, if we got this as the finale, just with slight changes, it would be just as good, one of the best finale's ever actually
It's that good imo
It was nice to see how well the community reacted to the episode in all its glory. Can’t say the same about the Next Time though…
Edit: 17:38 Oh boy, _um…_
This was actually the first Death Battle I ever showed to my Dad because he's a huge Lord of the Rings fan, and he enjoyed it, and I'm happy this episode was so good, probably one of my favorites of the season
Surprised no comment about how Sauron’s last line is using Arthas’ words at the start against him, replacing the location with the void.
true, but also since that is a line sauron said in the movies: "there is no life in the void. Only........death."
A nice detail is that the souls that surround the lich king before his death come from the broken shards from frostmore
As a Tolkein fan this is by far my favorite episode ever, even topping He-Man vs Lion-o. the way Sauron carries himself is all I ever wanted to see and the music is great
I think my favorite part was Sauron just blowing up a mountain for no reason but to flex, he would be that level of petty.
It is I, one of the 10% that watched your review. I'm really glad you liked this episode a lot! This episode made me finally check out the trilogy as well. Super awesome high fantasy!
My hero actually said it! You're not far off - Kerapac is one of my favourite characters from Runescape 3. It's weird to think that his VA (Kerry Shale) has also voiced a lot of cartoons (Gumball and Thomas the Dank Engine in general) but your impression was pretty spot on.
Kinda hoping that good old RS would get an episode in Death Battle some day (The World Guardian/Kerapac/Nex/Zamorak could all be potential kombatants.)
This episode gave me hope that they could do fantasy characters justice.
And yeah, that hobbit pun was terrible. That's why I included it in the first place.
5:43 didnt notice this but when lich king gets a good swing in the blue side of the background pushes forward and when sauron does the red part pushes forward. Such a tiny detail but so fucking cool.
So glad you loved this episode of much as you did! You deserve this massive W!
As a man who was named after Lord of The Rings, this fight has a special place in my heart. The analysis was amazing and the fight was beautiful. By far my favourite Death Battle since Ganondorf v Dracula
Gonna ask, what's your name if I may know?
@@StarWritterSW Lord of the rings. Duh.
Rohan
@@royalmage1931 nice!!
The research was crap.
They did say that the Ork had help it was something like “X ork did have help. So we are only giving him his fair share” and did say in Lich King break down he had help there too.
As someone who has never played WoW or watched/read anything LoTR, this episode was genuinely fantastic! Seems amazing for both fans and non-fans alike!
Seeing Nemesis gush over this episode makes me so fucking happy.
Can I just say how much I love the detail of the top down view at the start of the fight? As a StarCraft fan it makes me so happy that such a small detail like that that I thought would never be shown just made me very happy to see.
This episode gave me everything I wish Ganondorf could have gotten for Sauron, this is easily my favorite my episode in season 9 so far, and I can only hope my favorite antagonist gets the same kind of respect someday.
Initial ranking was a 6/10 because I was an idiot who didn’t understand what anything meant. After a couple of rewatches, I’ve changed my review and think the episode is maybe a top 5 this season.
Honestly, without context it is hard to keep up with what’s going on. But that’s what makes it all the better on rewatches
This was the first episode in 3 years where I knew nothing about both characters, so spending those two weeks watching and reading scenes of both, learning their backstory and powers, etc. made this easily my favorite wait time of the season
The episode delivered in every front for me and ranks in my top 5 Death Battles of all time, I loved it so fucking much
Let me say something i know jack shit about the lich king but I do know that sauron is a complete threat
I watched this episode 4 times in a row. It was great every single time.
I also liked the relatively slower almost lumbering pace of the fight it felt like a DND fight with each taking a impactful turn.
The fight was fucking great, I thought the representation of their powers was well done and when Sauron sat on Luchkings throne was awesome
Sauron is so fucking cool, the shot of him sitting on the throne was badass.
I didn’t know much about either of these two. I just went for Sauron and I was not dissatisfied in this battle at all. Definitely the best battle in the season
I hope they bring the passion they had for this episode to the next. This episode is easily my favourite in a long time.
Honestly this was one of the episodes I had the least stake in this season, but it's one of my favorite DBs ever. On the flip side I have huge investment in both series in the next episode, so I hope it's at least half as good as this one.
So as a massive BC and MHA fan:
This is MY Saruon vs Lich King.
It's a fight I've loved for years featuring one of my favorite characters (Asta) and a character I think is still interesting (Deku)
This is a fight then when I seen I screamed so loud it broke my voice so while I understand why you're not a fan of it for me this is prolly the MU that has me the most hyped.
(Also idk if Nem got confused with Meliodas but Asta supposedly groping a woman is wrong?! Idk what's up with that line.)
A mixup most definitely, Asta never did that.
Asta’s a loudmouth but he’s incredibly respectful towards women and his only creep factor is constantly asking one woman ( who’s a nun.) to marry him, which honestly with her being several years older than him comes off more as a school boy crush than anything
I really do agree. It’s not my favorite episode of the season(that’s still SpongeBob vs Aquaman), but this one has topped James Bond vs John Wick, the one that has a personal connection to me and my history with the versus community, as my favorite 3D episode of the season. And it is DAMN close to second place, just barely behind Homelander vs Omni Man. What a glorious episode.
9.6/10
Also, I’m interested in what they’re gonna do with the next time.
This episode was great and it gives me hope that in the unlikely scenario we see geralt vs elric of melnibone that they would be able to do these 2 characters justice.
So far my favorite episode in the season so far also. It's amazing how much they've had banger after banger
This was great, your review drew to my attention a lot of really great moments in this episode that I just kinda overlooked in my first couple watches. Great demonstration of the value of close reading/reviews.
This was one of the greatest death battles of all time, no doubt, might actually crack my top three, might not even be 2 or 3, but I will need to watch it a few more times to say that with confidence.
One king to rule them all is a fucking banger track, one I’ve listen to on repeat the moment I could. Going in, I figured Lich King would lose, but still went in and enjoyed the episode.
Really happy for LotR and WoW fans for getting such a good first episode. From a great analysis for both, an incredible fight, stunning effects that make it one of the best looking in the show, to a conclusion that does a great job of explaining why they believe Sauron wins, it makes me glad such a unique episode of the season was a massive highlight.
This was a better Halloween episode than Jason vs Michael
I was waiting for this I was so excited to watch you talk about the ending
Easily one of the top 5 death battles for me
Sauron vs lich king is now my favorite season 9 deathbattle match. I am so glad they didn't do lord Voldemort vs sauron. We wouldn't of gotten a epic match sauron vs the lich is
Best Episode So Far Right Beside Spongebob vs Aquaman(which is a semi parody episode)
Analysis: Both are fine enough
Fight: Ok, Looks Amazing! Only like 2 Nemesis nickpicks but still breathtaking!
Music: Pretty Good
VAs: Very Well Done, with a side of unexpected Mathael from Diablo 3 references
Death: Good concept but poor execution, pun not intended. Main reason for final score
Post Analysis: Could been better but still understandable
Overall, *9/10!* Sauron vs Lich King just made Jason vs Michael look as Poor as Bond vs Wick.
As someone that didn’t care about this episode when it was announced and just watched because I watch all episodes… it became one of my favorite episodes period.
Unless this season doesn't have a perfect season finale then I say this fight should've been the season finale
no
I loved this episode, from its analysis being really interesting, a great fight that portray the characters well, awesome lines, and a great track. Definitely one of my favorite episodes this Season and the next time is fine. Great review Nem!
I loved the build up to this episode, I listen to your whole prediction while finishing an art project. Easily one of the best waiting periods for Death Battle for me personally.
When I first saw Sauron have the green aura i thought he was healing himself with some sort of spell or magic, then i realized he had the plague
I loved this review
My Dad's a huge LOTR fan, so I got to watch this episode with him. I'm not a tolkenhead or anything, but my Dad also read The Hobbit to me when I was a kid.
I also got to see Bondwick, Fett vs Predator and Jason vs Michael as soon as we can get around to it. It feels great to be able to share this show I love with somebody I care about.
W
Lovely!
This is an episode I would definitely show my Dad
Wholesome. What did he think?
@@alexbaribeault He liked it
To briefly mention something about the model for Arthas. You brought up how it looks low poly, which is really funny to me since it’s actually double true.
Not only is it low poly for the fight, but for the game it comes from, Heroes of the Storm, it is ALSO horribly low poly compared to all other models thanks to its age. It’s one of, if not THE oldest model in Heroes of the Storm.
Yeah, this episode was amazing from start to finish even as a person who doesn't know much about Lord of the Rings and World of Warcraft.
I agree I hope we get some more high-quality Dark Fantasy Death Battles down the road, Chosen Undead vs Dragonborn being my most wanted Dark Fantasy fight.
16:19 Asta... never did that. Like, ever. I think you might be thinking of a different character. Most likely Meliodas who's the character most people excepted Asta to fight on Death Battle
Appreciate you looking at things objectively, whether you thought the episode was good or bad. A lot of people look down on fair criticism for some reason, but it's important to have that.
It'd be neat to see your thoughts on some of the smash bracket episodes if you have any plan of doing them.
It's my fav ep too, pretty solid, fun, and with nothing too wrong.
I really liked this episode, even though the only character I knew was Arthas. But the real star of the show was Sauron, the power moves he pulled were awesome.
The Lich King creating a blizzard? Sauron just cause the mountain nearby to erupt. If that isn’t big dick energy, I don’t know what is.
As the next time, I’m excited for Asta vs Deku even if I don’t know much about both series. The main thing that’s annoying is that the subreddit is overly negative to it. Complaining on how it wasn’t Gon or Melodias.
I understand that’s a bit too early for both to fight, but nobody is talking about the positives of the MU.
The Goddamn Cloud faceplant is never gonna get old
This is one of those fights where you don’t really care who wins because it’s just so epic.
This episode is made even better after coming after the last one.
I find it funny how this video is longer than the original death battle.
This episode was really something else. Definitely is my second or third favorite of the season
This episode is definitely my second favorite episode of Season 9. Trunks Vs Silver still holds my number 1
This fight was cool as hell!
The Mishima bloodline was happy to see another Volcano
Hyped for next time. Black Clover is in my top 5 manga and apparently Asta wins, and we all know episode quality is really based on if your preferred character wins.
They aren’t even in the same league
Deku should have fought Gon
And
Asta should fight meliodas
This is a ridiculous stomp for asta
@@firenze6478 Agree
Somehow they used big slow fighters in this animation better than Jason vs Michael
15:33 this became my favorite too
Yeah, this was a pretty good episode (for someone who’s only seen the hobbit and never played World of Warcraft)! But, I am so hyped for the next time (especially since I called it)! I’m also excited since I’m a fan of both (moreso Black clover tbf) and have been keeping up with their manga chapters.
Edit: 16:19 I think you mean Meliodas. Most know him as someone crushing hard on Sister Lily.
we are one step closer to Dnd on DB
My favorite scene in this fight is when Sauron sitting on the the ice thrown, it screams due to his heat
As someone who wasn't very familiar with either character outside of watching some Middle Earth film years back and having a lot of friends who play WoW, I thought the episode was good. The analysis and conclusion were really good, but my main issue with the fight is that it felt kind of slow to me and some of the animations, mostly on Sauron's end, looked kinda lethargic (outside of him being poisoned) and heavy, but not in a good way. Still a great episode that I give like a 7.5-8
Can't wait for the review of Stick vs orphan.
15:55 if you want to make Tolkien fans super-happy for the second time, lmao. Anti-GRRM circlejerk among Tolkien fans will only boost the comment count, which would be nice for Death Battle / Rooster Teeth's income.
It was a good episode, I only had two minor issues with the end analysis. First their control powers. They said the blight doesn't do anything to souls but I am pretty sure it taints them as well. I can't remember the exact phrasing used but you could still make the argument that it was never meant for someone as strong as Sauron. But on the other side Sauron couldn't dominate and control the dwarves with the 7 rings for them because they were just too stubborn. The other thing was the island calc and that was more that it was just really iffy all round. You have Gul'dan raising an island (possibly with some help) smaller than the one a less powerful spirit than Sauron raised, but then Gul'dan's power is absorbed by Illidan (who was a pretty powerful magic user himself), then he gets beat by Arthas before he combines with the Lich King for a massive power spike which makes it all really vague. Also they make it sound like Sauron no selled the island's destruction when it did permanent damage to him (he lost the ability to shapeshift and so could only be in his dark lord form).
Frostmourne has powers over and related to the soul, not the blight itself. As for the dwarves, while their minds couldn't be dominated directly, the rings were still able to play into their worst parts to corrupt them overtime, making the dwarves become greedy and self destruct.
The problem is that both sides are some vague level greater than the island raiser, and how powerful Illidan was at the time is debatable, so simplifying things to the islands was a better presentation. And as mentioned in a black box, the absolute best each could be scaled to was planet level for Lich King and star level for Sauron.
And, technically, Sauron did no sell the island destruction. They do bring up that it took a massive chunk out of his power, but it is true that his soul did survive unscathed itself, as did the ring, which is why he was able to put a body back together in the first place. So any soul attacks on Sauron would be pretty useless unless the Lich King can hit with a greater force than Eru.
Frostmourne doesn't control the blight but the Lich King does. For the dwarf lords the point was more that Sauron's control and domination abilities aren't as powerful as the episode states (otherwise we would have the 16 instead of the nine) especially with the addition that the books suggest its possible that a powerful enough individual could rest control of the ring from him and become its new master.
As for the additional island stuff Eru was not out to destroy Sauron but was breaking the world with a massive wave destroying Numenor, Sauron got his ass kicked by this as a side effect. I also wouldn't call him permanently losing his shapeshifting abilities as his soul being unscathed. In addition, even with the ring, it still took him awhile to return to Mordor and recover after the sinking of Numenor. The Lich King also doesn't need to be able to destroy his soul, just kill his body and then either destroy the ring (its unclear whether it has to be Mt. Doom or if any active volcano will do) or take control of it which its basically a coin toss how that goes though the Lich King would probably have an advantage if Sauron was still recovering from his body being destroyed.
While thinking more about this match-up I was wondering something, has Sauron ever personally won a fight? The best I can remember him doing is technically a draw at the final battle of the last alliance.
Kind of a shame you’re not looking forward to the next DB; I finished rereading Black Clover some weeks back, and honestly I enjoyed it a lot more than my first read through, writing wise I think it holds up as well as One Piece. So I’m looking forward to seeing Asta clobber Deku.
Also I don’t recall any scenes of Asta groping anyone, where did you hear that?
Yeah, asta only has eyes for a nun he can’t be with and is actually incredibly respectful to other women. Heck the only thing he does to sister lily is constantly ask her to marry him.
I don’t know much about either characters and I still enjoyed it
F in the chat for Popularmmos. Also, anyone else get Ganondorf vs Dracula vibes when Sauron used his ring the first time? The way the camera focused on it had the same vibe to me.
Lich King: you serve me now
Sauron proceeds to take the kid gloves off
Love this review!
Still on the fence on whether I like this episode or Omnilander more, cause I have more of a connection to Omni-Man then either of these two, but just everything about this episode so fucking good
Also Asta vs Meliodas would be way better-
It took me awhile to like this fight, i though it was good but it didn’t make me feel anything, but after a dozen re watch’s I think this episode is incredible
10:00 I mean it is another reference to Peter Jackson films so
IM DONE, danganronpa and fate will never be on death battle, I NEED TO REALIZE THIS
😔
"The fate only binds you if you let it."
I dunno, it sounded better than "don't let your memes be dreams."
I was actually really happy about the match and outcome. I was a huge fan of LotR and the Hobbit growing up, I've read all the books and played the Middle Earth games and I'm excited to check out the new HBO series. I also played a couple of the WoW games in Middle school, but didn't really enjoy them quite as much. As for the next time, I don't really care about it either. As you said, Asta should've been paired with Meliodas, and I would've preferred Deku to have faced either, like you said, Gon, Izuru (even though he would've been better against either Ayanokoji from CotE or Koro-Sensei), KO, Rock Lee, Ruby Rose (though, that probably would never happen because she's gonna be paired with Maka), Miles Morales or Will Stronghold from Sky High. But yeah, you covered just about everything I thought. It was a great episode.
My only problem with the conclusion is that DB comparison between Arthas and Gul'Dan is missing something very important
Arthas fought Illidan after he added the power of Gul'Dan to his own. They just compared him to Gul'Dan tho, not Gul'Dan *+ Illidan.* And Illidan was insanely strong, comparable to Queen Azshara who stopped a country sized tsunami with her magic
Ilidan also fought Sargarus at the end of the Legion expansion
that, plus--arthas was a mere death knight when he beat illidan. once he put on the crown of domination his power increased exponentially further
Also, Frostmourne literally has the power to steal souls - Sauron discarding his body to become a spirit would make him *more* vulnerable, not less.
@@LadyDoomsinger yeah they didn't say why Arthas can't just, like, take his soul even when it's out of his body. Something Arthas CAN do
@@phantafalconpunch That's what I was thinking - maybe there is some loophole I'm not aware of, despite being familiar with both WoW and LotR - but it's weird that it wasn't even mentioned as a possibility.
Yeah, it was a pretty great fight. Though personally, it would have been cooler if it was an army vs army battle.
16:16 No, that was Meliodas. Not Asta.
I rate this fight a 10/10
I adored the fight and I only wanted one big thing added to the end of the fight. I wanted to see Arthas stand back up with his eyes glowing yellow instead of the blue. Arthas being a ring wraith now showing just how powerful Sauron is and a degree of respect to Arthas' power.
I guess you can say we all SAUR this video coming
I SEE.... what you did there
@@alearnedman Eye see what you did there
Fire and Ice shall be his Throne,
A Furnace of War shall be his Domain,
The Frozen Plains shall be his Blade,
The Army of the Dead shall be his Mace and a Crown of Blue shall be his foes bane,
And in One Ring shall he find what Remains and in One Ring Dominate all.