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{{Season
| title1=Discovery Season 5 | image1=L5vn0ocwatt51.jpg | caption1= | network=Discovery | champion=End Game | runner-up=Whiplash | premiere_date=December 3, 2020
(Originally May 15, 2020) | defending_champion=Bite Force |filming_dates=October 10 - October 21, 2020
(Originally April 3 - April 15, 2020) |location=Long Beach, CA | preceded_by=Discovery Season 4 | succeeded_by=Discovery Season 6}}Discovery Season 5 was the fifth season of BattleBots since its return to television in 2015, and the third season since the Discovery network picked the show up from ABC.
Filming, production and editing of the season was largely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit headlines shortly after the original roster for Season 5 had been announced to BattleBots Supporters on Facebook. Filming was delayed for six months overall, finally going ahead in October 2020, but the biggest consequence of the pandemic was the restriction of international travel. This meant teams from outside the US were legally unable to make the journey to compete in BattleBots. This largely affected UK teams including Monsoon, Cobalt, Ripper, Winston Churchkill, Spitfire, Orion, Quantum and more, but also confirmed the likes of China's Railgun MAX and Wan Hoo, South Korea's Blade v3, and other European entries like Rainbow and Petunia would be unable to compete.
As such, the original field of 81 competing robots for Discovery Season 5 had to be reduced to 59, excluding the three which were exclusive to spin-off series Battlebots: Bounty Hunters - these being Bronco, Icewave and Son of Whyachi. This included many of the original roster and a handful of newly-announced teams who had benefited from the additional time. US-based teams who were previously rejected had this decision overturned under the circumstances, and those who had missed the initial application deadline were given another opportunity to compete. Despite this, even some US-based teams withdrew from the season, notably DUCK!, Overhaul and then defending Giant Nut winner Bite Force.
The competition structure changed for the 2020 season. Each bot were now given three Fight Card matches to impress the selection committee, who now selected 32 bots as opposed to 16 for the single elimination Championship bracket. The Desperado Tournament was absent for the 2020 season.
The 2020 season was the first season of BattleBots to not feature a live audience, also due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Shots of audience members between fights and introductions were replaced by shots of various teams, who made up a makeshift crowd in the box-side suites to watch battles from a safe distance. Many of the teams opted to wear face coverings for the duration of filming, though teams were tested prior to and during filming days to ensure no outbreaks on site.
The BattleBox floor was entirely rebuilt in the off-season. It is now made from 1/2" mild steel, replacing the three layers of 1/8" steel.Public comment from Aren Hill in the Out of the Arena Discord server. This change was intended to prevent imperfections in the floor affecting fights as it did several times in previous seasons, such as Minotaur's main event loss to Tombstone, and most notably, Cobalt's surprise loss to DUCK!. The pulverizers also saw redesigns, now diamond-shaped and able to transfer energy more effectively on impact. The new BattleBots logo now adorned the center of the BattleBox, and the red and blue squares were repainted to be smaller too.
The main difference in format was a lack of rumbles and exhibition matches, largely due to spin-off series BattleBots: Bounty Hunters which aired on discovery+ parallel to the main season on Discovery.Discord message from Team HyperShock's Kyle Awner. The Fight Night structure remained, with often seven fights making up an episode, with the exception of Episode 1 and those covering the knockout bracket containing eight.
Despite the pandemic, there were no omissions from the presenting crew, with Chris Rose and Kenny Florian still leading the lines, Faruq Tauheed announcing and Jenny Taft in the pits. New for Discovery Season 5, former BattleBots competitor Pete Abrahamson's role changed from technical advisor and producer to "Bot Whisperer", where he offered his take on how battles would play out, taking teams' strategies and configurations into account. He also advised Chris and Kenny on the technical aspects of the sport, and as a former competitor himself, the history of fellow veterans.https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/jdp18x/comment/g9c6h7t/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
The three judges also remained the same: Derek Young, Lisa Winter and Jason Bardis. Replacing the seven-point judging system was now an eleven-point system, which scored five points for damage and three points for both aggression and control. Previously, this was split as three points for damage, and two apiece for aggression and control.300 px|link=Special:FilePath/S5trailer.mp4|leftA season trailer was publicly released on November 12, 2020, showing a pair of wind-up toy robots reciting lyrics to Sir Mix-a-Lot's hit single "Baby Got Back". Several of the lyrics were adapted to be more relevant to the show, most notably in the line "I like big bots and I cannot lie", which later became a tagline for the 2020 season.https://twitter.com/discovery/status/1326955753945575429 The trailer teased several Fight Night battles, including Slap Box vs. Sharko, Uppercut vs. Gemini and Rotator vs. Valkyrie. Another 30-second trailer was uploaded to BattleBots' YouTube channel a few days later, but featured the same teaser clips, just with slightly different adapted lyrics.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsCLmIoxQ-o The trailer closes with Chris Rose saying "Let the big bot battle begin!", a variation on his typical catchphrase to mark the start of a battle. This foreshadowed HUGE vs. Mammoth from Episode 2 of the season, despite the trailer not officially confirming the fight.Discovery Season 5 was won by OYES Robotics and their powerful vertical spinner End Game, defeating the Vazquez family and Whiplash by KO in the Championship title fight. This not only marked the first time an international team had won the Giant Nut in the reboot era, with the team hailing from New Zealand, but ended the tournament-winning streak of Paul Ventimiglia and Bite Force.
The end of season awards were now called the Giant Bolts, and were split into four categories. The Most Destructive Robot was won by Valkyrie after its impressive duels with the likes of SubZero, Extinguisher and former winner Rotator. The Founders' Award went to Skorpios, and the Best Newcomer award was won by Dave Eaton and Rusty. Lastly, the Best Design award, also known as the Grant Imahara Award in tribute to the former BattleBots competitor, guest judge and TV personality, was awarded to Zoe Stephenson and Chomp.
Champion	Runner-Up	Semi-Finalists	Quarter-Finalists
End Game	Whiplash 	Black Dragon
Tantrum	Hydra
Ribbot
SawBlaze
Shatter!
==BattleBots: Fight Night==
===Episode 1: Return of the Bots===
SawBlaze vs. Whiplash
Fusion vs. MadCatter
Malice vs. Axe Backwards
Skorpios vs. Bloodsport
Lock-Jaw vs Captain Shrederator
Rusty vs. Sporkinok
SMEEEEEEEEEEEEE vs. Sharko
End Game vs. Tombstone
===Episode 2: Let the Big Bot Battle Begin===
Ghost Raptor vs. Shatter!
Tracer vs. Ribbot
Black Dragon vs. Kraken
Mammoth vs. HUGE
Claw Viper vs. HiJinx
Perfect Phoenix vs. Extinguisher
Hydra vs. Witch Doctor
===Episode 3: Stop! Hammer Time!===
Copperhead vs. Gigabyte
JackPot vs. SubZero
Uppercut vs. Gemini
Beta vs. Rotator
Valkyrie vs. Tantrum
ATOM#94 vs. Big Dill
Gruff vs. HyperShock
===Episode 4: Blood, Sweat and Gears===
Tombstone vs. Slap Box
Pain Train vs. SlamMow!
Perfect Phoenix vs. Skorpios
Ribbot vs. MadCatter
Chomp vs. Gamma 9
Malice vs. Shatter!
End Game vs. Bloodsport
===Episode 5: Sin City Slasher===
Claw Viper vs. Black Dragon
JackPot vs. Ghost Raptor
SubZero vs. GRABOT
Hydra vs. HUGE
Fusion vs. Aegis
Lock-Jaw vs. Big Dill
Witch Doctor vs. Killer B
===Episode 6: Battle of the Undefeated===
Valkyrie vs. Rotator
Extinguisher vs. Gigabyte
Slap Box vs. Sharko
Malice vs. MadCatter
ATOM#94 vs. Tantrum
Pain Train vs. SMEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Uppercut vs. SawBlaze
===Episode 7: Turning Up the Heat===
Axe Backwards vs. Captain Shrederator
Copperhead vs. P1
Rusty vs. Beta
Mammoth vs. HyperShock
SubZero vs. Sporkinok
Bale Spear vs. Tracer
Gruff vs. Whiplash
===Episode 8: Hit the Jackpot===
HUGE vs. Kraken
Ribbot vs. Axolotl
Ads vs. Rotator
Lock-Jaw vs JackPot
Chronos vs. Bloodsport
Fusion vs. WAR? EZ!
Skorpios vs. Tombstone
===Episode 9: Now or Never===
Captain Shrederator vs. Shatter!
Gigabyte vs. Claw Viper
Chomp vs. HiJinx
Witch Doctor vs. SlamMow!
Extinguisher vs. Gruff
Perfect Phoenix vs. ATOM#94
Copperhead vs. Black Dragon
===Episode 10: Qualify! Or Wave Goodbye!===
Hydra vs. Uppercut
Rusty vs. SawBlaze
Gamma 9 vs. Tantrum
End Game vs. HyperShock
SMEEEEEEEEEEEEE vs. P1
Beta vs. GRABOT
Whiplash vs. Valkyrie
==Top 32==
===Episode 11: Survive and Advance===
(1) Hydra vs. HyperShock (32)
(16) Malice vs. Gigabyte (17)
(8) Whiplash vs. HUGE (25)
(9) Valkyrie vs. SubZero (24)
(4) Uppercut vs. HiJinx (29)
(13) Beta vs. Ribbot (20)
(5) Black Dragon vs. SlamMow! (28)
(12) MadCatter vs. Tombstone (21)
===Episode 12: We're Beast Slayin' Tonight!===
(2) Bloodsport vs. Gruff (31)
(15) Fusion vs. Tantrum (18)
(7) SawBlaze vs. Kraken (26)
(10) Skorpios vs. Witch Doctor (23)
(3) Copperhead vs. Mammoth (30)
(14) Lock-Jaw vs. Shatter! (19)
(6) End Game vs. Perfect Phoenix (27)
(11) JackPot vs. Rotator (22)
==Top 16==
===Episode 13: Shock and Awe===
(1) Hydra vs. Malice (16)
(8) Whiplash vs. Valkyrie (9)
(4) Uppercut vs. Ribbot (20)
(5) Black Dragon vs. Tombstone (21)
(2) Bloodsport vs. Tantrum (18)
(7) SawBlaze vs. Witch Doctor (23)
(19) Shatter! vs. Mammoth (30)
(6) End Game vs. Rotator (22)
==Top 8==
===Episode 14: The World Championship Finals===
Championship Quarter-Finals
(1) Hydra vs. Whiplash (8)
(20) Ribbot vs. Black Dragon (5)
(18) Tantrum vs. SawBlaze (7)
(19) Shatter! vs. End Game (6)
Championship Semi-Finals
(8) Whiplash vs. Black Dragon (5)
(18) Tantrum vs. End Game (6)
Championship Final
(5) Black Dragon vs. End Game (6)
==Critical Reception==
==Trivia==
*Discovery Season 5 saw the first time in the modern era that filming had been substantially delayed.
*With End Game's eventual triumph, this marked the first time in BattleBots that a team from outside the US won the heavyweight competition and the Giant Nut.
*The final episode of the season was dedicated to former BattleBots competitor and guest judge Grant Imahara and Gayle Garner Roski, wife of BattleBots co-founder Trey Roski, both of which passed away in 2020.
==References==