King of Bots (Season 2)/Episode 12

Season 2 title card

The **twelfth episode of *King of Bots II*** aired on September 28th 2019, and concluded the series. With one final Attrition War, the ten remaining robots entered the arena, with one team of five emerging as the champions.

The end of the episode also featured *Robo Genius*, an educational segment exploring different aspects of robot building and combat.

## Competing robots

* Cat King
* Deep-Sea Shark
* Drift
* Megabyte
* Shrederator Tiger Claw
* Spectre
* Thunder
* Vulcan
* Warrior
* Xiake

## Setup

This episode reused the **Attrition War** format first seen in Episode 8, where the two remaining celebrity managers would organise their five robots into a set order, for a series of two-minute head-to-head bouts.

The first robots on each team would then enter the arena, and while the loser would be eliminated from the Attrition War, the winner had the option to stay in the arena and fight another opponent. The robot would not be allowed to leave the arena during this time, and would enter the next battle with no repairs or battery charging done before the fight. If the celebrities and roboteers were happy to continue, they would fight their next opponent for another opportunity to win. If a robot was withdrawn, they would also be eliminated from the Attrition War, and they would be replaced by the next robot in line. This process would continue until one team had lost all five of their robots, and a *King of Bots* champion would be crowned.

The teams were as following (in order):

## Battles

*NOTE: Robots on the left represent Huang Jian Xiang. Robots on the right represent Ye Hong Li.*

### Deep-Sea Shark vs Warrior

Deep-Sea Shark entered the battle with two front forks, while Warrior equipped its anti-drum wedge, hoping to use this against its potential second opponent Xiake.

Warrior initially moved towards Deep-Sea Shark, but backed away after seeing that the Chinese spinner had already reached top speeds. As Deep-Sea Shark moved forwards, Warrior lined up its attack and swung its axe, but barely missed the back end of Deep-Sea Shark, throwing only a few sparks from what may have been a glancing blow. This swing seemed to have a noticeable impact on Warrior, as it was now leaning to one side on further approaches, suggesting difficulties with its right-hand side of drive. Deep-Sea Shark knocked it aside, and took advantage of Warrior's limited mobility by hitting the back end of the British machine, and Warrior simply drifted into a Grinder.

"*Let him come to you. Don't turn your back.*"
— Grant Cooper to Jason Marston

Warrior turned its lengthy wedge into Deep-Sea Shark, and then fed it directly under the spinning blade, allowing Warrior to take a shot with its axe, and scraped the front of Deep-Sea Shark with a second attack, but still largely failed to hit critical areas of its opponent. Deep-Sea Shark was aware of Warrior's hindered mobility, and fled across the arena to force an approach from Warrior while also charging up its own spinning blade. Warrior was able to coast in the direction of Deep-Sea Shark, but the latter delivered a hit straight to Warrior's front end, at the cost of all spinning momentum it had built up.

"*Keep it slow and steady, keep your front pointed at him.*"
— Grant Cooper to Jason Marston

After reaching a reasonable spinning speed, Deep-Sea Shark once again hit Warrior's large wedgelet, but again sacrificed its momentum and was forced to run away and spin back up to speed once more, although Warrior was largely unable to stop it due to its hindered drive. Deep-Sea Shark's next attack was a frontal hit on Warrior, which also baited an axe swing out of Warrior that missed its mark. After landing a light side-on hit, Deep-Sea Shark then carried out the most crucial attack of the match, throwing Warrior onto its back with a notable spinner hit. Warrior self-righted using its axe, but Deep-Sea Shark barged it back, and Warrior missed another axe blow, knocking it under an arena hammer where Warrior's exposed back end was momentarily vulnerable. However, Warrior finally landed its first direct blow of the match, and followed this up by moving Deep-Sea Shark into the corner to land a number of blows, with pieces flying through the air as a result. Deep-Sea Shark made its escape, and spent the final ten seconds passively, only landing a light slam at the very end.

The two-minute battle proved to be very close, and the Judges were required to determine who had earned the upper hand in the Attrition War. The Judges voted in favour of Deep-Sea Shark, putting Huang Jian Xiang's team in the lead.

**Winner: Deep-Sea Shark**

### Deep-Sea Shark vs Cat King

**Brian Nave**: "*Make him drive around a lot. He has reliability issues.*"
**Alan Young**: "*With Cat King, he just needs to sit and turn and face.*"
— Huang Jian Xiang's team give advice to Deep-Sea Shark

Deep-Sea Shark by necessity retained its setup from the previous match, while Cat King entered with one lifter and its asymmetrical bar spinner.

**Ye Hong Li**: "*So what's your plan?*"
**Martin Mason**: "*We've just gotta pop him over. We've just gotta get a hit on him.*"
**Ye Hong Li**: "*You have to go around, because I think his front end looks quite low.*"
**Martin Mason**: "*Yeah, no we can't go straight onto him.*"
**Ye Hong Li**: "*Just enjoy it, it's OK.*"
— The captain's words for Cat King

Following advice from its teammates, Deep-Sea Shark hung back in the opening seconds and made no movements other than powering up its spinner, forcing Cat King to make an approach. Cat King was understandably hesitant, and refused to draw near to Deep-Sea Shark, instead just turning in place as its own form of bait. However, this worked out perfectly for Deep-Sea Shark, which seized an opportunity with one of Cat King's larger swerves, and it clipped Cat King directly on its front-right wheel. This disabled Cat King's movement on one side, and Deep-Sea Shark backed off, having secured a one-hit knockout. Cat King turned in place until it was counted out by the referee, and Deep-Sea Shark earned a second win in the Attrition War.

**Winner: Deep-Sea Shark**

### Deep-Sea Shark vs Megabyte

**John Mladenik**: "*He's already beat two robots he didn't expect to beat.*"
**Jason Marston**: "*I chopped all his wheels off the top.*"
**John Mladenik**: "*Yeah, I noticed that he barely moved out of the start. We're gonna hit him at full speed.*"
— Plans from the Megabyte team

Deep-Sea Shark started the battle in contrast to its usual passive nature, and charged right at Megabyte, but only connected with its front wedgelet rather than its disc, and was blasted aside by Megabyte, although Megabyte seemingly came off worse as it was thrown into a Grinder by the impact. Deep-Sea Shark used this chance to throw Megabyte upwards with a hit which caused it to smash into the arena wall, and when the two came together again, the force of a weapon-on-weapon hit between the two robots caused Megabyte to shed its tensioner and a drive belt which fell to the arena floor uselessly. Fortunately for Megabyte, this drive belt only connected Megabyte's slave wheels to its powered wheels, so the robot could still function without the component.

"*It was the drive belt and tensioner that is used for the drive wheel to drive the slave wheel. The tensioner floats in the middle making the cogged belt tight. It is 3D printed.*"
— Robotic Death Company Facebook page describes the broken component

While getting back up to speed, Megabyte deflected Deep-Sea Shark into the Grinder, and then caught up to deliver a mighty slam on the side of Deep-Sea Shark, generating a shower of sparks while spinning Deep-Sea Shark into the arena wall. Surprisingly, Deep-Sea Shark escaped without significant damage, but the next attack from Megabyte completely blew apart one of its front wedgelets, casting it across the arena in three distinct parts. This did not stop Deep-Sea Shark from attacking, as it valiantly charged into Megabyte only to be thrown across the entire length of the arena, also knocking Megabyte into the wall.

The spinning motion of Deep-Sea Shark was momentarily halted, but it charged straight back into Megabyte without its weapon, and was sent recoiling into the air, landing on its back in the process, also losing part of its frontal frame. However, Deep-Sea Shark reacted very quickly and drove into a Grinder while inverted, using the arena hazard and its own spinner to self-right, at the cost of yet more framework. Deep-Sea Shark returned to attack Megabyte, while the shell spinner continued to shave away the front of the suffering Deep-Sea Shark. This was repeated with the next few attacks, where Deep-Sea Shark continually drove into Megabyte, only to be swatted away, taking more damage in the process. After several more hits, including a blow which lifted Deep-Sea Shark into the air, Megabyte finally connected a combo hit which swung Deep-Sea Shark around, and allowed Megabyte to connect a hit to its opponent's wheels, exposed at the back of the robot. These hits to Deep-Sea Shark disabled its drive on one side, and loosened a side panel. Megabyte backed off, and Deep-Sea Shark was counted out despite its attempts to keep moving, giving the win to Megabyte.

"*The only thing that was broken after the fight was the ETEK weapon motors, the brushes were burned up, desoldered and prevented the spin from working in the next fight.*"
— Robotic Death Company Facebook page describes the remaining damage after the fight

**Winner: Megabyte**

### Xiake vs Megabyte

Xiake entered the battle with its two forks, rather than its plough designed to fight horizontal spinners. Before the battle began, Megabyte's team attempted to spin up their weapon, but discovered that their shell would not spin despite it working for the previous bout. The cause of this was damaged ETEK motors, the brushes for which burned up and desoldered. The team were given exactly five minutes to repair their weapon, but could not do so, and were forced to face long-time rival Xiake weaponless.

Knowing that its opponent had no working weapon, Xiake was able to leisurely spin its drum up to speed, and then quickly delivered a blow to Megabyte, throwing it into the air, although it landed on its self-righting bar and pushed itself upright. Megabyte could only attempt to flee, and drove away from Xiake, but it did not take Xiake long to catch up and throw Megabyte high into the arena wall, again being fortunate to land on its wheels upon its descent. This did not last, as with one final blow, Xiake smashed Megabyte up and over with a fatal third hit. Although Megabyte attempted to use its self-righting mechanism, it was soon counted out, and Xiake earned a third lifetime win over its American rival.

**Winner: Xiake**

### Xiake vs Spectre

This battle essentially formed a rematch of the Season 1 final, where Spectre triumphantly won the championship against Xiake’s predecessor Chiyung Jinlun.

Both competitors began tentatively, but it quickly became apparent that Xiake was struggling to move properly from the blue corner. After some time, Xiake seemingly attempted to line its drum up for an attack on Spectre.

"*Bite him, bite him, bite him!*"
— Nick Cooper, just as Spectre grabs Xiake

In doing so, it drove directly up Spectre’s front wedge, allowing the UK machine to grip and push Xiake into the wall spikes and grinders. The grinder smashed Xiake’s right side panel to pieces and initially appeared to immobilize the Chinese machine; however, Xiake was eventually able to escape.

Moments later, Spectre drove behind and sunk its teeth through Xiake’s top panel, while simultaneously pushing it past the red corner. Smoke began pouring from Xiake as its battery was punctured – to the delight of James Cooper and his teammates – and Spectre lifted it into the air. Spectre maneuvered Xiake away from the hammer as its opponent burst into flames, before lowering and slamming it into another set of wall spikes. A smouldering Xiake was left immobile on one side before being duly counted out and extinguished, having suffered a similar fate to its Season 1 predecessor.

**Winner: Spectre**

### Shrederator Tiger Claw vs Spectre

Shrederator Tiger Claw entered the arena to face off with Spectre, which had been left in the arena from its previous victory. However, Team LOGICOM's machine immediately showed no signs of control, aimlessly maneuvering towards the grinders and having difficulty returning to its starting area. Concerned about Spectre's battery life, Grant Cooper pressed for the battle to begin.

"*I think that when they loaded it in, the locking pin got pushed into something, and I couldn't get it out. It was jammed into something, and I think it broke something.*"
— Brian Nave tries to diagnose Shrederator Tiger Claw's control issues

As Brian Nave attempted to identify the cause behind its issues, the tournament officials gave him and Team LOGICOM exactly five minutes to repair their robot. Despite their efforts, and reports of faultless tests in the pits, Shrederator Tiger Claw still had control issues upon being placed back into the arena.

**Huang Jian Xiang**: "*You can spin, but you cannot move?*"
**Brian Nave**: "*It moves, but it's not controllable and it might just run away on its own, who knows?*"
— Shrederator Tiger Claw's issues are discussed further

This did not deter Huang Jian Xiang from committing to the battle, as Shrederator Tiger Claw was still seen as somewhat capable of fighting. Shortly after its second excursion across the arena, and in spite of ongoing concerns about its readiness to compete, the officials offered Team LOGICOM one more minute to drive the robot back into its starting corner.

"*The bad luck continues...* "
— Brian Nave, as Shrederator Tiger Claw suffers yet more issues

This attempt proved disastrous; despite spinning up its shell, Shrederator Tiger Claw simply bumped into the grinders and made no forward progress, to a crestfallen Xiang and an increasingly exasperated Team Spectre. Team LOGICOM's machine was deemed to have lost the battle, and Spectre won by default.

**Winner: Spectre (by default)**

### Thunder vs Spectre

**Grant Cooper**: "*We need to get through this one with no damage.*"
**Ye Hong Li**: "*Drive slowly, don’t damage the front end.*"
**Grant Cooper**: "*I’m ready whenever you lot are.*"
— Grant Cooper and Ye Hong Li discuss their game plan against Thunder

Following a cautious start, Thunder initially lunged at the side of Spectre, but missed, bumping Spectre’s wedge and getting rammed into the corner in return. Spectre clamped down on the space behind Thunder’s lifting weapon, with both robots pushing each other into a grinder and the blue corner spikes respectively. After letting go, Spectre resumed its early attacks, repeatedly grabbing and shoving Thunder into the spikes and grinders. Following one such attack, Thunder responded by pinning Spectre against the spikes near the hammer, only for Spectre to lift Thunder by the front-left wheelarch.

Thunder dropped from Spectre’s teeth and reversed, only to be gripped and pushed into the spikes once more by the UK entry. A sudden surge of power allowed Thunder to push Spectre a fair distance across the arena before the two competitors separated. While Thunder initially dodged Spectre’s next attack, it drove up its opponent’s front wedge, allowing Spectre to once again ram it into the wall spikes and grinders, then under one of the hammers. Thunder took two blows from the hammer before getting pushed and released near the circular saws; however, it responded by ramming Spectre into the spikes until time ran out.

The subsequent Judges’ decision ruled in favor of Spectre, securing its third consecutive victory in this round. Thunder’s defeat resulted in Huang Jian Xiang’s team being reduced to one robot - Vulcan - and at risk of being eliminated for good by the defending champion.

**Grant Cooper**: "*One more fight ‘til we take the trophy.*"
**Jason Marston**: "*Aye… fully deserved as well.*"
— Grant Cooper and Jason Marston anticipate an early championship victory

### Vulcan vs Spectre

"*Go Alan, go!*"
— Huang Jian Xiang

The two British competitors came to blows almost immediately, with Spectre grabbing Vulcan from the side and driving it into the wall spikes. Vulcan maneuvered itself into the corner and dodged another lunge from Spectre, reversing, driving underneath and flipping the silver machine onto its back. Spectre self-righted, but Vulcan threw it again almost immediately, this time onto one of the grinders, but slid off before being launched a third time. While Vulcan was clipped by the same grinder, Spectre sped away, ramming Vulcan head-on before biting down on the space between its wedge and left wheels.

Spectre twice rammed Vulcan into the wall spikes before the competitors separated, only to grab the right-hand side of Vulcan’s wedge and spin it around several times in the blue corner. This attack culminated in Vulcan being slammed into the red corner and another set of wall spikes, the second slam causing Spectre to let go. Spectre rammed Vulcan again before both robots were lifted by a floor flipper. Following this distraction, Vulcan got underneath Spectre once more, flipping itself and the Season 1 champion over in the process. While Vulcan self-righted immediately, it became clear that Spectre was stranded on its side, its srimech unable to gain contact with the arena floor.

Spectre attempted to drive on its right-hand wheels and move its crusher, but to no avail. Soon, it was counted out, relinquishing its *King of Bots* title and allowing Vulcan to fight for Huang Jian Xiang one last time.

**Huang Jian Xiang**: "*How was that plan?*"
**Alan Young**: "*We could’ve won it a bit easier!*"
**Huang Jian Xiang**: "*Now, relax! Nice and easy… nice and easy.*"
— Post-battle discussions between Huang Jian Xiang and Alan Young

"*I really enjoyed this final round. Super stressful, nerve racking and very fast paced when filming. It was great to set fire to Xiake in KOB 1 and 2 finals, and the fight with Vulcan was one of our trickiest for driving we’ve had. You can see the difference in driving speeds to try and out manoeuvre each other compared to any of our other fights - it was close but we need to look at the weight balance as that has significantly changed with the new wedge and we overlooked the consequences it would have on self righting!*"
— Grant Cooper reflects on Team Spectre’s Final Attrition War run

Despite its victory, Vulcan did not emerge from the battle completely unscathed. Prior to the final, Grant Cooper explained to Ye Hong Li that one of Spectre’s attacks damaged its removable link housing, leading Team Robots Live! to disconnect Vulcan’s batteries in order to safely deactivate it.

**Winner: Vulcan**

### Vulcan vs Drift

**Huang Jian Xiang**: "*As long as you don’t make any mistake.*"
**Alan Young**: "*Yeah, just play this one very carefully.*"
**Huang Jian Xiang**: "*Yeah, because he has no weapon to hurt you, so… patient, one or two clear hit…*"
**Alan Young**: "*Yeah.*"
**Huang Jian Xiang**: "*…you can wait for him to come to you. Okay?*"
— Huang Jian Xiang and Alan Young discuss their strategy against Drift

Initially, Vulcan drove into the side of Drift, rearing up and slipping off Drift’s front wedge. In response, Drift drove into and got underneath Vulcan a few times, only to catch a set screw between the circular saws; Vulcan capitalized by briefly slipping underneath Drift, before pushing and throwing it at great height into the red corner. Ye Hong Li’s machine landed on its wheels and resisted a bump from Vulcan; another few shoves enabled Drift to get underneath, push and tip Vulcan against the wall spikes. As Drift reversed, its lifter caught the space between Vulcan’s wedge and left wheels, locking both competitors together and leaving Vulcan partially suspended off the floor.

Taking advantage of the UK machine’s predicament, Drift dragged and pushed Vulcan into the grinders, which caused considerable damage to its decorative pipework. In the process, Drift lifted Vulcan twice with its arm, but overbalanced as it tried to overturn Vulcan with the second lift. Immediately, Vulcan threw itself free, but sustained more damage from the nearby grinder, while Drift drove on its rear wheels, applying more pressure to Vulcan before re-righting itself as well. Both robots bumped each other a few more times, with Drift again getting underneath and steering Vulcan towards the red corner, then the wall spikes.

A few seconds later, Vulcan charged head-on at Drift, launching itself over the top of its opponent’s wedge and lifter. Another head-on charge, this time from Drift, saw the red, black and white machine drive into the wall spikes. This allowed Vulcan to get under the side of Drift and flip it, although with seemingly less power than before. More bumping ensued, with Vulcan losing one of its pipes as Drift pushed and steered it towards the blue corner. Again, Vulcan drove into the side of Drift and reared up, with Drift continuing to push and pressure Vulcan before lifting it up against the wall spikes once more. This was followed by a few more bumps and another controlled push towards the blue corner from Drift, at which point Vulcan fired its flipper to distance itself from Drift. For the second time, Vulcan launched over the top of Drift, only to turn around and flip Drift a full 360 degrees near the wall spikes. Another charge at the side of Drift proved unsuccessful, with Vulcan missing its flip before luring the Chinese machine across the arena.

In its pursuit, Drift drove part-way across and was lifted by a floor flipper; Vulcan seized its chance to flip Drift onto its back, before pressuring Ye Hong Li’s machine towards the blue corner. As it did so, Vulcan chased, scooped and threw Drift forwards onto the wall, almost getting Drift out of the arena with ten seconds to spare. Drift landed against the corner spikes, seemingly in a position to be counted out, but freed itself and self-righted using its arm. Vulcan responded with a late flip, though Drift righted itself again just before time ran out. With both competitors surviving the full duration, the final battle went to a Judges’ decision; the decision ultimately ruled in favor of Vulcan.

**Winner: Vulcan**

## Winning Team

After a close all-or-nothing battle, Vulcan secured the *King of Bots* title for Huang Jian Xiang and his team. To many, Vulcan is considered to be the *King of Bots* champion as a result of winning the title fight, but Huang Jian Xiang's other victorious machines (Xiake and Deep-Sea Shark) and even his losing machines (Thunder and Shrederator Tiger Claw) would all celebrate a group victory. Alan Young of Vulcan's team lifted the trophy, and both he and Huang Jian Xiang were thrown into the air by their teammates and friends.

**Champion: Huang Jian Xiang**

## Trivia

* This episode aired on September 28th 2019, a Saturday, unlike all eleven of the previous episodes, which aired on a Sunday.
* With Huang Jian Xiang's team winning the competition, Shrederator Tiger Claw became the only robot to win a combat tournament despite losing all of its battles.
	+ Shrederator Tiger Claw was also regularly referred to by the name of its *BattleBots* counterpart Captain Shrederator by the competing teams.
* This episode saw the third time that Megabyte would lose to Chiyung Jinlun or Xiake.

## References

1. ↑ Private correspondence with User:ToastUltimatum
2. ↑ Private correspondence with User:ToastUltimatum
3. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/dak3ah/kob\_2\_s2ep12\_season\_finale/f1qys6o/