King of Bots (Season 2)/Episode 9

Season 2 title card

The **ninth episode of *King of Bots II*** aired on September 8th 2019. It saw the format return to the standard set in Episode 6 and 7, with two robots being eliminated after a sequence of head-to-head battles between the celebrity teams.

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

## Competing robots

* Boxing Champion
* Deep-Sea Shark
* Iron Scrap
* Rhino
* Saber
* Shrederator Tiger Claw
* Tánshè
* Two BBQ
* Vulcan
* Yesaji

*NOTE: Doraemon and Black Rabbit were slated to fight in the competition, but did not need to enter as their team had already won/lost. Both Storm Cut and Mist Lion were eliminated in this episode without fighting a battle.*

## Setup

This episode reverted back to the format seen in Episode 6 and 7, putting two celebrity teams against each other in direct combat. This time, no Tag Team battles would take place, and the rounds would be decided entirely by a best-of-three set of head-to-head fights.

Before the battles began, newly enlisted team manager Ye Hong Li ("Leo") was required to cut Storm Cut from his team, as a result of losing the Attrition War in the previous episode.

## Di Yang vs Huang Jian Xiang

*NOTE: Robots on the left represent Di Yang. Robots on the right represent Huang Jian Xiang.*

### Boxing Champion vs Vulcan

Both robots came together in the center of the arena, although it seemed that Boxing Champion had the lower wedge, forcing Vulcan to try and slip around the sides. It was initially unsuccessful, breaching only under a single wedgelet of Boxing Champion, and misfiring up with no target on its flipper. Boxing Champion responded by charging straight into Vulcan, but rode up its wedge and was forced to retreat. Vulcan followed this up by sliding under Boxing Champion and tossing it across the arena, causing it to bump into the Grinder upon its rough landing. Regardless, Boxing Champion turned in place to deliver its weapon into the side of Vulcan when the British machine caught up, also lightly connecting with the lip of Vulcan's flipper while it misfired again.

Boxing Champion edged Vulcan back across the arena, and Vulcan once again fired its flipper largely at thin air, throwing itself over while only briefly lifting its opponent. This forced Vulcan to self-right, which it did by powerfully launching itself across the arena, making a relatively clean getaway. However, Boxing Champion remained in control, pressuring Vulcan into yet another missed flip while it was also raised by the floor flipper. Despite this, even when it drove directly under the front of Vulcan, Boxing Champion could not bring its weapon into play. The two fought tentatively, unable to use their weapons until Vulcan finally completed its second successful flip of the match. Boxing Champion landed right-side up, but did not escape in time, and Vulcan tossed it over. Unable to self-right, Boxing Champion was counted out while taking damage from the arena saws, and Vulcan continued its winning streak.

"*I'm really sad that we ended that fight against one of the best robots here. I really wanted it to end with one or both robots broken or damaged in a true battle to the end, but luck had the best of us.*"
— Aren Hill

**Winner: Vulcan**

### Saber vs Shrederator Tiger Claw

Saber sped out of the gates, arriving at Shrederator Tiger Claw only three seconds into the battle, disrupting its attempted spin-up. Shrederator Tiger Claw landed poorly, losing a collar upon landing, and was generally unstable, causing it to shed weapon teeth as it recoiled around the arena, failing to land back on its wheels. Shrederator Tiger Claw eventually reached solid ground after completely stopping its spinning motion on the arena wall, and was forced to spin back up to speed again, but struggled to move at all due to the magnets inside the robot preventing it from driving, and Saber knocked it towards the corner of the arena. When Shrederator Tiger Claw started moving again, it hit Saber directly on the front, and although it was sent sailing into the air in the process, the hit had disabled half of Saber's drive system, with its drive chain now hanging loose. Saber continued to tilt into Shrederator Tiger Claw on its one working side of drive, with the American machine again motionless, and on this occasion, it did not come back to life. Therefore, Saber won the battle by knockout despite being reduced to only half of its drive.

"*I was confident goin' in, I know our robot was strong, I know that we were ready to fight, and it's a little embarrassing. You try to put the best parts you can get in your robot, and sometimes, the parts don't work!*"
— Brian Nave

**Winner: Saber**

### Rhino vs Deep-Sea Shark

At the start of the battle, Rhino sped over to Deep-Sea Shark and tried to find an opening, but Deep-Sea Shark remained in its starting position, only turning in place to keep its spinner pointed towards Rhino. This frustrated the Rhino team, who kept swerving around Deep-Sea Shark until they exposed their side to the blade of Deep-Sea Shark. It was at this moment that Deep-Sea Shark finally moved forwards, and it tore through the side of Rhino, ripping away one of its side panels and eventually causing one of Rhino's drive belts to fall out, leaving Rhino with only half its drive system for the remainder of the match.

Rhino still maintained its higher aggression and hit the front of Deep-Sea Shark, but caused only minimal damage. Rhino's next attack saw it scrape at the wedges of Deep-Sea Shark, bending one of the three wedges up slightly, but its drive issues were becoming more readily apparent. Knowing that it needed to land more attacks of its own, Deep-Sea Shark moved in, but ran into the blade of Rhino twice, ramping itself into the air as a result of its first moment of aggression. A visibly damaged Deep-Sea Shark retreated, eventually losing one of its wedges entirely while regaining its composure. Nevertheless, Deep-Sea Shark still recognised its advantage in the battle, as Rhino could not catch its retreating opponent.

Deep-Sea Shark took its time and then drove back into Rhino, although it again collided with Rhino's blade. Deep-Sea Shark landed a more precise blow after this, hitting the side of Rhino while taking no hits in response, although it caused little damage. The next blow from Deep-Sea Shark was more decisive, generating a shower of sparks off the hardened front of Rhino, while narrowly avoiding its opponent's spinner. The robots separated, and with Rhino unable to travel freely across the arena, Deep-Sea Shark measured up its shot and then drove back into Rhino's front to toss more sparks. In the final seconds, Deep-Sea Shark was momentarily lifted by the floor flipper, and seemed as though it had backed off for the remainder of the fight, with Rhino even raising its self-righting mechanism to signal the end, but Deep-Sea Shark dealt a last-second blow to Rhino, ending the match on a favorable note. The Judges rewarded Deep-Sea Shark with the victory.

"*The reason we didn't win that fight is because when we went to attack them, they just sat there! They sat there, they were facing us, and every time we tried to get round them, they just sat there, so as we were turning to try and get around the side of them, they ran at us, and unfortunately, they caught the side, which took off some of our armor, and damaged our drive. There was nothing we could do!*"
— Robert Pickford

**Winner: Deep-Sea Shark**

### Di Yang's decision

Having lost the series of battles, Di Yang was forced to cut one of his five machines, and settled upon Mist Lion.

**Eliminated: Mist Lion**

## Zhu Zheng Ting vs Tu Ziya

### Tánshè vs Iron Scrap

"*Before the fight, we turned the gas on, and there was a huge leak. We were panicking suddenly because the gas was all leaking, so we turned it off, and tightened up the leaking hose.*"
— Gabriel Stroud

Before the battle began, Tánshè suffered a gas leak, which severely hindered the power of its flipper in the battle. Iron Scrap took advantage and immediately hit the side of Tánshè's flipper, after John Reid had sped Tánshè across the arena to meet it. This allowed Iron Scrap to get directly behind Tánshè and churn at its rear end, while the arena hammer also fell on Tánshè. Escaping, Tánshè did carry out a more measured attack, ramping under Iron Scrap and coming out unscathed, although it soon took lighter hits to its side pods. The next blow from Iron Scrap was more decisive, knocking it back in a flurry of sparks.

"*Get away and make some space!*"
— Gabriel Stroud to John Reid, driver of Tánshè

Tánshè launched a good drive, scooping under Iron Scrap and moving it towards the wall, but the effect of its flipper was minimal upon firing, barely lifting Iron Scrap off the floor due to its earlier gas leak. Tánshè was not able to completely retract its flipper in time, and Iron Scrap surged under it to throw Tánshè high into the air with a big blow. Tánshè recovered by driving into the side of Iron Scrap, but again fired its flipper to no effect, and was punished by another hit from Iron Scrap which threw Tánshè directly onto its back.

Stuck on its back, Tánshè was briefly motionless, and eventually fired its flipper but did not nearly boast the power needed for Tánshè to self-right. Iron Scrap retreated, believing it had won the fight by knockout, but Tánshè eventually summoned just enough power to self-right, allowing the battle to continue. Iron Scrap still caught back up and jabbed the side of Tánshè's flipper, causing the British machine to retreat again. Maintaining its upper hand, Iron Scrap charged into Tánshè's flipper, and delivered a hit so powerful that Tánshè's bungee cords were snapped, and the entire flipper weapon was thrown loosely over to the back end of the robot. Tánshè was clueless, and drove over the arena saws, although it then did manage to catch Iron Scrap from behind and push it into the arena wall.

"*Pin him into the wall, keep him pinned, keep him pinned!*"
— Gabriel Stroud

Tánshè held Iron Scrap in front of the arena spikes, keeping its opponent at bay and forcing Iron Scrap to stop spinning its drum momentarily. However, the arena hammer landed not on Iron Scrap, but on Tánshè, allowing Iron Scrap to escape and spin back up to speed. Tánshè charged back in, but rode up the front of Iron Scrap, and then suffered a glancing blow to its back end. Tánshè maintained aggression, bumping into the front of Iron Scrap repeatedly but sustained numerous drum spinner attacks in the process, until time expired on the battle. The Judges voted in favor of Iron Scrap, completing its upset over the Season 1.5 runner-up.

"*We didn't want to flip too early because that could damage our flipper.So what we needed to do was be tactical, however, the drum broke the front of the wedge up, and we were starting to lose.*"
— Gabriel Stroud

**Winner: Iron Scrap**

### Two BBQ vs Yesaji

After both robots powered up their vertical spinners, Two BBQ covered more distance and met Yesaji in its starting corner, but rode straight up its wedge, and Yesaji booted Two BBQ onto its back with a powerful hit, much to the delight of Tu Ziya and her team. Two BBQ sped around the arena inverted, and connected its blade with Yesaji, but could do little more than throw sparks, with its spinner now rotating downwards into Yesaji. In response, Yesaji clipped the side of Two BBQ and knocked it onto its side, pinned on its own castors. Although Two BBQ twitched back and forth, it could not get back down onto its wheels, and it was counted out, granting the win to Yesaji of Tu Ziya's team.

**Winner: Yesaji**

*NOTE: Black Rabbit (Zhu Zheng Ting) and Doraemon (Tu Ziya) would have fought after this battle if a tiebreaker was needed, but Tu Ziya had already won the series at this stage.*

### Zhu Zheng Ting's decision

"*When he announced that he was eliminating Switch, I... felt upset, and I didn't think it was fair, because Switch had won their fights, and they'd done really well. We lost our fight, so it really should be Tánshè that leaves.*"
— Gabriel Stroud on selflessly facing elimination in place of Switch

Zhu Zheng Ting was forced to choose one of his six robots to exit the competition, and settled upon Switch, which had not fought for several episode past. This was a controversial move, as Switch was still undefeated at this point in time. Gabriel Stroud of Tánshè was upset by this decision, and after he had lost to Iron Scrap earlier in the episode, he begged Zhu Zheng Ting to change his mind, convincing him to let Switch stay at the competition, while Tánshè would be eliminated as a result. In an emotional scene, Zhu Zheng Ting agreed to Gabriel Stroud's request, and cut the Season 1.5 runner-up from his team. Gabriel Stroud delivered a final farewell to the studio in tears, and made his honorable exit whilst Switch continued.

"*Tánshè was a beautiful robot, and we've let her down today, and she's going to retire, so she won't come back to China. She's going to go and live back at the workshop, and we will hopefully... hopefully, we'll make you a new robot that you can be proud of!! Thank you, I've met some lovely people, and had a great time... I love you!*"
— Gabriel Stroud's emotional farewell

**Eliminated: Tánshè**

## Trivia

* Before its fight, Shrederator Tiger Claw was once again pictured as its *BattleBots* equivalent Captain Shrederator on its fight draws card.