The eighth episode of This is Fighting Robots aired on June 1st, 2018. It commenced the head-to-head rounds, allowing robots to progress and be eliminated in direct knockout format, and also contained the Eight-robot Rumble.
Competing robots
- Cat King
- Formula
- Great White
- Megabyte
- ORBY Blade
- Red River Hong
- Spectre
- Tánshè
- Tungsten
- Two BBQ
- Vulcan
- Weber
- NOTE 1: The winner of the battle between Greedy Snake, Shrederator Tiger Claw and Xiake was revealed in this episode, but the robots did not fight.
- NOTE 2: The competitors in the Eight-robot Rumble are not included
Setup
The episode began by announcing the winner of the celebrity rumble held between Greedy Snake, Shrederator Tiger Claw and Xiake. As a reward for Greedy Snake winning the battle, Zhang Yishan was able to reinstate a defeated robot, and he chose Two BBQ to join his blue team.
The next stage consisted of head-to-head fights, and one celebrity would set a challenge, and the other celebrities could choose another robot to challenge it. The celebrity who then set the challenge would choose one opponent from the selection, and challenge it in a head-to-head battle. The winner of the battle would progress further into the competition, while the loser would be eliminated.
After these battles, the celebrities were required to choose two eliminated robots each to represent them in an eight-robot rumble. Wu Chun chose Wrecker and Thunder and Lightning, Zheng Shuang chose Megabyte and Two BBQ, Zhang Yishan chose Spectre and Spear and Shield, and Sa Beining chose Lieutenant Bam and Golden Hoops.
Battles
Greedy Snake vs Shrederator Tiger Claw vs Xiake
- Main article: This is Fighting Robots (Season 1.5)/Episode 7
The battle took place in the previous episode, but at the start of Episode 8, the winner was revealed to be Greedy Snake. This allowed Zhang Yishan to add the previously defeated Two BBQ to the blue team.
Winner: Greedy Snake
Weber (Blue team) vs Tánshè (Green team)
Weber flips Tánshè at the start of the battle
Weber blasts Tánshè backwards
Wu Chun also offered to fight Weber with his robot Great White, but after Zhang Yishan ordered the challenge with Weber, he chose Zheng Shuang's Tánshè as his opponent. Both robots met face-to-face, and Weber was able to breach the wedge of Tánshè and flip it over. Tánshè landed on its wheels, but Weber followed this up with another thrust, which blasted Tánshè backwards, although the British machine still landed on its wheels again. Zhang Yishan also activated the smokescreen in front of Team Legion, restricting their vision.
- "Take him to the sides!"
- — Gabriel Stroud
Tánshè is thrown over by the floor flipper
Tánshè in the process of being counted out
Tánshè was able to drive under Weber, but as the team could not see clearly, Tánshè missed with its flip, with Weber also flipping at thin air. Tánshè also drove over the floor flipper, which toppled the robot. Tánshè fired its flipper to self-right, but Weber flipped the somersaulting machine, and ensured that it landed inverted once again. Tánshè's flipper had locked, and it lacked the power to self-right, so the referee started to count Tánshè out of the battle, while Tánshè laid, seemingly motionless. However, when the referee reached the number nine, Tánshè fired its flipper, and self-righted powerfully, putting it back in the battle at the last second.
- "In the competition so far, that five seconds was definitely the toughest. When we were flipped upside-down, all the gas was liquid, and it runs into the ram and freezes up. However, we calmed down and wait. Pause, and you can flip yourself back over again. During the second half of the fight, we're not messing about anymore, being professional, and the whole goal was to flip Weber out of the arena."
- — Gabriel Stroud
Tánshè overturns Weber
Tánshè makes a late effort to throw Weber out of the arena
Tánshè then drove Weber in circles, missing with its flip, but still tricked Weber into firing its own weapon. Tánshè then flicked Weber over, against the arena wall, and pinned it in place to prevent Weber from self-righting properly. Weber was eventually able to self-right, but the quicker Tánshè machine caught up to the fleeing Weber, and threw it into a different arena wall, almost out of the arena entirely. Weber self-righted, but was stuck on the spikes at the side of the arena, and in the final ten seconds of the fight, Tánshè carried Weber over to the corner of the arena where robots could be flipped out for an immediate knockout, and managed to throw Weber onto the lip of this wall, but did not manage to flip it out. As a result, Tánshè was sent to its first Judges' decision, but was declared to have defeated Weber, eliminating the Russian team from the competition.
- "We were, of course we were sad. But on the other hand, we were happy, because Tanshe was really powerful enemy, and you know, it's very good to fight."
- — Alan Gubiev of Weber's team
Winner: Tánshè
Tungsten (Green team) vs ORBY Blade (Red team)
Tungsten throws ORBY Blade by its weapon
Tungsten blasts ORBY Blade over one meter into the air
While both robots spun up their rotating weapons, Tungsten immediately tried to take advantage of its quicker spin-up time, and aimed for the back end of ORBY Blade, forcing the South Korean machine to flee. Tungsten then attacked the side of ORBY Blade's spinning bar, and sent the robot reeling away. Tungsten followed this up with another direct blow to ORBY Blade's spinner, which left the robot lifeless upon landing. Nevertheless, Tungsten attempted to ensure its victory, and struck the motionless bar spinner of ORBY Blade to throw the whole robot 1.35m into the air. ORBY Blade was completely immobilized as a result, and the robot was counted out while Zheng Shuang fired the smokescreen in front of the ORBY team. Tungsten won the battle by knockout.
Winner: Tungsten
Formula (Yellow team) vs Spectre (Green team)
Formula and Spectre in battle
Formula misses with its first attack
Sa Beining issued the challenge for Formula to fight next, and both Spectre and Great White accepted the challenge. Andy Hibberd of Formula's team stated that he would much rather fight Spectre, and his wish was fulfilled, as both robots fought. The two robots drew towards and smacked into one another initially, with Formula momentarily getting underneath Spectre, but not far enough to use its flipper. Several scenes just like this initial one followed, with Formula chasing and momentarily getting underneath its opponent using its superior wedge, but without making any meaningful attacks with its weapon.
Formula flips both Spectre and itself
Formula flips Spectre onto the saws
This stalemate ended a few seconds later though, as Formula finally got underneath Spectre properly, and flung it into the air, with the force of the flip knocking Formula over as well. As both robots self-righted, they made another charge towards one another, neither getting underneath the other this time. After spending a few more seconds driving around its opponent, Spectre made a charge that sent it straight up Formula's wedge, the latter responding by throwing the King of Bots defending champion through the air, causing it to land upside down onto the floor saws.
Spectre self rights onto Formula's wedge
Formula follows through with a flip
With the floor saws clearly impeding Spectres ability to self-right, Formula took the opportunity to drive around and position itself so that when Spectre did finally succeed, it would do so onto Formula, allowing Formula to once again toss Spectre back over.
Formula tosses Spectre onto the Grinders
Formula throws Spectre high into the air
Landing upside down again, Formula put more pressure onto Spectre by pushing it towards the Grinders and flinging it into them, causing it to bounce off, successfully keeping Spectre inverted. Formula wasted no time by pushing Spectre around some more, and eventually got in a powerful flip that lifted Spectre over 1.2 meters into the air, although this flip caused Spectre to finally land on its wheels again though. As Spectre tried yet again to get a grip on Formula, the flipper answered by throwing Spectre onto its back yet another time.
Formulas attempt to flip Spectre out of the arena
Formula is chased by Spectre while attempting to retract its flipper
Formula then proceeded to push Spectre into the corner in an attempt to send it out of the arena, but was unsuccessful after choosing the wrong angle, and the silver machine landed back on its wheels and started giving chase to Formula. Formula's elastics which allow its flipper to close had become damaged, as the robot seemed unable to close it properly. This permitted Spectre to finally get underneath Formula, but was unable to get its crusher into play as Formula managed to escape, finally getting its flipper to close properly as well after some time had elapsed.
Formula's knockout flip on Spectre
Making a final charge, Spectre bounced off of Formula, momentarily exposing its back which allowed Formula to flip it one final time. Throughout the battle, where Spectre's self-righting mechanism became damaged through repeated flips and contact with the arena saws, Spectre ultimately proved unable to self-right, and Formula's team celebrated as Spectre was subsequently counted out, eliminating the King of Bots Season 1 champion from the competition.
- "We've won most of our fights throughout our career, and sometimes you have to lose, and this was one of those times, soo as long as we keep work on it and improve a lot, that's all that matters, so we wish you the best of luck, and just keep making the right decisions!"
- — Grant Cooper to Zheng Shuang after being eliminated
Winner: Formula
Red River Hong (Red team) vs Two BBQ (Blue team)
Two BBQ throws Red River Hong over with its first impact
Two BBQ lands a hit which threw Red River Hong over a meter into the air
After Wu Chun issued the challenge with Red River Hong, both Zheng Shuang and Zhang Yishan answered the call, with Sandstorm and Two BBQ respectively, although Wu Chun chose to battle Two BBQ. While both robots powered up their spinners, Red River Hong was directionless in its drive, driving in odd angles before eventually driving its side directly into Two BBQ's blade, and was thrown over. Two BBQ followed this up, punching Red River Hong backwards. This prompted Red River Hong to flee again, but a devastating hit from Two BBQ threw Red River Hong over a meter into the air, straight towards the corner of the arena. Wu Chun activated the smokescreen in front of the Two BBQ team to limit their vision, which caused Two BBQ to drive around aimlessly, missing with its charges until it finally overturned Red River Hong with its wedge, also using its wedge to fling Red River Hong into the air as a follow-up attack.
Two BBQ uses its wedge to flick Red River Hong, before its drum ripped the wedge away
A bump from Red River Hong causes Two BBQ's weapon belt to slip
However, when Red River Hong landed, its drum collided with one of Two BBQ's wedges, ripping it from the robot. Relatively unfazed, Two BBQ struck the back of Red River Hong, and then punched its drum to push the robot back. While using 'gyro-dancing' to right itself, Red River Hong instead brought its top panel directly into Two BBQ's spinner, but despite its lack of direction when attempting to leave the corner of the arena, Red River Hong was still surviving. Red River Hong coasted into Two BBQ, slamming its side panel into the vertical bar spinner, but this caused Two BBQ's weapon belt to fall loose, leaving the robot without a functional weapon.
Red River Hong throws Two BBQ over
Two BBQ leans against the Grinder, pinned and immobile
This afforded Red River Hong a chance to strike, hitting Two BBQ's weapon using its drum to completely silence the weapon. Red River Hong then crashed into the front of Two BBQ, and used its drum to throw Two BBQ over. Two BBQ could still run inverted, and slammed into the Grinder to try and self-right, but landed the same way up again. On its path to another Grinder, Red River Hong intercepted Two BBQ's charge and knocked it into the air, so upon Two BBQ's landing, it was then leaning against the housing of the Grinder, pinned on its spinner and its one remaining wedge. Two BBQ was counted out, and Red River Hong spun in circles to celebrate its unexpected victory.
Winner: Red River Hong
Cat King (Green team) vs Great White (Red team)
- "As soon as we got into the battle, they used the smokescreen in front of us. And then after that, two more big hits and the robot was sitting outside the arena. But it all happened so quickly, and Cat King worked really really well. It was all over before I really knew what was happening!"
- — Steven Martin of Great White's team after the battle
Cat King thrusts Great White into the air
Cat King throws Great White into the plexiglass wall
When Zheng Shuang issued the challenge with Cat King, Wu Chun once again responded by choosing Great White, while Zhang Yishan chose Vulcan. Zheng Shuang accepted Great White as her opponent. While both robots powered up their vertical spinners, Zheng Shuang immediately placed the fog in front of Great White's team, obscuring their vision. Cat King capitalized on this by charging straight into Great White's wedge, throwing the machine high into the air, and causing Great White to bounce into the arena wall. Cat King held Great White in the corner of the arena, and targeted the back end of the machine, throwing sparks. With a bigger attack, Cat King then rocketed Great White into the angled plexiglass wall.
Cat King severs Great White's weapon belt
Cat King blasts Great White out of the arena
Great White landed inverted, and its spinner made repeated hits on the floor until Great White was finally righted. Both robots met weapon-to-weapon, while Great White's minibot Remora repeatedly missed Cat King. Great White and Cat King hit each other face on twice, knocking both robots back equally, but the second contact caused Great White's weapon belt to slip. Immediately afterwards, Cat King drove under Great White, and threw it over the wall in the corner of the arena, for a victory by ring-out. Cat King celebrated by hitting Remora, and claimed its victory.
- "Cat King had shown its power, and we've shown every team what we're capable of. Now the other teams will be properly afraid of us, when it came their turn to face Cat King!"
- — Team Food Fight
Winner: Cat King
Blue (Green team) vs Bulldozer (Red team)
This battle was shown only as a brief highlight, but Blue was revealed to have won the battle over Bulldozer.
Winner: Blue
Megabyte (Green team) vs Vulcan (Blue team)
- "During the fight, we would've liked to use the axe a lot more, but unfortunately one of the hits made a pipe come out, so we lost all of our gas, so we had no axe for the rest of the fight. I started to get very nervous about the arena weapons."
- — Alan Young on the first impact of the match
Megabyte disables Vulcan's axe with a big hit
Vulcan knocks Megabyte into the arena wall
While Megabyte powered up its spinner, Vulcan missed on its charge, failing to cease the shell spinner. When Vulcan caught up to Megabyte, it was thrown aside by the powerful spinner, and this caused Vulcan's axe to break, leaving the robot weaponless. Megabyte lingered in the corner of the arena, and Vulcan rammed it, causing Megabyte to bounce off the arena wall, and under the arena hammer, which landed on top of Megabyte's shell. This caused no real damage, and Megabyte's blades pushed Vulcan aside on its next attack. Both robots met face-to-face, and Megabyte rebounded away from Vulcan, failing to gain purchase on the arena floor until it slid back into the wall. In a series of collisions, Megabyte struck the wedge of Vulcan, bounced into a solid piece of wall next to the Grinder, and ended up on Vulcan's wedge, allowing Vulcan to push Megabyte into the arena wall, while it was at a low spinning speed. Upon this impact, a bolt sheared from Megabyte.
- "Yeah, we were just in the corner there, and, so that's when that mass is spinning like that, there's no 'driveability'. At that point, I thought we had the fight."
- — John Mladenik of Megabyte's team
Megabyte drives under Vulcan
Megabyte is thrown over by the floor flipper
Megabyte spun up once again, but struck the wedge of Vulcan, and due to the sheared bolt, Megabyte's shell did not spin again after this impact. Vulcan pushed Megabyte into the Grinder, and then held it against the arena wall. Megabyte briefly wedged under Vulcan and escaped, but Vulcan caught up and rammed it again. A similar impact took place again, and allowed Megabyte to drive under Vulcan, but lost its grip. After this, Megabyte drove straight over the floor flipper, and was immediately overturned. Vulcan made no further movements, and waited for the referee to count Megabyte out of the battle, and out of the competition. In celebration, Alan Young lifted Zhang Yishan into the air.
Winner: Vulcan
Eight-robot Rumble
In the eight robot rumble, two robots each represented the four celebrity teams. Thunder and Lightning and Wrecker represented Wu Chun's red team, Megabyte and Two BBQ represented Zheng Shuang's green team, Spectre and Spear and Shield represented Zhang Yishan's blue team, and Lieutenant Bam and Golden Hoops represented Sa Beining's yellow team.
Throughout the battle, most robots were individually immobilized by Megabyte, with only Spectre being immobilized by Two BBQ instead. However, Megabyte suddenly lost mobility after five minutes elapsed, leaving only Golden Hoops, half of Thunder and Lightning, and a partially mobile Lieutenant Bam active at the end of the battle. The judges declared Lieutenant Bam fully immobile, and then rewarded Thunder and Lightning for the active participation of Thunder, by awarding it the victory, despite protests from celebrities that the immobile Megabyte, or Golden Hoops, should have won.
Winner: Thunder and Lightning
Trivia
- This was the longest episode of the series to date, at over one hour and thirty-eight minutes.
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