Here be spoilers. Don't say I didn't warn you.


Well, I was hoping they'd step it up a notch for the Grand Final, and they certainly did. The House Robots were the most active I've seen them this series, whoever was on the floor flipper controls was very trigger-happy, and the robots showed no sign of letting up against each other at all. A fantastic, clean, electrifying final, possibly one of the best we've ever seen on Robot Wars. I'm gonna try and not summarise my thoughts on the entire series here though, because I have way too many.

First off: Thor was back! As I and many others had predicted, Thor went through by the judges' hand, and they made it count. This final certainly was a war of attrition. So many fights, again and again against each other, I was honestly amazed anyone was still in one piece by the end. The first two, three-team mêlées were interesting, and I really was sad to see Pulsar go out in the first round. Again, it seemed like the same drive problem we saw throughout their heat, and was a real shame to see they hadn't managed to fix it. Commiserations to Ellis (and Rory Mangles who also put major work in). I really hope to see you next time. As a matter of fact, that goes for all the bots in this Grand Final. Shockwave went out on a disappointing note - torn to shreds by Carbide before their obvious attempt to be the next Typhoon 2 and cause major health and safety hazards. :P Quite sad indeed to see so much damage on what seemed to be such a tough little robot before.

Onto the head-to-heads, fantastic performance by all teams. Carbide was looking really strong at this point, destroying robot after robot, including poor Thor, until their battle with TR2. It really seemed like TR2 was going to be disintegrated in the first few seconds, but in one of the most surprising turn of events I've ever seen in Robot Wars, TR2 dominated the fight as Carbide's weapon stopped working. A well-deserved win that showed Carbide weren't unbeatable, and that TR2 is one of the most solidly-built machines in the show. I can only express my deepest condolences for Thor. One of the most tenacious bots in this competition, but sadly chewed up and tossed around constantly by the other competitors. The poor machine simply fell apart in their fight with Apollo, which was such a shame. Commiserations for TR2 simultaneously, as their entry into the finals relied on Thor's victory, or at least survival.

The final, Carbide vs Apollo, was always going to be intriguing. Carbide was always going to be on top until their weapon stopped working, but after that it was anyone's guess. A true gruelling match in which both robots' weapons ceased to function, Shunt got some real damage in with his axe, and one that led to a judge's decision. I thought Carbide might scrape through on damage, but after the disc stopped working, Carbide seemed to have no real pushing capability or defence. Apollo won out in the end. Now I have to say, Apollo were honestly my least favourite competitor. I'm not going to pretend I liked them. Nothing personal to the team, but a generic wedge flipper with a 'boy band' team and little personality, was not who I wanted to win. What's more I felt they had a fairly easy ride in the earlier rounds, having their fight end early due to arena damage and Shockwave's defeat, and Thor dropping to bits in front of them. They took the win fair and square though, so congrats to them. Well played, and they certainly lasted the competition. Worthy winners by all means. Overall a fantastic Grand Final, one that I'll certainly watch again when my DVD arrives. Here's to Series 2!