Robot Wars Series VIII - Week 2 Discussion

[R9000]

Week 2, certainly an interesting set of battles. Fewer true veterans this time, and a couple of brand new (seemingly somewhat untested) robots. As before, spoilers from here on, in case anyone hasn't watched the episode.

I called Disconstructor out as soon as I saw it on the website (sorry guys). I know that may have been presumptuous of me, but it was on the basis of it being a mobile box with a weapon attached, and it turns out I was right. What I didn't expect to see, was Tough as Nails go out so early. I was quietly rooting for the Dutch team, being one of my favourites from Series 7, with some excellent drivers. Personally I think they could've gone a lot further had Shockwave and Thor not ganged up on them, and I certainly did think they had control most of the fight, but that's the way it goes I suppose. In the final, I truly was expecting Thor to beat down the opposition, the axe proving incredibly effective in the previous bout, but Shockwave's sturdier blade proved more useful than the seemingly cobbled-together HDPE one. I was mighty impressed by Shockwave and Thor overall, which is honestly more than I can say for the Foxic team. I was actually rooting for Foxic to begin with. Quite a clever design with a quirky animal paintjob. However that kind of disappeared the more the episode went on. I don't intend to be mean, but I found Team Captain Craig Danby's attitude constantly rude and unsporting, even if it was in jest. Giving up because you lost your first head-to-head and not even trying against your opponent in the next is certainly not my idea of a good competitor. This coupled with Foxic's less-than-stellar performance and sadly ineffective weapon (which seemed to struggle as a lifter, never mind a 'devastating guillotine') had my respect for them evaporate by the last few fights. It's all well and good going after the house robots as a bit of fun, but to do your opponent the dishonour of ignoring them, and even (with Thor) calling them 'cowards', is not how you should behave. Sadly we didn't see much of Draven, I'd certainly love to see that weapon in action again if the team continues in live events or enters the next series. M.R. Speed Squared really impressed me in the first round, doing serious damage to both its opponents and itself, and I really did wonder for a second if we had another Typhoon on our hands. Sadly I think that was the beginning of the end for them, as their apparently very new design was not tried and tested enough to withstand the constant beating from the warzone, and their condition worsened from then on. As for Chimera, I was honestly hoping for better. I did think those wheels would have been sturdier than they were, but they simply couldn't stand up to the initial assault from Speed Squared. That said, I'm no expert, but I don't think their weapon would've been that effective had they had a chance against the others in the head-to-heads. Good episode overall despite the Foxic vs M.R. Speed Squared fight, the finalists were both worthy competitors, and I hope Shockwave does well in the Grand Final.