Azula vs Esdeath | |
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Season 1, Episode 8 | |
Vital statistics
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Air date | June 8th, 2020 |
Written by | Datamari |
Directed by | Datamari |
Episode guide
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Mr. Incredible vs Red Ranger | Deathstroke vs Daredevil |
Description[]
Nickelodeon vs White Fox! Two powerful opposing element users battle to see which element truly is the deadliest! Who will win, the fire-bending tyrant, or the cold-hearted general of the Empire?
Introduction[]
Bubbles: When it comes to mastering the elements of the Earth beneath you, these two cold-hearted queens have mastered their respective element and use it to strike fear into anyone who dare to oppose them.
Neo: Translation, these chicks are COO-COO!
Koopa: Azula, the electrifying fire-bending warrior princess from Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Bubbles: And Esdeath, the icy imperial general from Akame Ga Kill.
Neo: He’s Koopa, she’s Bubbles, and I’m Neo!
Koopa: And it’s our job to analyze their weapons, armor and skills to find out who would win…
Koopa, Bubbles and Neo: A DEATH BATTLE!!!
Azula[]
Koopa: Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations that represented the elements of the world lived in harmony. But everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked, attempting to conquer the three nations and take the world for themselves.
Bubbles: Only one had the ability to master all four elements, and this warrior was known as the Avatar.
Neo: But who cares? This story isn't about a young air nomad learning the three other elements and saving the world, this story is about the Fire Nation themselves. Originally ruled by Fire Lord Sozin, he was the one that originally started the war, but since this war lasted for over ONE HUNDRED YEARS, it was up to the next generation of fire-benders to finish what he started.
Koopa: And one of those firebenders who proved to be one of the most powerful and cunning of all was Azula.
Bubbles: Born to Lord Ozai and Ursa and younger sister to Prince Zuko, Azula wasted no time becoming a fire-bending prodigy. She mastered over fourteen different arts of fire-bending, quickly surpassing her brother and gaining the respect and recognition from her father and the rest of her nation all at the age of fourteen.
Neo: FOURTEEN?! Okay, I don’t wanna be weird or anything, but I’m not believing that for a second.
Koopa: Well, technically she was 16-17 by the end of Avatar.
Neo: Okay, slightly more believable, but still… and they say anime has characters looking too old or too young for their age.
Koopa: Anyways, Azula is a master fire-bender, capable of using any sort of technique with rare failure. Aside from your standard fire blasts, fire balls and fire fists, she can use it as a shield, use it to propel herself into the air if only a few feet off of the ground, and can even create smoke to use as a cover.
Neo: Also, her fire is blue, way hotter than usual red fire… because that makes sense. But outside of fire-bending, there’s a technique that only the most technically skilled fire-benders can utilize: creating lightning!
Bubbles: Lighting-bending is a rare and difficult technique to master, and Azula uses this in battle like it’s nothing. While it isn’t exactly the most versatile, it’s by far the most deadly power she possesses. Interestingly enough, former Fire General Iroh claims that lightning-bending requires a peaceful state of mind, though Azula couldn’t be further from that state, and yet she uses it so fluently.
Koopa: Azula is a cunning, silver-tongued and downright sadistic monster both on and off the battlefield. While her fire-bending is easily her most powerful tool, she’s also a master of hand-to-hand combat and military tactics. She’s fast and agile, able to swiftly dodge attacks with ease and outsmart her opponents in ways they couldn’t begin to plan for.
Neo: She’s strong enough to destroy chunks of a cliffside, take hits from Aang, Katara, Toph and Zuko all at once, create a massive explosion when colliding her fire with Zuko’s, and broken free from Toph and Katara’s earth and ice-bending abilities respectively. She even successfully killed Aang right as he entered the Avatar State! Damn, talk about getting the job done!
Bubbles: Keep in mind, if an Avatar is killed during the Avatar State, the reincarnation cycle ends, so if it weren’t for Katara reviving him, Azula would’ve single-handedly killed the literal savior of the world.
Koopa: Azula was also the mastermind behind the Fire Nation’s conquering of Ba Sing Se, the capital of the Earth Kingdom, and eventually became the new Fire Lord if only for a short period. Needless to say, Azula is a powerful foe, but not one without any flaws. Her unhinged and cocky attitude can get in the way of achieving victory on occasion, and like other benders, she cannot fire-bend if she cannot move her body.
Neo: Plus, her bending’s massively weakened when under colder temperatures or even disabled entirely in a solar eclipse. And while she did get her comeuppance, powerful and terrifying are two words that best describe this electrifying queen.
Long Feng: You've beaten me at my own game.
Azula: Don't flatter yourself. You were never a player to begin with.
Esdeath[]
Koopa: Born in the Northern Frontier Lands as part of the Partas Clan, young Esdeath spent most of her childhood training under the blade to hunt down Danger Beasts with her father.
Neo: Seriously, “Danger Beasts?” That’s like calling a villain “Bad Man.”
Bubbles: Regardless, Esdeath grew up with the philosophy that: “The strong live and the weak die.” This would especially come up when she came back home one day and find her tribe destroyed and her father mortally wounded. From that day on, Esdeath made a promise to herself that she would become stronger so that she does not end up with the same fate as her father.
Neo: Esdeath would travel south and join the military ranks of the Empire, and while this one doesn’t have edgy boys with black hoodies and red glow sticks for swords, it’s still just as brutal! But Esdeath quickly rose through the ranks and became a General.
Koopa: Becoming a prominent figure in the army, the Prime Minister of the Empire allowed her to choose a Teigu, which can usually take the form of a weapon, but Esdeath chose Demon’s Extract, a Teigu not used by anyone else other than her.
Neo: So… presented with this blood… Esdeath did a totally normal thing that ANYONE would do if presented with blood from a demonic being… she drank it. The whole thing.
Bubbles: Even a single drop of this blood has caused others to go insane beyond mental repair, though Esdeath seemed to be able to weather out the side effects. With the Demon’s Extract coursing throughout her body, Esdeath gained the ability to create ice out of thin air. She can create weapons, shields, essentially fly by holding herself up with ice, create giant meteors, ice storms, the works. She can even create armies of horse-riding knights made out of ice, and create a giant suit to fight, like some sort of ice mech.
Koopa: Though Esdeath implies that she can only create a few at a time, so there’s certainly a limit to her power. However, she also has one ability unlike any other Teigu user out there; Mahapadma.
Neo: Is that Simlish for something?
Koopa: With Mahapadma, she can freeze time temporarily. And I literally mean freeze time. With her ice powers.
Neo: Okay, I want whatever these manga writers were smoking!
Bubbles: Silly logic aside, Esdeath became one of the most feared figures in the Empire army due to her other-worldly power. She’s defeated armies all by herself, freeze a river in just over a second, defeated powerful members of the Night’s Watch and even froze over an entire continent. She’s defeated opponents like Akame who could dodge lightning, Leone who could avoid an explosion just in the nick of time, and Tatsumi, who could defeat Shikoutazer.
Neo: Shiko… taser. What kinda dumb German name is tha- OH MY GOD, HE’S HUGE!
Koopa: Unfortunately, all this immense power was not enough to win Tatsumi’s heart or conquer the world.
Neo: Wait… didn’t she try to kill Tatsumi?
Koopa: Well, yeah, but she was also in love with him. Turns out, she seeked out a mate for herself, and even had a list of qualities in her ideal lover, who just so happened to be Tatsumi.
Neo: Oh come on, look at him! I’m not saying he’s ugly or anything, but he’s at least a 5. See, I would’ve settled down with a nice, fictional-character-smart researcher whose name starts with an N and ends with an O.~
Bubbles: Uh… is she okay?
Neo starts blushing, and her eyes turn to hearts.
Koopa: She’s fine, just let her be.
Bubbles: Well, either way, Esdeath does have her limits. She can only use her Mahapadma once every 24 hours and essentially once per battle, and her bloodlust can leave her unfocused and exhaust her of her powers. Still, while she met her unfortunate fate later on, Esdeath proved herself to be one of the most powerful Teigu users the Empire had ever seen.
Esdeath: The weak are destined to lie beneath the boots of the strong. If that angers you, overcome your deficits.
Interlude[]
Koopa: Alright, the combatants are set, let's end this debate once and for all!
Neo: It's time for a DEATH BATTLE!!!
Pre Fight[]
In the palace grounds of the Fire Nation, a girl could be seen running to the throne room, desperate to deliver news of an ongoing invasion. The girl finally made it to the throne room where a woman with black hair and golden eyes sat on her knees, seemingly deep in thought.
Ty Lee: Azula… sorry to interrupt, but there’s an invasion happening!
Azula looked up from her meditation, somewhat softening up when she discovered it was her lifelong friend Ty Lee and not a lowly soldier.
Azula: Get to safety. I will handle this.
Ty nodded, and began running back to her quarters as Azula stood and began running out of the palace to the scene of the battle. A woman with blue hair and an army of ice horsemen could be seen walking down the streets of the Fire Nation, freezing buildings and blowing away innocent civilians. Azula could be seen jumping across buildings as she landed in the vicinity of Esdeath, the two staring one another down.
Azula: I don’t know what kind of water-bender you are, but I would suggest you leave this place before you regret it.
Esdeath laughed, putting her hands on her hips as she observed the young fire-wielding princess.
Esdeath: And what will you do if I don’t?
Azula huffed, and shot fire past Esdeath as she instantly destroyed and melted the ice cavalry following behind her. Esdeath simply stood there, observing her power. When she finished, Esdeath looked behind her to see that her army was obliterated, snickering.
Esdeath: Well, looks like I’m playing with fire.
Esdeath and Azula stood their grounds, ready to fight.
FIGHT!
Fight[]
Esdeath made the first move, firmly putting her hand on the ground as ice rose from the soil, quickly darting towards Azula. The fire-bender smirked and did a quick step forward before melting all of the ice in front of her before running towards Esdeath to kick her. Esdeath stepped away and pulled out her sword, slashing at Azula as the fire-bender jumped and ducked out of the way, a slice of the blade cutting off part of her hair as she ducked. Azula punched Esdeath with a flaming fist and kicked her away with a fiery kick. Esdeath rolled back and dug her sword into the ground to stop her in her tracks, growling.
Azula fired fire behind her to boost herself towards Esdeath, bringing her foot forward to kick her, but was blocked and hit to the side of a building as Esdeath charged at Azula with an ice shield, crashing through the building as it came crumbling down onto them. Esdeath got up from the rubble and created an ice chamber around them, the remains of the building on top of the chamber. Azula stood up.
Azula: You think you’re so powerful… I’ll show you power!
Azula melted the ice behind her to escape and fired at the ceiling of the chamber, though Esdeath quickly dashed forward towards her and slashed at her, cutting the fabric of her armor and eventually across her stomach. Azula yelled in pain, stepping back and holding her wound. Esdeath went for another sword swing before being cut off by a sudden lightning strike from her opponent. She flew back, holding her shoulder.
Esdeath: You have no right… to feel my blade against your skin!
She floated in the air, using her ice to hoist herself up. Esdeath held her hand up and summoned a giant ice meteor, throwing it at Azula. The fire-bender huffed and did a side-flip, using both hands to fire a fire-blast at the meteor. The ice meteor started to slow down, and eventually blew up in a combination of fire and ice. In the smoke of the explosion, Azula jumped onto a building and jumped to Esdeath, grabbing her and pulling her out of the air by melting her ice. The two fell, with Azula landing on Esdeath and her boot against her face. Azula smirked and grinded her boot on Esdeath’s face.
Azula: You’re pathetic. Claiming to be a queen when you hardly own up to that title.
Esdeath grabbed Azula’s foot and froze it, grabbing her and throwing her against a building. The ice user began to float once more, creating some sort of ice suit around her. Azula looked up from the rubble and saw that her opponent was now in a giant suit of armor. Esdeath lifted a fist up to crush Azula, but she was able to move out of the way in time. She tried again, but Azula dodged, though the movements were getting faster, with Esdeath eventually tagging Azula with a punch. Azula flew upwards, but reversed the momentum by using her fire to fly towards Esdeath as she lit her palm on fire, charging towards her. The ice armor used both arms to block, but a fiery explosion followed once Azula collided with Esdeath’s creation. The two fell back, and once the smoke settled, Azula stood up first. She snickered, seeing her opponent laying before her.
Azula: You know… I enjoyed this little dance, but we’re done here.
Azula began channeling lightning, getting ready for a powerful electric attack. Esdeath stood up slowly, on her knees as she saw her opponent doing some sort of charge. Finally, Azula put a foot forward as electricity flew from her hands to Esdeath, flashing violently. The ice user smirked, and suddenly shouted.
Esdeath: MAHAPADMA!
Suddenly, everything froze. The lightning had barely touched Esdeath’s head, even causing a flinch from her. The woman stood up and walked to Azula, observing her for a moment before pulling out her sword and standing behind her.
Esdeath: Pity. You’d make a fine Jaeger.
Time resumed as normal. Azula couldn’t even see her opponent, but assumed she was taking the full brunt of her lightning attack. Esdeath suddenly put her hand on Azula’s back, her body starting to freeze from her boots to her chest.
Azula: Wh-what?
Azula went to turn around, but her upper body had been encased in ice, only her head showing as she struggled to get out. She tried to use her fire, but her hands were bound by the cold, unforgiving material. Esdeath smiled and faced Azula, watching her face fill with fear.
Esdeath: You’re right, I did enjoy this little dance too. But you were a step off.
In a swift motion, Esdeath sliced through Azula’s neck, causing her head to fall off of her shoulders as it rolled away. Esdeath took a breath and looked at the castle above, walking up the large steps, but not before crushing the headless body encased in ice with a flick of her wrist.
Post Fight[]
K.O!
Neo: God, I wish that was me...
Koopa: Esdeath may have had plenty of obvious advantages such as a much more robust arsenal of ice moves and more combat experience due to being older than Azula, but this fight was far from one-sided. Being a fire-bender, Azula had the elemental advantage going into the battle, and could keep up with most of Esdeath’s ice attacks and leave her fairly vulnerable.
Bubbles: She was even able to match Esdeath’s speed. Recall how Azula was able to keep up with Zuko, who could catch and redirect lightning, and since she was considered to surpass Zuko in a lot of ways, it’s safe to assume she could be far faster, meaning that she could match Esdeath’s experience against the lightning-dodging Akame. All-in-all, there’s certainly versions of this fight where Azula could utilize these advantages and take the victory.
Neo: But you know there’s more to it than just a few specific circumstances. Esdeath had far more impressive feats and had more solid victories over powerful combatants. While killing Aang was no easy feat considering he’s fast enough to run across water, realistically, anyone could kill him considering how wide open even activating Avatar State left him. Esdeath on the other hand covered an entire continent with just the energy of her ice cavalry, and took out tough opponents like most of the Night’s Watch.
Koopa: While she did technically lose to Akame in the end, Azula lost to Katara, who’s a powerful water-bender in her own right, but was nowhere near as powerful as her, and mostly lost due to her unstable nature. Also, there was just no way Azula would be able to counter the Mahapadma, as she does not possess any time-manipulation abilities or any that could inherently stop it.
Bubbles: Plus, Esdeath could always just use her ice storm to turn the handicap on Azula, since her fire-bending becomes weaker in colder temperatures. And thanks to her quick understanding of how bending works, she was able to use Azula’s brashness and restrain her long enough to land the killing blow.
Koopa: In the end, Azula may have had the elemental leg up, and was definitely more willing to try dangerous things in order to win, but Esdeath surpassed her in strength, durability and elemental superiority.
Neo: Looks like Azula had to BEND the knee.
Koopa: The winner is Esdeath.
Next Time on Death Battle![]
Neo: Next time on Death Battle!
???: If you expect to beat me, you’re blind.
???, snickering: Well, do I have a surprise for you.
DAREDEVIL VS DEATHSTROKE!
COMING JUNE 15TH!
Alternate Ending[]
Azula went to turn around, but her upper body had been encased in ice, only her head showing as she struggled to get out. She tried to use her fire, but her hands were bound by the cold, unforgiving material. Esdeath smiled and faced Azula, watching her face fill with fear.
Esdeath: You’re right, I did enjoy this little dance too. But you were a step off.
Before Esdeath could swing her sword, Azula did her best to channel her firebending despite the ice, and bursted into flames as the ice broke, causing Esdeath to fall back. Her hairpiece fell, and her eyes twitched.
Azula: I AM THE TRUE FIRE LORD. I WILL NOT BE HUMILIATED!
Esdeath smirked, and charged up an ice blast. Azula reeled her hand back, and fired a massive blue flame blast as it clashed with Esdeath's. The two struggled with their respective beams, until Azula pushed hers one last time with a roar, suddenly overpowering Esdeath's as nearly half of the village was overtaken with fire. Esdeath evaporated in the flames, now nothing more than a pile of ash once Azula ended her blast.
Azula panted, now realizing that the battle was over as she brushed some hair behind her ears.
Azula: I'll prove my father right.