- —Tagline
Skyrim VS Dark Souls is the 173rd episode of Death Battle, featuring the Chosen Undead from the Dark Souls series and the Last Dragonborn from the The Elder Scrolls series in a battle between dark fantasy RPG legends. The Chosen Undead was voiced by Liam Swan.
Interlude
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Wiz & Boomstick by Brandon Yates  
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Wiz: The Chosen Undead, the accursed god-killer from Dark Souls.
Boomstick: The Last Dragonborn, the dragon-slaying savior of Skyrim.
Wiz: Resigned to captivity, these two demi-human heroes embraced their destinies and stared down the very gods themselves.
Boomstick: And devoured their frickin' souls!
Wiz: Because these two lack specific canon arsenals and movesets due to being role-playing protagonists, for this Death Battle, we're giving them everything they have and maxing out all of their stats.
Boomstick: Which is totally possible in-game if you're willin' to grind.
We cut to Wiz and Boomstick.
Boomstick: He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.
Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.
Chosen Undead
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Dusty Road by Bradley James Farmer 
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Wiz: Our story begins... at the end. The great cities of old have collapsed, the heroes are dead or mad, and the Golden Age... is over. Looking out upon their decaying kingdom, everyone would like nothing more than to lay down and die.
Boomstick: Too bad for them, that's the one thing they couldn't do.
Wiz: The world has been gripped by the Undead curse, turning anyone with a mysterious Darksign into mindless, violent Hollows upon repeated soul-crushing deaths.
Boomstick: But there is a prophecy... of a Chosen Undead who will journey to Lordran — the home of the Gods — and save the world.
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Wiz: Rotting away in an asylum, all it took was an assist from an unlucky knight and a giant raven before one unlikely hero was ready to claw their way through their progenitor's forgotten homeland.
Boomstick: And it helps that as long as they can keep their sense of purpose, an Undead will always resurrect at the nearest bonfire. Now, they might slowly lose their memories, their personality, and their sanity, but the curse gives them as much time as they need to git gud.
Wiz: Undead are unnaturally resilient, able to survive being impaled through the chest. They've been chewed, eaten, and digested by what I can only describe as a toilet demon... and they can have their souls torn from their very body, 'cause Undead humans don't need their souls to survive.
Boomstick: Just pop some of that spicy SunnyD and they're good to go! If anything, it... seems like they get off to it...
The Chosen Undead is heard making the infamous damage grunt moan upon being struck by dragon fire.
Boomstick: And speakin' of souls, they can absorb the souls of their fallen enemies to increase their power.
Wiz: They're a master with swords, hammers, spears, axes, bows, you name it, and that's without any formal training. With the right stats and setup, they can be anything from a cartwheeling assassin to a dragon-smashing tank...
Boomstick: To the giant-est of dads! And despite the serious gothic themes of the series, these weapons can get anime as hell! Smough's Great Hammer is a ginormous mallet the size of a sedan!
Wiz: Based on it's size and likely bronze composition, it'd have to weigh over a hundred tons, a lot like Gough's Greatbow, which can shoot pillar-sized arrows and one-shot dragons out of the sky.
Boomstick: Or my favorite, the Moonlight Greatsword! Produced from the ass of the albino dragon and founder of sorcery, Seath the Scaleless! This baby's a universe-hoppin' anomaly that can fire powerful sword beams and just... aw, it just looks so cool!
Wiz: The Chosen Undead has learned magic from the greatest practitioners in the world. They can create shockwaves, form defensive barriers, reflect damage, throw balls of flame, control minds, fire magical crystal spears, turn invisible, and toss bolts of sunlight strong enough to peel the stone scales off immortal dragons.
Boomstick: Though their pool of magic is pretty limited, so if it comes down to it, they can shut off all magic in the vicinity with the miracle, Vow of Silence.
Wiz: Preventing anyone from speaking any spells aloud, including themselves. With this incredible arsenal — and judicious attention paid to the stamina bar — the Chosen Undead was rolling their way to victory.
Boomstick: A roll so powerful, it bends the laws of space, and warps them through attacks like they weren't even there! Though sometimes, it doesn't work and it's bulls**t!
Wiz: That's... just a game mechanic, but great to use when you're panicking.
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Stellarum Nocte by Jody Jenkins
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Boomstick: They've defeated Nito, the God of Death, the Bed of Chaos, the mother of all demonkind, and Kalameet, the strongest surviving ancient dragon.
Wiz: That was when the Chosen Undead was dragged back in time to face the fallen knight Artorias, the greatest warrior in history, and not only defeat him, but accomplish the greatest feat attributed to Artorias' legend: the destruction of Manus, the father of the Abyss that threatened to consume the world.
Boomstick: They've even beaten other Chosen Undead from alternate worlds, like the best buddy in all gaming, Solaire! Praise the sun, bro!
We cut to Boomstick.
Boomstick: And soon, they were approached by these two slithery freaks. One said to "link the fire", and the other said to "let it die out", which... totally makes sense! Wiz can explain it.
Wiz: Don't look at me, Dark Souls lore is as notoriously convoluted as the flow of its time stream, which is why we have a true expert in the realms of nerddom to explain it for us. Oh, Jocelyn?
He pulls out a remote and presses its button, switching the lab's monitor display to that of Jocelyn's office, who is facing the camera and clearly showing irritation.
Jocelyn: (sighs) You wouldn't believe how many item descriptions, forum posts, and moody 2013 lore videos I had to watch through for this!
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We cut back to the analysis.
Jocelyn: It's story time, kids. In the beginning, the world was unformed and static. Then suddenly, the First Flame burst to life! And with it, the concepts of heat and cold, life and death, energy and time, light and dark.
Wiz: Sounds like a mythological Big Bang.
Jocelyn: The Gods were granted immensely powerful souls from the First Flame, but their greatest fear was the soul possessed collectively by the race known as Humanity: the Dark Soul. The sky father Gwyn feared Humanity's immortality, and so sealed their Dark Souls within them. But as Humanity reproduced, the Dark Soul collectively grew and the First Flame waned. Turns out, humans were naturally undying, or according to the Gods' propaganda, Undead.
Boomstick: Gasp. It's all a conspiracy... The Undead curse was a lie!
Jocelyn: Linking the fire means using your very soul as fuel to keep the First Flame burning. If an Undead Champion believes their immortality is a curse, they'll do anything to prevent it, including burning fragments of the Dark Soul to keep the Age of the Gods going!
Wiz: So, you're a pawn in a game played by decrepit Gods desperately clinging to power... Well, that's a huge bummer.
Jocelyn: They might look like a depressed California Raisin, but in order to link the flame, their soul needs to be strong enough to maintain the whole universe and the flow of time for another thousand years.
Wiz: Other similarly powerful Undead across time are swift enough to dodge lightning and even light itself. Based on their dodge compared to this beam and the time it took to reach them, they'd be reacting and moving at over 20% the speed of light.
Jocelyn: At the end of their quest, they faced down and defeated Gwyn, the Lord of Cinder, long hollowed from linking the flame a thousand years ago. So, which will you choose: Link the fire and prolong the current age, or let it fade until only dark remains?
Wiz: This is the biggest bummer of them all. Truth is, it never mattered. The cycle just continues age after age with new heroes replacing the old ones until the Chosen Undead was long forgotten.
Jocelyn: Until the infinite march of time ground the world to ash. It was never about the happy ending. It didn't exist. It was about the struggle to get there. That's ultimately what gives us meaning.
Last Dragonborn
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Flat Circles by Jordan Gagne
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Boomstick: Hey, you. You're finally awake. Welcome to the frosty Viking paradise of Skyrim! Visit the quaint Nordic villages, hike up to the Throat of the World, marvel at the beauty of Blackreach. Hey, what's that in the sky? Why, it's... Macho Man Randy Savage! No, it's Thomas the Tank Engine!
The music abruptly comes to a needle-scratching halt.
Wiz: No... That is a dragon...
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Flying Leptons 2 by Jody Jenkins
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Wiz: But not just any mere drake. This is Alduin, the World Eater, and he's come to burn everything to a cinder.
Boomstick: But, fortunately for you, his path of destruction happened to interrupt your impending execution at the hands of those uppity Imperial pigs. That'll be the worst mistake this scaly monster would ever make.
Wiz: It wouldn't be long before you escaped the destruction of Helgen and defeated a dragon yourself.
Boomstick: Then absorbed its freakin' soul!
Wiz: That could only mean one thing: You are a being born with the blood and soul of a dragon in the body of a Nord — or Elf or Khajiit or lizard dude — destined to battle Alduin and save the world.
Boomstick: In their tongue, you are the Dovahkiin, Dragonborn!
Wiz: In their quest to rid Tamriel of Alduin's dragon army, the Dragonborn became a jack-of-all-trades, master of...
The music stops abruptly as Wiz sees a man turn into a mudcrab on-screen.
Wiz: ...all!
Boomstick: They learned to be a master assassin with the Dark Brotherhood, a master sorcerer with the College of Winterhold, a master thief with the Nightingales, a master dragon hunter with the Blades, and a master good boy, who's a good boy, that's a good boy!
Wiz: They even fought in the Skyrim Civil War, on the side of the Imperial Legion, Champions of Order.
Boomstick: You mean the Nordic war for independence on the side of the Stormcloaks.
Wiz: (scoffs) Those elf-funded Nord supremacists?
Boomstick: Better than those jack-booted Cyrodiil fascists! But what else could I expect from a monster who steals from innocent villagers by sticking BUCKETS over their heads?
Wiz: They can put their skills to good use with an absolute glut of weaponry. Not just the usuals like daggers, swords, hammers, and axes, but also special weapons given to them by the Daedric Princes.
Boomstick: They're basically crazy-powerful gods from the plane of existence called Oblivion. From that wascally wabbit, Sheogorath, the Dragonborn received the Wabbajack, a staff that casts a completely random spell on its target; from disintegrating them, to healing them, to turning 'em into a chicken!
Wiz: From Meridia, they received the Dawnbreaker, a holy sword made for burning the undead to ash. That's similar to Auriel's Bow, which can shoot fiery arrows that can blot out the sun. To cover the distance between the Earth and the Sun in about two seconds, the arrow would have to be moving at over 250 times the speed of light.
Boomstick: Except this isn't Earth and the Sun. This is the planet Nirn and that's Magnus. According to the Elder Scrolls loremaster Michael Kirkbride and his in-universe text cosmology, when you look up at the "Sun", you're actually looking into a dimension of pure magic. Confused yet? I am.
Wiz: Exact measurements here are difficult to make, but if anything, the distance should be much greater.
Boomstick: Speakin' of magic bullshit, the Dragonborn can heal themselves, cast Wards and destructive elemental spells, control minds, conjure weapons, and summon lesser Daedra to help them out in a scrap.
Wiz: They're an especially powerful mage because their mana recovers itself automatically over time; they'll never truly run out of firepower.
We cut to Wiz.
Wiz: But as a Dovahkiin, the ability they're most famous for is the Thu'um, or Shout. By speaking the words of the Dragon Language, they can manifest their will into reality.
Boomstick: Like with the classic (echoing) Fus Ro Dah! An Unrelenting Force which can knock your neighbors into next week. Or Soul Tear, which removes the soul from your enemy's body and stores it in a cute gem. Like so.
He pulls out Azura's Star and inhales before shouting at Wiz.
Boomstick: Rii Vaaz Zol!
A pink energy erupts from Boomstick's mouth and passes through Wiz, but nothing happens. This confuses Boomstick briefly before he realizes what happened and passes the star to Wiz, visibly disturbed.
Boomstick: Wait... why didn't anything...? Oh. Ohhhhhh.
Wiz: Student loans, man. Something had to cover the down payment.
We cut back to the analysis.
Wiz: With these Shouts, the Dragonborn can summon country-spanning storms, slow down time, and even call upon a dragon for help: Odahviing. Dragons may look like scaly reptiles, but in reality, they're immortal demigods older than time itself. They're the children of the chief God of Tamriel's pantheon.
Boomstick: The Dragonborn is an unstoppable force of nature. If they happen to take any damage, they can just drink a potion or nosh on a cheese wheel and be good as new. And, they can carry up to 150 CHEESES AT ONCE! My dream!
Wiz: Assuming these... abnormally large cheese wheels have an average weight of 70 pounds, we can determine that the Dragonborn can carry up to 10,500 pounds of cheese.
Boomstick: And that makes sense considering they can match muscles with giants, who are so strong they can shatter the game's spaghetti code to pieces!
Wiz: The Last Dragonborn has battled the Vampire Lord Harkon, ended Skyrim's Civil War, and defeated the First Dragonborn, Miraak.
Boomstick: And according to the book The Guardian and the Traitor, Miraak was powerful enough to tear apart the island of Solstheim from Skyrim's mainland.
Wiz: By comparing the size of various countries on Tamriel's map, we can determine that Solstheim is a landmass nearly 1,500 miles in diameter. In order to move that much land over the course of their fight, Miraak's magical prowess must have outputted energy over 300 teratons of TNT.
Boomstick: That's three times the impact of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs!
Wiz: Not too crazy when Shouts can get strong enough to shake the world itself.
Boomstick: It wasn't long before the Dragonborn confronted Alduin in Nord Heaven, and put an end to the World Eater once and for all.
Wiz: The epithet is literal. By absorbing the souls in Skyrim's afterlife, Alduin was powerful enough to devour everything. Not just the planet of Nirn, but the Kalpa, the entire timeline, past, present, and future.
Boomstick: That's the level of unimaginable power the Dragonborn is dealin' with here.
Wiz: Tamriel is no stranger to great heroes across its vast sprawling history; the Nerevarine, the Hero of Kevatch, all magnificent in their own right.
Boomstick: But, when you heard that Shout echo through the mountains, and the death throes of a dragon defeated, you knew it could only be... the Dovahkiin! ♫Dovahkiin, Dovahkiin!♫
Boomstick briefly fails to imitate the rest of the dragon language sung in the Last Dragonborn's song as the Death Battle transition card closes over.
Prelude
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set. We've run the data through all possibilities.
Boomstick: IT'S TIME FOR A DEATH BATTLEEE!!!
Death Battle
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The scene opens with the Last Dragonborn, wearing studded iron armor and armed with a steel sword and banded iron shield, wandering into the decrepit wasteland that is the Kiln of the First Flame. A voice of the past is heard making a request to the Dovahkiin...
Darkstalker Kaathe: Go, and stop this fool who would let the flame burn the Age of Humans to ashes!
As they arrive, they see the Chosen Undead, bearing Astoran Knight armor, ready to link the First Flame. The Undead stops and turns their head, noticing the Dragonborn in the reflection of their helmet. Meanwhile, another voice is heard speaking to them...
Kingseeker Frampt: The Agents of Dark will do anything to snuff out the light! Save us, Chosen Undead!
Ready to defend the First Flame with their many undying lives, the Chosen Undead draws their sword and turns to the Dovahkiin. The Last Dragonborn begins the battle with their signature shout.
Dragonborn: Fus Ro Dah!
The Undead is quick to react, blocking the full shockwave of Unrelenting Force with their crest shield. The Dovahkiin jumps forward into the smoke and clashes blade and shield with the Undead, which ends with the latter parrying the Dragonborn's last blow and sending them away with a solid slash to the gullet.
The Last Dragonborn quickly runs back to begin another assault, though the Undead casually rolls away from their many attacks numerous times, eventually exhausting the frustrated Dragonborn.
With the Dragonborn now confused at the Undead's tactics, the Undead takes the opportunity to take out Smough's Great Hammer to unleash a devastating blow. The Dovahkiin notices in time and though they are able to block the massive mallet, the Dragonborn is sent flying across the Kiln.
Impaling their sword on the ground to slide to a halt, the Dragonborn pulls out Auriel's Bow and fires arrows at the Undead, who blocks one with their hammer and avoids another aimed for their head, but unfortunately takes an arrow to the knee, which they remove in moaning pain.
The Dovahkiin is surprised their opponent remains standing as they pull out Gough's Greatbow to shoot a greatarrow at them. Just before it reaches their face however, the Dragonborn shouts...
Dragonborn: Tiid Klo Ul!
Time slows to a near halt as the Dragonborn draws their sword to quickly sprint towards and impale the Undead in the chest. As time returns to its normal pace, the Dovahkiin immediately takes advantage with their next Thu'um.
Dragonborn: Rii Vaaz Zol!
Having been struck by Soul Tear point blank, the Chosen Undead's soul is torn from their body and trapped in Azura's Star that the Dragonborn holds out. The Undead's body falls on the ground before fading, and the Dragonborn turns to immediately see them revitalized at the First Flame's bonfire, sorcerer staff in hand.
Undeterred, the Dragonborn shoots flames from their hand, which the Undead blocks with their shield before shooting a Soul Arrow that makes contact with the Dragonborn's chest and stunning them. Sprinting forward, the Undead unleashes a deadly combo of sword and shield to knock the Dragonborn to the ground, who makes a call for help.
Dragonborn: Od Ah Viing!
Staggered by the shout, the Chosen Undead then feels the ground shaking from behind them. Turning around, they see the ferocious Odahviing roaring his fire breath at them. Though the Undead blocks the breath, it is too much to handle and they are incinerated to ashes.
Knowing now that their opponent will be back shortly, the Dragonborn takes the opportunity to heal themselves as Odahviing roars in victory, only to receive a greatarrow through the snout, putting him out of commission. The Undead tosses aside Gough's Greatbow and turns to see their foe fully healed before using their next shout.
Dragonborn: Strun Bah Qo!
Calling in a massive horizon-spanning storm, blue electricity begins to channel through the Last Dragonborn's left arm. The Chosen Undead charges towards them and catches two yellow lightning bolts from the storm with their hands that they use as makeshift lightning stakes before jumping at the Dragonborn, who lashes at them with a punch. The result of both attacks is a massive explosion of electricity that annihilates the kiln's outer colossal structure.
Recovering in the ashen ruins, the Chosen Undead notices the Moonlight Greatsword next to them, and takes it up before striking a stance. The Last Dragonborn finds Dawnbreaker within the dissipating smoke and brandishes it. The two legendary warriors facing one another sprint onwards for a climactic swordfight of the ages.
After a few clashes between blades of moon and dawn, the Undead forces the Dovahkiin back a distance before slashing out magic crescent projectiles at them. The Dragonborn cuts down three of them, but is pushed back by a fourth crescent wave. Having enough of it, the Dragonborn prepares to use their signature shout again.
Dragonborn: Fus...
Realizing what they're doing, the Chosen Undead quickly pulls out a talisman and casts Vow of Silence, causing the surrounding ambience to muffle.
Dragonborn: Ro (completely muffled) Dah!
As even the music gets drowned out in silence, the Dovahkiin holds their throat in shock over their failed use of the Thu'um before noticing the Undead leaping at them. They deflect two blows of their opponent's magical greatsword and dodge to the side to avoid a downward slash before impaling the Undead in the chest.
Despite dropping their weapon from agony, the Undead refuses to give up. Ever so persistent in their mission, they pull the Dawnbreaker deeper into their chest to reach and choke the Dragonborn's neck, uttering a chilling sentence to their heroic adversary as they burn from Dawnbreaker's effects.
Chosen Undead: Prepare to die!
Realizing from their voice that the effects of Vow of Silence have worn off, the Dragonborn grabs the Undead's arm with their hand to pull it off their throat before using a weaker version of their previously failed Thu'um.
Dragonborn: Fus!
With the Undead stunned, the Dragonborn thrusts Dawnbreaker into their neck as the Undead desperately tries to push them away, but this is to no avail as the Dovahkiin pulls it out with a strong slash that incapacitates them. Though down for the count, the fading Undead hears the Kingseeker's desperate words.
Kingseeker Frampt: Save this world, chosen warrior! Link the fire!!
Knowing they cannot win the fight, the Undead does as Frampt commands and links the First Flame, sacrificing their body and soul to form a hurricane of flame that fills up the kiln and begins overwhelming the Dragonborn. Taking in one last breath of air beforehand, the Dovahkiin uses one more shout that echoes throughout the kiln.
Dragonborn: Fus... Ro Dah!!!
The Unrelenting Force blows away all that burns and puts out the First Flame, extinguishing the bonfire and thus putting the Chosen Undead down for good. Overtaxed from the fight of their life, the Dragonborn falls down on their back as Kaathe is heard voicing his approval over their successful quest.
Darkstalker Kaathe: Let true Dark be cast upon the world. Our Lord hath returned'st...
Exhausted, the Dragonborn, now the new Lord of Dark, closes their eyes in peace as the abyssal dark consumes all that is light, with the Darkstalker letting out a chilling, echoing laugh that fades out.
Results
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YOU DIED
Ringmaster: You died!
Boomstick: Oh my God, this boss is BULLS**T!
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Wiz: This debate was fascinating. The Dragonborn had a wider variety of training, better access to summons, and magic that passively regenerated, as opposed to the Chosen Undead's limited pool of magic.
Boomstick: Vow of Silence was a slick counter to the Dragonborn's magic and Shouts, buuut it wouldn't last forever.
Wiz: The Dragonborn was significantly faster, too. The Chosen Undead could dodge beams of light, sure, but Auriel's Bow could fire arrows that move at least 250 times that.
Boomstick: But none of that mattered if the Chosen Undead couldn't stay dead.
Wiz: You'd think the Dragonborn's anti-undead weaponry like Dawnbreaker would be an easy solution, but the Undead of Dark Souls aren't really the same as Draugr from Skyrim.
Boomstick: Skyrim undead are more like those classic reanimated skeletons, but remember the conspiracy: Humans in Dark Souls are naturally immortal; they're not actually undead.
Wiz: Soul Tear wouldn't have been much use either, considering humans in Dark Souls can have their souls removed without dying.
Boomstick: So, why didn't the Chosen Undead just keep comin' back until they eventually won, like with any Dark Souls boss?
Wiz: One word: power. The Dragonborn had way more and greater feats of raw power than the Chosen Undead.
Boomstick: Ho-ho, yeah, like summoning country-spanning storms with a single Shout, or defeating Miraak who split a continent!
Wiz: There's also the lore. Both characters are essentially mythological demigods in the same kind of vein as Hercules or Sun Wukong. Gameplay alone won't give you the best idea of their full power as characters.
Boomstick: So let's get an idea of their max potential from... the lore!
Wiz: The Chosen Undead sustaining the First Flame with their soul was insanely impressive, considering the First Flame is responsible for the core concepts of the universe, like energy and time; it's not a stretch to say it affects not just the planet they live on, but the whole universe.
Boomstick: But, that's nothing compared to the power levels in The Elder Scrolls.
Wiz: Let's compare the First Flame to Alduin. Both literally run on the power of souls, and both can be directly scaled to our combatants.
Boomstick: Alduin had strength to consume the universe! Not just Nirn, but the Kalpa as well!
Wiz: You know those planets you see in the sky? According to cosmology, those are actually separate infinitely big planes of reality. Alduin was going to eat infinity. Multiple infinities!
Boomstick: In comparison, the First Flame is powerful enough to sustain a universe and the flow of time, but it can't be infinite. Otherwise, it never would have faded to begin with.
Wiz: And that meant the Chosen Undead just wasn't powerful enough no matter how many times they revived. With that much of a difference in power, the Chosen Undead would eventually lose their will to fight and go Hollow. It's not traditional, but it is a form of "death" in Dark Souls.
We cut to Wiz and Boomstick.
Wiz: The Chosen Undead was surely tenacity personified, but still wasn't enough to stand up to the Dragonborn's incredible skill, broken arsenal, and overwhelming power.
Boomstick: The Chosen Undead could only last soul long before they flamed out.
We cut to the "Winner" card.
Wiz: The winner is the Dragonborn.
Comparison
Chosen Undead
- + Greater survivability
- + Resurrects upon death...
- - ...but will eventually go Hollow
- - Too slow and weak to win
- - More limited arsenal
Last Dragonborn
- + Far more powerful
- + Much faster
- + Regenerating mana
- + Greater variety
- - Can only die once
Original Track
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Composition
The track for this fight is “Fireborn” by Brandon Yates feat. The Death Battle Fan Choir, with mixing and mastering done by Anthony DiGiacomo. It is a medieval orchestral track reminiscent to that of the music heard within the dark fantasy settings of both Dark Souls and The Elder Scrolls. The orchestral choir group that chants and sings the vocals in the track consists of Death Battle fans and community members who were hired by Brandon for this track via an open call he made three months prior to the episode's release.[1] Brandon would also later release an acapella version of the track on his YouTube channel.
Title
The title references the bonfires commonly seen throughout the Dark Souls series (as well as the First Flame) and the Last Dragonborn's name.
Cover Arts
The original cover art done by John Mitchell depicts a bonfire with flames forming the Seal of Akatosh, which is also the Skyrim logo, with the silhouette of Solaire of Astora praising the Sun featured in the center of it. The bonfire is surrounded by bones, including a dragon skull, and also has a rusted Firelink Greatsword stuck in it.
The cover art of the acapella version done by AwesomeEthan48, Bee, DekHead, and Iuminous_shadow depicts a bonfire between the jaws of a dragon's skeleton with Astora's Great Sword stuck in it and the helmets of the Chosen Undead and the Last Dragonborn resting in front of it. The silhouettes of said helmets can also be seen formed in the flames of the bonfire. The background is that of a snowy landscape (similar to those found in Skyrim) with the Darksign above in the sky, the Seal of Akatosh in the center of it. The title is done in a similar style to that of the Skyrim logo (albeit with a yellow-orange glow as a nod to Dark Souls' association with fire), while the style of the artist credits below pays homage to the "YOU DIED" death screens seen in Dark Souls.
The cover art of the remastered version done by Iuminous_shadow (which was created for the track's remaster following Rooster Teeth's shutdown) depicts a bonfire with the Moonlight Greatsword stuck in it on a cliff overlooking Anor Londo as three dragons fly overhead. The Darksign, Masser, and Secunda can also be seen in the sky.
Lyrics
[NOTE: Singers are emphasized by the below typographies.] |
Trivia
Production
- The core connections between the Chosen Undead and the Last Dragonborn are that they are both silent, nameless, and customizable protagonists of critically acclaimed and widely influential 2011 fantasy RPG games, which received numerous re-releases and remasters due to their popularity. Both were prisoners at the beginning of their stories before being set free by random chance (the Chosen Undead was freed from the Northern Undead Asylum by Oscar of Astora, while the Last Dragonborn was inadvertently saved from execution at Helgen by Alduin), which set them on journeys as unlikely heroes to fulfill a destined prophecy and save the world from an extremely ancient and powerful godlike being (the Chosen Undead would fight the Hollow Gwyn and take his place as a Lord of Cinder to prolong the Age of Fire, while the Last Dragonborn would slay Alduin and save Nirn). In addition:
- Both have a similar variety of weapons and magic and are known for devouring souls and using them to become stronger (the Chosen Undead absorbs souls of any type and uses them as a resource for various major in-game functions such as leveling up, purchasing items, and enhancing equipment, while the Last Dragonborn consumes Dragon Souls, which lets them learn Dragon Shouts, and can use other souls to enchant their equipment).
- While both can wear a variety of different armor sets, they are best known for wearing iconic suits of armor that are used in their games' advertisements (the Elite Knight Set and the Iron Armor, respectively).
- Both can transform into various monster forms (a dragon form for the Chosen Undead, and both a Vampire Lord or werewolf form for the Last Dragonborn).
- Both of the godlike beings they defeated have destroyed and remade the world (Gwyn ended the Age of Ancients and began the Age of Fire after defeating the Everlasting Dragons during the Dragon War, while Alduin initiated a time period known as the Kalpa which led to the creation of Nirn according to Nordic myth), used a powerful cult to work their will in the world (The Way of White and The Dragon Cult, respectively), and worked with a close relative (Gwyn's uncle Allfather Lloyd was the head of the Way of White, and Alduin's lieutenant was his younger brother Paarthurnax).
- This episode was announced at MAGFest 2023[2], where it was revealed that this is the first matchup that writer Liam Swan has ever wanted to do since he was a fan of Death Battle in high school.[3]
- True to the customary nature of the combatants, multiple clips from various YouTubers utilizing different builds and gameplays in both the Dark Souls games and Skyrim are used throughout the episode.
- After Boomstick's exaggerated comment about goat cheese wheels in the Last Dragonborn's analysis, the scene cuts to a clip of Breezehome infested with said cheeses and Vilkas surrounded by them. However, one can look to the bottom of the screen and notice a split-frame second of the word "Sup." edited in. It's likely some clips had visual edits of their own which hadn't been properly cut out before the episode's release.
- This is the first episode where pop-up boxes are not relegated to just the top right corner, with the next two being Killua VS Misaka and Stitch VS Rocket Raccoon.
- At the beginning of the season, a teaser trailer was released that included a Gravity Falls-inspired zodiac wheel with 16 symbols on it, each representing and hinting toward an episode in the season. After the release of the Season Finale, the Death Battle YouTube channel began revealing the answers to the zodiac wheel by posting the answers in pinned comments under the symbols' respective episodes. This episode was revealed to be represented by the siddachakra/lotus symbol.[4] This is because the siddhachakra (which was the symbol the episode was originally represented with on the original zodiac wheel before it got updated to a lotus on Discordant Decipher's track cover) and lotus are symbolic of freedom from a cycle and rebirth, which fits both combatants; the Chosen Undead can choose to break the cycle of the Age of Fire by bringing the Age of Dark and is quite literally reborn again and again due to their undying nature, while the Last Dragonborn was a prisoner who gained freedom by escaping their execution and was destined to free Tamriel from the clutches of Alduin after he returned from his previous defeat.
Easter Eggs
- Boomstick directly references many common tropes and memes within Dark Souls and Skyrim in the combatants' analyses.
- He mentions the "Git Gud" meme to reference the absurd difficulty of Dark Souls that a player must adapt to.
- He calls the Estus Flask "SunnyD", referencing a popular joke name for it amongst the Dark Souls community due to its yellow-orange color.
- He mentions that the Undead can be the "giant-est of dads", referencing a popular build commonly used by griefers in the Dark Souls PvP scene.
- He states that the Moonlight Greatsword is a "universe-hoppin' anomaly", referencing how the weapon is the staple icon of From Software and how it has appeared in all of their games.
- He makes a joke about how the roll warps the Chosen Undead through attacks as if they weren't there, referring to the invincibility frames the action grants the Chosen Undead.
- He begins the Dragonborn's analysis with the popular "You're finally awake" meme.
- This meme is also referenced in the Dragonborn's analysis preview title, "The Dragonborn is Finally Awake in DEATH BATTLE! (Skyrim)".
- He makes reference to the infamous Macho Dragons and Really Useful Dragons Skyrim mods that replace the dragons with Randy Savage and Thomas the Tank Engine, respectively.
- A couple of days after the episode's release, Billy B Burson III posted a video on Twitter that showcases Thomas replacing Odahviing in most of his scenes in reference to the latter mod.
- He introduces the Dragonborn in the same manner as Esbern did in the first Skyrim trailer.
- He mentions how the Dragonborn places buckets over the heads of innocent villagers, a tactic commonly used by players to block an NPC's sight to steal items in front of them without risking bounties.
- His over-the-top statements over how the Dragonborn carries cheese wheels refers to the many jokes the Skyrim community makes about the food item.
- He briefly makes an attempt to sing the Last Dragonborn's song at the end of their analysis.
- Right as the fight starts, one can hear the sound that plays when a Dark Souls player enters a new area, which occurs when the Last Dragonborn enters the Kiln of the First Flame, where the fight takes place.
- According to a review video by Death Battle YouTuber GalacticAttorney, the fight's setup and plot is based on official cut content from Dark Souls, in which Oscar of Astora survived until the end of the game and took the opposite path the Chosen Undead did for either the Age of Fire or Dark endings, a similar role in which the Last Dragonborn takes up.
- The shot of the Dragonborn's reflection on the Chosen Undead's helmet when they first lock eyes with them at the beginning of the fight is a reference to the European box art for Dark Souls.
- The way the camera zooms into the Dragonborn's face as they use Unrelenting Force is a nod to the iconic moment of their use of the Shout in the first Skyrim trailer.
- The scene of the Chosen Undead rolling away from the Dragonborn's attacks as they stiffly chase them around not only references the basic combat gimmick of rolling in Dark Souls, but the stiff animated movements Skyrim characters make as they move and swing their weapons.
- The Chosen Undead gets shot in the knee when trying to block and dodge arrows from Auriel's Bow, referencing the popular Skyrim guard line of "I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee," which has been heavily memed upon.
- The Chosen Undead noticing the Moonlight Greatsword and the stance they take when equipping it is a reference to the cutscene that takes place in between the first and second phases of Ludwig's boss fight in Bloodborne, one of the many games of FromSoftware that features the weapon.
- The storyboards by John Mitchell reveal that Ludwig's "Aah, you were at my side all along." line that he says upon seeing the Moonlight Greatsword in the cutscene was supposed to be said when the Chosen Undead puts the sword close to their face, though it was scrapped in the final episode.
- The close-up shot of the Chosen Undead with the sword obstructing half their face is also similar to this piece of official artwork for them, which is even used for the episode's thumbnail.
- The Chosen Undead's line of "Prepare to die!" towards the Dragonborn is a verbatim reference to the tagline of the first Dark Souls game, as well as its Prepare to Die Edition.
- Darkstalker Kaathe's final line of "Let true Dark be cast upon the world. Our Lord hath returned'st..." upon the Dragonborn's victory comes directly from Dark Souls' Age of Dark ending.
- After the KO! screen is shown, the classic Dark Souls staple of the "YOU DIED" death screen appears afterward, with Ringmaster also shouting it.
- Boomstick afterward is also heard ranting of how "this boss is BULLS**T" over the results, referencing the absurd difficulty of Dark Souls bosses and how rage-inducing they are to many players.
Errors
- Despite being revealed and teased as Dark Souls VS Skyrim, the Rooster Teeth and YouTube versions of the episode are titled Skyrim VS Dark Souls instead, likely for SEO reasons. However, this results in the Dragonborn (and thus Skyrim) not matching their respective side of the thumbnail or the order they get introduced and analyzed despite being the top-billed character and franchise (as the Chosen Undead is the first one introduced in the interlude and their analysis is the first one shown).
- This makes it the second episode where this has happened, after Boba Fett VS Samus Aran (2015).
- When Wiz explains the Dragonborn's shouts in their cutaway gag, the footage on the Death Battle lab monitor isn't properly skewed to fit, leaving an empty black space in the bottom-left corner.
- When landing a strike on the Dragonborn after their first parry in the fight, part of the Chosen Undead's upper right arm is strangely shrunken to a skinnier diminutive state.
- The Chosen Undead's hands aren't properly holding onto Smough's Great Hammer as they swing it behind them and prepare to hit the Dragonborn with it, though they are properly holding onto the weapon before and after the swing.
- When the Dragonborn first pulls out Auriel's Bow, the weapon is missing its textures, though they appear in the next shot that features the bow.
- Also, the arrows it shoots are stated to deal sun damage in Skyrim, but the Chosen Undead is not set aflame when they take the arrow to the knee.
- Clips, images, and footage of the fight aren't desaturated in the post-analysis.
- Additionally, clips outside of the fight are not within the border for the results, with the post-analysis switching between fight footage that has it and game footage that doesn't repeatedly.
- Wiz erroneously refers to the moons Masser and Secunda as planets in the post-analysis.
- Jocelyn's voice actress, Lisa Foiles, is not credited in the ending credits.
Other
- With the Chosen Undead and Last Dragonborn making their respective debuts on September 9th, 2011 and November 11th, 2011, this matchup has the second-shortest gap between the debut of an episode's combatants that are not in the same series, with a 63-day difference, only behind Cole MacGrath VS Alex Mercer's two-week difference.
- This is the third episode to be named after the combatants' home series rather than the combatants themselves, after Pokémon VS Digimon and Power Rangers VS Voltron, and with the next one being Among Us VS Fall Guys.
- This is the second episode to feature an original track with lyrics in choral orchestra vocalizations, after Sauron VS Lich King.
- This is the third episode in which the track's lyrics play during the post-analysis, after Thor VS Vegeta and Sauron VS Lich King.
- This is the fifth episode whose track includes female singers, after Meta VS Carolina, Gray VS Esdeath, Blake VS Mikasa, and Harley Quinn VS Jinx, and with the next three being Gojo VS Makima, Scooby-Doo VS Courage the Cowardly Dog, and Galactus VS Unicron.
- With the acapella version on Brandon Yates' YouTube channel, this is the first episode to have an alternate version of its original track.
- This is the fifth episode in which one or both combatants die more than once (as the Dragonborn traps the Chosen Undead's soul, followed by Odahviing burning the Chosen Undead to cinders before the Dragonborn finally puts out the First Flame using Unrelenting Force to stop their resurrections after the Chosen Undead links with it), after Hulk VS Broly, Link VS Cloud (2021), Goku Black VS Reverse-Flash, and DIO VS Alucard, and with the next three being Phoenix VS Raven, Gojo VS Makima, and Rick Sanchez VS The Doctor.
- This is the sixth episode in which Boomstick is angered by the outcome of the battle, after Gaara VS Toph, Cable VS Booster Gold, Batman VS Iron Man, Excalibur VS Raiden, and Trunks VS Silver.
- However, this was likely just a comical jab towards the difficulty of Dark Souls bosses and may not have been truly legitimate.
- This episode reached #4 on YouTube's Trending page.
- This is the fourth episode since Balrog VS TJ Combo to feature at least one track from a combatant's source material outside of clips (as the infamous "YOU DIED" theme from the Dark Souls series plays at the beginning of the post-analysis), after Mario VS Sonic (2018), Ben 10 VS Green Lantern, and Weiss VS Mitsuru, and with the next two being Bowser VS Eggman and Among Us VS Fall Guys.
- This is the tenth episode in which only one combatant received a voice actor, after Mario VS Sonic (2011), Luke Skywalker VS Harry Potter, Eggman VS Wily, Hulk VS Doomsday, Lucario VS Renamon, Crash VS Spyro, Blake VS Mikasa, Link VS Cloud (2021), and Boba Fett VS Predator.
- This is the ninth episode to have an original track with a single-word title, after Goku VS Superman 2, Wolverine VS Raiden, Meta VS Carolina, Crash VS Spyro, Captain Marvel VS Shazam, All Might VS Might Guy, Hulk VS Broly, and Saitama VS Popeye, and with the next six being Phoenix VS Raven, Cole MacGrath VS Alex Mercer, Rick Sanchez VS The Doctor, Goku VS Superman (2023), Galactus VS Unicron, and Kratos VS Asura.