Boomstick: And King Mickey, His Highness of Disney Castle from Kingdom Hearts.
Wiz: These two have proven time and time again that size matters not.
Boomstick: But let's see which of these tiny titans can swing their way to victory in a one-on-one duel.
The eighth season of Death Battle begins with an absolute whammy, as these two small warriors - long requested and long prohibited - finally make their arrival. Keyblade and magic will clash with lightsaber and Force as a kind king and a wise mentor take the field in this legendary arena; His Majesty and the Jedi Master have fought many opponents on many worlds, but today they fight one another in a death battle.
The tenth-anniversary episode begins a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, with Jedi Master Yoda. Leader of the Jedi Order, this warrior of a yet-unnamed (but yet-adorable) species devoted his life to studying the ways of the Force, and keeping his followers focused on keeping peace in the Galaxy. That's not to say they aren't capable in combat if pushed to it; centuries of Jedi have been incredibly powerful warriors, and centuries more will continue to be so.
Come the dawn of the Galactic Republic, the Jedi Council - Yoda included - chose to involve themselves in the politics of government. Though it was their intention to help avoid violent conflict, the Jedi were left with no option but to get involved in the Clone Wars, a horrific conflict that soon led to the downfall of the Jedi and the Republic both.
Grand Master Yoda was the leader of the Republic Army, and despite his small figure, he was just as - if not more - capable on the field of battle than the Clone Troopers he commanded. Considered the greatest Jedi of his era, Yoda has trained such powerful warriors as Mace Windu, Qui-Gon Jinn, and previous combatants Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker.
He has crossed blades with two of the most powerful Sith Lords in existence - or rather, crossed lightsabers. These weapons are extremely powerful and extremely versatile, with no less than seven known forms for single-wielded lightsabers alone; Yoda, in his 900 years of experience, has studied and mastered each of the seven forms. Due to his small stature, he has a preference for the fourth form, Ataru, which focuses on use of the Force alongside his weapon. This allows Yoda safety in speed and power in precision - which due to his smaller statue, he needs all he can get.
The Force helps him to close the gap between him and more physically imposing opponents, though this is as much a handicap as a benefit. Excessive use of the Force will injure or even kill the user - but Yoda is one of the greatest Force users in the Galaxy. His powers include telekinetic movement, mind tricks, illusions, and the deflection or redirection of energy.
Suffice to say, Yoda has a marked preference for the Force over his lightsaber - and as versatile and powerful as a lightsaber can be, the Force is infinitely moreso. Jedi of Yoda's level have been shown to move in response to near-lightspeed threats, glimpse into the future, and perform such feats as moving gravitational singularities - which would require a force (pardon) equivalent to nearly 14 petatons of TNT.
In spite of - or perhaps because of - all of this power, the Jedi were the defeated side in the Clone Wars, unable to react to the threat before it had already run its course. In shame and trauma, Yoda exiled himself to the swamp planet of Dagobah, and swore he would never carry a lightsaber again. When he was found, he did nothing more than train one last apprentice before allowing himself to become one with the Force, existing henceforth only as a spirit. His legacy in Luke Skywalker finally righted each and every one of his wrongs, teaching all around him - even himself - the value of learning from one's mistakes.
Yoda: That is why you fail.
From the Jedi Master, we move on to his opponent, Mickey Mouse. Beloved mascot of Walt Disney, friend and companion to all around him... and leader of the Guardians of Light fighting to protect the worlds united by Kingdom Hearts. King Mickey, alongside his fellow Guardians - including previous combatant Sora - wield Keyblades, weapons of incredible power. Swords, keys, and magical tools, a Keyblade can lock or unlock anything, channel magic, and do anything a sword can. Mickey has used several Keyblades during his time as King, but his most recent is the Star Cluster, a repaired and reforged version of the Kingdom Key he found in the Realm of Darkness.
The Keyblade alone does not give one power, and Mickey trained rigorously under Master Yen Sid. After much training (and a few disasters of his own making), he soon showed the Mark of Mastery, proving his worth as a Keyblade Master. His reportoire of magic includes such spells as the offensive Pearl and Faith Volley, the restorative Curaga and Healing Light, the time-halting Stopza, and the unrelentingly powerful Ultima. Although he does have a limited pool of magical power to cast from, he is never without something to cast it with, as a Keyblade will return to their wielder's hand at will.
In addition to his magical power, Mickey is physically capable as well - both defensively and offensively. He has taken blows from Demon Towers and Demon Tides, powerful formations of Heartless acting as a single entity, and endured the destruction of the χ-blade, the key to Kingdom Hearts itself. He has also shown himself equal or superior to other Keyblade wielders such as Sora, who can face off with the Rock Titan-throwing Hercules, or Roxas, who travelled from the world of Radiant Garden to the Keyblade Graveyard in only a few moments.
Above all, Mickey has been a beacon of hope through good and ill. After enduring ten years of the machinations of Xehanort, a Keyblade Master who sought to claim Kingdom Hearts for himself, Mickey and his companions were able to overcome the Seekers of Darkness, closed Kingdom Hearts for good, and keep the worlds safe. The good King of Disney Castle has never wavered from his path, remaining forever optimistic, determined, and loyal to the light.
These two Pint-Sized Powerhouses have been studied vigorously, and now the stage is set. One advertisement for Bluechew later, it's time for a death battle!
We open in on a seemingly empty void... in which a spaceship has somehow crashed. The reasoning becomes clear, though, when its pilot - the Jedi Master Yoda - steps onto a Station of Awakening. He has dived to the heart of his opponent, King Mickey of Disney Castle, and makes an observation on the difficulty of finding him; His Majesty, in turn, observes the strength he must have to desire the battle. The King draws Star Cluster, and Yoda, in turn, brandishes his lightsaber, casting aside his walking stick.
FIGHT!
The two lunge at one another, crossing their weapons time and again in an incredible display of acrobatic skill and masterful swordsmanship. Mickey is the first one to land a meaningful blow, striking with a burst of light to offset his opponent; as Yoda rights himself upon the Station, the King lunges towards him, only to be thrown back with a thrust of the Jedi Master's hand - and the power of the Force.
He drives his Keyblade into the station to steady himself, and when Yoda dives at him for another blow, they cross weapons again. This time, Mickey is disarmed, his Keyblade clattering to the station - but when Yoda tries to use the opening to attack, Mickey merely calls his Keyblade back to hand. As Yoda senses his opponent's magical power, Mickey elects to put it to proper use, throwing his opponent aside and casting a Pearl his way; the Jedi Master calls upon the force to halt the spell in mid-flight, and casts it over his shoulder into the void.
The two combatants trade barbs as the spell flies... arcing back towards the Station, and striking Yoda from behind. Mickey invokes a volley of Pearls, sending each flying towards the Jedi Master, but none of this second barrage makes contact as the two charge towards one another, enacting another clash of blades.
This time, Yoda is the one that is disarmed - though he, too, manages to reclaim his weapon before his opponent can exploit the opening; when the two lock weapons, the Jedi Master collects his walking stick with the Force, using it as a second weapon with which to strike the King. Again does Mickey disarm him, to no advantage; when Yoda bashes him repeatedly with the stick, Mickey invokes a burst of Faith to drive his opponent back.
Yoda sees the folly in relying upon his weapon, deactivating his lightsaber and casting it aside; trusting in the Force, he calls forth a bombardment of stone from the void that surrounds the Station. Again does Mickey invoke a barrage of Pearls, this time to strike his opponent's attacks in mid-flight - but Yoda seizes his ship and brings it into the battlefield, and the Station is rent in two from the force of his attacks, with a combatant on each piece.
As Mickey recovers from the blast, he throws one more Pearl in Yoda's direction; the Jedi Master catches this attack in his hand, and many more Yoda appear around him before he sends a blast of light down at the King. A sphere of magic appears at the tip of Mickey's Keyblade to deflect the attacks; though he struggles to stand his ground, he refuses to surrender to his opponent, meeting the power of the Force with the power of light. A radiant blast surges towards Yoda, dispelling his phantoms and leaving him trapped in the air.
Yoda invokes a light of his own, sending shining blasts towards his opponent in a shower of projectiles - but Mickey leaps towards him, bringing his Keyblade forward and trailing stardust as he unleashes an Ultima against his opponent.
When the dust clears, Mickey stands alone on the Station... for an instant, before the Force spirit of his opponent appears beside him. Though Yoda tries to assuage Mickey's concern about the outcome of their battle, the King will have none of it, demanding the old Jedi Master to begone from his heart.
KO!
Boomstick asserts that the defeated Yoda is as beloved as his opponent before Wiz dives into the specifics of why Mickey won. Although Jedi such as Yoda has been shown to react to near-lightspeed attacks, Mickey's fellow guardian Roxas was able to cross at least four star systems in but a few seconds, putting him and his compatriots well beyond light speed. Furthermore, they have also fared similarly to such powers as Zeus, who could move numerous stars - which would require far more power than moving a single black hole, to which Yoda has been compared. And although Yoda lacks obvious weaknesses that the King could exploit, so too does Mickey lack any clear disadvantages that the Jedi Master could act upon. The only clear vulnerability would be the limits in Mickey's magical pool - one that restores over time once depleted, faster than Yoda could take advantage. And though the Force is nearly limitless, a Jedi's ability to use it is not, and overexerting himself would have injured or even killed Yoda through his own actions. Ultimately, though Yoda and Mickey were nearly one another's equal in many ways, the King had the advantage in speed, power, and magic.
Yoda vs. King Mickey contains examples of:
- Alternate Character Interpretation: As usual, Boomstick has his own Insane Troll Logic-fueled takes on the featured figures.
- With how he's small, green, flips and leaps often, and portrayed by a Muppet on-screen, Boomstick concludes Yoda is actually Kermit moonlighting as a ninja.
- The differences in personality and intelligence between Goofy and Pluto despite both being dogs leads him to assume the latter is the former's heartless.
- Blade Lock: Yoda's lightsaber clashes with Mickey's Keyblade. Yoda tries to break the lock by hitting Mickey with his cane, but they immediately get into another Blade Lock, which is this time broken by Mickey's magic.
- Bond One-Liner: After giving a Dope Slap to Yoda's ghost, which giggles as he fades away:King Mickey: Laugh it up, fuzzball!
- Breather Episode: Compared to both the last episode, which was an intense season finale that ended with reality getting briefly destroyed as well as the next one, which is far more violent and between two intense characters, this episode is rather goofy, with the final blow both being bloodless and hiding the dead body, the loser is perfectly fine with having lost, and both fighters showing a lot of respect to each other.
- Continuity Nod:
- Mickey gets directly scaled to Hercules in strength, whom previous fighter Sora was also scaled to.
- Wiz criticizes the Jedi's numerous mistakes and calls them so uncivilized. That's the same one-liner Obi-Wan used after bifurcating Kakashi Hatake.
- Dope Slap: After his death, Yoda (as a Force Ghost) trolls Mickey by startling him with lightning. In response, Mickey lightly bonks his ghost on the head with his Keyblade.
- Good Versus Good: This battle is about two heroic warriors from their respective home series who are the Big Goods.
- Lighter and Softer: This is one of Death Battle's most lighthearted episodes to date. There's no blood or gore, the two combatants treat each other with respect, the finishing blow causes a big, flashy light effect that hides Yoda's death so we never see his dead body, and in the end, Yoda, is shown surviving as a Force ghost.
- Musical Nod: The fight music for the episode contains samples of Kingdom Hearts themes such as "The 13th Struggle" and "Dearly Beloved". "Simple and Clean" also appears near the end.
- No Body Left Behind: Mickey vaporizes Yoda, leaving no body.
- Mythology Gag:
- The first fight of the season takes place on Mickey's stained-glass Dive to the Heart platform from the Kingdom Hearts III Re+Mind DLC. The Dive to the Heart is the first thing that happens in Kingdom Hearts I and III, serving as a tutorial zone.
- Yoda quotes his iconic "do or do not" line in response to Mickey claiming he'll try to overcome the Force with his own light magic.
- After coming back as a Force Ghost, Yoda calls down a bolt of lightning from the sky.
- Oh, Crap!: As Yoda starts to go all out with the force, and starts flinging some asteroids at Mickey, his eyes shrink a bit as he sees them coming.King Mickey: Oh gosh.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Both Mickey and Yoda, giving them a rare opportunity to take on someone their own size.Yoda: Proof you are that size matters not. (chuckle)Mickey: Right back at ya, pal!
- Shout-Out:
- Funnily enough, Boomstick's one-liner is one to The Mickey Mouse Club.
- With how Yoda trained Liam Neeson's character in the prequel trilogy, the obligatory joke's made about Neeson's other characters using the Force as a certain set of skills.
- Summon to Hand:
- Subverted with Boomstick attempting to call a beer can to him like a Keyblade. It does appear out of nowhere, but DUMMI reveals he fired it out his exhaust port off-screen.
- Both combatants do this in the fight when disarmed, Mickey with the Keyblade's natural ability and Yoda with the Force.
- Take That!:
- A subtle one. In the middle of the fight, Yoda throws away his lightsaber, saying that it is not the path to victory. Ben has gone on record as saying he hated Yoda's lightsaber-heavy fighting style in the Prequels, even going so far as to (jokingly) ban him from Death Battle on that basis.
- During Yoda's rundown, the hosts bring up how the he and the Jedi screwed the pooch during the Clone Wars.
- Worthy Opponent: Not since All Might vs. Might Guy have an episode's fighters displayed such camaraderie. Yoda and Mickey are both eager to fight one another, their banter is more jovial compared to normal, and the latter even laments having to finish off Yoda with Ultima. Even after being killed, Yoda just returns as a Force Ghost and plays a prank on him.
