User blog:TKandMit/Why Martin vs Tolkien Was The Perfect Premiere: An In Depth Review

Oh, a blog from TK that isn’t a fan-made battle but rather a close look into the work of the Epic Rap Battles of History? That’s certainly a rare sight.

Greetings, fellow users and members of this community. Last week, as all of you know, this wiki reinvigorated itself on Monday, May 2nd. The cause to this was a brand new season of our beloved comedy rap series, ERB, starting off with a bang. George R. R. Martin vs J. R. R. Tolkien was published to the pages of YouTube and the fan community erupted. Ever since the cover and audio leaked, people had been more hyped than ever for the official return. And the official return did not disappoint.

Now, apart from you may think this is going - either from my last sentence or the title of this blog - this blog is not to discuss opinion over the quality of the battle, but rather its context. Due to it being a premiere battle, starting off a whole new season to prepare us for the content we so crave, it is under heavy review. As long as finales, these are the battles most vital to the series. These are the battles that new fans will subscribe for, or old fans may unsubscribe for.

I like to think the most important part of a story is its beginning. When you go to the bookstore and select a novel to try, or even read an article in a newspaper, you begin with the first few paragraphs. Immediately, an opinion forms on the story; this decides if you will read more and invest your time into it.

We have had four premieres already, all spectacular in their own rights; John Lennon vs Bill O’Reilly seems like something that was not so special, but people like it for being the Genesis of the series. It was an odd idea, yet comical. The editing wasn’t stellar, but the content was hilarious.

Darth Vader vs Hitler 2, the very first sequel, brought ERB to a whole new level. The battles were no longer hosted on Nice Peter’s channel, but rather ERB’s very own. The series had become its own brand. To start it off, one of the most highly requested battles came to life, a continuation of their most popular episode yet. Darth Vader vs Hitler 3 came and continued the story further, continuing to impress audiences and greatly improving in production.

Ghostbusters vs Mythbusters seemed to stand out most, as far as premieres go. John Lennon vs Bill O’Reilly was the first ever battle, back when no one knew how successful ERB would become and with little to it. The Darth Vader vs Hitler saga became a staple, and didn’t allow many new ideas that could start off a season as well. Ghostbusters vs Mythbusters proved to be a well-done battle, lyrically, visually, and conceptually.

And with Season 4’s end, we all awaited for the eventual return of ERB. Seriously, it took almost a year. Like, Lewis & Clark vs Bill & Ted has its one year anniversary really soon. It’s like they brought George R. R. Martin in to produce this season.

Speaking of which, George R. R. Martin vs J. R. R. Tolkien was released. Season 5 began, out of nowhere. We were not informed by a News video like the seasons before us for when it will return, it just happened.

Now, finally onto the point behind this whole blog.

George R. R. Martin vs J. R. R. Tolkien was well done. Some people’s expectations were met, some were raised, some were dropped; but overall, a great battle.

The installment begins in a unique way; without its infamous logo. We’ve seen this before in certain story battles, as well as Columbus vs Captain Kirk and Stephen King vs Edgar Allan Poe, but not quite like this. We’re met with a leather dressed book cover, a title in gold that reads “Season 5”. It immediately opens to its first page and we’re greeted with the introduction of the battle.

We are now “reading” the first few paragraphs, as I so described earlier on. Also with the release of this battle, ERB also lost hundreds, possibly thousands of subscribers. (This may sound alarmingly overwhelming in terms of how much of a fanbase they lost, but it’s truly a small amount in total.) These people were turned off by the battle in some way, so they unsubscribed. They stopped reading the story.

Now, a few days after the battle released, I began thinking of all of this. I thought to myself, why would this battle be a good premiere? Well I think I may have found a reason.

The battle pits two critically acclaimed story writers against one another - this whole theme theory of storytelling that I’m spewing out cannot be more fitting. EpicLLOYD and Nice Peter portray the two opposing rappers once more (something missing from its predecessor), Martin and Tolkien. Because we are looking for enjoyment to impress us, this old casting immediately signifies something within us; we expect more. Soon after this thought comes and goes, we’re introduced to a new character in this story, Jon Snow Rudy Fermin. He portrays Jon Snow, one of the more important figures of Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, and this is his first appearance in an ERB production. A person we have never seen before is immediately introduced to us in the battle, and we are intrigued.

The battle continues to do this; bringing aboard new and old faces to the series. This successfully entertains us; we are being overwhelmed by the quantity of what is happening on our screens. One after another, this happens; characters from each writer’s respective fantasy worlds, Led Zeppelin, and creative additions in general. The contrast between a rock band and fantasy characters stands out to me; I find this as something that represents ERB, showing us that all types of figures can be included in the series.

Back to it. Concepts like Martin at his computer and Tolkien with a rifle and in a trench continue to tell more about each character. The subtext alone almost makes it feel like I am watching a film installment of The Hobbit.

I wish to talk more about the end of the battle. Tolkien finishes his last verse as the camera pulls away. As it does, we see a long shot of him and up to six characters beside standing before the Black Gate of Mordor, which appears to be opening up. All of these characters, the doors being opened... it feels as if we, the viewers, are being welcomed back into the series.

Now, I’ve touched on a lot of concepts and the like thus far, but I wanted to point out something within the final lyric that I found rather interesting.

“Every time I battle, it’s Return of the King!”

This line seems to make a simple reference to Tolkien’s work, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, but I would argue it goes deeper than that; beyond Tolkien as a character. As I said before about being symbolically welcomed back, I think this final line goes on to demonstrate that. “Every time I battle, it’s Return…” -> ERB has officially returned, and of course they brought a battle with them.

In short, I believe George R. R. Martin vs J. R. R. Tolkien is more than just a battle, but of something beautiful in a deeper, artistic meaning. It does more than entertain their fans, but welcome them back. It definitely stands out to me from the rest of the premieres, and I hold this installment in the series on a platform beyond the others because of how I view it as such.

This post is not meant to tell others how excellent the battle is, or that they should appreciate it more. I just had a few ideas formulating about it and I wanted to give it a quick analysis, that ended up leading into this whole thing. Jesus, I didn’t even think it was possible to practically write a twenty paragraph essay on a three minute YouTube video at 2:00 in the morning. Well, with all that said and done, thanks for reading for anyone that did - can’t really blame you if you didn’t. Good night.