History Recap / DeathBattleS10E07GutsVSDimitri

The Black Swordsman's wrath has finally been quelled in death; for as much as Guts proved his mettle in battle by slaying foes stronger than him on a daily basis, he finally came across someone who not only matched his ruthlessness but surpassed it entirely. At first glance, Guts certainly had his edges against Dimitri; comparing their speeds showed that Guts' lightning-timing feats put him at twice Dimitri's speed from him dodging meteors, and the Berserker Armor provided a higher level of raw endurance when put against Dimitri's minor healing magic. However, the Boar King had answers to these leads Guts had and also boasted a wider array of advantages that Guts similarly couldn't counter.

With skills such as Seal Movement and Swordbreaker, Dimitri could restrict Guts' mobility to cut down the speed difference, and Areadbhar's various anti-armor attacks negated whatever additional sustainability the Berserker Armor could give Guts, especially as it couldn't heal him against life-threatening wounds. In addition, the various magic spells Dimitri had gave him more variety to pull from, such as lightning attacks that the Dragonslayer and Guts' gear acted as perfect conductors for. This is still without going into the overwhelming power advantage that the Kingdom noble had heading into this fight.

The hosts - through cross-referencing the various routes present in ''Fire Emblem: Three Houses'' - determine that Dimitri defeating the crest-empowered Hegemon Edelgard in his Azure Moon route would make him comparable to her in terms of raw power, and in turn, this would make him comparable to Rhea, whom Edelgard defeats in her Crimson Flower route. As the Immaculate One, Rhea survived 2 Javelins of Light, which created the Valley of Torment in Fódlan. By comparing how many of them were used to create it, they determine that the output of surviving at least 1 of these weapons - even if lowballed - would still make Dimitri about 4000 times stronger than Guts' best scaling would afford him. At the end of this brutal affair, the Hundred Man Slayer certainly had the capacity to fight even on the verge of death, but the Savior King of Faerghus had enough tools of the trade needed to put him out of his misery for good.

** Gut's backstory was horrific from ''the very beginning'', as he was born from his mother's hanged corpse, subjected to TrainingFromHell from his [[AbusiveParents abusive foster-father Gambino]], and was sent to the battlefield at [[ChildSoldiers the age of nine]], before killing Gambino in self-defense. After wandering alone as a mercenary for years, things started looking up for Guts when he befriended Griffith, joined the Band of the Hawk, and played a role in ending a hundred-year-long war. But then that gets thrown away when the Eclipse happened, as Griffith, now Femto, summoned demons to kill nearly one of his former comrades. Guts was then marked with the Brand of Sacrifice, was forced to watch Griffith rape Casca while his eye gets gouged out by an Apostle, and chiseled off his own arm when it got clamped by another Apostle. It was very telling that Boomstick had to warn the viewers beforehand that things were very, very dark.

The sound of metal is heard clashing in a dark, snow-covered forest, the fierce duel already in high swing. The two one-eyed men halt their assault just long enough for Dimitri to question his opponent's motives, only for Guts to dismiss the noble warrior and charge in with Dragon Slayer. Areadbhar blocks the jumping slash and the follow-up side swipe that pushes its wielder away. The next attack, a downward slash, is diverted into the ground, giving Dimitri an opening to stab at Gut's head, who dodges it and retaliates with a spinning slash leading into an upward swing, which are evaded and guarded against. Dimitri's return stab is blocked, and before long the noble is found caught in another whirlwind of metal that launches him back. Unperturbed, Dimitri immediately rushes back into the melee, Areadbhar's blade glowing green as it pushes the Black Swordsman back.

The sound of metal is heard clashing in a dark, snow-covered forest, the fierce duel already in high swing. The two one-eyed men halt their assault just long enough for Dimitri to question his opponent's motives, only for to Guts to dismiss the noble and charge in with Dragon Slayer. Areadbhar blocks the jumping slash and the follow-up side swipe that pushes its wielder away. The next attack, a downward slash, is diverted into the ground, giving Dimitri an opening to stab at Gut's head, who dodges it and retaliates with a spinning slash leading into an upward swing, which are evaded and guarded against. Dimitri's return stab is blocked, and before long the noble is found caught in another whirlwind of metal that launches him back. Unperturbed, Dimitri immediately rushes back into the melee, Areadbhar's blade glowing green as it pushes the Black Swordsman back.

Dimitri ducks a huge slash and pierces the swordman's chest, only to be punished with a broken nose from an armored fist. The berserk Guts' frenzied strikes are dodged by Dimitri, who shatters the Berserker Armor's helmet with a well placed stab. As the feral swordsman roars, the noble swiftly launches Guts into the sky, who is now unable to defend himself from the Faerghus leader's trump card, the Atrocity art. Leaping after the swordsman and enveloping his Heroes' Relic with a red light, the lancer's attack slams the duo into the ground with considerable force.

As Dimitri notes his opponent's fate, Guts' Brand of Sacrifice begins to bleed as a horned shadow rises up to engulf the two fighters. The King of Faerghus stands and shouts his intent to defend his opponent's honor and soul, walking past Guts' lifeless body with a crazed smile on his blood-covered face. Mad laugher rings out through the night as Dimitri leaps into battle, Guts' corpse left to stand in the light of the full moon.

-->'''Dimitri:''' So we're ''both'' shackled to the dead. (''turns to the God Hand'') You foul beasts... YOU WILL NOT HAVE HIS SOUL! (''[[LaughingMad laughs psychotically as he pursues them]]'')

* DiedStandingUp: In the midst of performing one last, maddened charge on Dimitri -- breaking Areadbhar apart and having the Tempest King dead to rights -- the Berserker Armour ends up draining the last of Guts' blood and killing him; his lifeless body left frozen in mid-swing.

Bloody and winded, Guts' sees the silhouette of his foe rise up through the wall of fire. In the middle of the flames, Dimitri finds himself flashing back to his worst memory, the Tragedy of Duscur. As the noble frantically struggles against the voices that haunt him since that fateful day, the Black Swordsman finds himself hearing a voice in his own head, the Beast of Darkness tempting him to give him to his hate, and the two vow to slay their foes no matter the cost. Guts engages his Berserker Armor and lets out a demonic roar while Dimitri, his furs completely erased by the inferno, dispels the orange flames with the blue fire of his Awakening, and the two charge to the battlefield's center. The speed and ferocity of their strikes grows and grows, the frenzy of their battle staining the ground with blood as minor hits are landed off-screen.

The hosts begin the episode by travelling to the dark world of Midland, wherein the black-clad warrior wielding a massive blade, Guts, resides, and once more recounting his origins. Born from the recently-hanged corpse of his mother, the infant Guts was taken in by band of mercenaries led by Gambino. However, this man was not a kind one, regularly beating Guts, forcing him to train with swords too large and heavy for him, sending the boy into combat at the age of nine, and even selling Guts to one of his men for a night, whom he was raped by. While wielding oversized blades made him stronger than any ordinary man, eventually Gambino's abusive behavior would lead to Guts accidentally stabbing the man in the heart, killing him in self-defense. With no home left for him, Guts wandered for years as a lone mercenary until he caught the eye of Griffith, who was impressed by the man's skill with a blade and honesty, and invited him to join his own group of mercenaries, the Band of the Hawk. Guts' bold fighting style made him a natural fit for the band, as he was skilled enough to slay a hundred enemy soldiers in succession by himself and help end a hundred-years-long war. Finally, he had found a place of his own where he had respect, earnest friends, and even a lover, Casca... That is, until Griffith, out of jealousy towards his newest recruit, summoned a horde of demons known as the God Hand on the night of the Eclipse, transforming himself into the demon Femto, sacrificing most of Guts' comrades to the abyss, and marking the man himself with the Brand of Sacrifice. A helpless Guts could only watch as Femto violated Casca before him as his right eye was split open, and was forced to tear off his left forearm when an Apostle bit down upon it. With him and Casca barely escaping the massacre with their lives thank to the timely aid of the Skull Knight, Guts furiously vowed to kill Griffith for his betrayal, along with every demon in existence, down to the last one.

With this arsenal and his sheer force of will, the Black Swordsman slaughtered all challengers in his path, from an army of trolls, to the Elf-fairy-like Apostle Rosine, to the Holy See's bishop Mozgus, who rained cannon-like blows upon him with his stone fists. And while he always triumphed against the physical challenges in his journey, his mental battles were another story, as with both literal and figurative demons haunting him, Guts struggled to keep his inner rage-fueled Beast of Darkness contained. Trying to shoulder the burden by his lonesome, for a time he left behind his longtime love Casca, who had been mentally broken by her trials during the Eclipse. And while none would replace the fallen comrades he had lost, eventually Guts would reunite with Casca and come to rely on a new band of companions, including Serpico, a young man able to dodge lightning a hundred times faster than sound, and whom Guts kept up with on several occasions. The witch Flora would also grant the Black Swordsman both his greatest and most dangerous asset in the Berserker Armor, a suit of armor that shuts off all mental limitations to boost Guts' strength even further and causing him to feel no pain, but also forcibly pulls broken limbs back into place and holds his body together no matter how severely injured he becomes; the risk of him bleeding out and dying is quite present in this state, and the Beast of Darkness gains more influence on his mind the longer he wears the armor for, causing him to enter an unstoppable berserker rage.

''*Work in progress*''

The hosts - through cross-referencing the various routes present in ''Fire Emblem: Three Houses'' - determine that Dimitri defeating the crest-empowered Hegemon Edelgard in his Azure Moon route would make him comparable to her in terms of raw power, and in turn, this would make him comparable to Rhea, whom Edelgard defeats in her Crimson Flower route. As the Immaculate One, Rhea survived 2 Javelins of Light, which created the Valley of Torment in Fódlan. By comparing how many of them were used to create it, they determine that the output of surviving at least 1 of these weapons - even if lowballed - would still make Dimitri about 4000 times stronger than Guts' best scaling would afford him. The Hundred Man Slayer certainly had the capacity to fight even on the verge of death, but the Savior King of Faerghus had enough tools of the trade needed to put him down for the count permanently.

--> '''Dimitri:''' ''I promise... I'll kill them!''\\

** While Dimitri's past isn't as dark as Guts', it's nothing to scoff at. He witnessed the Tragedy of Duscur, where his father (the King of Faerghus) and several knights were killed by a mysterious group, burning them all in front of him. This left him with serious survivor's guilt. Things looked up for Dimitri when he joined the Officers Academy at the guidance of Rodrigue and led the Blue Lions through thick and thin, but things went sour when he finds out Edelgard, who he gifted a dagger to in the past, was the Flame Emperor all along. This betrayal caused him to snap, which shaped him into the brutal warrior five years later.

** Also, Boomstick is noticeably distraught at Guts' death. When he says his ending pun, he and Wiz bow their heads and pay respect to the fallen swordsman.