Boomstick: Literally!
Wiz: Only in an equally frigid and unmerciful land can one understand its true potential.
Boomstick: Like Gray Fullbuster, ice mage of the Fairy Tail guild.
Wiz: And Esdeath, the imperial general from Akame ga Kill!.
Not only do two cryomancers of anime meet in the fifth match of season seven, but so do two orphans who grew from tragedy to serve forces greater than themselves. In a match of good and evil, these two anime figures, demon slayer and demon-empowered, test the might and versatility of their abilities against one another; for Gray and Esdeath, each will need every advantage they have to win a death battle.
Of the two combatants featured, the first to be covered is Gray Fullbuster. In the land of Fiore, countless cities and villages dot the magic-laden landscapes; one of these settlements, Brago, can be found in the frozen land of the North. Gray was born in this village and, if only while growing up, had as mundane an upbringing as could be hoped for. The humble life Gray led would be forever changed when the demon Deliora found his way to the North. Deliora slaughtered everyone in Brago that dared to confront him, leaving only Gray alive amidst the devastation. Stranded in the remains of his hometown, it was the ice mage Ur who found Gray and brought him under her tutelage. Through her teachings, Gray learned the secrets of ice magic and became emboldened by his newfound power. The orphaned teen sought to use it to exact revenge on Deliora, but his fledgling skills with magic proved incapable of letting Gray carry out his plans. Ur saved Gray by fighting the demon on his behalf, but gave up her life during the ensuing battle. Heartbroken but humbled, Gray traveled Fiore after the loss of Ur until his journey brought him within the confines of the Fairy Tail guild. A calmer man, changed from his ordeals, Gray joined the guild's ranks of mages and adventurers, finding a new family in the form of his guildmates.
Gray has taken much from Ur's teachings, and expanded upon them in his adventures with Fairy Tail. Gray's specialty in combat and magic at large stems from the cryokinetic properties of ice magic; more specifically, a discipline therein known as ice-make molding magic. Just by willing it into existence, Gray can create ice and fashion it into any shape he wishes. A number of weapons, both melee and projectile, are the go-to standard for Gray's magic, though he has also demonstrated the capability to make utility objects and duplicates of himself through ice; essentially, the scope of the ice-make molding magic is limited to Gray's own imagination. This, however, would not be the end of Gray's development as a mage, as he later learned devil slayer magic affiliated with ice. In practice, this particular set of magic enables Gray to consume and control the ice produced by of others' magic and otherwise give Gray a heightened resistance to ice and cold; it also gives Gray access to magic spells specially designed to kill demons, as per the name. The true hallmark of Gray's cryomancy, however, would be the Iced Shell, a spell which freezes the target in unmeltable ice. He has since developed a variation known as the Lost Iced Shell, hundreds of times more powerful than the initial Iced Shell.
In the world of Fairy Tail, Gray is part of an esteemed class. Natsu Dragneel and Erza Scarlet, his contemporaries in Fairy Tail, have respectively been shown to dodge lightning at close range and destroy meteors entering the atmosphere; as Gray is considered their equal, he should theoretically be able to perform feats of a similar scale. On his own merit, his ice devil slayer magic provides enough of a boost in power that he can conjure a snowstorm large enough to cover the entirety of Fiore, an energy output equivalent to roughly 27 gigatons of TNT. Thankfully, this kind of power makes for a reliable benchmark with regard to what Gray is capable of, considering the drawbacks of his ace technique. Specifically, the Iced Shell, for all its power, takes the user's life, as it did with Ur; the Lost Iced Shell has the same drawback, with the added caveat that the user also wipes themselves from existence. These consequences are of such drastic extremes that they condemn the Iced Shell as a last resort attack, limiting some of Gray's most powerful options in a fight. That said, if Gray's experiences in Fairy Tail say anything, it is that his skill and the versatility of his ice magic even beyond the Iced Shell make him a formidable foe, one that only continues to grow stronger.
- Gray Fullbuster: I've got a will all of my own. And it says my friends and I are gonna walk the path of life!
From Gray, the hosts move on to his opponent, Esdeath, the ice queen. Born to the Patras clan of the Northern Frontier, Esdeath spent her childhood hunting danger beasts, hostile monsters of colossal size. Her father instilled in her a survivalist philosophy, that only the strong should be permitted to survive in the world. Seeing him die drove this philosophy into her, and Esdeath strove to become stronger in turn. She joined the ranks of a globe-spanning empire's military, and for her efficiency and brutality, she quickly rose in stature. After she reached the position of general, Esdeath was presented with the empire's collection of teigu, weapons crafted from the remains of danger beasts, and was given the offer to claim one for herself. One particular teigu caught Esdeath's attention, a chalice filled with the blood of a danger beast; this was the Demon's Extract. Imbibing its contents, Esdeath was beset by voices urging her sadistic desires onward, and alongside the Jaegers, the empire's secret police, she acted upon these urges by using the Jaegers to quell dissent within its borders.
If Esdeath's ideal is survival of the fittest, she has more than enough means to live up to it. While she already displayed an impressive proficiency with the rapier long before her ascension to general, the true calling card of Esdeath's powers is her ability to create ice out of nothing and subsequently manipulate it. Said ice can take on a variety of shapes to suit Esdeath's needs, and she is versatile enough to use it for attacking and defensive means. In the way of more specialized tactics, Esdeath can create an army of centaurs from ice, direct hailstones to smash her foes, form massive suits of ice armor to operate inside of, and is even able to fly by wrapping herself in ice and directing it. The greatest of all her abilities through controlling ice, however, is one that takes the concept to a ludicrous extreme. Mahapadma, the power in question, is the means through which she channels the full extent of her control over ice to literally freeze time. Esdeath is free to move about in the frozen time and dispatch her enemies as she sees fit for the duration of time that Mahapadma is active.
The empire has several teigu-empowered soldiers in their ranks, but none are on a scale as Esdeath. The ice queen regularly pits her own brawn against rebels fighting against the Jaegers, some of whom can dodge lightning, and others able to match danger beasts that blow craters into the earth with the force of their attacks. By being able to keep pace with these characters, Esdeath demonstrates how imposing her own skill is; though she herself has performed similarly, if not even more impressive feats. Her ferocity is such that she can bury several hundred thousand victims alive in one attack, while her control over ice has let her effortlessly freeze an entire river. By absorbing the ice centaurs, she was once even able to generate enough ice to blanket the continent on which the empire's capital resided in an icy storm. However, there are certain shortcomings in her ice manipulation that the Demon's Extract has no answer for. Some of her more impressive feats, such as the ice army and the continent-spanning blizzard, had several days of preparation put into them, suggesting she has a limit on the amount of ice her magic can generate. More directly, the Mahapadma is incredibly taxing, to such an extent that she can only use it once per day. The same rebels that fought against Esdeath and the Jaegers eventually managed to compensate for this sheer power and finally felled her. In her final moments, she could only lament that she failed to win the heart of a rebel who won her own, suggesting that, even through the hardship she faced, there was still humanity with her even to the end.
- Esdeath: (surrounded by energy from the Demon's Extract) I will always be on top, I will always be victorious. No matter what gets in my way!
Both masters of ice have been studied, their potential explored, and they are clear to engage. One advertisement for the Blue Apron cooking service later, and now, it's time for a death battle!
The midday sun shines above the land of Fiore, and yet the skyline is tainted by an armada of warships looming out over the horizon. As planes of ice surge from her feet, Esdeath, the teigu-fueled ice queen, walks onto the now-frozen ocean and prepares to claim the land in the name of her empire. A wave of her hand heralds the formation of a battalion of centaurs, all marching in unison with their creator. What awaits the general and her armies as they reaches the coastal beach is but one lone figure standing in defiance. Gray Fullbuster of the Fairy Tail guild sheds his clothing as he demands Esdeath leave Fiore be, and as Esdeath watches the ice mage strip, her confusion gives way to disgust, and in turn, unchecked hatred for the mage.
FIGHT!
Slamming a palm onto the ice beneath her, a wall of icicles erupts outward and closes in on Gray. Esdeath directs the centaurs towards the Fairy Tail hero, and Gray reacts by creating his own set of ice clones to meet the centaurs. Gray's clones begin to cull Esdeath's soldiers while the general herself mounts a centaur and rides into battle. Ur's pupil tosses a pair of icy javelins at his foe, but the centaur does its job of closing the distance, bringing the two face to face. As Gray smashes the centaur into mist, Esdeath leaps from the impact and descends with her rapier outstretched. The Patras survivor drives her sword through Gray's shoulder and vaults back into the air, halting her descent with bracelets of ice around her wrists and ankles. The Jaeger captain berates Gray before conjuring a frigid meteor and sending it hurtling towards him. Gray wastes no time invoking his ice-make magic, sending a barrage of crusher blades to collide with the meteor. As Esdeath's meteor explodes into crystalline icicles, the guildsman reconverges them into a rough mass and soars higher still.
Turning the ice into a hammer, Gray rears back as he dives towards Esdeath. The teigu general attempts to halt Gray's attack through barriers of ice, but the guildsman breaks past Esdeath's impromptu defenses and smashes her through a lone centaur. Esdeath can only tumble helplessly across the sands as Gray reshapes the hammer into a cannon; still flailing through the air, the Jaeger is unaware of Gray's ploy before an ensuing round connects with her vulnerable frame. Esdeath summons a wall to bring her uncontrolled careening to a halt before she dissipates the centaurs still fighting Gray's clones. The skies above become smothered by a thick white haze as the general unleashes a blizzard upon Fiore; so vast is it in scope, that the fountain of snow erupting out the beach can be seen from orbit. A howling wind blows through the air as Esdeath watches the environment for even a trace of her foe. What awaits her, however, is none too pleasant from her perspective; a blinding white aura sucks the snowfall in as Gray, now drawing from his ice demon slayer magic, refuels his magic from the surrounding frost.
The guildsman leaps to Esdeath's position and prepares a second, larger hammer; once again, Esdeath attempts to shield herself from the impact, and once again, her defense falters in the ensuing blow. The Jaeger slams into the frozen ocean, but gracefully skids to a halt this time. Barely-subdued fury is painted on Esdeath's face as she watches Gray form a frozen longsword; with rapier in hand, she parries his ensuing slash. The blades collide for a scant few seconds before Gray plants a boot into the general's chest, knocking her backwards. The opportunity arises for Gray to follow up, and the ice mage takes it. Fullbuster lunges towards Esdeath, and with another quick swing, cleaves one of Esdeath's arms off. An agonized moan is stifled as Esdeath calls upon the Demon's Extract and chases after Gray. By the time she reaches the guildsman's position, Esdeath crafts a second arm, one made entirely of ice, and sends Gray flying back in turn.
With the guildsman forced onto the defensive, Gray finds his every attempt at blocking Esdeath's ice sword fruitless. Gray shoves Esdeath backwards and relents to unveiling his trump card. Wisps of cyan light dance around the Fairy Tail hero as he unveils the Lost Iced Shell; Esdeath can only watch in fleeting awe at the gale winds surging from her foe. As the initial shock subsides, the general strengthens her own resolve as jagged ice begins enveloping her; a deeper blue aura, just as brilliant as Gray's ice magic, surrounds Esdeath as she calls upon the Mahapadma. The Demon's Extract halts the scenery, the snowfall, and even Gray himself in time as Esdeath works on breaking herself free, but this opportunity is interrupted by Gray willing himself back into action. White mandalas open up around Esdeath, and in a final bid to close the match, she rips her artificial arm off and flings it towards the guildsman. Only a second later does it make contact, impaling itself through the tattoo upon Gray's chest and freezing him to the core. Time resumes afterward as the Jaeger drops to the polar floor. Gazing at the sculpture that her foe has been reduced to, Esdeath bids a respectful farewell as she walks out the blizzard.
K.O.!
Having concluded the fight proper, the final stage of the match is reached. While both combatants had their own advantages, the fight may not seem as clear cut as may have first been assumed. The two were relatively equal in speed, and Gray's ice-make powers and his ability to consume ice meant that he had no shortage of ways to keep Esdeath off guard; however, Esdeath, having a tactical mind of her own, would most likely catch on to anything he had to offer. While both were capable of creating wide-reaching snowstorms, Esdeath's, by covering an entire continent, comes out to 280 petatons of energy, well beyond Gray enveloping Fiore. It is reiterated that Esdeath required a number of days to build up the energy needed for the blizzard in question, but even assuming she exerted her entire supply of energy over the course of three days, that much still puts her maximum daily output at 93 petatons, far more than anything Gray could feasibly scale to. Gray, even with his superior defenses, would simply be unable to survive an attack of that caliber, meaning the Lost Iced Shell is his most likely way to attain victory. However, Esdeath has her own ace in the form of Mahapadma. Comparing the two techniques, Mahapadma has several advantages; it can be instantaneously cast compared to the Lost Iced Shell requiring a lengthy starting time, Esdeath could immediately act after using it, and it poses no risk to Esdeath herself, unlike even the basic Iced Shell killing Gray with its use. Even giving Gray the benefit of the doubt and assuming his resistance to cold would grant him movement during the time stop, other characters Esdeath has faced with similar levels of resistance have still proven vulnerable to the Mahapadma. While Gray had better defenses and wider versatility, it is Esdeath, and her far greater utility skills and offensive output, that would claim a victory in this fight.
- Boomstick: Looks like Esdeath stopped Gray cold.
Wiz: The winner is Esdeath!
Gray vs. Esdeath contains examples of:
- The Bad Guy Wins: For the first time since "Hulk vs. Doomsday", this trope applies. The fight opens with Esdeath preparing to conquer Fiore, and though she lost an arm in the process and was forced to use all her trump cards she can still follow through on that plan.
- Beat Them at Their Own Element: Ice mage vs ice conqueror. Esdeath manages to overwhelm and freeze Gray.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: Though Gray was outmatched in terms of raw magical power, his equal showings in speed and superior defensive options in being able to heal and power up upon eating ice were acknowledged as capable of giving Esdeath trouble, and even his Lost Ice Shell move, despite its drawbacks, is admitted to having the possibility of killing her. He also joins the ranks of the few Death Battle losers to permanently maim their victorious foes by chopping off Esdeath's arm.
- Hero vs. Villain Duet: "Lost Ice Storms"
is about Gray and Esdeath talking about how they will be the one to emerge victorious in their fight. - An Ice Person: The main connection the two combatants have, both having the ability to control ice through magical means.
- In Love with Your Carnage: Boomstick is pretty turned on by Esdeath's blood-lust and utter lack of sanity.Boomstick: Oh right, she's crazy. Even better!
- Musical Spoiler: Esdeath gets the final line in "Lost Ice Storms", giving away who wins the fight.
- Mythology Gag: Much like in her Final Battle of her home series, Esdeath loses an arm and quickly replaces it with an ice construct to keep fighting. The difference is that there it was a Life-or-Limb Decision against Akame's Murasame, while here it's an intentional attack by Gray.
- Not Distracted by the Sexy: Esdeath isn't impressed at all seeing Gray going full shirtless at the beginning of the fight. If anything, it just pisses her off more.
- The Scrappy: In-Universe example. Tatsumi is this for Boomstick due to being a "dopey generic anime protagonist kid" who won Esdeath's heart. Anytime he comes up in the video, Boomstick typically insults him, calling him "dumb old Tatsumi" and later a brat in the post-battle analysis, likely because he's envious that Esdeath, a woman he's clearly attracted to, only has eyes for Tatsumi. Wiz, on the other hand, has much more sympathy for Tatsumi's situation, as he is quick to remind (well, try as least) Boomstick that Esdeath is crazy.
- What Does She See in Him?: Boomstick is flabbergasted and envious that Esdeath would feel any attraction to Tatsumi.
- Worthy Opponent: Esdeath acknowledges Gray as one in the end, going from being dismissive of him to offering his frozen corpse a respectful farewell.
- You Remind Me of X: Gray's reaction to Esdeath attacking him: "Just what I need! Another crazy, blue-haired woman in my life!" No doubt a reference to his stalker and canonical Love Interest, Juvia, who also has blue hair.
