History Awesome / PBGHardcore

* The finale, where Jon and Barry defeat the Ender Dragon in spectacular fashion with ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterTri'''s Quest Complete music playing in the background.

* On a meta-level, the season as a whole is one for the team. The series is much darker and more dramatic than the last few seasons. CerebusSyndrome is in full effect here, with one of the most climactic FinalBoss fights the series has ever seen.

** Much like Chadtronic in ''Minecraft #5'' and Lucahjin and Yungtown in ''Terraria #3'', Jesse Cox manages to emerge as one of the final survivors in his Hardcore debut. In addition, [=ProJared=] also breaks his death streak and survives, marking the first time he has lived through the finale of a Hardcore season.

* The team manage to gather the Blaze Rods they need from the Nether, and, despite having to walk across a narrow bridge suspended over lava and [[spoiler:PBG accidentally angering a group of Zombie Pigmen]], they all make it back alive.
* The finale, where [[spoiler:Jon and Barry defeat the Ender Dragon in spectacular fashion.]]
** With Monster Hunter Tri's Quest Complete music playing in the background.

* Jared's valiant defense against a ''massive'' case of GangUpOnTheHuman near the end of Episode 9. He was assaulted by 2 creepers and 3 spiders all at once. He killed the first creeper immediately, then backpedaled, killed a spider, and then tricked the second creeper into blowing up another spider, leaving him intact. He was about to defeat the last spider, [[spoiler: but was then killed by a creeper that snuck up from behind.]]

* On a meta-level, the season as a whole is one for the team. The series is much darker and more dramatic than the last few seasons. CerebusSyndrome is in full effect here, with one of the most [[spoiler:climactic FinalBoss fights the series has ever seen.]]
* The fact that [[spoiler:the group managed to avoid death entirely until Episode 11, a first for Hardcore.]]
* In Episode 13, [[spoiler:Dean is anticlimactically revealed to have died on the pirate ship]]. A fan in the comments had this to say:
-->'''[=TheHockeyGamer=]''': How I imagine [[spoiler:Dean died]]:\\
\\
[[spoiler:He looked around after his friends had left him behind at the pirate ship, scared of the growing number of zombies around him yet realizing he still had a chance... That chest at the top of the ship. He snuck around the zombies, found his way to the jump despite his dizziness and took a leap of faith. He made the jump, and freaked out a bit, but regained his focus and started climbing. Zombies started noticing Dean and heading towards him, and when Dean reached the chest he had a small army following him. The chest contained the antidote he needed, as well as an iron sword. He turned towards the zombies following him... "I'm no scrub."]]
** It should be no surprise to anyone that this is largely considered canon by the fanbase.
* What about how [[spoiler:PBG and Mcjones managed to escape the cave despite both being at half a heart of health, and traveled to another town while being infected? Even though Mcjones and PBG later died, the fact that they got as far as they could with minimum health was incredible.]]
** PBG, in particular, [[spoiler:soon after Mcjones was killed, held out against an ambush from a zombie pair with half a heart, poison (or, to put it in HC terms, "Zombie [=AIDs=]"), preventing regeneration, and a stone axe. He even got hit once and survived!]]
* [[spoiler:The FinalBattle against the Giant in Episode 16. Jeff dies, but it doesn't deter Ian and Barry. After a short break and a "[[Literature/TheBible Last]] [[TitleDrop Supper]]", the two dive into battle, and [[PunctuatedForEmphasis it. Is. Awesome.]] Even if it does end in failure.]]

* [[spoiler:The group tearing through the Eye of Cthulhu with no casualties at all]] in Episode 8.
* [[spoiler:Jeff, [=McJones=] and Jon doing the same to the Eater of Worlds]] in Episode 15, and then [[spoiler:doing it again in the same video! Specifically, Jeff absolutely destroying it with the chainsaw.]]
-->'''[=McJones=]''': If the developers are watching, you guys ''need'' to nerf [[spoiler:fishing]]... because that's OP.
* [[spoiler: [=McJones=] ''almost'' defeating the Wall of Flesh ''by himself'' in the finale. With less than 400 maximum health to boot. Even though he didn't make it, it was a valiant effort.]]

-->'''[=McJones=]''': ''Forward!''\\
'''Dean''': ''Protect the farm!''\\
'''[=McJones=]''': '''''Forward, men!! Never surrender!'''''

* The [[spoiler:first]] trip to the Ocean Monument, despite becoming increasingly tense with the group becoming more and more anxious and everybody constantly on the verge of death, [[spoiler:ends without a single casualty as everybody surfaces in just enough time to avoid drowning]].
** Hell, the fact that [[spoiler:they managed to traverse throughout the Ocean Monument and ''stay alive'' without Depth Strider enchantments on their armor, which is one of the only ways to make the trip slightly bearable,[[note]]Making it so that water doesn't slow your movement speed down nearly as much, which meant the group was stuck at half speed for the entire time they were down there[[/note]] let alone also dispatching the Elder Guardians in short order,]] is a pretty respectable feat in its own right.
* Despite starting with one less player, [[spoiler:this season ends up being the first victory since ''Diablo 2'', ending with only two deaths. The sense of achievement throughout the finale as the group finally win after so long, with PBG making it to the end of a season for the first time, is palpable. And Dean is even the last man standing in the ending battle royale, just as most had anticipated after the death of Barry, who is usually the SoleSurvivor.]]

* [[spoiler: Despite being trapped in webs and cornered by a cave spider, Barry makes his death a HeroicSacrifice by destroying the Spider Spawner and preventing anyone else in the group from dying to the trap.]]
* Doubling as a TearJerker, [[spoiler: after Jared gets pushed into lava, he realizes that he's going to die. He turns to PBG, and delivers his heroic last words:]]
--> [[spoiler: Jared: TAKE THE SWORD!]]
--> [[spoiler: ''[=ProJared22=] tried to swim in lava to escape Spider'']]
** [[spoiler: Tragically, his attempt to throw his sword to PBG failed, but only BARELY. Credit still has to be given for how quickly he thought on his feet; in the short few seconds between him getting ambushed and dying, he had the presence of mind to realize what had happened, understand that he was screwed, call out to PBG to get him within throwing range, turn around, crawl as close as he could, and toss his sword JUST before he died. It might have been in vain, but Jared certainly gets an A for effort.]]

** [[spoiler: When the first wave of Zombie Pigmen turn on the group, PBG gets backed into a corner with two hearts left. By corner, we mean "up what is effectively a narrow staircase, with his back pinned against a waterfall of lava, a fall to certain death to his left, a solid wall to his right, and a pair of advancing Pigmen closing in." Somehow, he survives.]]
** [[spoiler: From the same fight, Jeff embracing his inner Legolas and landing several perfect arrows in a row. The replay, through his perspective, is even referred to as an "epic replay".]]
** [[spoiler: When a Baby Pigman gets into their very cramped bunker, they manage to survive, and despite four people swinging their swords around in close quarters, they didn't kill each other.]]

** [[spoiler: Despite the odds being stacked against them, PBG and Jeff successfully escape the Nether.]]

** [[spoiler: You gotta give credit where credit is due with Jeff's performance as the SoleSurvivor, despite him dying. He manages to kill enough Endermen, find the stronghold, and reach the End all on his own, and even holds his own against the Ender Dragon for a little while. His tactics may have left something to be desired in the long run, but for having done little research, his foray was still impressive nonetheless.]]

* Episode 12 opens with a eulogy to [[spoiler:[=ProtonJon=]]] and ends with an epic trailer for the next episode, with the group ready to battle the bosses, desperate for a victory, and [[spoiler:the reveal of two gravestones]].

* Episode 15: In spite of [[spoiler:losing Jeff early on in the episode,]] the group successfully manages to [[spoiler:slay the Brain of Cthulhu with no casualties despite being slightly ill-equipped, not having [=McJones=] in the fight due to him being trapped underground by the boss while trying to return to the group and forced to teleport home, and with very few life upgrades.]] For good measure [[spoiler:they do it two more times in the next couple episodes.]]

* Lucahjin [[spoiler:saving Luke's life from a VERY close encounter with drowning by warning him]].
** Nearly every time (and there are a lot of them) a cast member narrowly avoids death through another person warning them.
* [[spoiler:After 2 failures in Terraria, Luke, [=McJones=], and Lucah finally beat the Wall of Flesh, and in a fairly quick time too. It's not even particularly close, as the trio was rarely in significant danger over the course of the final fight.]]
** [[spoiler: Special points go to Lucah and Luke, as this was their very first season, in a game they had very little overall experience in, and they made history in being two of the few survivors in the entire series to beat Terraria.]]
** [[spoiler: As for [=McJones=], he proves that his impressive LastStand way back in Season 2 was no fluke, again turning in an impressive performance when the chips were down.]]

* Episode 9: [[spoiler:[=McJones=]]] escaping an almost-insurmountable lava pit in the caves of Camp Azara with his grappling hook, while the rest of the group was helpless to do anything about it.

* Episode 10: After [[spoiler:obtaining the Totem of Undying in the Jungle,]] Jared and his group are [[spoiler:instantly teleported back to the spawn... in the [[DarknessEqualsDeath dead of night,]] in the middle of a ''horde of mobs'' baying for their blood.]] The fact that [[spoiler:almost all of them survived being swarmed and bombarded from every direction, with Dodger being the only casualty from a surprise Creeper ambush at the home base]] was nothing short of a miracle.

* In the season finale, [[spoiler:despite being reduced to just four members after [=McJones=]' early death and PBG and Dodger's (two!) deaths prior to finding the Wither Skulls, the team emerges victorious with only one further casualty. Even Jared, who is ultimately killed during the final battle against the Wither, comes within a hair's breadth of surviving despite drawing the Wither's aggro for nearly the entire fight, dying just five seconds before the Wither does due to a Zombie attacking him from behind as he tanks the full brunt of the Wither's attacks.]]
** Speaking of [[spoiler:Jared, after all five of his seasons before this one ended in failure, he finally breaks his unlucky streak in spectacular fashion, even if he came just short of living long enough to see it, by serving as the party's tank during the final battle until seconds before the killing blow was landed. By the rest of the survivors' admission, they likely wouldn't have won without him.]]
** [[spoiler:Like Lucah and Luke before him, Chad survived all the way through on his very first Hardcore season.]]

* The party has an incredibly strong start to the season, [[spoiler:lasting 14 (nearly 15) entire episodes before the first death, blowing past the previous record-best 10 episodes from ''Terraria #3'' and ''[=MineZ=] #1''. This happens despite the party being separated in two four-person groups (both of which needed to defeat the Erchius Horror before they allowed themselves to reunite as one, and one team even defeated it ''twice''). They even increase the difficulty after reuniting at the start of Episode 12 just to make things more challenging.]]
* Despite the panic after [[spoiler:Luke dies in the middle of the final boss fight, the remaining members realize the final boss's weakness, strategize out loud as a team, and are able to take him down. The epic music adds to the awesome.]]
* The series ends [[spoiler:in success, with the team staring into a sunrise and promising to meet again.]]
** Much like [[spoiler:Chadtronic in ''Minecraft #5'' and Lucahjin and Yungtown in ''Terraria #3'', Jesse Cox manages to emerge as one of the final survivors in his Hardcore debut. In addition, [=ProJared=] also breaks his death streak and survives, marking the first time he has lived through the finale of a Hardcore season.]]

* Despite the panic after [[spoiler:Luke dies in the middle of the final boss fight]], the remaining members realize the final boss's weakness, strategize out loud as a team, and are able to take him down. The epic music adds to the awesome.

** Much like [[spoiler:Chadtronic in ''Minecraft #5'' and Lucahjin and Yungtown in ''Terraria #3'', Jesse Cox manages to emerge as one of the final survivors in his Hardcore debut.]]

* The series ends in success, with the team staring into a sunrise and promising to meet again.
** Much like Chadtronic in ''Minecraft #5'' and Lucahjin and Yungtown in ''Terraria #3'', Jesse Cox manages to emerge as one of the final survivors in his Hardcore debut.