User blog:SpaceManiac888/Rusty Spanner of the Episode: Series 10, Heat 2 Results

With the voting period over and the new name for these awards decided, I have now totaled up the scores and detailed top three aspects of Heat 2 of Series 10 that were considered "Rusty Spanner" moments.

The scoring goes as follows; when a user lists three Wooden Spoon moments, the top pick gets six points, the second four points and the last one two points. These are totaled up to determine the highest scorers, which will be listed and detailed below. In the case of a tie, I will either put one moment ahead of another based on how many people voted, or if the same number of people voted for both moments, how many times it was their first or second pick.

With the rules on scoring out of the way, let's begin with some dishonourable mentions.

Dishonourable mentions

 * The Heat Final (12): Well, this was an huge disappointment in my opinion, especially when considering what an excellent heat this was prior to it. Still, at least Eruption may redeem itself in the Rumble!


 * Shunt and Sir Killalot being used too much and lack of Dead Metal (12): I am grouping these two nominations since they are pretty much the same issue being nominated. I do not understand why Shunt and Sir Killalot had to be introduced for nearly ALL of the later battles in this heat. I mean, sure, they are the most likely to survive Carbide's powerful hits, but couldn't we have at least seen Dead Metal in, say, Eruption vs Big Nipper?


 * The Arena (10): If The Arena could feel pain, it would be screaming in this heat. Firstly, the Floor Flipper was ruined by Aftershock, then Big Nipper helped to damage the arena lights by propelling Smash towards them. I also pity the crew members responsible for fixing them.


 * Lack of Jimlaad43 and ToastUltimatum on TV (6): This is a crime against Robot Wars Wiki in my opinion... especially when one considers the fact that they both had Diotoir fur costumes and signs supporting Carbide and Eruption. The only theory for this lack of attention is that maybe the producers want people to forget Diotoir?


 * Filler used for Carbide vs Gabriel vs Big Nipper (6): Based on Nweston8's video, the filler for this battle meant that it reached nearly four minutes in length, when the actual battle lasted three minutes. We could of had a Judge discussing developments in robotics instead, in about a minute.


 * Big Nipper never using its claws (4): Considering how effective they were in the classic series, it is a shame that Big Nipper never used its claws in this heat. Somehow, I do not think it will use them in the Rumble either, because of the chaos involved.


 * Jonathan Pearce's repeated use of Miley Cyrus/Matilda joke (4): Mind you, the Shunty McShuntface joke was funny.


 * Judges' pressing the "Robot dead" button (4): Not sure if we really needed to see this, but I guess that perhaps due to the confusion over whether a robot is considered immobile or not (Pulsar vs Ironside3 in Series 9), the editor this was needed.


 * The editor (4): For introducing Big Nipper's Graeme Dawson as a family man in a strange way. Also, for that odd introduction for Aftershock.


 * Camerawork during Group Battles (4): May still require a bit of improvement, but personally I did not witness any obvious problems when I was watching it.


 * Both of Gabriel 2's draws (4): I actually argue that both draws were fair, but it was still a case of bad luck for Gabriel 2 nonetheless.


 * The voice-over (4): Not going to win Rusty Spanner of the Episode this time. However, the same issues with the voice-over apply.


 * Crackers under Sir Killalot (2): Ouch.


 * Carbide winning its Group Battle (2): To be honest, I thought the Judges' decision was fair, but if only Gabriel could cause enough direct hits to knockout Carbide? Still, it does not take away what an excellent battle that was.


 * The flow of the heat (2): For a lack of big hits in the second half, to no Judge robotics interview.


 * Next Time previews (2): I hope Diotoir is not correct in his/her reasoning for why this should be a Rusty Spanner moment. Otherwise, I am not going to view them for the rest of the series.

3: Jonathan Pearce revealing the outcome between Eruption vs Big Nipper before it happened (12)
This nomination and the Heat Final received the same number of points and votes for them, but I decided that this was a bigger offender. Although I personally did not hear this (thankfully), I no doubt understand why O Raz3r O and Timothy Sillery considered this to be the biggest Rusty Spanner moment of the heat. After all, even though this probably is not as bad as the Series 6 spoilers, knowing the outcome of a battle before it happens ends up taking away the immersion and excitement that one previously would have had beforehand. And that is exactly what happened here, when before Carbide vs Aftershock began, Jonathan Pearce inexplicably revealed that the winner would face Eruption in the final, reducing the hype for the next battle.

Of course, Jonathan Pearce is great, and yes he is prone to mistakes as the errors page on this wiki notes, but come on man, you don't want to spoil battle outcomes and who will be headlining the heat final now, do you? Therefore, I believe this gaffe is worthy of the third biggest Rusty Spanner moment of the heat.

2: Big Nipper's Group Battle performance (12)
Carbide and Gabriel put on a classic battle in this heat, so no wonder that this heat is generally critically acclaimed by Robot Wars fans, including myself. But did you know that this one-on-one encounter was actually a three-way melee at first? Yes, it is true! At first I did not believe this rumour, but it turns out that former Series 7 heat finalist Big Nipper also competed in this battle! Or rather, it was meant to.

Indeed, in all seriousness I and two other users consider Big Nipper's Group Battle performance to be an utter disappointment. This is because we know how competitive Big Nipper can be, regardless of whether it was in the classic series, in live events or in the new series, so to see it lose one of its motors straight away against Gabriel was highly depressing in my opinion. And to make matters even worse for Big Nipper, provided it was still alive, it could have won this Group Battle. This is especially true when one considers the extensive damage Gabriel suffered against Carbide, and how the latter's wheel started to break apart as the battle commenced. Provided that Big Nipper bide its time, it could have knocked out a vulnerable Carbide and finish what the Series 9 champion started.

Still, although I believe that Big Nipper's performance in that battle deserves the second spot of Rusty Spanner moments in Heat 2, maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Indeed, not only could the classic between Carbide and Gabriel be compromised by its presence, but perhaps more importantly, we would not have seen its redemption, whereby it took out Smash in style, and caused an upset against Aftershock. I look forward to seeing it in the Rumble.

1: The Phantom Cease (36)
And so, perhaps the first landslide victory in these awards goes to the phantom cease that occurred in the second Group Battle. Prior to this Rusty Spanner moment commencing, it looked as if another highly regarded battle was to happen. After all, seeing a one percent Eruption face off against a one hundred percent Aftershock, especially with Crackers 'n' Smash in the mix, hype for this rematch was no doubt high among most Robot Wars fans. And at first, it looked as if we were going to see it, with drama occurring whereby Aftershock damaged the arena flipper. Sadly, however, this is when things started going downhill.

Upon seeing the extensive damage caused to the floor flipper, and noting about how previous arena damage resulted in cease occurring, Team Conker were under the impression that cease must have commenced in this battle due to safety reasons. However, as noted by most fans, Jonathan Pearce and Team Eruption, a klaxon must go off to signify cease. But because Team Conker continually insisted that cease has been called, it influenced Team Aftershock to the point that Will Thomas began the process of slowing down Aftershock. This fateful decision enabled Eruption to simply get underneath and throw Aftershock out of the arena, once again preventing the two from competing against each other whilst being at one hundred percent health. A shame, in my opinion.

I am not going to blame Team Conker for this Rusty Spanner moment, however. This is because once the teams settled down after arguing about the outcome, Dara Ó Briain was forced to explain to the teams that a klaxon must sound for cease to commence, otherwise the battle must continue. That begs the question, therefore: why were the teams NOT told about the klaxon before the battles begin? Imagine what would happen if the opposite was true, whereby the klaxon to signify cease did go off, but a robot continues to battle another and potentially cause a knockout? Hopefully for next series, the procedure for cease will be explained to the teams before battles, and a notice on cease will be detailed in the control booth. This idea should hopefully prevent a Rusty Spanner moment as significant as this from occurring ever again.