User blog comment:CrashBash/Top Five Good Robots with Bad Departures/@comment-4700688-20181009082518

Well of course the #2 entry would stand out as a bad departure to someone who regards Firestorm as their favourite robot, and I of course am knowingly on the opposite end of the spectrum, but I... still really can't see this as the second-worst departure of a good robot.

Putting aside my personal feelings that Firestorm's sudden dive-bomb was uncharacteristically hilarious and contributed to its final loss being my favourite Firestorm battle by a wide margin, I think you're putting too much value on the KO and not the fight as a whole. In principle it's a bad departure for a three-time bronze medallist to drive into the pit and never compete again, but it's not like that's all it did. The entire battle leading up to it was completely at Firestorm's pace, and it was quite clearly an uncompetitive fight, a way to unwind after a long series. The self-pitting just added to the humour of the already brilliant fight, and I wouldn't sub Firestorm out of that battle just so its departure could be a pitting from Storm II.

Is it really worse for a robot to lead a revolt against the House Robots, go absolutely untouched against its opponents and the actual competitors before pitting yourself in a fun exhibition match, than it is to turn up in an Annihilator without one of the core aspects that made your design entertaining in exchange for a practical benefit, have the practical benefit not work, and be defeated in two seconds? I don't think so.

I mean, you could've at least mentioned the fact that Firestorm finally lost to Panic Attack...