Yo. So, I definitely owe y'all an explanation on where this story has been.

If you're used to my apology notes from previous episodes, it should be no surprise that a lot went down last year in my personal life. Good things, bad things (mostly bad things), but ultimately, it took a lot of time away from my hobbies, including this story. That's one part of it. Another part is a certain several-year-long project I finally completed last year that you might be aware of if you follow me on things that aren't this website. We won't talk about that today. And another part is the matchup I ended on: Katara VS Percy Jackson. This was my first time diving into the Riordanverse and... hoo boy, forty-some novels (including the new books for Avatar) is a lot. Even for me. Research on this one took a long time.

But here's the thing: I DID finish. I DID do the research. I DID outline and write out drafts, string together pieces of analyses, and come to a conclusion on the winner. Despite all of that, Katara VS Percy Jackson is not coming out; it is, officially, a canceled episode.

Why?

There are a few reasons. Writing the dynamic between the two was difficult. Finding any sort of way or excuse for one to kill the other whilst keeping them in-character and it not feeling disrespectful was practically impossible. I rewrote the fight itself, like, five times. But really, the end point and reason for lack of release comes down to something fairly simple: this is a bad matchup.

Shock, gasp, horror, I know, right? And to be clear, this is not a bad matchup thematically. Actually, the two characters are thematically excellent counterparts with mirroring journeys and conclusions that share both similarities and differences in very comparable ways. They even have many of the same powers and drawing lines between the two from a battle perspective is interesting. This was a great suggestion that I'm surprised nobody talks about... on paper.

When it comes down to actually making those comparisons, asking questions, and drawing conclusions, however, the flaws reveal themselves in droves. I'd talk about them in detail, but it would spoil most potential future matchups that involve these characters. Let's put it this way: There are three ways of interpreting this matchup. One way, which is the most lore-accurate in my opinion, involves all the interesting comparisons being thrown out the window because of a long series of technicalities. The second way involves the episode being annoying to read through because one character suddenly stands absolutely zero chance (not even in a stompy way, kinda) and the entire episode is just hyping up the other one. And the third involves logical leaps that make the matchup work, but are pretty against author intention and make me feel uncomfortable in accepting bending the rules that much. If I bent them this far now, where would my limits be afterwards?

We'll talk about this in detail later. After I've done an episode with each character. Because yeah, duh, I've done all the research on these characters, of course they're getting episodes. What episodes, what matchups? I have no idea! Please, please, suggest matchup ideas for Katara and matchup ideas for Percy.

So, yes, we're back down from 11 Episodes this season to 10.

Here's the good news: I haven't been lazy. Episode would-be 29 (now 28) is almost finished, practically ready to go, and the Season Finale isn't that far behind. This isn't a car crash; it's a stoplight that was glitched to never turn off. Now that it's been unplugged, the vehicles can move forward.

And here's the first set of tires you'll see:

…

Next Time, on Death Battle…

A man, bound to a gurney wrapped in six straps, a pair of handcuffs, and a straightjacket, grins madly and sings. By clenching his fist, he manages to slice his hand open with his fingernails. From his blood spills a monster, which then explodes over and out of his skin, revealing itself as having rebirthed once again.

VS

A coffin rests quietly beneath the ground in the middle of a park, until it is rocked by several punches. Once broken, the creature within crawls out into the sun, wearing a straightjacket-folded many-chained space suit which, when discarded, reveals a hulking, spiked grey beast, ready to destroy the world.

(Carnage VS Doomsday)

…

Yes, it's another comic book matchup. And this one was only… the hardest to write! Hahahaha…halp

It's a good time. That'll be out in exactly four days, February 1st. And following it is, of course, our Season Finale. Following that is the Extravaganza, then a new season (which will probably involve a suggested Katara or Percy matchup), et cetera and so on. There is one good thing about this massive delay: it's been very effective at reducing burnout.

So, there we are. I'm sorry, especially to the fan that requested this episode. But we keep moving forward. This whole update will be deleted as soon as Carnage VS Doomsday is released, so read it while you can, I guess.

OH! AND HUGE MAJOR AMAZING GREATNESS THAT DEATH BATTLE CONTINUED! I did, indeed, run wild across main street, and shortly thereafter donated what I could to the Kickstarter. Have never, ever been happier to be wrong :D