I guess when your name is “The Mountain That Rides,” its kind of hard to stop you, huh?
Congratulations to Sir Gregor Clegane, who waded his way through fields of blood in order to win Cage Match–Villains! Along the way, he destroyed the undead, slayed a sorceress, skewered a doctor, bested a cyborg, and, ultimately, got the better of a demon.
Now, obviously it’s easy to make arguments against The Mountain’s victory, mostly in the “he’s mortal and was going up against unkillable beings” vein. And yet, I don’t think it’s outside of the realm of possibility that he could have won these matches. Sure, the Reaper was a rather formidable foe, but with so little known about it, who’s to say what can and can not beat it.
That’s right: Terry Brooks.
But barring him, who’s to say?
The fact is, however the Mountain won, he’s going to need to tap that magic once again, because on December 20th, he’s going head-to-head with quite possibly one of the most powerful characters in fantasy literature:
Rand al’Thor.
Once again, Rand will be fighting a knight from the Seven Kingdoms, but this time around, said knight has both hands. Will it make a difference? Will the Mountain have an answer for Rand’s weaving, let alone his skill with weapons?
Will the Mountain have a chance against balefire?
As always, those questions can only be answered by you.
And, as such, you now have a task (besides voting):
You get to write the scenarios.
Always before, we at Suvudu have written up how we think the fights will go. And, usually, you have vociferously disagreed with everything we’ve written.
Well, now you have the chance to show us how it’s done. The rules are pretty simple:
- Write up a scenario in which The Mountain That Rides faces off against Rand al’Thor
- Keep said write-up to 1500 words or less
- Send your write-up in the body of an e-mail to spectratwitterfb@gmail.com
-
Use the subject line: CAGE MATCH 2010 CHAMP–[who you think will win here]
For example: CAGE MATCH 2010 CHAMP–Rand al’Thor - Send the e-mail by Friday, December 10th
We will then choose the two best write-ups–one pro-Mountain, one pro-Rand–and use them as the scenarios on the Championship match post!
And now some more of the nitty-gritty details:
- Anything offensive will be immediately dismissed
- 18 or older
- Your story, if chosen, may be edited, and we will make a good-faith effort to include you in the process.
- You will receive full credit for the story in the post
- The story becomes a part of suvudu.com
- These stories are for entertainment purposes only–we’re having fun, here!
And that’s about it. The only other thing I would mention is that some of you seem to not like the picture of Rand we have on the site. Like I said in the comments: send us a link (same e-mail address as above) of a better picture, and we’ll see what we can do.
Most of all: thanks for participating! I hope you’ve been enjoying Cage Match as much as we enjoy putting it together for you.
–DP
What? So no…
“Rand Al’Thor is eating lunch. Clegane runs in greatsword swinging. Al’Thor casts balefire, then continues with his day.”
… This time?
Dude i have already given u 5 links for the Image of Rand on the other post….but anyways they are here again
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4Cwvvts0d_k/TMIS4xZ6X6I/AAAAAAAAA0k/DmCbsSpFeR8/s1600/rand.jpg
http://bp1.blogger.com/_4Cwvvts0d_k/SGHe6WrJgSI/AAAAAAAAAfo/_sCAaMAypoE/s1600-h/rand_seamas.jpg
http://bp1.blogger.com/_4Cwvvts0d_k/Rya_dRwc3BI/AAAAAAAAARo/9o9FxmbbrYU/s1600-h/rand2.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QalxyuibvXg/SLe7R4kzvJI/AAAAAAAAAqc/BB091sDaT9E/s1600-h/re-learning+the+sword+03.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QalxyuibvXg/SAZI5ssFcQI/AAAAAAAAAks/Pmx086TYiro/s1600-h/jeremysaliba_rand.jpg
………..
Yeah, I got to say, a power that not only completely incinerates you, but also wipes your presence from time and space itself, essentially making it so that you never really existed, cannot be beat. There’s a reason it’s not often used even in WOT…
And if Rand is somehow cut off from the Power? I’m sure Dances with Wolves or whatever sword form preformed by the blademaster will pretty much take care of anything
This is a fantastic idea! I know what I’m doing instead of writing my thesis tonight…
Well, if the aSoIaF fans can’t swing this one (especially with the new show coming up), I don’t know what will. Say goodbye to your face Rand. You were always such an annoying whiner anyway…
PS: I lost patience with WoT after CoT, and I don’t have the energy to re-read just because it might get better.
PPS: Someone should send a link to Conan Stevens, the actor who’s playing Gregor in GoT.
Oh boy oh boy, deja vu city. Ladies and Gentleman, it is time. Time to decide why you feel WOT sucks or why aSoiF is only for perverts and pedophiles. I know lets just copy and paste all the comments from the last time the two series fought it out.
Why god, why? couldnt the reaper have won.
I have an idea how Rand can be beat AND how to neutralize that damnable balefire…will be writing it up tonight and sending it in…Mwahahaha
I don’t see how this is even fair? I mean, you have a character that is going to defeat the most powerful being in all existence and can erase you from existence, travel multiple realities at the same time, etc etc … vs a big guy with a sword … Oh well maybe Rand Al’Thor has a stroke and dies and this guy claims credit.
Hell, Rand’s presence alone makes darkfriends jump out of buildings… I can’t see how Clegane stands a chance…
And why would anyone vote for him anyways?! Ugh, hate him with such a passion!!!! Good always wins!!!
Maybe this time Rand can be too busy with his lady friends to bother with Clegane, and Mat can fight in Rand’s place. I’d rather see how ta’veren luck and plain old skillz compare.
yeah CoT sucked but 11 got much better and since the series is winding to an end 12 and 13 are fan friggin tastic
As for those who don’t know,let me inform u that Rand has changed much in Towers of Midnight I.e WoT book 13 and he won’t use balefire any more…he is no longer the mourning Murtle anymore…u should probably read few chapters of Rand in ToM to know that….any ways I m a big WoT fan and I haven’t read much of asoiaf because I don’t like it……. @kat u should really try KoD I.e WoT 11 it’s awesome .
@dp
I have posted five links for new image of Rand here again.
Rand wins for one major reason…. (and please keep in mind that I am a fan of both series, have read both many times) Rand wins for the simple reason that Robert Jordan is DEAD and his series is still coming to it’s rightful end IN A TIMELY MANNER, while ASOIAF’s creator is STILL ALIVE, but more interested in football and side projects to give us another book, let alone finish his damn series. Besides, balefire or no balefire, Rand is smooth when going through the forms. While Gregpr Clegane is just brutish and big.
Rand Wins, hands down. Don’t forget the Deathgates. No balefire needed.
If you read through ToM then you will realize Rand is undefeatable even without using balefire. Just read through his epic battle at Maradon against +200 000 Trollocs by himself. he finishes them of within the hour, and without using any sort of angreal/sa’angreal. Don’t get me started on what would happen if he used Callandor.
Hmm, I’m a big fan of both series too – last time I voted for Jaime, but this time, well, I don’t even _like_ Gregor. I’ll have to think about this one…
@Kat, I would really recommend reading further – the last three books have gotten better again and are building up to a pretty impressive crescendo now. (At the very least, it’ll give you something to do till Dance with Dragons gets out!)
@Wolfbrother : I suspect it is because someone else is completing the series that WoT is coming out in a timely manner these days. Don’t get me wrong, I love RJ, but he was the one to introduce us all to the ‘pleasures’ of anticipation, of waiting years for the next book to come out. And then covering a span of a week in which everyone catches up to everyone else. If GRRM keeps the quality he’s been delivering, I am ok with him taking his time (as long as he finishes it – I can’t see anyone else completing it in his style, AND he hasn’t left notes!)
@ lakesidey
RJ didnt take much time to complete books.
agap of a year or two at most but GRRM takes too long its 6yrs since his last release…….i know that quality is required but but he has three more books to complete and he is quite old and fat……he should consider completing his pending work rather than doing other stuff….
1. Comparing authors and the time it takes them to write is folly. They are all different. People who think writing is a mathematical science where X amount of hours in front of a keyboard equals X amount of finished pages are people who just don’t know how writing works.
2. The “other stuff” you mention are things he’s been doing since before Ice & Fire began. Ergo those things are not the reason why this particular book is late by a few years.
3. The more likely reason it is late is his growing propensity to edit edit edit his work, as well as where he is at in the story — an arc in the story that must be told right and all the characters laid out correctly for the series to march its way to a satisfactory conclusion. He is taking great pains to make sure it is right, otherwise the backlash will be even worse than what you are seeing right now. Not to mention he also wrote himself into a corner, which has taken a lot of his mental energies to weasel out of.
By the way, I’m not saying you shouldn’t be angry. I’m angry as all hell myself at the lateness of the next book. But at least be angry at the right things and not conspiracy theories that have no basis in any known fact about GRRM and this series.
As for the fight between these two, I look forward to what you all come up with. Should be a lot of fun!
@Shawn
I know that Writing is difficult I m bloody struggling to the write a scenario …….but what else can u be angry with GRRM except the time he takes sooooooo much time to finish the books….???
correction *Shadow’sBane
What else can you be angry about?
I have to ask this question: Why are you seeking ways to be angry?
People have every right to upset about the lateness of Dance. But I see all too many of those people being angry for reasons that defy logic and aren’t grounded in anything other than their own emotions. The worst offenders of this are people who perceive a valid reason, believe it to be true, and yet don’t know all of the facts, facts that would change their minds readily. And, as humanity often tries to do, these same people point fingers at what they sincerely don’t understand.
GRRM is late delivering the book. That is unprofessional, as he had a contract with his publisher to deliver a book by a certain time and that time has undoubtedly passed. Right there people can be mad at the unprofessionalism. I doubt GRRM would say you’d be wrong for being angry with that.
I also doubt he’d be angry that you guys were misled. When Feast was released he said Dance would be coming out in a year. That did not happen because, as he is wont to do, he changed the direction of the story that led to his needing more time to complete it. That is his prerogative as the writer and creator, just as it is your prerogative to stop reading him if you so choose.
And many people have. I applaud those people because it shows them taking responsibility for their emotions.
People can also be upset about how he handles his Public Relations. He is a disaster when it comes to sharing what he does. People believe all he does is merchandise and do anthologies because that’s all they see on his Not a Blog. They don’t see him working on the book every day. Despite the obvious fact he writes a lot because a book the size of Dance doesn’t come into being all by itself. It takes years to write that many pages, especially when he really writes three times the amount of manuscript pages that would normally go into a book due to how he has been editing lately. But he does a terrible job showing his fans that he is working. That poor PR hurts him.
Beyond those things, every other thing you bring up is a moot point that can be overturned by the facts we know. People blame his watching the NFL on the lateness of the book; GRRM was watching the NFL when he wasn’t late delivering books. People blame him traveling to conventions for the lateness of the book; GRRM has been going to conventions every year for twenty years and did so when the other books were coming out in a more reasonable time. People blame his editing anthologies for the lateness of the book; GRRM was editing anthologies while the other books were being written. Etc. Etc. Etc.
The fact is this is a book that is late for several reasons, all grounded in the craft of writing that GRRM employs. It’s not laziness, as people are so quick to prescribe. He is a freewriter. He has been that way from the beginning. Freewriters tend to write themselves into corners sometimes. GRRM did that with Dance and his Knot. He is also at the critical time in the series where plotlines have to be laid out carefully, where characters have to be set up or their run at the climax, and to screw any one of those up will hurt the overall series. To figure those things out takes time, far more time than it takes to start a series or even end a series. The middle is where a series is won or lost and he’s at that middle now. Not to mention this book is massive, going to be bigger than Storm by all estimates, and it’s filled with people’s favorite characters, characters who take time to figure out because they are so complex. Also not to mention that only the first 800 manuscript pages bring the timeline up to the end of Feast; the next 700+ manuscript pages pick up the story after Feast so GRRM is really giving you two books for the price of one.
I simply see too many people trying to come up with reasons why GRRM is late when those reasons have no basis in any truth. And as I said previously, I certainly don’t want to invalidate the anger because there should be a certain amount of anger leveled at GRRM, but my point is let’s make sure it is anger deriving from a real place and not untruths.
@ shawn
…… that are ..he talking about six times the time he promised to complete the book…..he is busy in other projects … and doesnot give updates or any other clear answers about his books…..u just elaborated them.
after all that talk about being angy at GRRM for the right reasons………Ur above explaination seem to say, that u r angry at GRRM becoz of the same reasons we are
BTW
i was not seeking reasons to be angry….i was just curious about the right reason.
Gregor throws out his back training, so they use old PRIDE tournament rules and find a suitable replacement for a fighter that can’t go… Karsa Orlong from the Steven Erickson Malazan series fills in for Gregor (he should have made the villan’s list anyway)… He’s basically a bigger, far more skilled version of Gregor who’s also immune to magic… he will own Rand’s face…
LoL
………………t
Well, look at the fight this way: Over powered, awesome channeler who can blast away armies of Trollocs, Vs big guy with sword. The only possible way The Mountain could win was if this was in a stedding. And if you’re going to handicap a character that much, you’d also have to remove both Clegan’s arms, a leg, his right eye, and his horse. Either way, Rand wins. All he needs to do is make a little bubble of air around him, then – and I say this because new Rand seems nice – give Clegan a chance to surrender. And since the Mountain doesn’t surrender, he has about 500 different ways to kill him with no risk to him.
No Rand can now channel in steddings. Not going to give away spoilers but he can. Blocking him off from the source doesn’t really work now either. I can’t really think of a scenario where he would be in any danger, besides the last battle.
Let’s see, all powerful channeler that is a master swordsman, consour of women, light in the dark, most influencial ta’vern ever known, & perfectly sane (Rand). Or a giant angry brute that has no control and relies only on his strenth (Clegane).
Hmmmm… I can’t decide
That’s right! It must be Clegane because he is a wicked person that can do annything!!! But seriously, I don’t see any way that Clegane, even with help, could possibly hope to beat Rand.
@Abby
U r right every one knows that Clegane is no match for Rand in Power……but this is no contest about power is it?
It’s a contest about popularity ……I.e between Grrm fans RJ fans…..
Really? Reeeeeeeeeally?
Just like before, popularity contest only. It’s plain obvious, even to Martin, that there is no realistic way that Rand al’Thor wouldn’t come out on top without it being deliberately written out in a way that undermines the character. It was the same way before, there are so many tools and possibilities available to al’Thor, instincts he’s developed, talent, speed, that this is silly.
Sure, you can write it out where he loses. That’s the point of writing, you can write out pretty much anything. He could be killed in his sleep, a blowdart laced with poison from a crowd, a dozen things could easily be invented. He’s been nearly killed I don’t know how many times in the WoT, and as many as not were from non-Power related sources. But in a real fight, one vs one, out in a field or locked in a cage? He can’t be beat without a handicap against him.
And as far as George R.R. Martin, freewriting or not the man has no excuse. It’s gone way beyond being unprofessional at this point. Feast for Crows was unprofessional, and unfinished when released. He should have released Dance as soon as he finished the “other half” simply to complete that portion of the story, meet a deadline, and allow people the benefit of seeing the other side of the book, and then continue the rest on in the next book.
He had a nice, tidy 2 year gap between the first few books, and whether he was watching NFL or going to cons or working on anthologies or other books during that time or not, it’s completely irrelevant. When it was obviously taking such an inordinate amount of time for the fourth book the rest of it should have been plotted out and outlined, and he should have made a concerted effort to start completing his work. Blowing past deadlines like he doesn’t care they’re there, spending so much time on other things he could be using in addition to whatever time he dedicates to writing A Song of Ice and Fire would help him reach those deadlines faster. Different writers write at different paces? Sure. But when you write professionally, writer’s block preventing you from completing more than one half book added to a series in over a decade is to the point of unacceptable. It happens, but you write through it. You write something else (in a reasonable period of time), to get your head back in place. You do not let it bring your writing to a complete stop simply because you can’t think of what to write next and have so many other things of interest in your life that you don’t have the time to actually sit and rough it out.
I haven’t read Feast, because I wanted to wait till Dance was released “a year later” so I could read all of the book together. At this point I won’t read any of it till it’s complete, because it was good, and I don’t want to deal with the disappointment of waiting years again for something that may or may not ever be finished. His publisher should be making it clear to him, whether he “won’t be bullied” or not, that if he can’t complete the books following Dance (which they may as well let him finish, since it seems he’s only a few partial chapters away) in a timely manner then they’ll be taking action for him breaking his contract (since I can only assume them publishing the rest of the series is contracted, otherwise they’re fools). His flippant attitude regarding any kind of deadline, complete lack of any kind of transparency, constant talk of everything else he’s spending time on (including the new HBO series for a story that is as yet only half complete and has waited for over a decade for it’s next “complete” installment), is a total lack of respect for both his publisher and his readers.
It stopped being “his” alone the moment he got it published. He is the story’s author, and the only one that can complete it the way he would complete it, but he should show a little more respect and considering the length of time it has taken clear his schedule for the next year and really buckle down. It would show some real dedication to his work, and to his fans, and to his story, which has been severely lacking. Whether those other things went on before or not, it’s reached a point where he needs to devote more of his time than ever towards this story, now that he’s back into the territory he had planned to be in before Feast. 6 years between installments is not responsible authoring when there is a story to be told. When he was sick and dying Jordan managed more dedication to his work and story than Martin has shown in the last several years.
Is there a reason that “Q” from the “Q Continuum” of Star Trek TNG was not included in the Villians?????? If anyone has a chance to beat Rand it would be “Q”.
Blade Master and most powerful being v.s. An evil knight. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’d also like to remind you all that Rand’s Ta’avern abilities seem to have increase exponentially in the last few books. There’s a chance he could just stand there and tell the knight to surrender, and he would comply.
Rand can own this knight so many different ways it’s ridiculous. GO RAND!!
@ Abellcauthon Was Q a villan? Im not a hugr Trek fan but he never struck me a particularly villanous
@ Dan Well the Mule was on this cage match and he was dealt with easily enough
How come there has not been a new Villains cage match?