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leader and government and serves as separate kingdoms within a larger kingdom. This, however, does create tension between the islands as they all fight to be the ruling island under The Isles of Southaven.

The five islands are listed as follows, from largest to smallest: Southaven, Thunderrock, Arling, Starbrook, and Howling. 

Out of the five islands, Howling has the most activity in the Humanity versus Demonkind franchise [Demon’s Imprisonment (2021) & Season One: Attack on the Capital (2021)] and is depicted with a dictator ruling over a government that, more or so, acts on his command and can easily be disposed of if he deems it necessary. This dictator, named Vice, can be cruel and cold in front of his staff and fake-friendly and calculating to Austin Shield (protagonist of the Humanity versus Demonkind franchise]. As of now, this is all that is known about The Isles of Southaven kingdom.

Episode Twenty Three "VERSUS! S1 E1 - Black Hood S1 vs. The Assassin & Royal S1"

“Your chief gave your entire tribe’s lives to me. I will do with them as I see fit.”

 

[Quote From: Guardians: The Sacred Scrolls - “Golem” (2021) {The Underground Tales - Year III} ]

 

 

Hello All!

 

Welcome to a new Scrapped Original series. VERSUS! Pits two stories in my catalog against each other and sees me compare their strengths and weaknesses to find a winner. Two stories will go in but only one will come out.

 

Welcome to VERSUS! The first match of the season will see The Assassin & Royal: Season One {2021} {The Assassin & Royal S1} being pitted against Black Hood: Season One (2020) {Black Hood S1}. These two series have a connection through its main protagonist being assassins and the government trying to have them work for them. 

 

SYNOPSIS:

The Assassin & Royal S1 introduces its main characters of Zaken [the assassin] and Mary Jane Moon [the royal] and primarily follows Zaken as he continues assassinating drug lords after saving MJ Moon as she fell from a skyscraper. He is then caught during a mission and brought to the royal palace where he is tortured and nearly assassinated, sparking a brutal conflict that ends with a massacre of assassins and royal guards. 

Black Hood S1 introduces Spec Aiken and Linette Aiken, siblings who live in the Slums of Edurdale, who have to deal with the Ruler of the Slums - Wick. Wick tortures them as he has full control over the entirety of the Slums, eventually forcing Spec’s hand and creating Black Hood. As Black Hood, Spec plunders from several of Wick’s factories and commits several criminal actions in the name of protecting/saving his family, leading to a one-on-one fight that dictates who controls the Slums. 

 

QUALITY?

Now with the synopsis over, let’s start with the first contender’s quality, The Assassin & Royal S1. This series begins with an instant disadvantage. This series was written at different times with the first episode being written in August of 2019, the second episode following a month later, and the third episode arriving in January of 2020. This scattershot release schedule affects the quality of the season, especially with how well put together the rest of the season is, which was all written around the same time. These first three episodes don’t serve as a strong foundation for The Assassin & Royal S1. Now looking at Black Hood S1, this series was written over a few months and not years like the other contender. This allows Black Hood S1 to retain the same quality throughout all of its episodes. 

 

FIRST EPISODE:

Now, what about the first episodes? First episodes usually lay down the brickwork for the story and introduce many important elements, so how well did these series do their first episode? Well, for Black Hood S1, its first episode isn’t too bad but suffers from telling the vital information to the readers rather than showing it. Wick, the main villain of Black Hood S1 who makes his first appearance in this episode, is described as arrogant and furious in the first few paragraphs, but this description isn’t needed. Instead, why doesn’t the story just show us how arrogant and furious he is, which can also be said for the main character’s father, Roy Aiken. The first few paragraphs serve as an introduction to Wick and the fact that he’s a gang leader and that Roy desperately took out a loan from Wick to feed his family. None of this is necessary if the story rather shows us how desperate and afraid he is than just tell us. Though both of these characters are depicted as their character traits, this first episode suffers from this mistake. Another small mistake is a single misuse in grammatical tense as “us” is used when the story is meant to be in the past tense. 

Now how did The Assassin & Royal S1 do in comparison to Black Hood S1? Well, not much better. It doesn’t suffer from the same main issue as its contender but rather its grammatical and structural issues. The Assassin & Royal S1’s first episode isn’t more than 500 words, but it already bores me. The first time both main characters of Zaken [the assassin] and Mary Jane Moon [the royal] interact with each other is bogged down by a sudden forgetfulness of paragraphs. This first interaction that is meant to lead both characters down their paths feels forgettable and boring, which is mainly because of the structural issue I just listed as well as it feeling like a first draft. The gadgets on Zaken’s person are given time to describe and explain which takes away from him saving Mary Jane Moon. It is important to explore these gadgets that he has, but not at the cost of the main reason this episode was written.

 

FINAL EPISODE:

Okay with the first episodes out the way, let’s look at the final episodes. We’ll start with Black Hood S1 and see how well it did. Unfortunately, I can’t say too many positives. The one-on-one fight between Wick and Spec is interesting but bogged down by bad writing. The action isn’t clear and the attacks don’t feel connected. The message that Wick tells Spec seems forced as hints of this message hadn’t been sprinkled anywhere else in the season aside from this moment. 

Now any positives? Well, the conclusion of the story is pretty good and it leads off into an interesting cliffhanger for future installments. The overall feel of a one-on-one fight feels grittier and meant more to the story than if Spec fought Wick and the other assassins present in the story.

How about The Assassin & Royal S1? Well, this series does a better job with its action. Sometimes the action can be messy but it is more engaging than Black Hood S1’s action for me. It also does a good job in moving from storyline to storyline, concluding them as you could conclude them in the first season - meaning that they had a resolution but it could be continued in future installments. The pacing was done well and the writing was leagues better than the first episode which now looks choppy and awful in comparison. 

Any negatives? Well, there’s not much to say in terms of negative attributes about this story. The only negative issue I could bring up is that Elizabeth [Zaken’s past love] who appears in the latter half of the season could’ve used some more time to develop her character and her connection with Zaken, though this could be done in a second season. 

 

PLANNED?

The Assassin & Royal S1 wasn’t planned before it began production, at least for the first three episodes. The remaining five episodes were planned out in advance of writing them, so they fare a lot better than the mess that the unplanned first three episodes are. In addition, the latter five episodes are an improvement quality-wise. The writing is better, the action is done more interestingly, the characters are more developed, and there is the actual use of paragraphs to allow the story to flow better. 

Black Hood S1, on the other hand, doesn’t surpass The Assassin & Royal S1 in terms of quality as it’s pretty average, though this is definitely because of the time it was produced in. However, at least, it was planned out in its entirety before I began writing it. Every episode was planned out, though it could’ve been a little better as there wasn’t much attention on some of the side characters and even the antagonist. This story would sparkle with a remaster that would fit in more content about the underdeveloped side characters and fix its simple mistakes. 

 

FUN FACTS?

Black Hood S1’s fun fact is that this series is the catalyst for a revolution in terms of quality. Before Black Hood S1, none of the series were planned out and written as I go. However, then a series known as Jeff: The Kind Hero: Season One (2010) {Jeff: The Kind Hero S1}, which probably will get a VERSUS! Episode one day was so awful, underwhelming, and a total mess that resulted in Black Hood S1 being the first true series to be planned out. Black Hood S1 would also be one of the series that I had the most fun with during 2020 and was written during quarantine in the United States. 

The Assassin & Royal S1’s fun fact is that this series was the fourth chapter of Revival: A Collection of Shorts (2019- ) {Revival}. Revival, as the full name implies, is a collection of shorts from different genres such as fantasy with The Assassin & Royal S1 and apocalyptic with Virus X: Season One (2021) {Virus X S1}. Revival began in August of 2019 and with a limited seven-chapter series known as Final Moments: Complete Story (2019) {Final Moments 1}. The first chapters followed Final Moments 1 while the fourth chapter was The Assassin & Royal S1’s first episode. This was the first fantasy series as well as my personal favorite series to work on during the time.

 

CONCLUSION:

So between the two series, which is stronger and, arguably, better? Well, after going through both series and after all I’ve written I would have to say… The Assassin & Royal S1 is better than Black Hood S1. Why? Well, the first three episodes bring it down and the scattershot release schedule affected the quality but the latter five episodes are enough to elevate the series. To add to that praise, the action, juggling of storylines, and characters are more defined and significantly better than Black Hood S1. 

Where The Assassin & Royal S1 has a varying degree of quality, Black Hood S1 retains its quality, though that quality is rather average. The action is also sloppier and hard to follow in Black Hood S1 where it’s more polished in The Assassin & Royal S1. The writing and structure are also worse.

Overall, The Assassin & Royal is superior to Black Hood S1 in practically every aspect and deserves to be crowned as the first-ever VERSUS! CHAMPION. 

Thank you for reading VERSUS!’s first episode. This series is confirmed to have a first full season with a total of four matches. A second season will be based on the reception of the first season, so if you enjoyed it, please make your voice known in the