King of The Nerds (2013) s03e01 Episode Script
Judgment Day
1 Curtis: Last season a new king was crowned.
Arise, your highness! On to Mars! Curtis: Inspired by her victory, Kayla fulfilled a lifelong dream to become the first nerd on Mars.
Kayla: Mission accomplished! Curtis: But as the isolation set in, - [Laughing maniacally.]
- Kayla was consumed by space madness and a desire to reign forever.
[Whirring.]
As the martian attack commenced, the elder nerds gathered to save the throne of games, hiding it in a secret bunker deep below the surface of Nerdvana.
Her plan to destroy the throne having failed, Kayla succumbed to her space madness.
Thousands of feet underground, the throne of games sits empty, awaiting the rise of a new king.
Now 12 more of the brainiest Boo-boo-boop! Robotics is what got me super-confident.
- Gamingest - Have you guys ever played diplomacy? It ruins friendships.
Aah! This is just me leveling up.
Curtis: Science fiction and fantasy-lovingest nerds I'm a squire of the order of argon drath.
Hobbits know nothing about Sci-Fi! Curtis: Have come from across time and space Bring me your nerds! There's no way that's not gonna be an animated gif.
[As Gollum.]
precious.
Curtis: To claim the throne of games.
Dun-dun-dun! There's gonna be blood on somebody's hands.
Curtis: They will do battle in games of creativity You may attempt to answer the ogre's riddle.
Knowledge and skill What?! All vying to impress the greatest nerd experts in the land.
It was not necessarily relevant to 21st-century physics.
Schadenfreude for everyone.
[Both imitate explosion.]
Curtis: But only one can claim the throne.
Todd: She's a backstabbing bitch who's ready to slit my throat, just like Cercei Lannister.
Only one can wear the crown.
- That's such a vulgar display of power.
- Murder is fun.
He's a dick sac and I don't want to play with him.
Only one can be called king of the Nerds! [Laughs, wheezing.]
Or queen.
My name is Jonathan Adler, and I'm a statistical consultant.
I really like using my math to solve real problems and actually help people out.
For example, suppose you had five bags of potato chips and you wanted to choose two of those bags.
This is the mathematical proof that 1+C plus all the way up to M-1 is the same as M choose 2.
It's pretty cool.
My name is Raychelle.
I am the master of all things nerdy, like video games and cosplaying.
I have many unique skills including making the "Predator" noise.
[Making "Predator" noise.]
[Chuckling.]
Oh, my God.
Look at that No socks, comfortable shoes.
He's got the whole thing going.
I'm Ben.
I have my PhD in deep-sea microbiology.
I think everybody has a little bit of nerd in them.
You might not know what "rolling a 20" means, but at the same time, I don't know who the quarterback is of the Carolina Panthers.
That's actually not true.
I know it's Cam Newton.
Welcome.
I bear sad tidings The king is no more.
And you, you brave few, have been selected from across the nerd universe to compete for $100,000 and the right to be crowned king of the Nerds.
[Cheers and applause.]
Each week you'll compete in a battle royal known as the nerd war.
Will battle it out in the nerd-off.
This week's challenge, you are going to Now, last season, the nerds picked teams.
Oh, God.
The season before that, the nerds picked teams.
It's happening.
This season, the nerds pick teams again! [Laughter.]
Now, in the first two seasons, the first nerd war was to separate to, um Raychelle: [Laughing.]
Why is trash flying? Just excuse us for a moment.
We'll be right back.
[Laughter.]
It's, like, recyclables, too.
Have the nerds picked their teams yet? You're me.
You're future me.
- Hey, Bobby.
- Hey, Bobby.
Is that what I look like? Have they picked their teams yet?! No.
No.
They They haven't picked teams yet.
They must not be allowed to control their own destinies.
It will all go horribly wrong.
But they always pick teams.
The list.
These are the teams.
Now go.
We've already said too much.
- Watch out for the pickle.
- Got it.
Okay, uh New plan.
You will not be picking teams.
Ohh! Raychelle: [Laughing.]
What? We will.
The twist is There's no twist.
[Laughter.]
Green team Colby, Amanda, Jacob, Heather, Jonathan, and Ori.
I am Ori, I'm a mechanical-engineering student, I love larping, and I am the squire of Sir Lane.
Remember your ornium, Squire.
A knight is sworn to valor, their loyalty knows no bounds, and their wrath undoes the wicked.
Okay, so, blue team Lily, Ben, Raychelle, Todd Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thomas, and Kaitlin.
Hi, guys.
I'm Dr.
Kaitlin Spak, and I work for NASA.
Due to my above-average intelligence, society considers me a nerd.
For your first nerd war, your teams will build a steampunk rube Goldberg machine designed to reveal the names that your teams choose.
A rube Goldberg machine is a machine that takes pulleys, weights to do something extremely simple like squeezing toothpaste out of a toothpaste tube, or, in our case, raising our team flag.
Steampunk takes, like, 19th-century visuals but puts them in, like, a futuristic setting Gears, pulleys.
The way I describe steampunk is Abraham Lincoln with a period-accurate jet pack.
You'll be judged on functionality, engineering, and creativity.
Head into Nerdvana.
You have 24 hours.
Off you go! [Cheers and applause.]
Aah! [Laughter.]
Oh, my gosh! Oh, nice.
This is fantastic.
Walking in Nerdvana, I'm just overblown with all the amazing stuff in it.
[All screaming.]
[Laughter.]
It's nerd heaven.
[Squealing.]
These are mine, okay? Slushie machine! Sweet! And the Michael Keaton Batman.
Punchwood, get on a diamond ax.
Oh, my [Screams.]
I was really excited about the Pac-Man machine.
I'm not very good at Pac-Man, but I'm pretty excited to get good at Pac-Man.
[Both laugh.]
Hey, who's the Starcraft person? Is that you? That's me.
My name is Thomas Vollum Sounds like "Gollum.
" [As Gollum.]
And I will be the kings of the Nerds.
I'm a brony.
I'm an eagle scout.
I'm a brony.
I knew we would be friends.
A brony is an adult male that enjoys watching the television show "My Little Pony.
" The pony I am most like is pinkie pie Crazy party pony who likes to make people smile.
Is this, like, a tauntaun sleeping bag? It doesn't smell bad, at least.
Is that a secret room? Is it, like, a certain thing if you pull it? [Screams.]
Oh, my God! [All cheer.]
Secret place! My name's Jacob.
I work at a comic-book store and write trivia games.
I'm such a huge DC fan.
Yeah, same here.
This is great.
It's a great issue.
There's no aspect of nerd culture that doesn't fascinate me.
That is the key to me making it all the way to the crown.
And the throne.
And the scepter.
And the title.
And a cape? I get a cape? Are you keeping your "Jeopardy" champ thing under wraps? I'm not, because I saw it on YouTube.
It's not that secret.
My name is Colby Burnett.
I am a "Jeopardy" champion.
I'm, like, an "F" grade or, like, "G" grade celebrity.
I've been on 11 episodes.
I won $375,000.
"G" grade does sell yourself short.
You're an "E" for sure.
It's me, it's me, it's t-o-double-d, baby.
I am "Todd the bod.
" I am a huge comic-book nerd.
- I will be taking this.
- [Laughs.]
It's my perfect size.
I came here to prove that comic-book nerds can actually win this thing.
I have the personality, and I have the charm, so of course I'm gonna win.
They'll all kneel before Todd.
[Laughs evilly, echoes.]
Ahh.
Ahh.
Did you see yours? Lily: Yes, I did see mine.
Mother of dragons with a gun And a communicator.
My name is Lily.
I'm a semi-professional cosplayer.
I grew up in a costume shop, so I sew lots.
Ben: Lily is very attractive.
I'm glad she's on my team.
I think casting has done a great job, and I thank them for that.
What could be better than a planet skirt? An asteroid belt.
[Laughter.]
I'm Amanda.
I was a marching-band flute player, and I also make apparel for bookworms.
Do you have big-and-tall sizes? The group wanted to talk about each other forever when we have a challenge and we only have 24 hours.
My name is Heather, and I have a neuroscience degree.
Chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter.
Did anybody play "City of Heroes"? I haven't played it since, like, 2008.
Well, they shut it down.
So, question.
Can we start on our challenge? We can sit and talk about ponies and comic books on downtime.
I got a rube Goldberg machine to make.
Let's go.
I'm gonna take Darwin with me.
Heather: Is it this one? Yeah, that looks green in there.
For this challenge, we have to build a rube Goldberg machine in 24 hours.
Hola! Ori: The light it burns us! Jacob: Some time in the war room, some time in the staging area, and we really have to budget our time.
Dude, this is a good list.
When we walked into the war room, we found a list that had everything for us to build our rube Goldberg machine.
Wow, you guys, we get, like, a table.
Just tell me what you guys want to do, and I'll make it.
Ori: I'm gonna do great.
I'm a mechanical engineer.
I build things.
What, what?! What if we have the watermelon somehow is fixed, and then when you push the watermelon off of something, then the banner is revealed? I'm nervous, because if everyone's not on their a-game, then this could go into the toilet.
What are we being graded on again? Functionality, creativity, and Uh Let's just make a cool thing and worry about how it's being graded later.
Kaitlin: Step 1 Gather required materials.
This thing is amazing, what we got planned.
Let's do this! Hopefully, we'll have enough time to complete this thing in 24 hours.
Ohhhhh.
Sweet action! Nice.
It's a Van Der Graaf generator! Thomas, can you pull that table out and set it up? When it comes to projects, I am not laid-back.
We need the banner What are you doing right now? Kaitlin's scary.
Put together three of those.
[Laughing.]
She's just scary.
Thomas: What do you think? Still not good enough.
It's like, "oh, you have something to say? Nope, not right now, because I worked for NASA.
" that kind of thing going on.
I just want to give you a status update.
Our ball rolls down, hits a marble stop.
They're working on styling.
We've together figured out how to get the iron working.
Just wanted to keep you guys in the loop.
Okay.
Entering this nerd war, I thought Ori would be our go-to guy.
Oops.
That's ended up being Jonathan.
It tugs on that.
We're just gonna cut that.
I love it! Ori's main contribution was supposed to be as a mechanical engineer Ow! But so far, Ori hasn't been helpful at all.
And we could circle the train track.
That's still a thing that could happen.
Jacob: Can we have the train double back? Oh! Double back That would work.
[Scoffs.]
That's what I said.
Sorry.
I don't know why I didn't hear that.
- It's probably 'cause you're a woman.
- [Chuckles.]
Whoa! Did you really just say that? It was a joke! I'm sorry! It's cool It's not like women are marginalized in science or anything, so it's not like it's a sensitive place.
We are going to move on from this.
Amanda: Ori made a comment to Heather.
I don't think he's a misogynist or anything like that, but he is a weak link.
If we lose which we are praying that we don't We should team up with you guys to put Ori in the nerd-off.
Okay, need a new plan.
[Chuckles.]
Raychelle: Do we know what time it is? Aaaah! It's burning! Ben: I'm exhausted.
We've been working all night.
Oh! Yep, got it.
We have a start that kind of works.
We have an end that kind of works.
More weight.
We have some middle pieces being put together.
Todd: No.
I'm getting too old for this.
How old are you, again? 26.
Enjoy your youth while you can, sir.
We are definitely working on this into the night.
Release the melon! All right.
So, we're not doing that idea.
I'm starting to get worried about this challenge.
[Bleep.]
What if this machine just doesn't even work? Hashtag we're not doing so hot right now.
[Rooster crows.]
Heather: This is so exciting.
Yeah, what a fun first challenge.
Everyone, now, this is the danger zone.
If you enter the danger zone, I kill you.
I am fairly confident in all of the functionality.
We'll just do one test now, confirm everything works.
I'm fairly confident in the creativity.
The area I'm most stressed about is, we have no idea what to expect from the blue team.
I think we're gonna be good.
Um, except that we may have a slight problem.
With one hour, the electric fan for the final step of releasing the banner, the motor was burned out.
The fan motor's really hot.
Now with the deadline looming, I need to figure out something to replace it.
What's the largest mousetrap we have? Honestly, to come up with an entire replacement in 20 minutes is definitely a pretty stressful situation.
When the car hits this, that should pull the string.
Got it.
I'm not sure we can test it.
This is engineering.
This is my thing.
If something goes wrong on my part of the machine, it's my fault.
Thomas: So, that's gonna work? Kaitlin: I Think so.
Amanda: Walking into the first nerd war, I haven't felt this much excitement since I was at band camp when we did a lip-syncing battle.
Welcome to Nerdvana's steampunk lair.
Thomas: The blue team's rube Goldberg machine seems really cool.
It looks like they have a lot more interaction than we do, and a lot of them seem really complex.
Oh, frak me.
Our first judge created the rube Goldberg machine featured in the OK Go video "This too shall pass" Adam sadowsky.
[Cheers and applause.]
I saw that video when it came out, so in a way, I feel like I've contributed to his success.
He wouldn't be here without me.
Our second judge is a genius.
She's written books on math.
You may know her better as an actress from "The Wonder Years" Danica McKellar! Heather: Danica McKellar is one of my personal heroes because she's a really cute lady and she's also a very smart lady, and that's what I aspire to do Is be cute and also fiercely intelligent.
And finally, from "Yrue Blood," please welcome the actor and comic-book author Michael McMillian.
[Cheers and applause.]
Oh, my God.
I'm gonna have a panic attack.
I'm a truebie all the way.
I don't know how much he knows about rube Goldberg machines, but I don't care He's beautiful.
You three are going to be judging based on functionality, engineering, and creativity.
If any of the interactions fail, the team may reset anywhere in the machine up to three times, but only have one minute to do it.
Are you ready to reveal your team names? [Cheers and applause.]
All right.
Green team, we are starting with you.
Start your kinetic engines! Jacob: Our story takes place in a far future.
A new weaponized mineral is discovered that when it has erupted, mayhem ensues, war breaks out.
Electricity obsolete.
And all that is left is steam.
Heather.
Heather: Our machine's themed with post-apocalyptic steampunk destruction.
We're burning stuff.
We have lots of pulleys.
It is gonna be the coolest reveal of our team name.
If you would.
Ohh.
Oop.
Curtis: Your machine has failed once.
You have one minute to reset.
Ben: Push the track farther forward.
Lily: Their machine malfunctioned! Schadenfreude for everyone.
- Heather: Okay, we're good? - Yeah.
Jonathan: The iron has to melt the plastic, which causes scissors to cut the rope.
Being slightly off can cause the whole thing to be ruined.
Just give it time.
Yeah.
It's melting.
Come on, come on, come on! Ah.
Whoo! [Applause.]
All's well that ends well.
I like that banner at the end, there.
Tell us what your team name is.
Together: Team S.
M.
A.
S.
H.
! Heather: Which stands for "Supersonic Masters And Slayers of Hordes.
" It's an acronym.
Jacob: I really do like our team name, and I also like acronyms S.
H.
I.
E.
L.
D.
, S.
T.
A.
R.
L.
A.
B.
S.
from Superman comics.
Like the watermelon smash.
[Cheers and applause.]
Thank you, Danica.
"NASA" "NASA's" an acronym.
It's not a cool word, but it's an acronym.
Blue team, show us what you got.
Kaitlin: We have a story that goes along with our rube Goldberg machine Missile causes a tidal wave which destroys a city.
We send in army men, and the ball is hit by a car which comes down a ramp, which releases heavy bowling pins to raise our banner.
It's pretty darn straightforward.
This just in Ladies and gentlemen, there have been sightings of the clockwork king near the bay area of cup city.
[Chuckles.]
That's me.
I'm the clockwork king.
[Laughs evilly.]
I, with my Tesla coil, am going to destroy cup city in the sapphire isles with my steam-powered steam bomb! [Laughs evilly.]
A tidal wave has taken out the city! [Laughs evilly.]
What will happen?! Will the heroes make it in time? [Laughs evilly.]
They won't make it in time.
Aha! It's never gonna happen.
His explosions made it, and the heroes have made it! Aah! Curtis: An interaction has failed.
You have one minute to either restart at the beginning or start where the machine failed.
Kaitlin: The mousetrap needs to be tilted up.
I'm super-excited not because I wanted to see them fail, because they worked very hard on that But because it means we aren't the only losers in the room.
So, we can either try and start from the beginning You know what, guys? It's really cool.
- Should we just go for it? - Yeah.
Raychelle: Starting from the beginning is super-risky when all we have to do is toss a ball on a mousetrap, but starting at the beginning would be a lot more cool.
What's this?! Another doomsday device?! Todd: I have another doomsday device! It is another steam bomb, and it'll destroy more things! [Laughs evilly.]
Let's do it! Aaaah! Will our heroes save the day?! I see it.
I see it! Raychelle: Whoo! And they made it in the getaway car! Yes! [Cheers and applause.]
House hooloovoo! House hooloovoo! Colby: Their banner springs up from the ground, instead of ours just dropping, and that excites, 'cause it takes more effort to pull something up than to have something fall down, 'cause we can always depend on gravity.
I'm very impressed.
You chose a lot of interactions that are very unusual, particularly the yoga mat.
I think it was great.
Thank you.
What is house hooloovoo? The hooloovoo are a hyper-intelligent shade of blue from Douglas Adams' classic work "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
" It is clearly the perfect name, 'cause we are hyper-intelligent, and we are blue.
But not in the depressed sense.
We're blue in the happy sense.
So, judges, it's all yours.
Obviously, they both had their difficulties today.
But there's something about the green team's machine that's very masculine.
Somehow, blue team managed to capture a much more whimsical spirit.
I liked what was happening over on the green.
Like, melting the wire That's really creative.
Having scissors cut Very creative.
Ben: We might not win, but we did a great job.
You know, the banner came up.
That's got to count for something.
Have you come to a decision? Think so.
Judges, have you come to a decision? - We have.
- Michael? Engineering-wise, I was impressed by both of them.
At the end of the day, though, I was looking for a machine that I could look at and be entertained.
House hooloovoo, you have my vote.
- Raychelle: Thank you.
- [Applause.]
The clockwork king feels fantastic.
I always feel fantastic.
Danica? I do consider myself a nerd.
To me, a nerd means you have enthusiasm and focus that allows you to become an expert at something that maybe nobody else cares about, and it's just beautiful.
House hooloovoo, you had this incredibly fun machine.
I loved the colors.
Over here, we have this world of destruction, but it was so creative, too.
You had the melting wire.
To me, it was a very hard decision.
Team S.
M.
A.
S.
H.
, you have my vote.
Jacob: We're back to tied.
We're not out of the woods yet, but we're not being eaten by a dire wolf.
Adam? House hooloovoo had a sort of much more whimsical aesthetic.
I love the idea of lifting the banner instead of just letting it fall.
Team S.
M.
A.
S.
H.
's machine, it feels very sort of dude Goldberg to me.
And so, at the end of the day, my vote goes to house hooloovoo.
House hooloovoo won this nerd war! The rest of my team was like, "ahh!" And I was like, "okay, guys, like, we won.
"Well, yeah.
I should have won.
I usually do.
" You have each won an ultimate comic-con survival kit courtesy of thinkgeek.
com.
- Oh, my God! - Thank you! Amanda: The girl who cosplays at San Diego comic-con every year loses this survival kit.
Are you kidding me? Whoo! Team S.
M.
A.
S.
H.
, two of your members will be going into the nerd-off.
House hooloovoo, you will be selecting one of those nerds.
Team S.
M.
A.
S.
H.
, you will choose the other nerd.
Good night.
Jonathan: This feels just like when the fleet landed on New Caprica and built a colony.
We were happy, we thought we were gonna make it, and suddenly, the Cylons came and just ruined our day.
Good job, guys.
You're my hero, Steve Newlin.
I love you.
Oh.
Thank you.
Ori: Can you pass me the sword? I think I need it.
Do we want to sit down and have a proper powwow? I know my team doesn't want me to go into the nerd-off One of us is going home.
We can't deny that fact.
'Cause I'm Mr.
Nice Guy.
No one really gets mad at me unless I'm being incompetent or I tell really bad jokes.
Okay.
We're doing hands now.
Yeah, I do it whenever people don't listen to me, and I feel like I have something to say.
This is a competition, and we are all in it to win.
Heather: I feel like this all lies on Ori, who did Jack diddly squat.
Us sitting around in a circle, no one's gonna say anything bad about any of us.
- Are you saying a break? - Jacob: Oh, now? Okay.
I'm not nervous.
The blue team will pick Colby, because "'Jeopardy!' champion" puts a big ol' target on his head.
Let's go see what we didn't win.
Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Ben: I'm really excited to find out what an official comic-con survival kit looks like.
Maybe it involves comfortable shoes.
[People screaming.]
Todd: Fantastic t-shirts that definitely aren't my size.
Kaitlin: I really liked the t-shirts that said "I am not a people person," because I don't think I am a people person.
Do you think we should talk about who we want to ? No, save that for tomorrow.
I'm totally gonna have some fun tonight.
- Can we look at your stuff? - Ben: Come on in.
We've got chardonnay, we've got hard slushies, ready to go.
Whoo-hoo-hoo! Ready? Ba-da da-dum ba-dum Oh, man.
Ben: Looking for who we should send to the nerd-off I need somebody gone who's gonna be strong in future challenges.
If we took out one of your cosplay people You have to look for somebody who will be strong potentially in cosplay, like Heather or Amanda.
I'm thinking forward on this one.
Bedtime Jacob: Nerd pod 4 accepting nerd pod 6.
Lily: house hooloovoo All: house hooloovoo - Ben: house - Lily: It's twice! Sorry.
I get into it.
[Laughs.]
Jacob: [Groans.]
Too early for Vision.
Coming down.
I'm so tired.
Thomas: It's a very difficult decision to choose someone to send into the nerd-off.
This is something you got to see.
Go.
[As Gollum.]
What's in your pocketses, precious? Oh, my God! That is so good! Ori: All these guys are just people I love to hang out with.
Wait can you do Ezekiel 25:17 as Gollum? [As Gollum.]
Does he look like a bitch? [Laughter.]
Nothing is better than the friendship of magic.
The magic Oh, I said it wrong.
Nothing is better than the magic of friendship.
We definitely got to talk.
The ladies got to talk.
Amanda: My overall strategy is to create an alliance between the girls in the house.
Cross-team alliances are underestimated in this game.
The guys want to send one of you home.
Amanda: If there's already a "boys vs.
girls" mentality, that just means that you girls are gonna be next.
I don't like that.
If you guys can convince your team to send in Colby I got you.
Our team will vote in Ori, and then we'll already get down to six guys and five girls.
We definitely want to keep all of the "kings" being ladies.
I'm gonna put this out there Ori is bad for their team.
He should probably stay.
It is really important to keep discord in the other team.
We know that there's gonna be some type of cosplay event coming up.
Todd: I think we should send in Heather.
I really would rather send in Colby because he's, like, a savant.
I think we need to do something that they're not expecting.
I'm happy to see anyone gone who isn't me.
I know I'm already coming across as cutthroat and unemotional, and I'm sorry.
Hey! We're in a game.
This is the last time it's gonna be all 12.
Let's just have a good time.
This would've been so much easier if there were awful people in this house.
We're here to hang out, we're here to have fun, but first and foremost, we're here to play.
No! No! - Curtis: Calling all nerds! - [Alarm wailing.]
Please join us in the throne room! [Laughing.]
Oh, my gosh.
Thomas: This is so "Fallout.
" We got the radiation sign, we got all the big, spinning What are they called? Fans? Jonathan: The throne room's kind of scary.
I was hoping it'd be a little more festive.
Nerds, we meet thousands of feet beneath the surface of the earth.
Here, we may safely select our new king.
Today, two nerds compete in the nerd-off.
The winner stays to compete to wear the crown, and the right to sit atop the throne of games! [Choir vocalizing dramatically.]
There sure are a lot of books.
Way to go, literacy.
The loser goes home immediately.
Team S.
M.
A.
S.
H.
, we have tabulated your votes.
The first vote Ori.
The next vote Colby.
The next vote Is for Ori.
The next vote Ori.
The next vote Ori.
You will be going into the nerd-off.
This is your game.
I'm so sorry.
Ori: Voting me without a single hint is a little backhanded, but I'll live with it, I guess.
I'm a little confused that I got picked, but no hard feelings.
I have to do my best to win.
Jacob: I don't want to count my chickens too much, but I feel fairly confident that there are people in this game who have accepted their in-game mortality, so to speak.
House hooloovoo, your votes have been tallied.
The light information we have received from the other team leads me to believe that it will be Colby, which is what I expect.
By unanimous decision Other intelligences led me to believe that Heather or Amanda are also likely selections.
And I don't want to wish that on anyone, but somebody's got to be first.
Jacob.
You're going to the nerd-off.
Uh Oh, wow.
[Sighs.]
Um, okay.
This is happening.
This is real life now.
I-I guess they see something in me that I didn't let out and it scares them a little bit, which I guess is a compliment? Lily, your feelings about this decision? I trust my team, and we knew that it was the right decision.
Can we get more What?! Yeah, can we get I would love a little more Basically, it's just I know.
We just decided as a team what could affect us down the line.
The last choice that they were even thinking of was Jacob For good reason.
We want to catch them off guard.
Very well.
Please step forward.
Bend the knee.
For today's nerd-off, you become the destroyers of cities as you do battle over Tokyo in a game we call Nerdzilla.
Study up on anime, manga, and kaiju.
May the best nerd win.
[Gong rings.]
Lily: I am really glad I'm not in this nerd-off because I am only familiar with Miyazaki, "Samurai Champloo", "Cowboy Bebop", "Pokémon", "Avatar", "Korra".
Oh, and then, obviously, Godzilla and "Pacific Rim" and Other things.
[Japanese accent.]
Nerdzilla comes.
Amanda: All right.
To the library? To the library.
To the library.
Man, that was rough.
The rest of my group is a bunch of bleeding hearts.
The fact that they were both shocked and dismayed I think we made the right choice.
We didn't send him to an execution.
Why is this sad? Ori, do you know anything about anime? Yes.
I am an otaku, which just means you're an anime nerd.
I'm not worried about this challenge.
Jacob: Ori is going into this with no concerns, and I'm so frazzled.
Let's go to a different room.
I didn't necessarily spearhead the organization to put Ori out, but I went along with it.
It's kind of a death by my own hands.
[High-pitched.]
I got this! [Normal voice.]
No, I can't do that.
How are we gonna come up with things to - Like, what do you - I don't know.
I don't know.
What's the name of the dog in "Cowboy Bebop"? Even though I work at a comic-book store and we sell manga, I still don't really have a good idea of which ones are very popular and which ones aren't very popular.
And all the kaiju stuff I'm kicking myself for not seeing the new "Godzilla" movie.
I mean, I love Bryan Cranston.
I don't know what I was thinking.
I could really use your study skills.
I know a little bit about anime, but I know a lot about retaining information, so that's where I'm going to make a difference.
Colby: The way to remember things you work in three.
You have three major characters, and then you try to know three things that happened in the plot.
That's all you can do in this limited amount of time.
Jonathan: Jacob is taking this very seriously.
Ori seems to feel like he's already won this.
Amanda: You're trying to go on Facebook? I am a master of goofing off.
We have a word for that It's called "hubris".
Hoo-bris? That's how you pronounce that, right? Hoo-bris? Akira Would that be related at all? - Colby: Well, I mean - Raychelle: There's so much stuff.
[Siren wailing, police radio chatter.]
[Air-raid siren blaring.]
[Gunfire.]
[Loud footsteps rumbling.]
[Creatures roar.]
Jacob: This is gonna set the tone for what all nerd-offs are like.
And I'm the Guinea pig.
If I win, the target on my head becomes larger.
This is almost a no-win situation.
[Creature roars.]
Welcome to little, little Tokyo [Laughter.]
Where you two behemoths are about to do battle.
Bobby: For each question you answer correctly, you get to rampage through a section of the city.
The first nerd to get four right will get to destroy the factory and wins this nerd-off! [Applause.]
The loser is banished immediately.
Let them fight.
Question 1 You may reveal your answers.
You are both correct.
Lots of destruction.
Grow, monster! Grow! [Air-raid siren blares.]
Begin destroying the first section of the city! You got it.
[Roars.]
[Roars.]
[Roars.]
[Roaring.]
I need to take a quick break.
[Sighs.]
[Laughter.]
[Roars.]
Jacob: Destroying a city is a newly realized dream of mine.
[Groans.]
[Spits.]
That got in my mouth.
That went in my mouth.
Curtis: Next question Yes! Ori: I loved watching "Dragon Ball Z.
" That's one of the reasons I got into anime.
But I stopped watching 'cause "Dragon Ball GT" is [Bleep.]
bullshit.
Bobby: Reveal your answers.
And you are both correct.
[Cheers and applause.]
If you would have said "dirty magazines", that would have been the right answer, too.
Jacob: That was technically "Dragon Ball", not "Dragon Ball Z".
Well, you're right anyway.
[All screaming.]
It's smashing time! Smash! No, Jacob, no! No! [Grunts.]
I am so proud of Jacob because he is doing very well.
[Grunts.]
And I am just hoping that Jacob is able to pull ahead because I don't want to hang out with Ori anymore.
Bobby: The score is 2 to 2.
Next question In terms of trivia, this is what is known as the binary screw.
You may reveal your answers.
Only two answers make any sense, and they both make equal sense if you don't know for sure.
I would've gone with "what is 'c'?" [Japanese accent.]
Godzilla.
The correct answer is "c," Godzilla.
Poor Jacob.
But there was our break.
Leeroy Jenkins! [Cheers and applause.]
If Ori can get one more answer right, it means he stays with the green team, which means the team will not run as smoothly.
It'll be Oh, it'll be like a shuffleboard.
You won't know when there's gonna be friction, but there will.
Boom! Analogy! [Creature roars.]
Ori, one more correct answer, and you have won this nerd-off.
Curtis: And the question is [Sighs.]
Butchered it.
Curtis blew those pronunciations.
That pained me as an otaku.
You may reveal your answers.
Todd: We need this plan to come to fruition.
If Ori does come back, he's gonna blame his own teammates, where if Jacob comes back, him and the rest of the team are all gonna blame us.
Jacob: I'm hoping that I'm wrong, because if I'm wrong, he's wrong, and we go again.
You are both correct, but, Ori, you have won this nerd-off! [Cheers and applause.]
It's time to destroy the factory.
Today, I have canceled my apocalypse.
[Roars softly.]
I'm not gonna do a real roar 'cause that's gonna kill my throat.
[Roars loudly.]
Ow.
Happy? [Roars loudly.]
[Applause.]
I am so happy to have won the nerd-off.
I still have the chance to win the $100,000 and the crown.
Jacob, while all comic books do not have storybook endings, know that your time with us has been one glorious chapter in Nerdvana's ongoing saga.
Thank you.
Nerd-speed, Jacob.
[Applause.]
Colby: This game could be over in four questions.
I find it mind-boggling that it could be over like that.
I mean, I've played trivia nights where I get asked 100 questions.
See you guys.
Raychelle: It is so hard to see somebody go.
It's even worse to know that you are the one that put them there.
We decided his fate 'cause we want to keep Ori to cause chaos for the other team, which is awful, makes me a terrible person, but it also makes me good at playing this game.
Jacob: From the brief glimpse I got of Nerdvana, I've seen it as this amazing place.
This whole experience has been wonderful, but the competition will continue on without me, and I will be watching from the sidelines.
Or no, I won't.
I won't be here at all, and I won't be a part of it.
Going home first sucks.
It sucks! Going home first sucks.
It's like you weren't even here.
Do it.
Has the order been restored? For now, Curtis.
For now.
Nice to see you got some pants.
[Laughs nerdily.]
Arise, your highness! On to Mars! Curtis: Inspired by her victory, Kayla fulfilled a lifelong dream to become the first nerd on Mars.
Kayla: Mission accomplished! Curtis: But as the isolation set in, - [Laughing maniacally.]
- Kayla was consumed by space madness and a desire to reign forever.
[Whirring.]
As the martian attack commenced, the elder nerds gathered to save the throne of games, hiding it in a secret bunker deep below the surface of Nerdvana.
Her plan to destroy the throne having failed, Kayla succumbed to her space madness.
Thousands of feet underground, the throne of games sits empty, awaiting the rise of a new king.
Now 12 more of the brainiest Boo-boo-boop! Robotics is what got me super-confident.
- Gamingest - Have you guys ever played diplomacy? It ruins friendships.
Aah! This is just me leveling up.
Curtis: Science fiction and fantasy-lovingest nerds I'm a squire of the order of argon drath.
Hobbits know nothing about Sci-Fi! Curtis: Have come from across time and space Bring me your nerds! There's no way that's not gonna be an animated gif.
[As Gollum.]
precious.
Curtis: To claim the throne of games.
Dun-dun-dun! There's gonna be blood on somebody's hands.
Curtis: They will do battle in games of creativity You may attempt to answer the ogre's riddle.
Knowledge and skill What?! All vying to impress the greatest nerd experts in the land.
It was not necessarily relevant to 21st-century physics.
Schadenfreude for everyone.
[Both imitate explosion.]
Curtis: But only one can claim the throne.
Todd: She's a backstabbing bitch who's ready to slit my throat, just like Cercei Lannister.
Only one can wear the crown.
- That's such a vulgar display of power.
- Murder is fun.
He's a dick sac and I don't want to play with him.
Only one can be called king of the Nerds! [Laughs, wheezing.]
Or queen.
My name is Jonathan Adler, and I'm a statistical consultant.
I really like using my math to solve real problems and actually help people out.
For example, suppose you had five bags of potato chips and you wanted to choose two of those bags.
This is the mathematical proof that 1+C plus all the way up to M-1 is the same as M choose 2.
It's pretty cool.
My name is Raychelle.
I am the master of all things nerdy, like video games and cosplaying.
I have many unique skills including making the "Predator" noise.
[Making "Predator" noise.]
[Chuckling.]
Oh, my God.
Look at that No socks, comfortable shoes.
He's got the whole thing going.
I'm Ben.
I have my PhD in deep-sea microbiology.
I think everybody has a little bit of nerd in them.
You might not know what "rolling a 20" means, but at the same time, I don't know who the quarterback is of the Carolina Panthers.
That's actually not true.
I know it's Cam Newton.
Welcome.
I bear sad tidings The king is no more.
And you, you brave few, have been selected from across the nerd universe to compete for $100,000 and the right to be crowned king of the Nerds.
[Cheers and applause.]
Each week you'll compete in a battle royal known as the nerd war.
Will battle it out in the nerd-off.
This week's challenge, you are going to Now, last season, the nerds picked teams.
Oh, God.
The season before that, the nerds picked teams.
It's happening.
This season, the nerds pick teams again! [Laughter.]
Now, in the first two seasons, the first nerd war was to separate to, um Raychelle: [Laughing.]
Why is trash flying? Just excuse us for a moment.
We'll be right back.
[Laughter.]
It's, like, recyclables, too.
Have the nerds picked their teams yet? You're me.
You're future me.
- Hey, Bobby.
- Hey, Bobby.
Is that what I look like? Have they picked their teams yet?! No.
No.
They They haven't picked teams yet.
They must not be allowed to control their own destinies.
It will all go horribly wrong.
But they always pick teams.
The list.
These are the teams.
Now go.
We've already said too much.
- Watch out for the pickle.
- Got it.
Okay, uh New plan.
You will not be picking teams.
Ohh! Raychelle: [Laughing.]
What? We will.
The twist is There's no twist.
[Laughter.]
Green team Colby, Amanda, Jacob, Heather, Jonathan, and Ori.
I am Ori, I'm a mechanical-engineering student, I love larping, and I am the squire of Sir Lane.
Remember your ornium, Squire.
A knight is sworn to valor, their loyalty knows no bounds, and their wrath undoes the wicked.
Okay, so, blue team Lily, Ben, Raychelle, Todd Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thomas, and Kaitlin.
Hi, guys.
I'm Dr.
Kaitlin Spak, and I work for NASA.
Due to my above-average intelligence, society considers me a nerd.
For your first nerd war, your teams will build a steampunk rube Goldberg machine designed to reveal the names that your teams choose.
A rube Goldberg machine is a machine that takes pulleys, weights to do something extremely simple like squeezing toothpaste out of a toothpaste tube, or, in our case, raising our team flag.
Steampunk takes, like, 19th-century visuals but puts them in, like, a futuristic setting Gears, pulleys.
The way I describe steampunk is Abraham Lincoln with a period-accurate jet pack.
You'll be judged on functionality, engineering, and creativity.
Head into Nerdvana.
You have 24 hours.
Off you go! [Cheers and applause.]
Aah! [Laughter.]
Oh, my gosh! Oh, nice.
This is fantastic.
Walking in Nerdvana, I'm just overblown with all the amazing stuff in it.
[All screaming.]
[Laughter.]
It's nerd heaven.
[Squealing.]
These are mine, okay? Slushie machine! Sweet! And the Michael Keaton Batman.
Punchwood, get on a diamond ax.
Oh, my [Screams.]
I was really excited about the Pac-Man machine.
I'm not very good at Pac-Man, but I'm pretty excited to get good at Pac-Man.
[Both laugh.]
Hey, who's the Starcraft person? Is that you? That's me.
My name is Thomas Vollum Sounds like "Gollum.
" [As Gollum.]
And I will be the kings of the Nerds.
I'm a brony.
I'm an eagle scout.
I'm a brony.
I knew we would be friends.
A brony is an adult male that enjoys watching the television show "My Little Pony.
" The pony I am most like is pinkie pie Crazy party pony who likes to make people smile.
Is this, like, a tauntaun sleeping bag? It doesn't smell bad, at least.
Is that a secret room? Is it, like, a certain thing if you pull it? [Screams.]
Oh, my God! [All cheer.]
Secret place! My name's Jacob.
I work at a comic-book store and write trivia games.
I'm such a huge DC fan.
Yeah, same here.
This is great.
It's a great issue.
There's no aspect of nerd culture that doesn't fascinate me.
That is the key to me making it all the way to the crown.
And the throne.
And the scepter.
And the title.
And a cape? I get a cape? Are you keeping your "Jeopardy" champ thing under wraps? I'm not, because I saw it on YouTube.
It's not that secret.
My name is Colby Burnett.
I am a "Jeopardy" champion.
I'm, like, an "F" grade or, like, "G" grade celebrity.
I've been on 11 episodes.
I won $375,000.
"G" grade does sell yourself short.
You're an "E" for sure.
It's me, it's me, it's t-o-double-d, baby.
I am "Todd the bod.
" I am a huge comic-book nerd.
- I will be taking this.
- [Laughs.]
It's my perfect size.
I came here to prove that comic-book nerds can actually win this thing.
I have the personality, and I have the charm, so of course I'm gonna win.
They'll all kneel before Todd.
[Laughs evilly, echoes.]
Ahh.
Ahh.
Did you see yours? Lily: Yes, I did see mine.
Mother of dragons with a gun And a communicator.
My name is Lily.
I'm a semi-professional cosplayer.
I grew up in a costume shop, so I sew lots.
Ben: Lily is very attractive.
I'm glad she's on my team.
I think casting has done a great job, and I thank them for that.
What could be better than a planet skirt? An asteroid belt.
[Laughter.]
I'm Amanda.
I was a marching-band flute player, and I also make apparel for bookworms.
Do you have big-and-tall sizes? The group wanted to talk about each other forever when we have a challenge and we only have 24 hours.
My name is Heather, and I have a neuroscience degree.
Chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter.
Did anybody play "City of Heroes"? I haven't played it since, like, 2008.
Well, they shut it down.
So, question.
Can we start on our challenge? We can sit and talk about ponies and comic books on downtime.
I got a rube Goldberg machine to make.
Let's go.
I'm gonna take Darwin with me.
Heather: Is it this one? Yeah, that looks green in there.
For this challenge, we have to build a rube Goldberg machine in 24 hours.
Hola! Ori: The light it burns us! Jacob: Some time in the war room, some time in the staging area, and we really have to budget our time.
Dude, this is a good list.
When we walked into the war room, we found a list that had everything for us to build our rube Goldberg machine.
Wow, you guys, we get, like, a table.
Just tell me what you guys want to do, and I'll make it.
Ori: I'm gonna do great.
I'm a mechanical engineer.
I build things.
What, what?! What if we have the watermelon somehow is fixed, and then when you push the watermelon off of something, then the banner is revealed? I'm nervous, because if everyone's not on their a-game, then this could go into the toilet.
What are we being graded on again? Functionality, creativity, and Uh Let's just make a cool thing and worry about how it's being graded later.
Kaitlin: Step 1 Gather required materials.
This thing is amazing, what we got planned.
Let's do this! Hopefully, we'll have enough time to complete this thing in 24 hours.
Ohhhhh.
Sweet action! Nice.
It's a Van Der Graaf generator! Thomas, can you pull that table out and set it up? When it comes to projects, I am not laid-back.
We need the banner What are you doing right now? Kaitlin's scary.
Put together three of those.
[Laughing.]
She's just scary.
Thomas: What do you think? Still not good enough.
It's like, "oh, you have something to say? Nope, not right now, because I worked for NASA.
" that kind of thing going on.
I just want to give you a status update.
Our ball rolls down, hits a marble stop.
They're working on styling.
We've together figured out how to get the iron working.
Just wanted to keep you guys in the loop.
Okay.
Entering this nerd war, I thought Ori would be our go-to guy.
Oops.
That's ended up being Jonathan.
It tugs on that.
We're just gonna cut that.
I love it! Ori's main contribution was supposed to be as a mechanical engineer Ow! But so far, Ori hasn't been helpful at all.
And we could circle the train track.
That's still a thing that could happen.
Jacob: Can we have the train double back? Oh! Double back That would work.
[Scoffs.]
That's what I said.
Sorry.
I don't know why I didn't hear that.
- It's probably 'cause you're a woman.
- [Chuckles.]
Whoa! Did you really just say that? It was a joke! I'm sorry! It's cool It's not like women are marginalized in science or anything, so it's not like it's a sensitive place.
We are going to move on from this.
Amanda: Ori made a comment to Heather.
I don't think he's a misogynist or anything like that, but he is a weak link.
If we lose which we are praying that we don't We should team up with you guys to put Ori in the nerd-off.
Okay, need a new plan.
[Chuckles.]
Raychelle: Do we know what time it is? Aaaah! It's burning! Ben: I'm exhausted.
We've been working all night.
Oh! Yep, got it.
We have a start that kind of works.
We have an end that kind of works.
More weight.
We have some middle pieces being put together.
Todd: No.
I'm getting too old for this.
How old are you, again? 26.
Enjoy your youth while you can, sir.
We are definitely working on this into the night.
Release the melon! All right.
So, we're not doing that idea.
I'm starting to get worried about this challenge.
[Bleep.]
What if this machine just doesn't even work? Hashtag we're not doing so hot right now.
[Rooster crows.]
Heather: This is so exciting.
Yeah, what a fun first challenge.
Everyone, now, this is the danger zone.
If you enter the danger zone, I kill you.
I am fairly confident in all of the functionality.
We'll just do one test now, confirm everything works.
I'm fairly confident in the creativity.
The area I'm most stressed about is, we have no idea what to expect from the blue team.
I think we're gonna be good.
Um, except that we may have a slight problem.
With one hour, the electric fan for the final step of releasing the banner, the motor was burned out.
The fan motor's really hot.
Now with the deadline looming, I need to figure out something to replace it.
What's the largest mousetrap we have? Honestly, to come up with an entire replacement in 20 minutes is definitely a pretty stressful situation.
When the car hits this, that should pull the string.
Got it.
I'm not sure we can test it.
This is engineering.
This is my thing.
If something goes wrong on my part of the machine, it's my fault.
Thomas: So, that's gonna work? Kaitlin: I Think so.
Amanda: Walking into the first nerd war, I haven't felt this much excitement since I was at band camp when we did a lip-syncing battle.
Welcome to Nerdvana's steampunk lair.
Thomas: The blue team's rube Goldberg machine seems really cool.
It looks like they have a lot more interaction than we do, and a lot of them seem really complex.
Oh, frak me.
Our first judge created the rube Goldberg machine featured in the OK Go video "This too shall pass" Adam sadowsky.
[Cheers and applause.]
I saw that video when it came out, so in a way, I feel like I've contributed to his success.
He wouldn't be here without me.
Our second judge is a genius.
She's written books on math.
You may know her better as an actress from "The Wonder Years" Danica McKellar! Heather: Danica McKellar is one of my personal heroes because she's a really cute lady and she's also a very smart lady, and that's what I aspire to do Is be cute and also fiercely intelligent.
And finally, from "Yrue Blood," please welcome the actor and comic-book author Michael McMillian.
[Cheers and applause.]
Oh, my God.
I'm gonna have a panic attack.
I'm a truebie all the way.
I don't know how much he knows about rube Goldberg machines, but I don't care He's beautiful.
You three are going to be judging based on functionality, engineering, and creativity.
If any of the interactions fail, the team may reset anywhere in the machine up to three times, but only have one minute to do it.
Are you ready to reveal your team names? [Cheers and applause.]
All right.
Green team, we are starting with you.
Start your kinetic engines! Jacob: Our story takes place in a far future.
A new weaponized mineral is discovered that when it has erupted, mayhem ensues, war breaks out.
Electricity obsolete.
And all that is left is steam.
Heather.
Heather: Our machine's themed with post-apocalyptic steampunk destruction.
We're burning stuff.
We have lots of pulleys.
It is gonna be the coolest reveal of our team name.
If you would.
Ohh.
Oop.
Curtis: Your machine has failed once.
You have one minute to reset.
Ben: Push the track farther forward.
Lily: Their machine malfunctioned! Schadenfreude for everyone.
- Heather: Okay, we're good? - Yeah.
Jonathan: The iron has to melt the plastic, which causes scissors to cut the rope.
Being slightly off can cause the whole thing to be ruined.
Just give it time.
Yeah.
It's melting.
Come on, come on, come on! Ah.
Whoo! [Applause.]
All's well that ends well.
I like that banner at the end, there.
Tell us what your team name is.
Together: Team S.
M.
A.
S.
H.
! Heather: Which stands for "Supersonic Masters And Slayers of Hordes.
" It's an acronym.
Jacob: I really do like our team name, and I also like acronyms S.
H.
I.
E.
L.
D.
, S.
T.
A.
R.
L.
A.
B.
S.
from Superman comics.
Like the watermelon smash.
[Cheers and applause.]
Thank you, Danica.
"NASA" "NASA's" an acronym.
It's not a cool word, but it's an acronym.
Blue team, show us what you got.
Kaitlin: We have a story that goes along with our rube Goldberg machine Missile causes a tidal wave which destroys a city.
We send in army men, and the ball is hit by a car which comes down a ramp, which releases heavy bowling pins to raise our banner.
It's pretty darn straightforward.
This just in Ladies and gentlemen, there have been sightings of the clockwork king near the bay area of cup city.
[Chuckles.]
That's me.
I'm the clockwork king.
[Laughs evilly.]
I, with my Tesla coil, am going to destroy cup city in the sapphire isles with my steam-powered steam bomb! [Laughs evilly.]
A tidal wave has taken out the city! [Laughs evilly.]
What will happen?! Will the heroes make it in time? [Laughs evilly.]
They won't make it in time.
Aha! It's never gonna happen.
His explosions made it, and the heroes have made it! Aah! Curtis: An interaction has failed.
You have one minute to either restart at the beginning or start where the machine failed.
Kaitlin: The mousetrap needs to be tilted up.
I'm super-excited not because I wanted to see them fail, because they worked very hard on that But because it means we aren't the only losers in the room.
So, we can either try and start from the beginning You know what, guys? It's really cool.
- Should we just go for it? - Yeah.
Raychelle: Starting from the beginning is super-risky when all we have to do is toss a ball on a mousetrap, but starting at the beginning would be a lot more cool.
What's this?! Another doomsday device?! Todd: I have another doomsday device! It is another steam bomb, and it'll destroy more things! [Laughs evilly.]
Let's do it! Aaaah! Will our heroes save the day?! I see it.
I see it! Raychelle: Whoo! And they made it in the getaway car! Yes! [Cheers and applause.]
House hooloovoo! House hooloovoo! Colby: Their banner springs up from the ground, instead of ours just dropping, and that excites, 'cause it takes more effort to pull something up than to have something fall down, 'cause we can always depend on gravity.
I'm very impressed.
You chose a lot of interactions that are very unusual, particularly the yoga mat.
I think it was great.
Thank you.
What is house hooloovoo? The hooloovoo are a hyper-intelligent shade of blue from Douglas Adams' classic work "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
" It is clearly the perfect name, 'cause we are hyper-intelligent, and we are blue.
But not in the depressed sense.
We're blue in the happy sense.
So, judges, it's all yours.
Obviously, they both had their difficulties today.
But there's something about the green team's machine that's very masculine.
Somehow, blue team managed to capture a much more whimsical spirit.
I liked what was happening over on the green.
Like, melting the wire That's really creative.
Having scissors cut Very creative.
Ben: We might not win, but we did a great job.
You know, the banner came up.
That's got to count for something.
Have you come to a decision? Think so.
Judges, have you come to a decision? - We have.
- Michael? Engineering-wise, I was impressed by both of them.
At the end of the day, though, I was looking for a machine that I could look at and be entertained.
House hooloovoo, you have my vote.
- Raychelle: Thank you.
- [Applause.]
The clockwork king feels fantastic.
I always feel fantastic.
Danica? I do consider myself a nerd.
To me, a nerd means you have enthusiasm and focus that allows you to become an expert at something that maybe nobody else cares about, and it's just beautiful.
House hooloovoo, you had this incredibly fun machine.
I loved the colors.
Over here, we have this world of destruction, but it was so creative, too.
You had the melting wire.
To me, it was a very hard decision.
Team S.
M.
A.
S.
H.
, you have my vote.
Jacob: We're back to tied.
We're not out of the woods yet, but we're not being eaten by a dire wolf.
Adam? House hooloovoo had a sort of much more whimsical aesthetic.
I love the idea of lifting the banner instead of just letting it fall.
Team S.
M.
A.
S.
H.
's machine, it feels very sort of dude Goldberg to me.
And so, at the end of the day, my vote goes to house hooloovoo.
House hooloovoo won this nerd war! The rest of my team was like, "ahh!" And I was like, "okay, guys, like, we won.
"Well, yeah.
I should have won.
I usually do.
" You have each won an ultimate comic-con survival kit courtesy of thinkgeek.
com.
- Oh, my God! - Thank you! Amanda: The girl who cosplays at San Diego comic-con every year loses this survival kit.
Are you kidding me? Whoo! Team S.
M.
A.
S.
H.
, two of your members will be going into the nerd-off.
House hooloovoo, you will be selecting one of those nerds.
Team S.
M.
A.
S.
H.
, you will choose the other nerd.
Good night.
Jonathan: This feels just like when the fleet landed on New Caprica and built a colony.
We were happy, we thought we were gonna make it, and suddenly, the Cylons came and just ruined our day.
Good job, guys.
You're my hero, Steve Newlin.
I love you.
Oh.
Thank you.
Ori: Can you pass me the sword? I think I need it.
Do we want to sit down and have a proper powwow? I know my team doesn't want me to go into the nerd-off One of us is going home.
We can't deny that fact.
'Cause I'm Mr.
Nice Guy.
No one really gets mad at me unless I'm being incompetent or I tell really bad jokes.
Okay.
We're doing hands now.
Yeah, I do it whenever people don't listen to me, and I feel like I have something to say.
This is a competition, and we are all in it to win.
Heather: I feel like this all lies on Ori, who did Jack diddly squat.
Us sitting around in a circle, no one's gonna say anything bad about any of us.
- Are you saying a break? - Jacob: Oh, now? Okay.
I'm not nervous.
The blue team will pick Colby, because "'Jeopardy!' champion" puts a big ol' target on his head.
Let's go see what we didn't win.
Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Ben: I'm really excited to find out what an official comic-con survival kit looks like.
Maybe it involves comfortable shoes.
[People screaming.]
Todd: Fantastic t-shirts that definitely aren't my size.
Kaitlin: I really liked the t-shirts that said "I am not a people person," because I don't think I am a people person.
Do you think we should talk about who we want to ? No, save that for tomorrow.
I'm totally gonna have some fun tonight.
- Can we look at your stuff? - Ben: Come on in.
We've got chardonnay, we've got hard slushies, ready to go.
Whoo-hoo-hoo! Ready? Ba-da da-dum ba-dum Oh, man.
Ben: Looking for who we should send to the nerd-off I need somebody gone who's gonna be strong in future challenges.
If we took out one of your cosplay people You have to look for somebody who will be strong potentially in cosplay, like Heather or Amanda.
I'm thinking forward on this one.
Bedtime Jacob: Nerd pod 4 accepting nerd pod 6.
Lily: house hooloovoo All: house hooloovoo - Ben: house - Lily: It's twice! Sorry.
I get into it.
[Laughs.]
Jacob: [Groans.]
Too early for Vision.
Coming down.
I'm so tired.
Thomas: It's a very difficult decision to choose someone to send into the nerd-off.
This is something you got to see.
Go.
[As Gollum.]
What's in your pocketses, precious? Oh, my God! That is so good! Ori: All these guys are just people I love to hang out with.
Wait can you do Ezekiel 25:17 as Gollum? [As Gollum.]
Does he look like a bitch? [Laughter.]
Nothing is better than the friendship of magic.
The magic Oh, I said it wrong.
Nothing is better than the magic of friendship.
We definitely got to talk.
The ladies got to talk.
Amanda: My overall strategy is to create an alliance between the girls in the house.
Cross-team alliances are underestimated in this game.
The guys want to send one of you home.
Amanda: If there's already a "boys vs.
girls" mentality, that just means that you girls are gonna be next.
I don't like that.
If you guys can convince your team to send in Colby I got you.
Our team will vote in Ori, and then we'll already get down to six guys and five girls.
We definitely want to keep all of the "kings" being ladies.
I'm gonna put this out there Ori is bad for their team.
He should probably stay.
It is really important to keep discord in the other team.
We know that there's gonna be some type of cosplay event coming up.
Todd: I think we should send in Heather.
I really would rather send in Colby because he's, like, a savant.
I think we need to do something that they're not expecting.
I'm happy to see anyone gone who isn't me.
I know I'm already coming across as cutthroat and unemotional, and I'm sorry.
Hey! We're in a game.
This is the last time it's gonna be all 12.
Let's just have a good time.
This would've been so much easier if there were awful people in this house.
We're here to hang out, we're here to have fun, but first and foremost, we're here to play.
No! No! - Curtis: Calling all nerds! - [Alarm wailing.]
Please join us in the throne room! [Laughing.]
Oh, my gosh.
Thomas: This is so "Fallout.
" We got the radiation sign, we got all the big, spinning What are they called? Fans? Jonathan: The throne room's kind of scary.
I was hoping it'd be a little more festive.
Nerds, we meet thousands of feet beneath the surface of the earth.
Here, we may safely select our new king.
Today, two nerds compete in the nerd-off.
The winner stays to compete to wear the crown, and the right to sit atop the throne of games! [Choir vocalizing dramatically.]
There sure are a lot of books.
Way to go, literacy.
The loser goes home immediately.
Team S.
M.
A.
S.
H.
, we have tabulated your votes.
The first vote Ori.
The next vote Colby.
The next vote Is for Ori.
The next vote Ori.
The next vote Ori.
You will be going into the nerd-off.
This is your game.
I'm so sorry.
Ori: Voting me without a single hint is a little backhanded, but I'll live with it, I guess.
I'm a little confused that I got picked, but no hard feelings.
I have to do my best to win.
Jacob: I don't want to count my chickens too much, but I feel fairly confident that there are people in this game who have accepted their in-game mortality, so to speak.
House hooloovoo, your votes have been tallied.
The light information we have received from the other team leads me to believe that it will be Colby, which is what I expect.
By unanimous decision Other intelligences led me to believe that Heather or Amanda are also likely selections.
And I don't want to wish that on anyone, but somebody's got to be first.
Jacob.
You're going to the nerd-off.
Uh Oh, wow.
[Sighs.]
Um, okay.
This is happening.
This is real life now.
I-I guess they see something in me that I didn't let out and it scares them a little bit, which I guess is a compliment? Lily, your feelings about this decision? I trust my team, and we knew that it was the right decision.
Can we get more What?! Yeah, can we get I would love a little more Basically, it's just I know.
We just decided as a team what could affect us down the line.
The last choice that they were even thinking of was Jacob For good reason.
We want to catch them off guard.
Very well.
Please step forward.
Bend the knee.
For today's nerd-off, you become the destroyers of cities as you do battle over Tokyo in a game we call Nerdzilla.
Study up on anime, manga, and kaiju.
May the best nerd win.
[Gong rings.]
Lily: I am really glad I'm not in this nerd-off because I am only familiar with Miyazaki, "Samurai Champloo", "Cowboy Bebop", "Pokémon", "Avatar", "Korra".
Oh, and then, obviously, Godzilla and "Pacific Rim" and Other things.
[Japanese accent.]
Nerdzilla comes.
Amanda: All right.
To the library? To the library.
To the library.
Man, that was rough.
The rest of my group is a bunch of bleeding hearts.
The fact that they were both shocked and dismayed I think we made the right choice.
We didn't send him to an execution.
Why is this sad? Ori, do you know anything about anime? Yes.
I am an otaku, which just means you're an anime nerd.
I'm not worried about this challenge.
Jacob: Ori is going into this with no concerns, and I'm so frazzled.
Let's go to a different room.
I didn't necessarily spearhead the organization to put Ori out, but I went along with it.
It's kind of a death by my own hands.
[High-pitched.]
I got this! [Normal voice.]
No, I can't do that.
How are we gonna come up with things to - Like, what do you - I don't know.
I don't know.
What's the name of the dog in "Cowboy Bebop"? Even though I work at a comic-book store and we sell manga, I still don't really have a good idea of which ones are very popular and which ones aren't very popular.
And all the kaiju stuff I'm kicking myself for not seeing the new "Godzilla" movie.
I mean, I love Bryan Cranston.
I don't know what I was thinking.
I could really use your study skills.
I know a little bit about anime, but I know a lot about retaining information, so that's where I'm going to make a difference.
Colby: The way to remember things you work in three.
You have three major characters, and then you try to know three things that happened in the plot.
That's all you can do in this limited amount of time.
Jonathan: Jacob is taking this very seriously.
Ori seems to feel like he's already won this.
Amanda: You're trying to go on Facebook? I am a master of goofing off.
We have a word for that It's called "hubris".
Hoo-bris? That's how you pronounce that, right? Hoo-bris? Akira Would that be related at all? - Colby: Well, I mean - Raychelle: There's so much stuff.
[Siren wailing, police radio chatter.]
[Air-raid siren blaring.]
[Gunfire.]
[Loud footsteps rumbling.]
[Creatures roar.]
Jacob: This is gonna set the tone for what all nerd-offs are like.
And I'm the Guinea pig.
If I win, the target on my head becomes larger.
This is almost a no-win situation.
[Creature roars.]
Welcome to little, little Tokyo [Laughter.]
Where you two behemoths are about to do battle.
Bobby: For each question you answer correctly, you get to rampage through a section of the city.
The first nerd to get four right will get to destroy the factory and wins this nerd-off! [Applause.]
The loser is banished immediately.
Let them fight.
Question 1 You may reveal your answers.
You are both correct.
Lots of destruction.
Grow, monster! Grow! [Air-raid siren blares.]
Begin destroying the first section of the city! You got it.
[Roars.]
[Roars.]
[Roars.]
[Roaring.]
I need to take a quick break.
[Sighs.]
[Laughter.]
[Roars.]
Jacob: Destroying a city is a newly realized dream of mine.
[Groans.]
[Spits.]
That got in my mouth.
That went in my mouth.
Curtis: Next question Yes! Ori: I loved watching "Dragon Ball Z.
" That's one of the reasons I got into anime.
But I stopped watching 'cause "Dragon Ball GT" is [Bleep.]
bullshit.
Bobby: Reveal your answers.
And you are both correct.
[Cheers and applause.]
If you would have said "dirty magazines", that would have been the right answer, too.
Jacob: That was technically "Dragon Ball", not "Dragon Ball Z".
Well, you're right anyway.
[All screaming.]
It's smashing time! Smash! No, Jacob, no! No! [Grunts.]
I am so proud of Jacob because he is doing very well.
[Grunts.]
And I am just hoping that Jacob is able to pull ahead because I don't want to hang out with Ori anymore.
Bobby: The score is 2 to 2.
Next question In terms of trivia, this is what is known as the binary screw.
You may reveal your answers.
Only two answers make any sense, and they both make equal sense if you don't know for sure.
I would've gone with "what is 'c'?" [Japanese accent.]
Godzilla.
The correct answer is "c," Godzilla.
Poor Jacob.
But there was our break.
Leeroy Jenkins! [Cheers and applause.]
If Ori can get one more answer right, it means he stays with the green team, which means the team will not run as smoothly.
It'll be Oh, it'll be like a shuffleboard.
You won't know when there's gonna be friction, but there will.
Boom! Analogy! [Creature roars.]
Ori, one more correct answer, and you have won this nerd-off.
Curtis: And the question is [Sighs.]
Butchered it.
Curtis blew those pronunciations.
That pained me as an otaku.
You may reveal your answers.
Todd: We need this plan to come to fruition.
If Ori does come back, he's gonna blame his own teammates, where if Jacob comes back, him and the rest of the team are all gonna blame us.
Jacob: I'm hoping that I'm wrong, because if I'm wrong, he's wrong, and we go again.
You are both correct, but, Ori, you have won this nerd-off! [Cheers and applause.]
It's time to destroy the factory.
Today, I have canceled my apocalypse.
[Roars softly.]
I'm not gonna do a real roar 'cause that's gonna kill my throat.
[Roars loudly.]
Ow.
Happy? [Roars loudly.]
[Applause.]
I am so happy to have won the nerd-off.
I still have the chance to win the $100,000 and the crown.
Jacob, while all comic books do not have storybook endings, know that your time with us has been one glorious chapter in Nerdvana's ongoing saga.
Thank you.
Nerd-speed, Jacob.
[Applause.]
Colby: This game could be over in four questions.
I find it mind-boggling that it could be over like that.
I mean, I've played trivia nights where I get asked 100 questions.
See you guys.
Raychelle: It is so hard to see somebody go.
It's even worse to know that you are the one that put them there.
We decided his fate 'cause we want to keep Ori to cause chaos for the other team, which is awful, makes me a terrible person, but it also makes me good at playing this game.
Jacob: From the brief glimpse I got of Nerdvana, I've seen it as this amazing place.
This whole experience has been wonderful, but the competition will continue on without me, and I will be watching from the sidelines.
Or no, I won't.
I won't be here at all, and I won't be a part of it.
Going home first sucks.
It sucks! Going home first sucks.
It's like you weren't even here.
Do it.
Has the order been restored? For now, Curtis.
For now.
Nice to see you got some pants.
[Laughs nerdily.]