Ranking every God of War Game

It would seem the next Death Battle is Kratos vs Asura. That got me thinking about God of War and I wanted to make a blog ranking the God of War games. 

Before I start I wanted to say something about how I rank games. It's become a maxim about video game analysis that gameplay is the most important thing, if not everything, with a disdain towards games being "story-oriented" or towards people preferring games being story-oriented. I view this as a real false dichotomy as I think like with any parts of any series the key is in the way the parts connect to each other rather than focusing on one. 

That said, and it's totally valid to have a different preference than me, I personally am more interested in story than gameplay. This is because I'm broadly not very interested in elements of the medium a story is presented in. I am not interested in the prose a story is written, or the directing of a film, or similarly the gameplay of a game. I am more interested in universal elements to almost any story. I'm in characters, and more then them I'm interested in plot, and even more then them I'm interested in themes, symbolism, and atmosphere. 

Once again I wanna emphasize that this is just my preference and if you care more about gameplay than anything else that's totally fine. However in the same way you wouldn't want someone else to police your preferences, I ask that you don't disdain others.

So what do I look for in a God of War game. Well the things I like about a God of War game are the character of Kratos that I've become so fond of, the recreation of the world of Mythology in a plot and atmosphere that are over the top but serious, and the way the games' elements connect within themselves and to the rest of the series. 

So to rank the games:

9: God of War Betrayal: 

There are two kinds of God of War Game Rankings, ones that have Betrayal at the bottom of the list, and ones that don't even rank it because they don't think it should count. Betrayal is a 2007 mobile game and on some level it's impressive on both a gameplay and plot front that they were able to get any of that into a mobile game. That's the reason I chose to rank it, because it does feel like a God of War experience, it's just the most stripped down barebones God of War experience you can imagine.

I don't think I really need to justify it at the bottom, I can't really think of a dimension it can compete with the other games outside of quality for the console it was released on. Because this is probably great for a mobile game sure, but it's also kind of a clear example why Mobile Games get a lot of skepticism. I will say that what plot is here surprisingly does fit in fairly well. Its plot is not the least fitting in with the others in the series history, even if it is minimal due to necessity. 

8: God of War: Ragnarök:

Ragnarök is a game that evokes fairly strong reactions from people and while I'm very happy for you if it worked for you, the game just really didn't work for me. If I had to say what I didn't like about this game it's that God of War 4 was already easily the longest God of War game, and God of War Ragnarök DWARFS it in size, but the amount of things I liked about the game was at best comparable to the other games. There ARE things I enjoyed about the game. I enjoyed the part about Freya destroying her binds to Odin or some of the stuff between Kratos and Atreus. But so much of this game disappeared from my memory instantly. To me this betrays the lack of focus that came about from turning two games into one. What's the narrative throughline for God of War: Ragnarök? I genuinely couldn't tell you, the game has plenty of themes but I can't tell you what the game means or is trying to say or evoke because none are clearly the focus. As such when a scene comes I can kind of put it in the context of some other scenes but there are plenty of parts it has no connection to, and no central idea its presenting.

There are other things I didn't about this game. It doesn't do a great job following up the plot threads of God of War (2018), and tonally it doesn't feel connected to 4 or the Greek Saga. Instead to my chagrin, the game incorporates MCU style quippy-ness. This certainly does not feel connected to God of War 4 with its dark depiction of the Aesir Gods. I am NOT a fan of that kind of atmosphere and especially not in God of War, so contrasting the over the top but serious pathos the series is not for, a series that is a specific but compelling take on classical mythologies, especially not in a game that is about RAGNAROK the end of the world. Kratos is the only one that feels appropriately somber, that and Freya before her redemption. I don't hate Atreus but I feel pretty neutral on him, and having large sections of the game following him just feels like a drag to me. Once again it's when the game is focusing on Kratos that I am most fond of it. There are more minor things I didn't like, but these were the major ones. 

I don't hate Ragnarök or anything. There are good things in it which is why I put it above Betrayal, but they are buried few and far between with most of the game being relatively uninteresting to me. 

7: God of War: Chains of Olympus

I feel there's a pretty substantial gap between 8 and 7, moreso than most. I do like Chains, a fair deal in fact, but it is weaker than most games in the series for me. Starting with the good things about it though I really enjoy the atmosphere of Chains. This is something that I think almost all the God of War Games do well which is that they evoke a strong sense of atmosphere and a specific view of the Mythologies in their worldbuilding. I feel Chains has a pretty interesting and unique the focus on Morpheus the God of Dreams. The depiction of Charon I think is really compelling. Beyond that Chains is a game where I think there are some absolutely moments. The moment where Kratos has to pry Calliope off him to save her presented through a QTE that takes more effort that driving your blade through a Minotaur's mouth is such an excellent fusion of plot and gameplay showing how this action is harder for Kratos then any of the violence prior. Kratos' plea to Atlas that the promise of the Olympians is all he has left is also very compelling. 

Where this game loses me primarily is the contradiction with the other games. Kratos in this game is very aggressive and combative in personality, already cynical about the Gods, already angry about everything. I'll get to this when I get to the section about God of War 1 but that was not Kratos' initial personality. Beyond that he kills a god in this game. He kills Persephone. That both takes away from and is contradictory to God of War 1 where killing a God has a huge amount of weight. Chains of Olympus writes Kratos as though he was God of War 2 Kratos, even though he predates God of War 1. Ideally this game should have been set after God of War 1 and I think it would have made substantially more sense. 

These things aren't the end of the world and in isolation I do enjoy Chains of Olympus significantly. Whereas I don't like how both God of War: Ragnarök and Chains of Olympus connect to other parts of the series, the amount of positive qualities in both are similar despite Chains of Olympus being much shorter and having much less things I dislike about it in isolation.

6: God of War Ascension:

I feel like God of War Ascension is maybe the most critiqued games in the series, usually at the bottom of the list if Betrayal isn't in the ranking. And the thing is, assessing anything is a matter of its pros vs its cons and while I agree with the cons people say Ascension has, I also feel it has a number of pros that go unsung. Going over the common complaints the biggest one is about the gameplay which is considered basically just a worse version of God of War 3's prior, which is true. The plot is highly non linear with flashbacks in flashbacks and while I think it actually kinda adds to the atmosphere of the game, I recognize it can be annoying for most. The game is often critiqued for not being necessary. I have never liked the phrasing of that kind of critique, I think you could say anything outside God of War 1 is "unnecessary", but I get what sentiment that the game feels disconnected from other games. The one critique I really don't agree with is that the Furies are somehow just the Fates from God of War 2 again.  Yet both are Trios of Three Villainesses that start with F, but they seem entirely different to me. The Fates talk very sporadically to Kratos in God of War 2 until he confronts them at the very end, while the Furies are recurring antagonists across Ascension. The Fates are representations of Fate and their conflict with Kratos is basically just telling him repeatedly he can't defy fate. The Furies are Illusion Wielding Servants of Ares who sought to punish Kratos for breaking his vow of loyalty to Ares and return him to servitude. And design wise... I dare you to mistake any of the Furies for Clotho. Genuinely I don't see the similarity.

Going into what I liked about the game, like with Chains of Olympus, I really like the atmosphere of Ascension. With all the illusory enemies and battlefields corresponding with the themes of truth vs deception and imagery like the snakes that form the way to the Oracle of Delphi, it felt like the parts of the game (sans the gameplay) were meshing well. Unlike Chains I also really appreciate how this Kratos actually fits timeline wise. Ascension Kratos is the closest to God of War 1 Kratos. Ascension Kratos is actually not especially rageful yet and actually shows cooperation with and concern for others and even camaraderie with Orkos. Similarly while Kratos gradually more destructive, this Kratos is just as restorative as he is destructive, with the unique gameplay mechanic in this game using the Amulet of Ouroboros both to decay and to restore environments, building back structures for traversal. I like seeing this earlier side of Kratos that fits well with who he would become, a Kratos that is more heroic because it's earlier in his life. And I enjoyed the Furies as villains. Very campy and over the top sure but that's something I like God of War for and it's the only game in the Greek Saga where the primary villain is repeatedly encountered over and over which makes them feel like they have a lot of presence in the narrative. God of War Ascension tried a bunch of things and while its magic system was not so good, I do thing the mutliplayer was fun. I get it's not everyone's cup of tea but I liked the lore of it. 

Comparing it to Chains, the most emotional moments in Chains are more compelling but I felt like Chains really contradicted other God of War Games. Ascension did feel disconnected, but it didn't feel like it was contradicted, just giving more glimpses into the world of God of War we wouldn't otherwise seen. That's really what Ascension is to me, it's basically a God of War Lore book in video game form with a bunch of locales and characters and a period in Kratos' life we wouldn't otherwise have seen but fit in cohesively, and because I like Kratos and I like God of War's world I enjoyed seeing it. 

5: God of War: Ghost of Sparta:

Of the Side Stories in the Greek Saga, my favorite is Ghost of Sparta which I feel is probably the most popular choice. Set between 1 and 2, Ghost of Sparta acts to connect the games and n my opinion the only one that if you skip you're actually missing a bit of the main story of the three games. Chains contradicted 1 and while Ascension fit in neatly, it's really just about Kratos freeing himself from the illusions and madness of the Furies so he can even begin his quest. Ghost of Sparta on the other hand shows how Kratos went from begrudgingly taking the throne of the God of War in God of War 1 to hating the Gods in God of War 2, something you can infer and get just playing the main three but which Ghost of Sparta really adds a lot of context for. 

Ghost of Sparta is really about detailing the tragedy of Kratos' family, destroyed by the Gods, setting up the themes of Fate that have persisted through the end of the Norse Saga. This is where Kratos began to move from his God of War 1 characterization and narrative of the human trapped in the Gods schemes and becoming the revenge oriented god of war paradoxically fighting his fate caused by his own rage. Ghost of Sparta has a very interesting characterization for Kratos between the two. Beyond that I think the story of Kratos and Deimos is very compelling and Kratos' love for his brother is both very evident and very sweet. I do think the final act of the plot is a little fast. Deimos beats on Kratos who refuses to kill him, Kratos then saves Deimos who almost immediately joins Kratos' side but it was still pretty engaging I think and the death of his mother and brother gives so much more context for why Kratos is so protective of his extended family of Sparta in God of War 2 and why he hates the Gods for the destruction of his family. This game also sets up the Spartans serving the new God of War Kratos, a plot point in God of War 2. 

Like I said Ghost of Sparta compared to the other Greek Saga Side Stories feels much more connected to the plot and themes of God of War and to the characterization of Kratos. While Ascension had more ideas than Ghost of Sparta I would say, and I preferred the Furies to Thanatos, I think Ghost of Sparta's ideas better complement what God of War was and is, I think its depiction of Kratos is just as compelling and connection 1 as the sequal to 1 rather than the prequel, and I think a lot of the problems of Ascension, even if they didn't bother me that much personally, are absent from Ghost of Sparta. It FEELS like just another one of the mainline Games in the series, just smaller and more personal.

From here things gets tricky. All four games are left are games I regularly see people say are their favorite game in the series. Which you like says a lot about your tastes in games and also what you think God of War is and should be and there's no wrong answers in my opinion. But I would say that for me that while all these are High Tier, the weakest of the four would be

4: God of War 3 

One of the things about God of War 3 I think is both a positive and negative about it is that this is the Kratos that was in the public consciousness for most of God of War's time as a franchise due to it being the first game on the PS3 (and with a similar effect with God of War 4 being the first GOW on the PS4.) This is Kratos as he is presented in references and parodies and memes and surface analyses, the god-hating, god-murdering vengeful insane supervillain. I will say that if you start with God of War 3 you're missing a lot of context for how Kratos got here still I do think it is the logical tragical progression of the story of Kratos. God of War 3 is God of War at its most bombastic, its most over the top. The Presentation reached its height with things like Kratos murdering his way through an entire Pantheon of Gods bringing about the end of the world as he does do, bosses so big that they are the very level like Cronos, Kratos brutality brought to its zenith, and more. There is something fun about that but it does get a bit much at times for me. Kratos never becomes senselessly cruel, but his brutality does start to feel excessive beyond what is called for by atmosphere or plot. 

Something this game gets praised for a lot is possibly the being the best game in the series to play and yeah even as someone not super attuned to gameplay, I can feel it. The combat system of the Greek Saga was perfected in this game with a ton of options and with secondary weapons that finally each feel fun in their own way even if the Claws of Hades and Nemesis Whip do feel fairly same-y to the Blades of Exile. Another thing its praised for that I do really get is the sheer number of Major Mythological Figures in this game. Excessive though it might be this is a game with a ton of Olympian and Non-Olympian Deities all stylistically imagined in the God of War style which is a treat. The central narrative feels fairly on the nose (at times just blatantly saying what the moral is like the ending), but like a good end to the Greek Saga.

All Four of the subtitle-less games just so have much positives for me that they rank top 4, though I feel GOW 3 is the weakest for me. Still I would rank it as above Ghost of Sparta if for the sheer scale and magnitude it has, the way it defined Kratos and God of War for nearly a decade at least, and the way it concludes the Greek Saga. 

3: God of War 2

When I'm making a ranking I love to look at others peoples rankings and get some general opinions. When someone is really into God of War, God of War 2 is usually their favorite game and I think I can see why. God of War 3 may have been the public's perception of God of War but God of War 2 was what God of War actually was as a franchise. It was the conflux of everything in the franchise. It has some of Kratos being an unstoppable villain god and force of rage like in God of War 3 and some of Kratos being a rightfully angered and well-reasoned human fighting against impossible odds as in God of War 1. It has moments of empowerment and moments of beating the player down again like 3 and 1. It was what God of War 1 and Ghost of Sparta built up to in Characterization and what 3 took to extreme. The Temple of the Fates is a massively more sprawling area than Pandora's Temple in God of War 1, and Kratos after being stripped of his divinity feels like he's battling against the impossible, against Fate itself, yet with the increased scope of later games in the series. God of War 3 may have perfected the Greek Saga's fighting gameplay and had the most big names of Mythologies as bosses, but 2 is no slouch and certainly holds it own with some of the most creative and well remembered fights in the series. You have the fight against Alrik where Kratos faces the specter of his past (as well as humorous spectre from his past), the creativity of the fight with Perseus and finding the invisible enemy in his footsteps in the water, the gut punch fight in the dark and reveal of the Last Spartan Fight, the first Zeus encounter the game has been building up the entire time and of course the Sisters of Fate fight, considered one of the best in the entire series. 

And that's really scratching the surface, God of War 2 is arguably the most diverse of any of the games in terms of the types of challenges. Not all are amazing or will catch your fancy but they go by so fast and in such variety it's hard to knock. God of War 2 is the Greek Saga God of War because it has some of everything from every era and yet also has its own identity. I'd like to say there's some notable flaw that makes it only number 3, but there's not, it's just that the top 3 games are all really great to me and one has to be number 3. If I had to give flaws though it's that in comparison to the top 2 games which are somewhat in a league of their own for me, this game doesn't evoke a strong feeling for me. There are heartfelt moments in it and evocative things it but the top 2 games are both games that are special to me for one reason or another and 2 is just... a really good game to me. 

Comparing 2 to 3 I feel like while 3 definitely has scale and spectacle on 2 if only due to the increased capabilities of the Playstation 3 compared to the Playstation 2, I think 2 has a lot more tact and subtle as well as incorporates more of the earlier God of War Identity

2: God of War (2018):

I hardly think you need me to understand what made this game so special, this is one of the most praised games of the PS4 era, a game that appealed to old time fans and new fans, to the average gamer and the gaming critics. And yeah with good reason, I think GOW 4 is an amazing reinvention of the franchise, reverent to its roots but not afraid to change things and develop Kratos in a way that was risky yet inevitable. It's a good game if it's your first experience of God of War, and it's a great game if you understand what it's building on. There are plenty of things I think are amazing about this game. I feel fairly neutral on Atreus as a character, but I enjoy the development and range of emotions he brings out of Kratos. I think this game does a lot better job writing characters as having agency outside of Kratos, something hard to do in a spectacle fighter like this without literally switching the character you're controlling or using excessive cutscenes. God of War 4 introduced the characters who are outside of Kratos some of my favorites in the series: Mimir, Freya, Baldur, all competing with the best characters in the Greek Saga not named Kratos. 

There I admit some parts of the game that are a bit of a drag for me, God of War 4 while definitely not Ragnarök in terms of size, is much bigger than the games before it if only due to being partially open world now. I am not too interested in things like Alfheim and I think Atreus going power-mad is much too sharp and sudden given that Kratos is trying to emphasize discipline the entire time. However the difference between the Norse Saga games is that there's an increased moments I loved from 4 to corresponding with the size, well superseding the number of moments that dragged. God of War 4 has my favorite moments in the entire series, and in fact some of my favorite in gaming. Kratos reclaiming the Blades of Chaos and the monster he was for the sake of his son, Kratos telling Baldur he will find no peace on the path he walks, the ending where Kratos removes his bandages because he no longer has to hide his scars, Kratos telling Atreus that he is a God dreading this moment due to all the contextualization of what being a god means only for Atreus to ask if that means he can turn into an animal. There are so many fantastic moments in God of War 4. My favorite moment in the entire series comes right before the scene of Kratos reclaiming the axe as he's hurrying to Freya's house with Atreus in his arms, seemingly dying and Kratos nervously paces in the elevator unable to help his son. This moment is a moment of rare weakness for Kratos and seeing the paradox of this unstoppable force of rage fearing because he can't hit away the sickness inside Atreus, willing to even ask a God for help really moved me. Due to personal life experiences, it's a moment that really made the game special for me and it's followed immediately by the confrontation with Athena and the reclaiming the Blades of Chaos which is one of the most symbolically potent moments in the entire series.

I think God of War 2 is a great game but the emotions I feel in it are fun, tragedy, and coolness. God of War 4 evoked stronger emotions from me, ones I have almost never felt in gaming.

1: God of War (2005):

God of War 1 doesn't have as good gameplay or pace as 2 or 3 and it's high points are never as moving to me as God of War 4. What I like about God of War 1 however is broader then that and it encompasses the entire game. Something I have always loved is Mythology, and more than any other game in the series, God of War 1 doesn't just represent Mythology, it EVOKES it, it CHANNELS it, the Greek Tragedy is everywhere in God of War 1. From knowing the fate of the protagonist from the very beginning, to the Gods being elemental, unstoppable, and mysteriously working in the backdrop, all the way to small details like Kratos being enslaved to the Gods for "10 years" like the trials of Heracles and Odysseus, God of War is steeped in the Classical Greek Culture, Mythology, and Tragedy. What I love about Mythological Fantasy as a genre is the ability to revitalize the spirit of a culture of the past, forming connections through time. There is a sense some people have that God of War is disrespectful in its presentation, that classical culture must only be approached academically to be respectful, but such was from all accounts certainly not the spirit or culture of the time. The Olympians were the discussions of high philosophers and theologians but in their foibles and faults were just as much points of discussion for the common folks. The Theoi weren't just expressions of society's ideals, they were forces of nature that were encountered in the wine, in the revelry, in the fighting, in the work and in play. Greek Mythology can serve equally disparate purposes in modern culture, and God of War's is no less true or faithful. 

I love so much about this game but one of the things I love most is how everything in it comes towards towards the singular evocation it has towards emulating the Greek Tragedy. The game is about Kratos tasked by the gods with an utterly impossible mission, the killing of a god, paradoxical and impossible a goal till Chains of Olympus said he did it already. The thing I most hear people complain about is how absolutely brutal and unfair this game can be, but to me that is part of the point. This is what I meant about gameplay and story should be working together in evocation. The game is deliberately cruel and brutal reflecting the impossibility of what Kratos is trying to do. Kratos is on a doomed failed mission to do the impossible, to kill a God, only able to do so due to the background interference of other gods and the whims of fate. Contrary to games after, Fate in Greek Mythology was subtle and omnipotent, and God of War evokes that perfectly. Kratos was not trying initially to kill Ares, only to free himself from the nightmares of what he had done but surely it was Fate's subtle hand that the man who would bring about Ares' end was the perfect warrior Ares himself had made. I love Kratos in this game, this may be my favorite Kratos. He's far from the Kratos people know, not being that full of rage, more reasonable, actually saving people, while still being the dreaded Ghost of Sparta. I love the role of the Gods in this game, elemental and knowing in a way that the Gods aren't presented in the other games. What I love most is probably how all these elements tie together. The Characterization of Kratos as a warrior seemingly chosen by Fate to be the one to slay the God of War yet we know is doomed to failure, the characterization of the other Gods as Strange and Otherworldly, the plot of raiding an Impossible Labyrinthian Temple to get a power to slay a god before having it ripped from you and having to take it back, The atmosphere of immensity and brutality, the similarly brutal and unforgiving gameplay: all of this comes together to recreate the experience of a Classical Greek Tragedy: of a Warrior fighting an impossible fight against his doomed fate.

God of War 4 has my favorite moments in the series but no other game in the series and few other games I've seen have everything come together for me so well as the original God of War. Many of the God of War Games have moments I enjoy but God of War "personifies" so to speak a feeling and a part of life to me, the clash of fate vs impossibility, of a person struggling against the impossible because of the subtle hands of the divine manipulating them to be the perfect one to do so, as well as recreating at least a very compelling perspective of the Classical Greek world. 

How they Compare: Princess Sailor Moon (Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon)

 

Massive Spoilers for PGSM, the Sailor Moon Live-Action Series. 

Princess Sailor Moon is the twist antagonist and top tier of PGSM, an alternate version of the first arc of Sailor Moon overseen by Naoko Takeuchi. In this continuity while Usagi Tsukino is still the reincarnation of Princess Serenity, the two are treated as very different entities. Princess Serenity was a young Lunarian Princess who was sheltered and sweet, heir to the power of the legendary Silver Crystal. However when her lover, the Earth Prince Endymion was slain, Princess Serenity lost her control over her emotions and the power of the Silver Crystal destroyed all life on both the Earth and Moon. 

Far in the future, her reincarnation Usagi Tsukino leads the Sailor Senshi against the ancient enemy Metaria. However on rare occasions the spirit of Princess Serenity possessed Usagi. Princess Serenity in this new time is full of despair thinking she and her love Endymion are fated to be ripped from each other over and over. Turning selfish and cold from it, she mostly uses her power to try and secure Endymion and doesn't care about humanity or the Earth.

But when she is forced to kill Metaria possessed Endymion it breaks the Princess entirely as her emotions go out of control and she threatens to destroy everyone again. Princess Sailor Moon is the hybrid form of the Princess Serenity form and the Sailor Moon form, with the minds of both Usagi Tsukino and the spirit of Princess melded. Princess Sailor Moon is fundamentally what if Sailor Moon herself was the villain, turning her love into the source of her antagonist power, having a mixture of both Usagi's emotional volatility and Princess Serenity's selfishness. 

In terms of power, the fluctuations in Princess Serenity's emotions lifewiped the Earth turning it into a ruined desert, an energy which she and only she endured requiring continental levels of energy. Back in the Silver Millennium she lifewiped the Earth and the Moon from the Moon, which could require around 30 times the energy using inverse square law. This DID kill her however she was only Princess Serenity at the time and didn't have the added capability of her Sailor Senshi state. The Silver Crystal is also said to have the power to destroy the world which may suggest planetary levels of energy, though it's arguable if the statements are literal or merely destroying all life. 

In terms of speed, Princess Sailor Moon's movement speed is fairly low relatively speaking. The Sailor Senshi are able to move as blurs across the city quickly, at what would clearly be subsonic speeds but that's about it. In terms of reaction speed Serenity along with most characters can react to Sailor Jupiter's lightning-based attacks including cloud to ground lightning, giving them MHS Reactions. Her fastest facet is her attack speed. Sailor Moon primarily attacks with light based attacks including literal reflected moon from the Moon, and in the Silver Millennium her power visually immediately enveloped the Earth from the Moon consistently her attack speed around or even surpassing that of the speed of light.

As a Sailor Senshi, Princess Sailor Moon has a lot of passive abilities. She can sense danger or the presence of youma on a city wide scale and can feel powerful energies around her. She can also break the fourth wall. She has enhanced superleaping and acrobatics as well as skill in combat and as Princess Sailor Moon can use Levitation and Teleportation at will. She can use Disguise Henshin to disguise herself as anyone she takes a picture of with her magical phone the Telestia S, gaining their skills including the superhuman abilities of an athlete. This ability is pretty easy to make into an NLF so it's important to recognize the Sailor Senshi never use this to copy the abilities of someone like Kunzite or Beryl despite their overwhelming power so it's unlikely they can just copy any power or the power level from someone much stronger then them, though they should be able to replicate basic capabilities of someone's species or type of being. 

As a Sailor Senshi she has resistance to many types of abilities, especially mind manipulation. Various forms of mind manipulation are tried on the Sailor Senshi including memory erasure, mind control, sleep manipulation, etc. often on the scale of large numbers of people and the Sailor Senshi can resist. This is especially true for Princess Sailor Moon who has two minds within her, that of Usagi Tsukino and that of Princess Serenity. The Sailor Senshi also resisted the energy draining of the Metaria Youma who drained the energy from all of Tokyo, can tank corruption that can turn people into Youma, and are unaffected by being in space. I presume this would count as outside help but Usagi also has the unique power to return to life so long as her friends keep her in their memories, even being restored from the Silver Crystal itself shattering.

Princess Sailor Moon typically fights with light/energy attacks, specifically Lunar ones. She uses this to create an aura/energy bubble around her which she uses for offense, defense, and levitation. She can fire beams or even a danmaku of energy blasts at her opponent. She can also create barriers with her energy, imbue her weapons with energy or bind opponents in bindings of light. Princess Sailor Moon passively absorbs Lunar energy and when the Moon is prominent gets stronger. Her attacks have shown the ability to fight ghostly ethereal enemies like the Youma Morga suggesting she can hit intangible enemies. 

Princess Sailor Moon also has summoning. When her heart was in despair, she summoned armies of youmas that swarmed the Earth to protect her, these Youma being individually threats to the City Level Guardian Senshi. However she mostly uses this to summon her weapons to her side, weapons she can restore at will. Her Tiara provides her a small passive healing factor and can be used both as a boomerang attack and to bind enemies. Her Crescent Moon Wand is used to direct her light energy as well as to heal and purify. It was able to purify a building of people at once, and somewhat restore the Guardian Senshi's powers and memories. But while Sailor Moon used these as Princess Sailor Moon her primary weapon is the Princess Sword/Harp, an item that changes with Usagi's emotional state. As a harp she uses it to play the song of her despair. As a blade she can use it both as a sword but also to absorb and reflect energy. 

Of course her strongest weapon is the Silver Crystal, the source of her life and her powers. The Silver Crystal is the holy artifact of the Moon which Usagi is the rightful heir of and which no one but the Heir can use. The Silver Crystal grants Princess Sailor Moon telekinesis strong enough that even casual usage created an earthquake across all of Asia. From merely the despair of the original Princess Serenity, the Silver Crystal wiped away all life on Earth and the Moon. It is said to control the world and when Usagi sacrificed herself at the end of the series she was able to restore the Earth from being entirely devastated (Though her friends brought her back to life.) It's possible Princess Sailor Moon could use it for the same purposes the original Queen Serenity did, that being sealing away Metaria, and inducing the reincarnation of the Princess and her friends as humans on Earth. Princess Serenity was never stated to have mastered the Silver Crystal or anything, but the Silver Crystal responds primarily to the heart so if Princess Serenity was particularly emotionally overwhelmed, it's fairly reasonable she could do these as well. 

Princess Sailor Moon's primary weakness is without question her emotional instability. Princess Serenity only takes over their body when Usagi is too overwhelmed and doesn't feel strong enough to go on. Princess Sailor Moon is torn between Princess Serentiy's vengeful despairing heart and Usagi's compassionate, emotionally volatile heart. Emotional Manipulation is the only thing that anyone in her own series can do against her.

Beyond that, Princess Serenity's power relies on the Silver Crystal and the Moon. If she is deprived of either, she loses most of her abilities. 

Name: Princess Sailor Moon, Princess Serenity

Origin: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon

Powers and Abilities: Superhuman Physical Capacities, Light/Energy Manipulation and Absorption, Empowerment (Lunar), Regen (Low by herself, Low-Godly with her friends), Unaffected by a Vacuum, Enhanced Senses, Fourth Wall Breaking, Disguise Henshin and Ability-Copying, Levitation/Telekinesis, Teleportation, Healing/Purification, Binding, Summoning, Can affect intangible enemies, Potentially Sealing and Reincarnation Inducement, Resistance to Mind Control, Memory Manipulation, and Sleep Manipulation, Resistance to Corruption, Resistance to Energy-Draining

Weaknesses: Emotional Instability, Relies on the Moon and the Silver Crystal for her Powers

Destructive Capacity: At Least Continental+, Potentially Planetary

Range: Hundreds of Thousands of Kilometers (Lifewiped the Earth from the Moon)

Speed: Subsonic Movement Speed, Massively Hypersonic Reaction Speed, Lightspeed Attack Speed

Durability: Continental

Stamina: Superhuman (Uses the energy of the Silver Crystal)

Standard Equipment: The Silver Crystal, Princess Sword/Harp, Tiara, Moon Crescent Wand

Intelligence: Average Intelligence for the most part, Clever Emotional Intelligence (Regularly demonstrates the ability to read the feelings of others even when they are hidden), C Tier Skill (Demonstrates Professional Tier Skill in Sword and Boomerang Combat as well as Acrobatics. She also demonstrates skill comparable to the Guardian Senshi are experienced Warriors)

So if the Princess' emotional rampage happened in other verses, how would they do? PGSM came out in 2003, so I wanted to compare it to the other biggest names in the Magical Girl Genre in the early 00s, 2001-2005 (not including series that just aren't a very interesting comparison)

In the Nanoha-verse, Princess Sailor Moon would almost exactly be a Lost Logia. She's from the Moon Kingdom rather than the Belkan Empire, but would be extraordinarily powerful entities from an ancient empire, using ancient and unstructured magic and a threat to a local dimensional world. Her power is quite similar to that of Lost Logia which regularly can wipe all life from a planet or destroy it outright. Her Power would be considered within the S Class with only the strongest TSAB Agents though she can only basically keep up with them and the fastest like Fate would be able to blitz her, basically an extremely powerful magic source but without combat training which is exactly what Princess Serenity is with the Silver Crystal. Even her armies of Youma would be equivalent to upper tier TSAB Agents at B Class, though below Officers at A Class. 

In the first two series of Nanoha that are from the early 00s: Nanoha Classic and Nanoha As, Princess Sailor Moon would be roughly equivalent to one of the final bosses of their series, the dimensional witch Precia or the Tome of the Night Sky. A fight between her and one of them would probably be a very dramatic but even fight, with both having a lot of raw power and potent magical abilities. Conversely the TSAB Agents in the area along with local assistance from Nanoha/Fate the Wolkenritter may be able to stop her. It would be a similarly difficult mission similar to stopping Precia or the Tome of the Night Sky but while they don't have the raw attack potency to harm Princess Sailor Moon, antimagic bindings should be able to work if they get into close range or the TSAB superweapon the Arc-En-Ciel may be able to stop her though if she's not distracted when they try the latter, she could absorb and reflect it with the Princess Sword. Broadly speaking they have weapons they just need to distract her long enough to get into relatively close range or to hit her with it which is dangerous as her raw power output is enough to one-shot anyone there, particularly given the wide area of effect of her abilities. They also have the secret weapon of Nanoha's befriending powers which should disrupt Princess Serenity's emotions via befriending Usagi. Serenity can't copy most of the powers in the verse outside magical potential and mild psychic abilities as much of it is based in technology. 

In the more modern periods of Nanoha Princess Sailor Moon would be strong but not quite so overpowering just due to more recent Nanoha series focusing more on the TSAB as a whole as opposed to local forces and having way way more forces. Princess Sailor Moon would be similar to Evil Vivio in StrikerS where she is exceedingly powerful as an antagonist but not so much that one of the Three Aces couldn't defeat her one on one. Nanoha would ironically do the worst as the Princess Sword can absorb and reflect the Starlight Breaker, though Nanoha could still potentially win via antimagic cage or befriending. Fate can also bind her but has the advantages of lightning style combat specializing in high speed movements fast enough that Princess Sailor Moon wouldn't be able to react. And Hayate while she wouldn't be able to blitz has the advantages of a highly versatile broken set of abilities that should give her the advantage even if Serenity still has much higher power. 

In Tokyo Mew Mew, Princess Sailor Moon would be an immense existential threat to the verse. The Mew Mews are fairly comparable in stats to the PGSM Guardian Senshi and Princess Sailor Moon could summon armies of Youma that were relevant threats to them. If the Mew Mews tried to stop Princess Sailor Moon, they'd be at a large risk, their advantages being movement speed roughly twice the speed of Princess Sailor Moon's reaction speed and mew power may be able to revert Princess Sailor Moon to Normal Sailor Moon as Mew Power can restore things even on the astral plane. On the other hand Princess Sailor Moon has OVERWHELMINGLY higher power, area of effect, versatility, and hax. 

Assuming the antagonists help which they would be inclined to, they may able to assist. The aliens had dimensional hax that Princess Sailor Moon has never shown resistance to. They can also turn Living Organisms into Chimera on a genetic level as it worked on enzymes. Princess Sailor Moon can return being turned into a youma which I would presume including genetic changes but it's not technically said. The Saint Rose Crusaders from A La Mode are also a bunch of psychics and while Princess Serenity's telekinesis, telepathy, and teleportation is superior to Happy Child, Sweet Juliet, and Blue Bayou, Royal Highness has brainwashing powerful enough to control all of Tokyo, a level of brainwashing PGSM Sailor Moon hasn't shown resistance to, though if he controls just the mind of Princess Serenity, Usagi's mind can break her out of it, similar to what happened when Princess Serenity forcibly took control of their shared body. That said Royal Highness could potentially create an opening for the Mew Mews to restore her.

Granted these are definitely are all desperate strategies. Princess Sailor Moon would mostly be an immense threat that would be almost impossible to stop. However if she fought against Deep Blue, she would be completely out of luck. Princess Sailor Moon can hypothetically get past his regen by killing all humanity, but Deep Blue can tank her attacks and even if she uses the Princess Sword to absorb and reflect the Song of Oblivion, he can tank his own Song of Oblivion. She could maybe seal him away, but that's pretty much her only win con. She could try to copy his abilities but she's never copied anything like Deep Blue before, wouldn't have knowledge on using his abilities, and she'd likely only be copying the abilities of the original inhabitants of Earth and would only really have the abilities of someone like Kish or Pie who Deep Blue could beat even in weaker Blue Knight form. Deep Blue meanwhile can kill her even if she can neutralize the Song of Oblivion via numerous forms of haxes, including superior dimensional hax to the aliens prior, purification powers without effort equal to Princess Sailor Moon's best, higher plane destruction etc.. The only real advantage is that Usagi and Serenity are closer than Masaya and Deep Blue, and the latter are prone to internally fighting more than the prior, with it being possible Princess Sailor Moon could take an opportunity to seal Deep Blue. 

In the Uta Kata-verse, assuming you think the Djinn are comparable in power to each other, then Princess Sailor Moon's base power would be fairly similar to the Djinn which would include the Sun Djinn who granted Ichika "the power of the Sun" which produces continental levels of power every second as well as the Mirror Djinn which has the power to wipe out all humanity. Ichika and Saya were able to fly over the city at similar speed to the subsonic movement speeds of PGSM. Overall Princess Sailor Moon would have similar power to a Djinn. The Djinn are invisible to "normal people" but Sailor Moon definitely isn't, and even if they are ghostly to her she can sense powerful energies and fight ghostly enemies. 

The main feature of the verse are the 12 Djinn, spirits representing the forces of nature. Most of their Elemental Powers would only be relevant to Princess Sailor Moon for raw potency. Hydrokinesis from the Sea and Rain Djinn, Pyrokinesis from the Fire Djinn, Aerokinesis from The Heaven and Wind Djinn, Geokinesis from the Earth Djinn, and Fulminokinesis from the Thunder Djinn would only be threatening in the extent that their raw power might cause physical injury to Serenity. However with her ability to teleport away from their attacks, passive healing factors, high durability and the fact that the Djinn have never fought anyone on their level and Princess Sailor Moon is a skilled warrior, even the group trying to attack at once wouldn't be super helpful. And the Moon Djinn would be actively helpful for Princess Sailor Moon who could absorb its power. There are some things that might be helpful. The Flower Djinn hypothetically could use poisons on Sailor Moon, though given that she can purify herself it would likely have to work instantly or not at all, plus she'd have to get through the Light Aura surrounding her. Outside the Moon Djinn and maybe the Heaven Djinn representing the Sky, Princess Sailor Moon destroying the surface of the Earth could wipe out the entire domain of these Djinn. 

The last three Djinn are of more note. The Mirror Djinn has her scythe which can drain the life from someone and turn them to stone, though she'd have to get into close range and through Princess Sailor Moon's Light Aura. The Sun Djinn's domain is too large and too far for Princess Sailor Moon to devastate so it might last a while against her, though eventually she will gain the ability to seal him. Finally the Darkness Djinn, while its direct element is not helpful against the beacon of light Princess Serenity, does have soul manipulation which she has never shown resistance too. So overall if the verse does survive her it would almost certainly be these three that are the major factors, though she would be an existential threat and probably most times be too overwhelming. It doesn't help that the Djinn don't understand humanity and wouldn't be able to manipulate her emotions at all. Ichika and Manatsu don't really change this either, as Ichika's powers are just whatever powers the Djinn grant her which is just the above 12, and Manatsu's abilities are vague are not really established to be on the level of the Djinn or Princess Sailor Moon. Manatsu was screaming in agony holding back a normal tsunami from the Sea Djiin for instance when Princess Sailor Moon's telekinesis can create earthquakes across all of Asia. 

In Sugar Sugar Rune, Princess Sailor Moon would do absolutely bizarrely. Against anyone but the God Tiers, Serenity would have ridiculously higher power to the point that her youma armies that are billions of times weaker than her are in turn thousands or more times stronger than most Witches as they mostly scale to building level feats compared to the Sailor Senshi doing things like storms or fighting the city threatening Metaria Youma. However, Witches can easily fly to the Dark Side of the Moon, the portal to the Magical World in a short time period making them all much faster than Serenity's reaction time, making the fight a bit like a fight between a human and a swarm of mosquitos if you ignore both sides of abilities. A fight between them is bizarre as they are both very outside the context of each other's normal wheelhouse.

Princess Serenity can even by accidentally lifewipe the Earth with an FTL energy surge strong and fast enough to kill everyone but the god tiers in one attack. She also a matter of course summons armies of youma that can overwhelm the planet, each one being tough enough to tank attacks. This would definitely be able to overwhelm the conventional Halloween Forces of Ghouls and Goblins, Skeletons and Pumpkins.These armies are definitely a problem as much of the verse's haxes don't work that well on large crowds save the Nihilist Spider's webs which can erase even a dimension large enough to encompass endless galaxies (though ironically Princess Sailor Moon wouldn't be at threat from due to her natural levitation and light aura keeping the webs away). The verse is full of weird haxes that Witches and Ogres use such as basic witch tricks like soul stealing and transmutation to more esoteric things like telepathic visions of the entire cosmos. But the verse's biggest trick is emotion manipulation, which is basically like putting Superman against a verse full of Kryptonite users, if the accidental muscle spasms of seeing Kryptonite could cause Superman to accidentally destroy the world. If Chocolate used her infamous scariness to defeat Princess Sailor Moon it'd very likely succeed as the one similarity between Serenity and Usagi is being easily scared, though she might accidentally destroy the world. If Rockin Robin used his infamous charm on her, it might pacify her but she might also go "Endymion-samaaaa 😭" and destroy the world in despair. That's why this would be such a bizarre matchup. Princess Sailor Moon can resist several types of common hax in the verse including memory manipulation (Witches erase memories when they steal hearts, but Sailor Moon resisted Zoisite's memory-erasing music) and arguably transmutation, but they do have plenty of tricks that would work such as Noir hearts stealing life energy, Vanilla sealing her in pictures, mandragoras being magical plants that kill anyone who hear their cry. That said the longer the fight goes on, the more likely Princess Sailor Moon is to go into an emotional nova that kills the verse, especially as emotional manipulation is so common in the verse. Broadly I think without the God Tiers the verse can probably stop her if they recognize the threat she presents and are ready to fight, but if caught unaware of who and what she is, it's unlikely.

Against any of the God Tiers on the level of the Seven Witches of Legend who created Magical World, Princess Sailor Moon would just be outclassed. They created Magical World, an entire dimension. Granted not many are around at the end of the series but the Magic Senate is implied to have power relative to one as a group and if Chocolate gets the Fire Crystal from Magical World again, she can rise to that level and stop Princess Sailor Moon.. probably. She'd have an overwhelming attack power advantage being universal vs maybe planetary. Princess Sailor Moon would still have haxes she can do, including telekinetically disarming her so it really depends on if Chocolate messes around. 

In the Mermaid Melody verse, Princess Sailor Moon would have surprisingly normal stats. Most of the fighters in the verse scale to the Continental range from Sara accidentally destroying the Indian Ocean Mermaid Kingdom, Gaito threatening to flood the world, and Mikeru's dimension being large enough he planed to fuse it with the human world yet could be faded temporarily by Kaito's power. Her movement speed is not nearly as fast as them as they can quickly swim across the oceans of the world, though lightning from Mikeru is still treated as faster as them so Princess Sailor Moon should still be able to react. Even her Planetary Highball is comparable to Mikeru's Planetary Highball called a threat to the survival of the planet, and her attack speed is similar to the Panthalassa who attack with Light themselves. Her Youma are also at the power level of the Mermaid Form Princesses and the Suiyo, the first villain group. 

Princess Sailor Moon would be a fairly normal antagonist in the context of Mermaid Melody, albeit one with a very different personality and motive than anyone in the series. In her Base Level of Calmness scaling off the Silver Crystal's Telekinesis creating a quake across Asia and withstanding her own power destroying the surface of the Earth, she would be fairly relative to most of the strong fighters in the verse including the Mermaid Princesses, The Winged Ones serving Mikeru, and the Black Beauty Sisters. Against the Winged Ones and the Black Beauty Sisters, Princess Sailor Moon would easily have the advantage due to far greater versatility, hax, and seriousness. The Mermaid Princesses obviously have their default attack against her, the Mermaid Song which uses emotional manipulation. This could hypothetically work on Princess Sailor Moon though she can protect it somewhat the way the villains do by drowning it out by her own song of despair, though this would likely only work against one Mermaid Princess at once, and would be drowned out by a chorus of multiple of their songs together. So much like the normal villains of the series, she'd be a large threat to a single Mermaid Princess, but would be defeated by multiple working together.

However her usual trait is the way her power rises from her emotional state, either 30x or millions of times stronger depending on if you use the planetary highball. Gaito's power in base was able to somewhat withstand the power of the Seven Mermaids, and was doubled twice, once by absorbing Kaito's power and once by his rod's power which gave the Black Beauty Sisters power superior to his base form, putting him at around 28 the prior level, meaning Princess Sailor Moon in a highly emotional state would be around the power level of Gaito at his Peak state and in her highball would be around the power level of Mikeru who is a similar planetary threat. In this state she would comparable to one of the top tiers: Aqua Regina and Aqua Regina Lucia, The Panthalassa Twins Gaito and Kaito, and Mikeru and the other Ancient Ones. While she lacks the hax level and control of most of her powers that they do, she could easily tip the balance of power in the verse against any of them, being a single character equal in general potency to the major villain of either arc Gaito or Mikeru, especially as she use her ability copying to copy the form of an Ancient One, with even Fodder Ancient Ones being extremely powerful.

Other series I was considering doing were Pretty Cure, Princess Tutu, and Shugo Chara, but the comparisons weren't as interesting for comparison purposes.

Ranking the Over the Garden Wall Episodes

 

As we move closer from the transition of Autumn to Winter I wanted to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Over the Garden Wall with a quick blog ranking the episodes. I've seen numerous of these rankings and wanted to give my feelings. Obviously spoilers for OTGW. 

OTGW is a great show. It's not my favorite cartoon but it is the one I have the least amount of problems and I don't dislike any of its episodes (which is good because there's only ten), but some of them I do definitely like more than others. If I was to give what I'm looking for in an OTGW episode

1: Atmosphere. The thing Over the Garden Wall does so well is set atmosphere and evoke a tone and spirit through it. Specifically the Atmosphere Over the Garden Wall is evoking is the Autumn-y mixture of lightness and darkness, beautifully colored leaves blown by a cold dark wind. 

2: Related to that, a balance of the two sides of the show. I love the dynamic between the two main characters Greg and Wirt, and the show is at its balance I think when the two sides are balanced. The show is a horror-comedy cartoon about Classic Americana with Greg representing the cartoonish comedic side and Wirt representing the horror somber side. I love when two opposite things can mesh and come together, it's arguably my favorite thing in fiction, and just like Halloween, Over the Garden Wall just doesn't feel right if it has only one aspect or the other. 

3: Plot Relevance. Some episodes of Over the Garden Wall kinda feel like sidetracking and disconnected from things. No episode is filler, every episode does advance the plot at least a little and has SOME thematic relevance, I wouldn't like it as much as I do otherwise, but some episodes are definitely a lot more connected than others. 

#10: Episode 8: Babes in the Wood:

This episode is definitely the biggest misstep for me in the series. I do like the beginning and end of the episode but the middle 8 minutes of this 11 minute episode are a fantastical dream sequence of Greg's. I definitely get the thematic relevance and it's sweet the creators wanted to reference these older cartoon styles, but this doesn't connect on any of the three dimensions I like. It's pretty much pure Greg energy without any Wirt-iness and it's only connected to the plot via being a metaphor for their current situation. But more than anything this happens right before the final two episodes and significantly messes with the tone that has been masterfully been building since Episode 6 at least. 

 

#9: Episode 3: Schooltown Follies:

This is another ep that tends to be ranked lower and for me it's fairly similar to the above. Like Greg it's funny and cute but it lacks a lot of Wirtiness or plot relevance. It's funnier and cuter than Episode 8 for me and a lot less tonally breaking but it still doesn't strike the right balance for me. I will say it's very iconically Over the Garden Wall and it has some really funny lines and back and forths, particularly between Wirt and Beatrice. Unlike the gap between 10 and 9, there isn't a large gap between this and the next 3 eps.

The next 3 eps were hard to place and could go in any order, and I do really enjoy all three but the next one would be

#8: Episode 5: Mad Love: 

This episode is another one that's ranked lower usually and I hate to contribute to it because it's fun. Endicott's being so casual in his dropping of implied terrible deeds to achieve his wealth strikes just the right tone for the series, it's a fairly unique locale for it being set in an enormous mansion, its got a fun mystery and sideplot of Wirt and Beatrice looking for chance. Fred gets funny lines, Greg gets an adorable pun at the end. The only real problem I have with it is how disconnected it feels from the plot. We get some more details about Wirt and Beatrice but they don't even get the change for the Frog Ferry they're after the whole ep. Even ignoring that the shift in scenery and the focus on characterss that are not in most of the series make it feel fairly unrelated to most of the series. 

#7: Episode 7: The Ringing of the Bell:

So this episode is really cool and I initially had it even higher. It's got a great plot and plot twist, is darkly evocative and has themes that run more serious than normal, good lines, and has a lot of thematic relevance beyond what first appears. I will admit it does lack a bit of Greg-iness being not the funniest or cutest episode, and it's not most connected to the plot, which is why it's one of the bottom half eps.

#6: Episode 1: The Old Grist Mill:

The first episode of Over the Garden Wall has a lot to establish and I think it does a great job. Wirt and Greg's duality is first established and it forms the emotional core of the entire series. We get the establishment of running gags like Greg's Rock Facts and the varying names for his frog. We have the beautiful opening sequence and the establishment of the atmosphere. The episode is great and I'd love to move it higher. I really don't have any flaws to say with this ep outside the fact that it's maybe a little cramped with just an 11 minute timeframe, though even that somewhat works to its benefit keeping the plot moving fast. It also MAYBE verges too much on the Wirt-y side. The creator wanted it to not take place at night as it kept the viewer from seeing the Autumn Colors clearly and made the tone a bit too dark and I agree. The episode is consistently tense in a way that maybe primes the viewer in a way that might keep them from appreciating the more light-hearted sequences in later episodes. 

#5: Episode 6: Lullaby in Frogland:

Moving into the top 5 and this is an ep that I think just hits all the right notes. It's an episode that has plot development, atmosphere, exploration, comedy, tension, Autumn-vibes, and character development. It sets up the plot for the entire second half of the series while never feeling cramped. This is an ep that consistently gets high in rankings and I can definitely see why, it's an episode that really captures the feel of the series and is importance in the narrative. We have the resolution of the Adelaide plot that covers most of the first half and the revelation of Beatrice's motivation. It has a combination of fun fairy tail logic like clipping the wings off blue birds to make them humans again or the frog ferry while also having Wirt and Beatrice's seriousness providing contrast. I like it more than the first ep because while both are great, Episode 6 has better balance of the two sides of the series and has Beatrice at some of her best as opposed to basically not being in it. 

#4: Episode 2: Hard Times at the Huskin Bee:

When you think of OTGW I GUARANTEE you think of this ep. This ep is probably the most iconic of the series and if you were to show one episode to people to explain what the series is, it would have to be this ep. It's similar to Episode 6 in its incredible balance of every aspect of the series but where in Episode 6 these aspects were all divided into sections which made it feel maybe a little unfocused, in Ep 2 the darkness and light-heartedness, the festiveness and somberness, the Greg-ness and Wirt-ness flow into each other casually and without clear markers. It feels like an episode that best evokes the spirit of what Over the Garden Wall represents. The citizens of Pottsfield aren't just festive skeletons wearing pumpkins, the parts where they are threatening and somber representations of death and the parts where they are silly and light-hearted are never clear and the ep has plenty of parts you don't know whether to take as foreboding or funny such as when they find the mayor office having nothing but a turkey. This is the episode that the show really clicked for me, particularly when it was revealed that Greg and Wirt's few hours of manual labor were digging their own graves, only for that to be double twisted as really digging someone else's so the skeletons resting in them can join the festival.  The episode also ends with an amazing visual metaphor where a falling leaf gets stuck on a fence, a dead thing trapped on a borderway unable to move on, a metaphor for the Unknown in general. This episode consistently ranks highly, often being number 1 and with good reason.

#3: Episode 4: Songs of the Dark Lantern:

This is another ep that really made the series click for me.  Episode 4 is an episode that once again contains both the elements of the series but where Ep 2 wasn't the most connected to the overall plot, this is the ep that really begins Wirt and Beatrice's character development, establishes that the series have an overall plot and direction with the re-establishment of the Woodsman and the first appearance of the Beast and in a meta way expresses that plot with the song about Wirt's nature as the Pilgrim. It does this without sacrificing the humor and fun of the ep with it being mostly a sequence of interrupted songs about character roles and archetypes that is humorous and fun and yet ever so slightly off-kilter in the way everyone is just their roles rather than a named person. This ep is one of my favorite kinds of episodes, an episode that recontextualizes the rest of the series with it in mind. I love how it recontextualizes Greg and Wirt's relationship when it reveals they're half-brothers explaining Wirt's tension. I love how the revelation of the the Woodsman and the Beast's relationship recontextualizes episode 1. I love how the people living out their lives as just their roles recontextualizes the Unknown as being more Archetypal. Just a lot of great things this ep. Plus I'm really fond of when Wirt sings the song of his and Greg's situation one of the people listening says "That's not a love song!" and another crying says "It's a metaphor..." I think that joke's really funny.

I went back and forth between the top 2 episodes a lot but I eventually decided to rank them this way. 

#2: Episode 9: Into the Unknown

An episode that is surprisingly all over the place in various rankings. I don't get this at all, this was almost my favorite episode and I went back and forth between it for first. I said I love episodes that recontextualizes things and this episode does it as well any other episode of any show I've seen.  It is the infamous reveal episode that reveals Greg and Wirt are the modern real world fallen into the Unknown after nearly drowning. But more than that this episode like Episode 10 of Madoka recontextualizes the protagonist of the series and their emotional journey. For this episode that means showing in a way that's wholesome, funny, and relatable expressing something important for the viewers. It shows Wirt's fatal character flaw and it how led Wirt and Greg, a moment built up since Ep 1 where Wirt tries to blame Greg only for the Woodsman to scold him, and leads to the moment of Wirt's character progression both this ep and the next. This episode makes so many inspired decisions like showing how the "Jason Funderburker" Wirt has been negatively comparing himself to all series you expect to be some alpha jock is just some dweeby kid like him, reflecting Wirt's lack of confidence and getting in his own way in classic Byronic Hero fashion. I've said that the interaction between Wirt and Greg's personalities and energies form the emotional core of the series and this episode has the bst in the series as Greg keeps guiding Wirt with his childlike optimism much as Wirt gets angry to him (without Greg even realizing.) It's those interactions that made me REALLY wanna put this episode at number 1. Though I do concede outside Episode 8 it is maybe the ep whose plot least feels OTGW-y, set in contemporary America rather than the Unknown. 

#1: Episode 10: The Unknown

This is probably the most common ep to put as the number one spot and seems to be in at least everyone's top 5 and it's easy to see why. Episode 9 has my favorite Greg/Wirt interactions and that is the core of the series to me, but OTGW isn't a series just about the best character interactions overall are in Episode 10. Just seeing Greg and The Beast interact is that strange blend of light-hearted and funny as well as dark and somber that OTGW does so well as Greg uses tricks to solve the Beast's challenges. There's great interactions between Wirt/Beatrice, Wirt/The Beast, and The Beast/The Woodsman. Everyone is at theit best this ep. Greg isn't that funny but he is his most wholesome most pure power of childish hope and optimism. Wirt is at his final developed state having both the self-awareness that always guides him and the sense of hope that he needed to learn from Greg, The Beast is simultaneously at his strongest and weakest, The Woosdman and Beatrice complete their character journeys and the epilogue is full of wholesome sweetness. A fantastic finale and I can very well see why everyone puts it high in their ranking as it's not just my favorite for one reason but because like the show itself it doesn't falter in any dimension. Much like the brothers it is well considered, consistent, internally coherent and interconnected yet also imaginative and full of wonder. Like the show itself and the Autumnal Season it explores the world of the dark and the dead and the damned to find the beauty of life and fun and hope being renewed.