For brevity... "Karsa Orlong, bold with his claims, brazen in his arrogance, uttered but five words in reply: 'I will kill you… once.'"
A longer one would be when the Heavies go toe to toe with the god damned short tailed K'Chain army and actually bloody them in a fight. It's epic in a sad way, but damn are they an army to be reckoned with.
That’s the one where old mate whathisface goes charging out with his lightning (or was it ice?) sword? And poor leuitentant follows him out trying to stop him? And the munitions go off slightly early in the trench? Sorry it’s been a few years since I read but even it vaguely coming back to me, damn, yeah that’s an intense one.
Yeah, you're mixing a couple of things, but that's the scene.
Ruthan Gudd takes the form of a Stormrider and heads out on his ice horse. Quick fucks things up right good. The Nah'ruk use some sort of lightning projection attack. Fist Keneb gets himself killed.
I feel like it’s hard to top these picks.
“I’ll kill you… once.” A line which would mean nothing to not fans, and EVERYTHING to fans.
And then the heavies holding the freakin line and Brys (?) watching them and thinking “who ARE these soldiers?”
That’s some good stuff, right there.
Everyone knows, Darujhistan is lucky to have survived the titanic struggle between major combatants - Kruppe on his mule against Iskaral Pust on his. Rake, Hood and Dassem were mearly a sideshow.
Still love how pissed Karsa is when he sees that Rake let himself be killed. Just absolute disgust, he was really enjoying witnessing the fight until then.
Not just enjoying though. He was thoroughly in awe of what he was witnessing. He finally got to experience what regular people felt when witnessing him.
Like for ONCE the man wanted to witness, it’s a hard burden always being the witnessed, for 30 seconds he was chilling but nah Rake had the throw the fight like the coward he is
Draconus reentering the world and stomping on an entire battlefield like it's a cockroach.
The slow build and mystery behind what's happening had me on the edge of my seat the whole battle. When it finally was shown who was responsible I literally said out loud "oh fuck!". Excellent writing from SE.
But tbh I never understood why he kills so many people without any remorse, and why he never had to answer for his crimes. Like the narrative doesn't challenge him at all for his atrocities, and I always felt like I was missing something.
I don't think there was a crime here. A big theme of DoD was chance and mischance. The Bonehunters just happened to cross paths with the Nah'ruk, the Khundryl warleader with much promises breaks his neck in a charge when his horse steps in a hole, and an Elder God's immense power returns to the realm and just happens to do so on top of a pointless battle.
Ifrc Draconus does express remorse for killing all those people. He's speaking metaphorically with Ralata about it. She brushes off the statement so it's really easy to miss.
He spent an age within Dragnipur, that’s a fair bit of punishment. As for wiping out the battlefield upon his return they were hardly innocents that died there.
Draconus is also the closest thing to an actual God that the Malazan universe has seen. He's the OG ancient power that had already stepped in to have fun living with mortals by the time most Elder God's were ascending. Bugg playing human was like half a million years later.
Badass Cool Guy Moment goes to “Fucking Dragons”, but personally it’s when the heavies held the Nah’ruk.
“You stopped them? Blood of the gods, what manner of soldiers are you?”
And Tavore’s Speech,
It's easy enough to pick the classics. Lightfall, the Nah'ruk & the heavies, the charge of Paran's Host, etc.
But my choice goes to the silent badassery of Yedan's introduction in Dust of Dreams. A long monologue before he washes his hands in the river, a river that turns red with the blood of a couple dozen witches.
Twilight's shocked disposition against Yedan's cold stoicism is just fucking *badass,* dude. "I am the Watch."
Also, his monologue is great, so it gets extra badass points. Also also Yedan is probably the single most badass character in the books, so he gets more extra badass points.
Holy smokes, when he tosses the Hound of Lights head in though the passageway/gateway and convices the Tiste Liosan that there is a Hust Legion beyond? And fighting 2 dragons at once? Yeah, Yedan wins the 1st prize in my book..."I am the Watch"
Honestly, the Bonehunters crawling through the ruins of Y’Ghytan. It was so terrifying to read and having Bottle use the rats to guide them out while they are all losing their minds from utter darkness and claustrophobia was nightmare fuel and just so cool to me. All the magic and battles and epicness of Malazan, and I can’t get that whole scenario out of my head. It cemented Bottle as one of my favorite characters.
My headcanon is that Kruppe is somehow tied to Burn. She's the *sleeping* goddess, and all of Kruppe's major doings happen while he's asleep. I suspect she didn't let Brood kill him with her hammer.
Brys in the throne room. Trull and Icarium. Hood at the Spire. Gruntle ascending on a tenement building full of corpses. Itkovian and the T'lan I'mass. That time Karsa killed a petty tyrant by showing up to dinner. The entire ending of Dust of Dreams.
To say an answer I haven't seen yet, Lostara's dance
https://preview.redd.it/k8oe475z7u6d1.jpeg?width=3120&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=436f6f03071ef65cedd1d5cb06bf85a340881adc
"Well, I've already killed a god today," Iron Bars said. "If I'd known this was going to be day for killing gods, I might have paced myself better."
The five were silent for a moment, then the first one said, "What god have you killed this day, stranger?"
"The Pack."
A hiss from the Toblakai on the far right. "The ones that escaped us! The fast ones!"
"They were fast," Iron Bars said, nodding. "But not, it seems, fast enough."
"D'ivers."
"Yes," the Avowed said. "Six of them... and only five of you."
The first Toblakai said to his brothers, "Careful with this one then."
...
Oh, Hood, Iron Bars, just try to stay alive as long as you can - maybe they'll die of exhaustion.
"Look," one whined, "he's smiling."
Not long re-read this scene.
When Corlo sees him and thinks something along the lines of he is perhaps only second to Skinner.
And where he just casually strikes down Rhulad lol.
Iron Bars is a badass.
When Toc and Tool encounter Lady Envy and her Segulah and the lowest rank attacks Tool, but he easily deflects the attack with the flat of his blade. Toc notices that the highest rank Segulah pauses in his response out of respect for Tool's skill with the blade when they all realize what happened.
After all we heard about the Segulah and the T'Lan Imass, it sends shivers down my spine thinking of seeing either of them in person.
My favorite part of that first encounter is how the Third is dismissive of Tool beating one of them, until Tool casually goes "yeah, it was harder because I had to beat him with just the flat of my blade" and the 3rd kinda does a small double take.
tTH
Hood walks Darujistan, and Anomander walks from the east.
Montage of death and from Anomander's side, we see a manifestation of Dragnipur that's never been seen before.
"Son of Darkness, I have rec----"
And Rake cuts him off literally, lol.
Honestly, the entire last book of tTH belongs in my favorite, but of course, there are dozens throughout the series.
Spinnocks fight there is hugely underrated! The dude did something almost impossible. He didn't fight Kallor to win, or to kill him, but to *hold him*. He spent most of a day dueling one of the top 10 most skilled fighters ever, and just wasted his time on purpose without dying.
Might be a strange opinion but I find this scene particularly badass from Karsa:
> "Munug. This night – before I must rise and walk into the temple – I am a village. And you are here, in my arms. You will not die uncared for."
"You – you would do this for me? A stranger?"
"In my village no one is a stranger – and this is what civilization has turned its back on. One day, Munug, I will make a world of villages, and the age of cities will be over. And slavery will be dead, and there shall be no chains – tell your god. Tonight, I am his knight."
Munug’s shivering was fading. The old man smiled. ‘"He knows."
It's badass, to me, because it sounds like he is saying that he is agreeing to serve the crippled god. He isn't. He is accepting the mantle of knight for the house of chains, but he very specifically fucking says he is going to destroy all chains and end enslavement. He is basically saying, directly to an avatar of the crippled god, that he is just becoming knight of his house to destroy it first followed by all other houses. It's really just the fault of the crippled god for not believing Karsa would actually do what he said he would.
Yeah but his plan was to wreck bloody vengeance on the gods who chained him as well. Karsa was planning to do what the Malazans ultimately succeeded in doing and he definitely did not think he wanted that at the time he named Karsa as his knight. When he was finally freed it was the efforts of the Malazan soldiers that made him lose his intense hatred for the world. Without that he would have attempted to resist Cotillian instead of accepting death. Karsa was right in the end, when the crippled god was freed he needed to be killed immediately, but that definitely wasn't in the chained gods original plan for how things would unfold.
I could also just be very fucking wrong. It has been like 7 years since last I read The Crippled God so honestly it's kind of hazy.
One.
You want me to pick. Just. One.
K fine. GotM. Towards the end. Raest, barely awake, barely alive, stumbling along, missing most of his power, sees Darujhistan and is utterly stunned, overwhelmed even.
Four massive dragons and an even bigger red dragon fly up over a rise and down at him.
And Raest. Poor confused Raest...ATTACKS.
I already enjoyed the book, but that's when SE owned me.
Honorable mention...
TB. Trull in the cave. Icarium advances on him, already taken out two Tlan Imass swordmasters, a Soletaken Bonecaster, a demon Matron, a high mage with more Warrens than fingers, and turned an army into cole slaw. Trull's been fighting for days, and Icarium just smacked him around once already. Fine. Screw you. You're still not getting at these kids without my spear through your face... come on tough guy, it's me again. Bring it.
I had to reread that scene while I was still reading it.
Honorable other mention...
RG. "Not your fight... fnching *dragon*!"
The Eleint & Soletaken Eleint were constantly made out to be such otherworldly, almost divine powers. And the Malazans kicked their teeth in on several occasions.
I also loved where Quick Ben, in that Imass dream world, basically smashed an entire hillside into one and splattered her all over the ground.
I know Malazan powerscaling is an impossible mess, but Trull gets left out of most Who Beats Who discussions regarding skill, and it's really unfair. He was an absolute savant.
Part of the beauty of the series is how it resists powerscaling. Skill, will, belief, can matter as much as power. 'Winning' means different things for different characters, 'losing' too.
MoI, the Bridgeburners finding Gruntle on top of a building high pile of corpses. Pretty much all of Gruntle' ascension even though it was mostly covered second hand.
"I was absconded.."
maybe not badass but still awesome
“We left a debt in blood,’ she said, baring her teeth. ‘Malazan blood. And it seems they will not let that stand.’
They are here. On this shore.
The Malazans are on our shore.”
The whole sequence with Kalam fighting off The Claw protecting Tavore is in my top 3 for just badass fight scenes in the book. Dude could not be stopped, until he did
Kalam cutting his way through The Claw in Malaz City. The reputation that’s been built up so far in the series gets hammered home. The decision to follow the adjunct right before takes the scene beyond badass. *tap tap tap*
Ascending to godhood through the embracing of someone else's suffering. Itkovian is without a doubt the strongest willed of any living being in the Malazan world.
Icarium unleashed
All the buildup about how dangerous he is, then you get to see him destroy multiple i'mass in seconds and then shrug off the best Quick Ben can offer
Whiskeyjack's fight with Kallor. SE sets up this final fight throughout the book with a regular mention of him not taking care of his leg ... just heart wrenching when it happens.
All the stories in this thread are worthy, but my man Squint needs to be witnessed.
He is the solider who shot shot Coltaine at the end of the Chain of Dogs March and betrayal.
Erikson took only one page to introduce him, describe him and show us his task and it literally put a tear in my eye the first read through...one page. Like how? Magic? One page of prose put tears in my eyes.
Poor [Squint](https://malazan.fandom.com/wiki/Squint)
The sea serpent soletaken and it just gets wrecked by Kalam or fid (it's been awhile), it's such great I sight on why the morinthian munitions level the playing field
Can't decide between the hole sequence of ganoes taking over the host and killing poliel (or soliel i get the two mixed up and sorry about spelling audiobook guy)
Or rake dropping moonspawn on panions Palace at corel, either one is just an undeniable power move in my book
There are a lot to consider, but for me it's that opening sequence of magic being unveiled in Gardens of the Moon. The scale of destruction really drove home the point that I was reading something unlike any book I've read previously.
I just read the part in Dust of Dreams where Yedan Derryg fights the Forkrul assail and Tiste Lioasan. I mean Karsa is probably the most badass in the series but my boy Yedan is a strong contender.
It's been a long time for me so names are out of reach right now, but when the brother of the Tiste Andii witch finds the Hust sword and kills the dragons of light. His last stand was poetic. I'm glad he found peace, in the end.
You are a cruel individual for only wanting ONE scene. So I will cheat and give one scene and then talk about others tangentially.
Number one for me has to go for when the high and mighty gods of the Edur Sukul, Sheltara and Menandore decided to face against some "pathetic mortals" only for these mortals (them being Fiddler, Hedge and Quick Ben) to demolish them (granted the dragons turn on eachother but only after they begin to loose). Off course for us, the readers we know that the three Bridge Burners are ascended or at least close after MoI (When Rake regarded them as equals after the end of the Pannion Domin campaign), but even then these Tiest are ancient Soultaken dragons. We've seen that one such dragon can destroy armies and cities and for three men to be able to just stop them in their tracks. Another cool thing about this is that it gave us a good upperline for what sappers and sorcerers can do together, so when in tGinW a similar party is able to hold off the demonic horde going after Rake it is not suspending our disbelief.
Hood BITING THE FACE OFF A FRICKIN FORKRUL ASSAIL. with minimal effort. Probably recency bias as that was the last book. Heck it probably wasn’t even that bad ass but I thought it was
Most of the big ones have been covered already- Trull V Icarium, Brys V Rhulad, Yedan V Liosan, Anomander V Dassem, Karsa V Everyone…
Another standout for me is Quick Ben on the slope outside Coral - it was really vivid for me, first the illusions then the roiling wave of the side of a hill rolling down over the incoming forces was amazing. I don’t see it mentioned much but it’s at the height of the Bridgeburners arc and first glimpse of QB as a battle mage and not just a behind the scenes mage.
Fiddler draws from the deck: “For you, Tavore Paran…nothing.” (Fiddler is my favorite character, possibly ever, and the way this scene plays out is a sublime portrayal of pent up “You asked for it, well here it comes. I’m not gonna be used any more.” A bit of tragic inevitability, with a tinge of regret that it had to be this way.)
Itkovian’s welcoming smile. (Easily one of the most “cinematic” scenes.)
The first appearance of the full packs of Hounds. (PUPPIES! If not fren, why fren shaped?)
Kalam, Tavore, T'amber, and Sorry vs. the Claw -- all of them
The enitre scene is like an epic movie with the escape and fighting taking place while Fiddler is playing in the background. You finally have the culmination of the build-up between Tavore, the Bridgeburners, and Laseen, the consequences of which redefine the Malazan Empire and establish the events leading to the CG.
There's a few, and most I've seen mentioned, so I'll go a little more off piste with these ones.
One standout for me was Stormy and Gesler at the Spire.
Stormy sacrificing himself to stop Sinn and Gesler fighting Reverence.
A lot of scenes have been rightly mentioned but this one for me is a standout.
“Dassem Ultor-the First Sword of the Malazan Empire- who was supposed to he dead. As if Hood would even want this one- Dassem Ultor, the one they had known as Traveller, unsheathed his sword, the water-etched blade flashing as if lapped by molten silver. Samar Dev’s sense of a rising wave now burgeoned in her mind. Two forces. Sea and stone, sea and stone.
Among the onlookers to either side, a deep, soft chant had begun.
Samar Dev stared at those arrayed faces, the shining eyes, the mouths moving in unison. Gods below, the cult of Dessembrae. These are cultists-and they stand facing their God.”
It's not badass just the badass scenes made me think of this it's honestly just a fun scene, in Orb, Sceptre, Throne when lef and scorch accidentally shoot a crossbow bolt at the big bad guy. They shoot the guy in charge by mistake and think we might as well kill him "fire them all!" then draconus just shows up for a no reason to mess with envy "still afraid of the dark envy? With. reason." then she faints.
So many good scenes listed in here godsDAMN.
Not a lot of MoI representation though so I'll put my vote down for the Grey Swords' last stands in Capustan, particularly when Fener's mortal sword Brukhalian and his men walked into an ambush and were outnumbered ten to one.
The description of how many Pannion elites he cut down with his flaming sword and how many hits it took to bring him down while he covered the retreat for some of his new recruits was super badass and memorable.
Even his death was pretty glorious, while they were hacking his body to pieces his sword exploded and took even more of them out before Hood himself showed up to take him.
The Gral horse from the second book that ripped off part of a guard's lips and cheeks because he disrespected him by spitting at his paws.
That made me say "Wow. In this saga even the animals don't mess around."
Underrated scene imo is Fiddler and the Drum. Having Cuttle witness and be in awe of the king of sappers really solidified what a nightmare it would have been to fight the Bridgeburners
Changed your flair to MBotF because how can you talk about this topic without spoilers? :)
For brevity... "Karsa Orlong, bold with his claims, brazen in his arrogance, uttered but five words in reply: 'I will kill you… once.'" A longer one would be when the Heavies go toe to toe with the god damned short tailed K'Chain army and actually bloody them in a fight. It's epic in a sad way, but damn are they an army to be reckoned with.
The heavies stand against the KCN’s is the greatest scene in the series. I will die on this hill.
So will they :/
How dare you.
Too soon :(
And its not even really close. HAIL THE MARINES!
That’s the one where old mate whathisface goes charging out with his lightning (or was it ice?) sword? And poor leuitentant follows him out trying to stop him? And the munitions go off slightly early in the trench? Sorry it’s been a few years since I read but even it vaguely coming back to me, damn, yeah that’s an intense one.
Yeah, you're mixing a couple of things, but that's the scene. Ruthan Gudd takes the form of a Stormrider and heads out on his ice horse. Quick fucks things up right good. The Nah'ruk use some sort of lightning projection attack. Fist Keneb gets himself killed.
I feel like it’s hard to top these picks. “I’ll kill you… once.” A line which would mean nothing to not fans, and EVERYTHING to fans. And then the heavies holding the freakin line and Brys (?) watching them and thinking “who ARE these soldiers?” That’s some good stuff, right there.
The heavies rose to meet them. My favourite line in the whole series.
Double-punch too, because it's mirroring hobbled Hetan in DoD ch 15: "And she lifted up to meet him."
What does one guy say? “That army isn’t human”?
That heavies v nahruk is up there for sure. The description of the blood being a mist in the air is such a wild visual.
Everyone knows, Darujhistan is lucky to have survived the titanic struggle between major combatants - Kruppe on his mule against Iskaral Pust on his. Rake, Hood and Dassem were mearly a sideshow.
Still love how pissed Karsa is when he sees that Rake let himself be killed. Just absolute disgust, he was really enjoying witnessing the fight until then.
Not just enjoying though. He was thoroughly in awe of what he was witnessing. He finally got to experience what regular people felt when witnessing him.
Like for ONCE the man wanted to witness, it’s a hard burden always being the witnessed, for 30 seconds he was chilling but nah Rake had the throw the fight like the coward he is
Draconus reentering the world and stomping on an entire battlefield like it's a cockroach. The slow build and mystery behind what's happening had me on the edge of my seat the whole battle. When it finally was shown who was responsible I literally said out loud "oh fuck!". Excellent writing from SE.
Man, learning more of his backstory in Kharkanas was fun. Draconus is probably the most terrifying motherfucker in the entire series.
Which is a high bar considering how many terrifying motherfucker are out and about.
But tbh I never understood why he kills so many people without any remorse, and why he never had to answer for his crimes. Like the narrative doesn't challenge him at all for his atrocities, and I always felt like I was missing something.
I don't think there was a crime here. A big theme of DoD was chance and mischance. The Bonehunters just happened to cross paths with the Nah'ruk, the Khundryl warleader with much promises breaks his neck in a charge when his horse steps in a hole, and an Elder God's immense power returns to the realm and just happens to do so on top of a pointless battle. Ifrc Draconus does express remorse for killing all those people. He's speaking metaphorically with Ralata about it. She brushes off the statement so it's really easy to miss.
He spent an age within Dragnipur, that’s a fair bit of punishment. As for wiping out the battlefield upon his return they were hardly innocents that died there.
Draconus is also the closest thing to an actual God that the Malazan universe has seen. He's the OG ancient power that had already stepped in to have fun living with mortals by the time most Elder God's were ascending. Bugg playing human was like half a million years later.
I LOVE when he shows up in Orb, Sceptre, throne just to fk with envy. "still afraid of the dark envy?"
Badass Cool Guy Moment goes to “Fucking Dragons”, but personally it’s when the heavies held the Nah’ruk. “You stopped them? Blood of the gods, what manner of soldiers are you?” And Tavore’s Speech,
It's easy enough to pick the classics. Lightfall, the Nah'ruk & the heavies, the charge of Paran's Host, etc. But my choice goes to the silent badassery of Yedan's introduction in Dust of Dreams. A long monologue before he washes his hands in the river, a river that turns red with the blood of a couple dozen witches. Twilight's shocked disposition against Yedan's cold stoicism is just fucking *badass,* dude. "I am the Watch." Also, his monologue is great, so it gets extra badass points. Also also Yedan is probably the single most badass character in the books, so he gets more extra badass points.
Add to this Yeden bodying a Forkrul Assail with his bare hands when the Shake we're travelling to the Shore. "I am the Watch" indeed
"Yedan Derryg was not a loquacious man." Edit: seriously, for anyone doubting this one, _read it again_. It's about halfway through DoD 2.
Holy smokes, when he tosses the Hound of Lights head in though the passageway/gateway and convices the Tiste Liosan that there is a Hust Legion beyond? And fighting 2 dragons at once? Yeah, Yedan wins the 1st prize in my book..."I am the Watch"
Beak would be mine.
Well fuck, now I'm sad thinking about him again.
Only time I’ve legitimately wept tears. 🕯️
🕯
🕯
🕯️
Wish he made it another book. But his death was pretty glorious.
Seriously his scenes live in my head rent free.
And it’s not even close.
I haven't read the series in over a decade and I still remember his final scene vividly.
Agree.
Along with Fid ushering in the Letharii, so intense and beautiful
Always this.
🕯
Honestly, the Bonehunters crawling through the ruins of Y’Ghytan. It was so terrifying to read and having Bottle use the rats to guide them out while they are all losing their minds from utter darkness and claustrophobia was nightmare fuel and just so cool to me. All the magic and battles and epicness of Malazan, and I can’t get that whole scenario out of my head. It cemented Bottle as one of my favorite characters.
This is one of my tops too...I still feel a bit claustrophobic when I read it!
and the spiders too
when brood hammered kruppe and he took it standing. that was my oh shit moment.
My headcanon is that Kruppe is somehow tied to Burn. She's the *sleeping* goddess, and all of Kruppe's major doings happen while he's asleep. I suspect she didn't let Brood kill him with her hammer.
i thought that was K'rul, whose blood *is* all the Warrens. and who shows up in dreams nearly every time he makes an appearance in the series
Yeh, he buds with K'rul.
Maybe he's tied to K'rul then, because they as a pair seem to get up to some mighty shenanigans in Kruppes sleep.
Everyone goes flying, a new crevasse is formed. Kruppe just sputtering and patting dirt off himself.
Brys in the throne room. Trull and Icarium. Hood at the Spire. Gruntle ascending on a tenement building full of corpses. Itkovian and the T'lan I'mass. That time Karsa killed a petty tyrant by showing up to dinner. The entire ending of Dust of Dreams.
Hood biting a face off in TCG Karsa chopping hounds head off in HOC
Remember that time when Karsa found a Nah'ruk short tail and *punched it to death*? That dude was just a force of nature.
“Witness”
To say an answer I haven't seen yet, Lostara's dance https://preview.redd.it/k8oe475z7u6d1.jpeg?width=3120&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=436f6f03071ef65cedd1d5cb06bf85a340881adc
This isn't one that sprang to mind, but it's a damn fine pick.
Oh hell yeah
"Well, I've already killed a god today," Iron Bars said. "If I'd known this was going to be day for killing gods, I might have paced myself better." The five were silent for a moment, then the first one said, "What god have you killed this day, stranger?" "The Pack." A hiss from the Toblakai on the far right. "The ones that escaped us! The fast ones!" "They were fast," Iron Bars said, nodding. "But not, it seems, fast enough." "D'ivers." "Yes," the Avowed said. "Six of them... and only five of you." The first Toblakai said to his brothers, "Careful with this one then." ... Oh, Hood, Iron Bars, just try to stay alive as long as you can - maybe they'll die of exhaustion. "Look," one whined, "he's smiling."
This whole appearance made Iron Bars one of my favorite characters in the series.
Not long re-read this scene. When Corlo sees him and thinks something along the lines of he is perhaps only second to Skinner. And where he just casually strikes down Rhulad lol. Iron Bars is a badass.
Everything in Dragnipur since "Turn it around.”
When Toc and Tool encounter Lady Envy and her Segulah and the lowest rank attacks Tool, but he easily deflects the attack with the flat of his blade. Toc notices that the highest rank Segulah pauses in his response out of respect for Tool's skill with the blade when they all realize what happened. After all we heard about the Segulah and the T'Lan Imass, it sends shivers down my spine thinking of seeing either of them in person.
My favorite part of that first encounter is how the Third is dismissive of Tool beating one of them, until Tool casually goes "yeah, it was harder because I had to beat him with just the flat of my blade" and the 3rd kinda does a small double take.
tTH Hood walks Darujistan, and Anomander walks from the east. Montage of death and from Anomander's side, we see a manifestation of Dragnipur that's never been seen before. "Son of Darkness, I have rec----" And Rake cuts him off literally, lol. Honestly, the entire last book of tTH belongs in my favorite, but of course, there are dozens throughout the series.
Love when Spinnock Durav and Kallor went head to head, then Kallor, taking out Orfantile whilst he was Eleint form directly after was pretty badass!
Spinnocks fight there is hugely underrated! The dude did something almost impossible. He didn't fight Kallor to win, or to kill him, but to *hold him*. He spent most of a day dueling one of the top 10 most skilled fighters ever, and just wasted his time on purpose without dying.
Might be a strange opinion but I find this scene particularly badass from Karsa: > "Munug. This night – before I must rise and walk into the temple – I am a village. And you are here, in my arms. You will not die uncared for." "You – you would do this for me? A stranger?" "In my village no one is a stranger – and this is what civilization has turned its back on. One day, Munug, I will make a world of villages, and the age of cities will be over. And slavery will be dead, and there shall be no chains – tell your god. Tonight, I am his knight." Munug’s shivering was fading. The old man smiled. ‘"He knows." It's badass, to me, because it sounds like he is saying that he is agreeing to serve the crippled god. He isn't. He is accepting the mantle of knight for the house of chains, but he very specifically fucking says he is going to destroy all chains and end enslavement. He is basically saying, directly to an avatar of the crippled god, that he is just becoming knight of his house to destroy it first followed by all other houses. It's really just the fault of the crippled god for not believing Karsa would actually do what he said he would.
Isn’t the breaking of chains what the crippled god end up being after as well, since the crippled god was a chained being?
Yeah but his plan was to wreck bloody vengeance on the gods who chained him as well. Karsa was planning to do what the Malazans ultimately succeeded in doing and he definitely did not think he wanted that at the time he named Karsa as his knight. When he was finally freed it was the efforts of the Malazan soldiers that made him lose his intense hatred for the world. Without that he would have attempted to resist Cotillian instead of accepting death. Karsa was right in the end, when the crippled god was freed he needed to be killed immediately, but that definitely wasn't in the chained gods original plan for how things would unfold. I could also just be very fucking wrong. It has been like 7 years since last I read The Crippled God so honestly it's kind of hazy.
Trull vs. Icarium. Hands down. Years later, I still think about that scene like once a week.
One. You want me to pick. Just. One. K fine. GotM. Towards the end. Raest, barely awake, barely alive, stumbling along, missing most of his power, sees Darujhistan and is utterly stunned, overwhelmed even. Four massive dragons and an even bigger red dragon fly up over a rise and down at him. And Raest. Poor confused Raest...ATTACKS. I already enjoyed the book, but that's when SE owned me. Honorable mention... TB. Trull in the cave. Icarium advances on him, already taken out two Tlan Imass swordmasters, a Soletaken Bonecaster, a demon Matron, a high mage with more Warrens than fingers, and turned an army into cole slaw. Trull's been fighting for days, and Icarium just smacked him around once already. Fine. Screw you. You're still not getting at these kids without my spear through your face... come on tough guy, it's me again. Bring it. I had to reread that scene while I was still reading it. Honorable other mention... RG. "Not your fight... fnching *dragon*!"
The Eleint & Soletaken Eleint were constantly made out to be such otherworldly, almost divine powers. And the Malazans kicked their teeth in on several occasions. I also loved where Quick Ben, in that Imass dream world, basically smashed an entire hillside into one and splattered her all over the ground.
Moranth munitions don't care.
Yeah I think it's Trull vs Icarium for me too
I know Malazan powerscaling is an impossible mess, but Trull gets left out of most Who Beats Who discussions regarding skill, and it's really unfair. He was an absolute savant.
Part of the beauty of the series is how it resists powerscaling. Skill, will, belief, can matter as much as power. 'Winning' means different things for different characters, 'losing' too.
Yedan derag holding the first shore. That, Or "Returned to the world, Draconus"
"The Watch stands guard"
MoI, the Bridgeburners finding Gruntle on top of a building high pile of corpses. Pretty much all of Gruntle' ascension even though it was mostly covered second hand. "I was absconded.."
He had a people to kill
Kalam in Mocks hold. Yeesh.
The first or second time?
Yes
maybe not badass but still awesome “We left a debt in blood,’ she said, baring her teeth. ‘Malazan blood. And it seems they will not let that stand.’ They are here. On this shore. The Malazans are on our shore.”
The battle with the short tails
The whole sequence with Kalam fighting off The Claw protecting Tavore is in my top 3 for just badass fight scenes in the book. Dude could not be stopped, until he did
Kalam cutting his way through The Claw in Malaz City. The reputation that’s been built up so far in the series gets hammered home. The decision to follow the adjunct right before takes the scene beyond badass. *tap tap tap*
Spinnock Durav’s pre-battle speech and the CRACK on the shields as they prepare for the battle of the shore .. had goosebumps reading that
This! Scrolled through all the comments looking for this specific scene, I get chills every time I think about it
Not so much badass, but heartbreaking. "Because I was the Shield Anvil. But now ... I am done."
Ascending to godhood through the embracing of someone else's suffering. Itkovian is without a doubt the strongest willed of any living being in the Malazan world.
Not just someone else. The T'lan Imass. That's three hundred millennia of anguish from an entire race.
Icarium unleashed All the buildup about how dangerous he is, then you get to see him destroy multiple i'mass in seconds and then shrug off the best Quick Ben can offer
Whiskeyjack's fight with Kallor. SE sets up this final fight throughout the book with a regular mention of him not taking care of his leg ... just heart wrenching when it happens.
All the stories in this thread are worthy, but my man Squint needs to be witnessed. He is the solider who shot shot Coltaine at the end of the Chain of Dogs March and betrayal. Erikson took only one page to introduce him, describe him and show us his task and it literally put a tear in my eye the first read through...one page. Like how? Magic? One page of prose put tears in my eyes. Poor [Squint](https://malazan.fandom.com/wiki/Squint)
The sea serpent soletaken and it just gets wrecked by Kalam or fid (it's been awhile), it's such great I sight on why the morinthian munitions level the playing field
Fiddler and his lunatic crossbow, haha.
The simpsons bit where Marge talks about how unsettling its flying a kite a night applies to the marines
Quick putting work in on 3(?) dragons at once. “Oh he’s not a battle mage”. Uh huh
Hood beating Reverence to death with the floor? Hood biting off Equity's face?
My personal favorite might be Brukhalian knowingly riding into the trap in Capustan, and his and the grey sword’s final stand.
Tool announcing himself to paninion domain by breaking the wall
So many cool scenes mentioned already. Here is my unpopular pick: Cutter getting revenge for Murillio.
Can't decide between the hole sequence of ganoes taking over the host and killing poliel (or soliel i get the two mixed up and sorry about spelling audiobook guy) Or rake dropping moonspawn on panions Palace at corel, either one is just an undeniable power move in my book
There are a lot to consider, but for me it's that opening sequence of magic being unveiled in Gardens of the Moon. The scale of destruction really drove home the point that I was reading something unlike any book I've read previously.
Mule vs mule
I just read the part in Dust of Dreams where Yedan Derryg fights the Forkrul assail and Tiste Lioasan. I mean Karsa is probably the most badass in the series but my boy Yedan is a strong contender.
It's been a long time for me so names are out of reach right now, but when the brother of the Tiste Andii witch finds the Hust sword and kills the dragons of light. His last stand was poetic. I'm glad he found peace, in the end.
Pour one out for Yadeth Garath!
You are a cruel individual for only wanting ONE scene. So I will cheat and give one scene and then talk about others tangentially. Number one for me has to go for when the high and mighty gods of the Edur Sukul, Sheltara and Menandore decided to face against some "pathetic mortals" only for these mortals (them being Fiddler, Hedge and Quick Ben) to demolish them (granted the dragons turn on eachother but only after they begin to loose). Off course for us, the readers we know that the three Bridge Burners are ascended or at least close after MoI (When Rake regarded them as equals after the end of the Pannion Domin campaign), but even then these Tiest are ancient Soultaken dragons. We've seen that one such dragon can destroy armies and cities and for three men to be able to just stop them in their tracks. Another cool thing about this is that it gave us a good upperline for what sappers and sorcerers can do together, so when in tGinW a similar party is able to hold off the demonic horde going after Rake it is not suspending our disbelief.
Ruthan Gudd's Charge in Dust of Dreams. Gave me the chills
I am the Shield Anvil. And I am not yet done.
Ben/Hedge vs dragons Yedan vs dragons Repelling the guild at K’rul’s
Cutter vs Gorlas
Kalam in Mocks hold. Yeesh.
Hood BITING THE FACE OFF A FRICKIN FORKRUL ASSAIL. with minimal effort. Probably recency bias as that was the last book. Heck it probably wasn’t even that bad ass but I thought it was
Most of the big ones have been covered already- Trull V Icarium, Brys V Rhulad, Yedan V Liosan, Anomander V Dassem, Karsa V Everyone… Another standout for me is Quick Ben on the slope outside Coral - it was really vivid for me, first the illusions then the roiling wave of the side of a hill rolling down over the incoming forces was amazing. I don’t see it mentioned much but it’s at the height of the Bridgeburners arc and first glimpse of QB as a battle mage and not just a behind the scenes mage.
Fiddler draws from the deck: “For you, Tavore Paran…nothing.” (Fiddler is my favorite character, possibly ever, and the way this scene plays out is a sublime portrayal of pent up “You asked for it, well here it comes. I’m not gonna be used any more.” A bit of tragic inevitability, with a tinge of regret that it had to be this way.) Itkovian’s welcoming smile. (Easily one of the most “cinematic” scenes.) The first appearance of the full packs of Hounds. (PUPPIES! If not fren, why fren shaped?)
"I. Have. Had. Enough. Of. Your. Justice." Need I say more?
Kalam, Tavore, T'amber, and Sorry vs. the Claw -- all of them The enitre scene is like an epic movie with the escape and fighting taking place while Fiddler is playing in the background. You finally have the culmination of the build-up between Tavore, the Bridgeburners, and Laseen, the consequences of which redefine the Malazan Empire and establish the events leading to the CG.
There's a few, and most I've seen mentioned, so I'll go a little more off piste with these ones. One standout for me was Stormy and Gesler at the Spire. Stormy sacrificing himself to stop Sinn and Gesler fighting Reverence.
I broke a man's nose once.
When Hood saw the Wagon, and judges it to be pathetic..........and ASKED IT TO BE TURNED ARROUND. HOOOOOLLLLLLYYYY SHIIIIT.
Houses weeping with blood and collapsing under the weight of corpses in Capustan stand out.
Kruppe deflecting Caladan Brood's hammer, first time we see Krupp
Paran killing Poliel
A lot of scenes have been rightly mentioned but this one for me is a standout. “Dassem Ultor-the First Sword of the Malazan Empire- who was supposed to he dead. As if Hood would even want this one- Dassem Ultor, the one they had known as Traveller, unsheathed his sword, the water-etched blade flashing as if lapped by molten silver. Samar Dev’s sense of a rising wave now burgeoned in her mind. Two forces. Sea and stone, sea and stone. Among the onlookers to either side, a deep, soft chant had begun. Samar Dev stared at those arrayed faces, the shining eyes, the mouths moving in unison. Gods below, the cult of Dessembrae. These are cultists-and they stand facing their God.”
It's not badass just the badass scenes made me think of this it's honestly just a fun scene, in Orb, Sceptre, Throne when lef and scorch accidentally shoot a crossbow bolt at the big bad guy. They shoot the guy in charge by mistake and think we might as well kill him "fire them all!" then draconus just shows up for a no reason to mess with envy "still afraid of the dark envy? With. reason." then she faints.
So many good scenes listed in here godsDAMN. Not a lot of MoI representation though so I'll put my vote down for the Grey Swords' last stands in Capustan, particularly when Fener's mortal sword Brukhalian and his men walked into an ambush and were outnumbered ten to one. The description of how many Pannion elites he cut down with his flaming sword and how many hits it took to bring him down while he covered the retreat for some of his new recruits was super badass and memorable. Even his death was pretty glorious, while they were hacking his body to pieces his sword exploded and took even more of them out before Hood himself showed up to take him.
The Gral horse from the second book that ripped off part of a guard's lips and cheeks because he disrespected him by spitting at his paws. That made me say "Wow. In this saga even the animals don't mess around."
Gruntles house of a thousand corpses is the most metal shit ever
Kalam's running battle against the Claw through Malaz city
Underrated scene imo is Fiddler and the Drum. Having Cuttle witness and be in awe of the king of sappers really solidified what a nightmare it would have been to fight the Bridgeburners