Not sure why I said NOVOgrod...It was Novgorod.

“IS THAT FREDERICK THE GREAT?!” Absolutely loved your reaction to his appearance. My favorite part!

Fredrick the Great did play flute. He actually wrote quite a bit of music.

Friedrich der Große was actual famous for being really good at playing the flute. He even wrote music, so no, that wasn't the hint to his sexuality... That was the line "oblique attack tactics ain't entirely straight" that is the play on his sexuality

I think Catherine took the first one. Her closing line ("Empress to Tsar 8, bitch. Checkmate") is like 4 layers deep. I think it may be the single deepest line in any ERB. 1. Catherine was the 8th Tsar to rule the Russian Empire. 2. "Empress to Tsar 8" would be the Russian equivalent of saying "Queen to King 8" in chess, and the 8th rank would be the opposing king's starting space. So she's literally announcing taking the opposing king's place. 3. Her beating Ivan in a chess game finishes off the theme in the whole video of each character dying the way they did in life (Alexander poisoned, Frederick in his chair, Pompey before he could talk (to Ptolemy in real life, or to the audience here), and Ivan playing chess). Only Catherine's death method, since it was a lie, doesn't come true. 4. She way she pronounces "Tsar 8, bitch," it comes out sounding a lot like "Tsarevich." So rather than addressing Ivan with the respect due the 1st Tsar, she calls him "son of the tsar." Plus, her whole vibe when she says it suggests she's using it less like a honorific and more like a diminutive... like, Run along and play now, little Tsarevich; Mommy's busy running the empire! 🤣

Yes, Catherine was Prussian. But once she entered Russian court life, she fell in love with the country and its people and always considered herself a Russian at heart. (Extra Credit has a wonderful video series on Catherine and how she became Empress. Worth the watch.)

The line Fredrich the great made about "tear out my eyes" is a reference to Ivan the terrible tearing out the eyes of an architect after he built St Basils cathedral in Red Square so he would never again build something so beautiful.

“No he died in a chair!”😂 😂 love how he’s just reacting to it like it’s a movie or something

I think Tolkien wins on the sole fact that the man actually finished his damn series. I'm gonna die before Winds of Winter comes out.

That Frederick the Great part is one of the greatest ERB moments ever IMO.

Yes Frederick the Great actually played the flute :D For the part about his sexuality he never admitted it but it was definitely a wide spread rumour at his court supported by the fact that he supposedly never consumated the marriage with his wife and thus also never had any children.

About the Gordion Knot. It was told that whoever could loose the ends from the knot would conquer Asia. But the knot was so tight that no one could unravel it. Until Alexander had the idea to cut the knot in two. That's why he was able to untie the tightest knot and conquer Asia.

Fredrick's beat was absolute fire.

I love how they referenced Frederick's sexuality with the line "Oblique attack tactics 'aint exactly straight"

Friedrich der Große is amongst my favorite people history has to offer. Dude went like "Hmmm, I've got sandy hills and coniferous forests, perfect conditions to create a new world power." and just went ahead and did it.

of course Pompey won he came out ahead 😉 George R.R. Martin may have spat Ice & Fire but J.R.R. Tolkien went There & Back Again 😊

The myth of the Gordian knot, I believe, has to do with a very complex knot that no one could untie. The saying went that anyone who could do that would be king of the city. Alexander conquered the city and then just cut the knot in half with his sword. The idea is of using a simpler, perhaps brutish solution to a complex problem

I know its not exactly "historical" but watch the Zeus vs Thor one lots of actual mythology references and its all done in lego stop animation like the lego movies ;p

The great part about ERB is that it gets people interested in history. They give you just enough information to make you want to find out more on your own. Even if it's just a quick google search.

When you’re having a bad day but see the homie upload, you know it’s gonna get better. Keep up the amazing content!

The battle of "The Greats vs. The Terrible" is kinda hard to pick a decisive winner....but Tolkein SLAMS Martin into the ground. "Ask Led Zeppelin!" Led Zeppelin has made a number of songs based on the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and other works by Tolkein.

Glad you had the opportunity to check out the "Battle of the Greats" finally. I'm sure we figured that it would be a fun surprise and had lots of historical content. Can't wait to see your next ERB reaction!

Last time I was this early Alexander hadn't conquered persia yet

actually the legend said that whoever could unravel the knot would rule all Asia. And Alexander literally went and slashed it with his sword. but great reaction. do more of these please

your reaction to frederick was AMAZING HAHA. im not usually into erb reactions who pause super often and break it down line by line, but i am SO entertained with your reactions and breakdowns; it feels like im back in a real history class and its absolutely amazing to learn these things :] thank u

The chanting in the background of Frederick the great is "Old Fritz", which is the English equivalent of his German nickname "Der alte Fritz". He got this nickname because of his long time as ruler and generally down to earth attitude that can also be seen in his title first servant of the state. In addition to that it seperates him from all the other Frederick the seconds.

I love these epic rap battles of history you do, I’m always excited to learn about history in this way, please continue this series

The stark difference between Tolkien being in one of the most gruesome battles in WWI and Martin being a conscientious objector for Vietnam is one the most hilarious and poignant parts of their battle.

Fredrick the great did actually play the flute. He even composed his own music.

Two of my favourite rap battles in one video! Thanks for the great reaction! Keep it up!

I'd been waiting for you to do this forever! or generally someone who'd be able to catch how great this battle is (this is the very peak of ERB if you ask me, in every way, costumes, acting {especially Peet} references, concept) I was not disappointed

I absolutely love your reactions to eveything. Both the surpises to the People chosen and the historical references. Makes this awesome!

The Gordion Knot was a literal knot of rope which supposedly could only be undone by the person who was destined to rule the world, or something, similar to the sword in the stone with Arthur, and according to the legend when Alexander visited the knot, he drew his sword and slashed it in half, thus fulfilling the legend.. in his own particulsr way.

Can't believe I found you so late but you better believe I'm going to binge every single one of your reactions to ERBoH! I love the way you pause frequently to really break down each iconic line and reference every nuance of that persons life that is brought up. Watched a couple of historians reacting to these but your thorough breakdowns and giddiness over hearing the lines and understanding them almost immediately is just genius content. Looking forward to the rest!

6:02 Frederick the great definitely played the flute and even composed his own pieces.

React to Eastern vs Western philosophy rap battle

This was my favorite reaction you’ve done to ERB. I didn’t know much about Fredrick the Great but now I’m excited to learn more! Keep it up man! Please do a reaction to Eastern philosophers vs Western philosophers ERB.

Catherine the Great was born in what was then known as the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, now northern Poland. The city is Szczecin. And her birth family was the House of Ascania. I think they decided to skip all that and went with the fact that she ruled Russia as part of the Romanov family.

I know you said it's not exactly historical, but J. R. R. Tolkien is basically the father of the Fantasy genre as we know it, and George R. R. Martin is pretty much singularly responsible for the Renaissance we're seeing now days. I think as time moves on both of them will be viewed as significant historical literary figures, much like Dante or Dickens.

Please check Ceasar vs Shaka Zulu (Star Wars reference in Rome history?) and Zeus vs Thor.

These kinds of videos really help me understand certain lines

I'm seriously enjoying all of your videos really happy to see your channel growing

6:05 Yes! Fredrick the Great did play the flute, the King was fluent in the flute and was considered a musician creating 4 symphonies and at least 80 sonatas, and was with other famous philosophers and musicians, one of which being Voltaire and another in this picture being C.P.E Bach. The picture depicting it is titled, "Flute Concert at Sanssouci".

Definitely a win for Tolkien, probably my favorite ERBH.

You made it to my favorite ERB of all time! Well done, so nice to see a historian reacting to the video:) Yes, she was Prussian but got Russian enough to become Great.

I found myself addicted to your Channel I love history but the depth you give is amazing

Tolkien also fashes the ASL symbol for R during the "stole my R.R." line.

Have seen this numerous times and never got the reference with the fluet before, there's soo many references packed into these.

I loved this reaction. Ivan vs the Greats is my favorite ERB video, and the fact that you got all the historical references is amazing. Small addition, the Gordian Knot was an actual knot tied in a greek city, and the legend was that whoever untied it would end up ruling the world. Legend says that when Alexander came to the city, and they presented him with the knot, he unveiled his sword and sliced it in half. He obviously would later become the ruler of the greatest empire that ever existed at that time.

When Fedrick says "I wouldn't pay a guy to tear out my eyes" is a reference to Ivan clawing out the architects eyes, that built the St basils catherdral so he couldn't build anything more beautiful than it.

Forgot about this video when you asked subscribers what our favorite video of yours is. For me it's this one, your excitement for each character's appearance is just pure gold!

04:15 He didn't untie it, he CUT it and declared himself ruler of all Asia.

Tolkien did study Icelandic and the lore. He even had an Icelandic babysitter in the 30´s. As an Icelander I see the Icelandic influence in both the Dwarves and the Rohirrim.

A fact I love about Tolkien is that he wrote languages and then felt that languages needed meaning and due to that decided to write his books, of course he already wrote stories but nothing remotely on this scale. It's a fun little fact.

Love the videos! Very insightful comments from you and you make the video so watchable. Keep them coming!

As you said it's really great how they refer to little interesting details of historical characters they rap about...I often end up spending a lot of time on wikipedia when they do a new battle with historical figures It's really one of my favourite ERBH

Frederick: "So bring me my chair~ VTG: "NO, HE DIED IN THE CHAIR!" Me: *[Smoking my toy bubble pipe]* "Ah, a man of culture and sophistication, I see."

This guy could have predicted entire GoT if he knew also that history. "No! Dont go to the red wedding Rob!" X) you got a new sub.

As student of history on first year (classes will begin this monday) I find it really great to have more experienced historian here to explain background of ERB battles

Yessss i requested this too im so happy your doing this have a good day

i really hope to see you watch any of them from season5 forward, even if they have nothing to do with history, you do such a great reaction video

It’s interesting how you talk about Tolkien being typical fantasy so it’s easy to predict what will happen but that’s only because he established many cliches we know so well today. At the time it wouldn’t have been like that at all

This was how all of the Greats actually died

The pose at 6:11 is from a Jethro Tull album cover.

6:09 possibly both. Frederick the Great was pretty keen on the arts, as well as le wangs.

Frederick the Great beat was lit.

Old Fritz not only played the flute, he wrote music too

5:36 well there it is, a person who actually knows history. took a few years to find one, but you're my new favorite channel :) amazing reaction too 7:16 too oh boy I love this

4:19 one little correction,he didnt solve the gordain knot,rather he pulled put his sword and cut it in half. Great content btw,really enjoy watching these videos

Love watching these reactions, you learn dubbel

Great video 👏👏

i love your reactions so much!

tolkien may have used his last few lines to riff of the titles to his books, but hey...he spat pure truth. :)

Love the ERB reactions

One of their best videos for sure

15:06 Deep cut. Martin has said that he does his writing on a relatively ancient DOS computer with no network connection.

Have to agree on Frederick the Great and Tolkien although Ivan was a close second. Did not think I would like these, but I do:)

I don't want to question a historian, but I thought the point about the gordion knot was that Alexander didn't solve it, he just walked up to it and cut it in half, thereby "solving it". I thought was like an example of how he thought outside of the box which made him so unique.

it's "The Greats" vs "The Terrible" that's the theme of this song

Oh man, this one is amazing. One of my favorite fully historical ERBs.

Awesome video

Not only did he play the flute, he composed some really good flute concertos

yeaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh frederick played the flute he was a geniuos at it actually! - there is an absolutly beautiful painting of him and his entourage in the german national gallery in Berlin cheers

@Vlogging Through History Frederick did play the flute yes and also had one of J.S. Bach's sons (C.P. E. Bach if I'm not mistaken) as one of his musicians in his court during his reign. He also got to meet with J.S. Bach three years before the composer died in 1750 (which was deemed the year where the Baroque period ended) and the meeting lead to J.S. Bach testing out Frederick's fortepianos along with performing on the organ in that area he visited and sparked the interest of writing the famous Musical Offering that you could say helped Bach form the objective of what the Art of Fugue was about.

Nicely done.

There’s a recent Russian TV drama series about Catherine the Great, from the day she arrived to Russia to well into her reign. It’s available on Amazon Prime with English subtitles (not sure if all the seasons, though). It shows her many affairs and how she grows from a naïve princess to an experienced empress of a country that she adopts as her own

In the legend, Alexander the Great did NOT untie the Gordian Knot - he cut through it with his sword.

"pompey was in a triumvirate with julius caesar and... was it crasus? i cant remember" - entire first triumvirate summed up.

I don't remember the title off the top of my head, but there was a great movie recently about how Tolkien's experience in WW1 inspired his writings in Hobbit and Lord of the Rings

6:01 he actually did play the flute, but this is probably a reference to both

10:53 clearly you've never read the Silmarillion 13:32 that aged well

Hehe. It was nice of Alexander to give me a shoutout.

Fredrick the great did play the flute. One of his teachers was Johann Quantz. The writer of the book: on playing the flute. Which is still referenced at times today for flute and recorder players.

Fredrick the Great walking in, destroying his opponent, and then leaving. Seems historically accurate.

Even though I've seen this multiple times, it always gets me hyped when he whispers "what about a flute busting Prussian?"

Two of my favourite ERBs in the same video!

As a historian myself, I appreciate these reactions to ERB. Thanks again

"But now you got the Panhellenist from Pella hella pissed Stepping up's foolish as well as useless Little Vasilyevich, let me spell out the list" Favorite part.

A few small notes: - In the myths the Oracle of Delphi foretold that only the one who would be able to untie the Gordian Knot could ever conquer Asia... but in the legend Alexander did not really untie it, instead he sliced it in half with his sword... and went on to conquer Asia ^^. - Frederick did indeed play the flute and he was rather good if you want to trust the reports of the time. - Him being gay is hard to prove, it's likely that he was at least bi, but there is no proof that it is true, just circumstantial evidence... so it's still a point of debate. - Catherine was originally from Prussia but in her early years in Russia she made sure to learn the language, to convert to the Russian Orthodox Church and adept Russian customs... so ironically she was widely regarded as more Russian than her husband (who openly admired Frederick the Great and also descended from a German noble house) when she overthrew his rule.

What a *great* choice of enemies for Ivan. I'll show myself out. PS: The Tolkien vs. Martin battle is one of my absolute favourites.