Brain vs. Brawn: The Ultimate Showdown
Season 4, Episode 13
First Aired (CAN)	April 12, 2012
First Aired (USA)	August 28, 2012
Challenge(s)	Make armor out of trash; Pin your opponent down for 3 seconds.
Reward(s)	One million dollars
Winner(s)	Cameron (Canada, France, Italy, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Latin America, Romania, Netherlands, Hungary, Israel, Russia, Bulgaria, Africa, Poland, UK and Australia) Lightning (USA)
Cameo(s)	Ezekiel
Eliminated	Lightning (Canada, France, Italy, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Latin America, Romania, Netherlands, Hungary, Israel, Russia, Bulgaria, Africa, Poland, UK, and Australia) Cameron (USA)
Episode Guide
previous "The Enchanted Franken-Forest"	next "Heroes vs. Villains (Total Drama All-Stars)"

After a long, hard, and painful season, only two contestants remain to battle it out for the million-dollar prize. They are taken to a coliseum to battle it out in the ultimate final challenge. In addition to fighting each other, they must also overcome numerous obstacles during the challenge. In the end, one contestant, despite going out of his way to save his friends, manages to overpower the other and win the challenge, the money, and the season.

Plot

The episode first starts off from the night before where Cameron is sad that Zoey didn't make it to the finale. Lightning however, is happy because it will be much easier to win the million dollars due to Cameron's lack of athleticism. Cameron tells him that even though he isn't that strong, he still has as they call it "game." Lightning shows his "game" by lifting a log over his head and saying how he's got it in the bag. Cameron points out though that he could not win if the last challenge is a intellectual one, but Lightning points out that past Total Drama finales have always been physical and states that he can crush Cameron like a grape.

In the confessional, Cameron is shown not to be worried, but terrified. However, he points that this he has come a long way and how he can do anything if he can beat Lightning. After he says that, Lightning scares him saying the same grape threat. Cameron says on the other hand if Lightning wins, he will still have a bubble to stay in for the next sixteen years growing his skin back while eating his mom's sandwiches through a straw. Lightning screams the word grape making Cameron even more terrified. He says to his mom if she's watching this to start pumping out the oxygen.

Lightning is then in the confessional saying while doing curl-ups at the same time, if he was a gentleman he would let Cameron win. (referring him as a "little girl"). But he states that his father didn't raise a gentleman and that the victory will be his before getting scared and falling down due to the horns playing in the background.

Later that day, Chris is seen being pulled in a carriage with a television. The TV shows the two finalist's parents, being able to video chat with them. Cameron's mom was first seen talking to him. She had told him since purified air costs so much, she won't be able to afford his bubble. Cameron seems shocked while his mother needs him to win the million. Next was Lightning's father, but only seen from his backside. He is also saying that his son is going to win the million while he's being interviewed. He even bet his championship rings. Lightning seems nervous with the heavy toll he holds now, while his father says he's nothing without them. The video then shuts off, while Lightning never got to actually speak to him.

The final two and Chris are seen in the carriage as they approach the Chrisiseum. Once inside, Chris then shows the eliminated cast. Cameron then asks what happened to Scott, who is now in a machine. Chris says that his machine helps him say "yes" and "no," since he can't talk. Sam then asks if he has to cheer, while Chris says it's mandatory to cheer, or else Fang will be released on them. Chris then announces the final challenge, a gladiator battle royal. The first part is to create armor out of a massive junk pile dumped next to them. Chris then says they have fifteen minutes to assembly their armor, but to also be careful for booby traps.

Lightning first starts out pushing Cameron as he goes back and forth in front of the rest of the cast, who are cheering and helping him build. Cameron then finds a computer and a hazma suit. When he pulled on the suit, a bomb goes off in front of him. Lightning then makes fun of him and continues working. But Cameron then spots a blowtorch that was next to Lightning, which he could use. Later on, Lightning has his suit armor almost complete, while Cameron is on the computer, powered by a Marshmallow of Toxic Loserdom, to research for his armor. A quick montage is then seen between the two preparing, until the fifteen minutes were up. Lightning is seen with his armor which everyone cheers him on, while he makes fun of Cameron, who only has a suitcase. Cameron then kicks the case, releasing a suit of high-tech, metal armor. Lightning is stunned by his suit.

Chris then announces part two, where the rules are, whoever pins the other for three seconds first win. The battle then starts with Lightning going after Cameron. Cameron then blasts him, causing him to fall down. Chris then brings in the mutant beetle that shoots fire at Lightning, while he runs towards Cameron and punches him. He then falls down, powering his rockets on the bottom of his feet, blasting the beetle out of the ring. Lightning then attacks Cameron multiple times with his weapon, which causes Cameron's suit to lower in armor strength. Chris gets bored of the battle and brings out a mutant alligator. Cameron blasts out of the alligators mouth, while he picks up Lightning who was punching him from below. Cameron then punches the alligator in the stomach, sending them both flying. Lightning is able to land on the ground in a split formation, injuring his groin in the process. Mike then tells Cameron to pin him, but Lightning gets back up, keeping the fight going on. Cameron fire his blaster arm at Lightning, but he manage to deflect one of the shots out of his way with his club. One of the shots ended up in Chris' chair hitting his remote. The remote then malfunctions, causing all the mutant creatures on the island to appear. Zoey, Mike, and Scott are seem traumatized in the confessional after seeing all the animals again. The animals then attack the eliminated cast, causing them to go into the ring with Lightning and Cameron. Anne Maria is seen confronting a mutant squirrel, while the squirrel blasts lasers into her hair. Ezekiel then comes to save her and leans in for a kiss as she screams. Cameron then gets worried about his endangered friends, while Lightning attacks him from behind and almost pins him. Cameron then throws him off causing his helmet to also fall off. Cameron then uses the helmet to save Anne Maria, knocking out Ezekiel. Dakota is seen attacking a mutant turtle holding Sam, while Dawn says her tea leaves didn't predict B getting punched by the octopus in the tree. Staci is also seen getting eaten by Larry, freaking everyone out. Cameron then blasts Larry in the privates, as he runs away. Lightning finally comes back to hit Cameron once more, getting rid of all of Cameron's armor strength all together. Cameron then orders the armor to transfer all power to create a magnetic field, which finally shuts down Cameron's robot.

Everyone is then stunned when it appears nothing has happened Lightning then tries to attack Cameron one last time, but everything starts to get attracted to Lightning's armor. Cameron then tells him he turned him into a magnet, causing everything magnetic in the field to crowd him. A storm cloud nearby strikes Lightning, causing everything to get blasted away from him and give him white hair. Lightning then falls, while Cameron quickly falls later on. The entire cast counts to three as Cameron wins. Chris then announces Cameron has won the fourth season.

Later that day, the cast is seen at the Dock of Shame on a boat while Cameron is also seen with his million dollars as he approaches the boat with everyone else. Cameron then realizes he no longer needs the money for his bubble. He then decides that because they all helped him no longer need his bubble, that he'd share the money with them. Sam is seen talking about buying video games, Jo talking about starting a gym, and Brick shouts out that he gets to go to fashion school. Everyone looks at him awkwardly as the boat pulls away. Chris then starts to sign off, but before he does, he says he placed a bomb on the bottom of the boat. He tries to blast the cast, but instead it blasts him off the dock. Chris then yells at Chef, blaming him for it. Chris then resumes his sign off, but a flock of helicopters surround the island, saying that the island is now under government protection. Chris is also ordered to be quarantined, while the cast is seen laughing as they drive away.

Alternate Ending

The alternate ending starts out with the same scenario of Cameron emitting an electromagnetic pulse that turns Lightning into a magnet. After the lightning strike that gives Lightning white hair, Cameron's suit short-circuits and he collapses to the ground. Mike yells for Cameron to get up, but Cameron is unable to move the heavy, shut-

down suit. Jo yells at Lightning to finish Cameron, and Lightning falls on top of Cameron in a daze. Chris counts to three, and then declares Lightning the winner, much to everyone's chagrin. In the confessional, Lightning boasts about his win, saying "not even lightning can stop the Lightning!" He receives the million dollars on the Dock of Shame while Zoey comforts Cameron over his loss, which Cameron says was more of a victory due to him still being alive. When Mike asks what Lightning will spend the money on, Jo asks for 10% due to her getting him to the finals in the first place. Sam offers to play any video games that Lightning needs to beat, but Lightning rejects both of them and says that he's spending it on his own stadium so that he can get in-shape for football season. Chris pulls out an X-ray of Lightning's body following the challenge and advises him to avoid physical workouts for a while, but Lightning says that pain doesn't matter to him. He then takes a step forward and breaks his leg as the boat pulls away. The screen then switches to the confessional with Jo in it. She states how she carried these "morons" to the finale and thinks she should have won the money. Then, the screen switches back to the boat, which continues on like the events from the original ending.

Cast

Voice Actor	Role(s)
Christian Potenza	Chris McLean
Athena Karkanis	Anne Maria
Jon Cor	Brick
Kevin Duhaney	Cameron
Carleigh Beverly	Dakota
Caitlynne Medrek	Dawn
Laurie Elliott	Jo
Tyrone Savage	Lightning
Cory Doran	Mike
Brian Froud	Sam
Ashley Peters	Staci
Barbara Mamabolo	Zoey

• B, Chef Hatchet, Ezekiel, and Scott appeared, but they did not speak.

Trivia

General

• This is the second season in a row where the United States and Canada have two different winners.
  • In this case, Cameron winning in Canada and Lightning winning in the United States.
• Cameron reveals that he is in his bubble for sixteen years.
• This is the first final two in Total Drama history to be of the same gender, as both are males.
• This is the first  finale where the challenge is not a race to the finish line, but a duel.
• Although Lightning won the season in the USA, the actual ending (where Cameron wins), can be downloaded off of iTunes.
• In the DirecTV guide for this episode, it is incorrectly titled "Brain vs. Brain: The Ultimate Showdown."
• Currently, Lightning has only won in one country. In this case, the United States.
• This is the first time that Latin America and USA have different endings.
• In the United States version, Scott is not shown to be crying when everyone is laughing at him but rather the camera pans to Chris smiling.

Continuity

• This is the third episode of the season in which Ezekiel has a cameo appearance, and his fourth cameo appearance overall of the season.
• This marks the second time in the series that the winner actually gets away with their prize money. The first is Duncan, who got away with his prize money in Total Drama Action.
  • However, if one counts the alternate ending where Beth wins, Cameron is the only one in the series to keep his prize money.
• With Cameron’s win in this episode, all four of the Total Drama season winners are males.
  • In the United States, however, only three males have won Total Drama, since Heather won Total Drama World Tour.
• This is the second time that a contestant is shown to need a robotic suit after being injured. The first is Alejandro at the end of Hawaiian Punch.
  • Coincidentally, both were the antagonists of their respective seasons when they were placed in robotic suits.
• When the "Chrisiseum" is first revealed, the tail wing of the Total Drama Jumbo Jet from the previous season can be seen bearing the main portrait of Chris' face.
• When the intern hits wrong button on the music player, Sea Shanty Mix from Newf Kids on the Rock is heard.
• The arrest of Chris and the transformation of Camp Wawanakwa into a reserve follows up on two previous plot points:
  • Dawn's threat to rat out and save the animals on the island from her departure speech in Backstabbers Ahoy!.
  • The Canadian Government's pursuit of Chris for his illegal dumping as seen in A Mine Is a Terrible Thing to Waste.
• The formula Cameron writes on the ground while building his suit is the same formula Izzy wrote in Jamaica Me Sweat.

References

• Cameron's robotic suit is a parody of the Marvel comics character, Iron Man.
• The "Chrisiseum" is a parody of the Colosseum in Rome, Italy.

  

• The mechanical suit used by Scott appears to be based on a similar suit used by the injured Capt. Christopher Pike in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode, "The Menagerie." Scott's facial expressions appear similar to those of Capt. Pike in "The Menagerie."

Goofs

• When Chris introduces the eliminated Mutant Maggots Jo and Brick are sitting with them when they were switched and put on the Rats.
  • Dakota and Scott were with the Rats even though they were later put on the Maggots.
  • However, Chris could've meant what teams the aforementioned were originally on.
• When the previously eliminated cast members laugh at Scott in response to Chris' remark, a harness from Truth or Laser Shark is seen on Mike.
  • In the same scene, Zoey's bracelets are absent.
• When Cameron saved Anne Maria from Ezekiel, he threw the helmet Lightning had. But before Cameron stops Larry from eating Staci, Lightning is wearing his helmet when he says "Quit being a hero and fight!"
• After Cameron magnetizes Lightning's armor, Cameron's own armor too should be pulled towards Lightning as it is made from metal.
  • However, not all metals are magnetic, so Cameron's armor could've been made of a non-magnetic metal, such as aluminum.
  • Additionally, Lightning's necklace was seen being pulled away from his body.
• In the original ending, Lightning did not have a burnt skin, nor the other injuries on his face. But in the alternate ending, those were all noticeable.

Gallery

Total Drama: Revenge of the Island episodes
Pre-Merge	Bigger! Badder! Brutal-er! | Truth or Laser Shark | Ice Ice Baby | Finders Creepers | Backstabbers Ahoy! | Runaway Model | A Mine Is a Terrible Thing to Waste | The Treasure Island of Dr. McLean
Post-Merge	Grand Chef Auto | Up, Up And Away In My Pitiful Balloon | Eat, Puke and Be Wary | The Enchanted Franken-Forest | Brain vs. Brawn: The Ultimate Showdown