Red Baron v. White Death; ERB Analysis

I have explained this battle extremely thoroughly, discussing themes, rhyme schemes, etc.

ERB: Red Baron v. White Death; an in-Depth Review

This essay is a thorough review of Epic Rap Battles of History, Red Baron v. White Death. This series pits two (generally) historical figures against each other in a rap battle. I have explained each verse of the rap battle as follows: The quote is what is said by that individual in the rap battle. The line immediately following is the literal meaning of what the quote is trying to say. The next section of paragraph(s) discusses various themes, historical context and references, rhyme schemes, plots, double entendres, etc. These are written in no particular order. The last section (generally one paragraph) discusses the visuals that occur during or around that scene, giving the lines extra meaning.
I highly recommend watching a few ERB's before looking at this. I strongly recommend watching the specific rap battle of White Death v. Red Baron before reading this.
[Though this review contains adult language I have censored any inappropriate or cuss words.]
White Death:
"I'm the greatest sniper ever, took out half-a-thousand surgically. If you've never heard of me, I did my job perfectly."
White Death is flexing now by saying that he killed 500 people with extreme precision, and if the audience watching doesn't know him, that's the best thing you can ask of a sniper.
White Death begins by boasting about his achievements. He is said to have achieved his kill count in about one hundred days.
The first bit sets up who this individual is to put him on par with battling the Red Baron. Though the Red Baron is not extremely well-known, most people are at least a bit aware of him, and know that he is an impressive deadly pilot. It's important for White Death to establish himself as someone worthy of battling the Red Baron.
He then turns what could easily have been a diss from Red Baron into a flex. Snipers are supposed to be sneaky and hidden, and if you haven't heard of him, that means he's done a really good job. Contrast, for example, Skrillex's line against Mozart that, "No one even knows you," or Jeff Bezos's line against Mansa Musa of, "I never heard your story, and I own Audible." In these situations, the fact that the individuals are less well-known {though, in the case of Mozart it is a bit odd, as I'd say a supermajority have indeed heard of him}, and that is used as a good, though slight, jab. More or less, the implication is that if no one knows who you are, you must've not been that important. White Death flips this on its head because he is supposed to be hidden and secret.
Also, this is a rare showing of an ERB contestant speaking to the audience, but it's critical to establish himself in this battle.
I don't know if there is any specific significance to the word 'surgically' as it pertains to White Death himself. As far as I'm aware it's simply the fact that White Death is a sniper and they require surgical precision.
When White Death says the word 'perfectly' he makes an OK sign, which is common military slang for 0 Killed. This is a cute little military nod.
The White Death has his face covered for the first verse by a white mask, as he fought in the snowy Finnish regions, requiring camouflage. I will discuss the choice to let people know what he looks like at the end of the verse, as he lifts his mask up at that point.
"You wouldn't last a minute in the snow pits I was sittin' in. I'm fatal for my homeland, like sub-zero, I'mma Finnish him."
White Death is saying that Red Baron wouldn't last in his conditions. White Death was fatal on behalf of his homeland, Finland, against Russia in the Winter War. He then says he'll finish off Red Baron in this battle like in the Mortal Kombat video game character, Sub-Zero.
The White Death attacks pilots in general in this verse as opposed to the Red Baron in particular, which gives him more content and allows the battle to appeal to a wider audience, which the White Death desperately initially needs to do, as he is not well-known as an individual. He says that pilots are in their comfy planes while he sits for hours and days in the snow. He makes the claim that snipers are more hardened soldiers than pilots in general. Additionally, the Red Baron operated in blisteringly hot temperatures compared to the White Death. As White Death mentions in this line, he is Finnish and in Finland in the winter it can reach below 40 Fahrenheit and the coldest it would ever be for the Red Baron would be about zero Fahrenheit. Also, the Red Baron never sat in the snow and operated mostly during the warmer months, where the temperature could rise to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Continuing on the theme of not lasting too long in the snow, White Death says that he's fatal for his homeland, Finland, and ergo, will easily kill the Red Baron. Drawing on both the cold theme and the fatality theme, he says, "like Sub-Zero I'mma Finnish him." This is an obvious nod to the street fighter game, and you can actually see the White Death performing the 'finishing move' in the background as he says it. {This is a bit ironic as the White Death would have shot the Red Baron instead of trying to punch him or doing something similar.} The finishing line is a nice touch as he could have said that it would be a 'fatality' or something like that, but he references his lethalness in a more covert way, which I appreciate. Sub-Zero also refers to the freezing conditions that White Death had to endure.
The word 'Finnish' in 'Finnish him,' refers to the fact that the White Death is Finnish. This probably went over most people's heads because the extra 'n' in the word 'Finnish' isn't obvious. It appears on the screen in big letters to try to get you to notice that that word is spelled with an extra letter, but I don't think it's particularly effective. It's a bit ironic that White Death goes out of his way to make himself more known only to drop this reference in a very obscure way.
The 'I' sound is very prevalent in this rhymes scheme and you can notice this very plainly when White Death puts a lot of emphasis on the 'I' sound and glosses over the other sounds. For example, 'I'mma' is passed over so quickly, you can barely hear it. It's good for the rhyme scheme, but it also helps put a real emphasis on "Finnish him" which is what I think they were going for. {I happen to not think it paid off very well, but that's just me.}
The camera at this point is very focused in on the gun that the White Death is using. This is to demonstrate the lethality of the White Death as you can practically see into the barrel. This also allows for drama and precision. In most sniper movies, they focus heavily on the gun to focus you in on how steady and how surgical the gun is being aimed. ERB is doing the same here.
"You kept your flying target of a plane hard to miss. You're more full of yourself than my steaming jars of piss."
White Death says that Red Baron's plane would be very easy to shoot down and that he's so narcissistic that even a jar full of White Death's literal self can be more braggadocios than Baron.
White Death is threatening to kill the Red Baron again and he is saying that it is quite easy to hit a plane; implying that it is significantly harder than killing people. Also, the Red Baron did indeed get shot down (most likely by an Australian ground soldier), which adds a touch of irony.
The White Death takes the term "full of yourself" to be literal as the piss in the jars is literally the White Death himself. The Red Baron was quite full of himself during his lifetime, by constantly bragging and receiving goblets every time he killed someone. [This will come up later in the battle.] This bar deflates anything the Red Baron says to prop himself up in the battle, as the White Death already called him out for being pompous.
White Death is further demonstrating how hard it is to be a sniper. He had to pee in a jar so that he wouldn't be seen, because he would be moving around to pee. This is not specific to the White Death however, as most snipers do this. Still, a jab at Red Baron.
The camera shows the bright red plane against the pale blue sky, indicating how easy it would be for a sniper to spot the Red Baron. This is as if White Death is saying that it would be significantly more difficult to kill someone on the ground, so how hard could it really be to kill Red Baron.
"But you're second class, like your first iron cross. You're only held up as the best by the side that always lost."
The Red Baron was awarded the second-class medal the first time he was given an iron cross. The iron cross is the German medal of honor. White Death is saying that Red Baron is second-class in this battle as well, next to him. The Germans may say that you are the best but what is it worth if they always lose?
White Death references second class and first iron cross for the obvious wordplay of one and two. Interestingly, the second iron cross he was given was first class. {This is therefore a bit of an odd diss, as Red Baron was later given the highest honor.} Then the White Death acknowledges that Red Baron is the best in Germany, but what is that worth when they lose all the time?
This is a great tactic to use in rap battles, where you put the other person on a pedestal simply to knock them down after. White Death acknowledges that Red Baron is the best in Germany, but then knocks him down by saying that Germany loses and therefore he is better. Because in a rap battle, the other side technically does not have to suck to lose. [Think Lance Armstrong's verse against Babe Ruth, "You're an orphan who found his way to fortune and fame, imagine what you could have done if you'd have actually trained."] They only need to be worse than you. You can't possibly be better than me if you are the best and you have still lost.
There is a bit of an interesting caveat here as well. Germany never fought Finland directly. However, Germany did fight Russia during WWII and they lost to them. (It is debated whether Russia or the Americans were the main reason that Germany lost, but most historians would tell you it was Russia.) The White Death fought for Finland against the Russia as well during the Winter War. While it is true that Finland gave up some territory, they certainly held their own. On the other hand, Germany was forced to sign the disastrous treaty of Versailles and was then carved up by its enemies. This means that Finland held up better against Russia than the Germans did and this means that the White Death is better than the Red Baron by proxy.
"You should've zagged over France, but you zigged and got your wig popped, your whole flying circus can suck it, big top."
The White Death is saying that Red Baron should've flown better and he would not have gotten killed if he would've done what he was supposed to. The Red Baron's aerial team was known as the 'Flying Circus' and White Death is saying that they can really suck it.
The words 'zigged' and 'zagged' are interesting choices as you almost never hear them separately in the way they are used here. It would make sense to use the standard 'zigzag' over here because planes (especially in combat) can be described to be zigzagging. What is unclear to me is the point of using the word 'zigged' as a connotation for a negative flying skill. I don't see how going in alternative directions is really a negative connotation.
White Death then goes on to diss the Red Baron for being killed by an Australian soldier on the ground (though he wasn't a sniper) while flying over the Rhine River. The implication is that he is a bad pilot if he didn't end up making it out alive. The White Death should probably have alluded to himself never having been killed, but he misses that chance. Perhaps it's in the rap if you look really hard, but on the surface, it is certainly not there.
The words 'wig popped' is also very distinct, though it's clear that the White Death is using it so he could rhyme with 'Big top.' It would be difficult to rhyme anything related to 'head knocked off' or 'blown up' or more common expressions of being decapitated. This word choice therefore makes more sense than 'zigged' and 'zagged' of the previous portion and is wholly necessary.
The flying circus is not just a double entendre. Rather, it is a double entendre on top of the straightforward insult of 'you, and your whole posse are just a bunch of buffoons.' That, in America, is generally what we mean when we say something is a circus. We say that to convey that someone or something is wild, uncivilized or foolish. This is the basic way that White Death uses it.
However, the double entendre is different. The double entendre is when flying circus makes a nod at the actual name of the squadron being the 'Flying Circus,' and also a nod at an actual literal circus by saying 'Big Top,' like 'Big Top Circus.' This is fantastic lyricism as the words 'Big Top' convey additional meaning in themselves as well as conveying retroactive mean to 'flying circus.' It makes the 'circus' line similar to a real circus like 'Big Top Circus.' Additionally, 'big top' refers to giving head in a big way, hence the word 'Big Top.'
The camera also zooms in on White Death's face. It is unclear to me if this was done simply to emphasize the 'big top' connotations as if done later on with the 'sleigh pull, pull slay' and 'Been Stiller' line, or if it's simply to emphasize the 'big top' of White Death, like his head. In either case, the close up works.
"When duty called, I left Red Army ranks ripped open, now it's time to make a zombie out of this Richtofen."
The Red Baron is saying that he killed many Russians and left their ranks ripped open, and now it's time to kill Red Baron, whose name was Richtofen.
The White Death is flexing that he killed so many enemies, that what's one more zombie he'll create by killing the Red Baron?
'Richtofen' is also the last name of a zombie Call of Duty character called Edward Richtofen. The Call of Duty reference is from the words "When duty called", and this demonstrates that the two Richtofens are the same and the Red Baron is sort of 'destined' to be turned into a zombie. [It's unlikely that this was intentional, but a zombie insinuates that the Red Baron would still be able to fight. This is what the White Death wants. He doesn't want to kill Red Baron in a way that he can't recover. If he did that, then Red Baron couldn't finish the battle with him. If this was intentional, it is very smart and possibly the best verse in the battle.]
Throughout the verse, White Death was concealing his face and then he unseals it now. Obviously, his face is covered because he's in the snow and a sniper and so covers his face. Uncovering it is really only done for the battle's sake and so that Red Baron could make fun of how White Death looks. In the Behind the Scenes of ERB, they actually said they wanted to show his face here instead of the end for this very reason. It seems that there is no inherent advantage for the White Death to reveal his face at all in this battle.
Red Baron:
"I'm the Ace of Aces and I'm coming in hot on the paskapaa looking like the Phantom of the Opera."
Red Baron is saying that he's the best and he's coming in hot against the White Death.
The Red Baron was known as the Ace of Aces meaning the best of the best, immediately trying to place himself above the White Death.
'Coming in hot' is standard rhetoric in a rap battle, however, it could also be a nod to the Red Baron Pizza that Red Baron acknowledges later.
The White Death was shot and had a deformed jaw for the rest of his life. This was highly unsightly and Red Baron is making fun of that now. Red Baron will strike this chord again later and it is an effective tool because they have similar scenarios in almost all aspects, but only White Death is deformed looking. The literal comparison is to the ugly 'Phantom of the Opera' caricature. This is not only surface level hurtful that he looks like someone ugly, but that he is someone in real life who looks like a fictional character specifically designed to look ugly.
The camera flies into the Red Baron in the beginning of this shot, demonstrating the Red Baron barreling quickly into battle, unafraid of the White Death.
"Stick to skis, your iron sights will never find me. You're firing blindly like you let the sun get behind me."
Red Baron is telling the White Death to stick with skiing, because the iron sights that he uses will never be able to find him. He tells him he's shooting blindly as well, and so he'll miss, as the sun is behind Red Baron, making it almost impossible for White Death to see him.
White Death used to be an avid skier when he was younger. Red Baron is telling The White Death that he should stick to that instead of the iron sights he uses on his Mosin-Nagant. The wordplay here is fantastic, though it isn't easy to spot. "Stick to skis, your iron sights..." What are skis literally? Well, they are iron (or metal) stick in essence. So, he's telling White Death that the iron he should be using is skis and not iron sights.
White Death used to use iron sights because you didn't have to pick your head up as much for iron sights as you did for regular scopes. Also, the glare from the sun on the scopes would give you away, as opposed to iron sights. Red Baron is saying that all of this doesn't matter, because he let the sun get behind him. It's stated in the Dicta Boelke (a flying manual that comes up a bit later) that it's best to fly with the sun behind you so that pilots are unable to see you. All of this is to say that it is foolish for the White Death to insinuate that he could kill Red Baron, because he'll easily dodge him.
When Red Baron says sun behind me, the sun rises in the background, to demonstrate the precise timing of Red Baron.
"Stalin sent you sitting ducks. Your kill count's due to luck. Your whole campaign is set to easy as f*ck. Tiptoeing around, killing weak Russian recruits, you're a sneaky little ninja, of low hanging fruit."
Red Baron says that when fighting the Russians, Stalin (who was the dictator at the time) sent untrained soldiers to the front lines, essentially making them sitting ducks to kill. It was lucky that the White Death has such a high kill count, because it was so easy. Red Baron acknowledges that White Death is like a ninja, but it's silly as all the soldiers that he killed were easy pickings.
Going off of how bad of a shot White Death is, Red Baron says that there is no real skill in any of his kills. Finland was fighting the Russians at the time and Stalin was in charge, hence referencing that name. Russia and China are notorious for battering their enemies with just sheer waves of human artillery. Some say a whopping eighty percent of Russian men who were fighting age (around 18-23) died in the second world war. Many of the men Russia sent were untrained and therefore easy targets, hence, 'sitting ducks.' The word 'luck' is a bit of a misnomer here as obviously, the White Death did not get lucky and happen to hit people. However, the word is meant satirically, like it's pretty much just luck that these people were sent to you and you could've done anything and hit them.
A more specific diss is when he says the campaign is set to really easy mode. In this case, the swear word is not simply there to say 'f*ck you' or something similar, but rather serves a bit of a deeper purpose. It demonstrates how easy it was for white death to achieve his high kill count. [Compare the line from Shaka Zulu to Julius Ceasar of "If you cross that equator you'll head straight into a massacre, and get f*cked by more than just Cleopatra in Africa." In that line, the word 'f*cked' refers to the literal meaning of the word and the colloquial version of being dissed or destroyed metaphorically.]
Sniper settings can generally go from easy to expert level on most sniper games. The Red Baron is telling the White Death that your kills were even easier than easy mode on a sniper game, forget real life. The rest of the line, more or less, reiterates this idea content-wise. The low-hanging fruit is obviously a reference to fruit ninja which is a popular game, but doesn't really have much specifically to do with the White Death. The term 'tip-toeing' is a bit confusing as that does not appear to be a diss in any way. There is nothing wrong or even an insinuation of wrongdoing because snipers are supposed to sneak around a bit.
When the Red Baron says that White Death is "a sneaky little ninja," the White Death looks at the camera and smiles, pleased with the compliment. This is perfect for the Red Baron as he bring him up on a pedestal just to knock him down, by saying that he's a bad ninja.
To emphasize the difficulty of which Red Baron faced his enemies, you see two British planes chasing him from behind, something that was commonplace during WWI. Red Baron swerves upward to avoid them. This is meant to show how much more difficult fighting other planes in compared to simply shooting untrained soldiers who can't see you. Snoopy is also thrown in there as a gag that I will talk about later.
The White Death makes a smug face when Red Baron says he's a "sneaky little ninja," but I don't know why he does this if he should know that Red Baron is going to diss him immediately after.
"Sopwith Camel Free's how I like to keep the sky. Got a goblet custom made every time I greased a guy. Used up so much silver it depleted Germany's supply, now I'll leave you flat and cold, like my frozen pizza pie."
Sopwith Camel is the name of the British aircraft the Germans used to fight against and Reb Baron says he prefers the sky without them, meaning he'd shoot them all down. Some pilots would have goblets made for every time they shot down an enemy plane as a symbol of their victory. Red Baron is saying he's had so many kills that the silver ran out to make the goblets. He then says he'll leave him dead by killing him and making him go flat and cold like his famous Red Baron pizza.
The pilots used to have goblets made for them for every successful plane that was shot down. The Red Baron is bragging about how many kills he had, saying it depleted Germany's supply. This is a misnomer as well, as Germany did not have a goblet to give him after about 60 kills, but that's because the war effort drained their silver, not one pilot. So when the Red Baron wants to say that he actually killed a lot of people he uses this tactic.
However, without coupling it with the difficulty of killing someone from a plane vs. the ground (which the Red Baron never brings up) he is going to lose to the White Death because the factual number of kills that the White Death has far outweighs the kills caused by the Red Baron.
When he says "I'll leave you flat and cold" he's referring to him being dead from being shot by the Red Baron. However, the White Death is always flat and cold, so in order to distinguish the standard from this, he says he'll be as cold as his pizza pie, which is completely frozen, similar to how dead the White Death will be. This is also an obvious flex to the famous Red Baron pizza.
In this verse, there are no British aircraft, illustrating (presumably) that Red Baron has shot them all down and is indeed keeping the sky "Sopwith Camel free."
White Death:
"Your pizza's crap, I should battle Di'Giorno. My name stands for sisu, your name's on a p*rno."
White Death says Red Baron pizza isn't good anyway, and he should battle a good pizza like Di'Giorno. White Death also says his name symbolizes sisu, which is the grit and determination of Finland. Meanwhile, the Red Baron's name is disgraced in a p*rn film.
The White Death claps back by saying the pizza isn't good, but there's more than that. Di'Giorno is an Italian pizza brand. Italy fought with Germany and was a major liability for them. The White Death is saying that Red Baron sucks so much it would be a better fight if he would go up against some Italians.
Then he fights back on the name recognition itself. You want to claim that your name is on a pizza brand? It's also on a disgusting porno, so your name means nothing. My name stands for sisu, which is a Finnish word meaning grit and determination, especially relevant for the army. When he says that it "stands for sisu" that's not literal, as his name, Simo Hahya, does not literally stand for that. He means it represents sisu.
Red Baron:
"Ugh, all your lyrical cheap shots are shoddy. They should have left you on that pile of dead bodies."
Red Baron considers shots at his name as opposed to who he is to be shoddy and unfair. He then says that White Death should've been left on the pile of dead bodies he was thrown onto when they thought he had died. He had been shot in the jaw and knocked out. They threw him onto the dead body pile and a while later he moved, so they removed him.
The back-and-forth is an interesting battle choice made by ERB. Generally, it's 2 (sometimes 3) verses each with no interruptions. Occasionally, they will go a bit back and forth. Sometimes it works, like in the Bond battle, where the two Bonds are upset with Austin Powers and they cut him off while rapping. Sometimes it doesn't really make sense like when Crocodile Hunter interrupted Jacque Cousteau. However, here, I think it's genius because they are fighters in militaries so it's like they are figuratively shooting their weapons back and forth, actually using them later in the battle.
Red Baron says 'Ugh' now because the White Death referenced a p*rno that has nothing to do with the Red Baron himself and just uses his name. He calls that a cheap shot as that in no way attacks him. [To be fair, the Red Baron was the one who initially brought this up, so it is odd to say that the name is irrelevant. But to be fair to the Red Baron, the Pizza is related to him in a much more meaningful way than the p*rno is.]
The "pile of dead bodies" diss refers to when White Death was shot in the jaw (which is what caused his disfigurement) and he was thrown on a pile of dead bodies. Later, someone saw him twitching and got him out of there. The Red Baron is saying that they should have left him there, because he's useless.
It's difficult for me to see what the first part of the diss has to do with the second part. Because his lyrics are shoddy, should he be left on the dead body pile? I don't see the connection there.
White Death:
"I guess they didn't cover rapping in the Dicta Boelke. I'm blowing up your spot like the Saakijarven Polka.
The Dicta Boelke is a manual written by Mr. Boelke to instruct pilots of tactics in warfare. White Death is saying for how much Red Baron sucks at rapping, it clearly wasn't covered in this manual. The White Death then goes on to say that he's (figuratively) blowing him up like the Saakijarven Polka. This was a tune for a Finnish dance, that if turned up to a high frequency would blow up land mines.
Red Baron had already invoked his teachings earlier in the battle when he said that the sun got behind him. This way, White Death knows that Red Baron is a fan of Mr. Boelke and laments that Red Baron couldn't glean any rapping skills from there.
The Saakijarven Polka was a Finnish dance (polka) which the Finnish realized can be used to detonate old landmines by turning up the frequency on the song very loudly. This shows Finnish ingenuity and wartime tactics, which White Death says he will use on the Red Baron.
This is clearly the most unknown part of the whole battle. Boelke is not a well-known individual at all and one of these words is in Finnish. It's so obscure that Epiclloyd had to actually explain what it was in ERB2, something he rarely does.
White Death punctuates the word 'polka' by jumping with his feet together and his fists by his hips. This is how the polka actually ends. Also, four identical White Deaths appear behind Lloyd to do the same as the polka is usually performed with around five people.






Red Baron:
"Wurmchen, you were only ever good at one thing, tell me how effective would you be in the spring."
Wurmchen refers to a little worm, which is what Red Baron is calling White Death. He's also telling him that he was only ever good at killing in the winter, when he fought in the war, but would be useless any other time.
'Wurmchen' means 'little worm' in German, and the Red Baron is calling him a simple, stupid creature and referencing him crawling on the ground like a little worm. 'Worms' is also a town in France. I don't know if that is relevant, but do with that what you will.
He's telling the White Death that he only killed as many people as he did because he could camouflage himself in the snow. Many reactors have pointed out that this is a weak diss because that's when the war was and that's how Finland's climate is. It's like saying you're only a good sniper, but how good would you be at basketball? It's wholly irrelevant. The White Death comes back at the Red Baron with something that is measurable and is specific to the Red Baron.
You can see Red Baron's famous scarf flapping in the wind behind him. Also, his plane is turning over which demonstrates the dexterity to which he flies. You could also see him right in the camera's face, giving the impression that he is getting closer and is ready to strike.
White Death:
"I killed more in a month than you did in your life span. You're not top-gun, you're just another mark for the iceman."
Since the White Death killed 500 in 100 days, he had to have killed at least more than 80 in one month, which was Red Baron's full count. He then tells him that he isn't the top-gun, which is the highest rank army member, but rather just another target practice for himself, the Ice Man.
White Death flips the insult on its head to say that the Red Baron could not do what he did while he did fly in the winter. Still White Death killed many more than he did.
The 'top-gun' reference is to the highest level of fighter that exists in the army. He's saying that Red Baron is just target-practice, not the actual shooter. Top Gun is also the movie's name that features the Ice Man. White Death calls himself the ice man because of his winter connections.
"You don't want to fight dawg, I might be droopy, but you're the red prick who couldn't even beat Snoopy."
White Death is saying that in regular combat, he would beat him, even though his face is droopy. Red Baron was unable to beat Snoopy in an iconic video game where Snoopy fights Red Baron. If Red Baron could not even defeat a fictional dog, what chance does he have of beating the White Death?
In the basic content, White Death is telling the Red Baron that he can't even beat Snoopy, so how is he possibly going to go up against him? The word 'dawg' here refers to the literal dawg used in rap battles to refer to a counterpart and also the 'dog' spelled in that way to refer to two dogs. The dog in the Red Baron's context is obviously Snoopy, but the dog in White Death's context is Droopy. Droopy has a face that is similar to White Death's and White Death is saying that he might be looking like a dog, but dogs beat the Red Baron. In the famous video game, Snoopy takes down the Red Baron. In this way, the White Death takes the insult that was thrown at him for the way he looks and reflects it back onto the Red Baron.
In this scene, the Red Baron can be seen looking over his shoulder at Snoopy, as if indicating that he is scared of him like the White Death says.
"I dispose of foes with my Mosin-Nagant. No scope, I let it go like a frozen savant."
White Death is saying he kills people with his sniper, the Mosin-Nagant. He didn't have a scope, and he let that go, because he's a savant when it comes to killing with it.
In this way, the White death focuses on the 'o' sound that is the best sound to focus on in rap battles, as classically when someone uses a hard verse, everyone goes 'ooooohhh.' I personally think it's better when it is used in a way that does not make direct reference to going 'oooooohhhh' in a rap battle. Think George R. R. Marin saying, "My show's the hottest thing on H.B.O." In that case the letter is specified to be part of the diss. You can contrast that to John Wick saying, "This sad broken, dad-jokin' popo is no foe, for the hurt you oh so bad, virtuoso. Ho ho ho to quivers and bows. I'm deliverin' blows and when they land it won't help to make fist with your toes." In that rhyme scheme the letter and reference is obvious and I feel it hits harder when it's more subtle but that's just me. {This is clearly better than when the rappers just say 'oh' at the end of a harsh line to lazily emphasize the diss. Think Bill Nye, when he says to Isaac Newton, "Your work on orbits was exemplary, but you couldn't attract nobody (oh)."}
The White Death is saying that he kills with his iconic gun and he will kill the Red Baron in the same way. He didn't use a scope because it was more likely to give him away. To let go of the scope indicates that the White Death is a frozen savant, because he is in the snow and he is able to shoot without a scope. [This is also a sort of counter to the Red Baron saying that his whole "campaign is set to easy as f*ck." How can that be when he has no scope?]
He also says let it go to refer to the famous Frozen song of Let it Go, and that's why he says 'frozen savant' as well. While he is saying Mosin-Nagant he twirls his gun. The reason that in many military parades they twirl their guns, is because they want to have total mastery of handling it. In this way, White Death shows he has total mastery of his Mosin-Nagant by twirling it.
At this point, a second White Death comes into the background and waves to indicate that your attention should focus on a different iteration of the character. [Think Mark Zuckerberg saying, "You're about to be CEoh sh*t, he got fired." In that case, the camera focuses in on the Zuckerberg checking updates on his phone in the background.]
"A little beast clickin' like a reindeer bull, but I don't pull a sleigh, I slay when I pull."
White Death calls himself a beast who literally clicks his gun, comparing that to a literal beast who clicks when they walk. But to distinguish the two, the reindeer pulls a sleigh and White Death slays enemies when he pulls the trigger.
White Death is saying here that he is a beast, which is slang for really good, and clicking when he clicks his gun. Similar to a reindeer bull, but unlike a reindeer bull, he doesn't pull the sleigh, he slays when he pulls the trigger.
In this case, the reindeer is a literal beast and he is a figurative beast. The reindeer are known to live in Finland because of the cold climate and it makes a clicking sound. But then the white death distinguishes himself from the reindeer, as the reindeer helps people sleigh through the snow, but he kills people in the snow.
The reason the characters switch and then the camera focuses on White Death's face when he says the end of the verse is because they want to emphasize how good the line is. Most reactors thought this was an excellent wordplay, and it's very rare that wordplay itself is the reason the last line hits so hard. [Think Mozart's last line of "Why don't you put down your Cubase and pick up a real bow; I rocked harder than you since I was five years old. The wordplay isn't particularly good, but it does demonstrate a heavy blow because he's saying that not only is he better than him now, but he was better when he was just a child, and that's because he actually played music as opposed to Skrillex who uses Cubase.]
But here the wordplay itself is phenomenal and that is what ends off the verse. We haven't seen something like this before, where the words are flipped and played with in such a manner. [The closest thing I could think of is when the new James Bond says to Austin Powers, "Spell my name, the ladies want to B on D (Bond). Any sex appeal you might have is beyond me.]
The camera focus also serves to indicate that the White Death is closing in on the Red Baron. This is also compounded by the fact that he says beast clicking and he clicks his gun when he says that.












Red Baron:
"Aaagh. I'm a bullet through a spinning propeller, precision killer. When you meet the Fokkers, you'll have never been stiller."
Red Baron had to shoot through the spinning propeller of his plane, requiring tremendous precision. The Fokker is the name of the plane that Red Baron flew and when White Death meets it, he will be killed.
Why he grunts at the beginning of the verse, I have no idea. But what he's saying through the end of the verse is that he has just as much precision as a sniper because he shoots through spinning propellers, which they had to do in the early days of aerial warfare. He's countering what the White Death said that he uses no scope, he's a precision killer too. He says that he is the bullet referencing the destruction that he is going to cause for White Death. Also, he is getting closer to striking, by referencing bullet shooting.
The Fokker is the name of the plane that Red Baron flew. He means that once they come face-to-face, he'll kill the White Death and he'll be totally still. Meet the Fockers is also the name of a show featuring actor Ben Stiller. Most reactors also thought that this was a terrific line and that's why you can see the camera focusing in on Red Baron's mouth when he says it to emphasize that it is a good line. Also, it demonstrates that the Red Baron is getting even closer.
"Hayha, I've got you all in check when my spandaus boom out. I'll leave your chest looking like your name, two umlauts."
White Death's name is Simo Hayha. He's saying he has White Death right where he want him when his guns, called Spandaus, shoot the bullets. He'll shoot through his chest, which will look like two holes which are umlauts that are on top of Simo Hayha's name. An umlaut changes the pronunciation of a word in various language. Hayha has two above the 'a's.
The White Death's name is Simo Hayha. He's saying that he has Hayha in check when he's going to shoot. He's going to shoot him in the chest just like the two umlauts in his name. The umlauts are the dots that go over certain words in certain languages. Hayha has two umlauts and the Red Baron's gun shot from two sides, hence two umlauts.
The first part of the verse also refers to the song "Wooha, I've got you all in check," and it's also why the Red Baron says it in an abnormal way, as it's similar to saying something like yee-haw, than someone's name.
When he says Spandaus boom out, his guns actually fire. We have reached the end of the battle and now the Red Baron is actually shooting at White Death.
It's perfect that the Red Baron says the umlauts line now, as you actually saw White Death's name on screen and got to see that it had two umlauts. When he says 'Heyha,' you see his face from either side of the screen closing in on White Death and White Death sort of shields his face. I don't know why White Death does this. Running from bullets would be one thing, but just looking scared because someone is yelling at you is silly and White Death does this a lot throughout the battle.
"I got you like the shot to the jaw that you caught. Quit now, save face like your doctors could not. They should call you White Deathwish. I just smacked the taste out your mouth like it's the ice you hide your breath with."
White Death was shot in the jaw, and Red Baron is saying he's got him locked down in the same way. White Death should just give up to dave whatever face (dignity) he has, unlike his literal face which could not be saved by doctors. He should be called White Deathwish for daring to face off against Red Baron. Red Baron just beat White Death in a battle like the ice White Death used to conceal his breath when out attacking enemies.
Here the Red Baron pulls up before starting his verse and continues on an upward trajectory. This is to showcase two things. First, he wants to say that he has already killed the White Death by shooting him with his Spandaus and is now pulling up to strike someone else. Also, it shows that he is ascendant in battle.
As for the content, White Death was shot in the jaw which left him disfigured and Red Baron is saying that he has him figuratively like that shot had him literally. He's telling him to stop rapping, so he can save face, which is something you do both militarily and generally. Saving face is when you don't look so bad by making concessions. Red Baron ties this in to literally saving White Death's face, which the doctors of White Death were not able to save because it was so disfigured.
At this point, White Death looks shocked that Red Baron would say such a thing, but Red Baron already insulted his face earlier when he said "paskapaa looking like the phantom of the opera." In that case, White Death also looked surprised. It is very strange to me that they keep doing this. White Death already rebutted Red Baron's assertion when he said, "I might be Droopy, but you're the red prick who couldn't even beat Snoopy." It is unreasonable for the White Death to take offense to this, but he does anyway.
He says they should call you White Deathwish, because it's like he has a death wish fighting the Red Baron. Also, his name is White Death.
He closes off by saying that he won by smacking the taste out of his mouth, which is common slang. Here, the taste is ice, because the White Death used to put ice in his mouth to mask where he was. It's odd that ERB didn't give that as a positive line for the White Death as opposed to a diss against him.

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