TheVaultDweller
Front line cannon fodder
Originally posted by Arachnid1
I'd chalk it up to massive PIS tbh. Otherwise, it suggests that Matt alone would be able to beat both himself and Elektra at the same time which just doesn't make sense. For the most part, Nobu almost stomped him with they fought.
I personally don't feel we can chalk it all up to PIS. Even if we go back to their season 1 fight, a less capable and experienced DD still managed to put up a decent fight against Nobu at the time. And Nobu had a notable advantage in weapons, plus Fisk mentioned that he had meditated and prepped for several hours for the fight. Matt didn't even know he was there until he revealed himself. But still couldn't finish Matt off. On his return fight in season 2, he most definitely got the better of that fight, but Matt still managed to put up some level of resistance during the confrontation. Nobu, in return, got beaten decisively in episode 12 himself. So both had clear showings where they came out better.
Then during the initial confrontation Matt was holding his own just fine against Nobu on his own. Then Nobu briefly does get the better of them both. But it's not like that's an uncommon theme in these types of shows, where the villain suddenly mounts a burst out of nowhere to gain the upper hand. But then we also see Matt, once he no longer holds back (because he normally fights with enough restraint not to kill) defeating Nobu again. So way I see it, based on how all their one-on-one fights played out, Nobu briefly beating both Elektra and DD at once during the climax of the season finale is closer to PIS than DD doing a good job of holding his own against Nobu one-on-one on multiple other occasions. But anyway, we can debate this the whole day and get nowhere, because it's our own personal interpretations of the fights and portrayals. In the end, I am convinced at this point that Nobu does take the win, and that's really what matters.
With regards to DD and Punisher, I feel like Punisher started off with a bit of an advantage when they first encountered each other, but over their clashes across the series, Matt slowly started to get a measure of him until he had a bit of an edge, as seen during their final fight (yes, I know there was also plot involved, but Matt still came out looking better than Frank regardless). But I consider all these guys within the same overall fighting tier.