Thanatos Rising

Thanatos Rising (空飛ぶ木馬 Soratobu Mokuba, "Flying Wooden Horse") is a three part animated short produced by Production I.G. It was released via Nintendo Video in March 2012 in order to promote the release of Kid Icarus: Uprising.

Part 1
While a human army marches onward to wage war against the Underworld, Palutena informs Pit that Thanatos plans on attacking a nearby city. Thanatos is then shown commanding his troops, though this is interrupted when the humans begin firing at him with projectiles from their Trojan Horses—however, the unique shape of the wooden structures only intrigues him. The Underworld troops then swiftly hijack one of the Trojan Horses, which wreaks havoc and causes the other horses to break apart in the process. With the god of death now piloting it, the possessed horse sprouts dark wings and takes flight, forcing Pit to pursue him using the Power of Flight.

Part 2
As Pit gives chase, a group of Monoeyes swarm the angel and force him to pull back. Palutena summons a holographic map of Thanatos's location for Pit to see, informing him that they will cut him off through a ravine. The goddess sends him through the terrain, but they both face difficulty with its narrow paths. Meanwhile, a Skuttler tells Thanatos of Pit's location, causing the god of death to take matters into his own hands. He uses the catapults on the Underworld horse to fire rocks into the ravine to hinder Pit's progress, which succeeds and gives Thanatos the spare time to fire a rock directly at a human city.

Part 3
Right as the rock is about to make contact with the city, a projectile destroys it in midair, much to Thanatos's dismay. Pit then appears before him, forcing the god to retreat into his horse. Pit follows Thanatos inside, where the two engage in a brief battle before Thanatos causes the floor to give out from beneath Pit. The angel narrowly avoids falling into the grinding gears below by hanging onto a wooden plank, but Thanatos attempts to throw him off by tossing mace balls at him. Pit manages to swiftly dodge the projectiles and, becoming fed up, pulls out his First Blade to shoot at a gear above him. Though Thanatos initially believes he missed, the gear falls and crushes him, which leads to the rest of the Trojan Horse collapsing around them. Pit is then shown lying on the ground amongst the rubble before slowly rising to his feet, and Palutena informs him that the humans have been saved, causing Thanatos to throw a fit of rage.