Predictions and Observations:
Duel of the Dragons II

Episode Aired: February 21, 2009
This Post Posted: February 27, 2009

In that aerial shot, did I see the other arena still in desperate need of repairs after one of the previous duels? 'Profiler', perhaps?

Symbolistically, Yusei's speedy cards get bogged down by strangling vines.

Akiza's style consists of making others' monsters like her own and then using that against them, much like she matches the crowd's fear with hatred and takes that as a reason to hurt them. Or, alternately, she comes into this hating the crowd, thus causing them to fear her, and then she takes that as a reason to hurt them. It'll be interesting to see how her style changes after this match.

The activation of Card Defense represents the beginning of Yusei's comeback, when he stops holding back. Worth watching for that card in the future.

Luna notices that Yusei's holding back. It's worth keeping well in mind that Luna's comments about the subtext of duels are spookily accurate and always bear paying attention to.

'I have to help her before she does something she'll regret...' Even in keeping her from destroying the stadium, Yusei is still fighting for Akiza herself, and believes, unlike the rest of the stadium and she herself, that she has the humanity left to regret what she would do.

"It's as unbelievable as it appears!" Even though Stardust is weaker pointwise than Junk Warrior, as Leo noted, the crowd sentiment is still that Black Rose Dragon doesn't stand a chance. I think that's part of the effect and symbolism of Stardust, much as the Neo-Spacians stir up remembrances of what it was like when dueling was fun and the Crystal Beasts' presence inspires a universal sentiment of beauty.
"It's like he's trying to say something to the Black Rose." I agree. Luna is *awfully* good at reading the cards...
I wonder if Goodwin was surprised to see that Stardust has found its way back into Yusei's deck? Or more pertinently, if he isn't surprised at all.

This is a friendship conversation. All other circumstances aside, this duel is about the value of friendship; that clicked for me when Akiza said that friends were something that wasn't possible for her, because everyone she's ever met, she's hurt. Perhaps Yusei also proved to her that just because you hurt someone doesn't make friendship with them impossible; look at what she just put *him* through. Right after Rose Tentacles lifted him in the air and *threw him around*, he said to her that he would use every card in his deck to prove to her that he wanted to be her friend and help her.

Eighty thousand people, Akiza said. As futile as it is, I'm going to tentatively recall that as some indication of how many people the Kaibadome seated for the tournament.

She doesn't even consider Sayr her friend, not quite, is my sense.

The Signs are getting increasingly vocal; what if it's not because the duels are topping themselves, or because Yusei outshines Luna or Akiza, but because the Signs themselves feel the climax of it all approaching?

Where did Lezar wander off to? He mentioned earlier something about bringing Yusei to Goodwin once his Sign showed... I finally found the line in "Surprise, Surprise". Is Yusei about to be brought to Goodwin? Politely or not?

"Akiza's mine. You can't rescue her from Fate." I have something more important to say about this, I've already said it: Sayr's influence on Akiza, and therefore her Signer power, is threatened by Yusei and his plan, and Sayr will obviously not take that lying down. By making a friend of Akiza, Yusei has probably made an enemy of Sayr. But the other thing I have to say is... oooh, we're so scared.

"Your heart will be your undoing." Jack understands Yusei and therefore what he's trying to do in this duel. But as for whether he's right in his opinion of Yusei's aims, the proof will be in the lifepoints in the duel coming up. I think Jack will find that Yusei's heart, derided as a weakness, will be what truly makes him strong.

I've been noticing Stardust Dragon's special abilities, a new one or two of which came into play here. Like cards, like duelist, goes my saying, and Stardust inspires hope and happiness, to the point of being "unbelievable", something that no ill circumstance or hardship can contain, freedom and triumph, the card that would get Yusei and his friends out of the Satellite. But Stardust itself is so powerful because it is a generous and self-sacrificing dragon, whose special ability is to sacrifice itself to help other monsters on its field, to negate an opponent's play, and then, even more beautifully symbolic, the part where after doing so, it rises again. Yusei, we've seen do the same; he has thrown himself into the worst situations possible (the Lockdown Duel comes to mind) with no way out, to help others, and then once he has, a window opens and it becomes possible to win. Stardust's ability makes it more than luck, but a symbolic guarantee that Yusei is a duelist whose greatest strength is to risk himself for others; it causes miracles to happen around him that not only spare him the consequences, but allow him to achieve things that usually aren't possible, like Alex's and Blister's changes of heart.
Red Dragon Archfiend, on the other hand, can automatically destroy every monster in defense mode. "You gotta get aggressive if you wanna win." "You can't just cower and hide and hope to survive." "It's not like Jack to toy around. He usually cuts right to the chase." "when I saw an opportunity, I took it!" Just a few lines that tell us that Jack, like Archfiend, is someone who not only is aggressive, but more pertinently, will take down someone who is not. I wonder if Archfiend has other abilities, too?
On to Black Rose Dragon. I think the most important bit of Black Rose Dragon symbolism so far is that Yusei called it "beautiful", when everyone else was afraid of it, and drew that parallel right back to who Akiza truly is. But in addition, the special ability symbolism reminds me of what I said earlier about the symbolism of Akiza slamming Ransborg as soon as Black Garden was destroyed. Perhaps what there is to be taken from that is that this dragon shines in the face of adversity; its powers work best against things that are beyond difficult to unbeatable, and automatically deal them a fatal blow with the power to set attack points to zero no matter what they are, and the power to completely clear the field. Might also be that this dragon does not suffer such adversity tamely; Akiza didn't lie down and take abuse, she lashed out. But as Yusei said, the dragon inside Akiza was not meant to destroy. I think he sees something in Black Rose Dragon that tells him who Akiza truly is as a duelist. I think most relevant is that you have to admire the courage and tenacity it took Akiza even to get this far; to keep dueling no matter what, even when the resistance and anger she encountered was slowly destroying her. That's Black Rose Dragon.
What can we predict about Ancient Fairy Dragon? I predict that this dragon's abilities will draw on another card, as Luna relies on Leo's support; I predict it will be an embodiment of innocence, apparent fragility, but one that relinquishes its own safety for the sake of those that depend on it.

The idea of the Signers uniting is out in the open; Jack and Luna heard that, too. Question is, what do they think of it? Is Jack going to be the first to tell Yusei that he wants nothing to do with it and while he's at it tell him to shut up about friendship? Has Yusei just declared open war on Goodwin *and* Sayr?
"We're all going to have to band together in order for this all to make sense!" That isn't to say, logic fans, that if they do band together, it will; only that if they don't, it won't. (S > B) I think.

"When you get angry at them, you're only hating yourself." I really like that line. That one and: "Embrace your dragon; it's beautiful! Just like you are under that mask." I think I said all I wanted to say about them already, but those are two quotes not to forget.

Man, that stabilizer is worthless... it went flying the moment it might've been useful.

We saw some breaking glass or something, what was that about? Wait-- was that a chunk of the side of the dueling track? If so, this next match could get just that much more interesting, jumping gaps in the track, but both Jack and Yusei are up to the challenge!

I notice that this duel seemed to be divided into distinct portions, trials, if you will. It actually reminds me of the Final Duel, which was quite clearly separated into the Egyptian Gods, the Dark Magicians, and the final attack. This was less intentional, but the first thing Yusei had to overcome was Rose Tentacles, which he defeated with Junk Warrior; then Black Rose Dragon, which was met with Stardust; and finally, once Black Rose Dragon was gone, it seemed as though Yusei had won, but 'You've wasted your time trying to save me-- time to see if you can save yourself'; if he hadn't planned to take down Amaryllis, he would have been in seriously deep trouble. To me, Amaryllis represented Akiza's final, bitter struggle to resist what Yusei was trying to tell her; the mask was on, the stabilizer was off, and Akiza was at her most dangerous. I think if we see Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis come up in another duel of Akiza's, we'll know that something nasty is going on.

'I never intended to stop you', Yusei said. The danger in the stadium was incidental; Yusei cared about Akiza, and her not doing something she would regret. To Yusei, Akiza was a person in need, not a danger to be contained.

Oh, yeah, Sayr's makin' another power play... just like he intervened and got Akiza away from Lezar, now he's swooping in and getting Akiza away from Yusei.

Sayr shows Akiza sympathy and pity; Yusei shows her respect and believes in her. It's like the difference between Valon and Joey. That obviously implies another question, but I'm playing it cool with that one, I'll wait and see. My instinct, though, is yes; this is a triangle, or could become one.

Another aerial shot-- Did they just wreck the *other* arena, too? Good thing the next match is a turbo-duel... and good thing Goodwin's paying for the repairs, lol.

What next? What will pass between Akiza and Sayr, and/or between Yusei and Sayr, since Sayr is obviously feeling threatened by Yusei? My instincts tell me that Sayr will want to get Akiza as far away from Yusei as possible, that Akiza would perhaps rather stick around, that considering the connection between the Signers she won't be far from this upcoming duel, and that at some point there will be a showdown between Sayr and Yusei.
What will Goodwin do, now that Yusei's mark *has* shown? Is that where Lezar went? Are we going straight into the match everybody's been waiting for? I predict Yusei makes a beeline for his runner to get it humming along as smoothly as possible before it goes up against Jack.
Somehow, I keep envisioning all heck breaking loose after this duel if not during it. With winning over Jack, Yusei is very close to achieving the ambitious goal of uniting the Signers. Goodwin doesn't want to lose sway over Jack, and ditto goes for Sayr and his Signer, Akiza. In fact, since Goodwin organized this whole thing with the purpose of exposing the Signers, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it was for his benefit, not theirs. What's he scheming? Right now things will keep a lid on them because not only is Yusei an underdog going up against the champ, but Goodwin knows Jack is raring to take Yusei down in a serious way. There's no way he'll win, they tell themselves. When he does, I predict Sayr and Goodwin are going to panic. Perhaps after that amazing duel Sayr is already panicking and getting Akiza far, far away from her fellow Signers, especially Yusei, who actually managed to reach her with an offer of friendship. And then there's the Crimson Dragon. Does it seem like tempting Fate to let Yusei and Jack meet in the arena again right now? It'll appear before the second round is out! And if the crowd thought Akiza was scary, they aren't going to like this at all. It also occurs to me that despite a clear intention to get Akiza away from Yusei, perhaps Sayr can't leave yet because the Arcadia Movement's stated purpose is to prevent the return of the Crimson Dragon, and it could probably actually make itself useful in this duel. We may even find out whether the Crimson Dragon saves the world (Iliaster) or destroys it (Arcadia)... with a demonstration.

In trying to figure out what happens next, I'm aware that I am biased. I want to see the Signers speak face-to-face. Any of them, or even all four. I already know, also, I am dead sure, that it will not be that simple. The Signers have dueled more than they've talked, and when not consciously avoiding each other, have managed to just miss each other. When three Signers happened to meet in a hallway last episode, it was a big deal. Everything else around them is, I notice, consciously pulling them apart: Goodwin and Iliaster, plus Jack's animosity and, yes, fear, toward Yusei; Sayr, Arcadia, Akiza's loyalty to it, and Sayr's protectiveness of Akiza; Ancient Fairy Dragon's unknown card-napper; and Yusei's grudge against Jack. But I for one, not unlike the Signs themselves, am beginning to feel the energy that's also pulling them together, driving them to overcome those barriers; when the four of them meet face-to-face, even by chance, it will be a mighty victory, one that we all are starting to get excited about.

One thing I like about tournaments, I realize, is they create a natural structure for in-depth character development: it begins with many duelists, and with each duel, both duelists' characters are developed as we see them in action and see what they conflict over. Round to round, we see the people who won, whom we've already seen duel once, come into conflict with *each other*, and we see a different facet of each's character as they come into conflict over something different. By the time we get to the top of the tournament, we know the duelists left over very well indeed, and that naturally gives each round of the tournament greater depth and thus potency than the last.

It occurs to me that this next duel, whatever else it is, is an argument for the value of friendship. Jack, having had a friend and betrayed him, is the ultimate resistance, the antithesis, to Yusei's assertion that "Friends are the most important thing a person can have. Without them, you're nothing." (The Take Back I). But the even greater issue is that of Yusei's own history with Jack. The 'rubber is about to meet the road', so to speak, and Yusei is about to be put to the test: if he says friendship is important, if he says that the Signers must unite, he cannot afford to let his personal history make Jack the exception. Even more than he is standing up for the value of friendship to convince Jack, he must first stand up for it against himself. In short, he must find it in himself to forgive Jack and to extend the hand of friendship to him anew without expecting the same result. Akiza, bitter and hateful though she was, encountered nothing when she tried to make Yusei hate her or give up on her but his continued offer of friendship. Yusei will face a greater challenge to duel for his opponent when that opponent is the one person who seems to know how to twist the knife or get under his skin better than anyone else, and the one person who has deeply hurt him already. In thinking about it, and their last duel, I realize that Yusei *was*, as Jack pointed out, cowering ("Haven't you *learned*, Yusei? You can't just cower and hide and hope to survive!... I mean, if you came here to throw down or whatever, why're you acting like that scared little kid from the playground?"); his style of dueling, we now know, having seen the miraculous happen when he stands up for what he believes in, reaches out to and inspires others. Like the dragon in Akiza was not meant to destroy, Yusei's own was not meant to take revenge. Stardust Dragon, like cards like duelist, embodies this giving nature, unafraid of being harmed, in its special ability to sacrifice itself for other monsters and then return afterward. Unless he is true to that, he will not win this. The antithesis, Jack's Red Dragon Archfiend, destroys anything that cowers in defense mode instead of standing up to it, and as I said before, like cards like duelist. That being said, I consider Yusei, his heart, and what he's fighting for, worthy of the challenge. Or rather, I consider it the case that this will be a challenge truly worthy of Yusei.

As for Jack, I predict that, deep down, he wants to team up with the other Signers, 'cuz that's just how that Fate thing works, but he doesn't want to admit it because that would mean that Yusei's right. I still don't know why Jack betrayed Yusei, and I really do still want to and I hope we'll find out the whole story in this duel, and in fact I predict it will because it creates two sides to this story and puts the conflict into the perspective necessary for it to be fully resolved, which it will be if the Signers team up, but I openly admit I'm biased about whether or not it's necessary. Anyway, I don't know why, but Jack's sending Trudge after Yusei, trying to keep his past from following him, suggests that he is indeed scared to be confronted with his action, which says to me that whyever he did what he did, he wasn't being true to himself and if he wasn't so bent on being right about it and therefore defending his action by having Yusei be wrong, he would regret it. It occurs to me that Jack only left the Satellite *after* he had defeated Yusei in a duel; I get the sense that even if he had won his way to the top of the City and hadn't defeated Yusei, he would have considered himself second-best. We saw that he *did* consider himself second-best knowing that Yusei would have defeated him, and how important it is to him that this duel be the final and deciding determinant of who's best, and thus whether or not he's right and Yusei's wrong. If he wins, Yusei is a satellite who just got put in his place, and Jack is vindicated for not staying there because it was just proved that Yusei's dream of escaping the Satellite without selling his soul is unattainable. If Yusei wins, however, he will *officially* be New Domino's champion, an inspirational beacon of the power of every person, even satellites, to overcome their lot in life; the very definition of what Goodwin said the Fortune Cup was all about (though I think that might have been to save face); an open and dire threat to the status quo; but more pertinently, a confirmation to Jack that he was wrong to abandon Yusei as an unrealistic softie, a refutation of Jack's opinion that Yusei's heart would be his undoing.

Other than that, I predict Turbo Booster, Stardust, Archfiend, End of Storm, Meteor Stream, Remote Revenge, Shadow Spell maybe. I predict a full moon.

No matter where I look, no listing can tell me the dub title of the mysterious episode 25. Really I just wanted to know whether the duel was starting right away, which would be given away by the presence of a multi-parter, but based on the *Japanese* title I found (on a list of dub ones no less), I'm fairly sure it is. I'm also quite sure it will last more than one episode, and we might even see our first 5D's three-parter!

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