Predictions and Observations:
Tricking the Trickster

Episode Aired: July 23, 2011
This Post Posted: July 30, 2011

I'd been meaning to mention, duel violence. Hurting your opponent. The WRGP crowd doesn't really seem to mind it so much. We've got real damage here, the crowd knows it, and Team Ragnarok's not getting booed.

I'd been noticing, also; Broder's costume includes one of the eyes on the chestplate with a line struck through it, as though to say that it's missing an eye; but wouldn't that design be on Haldor's costume if anything, because Odin *is* famed for having given up one of his own eyes for wisdom?

Hey look, nestling character development! The nestlings get their own plot here, their own scene, and we see the one in the red jacket really take a stand and step up. I don't suppose we get to name them anytime soon so I can stop calling him that, though...?

Hey, Sebastian the butler's among Ragnarok's pit crew! Really, I just think that's sweet and can't believe it took me this long to notice him in the background there.

Dromi! That means Haldor's most likely going to have Gleipnir, and if that pattern holds we'll see it right near the end of the duel; it'll look weak, the mythical Gleipnir looked like a fragile silk ribbon, but this was the fetter that actually bound Fenrir. Since when is the Crimson Dragon a big scary wolf? And will it follow the myth, where Fenrir is fettered, for a price, until Ragnarok, when he then breaks free and becomes the nemesis of Odin? Since Odin is on the field, seems to me the Crimson Dragon is nemesis to Odin *right now*. Does that mean the end of the world is nigh?

So this *is* the semifinals, according to the announcer guy. Since we're so sure we're facing Team New World, does that mean we already saw *their* semifinal match? Are they really just another set of combatants in this tournament, meaning they've decimated about six other teams already without getting booted for duel violence (which to me suggests the kind of model restraint that means Jacob's first runner and Primo and Lester are tied to their big tall chairs and possibly drugged as well), or are they the Finale duel, like Pegasus was in Duelist Kingdom, Yugi was in KCGC, or Jack was in the Fortune Cup, which would make this match Final, not Semifinal. I find the latter more likely, but the announcer said semifinal, so for now let us share a moment of silence for those six other teams.

Interesting how Haldor personifies destiny-- as a lady with a lantern that disperses the fog of the clouded future, revealing the nature of the path ahead; and who favors individuals. I've been looking for such a figure in Norse mythology, but haven't found one yet. I'll keep looking. This representation suggests that the future, though hidden, *is* already written-- a predestination notion-- but at the same time suggests that this lady destiny controls fate, that whom she favors actually matters-- which would mean it's *not* already written, or at least not set in stone, because she can change it. Thus Haldor's notion of destiny is self-contradictory; then again, so is Yusei's, last time I checked. He argued that "there is no such thing as destiny!" but in the same breath that "life is a long series of chain reactions". To argue that every effect has an antecedent cause, that anything that happens has some specific thing that caused it, inevitably, to happen, is to argue that whatever caused the first effect necessarily caused everything because it caused the causes of the next effects-- in other words, that life is a long series of chain reactions-- and therefore that the future can be no other way than what the past has caused it to be.

"Do me a favor, Haldor; leave destiny outta this." Biggest laugh in the episode. I can see Yusei still has "mixed feelings on the subject". Haldor feels strongly about destiny, though; I foresee an interesting conversation about the nature of fate in our near future, and I don't even need to cast the runes or read the cards. And boy, *will it be* an interesting conversation. Even the personal beef between Yusei and Haldor-- in the matter of Zero Reverse-- hinges heavily on their understandings of destiny. As I understand it, one of the key reasons Yusei has mixed feelings on the subject of destiny is because an argument in favor of predestination is, to him, an argument that Zero Reverse was inevitable and similar catastrophes in the near or far future are likewise inevitable-- in other words, that defending the city and all he cares about is out of his hands and there's nothing he can do to protect his own. Remember the Ghost nightmares, when all this looked like it *might* be out of Yusei's league, and he was helpless in the face of losing the power of Stardust, the power to defend what he cares about? To Yusei, the idea of destiny negates the power of a deck to turn any situation around; nothing terrifies him more. Haldor, on the other hand, probably sees destiny as a bringer of opportunity. He joined the air force to "protect the world from harm"; I get the sense that the appearance of his rune and his destiny made it seem apparent to him that he'd finally discovered the purpose his life had been wanting for. By now, it's clear to me that Haldor is quite enamored with being destined to save the world and all. Haldor *wants* this world-saving battle, this destiny. Yusei's going to have to want it just as much, and that just might, at long last, force him to make his peace with the whole destiny thing. Or maybe not, but hey, I guess I can dream.

One interesting direction I think this big conversation about destiny could go is this. Remember how Goodwin admitted that the Dark Signers battle may be unwinnable, but asked the four Signers to fight anyway? This battle against the Emperors has got to be looking at least as hopeless, and yet both of these teams want to fight it anyway, are willing to face the prospect of being doomed to fail, and cannot conscionably let the other team advance if they aren't just as committed. The question there echoes the legend of Ragnarok, where the gods themselves are doomed to fall in battle.

Is Haldor still trying to make 'it' appear, which I assume means the Divine Temple? Will this duel cause it to appear, in which case Yusei and Haldor will *really* be testing which of them can better save the world?

Interesting lead from Yusei; Cosmic Compass is definitely a new one on me. What makes the compass cosmic, and what does it measure? My first impression there was that a cosmic compass may be an attempt to rationally predict the future; a compass that shows what path to take in the cosmic sense. Science and religion is a fine line in the grand scheme of things, and it may be the one Yusei and Haldor find themselves walking, both looking to gain certainty over what the future holds. If I had to guess, where Yusei grabs his wrench and makes sure his runner's ready for the next disaster, Haldor reaches for his giant mythology library and makes sure he translated everything right.

"We have *seriously* underestimated these guys." Glad Dragen thinks so. Seems that, having dueled us then had some time on the sidelines to think, Dragen may be warming to the idea of our guys' taking this thing and going up against Team New World.

Valkyrie of the Nordic Ascendant and two Einherjar tokens. The Valkyries of Norse myth are Odin's shieldmaidens, who cross the Bifrost Bridge from Asgard to Midgard (that's god-land to people-land) and swoop down onto battlefields to escort the heroic fallen soldiers (Einherjar means "glorious dead", referring to these guys) to Valhalla, where they practice their fighting by day (anyone who dies gets resurrected for lunch) and party all night, with the Valkyries to wait on them, until Ragnarok when they'll serve as Odin's private army.

Now, need I note, we've had Valkyries in our duels before. Zigfried's Valkyries, I think, were more having to do with the Rhinegold saga and all that, the Ring Cycle. They were operatic Valkyries. The myth of Sigfried, who has a romantic relationship with a Valkyrie named Brunhilde, and I seem to recall somebody dies then gets brought back to life. Haldor's Valkyrie is more generalized.

What other cards will we see from Haldor? What about Yusei? For one, from Haldor I expect to see Gleipnir, the third set of shackles that actually *did* bind Fenrir, after Laeding and Dromi both failed. That's going to be a doozy. I think Yusei very well might pull out an Accel Synchro and summon Shooting Star Dragon, because Jack pulled out his extra-special synchro summon; in a normal tournament match, I'd say probably not, but the Ragnaroks already have their real-damage world-saving cards on the field and the only way we're going to keep up is by showing them what we've *really* got. Which means that tournament crowd had better hang onto their seats.

"Yusei's Last Stand" is the name of the next episode. Do we have to call it that? Really? Well, we've actually only seen Yusei lose once, in flashback; *could* it be a last stand? We're down to the wire here, after all; Haldor's a tough customer with an unfair advantage. It's plausible it could go either way. But I have a feeling, based on what we've seen from the other two matches so far, that Yusei's going to pull out a victory here. The pattern's been of the Ragnaroks developing respect for the 5D's and deciding they aren't so different. Then again, where Laeding and Dromi both failed, Gleipnir succeeded; will Haldor follow that pattern?

Okay, so here's what I'm going to do. I will wait until the end of July to see if it's looking any more likely that the twelve missing episodes are being released in dub form. If we hit August and I still haven't seen any sign, I'm going to watch what's been going up on Toonzaki. I might post about that; I might not. That's my new promise for this.

Whoops! It's one in the morning and I need to actually send this off! Good night! -Clio

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