Predictions and Observations:
The Beginning of the End

Episode Aired: August 13, 2011
This Post Posted: August 20, 2011

The black-and-white aerial shot at the beginning. I was at a loss for how to describe it in the transcript other than "black and white aerial shot"; usually I try to get more creative than that and figure out who's seeing it that way and possibly why; what it means aesthetically and in a storytelling view. The thought crossed my mind-- TNW are robots; is that an example of how they see the world?

Why is it always a tournament? The thought occurred to me as I heard Jacob say that their singularity will happen as soon as they win the Grand Prix Finals. These guys are uber-powerful; why pin all their hopes on a tournament? I answered myself that, particularly in this 'verse, a tournament can be a very good vehicle in which to accomplish one's aims indeed. To some extent, we've gotta say, 'it's YGO, of *course* there's a tournament that nearly ends the world, get with the program', this is, what, our fourth such tournament (or thereabouts) in anime, and there's at least one more I know of in manga. But it occurs to me that a tournament, taken seriously, is the perfect trap. Villains have used it to bully specific people with no one the wiser (in Duelist Kingdom no one else knew that Yugi had been blackmailed into competing); Kaiba used tournaments to draw out troublemakers, the Rare Hunters, and even to raise funds. From a schemer's perspective, there's a strict structure and additional rules imposed on competitors; there's constant action and a lot can go on behind the scenes; there's public scrutiny (often) and thus a drive to complete the tournament no matter what (even if it might be the end of the world); and really it's an ideal place for a bit of mischief. Heck, we get harmless tournament mischief too; identity pranks and all. Come to think of it... I was about to say that the WRGP was the first tournament that didn't contain at least one identity prank, then I remembered that TNW time-wedgied themselves into the whole thing and in the process shaved off one entire tier of the bracket. That's definitely the mother of all tournament identity pranks. Still though-- worth noting that the never-really-were-Directors-General can't just time-wedgie themselves a win here like they time-wedgied themselves a slot in the semifinals. Wonder if they actually played any semifinal match at all? And they're just a bit nervous going up against Team 5D's, if they're even contemplating that they must not lose.

The moment Jacob mentioned that they wanted a "singularity" to occur, I reached for a precise definition. Here it is. A singularity is (1) "the state, fact, quality, or condition of being singular" (unique) (2) "a point at which a function takes an infinite value, esp. in space-time when matter is infinitely dense, as at the center of a black hole." (3) "( the Singularity) a point in the future (often set at or around 2030 A.D.) beyond which overwhelming technical changes (especially the development of superhuman artificial intelligence) make reliable predictions impossible." The last two particularly interest me.
Definition 2 deals in physics and mathematics, and concerns infinity. For a simple example, anyone familiar with my site knows that I keep statistics regarding the series, including the ratio of male to female duelists overall and in any given time period. Sometimes, though, the numbers get a bit wacky; take for instance the Battle City Semifinals, in which there are 4 male duelists and 0 female duelists. I calculate ratios by dividing the number of male duelists by the number of female duelists; but dividing by zero doesn't work. The multiple factor by which the guys exceed the gals is infinite; I can't get the two numbers equal by multiplying, and asking how many male duelists per one female duelist is pointless because there aren't any at all. Therefore, my calculating program returns the statistic as infinity to one. I believe that would be an example of my ratio function reaching a singularity. A function also reaches infinity when it ends up making an endlessly increasing loop that is obviously never going to stop; otherwise infinity would be finite. For instance, Yami manufactured a match for infinite attack points at the end of A Duel With Dartz by using two monster abilities that reflect an attack and increase it, causing it to go back and forth between them and continue to increase, in theory infinitely because logically no circumstance would cause it to cease. The idea of infinite loops brings me back to the idea of time paradoxes like the ones that would've occurred if TNW and the major players, like the Signers and their allies, weren't immune to the future being retroactively altered. Which may explain why they *are* immune, because the universe is not easily imploded.
Definition 3 is also interesting. If we trust the WRGP billboards (and Kaibadome billboards can be pretty random), this is supposed to be the year 2021, which is not far from 2030. So as I understand this, it's when our machines become smarter than we are and human intelligence becomes obsolete? Well, we have been doing a lot of turbo-dueling Turing tests this season, so this definition also sticks out at me. Primo, Lester, and Jacob are apparently all uber-robots, after all; the guy who reassembled Primo gave them special powers. Up against TNW, we may be looking at the idea of robots overthrowing humanity and taking over the world and stuff. Also take into consideration that Yusei, Jack, and Crow's runners are technically alive, and Bruno may or may not be a robot. It also sort of occurs to me, starting it on a function that goes in an infinite loop is undoubtedly a great way of having to reboot your computer.

Primo speaks of being 'reassembled' by someone named Zoan the Creator. (Spelling improvised) This'll be after the thrashing he got from Yusei earlier, no doubt. Was Primo reassembled any different than he was before? Has his consciousness, his identity, changed? He seems perhaps a bit less crazy than he used to be; maybe there were a few bugs in his program or something.

They have secret powers? *More* secret powers? What secret powers could they possibly not already have? I mean, they can already retroactively change the past for everyone but those magically protected from it, for cryin' out loud. They've got a gigantic invisible temple hanging over the entire city ready to fall and squish it flat, and nobody even knows about it unless they're magically protected or currently touching someone else who is. Their decks were shipped to them on huge slabs of space rock. They can take on the appearance and seeming of anyone they want. I asked half a season ago when this becomes just not fair. They do not need any more secret powers.

Lezar brings noodles-- that's Lezar for "I love you", by the way. I think it's really cute how Lezar's actually become one of the good guys.

I love Carly's line about the "thoughtful duelists gazing at their decks with equal parts courage and self-doubt!" We've been through enough tournaments by now to appreciate the joke. Also notice: they aren't gazing at their decks that way, but they went out to gaze at the rock in the sky that way. Somehow that strikes me as important in saying that the Signers aren't just any set of thoughtful duelists before a big match; they aren't gazing just at their decks, they're thinking about what they have at stake here. How did Trudge know where they were? Possibly because he knows Yusei well; I wonder if he's ever seen Yusei sneak out to a crucial battle site early to have "a very serious moment" *before*? By the way, another awesome line there.

Leo can see the thing in the sky when he touches Luna's arm, and Carly can see it when she touches Jack's shoulder. I'm noticing, especially since I'm always noticing how Signers are about showing much skin, that it even works through sleeves, gloves, and jackets. Bruno never touches anyone, though; he's the only member of Team 5D's who hasn't seen it. As far as we know. Maybe he *can* see it and just isn't telling anyone; he's got inexplicable superpowers after all.

Primo and Lester suggest that Ragnarok would've been more of a challenge. Bet they would've said the same to Ragnarok about us if *they'd* won.

Where *what* sleeps? Primo mentioned something sleeping in the Divine Temple, like a monster or something. I heard it as 'Leydos', or 'Leidos', 'Leados', 'Laydos', 'Leydose', etc. etc. We will probably find out soon enough.

Oh, good, Team Ragnarok's being grown-ups about this. Glad to see it. Now, my other notion: I wonder, was something else speaking through Halldor there? He is, after all, a seer and all that. Check out how brightly his eye was glowing; that's new for him.

When Trudge burst in on Lezar, did anyone else get an odd feeling of deja vu? This same thing happened at the Fortune Cup, but back then Trudge was out of the loop and just knew there was a lot of violence in the tournament so far.

I noticed this one guy in the stands, a big 5D's fan by the looks of it. He's the one who calls out about how the pipsqeak is going to duel Jack on a skateboard; he's holding a big 5D's sign with red letters and wearing a 5D's headband. He also has a mark on his cheek. It got me to thinking; two out of three Team 5D's duelists are markers, and it wasn't so long ago that markers were considered little better than satellites in Domino City. I'm wondering, is Team 5Ds' standing in this tournament remaking that image, and is that why this marker is such a huge fan? Then again, the dye could be makeup, in support of Team 5D's, which would definitely indicate a better public image of markers.

Where's the infinity circles? No infinity circles even appeared around Jack and Lester. Maybe it was because Lester was planning to throw already and didn't want to muss his braid for the trouble. Wonder when we *will* see the circles go up?

Very similar opening plays from Jack and Lester; both a defense monster and three facedowns. My initial prediction was that both are starting small because before this is over they intend to go big.

"Heh! The duel's just begun and I'm already three steps ahead of 'im!" As soon as you hear a line like this, be very afraid. Seriously, *Team Catastrophe* gave us more of a fight than Lester did, and Catastrophe are losers. I wonder if they're trying to make us think *they're* predictable, the way Yusei did with Halldor?

Something equivalent to Infinite Aura has been Jacob's strategy all along-- to turn WRGP duelists' best dueling, and the Signers' best moves, into power for the Circuit. Whatever Infinite Aura does, I bet it'll foreshadow what it looks like when the Circuit completes.

What was the deal with that Dimension Switch trap? I could see it being very useful as a synchro-dodging tactic, to remove a synchro from play before a Meklord Emperor can snatch it, then bring it back. Since Jack applied it to Dark Resonator, I'm wondering, does it carry over to what Dark Resonator got tuned into-- Archfiend, then Red Nova? Or even, if every time Jack activates the effect, he gets to choose what monster it applies to? That's definitely planning ahead for a Meklord Emperor or two.

Ooh, here's a question-- if Lester was only out there so he could get Infinite Aura on the field, why keep Skiel out of the rest of the duel for that? I mean, Lester's so-called allies have swiped his cards *before*. I'm fairly sure that, if it was strategically sound, Jacob would hesitate a second before ordering Lester to lend them his cards for the cause. After all, Lester took a dive without question when ordered to for the team. The question, then, would by why Jacob let Lester keep Skiel.

I'm noticing that Lester's playing a lot of cards whose names start with "Infinite". I think there's a whole 'nother set of cards they're using here that they didn't before against the twins or Yusei.

Why did Lester play Infinite Prison? It allowed him to put one of the monsters in his graveyard on the field as a spell card, and he put Sky Core on the field. Could Primo destroy Sky Core to bring out Wisel, I wonder? Is that why Lester did that?

I like what I see from Jack so far; he's on his game. Not only has he already brought out Red Nova Dragon, he even synchroed it with Trust Guardian, without any arm-twisting at all (that we know of)! Be still my heart! Infinite Aura, though, absorbs damage and then retaliates; it's a counter-power strategy. Watch out; the New Worlds have counted on Jack's being on his game, and are using it to their advantage. Our guys should be watching out very closely for their own predictability.

Did you *see* that? Primo complemented Lester! Since this is a relay changeover, I'm watching for team dynamic here. It's not quite a proper one because Lester intentionally took a dive (and usually a relay changeover is revealing because it comes after the team has suffered a loss), but I am noticing the complement right there, big time.

TNW has no logo. I'm noticing it because I've had some fun re-creating WRGP logos this summer. We haven't seen a TNW logo yet, I think.

Stupid scissors... That means either Lester played scissors and Primo played rock, or Primo played scissors and Lester played paper. In case anyone cares.

So apparently TNW's lineup is Lester, Primo, Jacob. I'd predicted Primo, Lester, Jacob, but I hadn't predicted the whole first-rider-takes-a-dive strategy. Typically, I've been observing, a WRGP team will have their captain come out last, and will have the team's second strongest come out first, usually someone who's outgoing or aggressive, who'd be the next to take charge if the captain were taken out of action. In Team 5D's, this is Yusei last and Jack first; on Team Unicorn it's Jean and Andre; on Team Catastrophe that's Nicholas and Herman; and on Team Ragnarok it's Halldor and Dragen. I seem to recall Team Taiyou broke the pattern a bit, but that's a subject for a post that currently doesn't exist. Anyway, before Primo went sane, TNW also followed this pattern; Jacob was unquestionably the leader because when he and Primo disagreed, usually Primo was the one who backed down even though he was discontent; Jacob is definitely last runner. After Primo got rewired, though, it's less certain who's first runner; Primo hasn't really made any shows of his usual craziness or his usual resentment of Jacob's leadership. In terms of presence and power, I'm not so sure he could or would challenge Jacob anymore, which makes him no longer fit the archetype I described for first runner. Therefore, TNW has two "second runner"s, two thematic floaters, as I understand it right now. We may come to find that Primo's still a first runner kinda guy, in which case our thematic floater just dropped out early and TNW is pulling something like what 5D's did against Catastrophe-- putting their second guy out front for a specific strategic purpose, like setting up that Infinite Aura card or taking out Hook the Hidden Knight.

So Primo's wearing a helmet this time? Will he become one with his runner again? Will we find out in this duel more about how Primo has been re-engineered since Yusei dueled him?

This means right now we've got Jack vs. Primo and pretty soon we'll probably be looking at Crow vs. Primo. Wow, are those ever matchups that never really occurred to me before now. I always thought of Primo as Yusei's archenemy in all this; anyone else tangling with Primo, quite honestly, never crossed my mind. Since we don't really know how Primo's been rewired, I don't have much in the way of predictions for this.

That Aura thingy makes me nervous, and could lead to an early exit for Jack, but I get the feeling that they'll save it for something much worse than just taking out one duelist on Team 5D's; they sacrificed one of their own riders, and that's a bad tradeoff unless that Aura does more than even up the numbers. Could be they'll save it to nuke Yusei's lifepoints as soon as he gets onto the field; if what it does is lifepoint damage that's what I'd do, provided I could keep Jack or Crow from destroying it that long. Could be it'll put the kibosh on T5D's speed counters in a bad way, which carries over from duelist to duelist but probably isn't worth dumping Lester like that. Could be it'll somehow put a damper on the synchro-dodging techniques, including Accel Synchro, that Team 5D's has been working on, and keep them from getting their synchros out of the way of a Meklord Emperor's ability. I could see *that* being worth Lester diving under the bus like that.

I'm seeing this episode labeled 131. Did we skip again? Uh yeah, we did. Jeez, people, what in the name of all things not Iliaster is your problem here? Is it really too much to ask that we just show the episodes in order? Can I expect to see *this* one online dubbed, or should I just look up the subbed version right now? Well, I watched the sub episode. It's a flashback episode, entirely harmless; I think they're trying to rush us through the end of the series and cover only the bare minimum, which is too bad, but I can think of even more reasons why they might be doing that. Apparently 4KidsTV filed for bankruptcy in April of this year, and they've already been involved in a legal battle because, as I understand it, NAS and TVTokyo feel that they've fraudulently withheld profits from YGO in America. What this adds up to, I'm sure, is limited resources, which means they may not be *able* to dub all of the episodes, even if they could, and they have to pick and choose to get us through the end of the series with half-decent continuity. That's heartbreaking, nothing less, and may even mean this is the end; but I can have some compassion for those guys. I love this show and want to see the plot done justice, but I also want our wonderful voice actors and production crew to get paid, and for those who created the show in Japan to get their fair share and credit for what they've given us. I'm willing to wait and see, and hope for the best, as always.

Two main things, for having watched the subbed episode: it's another example of something that happened but never happened. The basic idea is that Carly spends the whole episode writing an article about Team 5D's (since they're finalists and all), which has her and everyone else who's helping her write it reflect on each Signer, and Bruno, and what they're all about, hence flashback episode. At the end of the episode, the waitress wanders in with a tray of coffee and spills it all over Carly's laptop, thus completely totaling it along with the article they just wrote. Therefore, like TNW being the Directors-General or some other things I could name this season, it's something that did happen but actually didn't. Which is what makes it all the more poetically hilarious that 4Kids keeps skipping episodes almost every time that happens, such that we are pretty much still seeing this plot line from *some* point of view that's continuity-clean. We'd just be seeing it from, oh, Trudge's perspective, say, or perhaps Zora's-- entirely unaware of certain things that were time-wedgied away, destroyed by acts of coffee, or otherwise left no proof of their actually having happened. The other insight I got from that episode, and this is still hitting me like a ton of bricks, is that Yusei blames himself for Zero Reverse. They came out and actually said it in the sub-- actually they didn't but they did enough that I finally got it-- but there's scads of subtext that way in the dub and I'm working hard not to blame *myself* for not having had this occur to me sooner. And both of those are prime examples of how utterly irrational I'm learning the blame-and-fault game is this week. What finally tipped me off is that in the original version of the Destiny's Will II conversation (we all know the one: "Don't tell me that's fate! Don't tell me everything happened because it was *meant to*!!") Yusei also asks why, when his dad's work caused Zero Reverse, satellite orphans like Jack and Crow would want someone as contemptible as him for a friend. And obviously I'm paraphrasing here. That's why Zero Reverse and whose fault it was, and any danger to the city, is a sore spot for Yusei, why he feels that he owes New Domino everything he can do to keep it safe. This goes back to what he'd do to protect the Satellite; he blames himself for its situation and the hardships of its denizens. Something's wrong here and it must be someone's fault. Because blame and fault are irrational like that, and because he's grown up with the surname Fudo-- you bet someone who lived through Zero Reverse could tell him what that means. I'm still sort of halfway ruminating on this, but it's such an important revelation at this point in time, with us going up against TNW and all. And of course the most important revelations are the ones that seem obvious after the fact.

No title on the TV listings for tomorrow, but it says it'll be new. It might be ep#132. At this point, I have no idea. Whatever it is, though, if it's new, I'll post about it. 'Til then, everyone. -Clio

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