Predictions and Observations:
The Duel Giant

So it’s Crowler’s responsibility to maintain order and prevent this sort of thing on campus. What do the other teachers do? What does Sheppard do, besides keep Crowler in line? Why does Crowler seem to run all of the school’s day-to-day affairs? I have always wondered about Crowler’s place in the school hierarchy, and no time more than now!

Jaden said that he could feel how angry Briar was. Is this a sign of connection similar to the one that Jaden has with his monsters? Or else, it’s a well-known fact that psychology and understanding people are half the game, and it could be that Jaden has such an affinity for it he doesn’t even notice that it’s special to be able to sense someone else’s feelings and motives that easily. There are some duelists in this crowd that are quite uniquely endowed, even abnormally so, with such powers as these, such as Jaden, and Chumley, who confessed before that his cards talk to him. Yugi, Joey, Kaiba, and most of the other duelists we know so well acquired these skills through time and practice, but Jaden and the others seem to already have them down as easily as breathing and don’t even realize that it’s not normal to hear your cards talk to you. Now that I mention it, Yami is an exception to this rule, because while he must have had extensive practice in the Ancient Past, he forgot it all, and yet, from the start he never felt awkward or uncomfortable in the arena, and of course played like a pro. Apparently dueling was so built into who he was when his memory was wiped clean, that he kept it. Anyway, I’m digressing. I have to wonder what has happened to give these duelists-in-training such special innate abilities. Maybe it’s fate, because the world will one day need them, or maybe, judging from the way the world has evolved to have Duel Monsters play a major role, children are taught at a young age the less-technical side of dueling, like intuition and spirit. Therefore, some of these munchkin pre-duelists with open hearts and minds would have found their cards’ hearts and the hearts of other duelists before they even understood what it meant, and therefore it remains as this innate, amazing ability.

Bastion seems to also be getting to know Jaden’s crowd better. I noticed that he called Syrus ‘Sy’ and asked what they were up to today.

So there are other tracks at Duel Academy besides dueling? Like Beauregard was studying there to be a game developer, probably like Pegasus or Duke rather than like Kaiba or Zigfried, perhaps there are other such curriculums or paths of study for other related topics. What about as a referee? Or considering the fact that the world of that day seems to revolve around dueling (The Air Force delivering the rare cards…the fact that an entire academy exists to teach students how to duel…the fact that Duel Monsters champion is considered a pillar of world domination on equal standing with business tycoon and politician supreme…), other important positions that no one can fathom? Maybe the field of archaeology could use a few good Duel Monsters experts?

If my assumptions about uniforms are correct, then the ‘Duel Giant,’ it seems from his costume, has been singling out early-year Obelisk guys. Then again, this is logical, because it’s Obelisks who have been harassing them, and usually this sort of thing happens between peers: boys of about the same age/grade only really pick on other boys of that level, and since girls have pretty different social cliques, they bully in different ways. Of course, this is all what I’ve heard, but after a few years around a high school campus, I think it holds pretty true. People only can reject someone who’s part of their social niche to begin with; anyone else and it’s ‘don’t know, don’t care.’ This isn’t social clique; this is general age group and gender. Therefore, it would hold true that most of Briar and Beauregard’s tormentors (if you’ll pardon the pun) are Obelisks of their own age group. In addition, I know I’ve said this before, but I think it’s a very bad idea and wonder what Sheppard or whoever started the school could have been thinking to group students by skill. It’s the ultimate elitist school. On one hand, such adversity makes improving one’s grades very appealing indeed, but on the other hand, the school literally facilitates students’ putting each other down. It tells the Obelisks that they are better than everyone else and tells everyone else that the Obelisks are superior to them. Of course the Obelisks’ heads get inflated, and of course there’s a lot of resentment in the lower dorms that breeds the sort of anger that drove Briar and Beauregard to take revenge. I bet that wasn’t the first time such a thing occurred and it won’t be the last.

Handy to know that ante rules are illegal at Duel Academy.

I hope everyone realizes that Jaden just creamed Briar and Beauregard in one turn.

Why did Crowler believe Jaden about the Duel Giant escaping? He isn’t exactly known for reasonable punishments.

Tomorrow’s episode: Nature of the Draw. Hey- I just thought of something—what if ‘Nature of the Draw’ is about Bastion, because he uses kind of nature-y monsters, like Water Dragon? Or maybe it’s about Banner, who is a self-proclaimed animal lover? I’m trying to read the title based on the show-namers’ enjoyment of silly puns. Also in support of Banner, he teaches obscure dueling methods, and there’s just something about him that wouldn’t make me the least bit surprised if he knew about the Heart of the Cards. That could be another meaning in that title if we were going to find out more about Banner. Then again, it might just be wishful thinking on my part because I happen to have taken a liking to Banner.

That’s all for now, sorry it’s up so late. I was lazy. -Clio