Predictions and Observations:
Champion or Chazz-Been?

“Short, fat bald guy” seems to be Bonaparte’s standard description (you know, like in “The Emperor’s New Groove,” Yzma (spelling is a general, loud-and-clear “no clue”) is always described as “scary beyond all reason,” no matter who is asked to describe her). Now we know a bit more about him, too. His full name is Jean Louis Bonaparte, for one. For another, I’m planning to discuss later on in the post Crowler’s seeming reluctance to take his advice against Slifer.

“It’s *Chancellor* Crowler now.” I was a bit surprised—last year Crowler was so insistent on “Dr.”, and frequently mentioned his Ph. D in dueling. The Chancellorship, quite plainly, means far more to him. Perhaps having Crowler as Chancellor won’t be so bad, because we’ve already seen how incredibly devoted he is to the school. However, most particularly devoted to its image. In my overall opinion, the only thing really holding Crowler back is himself. We’ve seen a few times that (though it makes him slightly ill to admit it) he can throw down and get his game on, and really come through for the good guys, or at least give it one heck of a try. We’ve even seen in Magna Chum Laude that he knows that there’s more to dueling than throwing down a good card. He has all the power and talent in that school that any one school could ever need, if he would just realize it’s there. His confidence in Chazz in this episode is one such step; don’t forget about Jaden, Alexis, Bastion, or plenty of other great students, not to mention any new arrivals, which all look pretty formidable so far. And, on a sidenote, is Crowler still teaching classes, and if not, who *is*, besides Fonda Fontaine for P.E. and Ra’s headmaster (still don’t know the dude’s name…) for Art? It seems to me that Crowler doesn’t want to voice that he actually doesn’t agree with Bonaparte about Slifer Red, because that would be quite an admission for him to make, but he seems very reluctant with this idea. Come on, dude, you’re Chancellor and he’s vice-chancellor—if you don’t agree, don’t do it!

Go Alexis—would she have talked back to Crowler like that last year?

Where *has* ol’ “Ap” gotten to? Apparently he either took off (maybe to confer with Sartorius?) for a bit, or for some reason he’s lying low on Academy Island? I very much doubt we’ve seen the last of him.

I’m impressed with Crowler’s confidence in Chazz; why pick him of all the students he could have? I guess most of the time Crowler probably bears too much of a grudge against Jaden, and Chazz is probably already well-known as a Duel Academy duelist, after the School Duel and all. Lex is already *in* Obelisk… Yeah, I think that Chazz was a good choice, because admittedly he’s a bit of a school hero already, and most of the rest of the school would be just fine with him as Duel Academy’s “face”.

I’m reminded of Formula for Success. So far every single focused duel (by which I mean a duel that the story actually pays attention to, not one going on in the background) that involved the moving of (a) student(s) from one Dorm to another has involved Chazz, and so far, no moving of Dorms has taken place as a result: Jaden vs. Chazz in Making the Grade (a.k.a. Raring to Go), in which Jaden declined promotion to remain with his friends in Slifer; Chazz vs. Bastion in Formula for Success, in which Bastion declined promotion because he was bent on becoming the best of his class before becoming an Obelisk, meaning he would need to defeat Jaden; and now, this. But why exactly did Crowler take Chazz’s words/actions as a “no” again?

Reginald “Reggie” van Howell III, a.k.a. “Mini-Chazz.” Will the parallels ever cease? (I sure hope not! I love ‘em!) Reggie is indeed very similar to Chazz at the beginning of his freshman year. I wonder if he’ll have a similar journey and revelation?

Chazz’s money was mentioned an awful lot this episode. I wonder why? Usually it isn’t drawn attention to. I wonder if this foreshadows its importance in the near future? And, in addition, wouldn’t Chazz no longer be fabulously wealthy considering that his brothers, apparently, control the Princeton fortune?

“The most powerful prep school on Earth”, Crowler says—*I* say, say it ain’t so! I thought we’d agreed that people *came* from prep school to be there! I’ll do some homework on this:
From Dictionary.com:
Preparatory School:
“ 1. A usually private secondary school that prepares students for college.
2. A usually private elementary school in Great Britain that prepares students for public school.”
Secondary School:
“ A school that is intermediate in level between elementary school and college and that usually offers general, technical, vocational, or college-preparatory curricula.”
Okay, this is good. Both Duel Academy and “Duel Prep School” can be classified this way, meaning that people like me who try to figure out how the dueling world is put together won’t spend this evening banging out a rhythm with their heads against the wall.

XYZ Dragon Cannon, a monster we haven’t seen in Chazz’s forces since the very beginning. I think it maybe was played in this duel to remind us of the former Chazz and relate him to Reggie. It was a bit jarring, though.

Warriors, Swords, and Chithonian Soldiers—another connection between Chazz and Reggie. In the beginning, Chazz’s signature monsters were the Chithonian Soldiers; Reggie uses similar monsters, and I think that his signature strategy consists of, “whoa, look at all those swords!”

Chazzy—and so far, only the Rhodes sibs (for one reason or another) had called Chazz that.

“Rumor has it you have the best deck money can buy.” Nah, better—he turned DOWN the best deck money could buy for the best deck his heart could guide him to!

Chithonian Polymer, I noticed, was in Chazz’s hand, last seen, unless I’m mistaken, in Welcome to Duel Academy.

Second ep of the season: “Welcome to Duel Academy, freshman!” (Chazz said that at the end of the duel today) And that’s not all: So far, they’ve been following a pattern. In the first episode both years, Jaden dueled his first match shortly before the year began. In the second episode both years, Chazz dueled his first match shortly after the year began. If the pattern holds, tomorrow’s will have Alexis dueling her first, and probably our first glimpse of this year’s classes.

I noticed, randomly, that the spectators in the background are getting drawn better—they have faces now.

Bonaparte’s head keeps glistening. It even has a sound effect.

“--There’s a *reason* they promoted *me* to Chancellor.
--Yeah—‘cause everyone else turned the job down!”
What to make of that? Is there some reason that the post of Duel Academy chancellor is suddenly about as appealing as that of, oh, say, for those familiar with Harry Potter, the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher (best simile I could come up with)? Could there possibly be trouble brewing? Is it just because it’s such a tricky position?

Some may call it a coincidence, but *I* call it fate! They each drew Pot of Greed in the same turn. Last time I thought that indicated a bond of parallels and this time is no different.

GILFORD the Legend (probably a relation), with a FLAMING SWORD. Any reason why Mini-Chazz is echoing Joey’s cards?

Did you see that? Chazz willingly sacrificed his lifepoints for his Ojamas. I’m reminded of the move that Atem observed in his duel with Rafael in Grappling with a Guardian I—Rafael gave up his lifepoints to keep his monsters, because they meant far more to him. Maybe it was just a weird connection on my part, but in my opinion that was awfully sweet.

Ojamachines—kinda like Kuribohs… when they’re destroyed, Chazz takes no damage (like Winged Kuriboh’s effect), and they explode on contact!

“Maybe now you’ll see that the color of your coat doesn’t mean squat. ‘Cause an Obelisk Blue, who’s supposed to be the best of the best, just got schooled by a Slifer Red. Face it, kid—whether we’re wearing blue, yellow, red, or polka dots, you’ll always be the same loser! And I’ll always be The Chazz!” Oh, man, those words really show how far Chazz has come! I could almost cry—if they could bust down the walls of elitism in that school… and I have a feeling that Chazz can do just that. Especially considering the day I’ve had, and the journey Chazz took last year to find himself and discover that truth, those words mean a lot to me.

Team Mascot? Since when would Chazz ever consent to be the Slifer team mascot? Then again, that would have to be a pretty cool costume; might take two or three guys…Man, that would be so cool if some students got together and did that for Duel Monsters Spirit Day some year!

*What* makes a better story for the press? Chazz’s victory but sticking with Slifer? Or something else?

On a sidenote, I was thinking, and I had to wonder why I immediately took such an irrational dislike to Aster Phoenix. Am I the only one? Was it just because he was so darn *smug?* Was it because he seems to be in cahoots with a weirdo who seems the most likely candidate for Villain of the Semester? Was it because he scoffed at Jaden’s connection with Duel Spirits? Was it because he was introduced as basically world champion, and however good he may be, I can count a bunch of major-league duelists out there whom he would stand absolutely NO chance against, the first and foremost being the canon current holder of that title, Yugi! Heck, I find it hard to imagine that even Jaden could one day surpass Yugi, let alone a guy who doesn’t even listen to his cards, especially considering Yugi’s latest and last adventures.

And, I’ve been sitting on this poem for about a week (long before I knew anything of this episode other than the title), and conveniently enough this is the perfect time to post it. It may change here and there, like all the stuff I write it never stops being a work in progress. Here it is as of now, though. Its working name, ironically, is Chazz, the Phoenix.

Struck down by expectations,
By pride and childish par,
Rise once more from the ashes,
And learn finally who you are.

Dwell not on social carpings
Nor on others’ cheap demands,
For you know you are a champion,
And your life is in your hands.

Blue is not your color;
They care only for your might.
Yellow, neither bad nor good,
Beneath your power’s height.

Red does not quite suit you,
May you effect a schoolwide shakeup
Rise, Black Blazer, Thunder, Phoenix—
Chazz Princeton, Chazz it up!

A Hassleberry Hounding is tomorrow’s episode, and like I said, if trends hold Alexis is dueling next. Guess we’ll see if I’m right. That’s all for now, folks! -Clio