Predictions and Observations:
Jewel of a Duel II

Should've known! They were making such a big deal in Third Time's a Charm about Jaden's bizarre habit of conversing with thin air. I have a feeling, now, that that's going to be explored in detail this year. Last year it was all about destiny, and the duel between Jaden and Aster in Back to Duel had a lot of talk about deck vs. destiny. First year, I guess, it was about starting it all out and showing what potential Jaden and his friends have. This year, it's duel spirits.

Topaz Tiger- that solves the tiger mystery. I thought it was Tanya, but nope.

I noticed that Jesse's strategy has a lot of moves to let Jaden draw cards. Since he's all about seeing what other people's decks can do, that makes a lot of sense.

Flare Neos goes back to Jaden's deck, for the first time since Jaden's duel with Aster in Homecoming Duel I and II.

So the lava lamp of doom… made big slimy puddles of ooze and then built a thingy? Maybe the ooze was melted metal from the surrounding warehouse that went into building the thingy?

Two or more crystal beasts in the spell and trap card zone, he said. So once the Crystal Beasts are destroyed, the rocks they turn into take up the spell and trap card zone?

"And once I harness enough of your energy, my wish will be granted…" I knew it! I'm getting more and more convinced that Viper's trying to harness duel energy for some sinister end. The big question is, what? Is this a personal wish, or something else?

It's the eye thingy! He wants to summon that eye from Jaden's nightmares! Okay. Right then. So apparently this eye runs on duel energy (what doesn't?), because Viper needs duel energy to summon it. That may be why it asks in Jaden's dream, `don't you remember me?'; if this thing's drawn to duel energy, then it would definitely know about Jaden.

It's Aster! So… uh… if he's not interested in having the Crystal Beasts, did he just come to see them in action? Or is something else about to go down involving them? It's the big "Aster's motives" question again; he seems to just want to see how this will play out or something.

Okay, I'm going over that part of the episode in detail. Was it all stuff we already know? First of all, Viper says to Sheppard that he's "been monitoring this duel closely". The, um, thingamajig (they've got to tell us a name for that thing, and soon!) probably was registering the energy being pumped into it. I already mentioned somewhere in this post about what on Earth Viper may be plotting, but I noticed that he silently urged them to "Fight with everything (they) have." I don't think he quite understands the force he's attempting to call upon; for those two it's not a fight—it's a game! There may be the entire school watching and reputations to maintain in a school of elite duelists, but ask either if they cared at all just then—that duel *was* being "a regular hoot!" Anyway, moving on. I note that even though Aster's seen what Jaden can do, he still thinks Jaden's in over his head. Come on—the duel couldn't be any more evenly-matched! Aster seems quite disdainful of Hassleberry. I can't say it's wonderful, but I will say that it's a nice change; I haven't forgotten how much it bugged me last year that Aster really seemed disconnected from most of the group, the exception of Jaden. This right here is him being connected; he talks to them, he has an opinion on what's going on, and he even cracks a couple jokes. He seems a lot more like one of the gang now. Not to say he's exactly part of Jaden's circle of friends; for instance, Kaiba isn't too friendly, but he's still one of the familiar faces and we know where he stands. Moving on to ask, do Jaden's monster spirits also remain with him even when they're sent to the graveyard? I had assumed so, but since Aster mentioned it specifically, I have to wonder if any of the information he tells us is specific to Jesse and the Crystal Beasts. I noticed that Jaden's Neo-Spacians made themselves known to Jaden because they needed his help to save the universe, while the Crystal Beasts were not so hard-pressed. They could have chosen anyone, at any time, and they chose him. "My dear boy—there are mystical powers out there that you wouldn't believe." What a quote, and what a person to say it! Come to think of it, Pegasus has been in the thick of the Millennium Items and the duel spirits pretty much as much as any main character, and he'd probably be one of the world's experts on weird magic by now. He seems to have gotten used to it, though it still remains a fascination. He understood that these cards needed to choose their duelist for themselves, and didn't find that much of a surprise at all, it seemed. And as a final note: great segue—"I have no idea what I'm dealing with!" And I believe that makes the point that Jaden doesn't necessarily *need* to know what he's dealing with to function.

Pegasus' top five: Yugi (of course, and glad to hear *he* hasn't fallen off the face of the earth, btw); Kaiba (glad Pegasus understands that); Joey (yes! He gets mentioned in the GX canon for the second time EVER!); Aster (back *then?* Before Aster met Jaden? Gimme a break!); and Jesse. This would most likely have been before the show began, for the sake of chronology, and so Jaden wouldn't even be on the radar.

A regional tournament down south. But Jesse went to *North* Academy, and has a *Southern* accent, and I'm just about ready to give up on this location business! Students could come from anywhere around the world, and no doubt they do!

Air Neos is a new one—cool!

Rainbow Dragon. I have a feeling that it's going to be found this year, and that it's closer than they think. We've got another D-H Plasma on our hands, folks, though hopefully this card-to-find's situation isn't as mixed-up, crazy, and painful as what Aster got put through last year, and hopefully Rainbow Dragon's a bit friendlier—as in, it won't permanently Seal the soul of the guy who makes it.

Mandatory duels, every day. Actually, it doesn't sound so bad. Interesting, certainly. In terms of plot, the Powers That Write now have a ready-made excuse to start any duel they please. In addition, I have a feeling that Viper will be starting meaningful duels—I'm getting more and more certain that he's after duel energy to charge up that thingy to summon the creepy eye from Jaden's nightmares. Therefore, he'll start energetic duels. Duels with lots on the line; duels between people with heart; close matchups. I think that it's going to turn out to be a bit of an irony that this villain is powered by the Heart. In that he reminds me a bit of Pegasus, who was always a fan of a duel like that and who ended up manipulating things to create a couple of the most legendary duels in Yu-Gi-Oh! history, like Face Off and definitely Match of the Millennium itself. Anyway, this gets me thinking: who's up next, after the two students in the school who essentially *are* pure duel energy? Which duelists might he pick for such energetic matches? Well, which matches do *we* want to see? Any of Jaden's friends would probably have a lot to say about a duel with him: Chazz and Aster, top contenders, would always want rematches; Syrus is now a duelist to be reckoned with; Alexis and Blair both have feelings for Jaden, pretty much. And then, what about dueling each other? Syrus and Hassleberry, both friends and often rivals, would probably give a good match. Jealous tension between Alexis and Blair over Jaden might wax some. There's a bunch left incomplete between Chazz and Alexis (the whole brainwashing business), and I still think that both of them should know what on earth is going on (and in a duel, the truth always comes out!). Chazz and Blair seem to have taken an immediate disliking to one another, and I think that a duel between the two of them is sure to be exciting; they have a rematch to fight, after all. Let's see…Bastion still needs to beat the best student in his class before he can be promoted… when we get to see his better side again (about once a year…). And then if it turns out that Zane Truesdale has in fact not fallen off the face of the Earth (haven't heard about him at all yet…), even Viper couldn't plan this, but Jaden, Syrus, Alexis, or even probably Aster would still be students and I have a feeling that those watches would still transmit duel energy no matter whether it's dueling another watch or not. If I'm right about the watches, each student will get one. Wonder how he'll explain that. Probably won't be hard, because he's already pretty much forced on the Academy not only daily, random, mandatory duel tests but also constant surveillance. I'm also wondering if Viper will be intentionally stirring up trouble to make these duels more interesting and therefore powerful. Wouldn't put it past him.

"At least Chazz doesn't have a twin." Well, actually, Aster, there's this Obelisk sophomore named Reggie…

I wanted to look up a bit more about the gemstones for each of the Crystal Beasts. Most of this is from:
http://www.gemstone.org/gem-by-gem/gem-by-gem.html. The Cobalt info isfrom Wiki, and the Amber is pretty much common knowledge.
Emerald—With a very, very turbulent formation process and a combination of elements that would have been very unlikely, emeralds are rather rare, especially ones of any remarkable size. They're
tricky to cut because they often have many flaws in them, which are affectionately called "jardins" and are often just let to exist as part of the rock because they're still pretty. They have been found in plenty of places in Africa, Asia, and South America, and many ancient cultures considered them sacred because of their green hue. Birthstone for May.
Ruby— A lot of the same things were said about rubies that were said about emeralds, in that they're very rare because their forming conditions are. The chrome that gives the Ruby its red color also causes crystals to crack, and therefore it's very rare that a ruby finds itself in the conditions necessary to grow to a large size. Rubies are often called the "king of gemstones", and are valued above all because of their beautiful color. Actually, rubies are in the same family as sapphires; they're both corundums. Pure corundums are clear, but other trace elements color the stones; only red corundums can be rubies, and all other colors are sapphires. It's also very hard, second to the diamond itself. Birthstone for July.
Cobalt— Interestingly enough, this doesn't have much to do with gems. Cobalt is a metal, and it's even on the Periodic Table. It's sort of blueish-gray and it's often used in mixing dyes and paints, making magnets, it's resistant to rusting so it's used to keep other metals from doing so, it's used in Lithium ion batteries, and more. A certain isotope of Cobalt, Cobalt 60, is used in radioactive therapy. It's been used in ancient Egyptian and Persian sculpture dating back to 3000 B.C.E. and is very frequently used to color glass blue. The name "Cobalt", interestingly enough, comes from a German word meaning "goblin", because miners thought it worthless and in addition it was poisonous and harmed other mining elements; mainly this was because it was often found with arsenic and sulfur in it, too.
Amethyst— Wow. Okay, the amethyst is said to protect against seduction, drunkenness, locusts in the crops, snakebites, and evil spirits, bring good luck in the hunt, and inspire the intellect. It's also been written way back when that an eagle would place an amethyst in her nest to protect her young. That's ancient cultures. Even today, the amethyst is said to have a "sobering and cleansing effect", and according to one guy, quells excessive stomach acid, cures insect bites, and beautifies the skin. It's also thought to symbolize friendship, trust, and piety. They're far more common to find throughout the world, but it's difficult to find one with evenly-distributed color. They are crystal quartzes, but they have an unusual crystalline structure. They also change color when heated. Often associated with the Roman god Bacchus. Birthstone for February.
Topaz—Thought to serve as protection against enemies, as well as a symbol of beauty and splendor. The Romans dedicated the Topaz to Jupiter. I should look up if any of the other C-B's have specific connections to Roman culture. In the meantime, topazes are most often yellow, though they can also be found in other colors and shades. They also are said to have many magic powers, like protection from sudden deaths such as poisoning. Birthstone for November.
Amber— Another one that's not quite a gemstone. Amber is basically sap from a tree or other plant-with-lots-of-sap that dries somewhere, sometimes with stuff having fallen into it (like a bug, or a leaf), hardens, sits there for a long time, and eventually fossilizes.
Sapphire—Like I said before, sapphires are any color of corundum that isn't red. The blue ones are most well-known and popular, of course, and any other color of sapphire is often called a "fancy." While rubies were associated with passion and so forth, blue sapphires are often associated with stable, permanent relationships. Sapphires are difficult to cut because different areas catch the light differently, and the gem-cutter has to figure out how best to bring out all its beauty. Birthstone for September.
"The Romans were fond of colored stones such as topaz, emeralds, rubies and sapphires." -http://www.crystalinks.com/romeclothing.html
Although the seven main Crystal Beasts are accounted for, I'm wondering if we may see some other gemstones in Jesse's cards, such as the opal, peridot, citrine, or others that either had special meaning to the ancient Romans or that are often mistaken for one of the seven (such as citrines, which are often confused with topaz). As you may have guessed, I'm doing my homework on this subject, and I'll dig up more on gemstones as I go, but I fear that if I don't leave it at this, this post will never, ever get out.

By the way, I noticed a couple more things I should have mentioned last week:
Blair's name is entirely canon now, since she was announced saying the pledge; before it was possible that she came to Duel Academy under a false name when she enrolled as a boy.

A little poem I whipped up. You can probably figure out what it's inspired by:
We, the students of Duel Academy,
Solemnly promise to obey the rules,
To solve all spats and slights by dueling
In this school that teaches duels,
To show respect for our peers and teachers,
Unless the world's demise they scheme,
This we pledge for true, we students
Of this school of dueling dream.

So… the next episode. It's not showing *this* weekend, the 28th, it's showing *next* weekend, the 5th. They're not done messing with us yet, apparently, and it's starting to get darn annoying. It's called Hanging with Axel I, so apparently I've been spelling Mr. Brody's name wrong this whole time, my bad. Gee, I wonder which new student we'll be getting to know better (hint: it's probably not Shirley the Crocodile)… Hang on; since Viper also came from West, he'd have influence over which student transferred, and therefore would pick one that would help him achieve his ends. Axel, therefore, must be one energetic and powerful duelist. If you ask me, he may be the one dueling next, and he doesn't seem very friendly toward anyone but the only one he's shown open animosity toward has been Adrian Gecko. Axel also seems to know the plan, judging from his conversation with Viper on the boat.

Legendary Heroes I and II

That's all for now, folks. Sorry it took so long. I've been sick and have to make up schoolwork and stuff. Next week are just Legendary Heroes III and Dungeon Dice Monsters I. That's game! -Clio