Predictions and Observations:
All For One

A Summary: On Academy Island, Eisenstein and his crew begin to read signals for the portal widening. The sky streams light, and in a blinding flash, Duel Academy is back, with Rainbow Dragon soaring serenely above. The ghouls awaken, and everything is back to normal. Jaden wakes up, and realizes with anguish that Jesse is gone. The rest of the school rejoices, with a multi-dorm feast in the main ballroom of the Obelisk Blue guys’ dorm, and as Sheppard, Pegasus, and Crowler supervise the festivities, Crowler earnestly tries to brag to Sheppard about how heroic he was, and how he journeyed across the desert to get needed medicine and so forth. Sheppard tells him flat-out that he knows Jaden and his friends were the heroes. Pegasus is very curious about the mystery dimension, while Sheppard is more concerned that there are still people missing: Jesse, Adrian, and Viper.
Meanwhile, Chazz, Jim, Axel, Alexis, Atticus, Hassleberry, and Syrus are hanging out in the Slifer cafeteria, nearly silent and far less cheery. None of them have seen or spoken to Jaden, and are worried that he’s still deep in a funk, blaming himself for what happened to Jesse. Axel, having overheard a few interesting things in the duel, is suspicious that there’s more to this, thinks that Jaden must have some link with the spirit that took over Marcel, and therefore asks them, what if the spirit’s target *was* Jaden all along. Alexis recounts a conversation she had with Jaden when, in the middle of elated students trickling out of the main building, she saw him sitting dejectedly against the wall. He insisted that all of this was his fault, and told her that he knew the spirit, and her name was Yubel.
Just then, Chancellor Sheppard walks in, having been eavesdropping, apparently. He tells them another interesting reason he’s kept an eye on Jaden over the past few years. When Jaden was young, his parents were always away from the house at work, so for companionship, Jaden would invite friends over to duel. Back then, his favorite card was a high-level monster called Yubel, and he always tried to summon her but rarely succeeded. One day, one of his friends suggested he pick a lower-level monster to try to summon every time, and Jaden replied earnestly that Yubel is special, and sometimes it’s even like she talks to him. The friend laughed that now Jaden was just talking crazy. Yubel asked, oh, really? The next thing Jaden knew, his friend keeled over and fainted. From then on, whenever Jaden dueled with Yubel in his deck, terrible things happened to his opponents. Word spread, and soon nobody would duel Jaden until he got rid of Yubel. Jaden turned to KaibaCorp’s card contest, and when his E-H Neos design won the contest to be launched into space, Jaden convinced them to launch Yubel also, hoping that the cosmic energy would somehow make it safe for him to play his favorite card. The cosmic energy made Neos a huge success, but they are only beginning to discover what it bestowed on Yubel, and only Jaden could have any insight into the matter.
Meanwhile, Aster and Zane are also eavesdropping; Aster is intrigued that Yubel is on a level with his Destiny Heroes and Jaden’s Neo-Spacians, and Zane asks if Aster’s interested in it, and thinks that Yubel would make a nice challenge for a duelist of his caliber. In the middle of their conversation about all this, Zane groans suddenly and puts a hand to his chest. Aster asks, Zane insists it’s nothing, and Aster replies that it’s not like he cares anyway.
Bastion races to the Slifer Dorm later in the evening, and dashes into the cafeteria to tell the others that another dimensional portal is appearing, and could open in an hour. It’s small, not large enough to swallow the school again, but they realize what it could mean if Jaden finds out about it. They run up there, and find that Jaden is already gone. Bastion insists earnestly that he didn’t tell Jaden about the portal; the Ojamas tell Chazz that Winged Kuriboh might have told Jaden, because they saw that he was agitated about something.
Echo, out at sea near Duel Academy, atop a submarine, is glad that Adrian realized, as she did, that it was better for him to stay in the other world and rule it—and she’ll make sure that happens!
Jaden runs through the forest, led by Kuriboh, to the flickering portal. Aster and Zane watch from a distance, having followed a prediction of Zane’s that Jaden would come here. Aster says that it makes sense that Jaden would be trying to go back, since all of this is his fault and this is his only chance to make it right. Zane replies that that isn’t the reason; Jaden may *think* it is, but the reason is because he looks out for his friends. They *all* do… Jaden steels himself, and prepares to walk through when Chazz, Alexis, Atticus, Bastion, Syrus, Hassleberry, Jim, and Axel catch up to him. They urgently try to talk him out of it, saying that there’s no way they can know whether that portal even leads to the same dimension they just came from. Jaden insists that it’s a risk he has to take. Chazz retorts that he isn’t going alone; Jim and Axel volunteer as well (but Chazz reminds everyone that he stepped up first, which makes him more heroic); followed by Alexis and Hassleberry. Syrus and Bastion are hesitant, and Atticus tries to get Alexis to stay behind, and he’ll go instead; she refuses adamantly. Axel and Jim tell the three fiercely that no one is making them go. The odds are slim, but this is about friends, not odds. Just then, the portal’s flickering weakens; Bastion warns imperatively that going through such an unstable portal would be suicide. Axel gets in his face and tells him to figure out a way to widen it. Bastion tentatively suggests creating a large blast of energy. Since they’re surrounded by duel energy, they can summon their duel spirits, so everyone brings out their best: Jaden’s Neos, Chazz’s XYZ Dragon Cannon, Alexis’ Cyber Angel Bentin, Hassleberry’s Superconductor Tyranno, Jim’s Fossil Warrior Skull King, and Axel’s Volcanic Doomfire. They all attack the portal, but it isn’t enough. Need a hand, Syrus asks, summoning Super Vehicroid Stealth Union. Bastion and Atticus follow suit with Water Dragon and Red-Eyes. The shimmering portal becomes a pillar of white light, engulfing them all. Crowler, arms full of eggs and with a hat that looks like a chicken on his head (he’s out gathering eggs in the middle of the night, I guess?), gets caught unawares and sucked in. Echo realizes what the white light is, and happily lets it draw her in. Aster and Zane realize belatedly that their vantage point is a bit too close, and they, too, are engulfed by the light, falling through time and space…

What was that? Did the Opening change? Aside from the obvious, I mean. I think a couple of the shots in the opening changed. I’ll check. Yup. Okay, so the shot right after Chazz and the Ojamas (“Some things you gotta learn hit or miss”) used to be of Viper, and now it’s of this black-armored stranger with a red cape and a menacing, whirling duel disk with a great big orange gem on it. The second change is right after the shot of Jaden and Jesse (“We’ll take ‘em on together”), and, once again, it was Viper, and is now Yubel. I think she looks more solid and real even than we saw her before. Next change is right after the instrumental break; used to be Bonaparte, is now Jim. Next change is right after the shot of the Eyeball appearing over Jaden’s shoulder during the Snake in the Grass duel, and it used to be Viper punching right at the camera (I think it’s when he psyched Axel into that trap), and is now some skullfaced guy with great big tusks growing out of the sides of his head and a big, red glowing gem on his chest. And of course, used to be “Quest for the Rainbow Dragon”, is now “Into the Shadows.” Those are all of the subtle changes to the opening sequence. Viper has apparently been phased out. I wonder if he’ll play a huge role in the plot? Lol, lol.

Into the Shadows, huh? Sounds like fun. Count *me* in.

Did Duel Academy’s arrival just completely *total* the interdimensional duel system? Seriously—I think I saw the end of the platform snap off!

The bio-bands just turned into dust? Why? They just spontaneously turned into *dust* for cryin’ out loud—there *has* to be a reason! To me, it seems to indicate that the goo tank is now no more. Or that it’s no longer tied to Yubel. Without Yubel, it’s just another disgusting tank of goo, right? So… Yubel is in a different dimension from goo tank, ergo, goo tank doesn’t work, bio-bands crack off? That would be why, then, Yubel talked Adrian into taking the goo tank safely to the Academy building’s library when they transferred dimensions before. OR, my other theory is, Yubel got whacked, bio-bands tied directly to her/it, bio-bands turn into dust because Yubel is…can a duel spirit *get* “dead”? Dead as a character. That dimension’s equivalent of long-term shadow-realmmed, trapped, digitized, not coming back to bug us anytime soon. You know, not dead, but dead. That made no sense. OR, as another theory, Viper, wherever he is, just got whacked in a major way, coincidental with all this. OR…Jesse was the first person to put on a bio-band, along with Jaden, and the first person Viper ordered to duel. What if, somehow, Viper tied the bio-bands’ continuing functionalness to *him*?

That feast…it’s just like the welcome feast in Welcome to Duel Academy, or Duel For Jewels, with one difference: All three dorms were present in force and socializing as equals. Rock *on*. As Marcel put it, paraphrased, if it took all that insanity for us to get closer, then it was well worth it.

I have this theory going that, since Adrian was on the roof and dashed inside, he *did* get back safe. Why we—and everyone else—never saw him? Well, I have this other theory in which he ends up getting caught in the big cataclysmic blast and falls down the stairs. Hence, he gets knocked out, everyone else who got knocked out is doing just fine so they never think to check the upper levels of the school. It’s just plausible enough to hold water, and not a shred more. If that, or something like that, is the case, we have a most interesting situation in which, this time, Echo is the one trapped in another dimension, and she only *thinks* Adrian is in there somewhere. That would kind of stink for both of them…
As for Jesse? We saw him turn into sparkles, like Yubel, therefore I think I’m safe in saying that if they have a chance of finding Jesse, they have a chance of being found by Yubel. I think Jaden would rather have that than the alternative. As for how? That was some power spike, and I didn’t mention it at the time but after Jesse vs. Zane, that bio-band proved that not all of the duel energy went into widening the portal. Ergo, some of the energy from that spike could have been enough to harness for some other purpose, like, say, getting Jesse the heck out of there before the energy destroyed him or some such. The Crystal Beasts are powerful beings, and for sure they’d go to any lengths to keep Jesse safe. Jesse *did* say that Rainbow Dragon had his back.
As for Viper…since he’s even been mentioned again, he’ll turn up somehow.

The Bonapartes. Awww… maybe I had something else to note about this, but right now, just, awwwwww….

*Atticus*?! Where the heck have *you* been, and are you still a student or what?! Did you graduate and decide to imitate Aster Phoenix (is he a student or isn’t he?!)? Did you get lost at the Abandoned Dorm again? Have you been sitting around on Academy Island very *quietly* wondering what on Earth happened?

BTW, Yubel is now Canonly ‘she’, not ‘it.’ Actually, Yubel is Canonly *both*, apparently, but I’m going to go with card is ‘it’, spirit is ‘she’.

All we know about Jaden’s parents, we just learned from their shoes. For one thing, compared to Jaden’s friend there, they have really tiny feet. I’m very curious about his mom; those are some exciting shoes. Shiny purple heels, those red things with the bows…not exactly a desk job, unless she’s quite a character and wherever she works doesn’t mind the crazy shoes. Either way, I’m curious.
What we already knew about Jaden’s childhood, which wasn’t much, was that sometimes late at night, he would awaken to hear voices coming from his dueling deck (The Shadow Duelist I), and that he designed the Neo-Spacians for a KaibaCorp card contest and they were launched into space (A Greater Porpoise). The biggest piece of the puzzle yet, though, is right here before us this week. His parents were never home, so he passed the time dueling. This reminds me of Mai or Leon, but I hadn’t pinned Jaden for a lonely kid duelist. The difference is that Mai and Leon sought companionship in the cards themselves, and Jaden, even though his cards talk, invited over opponents. I’m curious as to how this whole business with Yubel affected Jaden as a little kid growing up, and as a duelist. To me, it seems as though there would be some lingering insecurities, but Jaden as a freshman was very assured in his love of the game. But, what do I know? To me it seems almost as though Jaden’s freshman year proves that without Yubel, Jaden is a lot more free to duel and be himself, which I can also get from little Jaden’s fretting over not being able to summon Yubel, feeling guilty about it. Jaden seems to have lost steam as the years went by. High school changes everyone, but maybe it’s because Jaden knew that with Neos showing up again, Yubel wouldn’t be far behind? How will this work out so Jaden can enjoy himself and love dueling again without having to worry about alienated friends and hurting people?

By the way, Jaden’s friend misnamed one of his cards; that “Crass Clown” had zero defense points, which means that it’s actually Clown Zombie, the undead version of the Crass Clown, right?

Aster and Zane seem to be becoming a bit of a pair. How interesting. Another interesting thing is that last year Aster seemed to be the one who knew, or was keeping a careful eye out to learn, how everyone ticked, and right now, I’m getting the very strong sense that Zane understands how Jaden and crowd tick; he’s read this playbook, as it were. Therefore, interesting duo. Remember, also on the list of interesting, that Zane’s descent into the underground started with losing a match to Aster (The Demon). What deal, I ask once again, did Aster make to get Zane to help them get home? And why is Zane doing any of this? Doesn’t he live to cause pain and suffering (and avoid being caused the same)? Well, they didn’t intend it, but now they’re traveling towards an alternate dimension, too, ergo, they are no longer spectators in all this, like it or not. How will they handle this, and will they end up cooperating with each other or anyone else?

Zane seems to be remarkably perceptive all of a sudden. I’m now keeping a careful eye on the validity of the following statements:
“You wouldn’t happen to have any interest in that Yubel card, would you now, Aster?”
“Yubel. The highest-level spirit.”
“Oh, he may *think* it is (his fault), but I know better. He’s doing it because he looks out for his friends—they *all* do.”
Zane also already knew about the dimensional portal, and that Jaden was going for it.

Zane’s little chest pain there. If I had to take a wild guess, I’d say that the pertinent quote is, “If Zane goes too far, the dark powers of the Underworld Deck will consume him entirely!” (The Darkness Within) That this is being foreshadowed brings it up, and means that this will be part of the upcoming adventure. In a roundabout way, I’m really excited about this. Even after all these years, I’m still a fan of the Zane that Syrus and Jaden once looked up to, and this being brought up means that it will come up later, too, and there’s a chance that push will come to shove and someone will jump in and help Zane. I’m still curious as to why Syrus, who would have jumped up and chased after Zane if he hadn’t passed out after their last duel, hasn’t gone anywhere near Zane yet. Will he get his rematch? Will Jaden duel some sense into Zane, or even, since Aster and Zane are becoming a duo, will Aster? Will Atticus, or Alexis? Also, going into this, will this mean that Zane ends up being a liability in some great battle or another?

“Yubel. The highest level spirit.” At first, I wasn’t sure I’d heard right, but the captions also confirm that that’s what Zane said. It’s true that monsters don’t get much higher-level than that—the Egyptian Gods themselves also had ten stars, unless I’m much mistaken, and if they aren’t duel spirits, what is? Therefore, Yubel would be tied for “highest-level spirit”, except that the Egyptian Gods were destroyed, remember? So, the highest-level spirit. With abilities, I’d assume, to match, that apparently don’t include attack or defense points. Which means they must be pretty nasty.

‘Uh, guys?’ I thought at the time. ‘May want to keep an eye on Jaden…The last time he was this upset, he ran away from Duel Academy…’ Amazing that I wasn’t terribly far off the mark.

Neos and Yubel. First question springing to mind is, did Jaden design Neos with the intention of winning the contest so he could launch Yubel? Where did Neos’ inspiration come from? And is there, therefore, some distant connection of essence between Yubel and Neos? A parallel? Something in Neos that reminds us of Yubel or vice versa? They seem to be almost antitheses, which, if they were totally polar opposites, would be a connection in itself. And will we find out more? From Sheppard’s monologue there, I almost got the sense that Yubel and Neos were almost two sides of the same coin, a pair, the yin and the yang (to quote Belowski), equal and opposite. Will this be explored further?

Cosmic infusions. What is the deal? What do they do? As likely evidence, I submit Jaden’s Neo-Spacians, Aster’s D-Heroes, and Yubel as the only known monsters that have them, ergo, how they are different from other monsters is what cosmic infusions do. One thing I’m really curious about is how they were discovered…or *if* they were, even. I mean, when the contest was announced (flashback in A Greater Porpoise) I seem to recall that all Kaiba said as to the reason was to the effect of, “*I* say, if there’s any intelligent life out there, let’s teach it how to duel.” More, a continuation of how dueling has become universal in GX. I mean, sure, it would have been cool to have a card that had seen space even without it getting superpowers or whatever from it. But were the launched cards supposed to come back? That, I s’pose, is the real question. From the looks of it, Yubel crash-landed and Neos escaped orbit and landed somewhere else (wherever Jaden was transported to in A Greater Porpoise), once more with the dichotomy of Yubel and Neos.

“A week ago”? Only a week ago? That means it’s about, oh, the twentieth of September or something, and the school year ends *when*? The other eight months of school with fly by!

*Why* is there a portal opening, again? I’m with Axel on this; if Yubel *was* after Jaden this whole time, and still is, then that portal is a hair too *convenient*. I submit that Yubel is behind this, and knew that Jaden *couldn’t* leave Jesse behind, and therefore, expect the worst. Expect to be expected in the worst possible way when you get wherever you’re going. In other words, it’s a trap. Game on.

Graveyard ruins of the royal family? Who-what now? Royal family of what constituency or nation? Are these the Gravekeeper Chief’s ruins or different ruins? And just how many ruins does Duel Academy have?

Uh, Crowler? Is there any point in asking why you’re out in the middle of the night with an armload of eggs and a *chicken* on your head? And I thought you didn’t like the chickens. Crowler doesn’t like animals, remember? Need I mention, this connects this episode with The Little Belowski, in which Belowski’s enclosure was hidden under the chicken coop and Crowler went there, battling his way past the chickens with about ten chicken puns in thirty seconds.

“He’s doing it because he looks out for his friends. They all do.” Or rather, Jaden isn’t doing this because he feels guilty, but because his friends are important to him. If Zane’s right (and he seemed pretty sure), I’m glad to hear it, because it means that Jaden’s not cursing the darkness, but lighting a candle, as it were. It means that once he, himself, realizes this, he won’t be beating himself up anymore.

“We’re surrounded by duel energy”, they said. Why here and nowhere else? Because of energy seeping through the portal? Or, speaking of Belowski a couple paragraphs ago, what if it’s no coincidence that the duel energy is concentrated near where Belowski is? Either this was the most comfortable place for Belowski because of the energy, or Belowski emanates duel energy and saturates the air?

This also reminds me of The Little Belowski, in that several characters state one monster as their signature card. Remember, in The Little Belowski, they all wanted to lend a card to Jaden for the School Duel: Alexis wanted to lend Etoile Cyber, Bastion wanted to lend Water Dragon, Syrus wanted to lend Power Bond, and Chumley wanted to lend Des Koala.
In this episode, each duelist picks one monster to summon, and those are:
Jaden: E-H Neos
Considering what we just learned about Yubel, Jaden’s use of Neos here could actually be very meaningful. Neos bears a connection to Yubel, but is not she, and, though born of Jaden’s desire to be able to play Yubel, Neos is a unique creation and seems conceptually Yubel’s opposite: futuristic where Yubel seems more fantastical, and emanating light where Yubel seems to lurk in the dark. Yubel is the past, and Neos is the future.
Chazz: XYZ Dragon Cannon
Whatever happened to the Armed Dragons? In any case, the only other person in the canon to play the alphabet vehicles (to make up a somewhat fitting, if silly-sounding, category), need I say it, is Kaiba.
Alexis: Cyber Angel Benten
Well, out of necessity, I’ve finally learned to spell one. Lex seems to be upgrading; I can’t remember the last time we saw Etoile Cyber or Blade Skater.
Hassleberry: Superconductor Tyranno
This is actually quite a play. Superconductor Tyranno links Hassleberry directly to Syrus, as a combination of dinosaur and machine, and if memory serves, it was last played in Taken By Storm, when they tag-dueled Frost and Thunder. Why has it been played now? And in such proximity to Jurassic Impact? Coincidence?
Jim: Fossil Warrior Skull King
I think we’ve seen this monster before. I’ll have to check…Yup. Triple Play II.
Axel: Volcanic Doomfire
I know we haven’t seen this monster before. Despite all of the amazingness that has been Axel so far, I take from this play that we haven’t seen *anything* yet.
Syrus: Super Vehicroid Stealth Union
I think that this was also last played in Taken By Storm. I *know* it was played then, it wasn’t played in Tough Love, and we haven’t seen Syrus really duel since then, come to think of it and check over the episodes since. Wow.
Bastion: Water Dragon
Unlike Syrus and Alexis, Bastion’s ‘Card’ hasn’t changed over these past couple years.
Atticus: Red-Eyes Black Dragon
Well, if it were Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon, I’d be worried, but right now I’m just a bit puzzled. We’re still waiting to find out whether Nightshroud is actually *gone*-gone.

Is that…Tania…? No way. But yeah, it looks like Tania (I think that’s the standard spelling these days, though I know that I wrote it “Tanya” before.) Well, in that case, I’d say that RSB is coming full-circle in more ways than one. Who else will we run into in this dimension? Titan? Abidos III? Camula?! And, by the way, as far as we know, Tania’s friendly; remember, after her duel with Jaden, she was so amazed that she felt *she* was unworthy of *him*, and therefore turned into a tiger and wandered off into the forest.

“As he always does. Let’s just hope it doesn’t cost them too dearly.” Awww, Zane, didn’t know you cared. Seriously. Didn’t know you cared. What the heck gives, and when are any of the characters going to notice that a guy who, last time we checked, wanted to make everyone in the world, especially anyone close to him, suffer, is suddenly being relatively nice?

Pretty shadows. Preeeetty, preeeeeeeetty shadows. The animators sure do draw those shadows from bright light nicely. It reminds me of Panik Attack, on which I was also admiring the shadows cast by the flamethrowers.

Pharaoh was napping in the rafters during this entire conversation, take note.

*How* did Jaden talk Kaiba into this…? I’m so curious how a cute little kid like Jaden managed to convince Kaiba of all people to send up a second satellite. Did someone else weigh in on this decision, like Pegasus or Yugi? Or, was there a duel?! If there was a duel, Kaiba vs. seven-year-old Jaden, OMG! That would be interesting to see. Obviously he didn’t win, because Kaiba’s ego is still intact (this is Kaiba we’re talking about; we’d *know* if he’d gotten his butt kicked by a seven-year-old by his flipping out) and Jaden isn’t world-famous (no, only half the world has already heard of him, lol).

“Not like I care anyway.” Such cynicism, Aster. I submit that he’s saying that because he cares more than he thinks he does.

“Yubel vanished in the other world, right?” *Atticus!* Don’t you know better than to say things like that by now? Simply because you said that, of *course* we’re going to have to deal with her again!

So… how long do you think it’ll take anyone else to notice? I mean, that eleven students, a teacher, and a not-so-random bystander just vanished into another dimension, again. Bets on who figures it out first? Candidates include Blair, who would be just about the only person left in the Slifer Dorm tonight; Sheppard, who could notice either the absence of his second-in-command or Jaden, whom we already knew he was concerned enough about to stop by the Slifer Dorm that afternoon; or anyone Pharaoh sees fit to run to—he was in the rafters of the cafeteria that whole time.

In the trailer for the next episode-- looks like kind of an icy dimension… no…it *couldn’t* be…not the place where Jaden dueled Kaibaman?

They could get spat out into *any* dimension, though… I feel an amazing plot device coming on. There are, according to Bastion, nine dimensions… or nine they know about. Where I’m going with this is, is there a dimension in which the entirely, ridiculously unlikely happens? Is there a dimension where everyone sings instead of talks, or everything rhymes? Is there a dimension where Jaden and friends become three-dimensional? Is there a dimension in which everything is upside-down? Shippers’ dreams and nightmares dimension? Everything-is-made-of-play-dough-and-silly-putty dimension? Chicken-related pun dimension (Crowler would be right at home)? Everyone-becomes-their-favorite-duel-monster dimension?

So… let’s talk motives. Our dimensional travelers are as follows: Jaden, Chazz, Jim, Axel, Alexis, Hassleberry, Syrus, Bastion, Atticus, Aster, Zane, Echo, Crowler. First of all, *thirteen?* I’ll try not to call it an omen, but…well, with Shirley, it’s fourteen…
Okay—
Jaden’s in this to rescue Jesse and attempt to deal with and fix this whole situation around Yubel.
Chazz is in this to help Jaden (he’s currently reminding me of I’ve Seen the Light, when he was also very worried about Jaden, and that concern and upset reflected into his actions), and also to look like a hero (noting the quote “I offered first, though, so you know that means I’m more heroic.”)
Jim is in this to help Jaden and Jesse
Axel is in this to help Jaden and Jesse
Alexis is in this to help Jaden, Jesse, and her other friends who are already going
Hassleberry is in this to help Jaden
Syrus was initially reluctant (he asked to fetch a jacket when he was already wearing one), but he was the first to step up when Jaden needed his extra support.
Atticus expressed concern for Alexis, so you can bet she’ll be his number-one priority, but he’s also there to lend a hand
Bastion’s willing to lend a hand to help his friends. It should be noted at this time that Bastion is very protective and supportive of his fellow Ras, like Syrus and Hassleberry.
Zane got pulled into this by accident, and his motives remain in mystery, having obviously changed since the last time they were clear. He is interested in dueling against Yubel.
Aster got pulled into this by accident, but is interested in Yubel because she has been affected by cosmic energy just like the D-Heroes.
Echo wants to make sure that Adrian rules the dimension he’s trapped in. I wonder if she will try to sabotage or take out others who got transported along with her, to keep them from being a threat to Adrian.
Crowler, obviously, is here as comic relief.

I couldn’t help but notice that Jaden and some of his crowd were wearing backpacks. What’s in them? After last time, I suspect they have the sense to bring as much food and water as possible. Duel disks, since they weren’t wearing them, would probably also be in those backpacks, since we saw how much trouble one could get into in the dusty dimension without one (Bastion…). And student notebooks. Lots of student notebooks. Do they have any way of staying in contact with Academy Island? Or any way to contrive something? Probably not, but if anyone would, it’d probably be Bastion.

I wrote a poem. I am unsure as to its merit. It’s about this episode:

A portal glimmers in the dark,
To where, unknown, or why, don’t care.
My guilt-bound hope, life’s only spark,
Will be right there, right there, right there.
My only chance to make things right,
The battleground if I can fight,
Alone, I’ll vanish in the night
To be right there, right there, right there.

A portal shimmers in the night,
For whom this can’t be how it ends.
We won’t back down but lend our light
Because we’re friends, we’re friends, we’re friends.
We’re there no matter what it takes,
And if we fail, well, them’s the breaks,
For this is not about the stakes,
It’s all ‘bout friends, us friends, us friends.

A portal flickers, sparks, then burns;
—Coming, Jess, won’t give—hang on!—
—This poor kid just never learns—
A flash! We’re gone, we’re gone, we’re gone.
—Don’t hold back! Give all you got!—
—You’ll rise with power, as you ought…—
—This chicken hat, it sure looks hot!—
Through space and time, we’re gone, we’re gone.

There we are. Tomorrow’s episode is called “A New World Order”. What could that mean? They’ll no doubt be in a *new* *world* (kind of by definition, unless they’re lucky enough to end up back where they just came from), but usually the phrase “new world order” is more associated with the Yubel-types. Therefore, who among the current cast of villains would be gunning for creating a “new world order”? I don’t think Yubel would, and I tentatively consider Zane and don’t think he would either. Huh.

‘Til we find out, good night! -Clio