Predictions and Observations:
Yugi vs. Pegasus: Match of the Millennium II - Aftermath

Yugi vs. Pegasus: Match of the Millennium II |
Yugi vs. Pegasus: Match of the Millennium III |
Yugi vs. Pegasus: Match of the Millennium IV |
Yugi vs. Pegasus: Match of the Millennium V |
Aftermath

Yugi vs. Pegasus: Match of the Millennium II - 3/24/07
 "And now I am warning you: don't trifle with me."

Why would Yugi play the Summoned Skull and set a trap rather than attacking with him, if he knows that Pegasus can read his mind and avoid the trap? I think that Yugi is definitely far from the top of his game.

It struck me that those thugs were telling Yami Bakura, of all peop--well, um, spirits, to "Step out of those shadows".

Look closely and consider all of your options: why hasn't Yugi though of the Millennium Puzzle long before? Then again, Yugi is very unaccustomed to considering the Millennium Puzzle a factor in his duels, and even more unaccustomed to considering it a good one. For most of Duelist Kingdom, Yugi was only vaguely aware that he was being guided, and not even entirely sure by what. The Face Off duel was a huge turning point for many reasons, one of the main ones being that Yugi really became aware of the Spirit and of the Puzzle's power. As recently as the Duel Identity match, Yugi finally actually made peace with all of this, and it ceased to be a threat. Now, Yugi has to take the final step: it's been sort of a subtle guide, it's been a frightening threat, now it's just not a problem, but he needs to discover that it *can* be an advantage. He's used to not thinking about it at all unless it's a threat. He probably doesn't even really remember half the time that it has magic or can affect a duel; he's used to thinking of duels in terms of cards, not magic.

The Spirit of the Millennium Ring just saved Tristan's life! I was a bit surprised. Yami Bakura seems to have been a very different character back then. Sure he had his own goals, which differed drastically from those of his host, but he and Tristan were actually on the same side there, and it seemed to me that the way Yami Bakura was acting demonstrated that it wasn't entirely one-sided, as in he was only helping Tristan to help himself. Yami Bakura didn't seem quite as evil back now (as in, "back then in Duelist Kingdom", which in this episode is right now); wonder if it's the influence of having two Millennium Items for a while there (during Battle City, until Yami Marik takes the Millennium Ring when he defeats him in their unofficial duel during the finals) that makes him the Yami Bakura we know and loathed today (as in, during Dawn of the Duel/Millennium World)? But that would make no sense either, unless you like time-loops. But there wouldn't be a time-loop, because Zorc created the Shadow Realm long before Atem's brief and exciting reign. But...but...

Interesting that Pegasus asked Yugi sarcastically if he was having "A private conversation with (him)self." No, not yet, but that's actually a very good idea; Yugi should consider doing that.

I was thinking to myself that Joey and Tea always seem to be a pair, both very closely attached to Yugi. Tristan is one of the gang, but somehow not quite as much, or at least he never ends up showing it as much.  It was occurring to me how appropriate it was that he had a sort of plotline of his own here, still on our side and kicking plenty of tail. Then it occurred to me another time that he's set apart from Yugi's other close friends, that time by being turned evil, which, also, coincidentally, involved Yami Bakura. More than coincidence?

"Which one will prevail: the Millennium Puzzle or the Millennium Eye?" Or the Millennium Ring!

Yugi vs. Pegasus: Match of the Millennium III - 3/31/07
"I am no longer Yugi Moto, but someone else altogether. Through the magic of the Millennium Puzzle, two minds inhabit this body!"
I wanted to note that it was Tea who finally remembered that Yugi had magic, too. For one thing, it reminded me of The Legendary Great Moth, when, just as Mai was saying that having friends cheer you on was worse than useless because it was distracting, a random comment from one of Yugi's friends gave him a game-winning idea. The same thing happened here. It also just seems significant somehow that she was the one who said it. Perhaps I'm grasping at this signifying that Tea spends some serious time thinking about Yugi and probably the Puzzle also (Face Off I and her conversation with Yugi then may also signal that, and it's most likely true).

Atem was resisting the Millennium Eye's power for a while there, or somehow they were (Atem kept saying that he felt Pegasus trying to invade). How, when that hadn't been happening before? Perhaps the communication between minds at that point, the fact that both minds were concentrating on that instead, made it a bit trickier for Pegasus to tell one from the other and read it or something weird like that? My other question: how, when both of them had been dueling when the Dark Magician was first hidden, did Yugi not know which hat Dark Magician was beneath? This sounds weird, but perhaps when they split, their memories did also. It's also possible that their shorter-term memories disconnected entirely or something bizarre like that, so neither knew which hat the Dark Magician was under. I noticed that Atem had knowledge of their monster slots (such as the location of Dark Magician, assuming that he knew if Yugi didn't), while Yugi knew the contents of their magic and trap zone. That could well have been intentional.

Yugi's grown a lot more confident already. I was extremely impressed. He seemed to be doing most of the major dueling, at least in *this* realm.

It seemed to me that Yugi took over during their turns, and Atem during Pegasus' turns. This could have been for any number of reasons, one of which is that while one is out playing, the other can be guarding his mind. Therefore, since it's most likely Pegasus would try to read what's being drawn or played when it's being drawn or played, Atem, the stronger mind, would be best employed guarding rather than playing. If that's so, though, then they could have maintained a defense without Yugi switching in later, so I'm not inclined to quite believe it. Perhaps since, for whatever reason, Atem ended up with the information regarding Dark Magician, Yugi, similarly, ended up knowing what was in their hand, and so he had to be the one to play during their turn because otherwise both would know what was in their hand and it would defeat the entire purpose.

Yet another theory regarding the mind-shuffle might be that they actually switch *right* *when* Pegasus tries to read a mind, making it so that he can't see anything because neither mind is in control for that split second. That would explain how they blocked the information about the Dark Magician, and how they could block knowledge of their hand without pulling a Kaiba and playing as they draw. Of course they'd bluff that one knows and the other doesn't, because otherwise Pegasus would keep trying it after they'd switched because the one that was currently dueling actually *would* know. This far from explains everything, and many things it doesn't explain at all, and if this theory's correct then they explained it quite poorly, but…

Yugi also mentioned that the mind shuffle was a way of keeping Pegasus off-balance, which is also true. I'm not sure if the reason he wanted to switch in was their defense per se. Perhaps the reason Yugi kept switching in was because playing alternately also lent an unpredictability to their moves, which is almost as much of an advantage. Pegasus knows their combined minds far better, having seen them duel merged throughout the tournament; at this point, it's the first time he's ever seen either duel on his own, and who can quite tell how one might play differently than the other, or what either one is likely to play? Even without mind-reading, Pegasus would have probably been perceptive enough to do a bit of guesswork because he knows both their deck and their strategy. By mind-shuffling, however, they also confuse that: Pegasus would have to keep track of who plays what when, and even then, the dueling styles of each individual Yugi is different than he's ever seen when they've played together.

"I am no longer Yugi Moto, but someone else altogether." This is the first time it's been told to us flat-out, though it's been foreshadowed all along! I can just hear all of the people seven years ago jumping around with excitement.

"You ignorant mortals. It's far from all over, we have barely even begun to play." That sounds like he's talking about more than just the battle with the goons. Foreshadowing, perhaps?

I didn't really think that Magical Hats were anything other than random, that you could choose which hat something was hidden beneath. Then again, another instance or two of Magical Hats, in the labyrinths in Double Trouble Duel and Legendary Heroes II, they ended up under the hats they needed.

It occurred to me that this is the first time any of the gang have seen Mokuba since Everything's Relative. I was a bit surprised that Tristan would put his own soul at risk for him, but I think that the events of Champion vs. Creator might have had a small role to play in that. Or maybe Tristan's just that kinda guy. It occurred to me also in this that I was wrong; Tristan's no less Yugi's friend, and no less brave. He's just a bit quieter about it.

Joey's probably the only one who still thinks that Evil Spirit of the Ring was a dream.

"Yugi! I'm impressed. When I first met you, you were just another boy who showed some faint dueling promise. But with my gentle guidance… well, just look at you now! You're one step away from becoming world champion! You've been to the Shadow Realm and back! And *most* importantly, you've finally begun to master the power of your Millennium Puzzle! And you see, Yugi-boy, for me, that's what this whole tournament has been about! For I plan to take possession of your Puzzle!"
I've been keeping track of this, and I'm sure this, too, has been foreshadowed all along. But I still can't figure out *why*. *Why* has Pegasus been "gently guiding" Yugi all this way? *Why* has he wanted Yugi to begin to master the Millennium Puzzle? I had that theory about properties of Millennium Items, in which it can't be won from someone until they know how to use it. Come to think of it, that doesn't apply to Bakura because the Evil Spirit *does* know how to use it, while throughout Duelist Kingdom Atem really didn't all that much. Did Pegasus just want to crush Yugi's spirit by taking it from him just as he was beginning to realize its value? He *has* shown a certain fondness for crushing people's spirits *cough*Kaiba*cough*.

Was Pegasus initially planning to make it a Shadow Game? I wanted to note that other villains, Yami Marik being the main one I was thinking of, have made it a Shadow Game right off. I have to wonder why Pegasus held off making it a Shadow Game if he *was* planning to all along, and why he chose to when he did, aside from having had Toon World destroyed. By the way, by creating Relinquished and its cousins exclusively for his match with Yugi, Pegasus told us that he knew that Yugi would defeat Toon World, and that he was planning on it. I'm reminded of the Final Duel in that respect, and how Atem knew Yugi would take down all three Egyptian Gods.

Yugi vs. Pegasus: Match of the Millennium IV
"He’s too young and unskilled to cope with the stress… his mental and magical energies will soon be exhausted!”
Why does Yami Bakura keep threatening Tristan rather than just whacking him? A reason, perhaps, for him to try and spare Tristan? Does he know that Tristan could, will/did come in very handy in the final battle of the Ancient Past? I'll avoid the time loops, and just note right here right now how very reluctant Yami Bakura was to back up his threats, and the care he took to scare Tristan into complying rather than taking Mokuba by force as soon as Tristan said no. Not only did he threaten Tristan and try to persuade him to hand Mokuba over willingly three or four separate times right there, but he gave him a demonstration or two first, with the guards, to show him that he could back up his threats. It might just be suspense-building, but it's true that if Yami Bakura had shadow-realmmed Tristan he would have had one less "pawn" when the time came. And he would have considered that far more of an advantage than the support Tristan would offer to the other side as a friend, making it far more advantageous, in Yami Bakura's estimation, to keep Tristan around.

What on Earth did Tristan *do* to Yami Bakura? He *dueled* with a major injury in the Battle City finals and didn't even feel it, so how did Tristan manage to even faze him with that?

Interesting. So perhaps it wasn't Pegasus who made it a harder shadow game than usual, but the mind-shuffle not only took quite a bit of power to maintain, but also split their minds, making each one more vulnerable than they would have been together. However, I doubt Pegasus was entirely blameless for how difficult that Shadow Game was/is. Most people duel in the Shadow Realm with only one mind in other shadow games, some are just as young or almost as young as Yugi, and more unskilled because they'd never ever been there before (whereas, as of Match of the Millennium, Yugi's been there twice and this is his third time; however, it's his first time dueling
individually).

Would Joey, Tristan, and Tea have been that connected to Yugi before this tournament? I really can't say, but I doubt it.

Yugi really doesn't want to switch out. It seems to me that Yugi's grown far more confident in this duel than in any duel ever before and for a while since. Perhaps it's just that he's finally dueling Pegasus. Actually, Yugi's kinda shy around people he doesn't know, but he's always had quite a large amount of guts, even before the show began. No matter how afraid he is, he's never been shy about standing up for those he cares about. And with a heart like his, caring about people comes very easy. Remember when he defended Joey and Tristan from that bully, or Tea from that mugger guy? As Joey once put it (Match of the Millennium I): "That's our Yugi. He'd do any*thing* for any*body.*”

Exodia and Summon the Dragon for Relinquished.

"Guess you're not *his* favorite—not anymore!" This is the second time Pegasus has made a comment like this. I wonder why. The other comment was something like "Your Blue-Eyes White Dragons mean so *very* much to you, don't they! Well, as creator of Duel Monsters, I am truly touched by your devotion. But, when will you learn that the *same* devotion is not returned by the Blue-Eyes, for you see, they are not so loyal!" (Champion vs. Creator II, followed by playing Dragon Piper)

Why did Yugi play Feral Imp? He could have switched in, played The Card, and retreated, and would have been fine. Why did he summon another monster, especially when his mind was already feeling the strain? Perhaps he felt the strain enough to make a fatal mistake, or perhaps he intended to be wiped out. Could Yugi have mind-shuffled and switched out before he summoned Feral Imp, or did he lack the mystical strength to make such a transfer? If that was the case, then it's possible that Yugi switched in with the intention of doing as much as he could, knowing he would not be able to switch back out. Yugi, as I mentioned before, certainly is brave enough to have done something so dangerous. The question remains why, and I'd have to say the answer was that he *needed* to draw The Card, and make his final effort, that he knew he could draw the card they needed, even if he didn't know what it was yet ("Make it something that can defeat Pegasus!"). It's the Heart: Yugi just knew that for them to win, he needed to do this, and he wasn't about to let them lose, no matter what happened to him.

Why did the "indoor thunderstorm" react differently depending on who went through it? When Tea ran into it, she came running out the way she came; when she stuck in a hand, it reached back out at her. Yet when Tristan ran into it, he ran through to the red-side walkway. I have to wonder if it reacts differently based on personality or even gender or something.

"So I take it from this emotional outburst that you're having a difficult time acknowledging the fact that you failed in your self-appointed duty to protect your little dueling protégé." The other quote in Duelist Kingdom that alludes to this is in Evil Spirit of the Ring:
" Spirit: Leave the young one *out* of this!
Yami Bakura: Why should I? By simply destroying him, I defeat you as well! You're here to guide and protect him?! Then protect him against *this!*"
Actually these two quotes have the exact same sentiment, except that Pegasus just succeeded in what Yami Bakura had essentially been attempting (though actually Yami Bakura was being even nastier, because had Change of Heart worked, Yugi would have attacked his *own* team and Atem would have had to either destroy him himself or lose the game along with all of their souls). And Yami Bakura was exactly right: taking out Yugi is one very, very effective way to get to Atem.
Why did both of these characters say this? Well, if I had to guess, I'd say that it probably went something like this: when Yugi put together the Millennium Puzzle, unbeknownst to him, a very, very confused spirit was awakening within its passages. Remember, he didn't remember a thing about how he had gotten there or anything. He probably soon learned a way to be conscious of what was going on outside the Millennium Puzzle, and got to know Yugi, though Yugi was probably still quite oblivious. During this time, I've read enough to know things were kinda crazy and shadowy back then (though how this fits into the rest of the show is something of a mystery), but one way or another, canonly during this time was included Yugi and Tea's encounter with the mugger. This probably wasn't the only such scrape, especially considering that Yugi would never let anyone get hurt if he could prevent it ("That's our Yugi. He'd do any*thing* for any*body.*"). Atem would more than likely have found this quite admirable, and may have set out to help Yugi in this, keeping him safe and showing him the niftier points of the one thing he *does* remember
perfectly, which is how to win a duel.

To me it seems that this duel has consisted in two parts: Castle Pegasus and the Shadow Realm. In the first part, when it was actually a duel (as in, after they discovered the Mind-Shuffle), Yugi was doing most of the dueling, like I must have mentioned at one time or another if not a couple times; he came up with that brilliant strategy to destroy Toon World. The first part of the duel was Toon World; the second part was entirely Relinquished and its creepy relatives. The shadow game began as soon as Toon World was destroyed, and consists entirely of Pegasus' somewhat less cuddly monsters. Meanwhile on the other side of the field, the Shadow Game was mostly Atem dueling, because Yugi couldn't do much when he switched in aside from gasp for breath. (I wonder just how much oxygen there *is* in the Shadow Realm, and what *else* they're breathing in? What does it smell like there?) Similarly to how Yugi realized *how* he needed to trust the Millennium Puzzle in the first part, Atem learned (will learn) just how powerful friendship can be. Each "part" had a main duelist (Yugi in the first, Atem in the second), and involved a major revelation for that main duelist. Neither would have stood even a tiny chance on his own.

Happy one-year anniversary of Name of the Game, everybody! Only these guys would show one of the most important episodes of the series on April Fools' Day!

Third Time's a Charm!! Yeeeeaaaah! Yeehah! This Saturday, folks! The last of Duelist Kingdom—Match of the Millennium V and Aftermath—and Third Time's a Charm, the new GX!! `til then! -Clio

Yugi vs. Pegasus: Match of the Millennium V - 4/7/07
“Remember—I still have one more card out: the card that took the last bit of Yugi’s courage to play. And now it’s time to find out what it is!”
“*You* must be—” Hadn’t Atem ever met Yugi’s grandpa? Considering all the confusion about who’s what in the early days (when you’re not sure by what name to call the main character, you know you’re in very deep trouble…especially when you try to write it all down…), I guess I’m not too surprised that in this episode the answer seems to be no.

Grandpa said that Atem saw only what his eyes showed him. For some reason that seemed significant. My main thought on that was that it was a bit harder for Atem to keep believing that Yugi was okay, when he saw and felt him fall himself. In his place, even Tea would probably have felt the same. However, perhaps that’s what Grandpa meant; Joey, Tristan, and Tea couldn’t know that; they only felt it, and didn’t know what it meant. Therefore, they believed that Yugi was still there somewhere. I got the impression that even after we saw them in the shadow realm, defending Atem’s mind, they didn’t quite know what was going on. Perhaps what really got through was only their essence, their spirit, not their consciousnesses. The Joey, Tristan, and Tea who defended Atem’s mind put words to the determination that their owners were expressing only very abstractly. I’m not sure if I’m making any sense at all.

“We’ll help you stop Pegasus’ cheating”, Tea said. How did they know that Pegasus was able to read minds again? They weren’t quite entirely sure what was going on with the mind-shuffle in the first place, so they probably wouldn’t have been thinking that since it feels like Yugi’s not there anymore Atem must be on his own.

“Get out of his mind and STAY out!” Pegasus actually reacted as if he’d been shoved away. I have a sudden urge to babble about Joey’s exceptional resistance to mind-control and so forth. Here’s another example, along with his bizarre experience with mind-tricking software in virtual world (So Close Yet So Far), his duel with Yami Marik, and the aftermath thereof.

“With Yugi’s friends preventing you from seeing my cards…” Yugi’s friends. When will they be Atem’s friends, too? Eventually, but not yet, I guess.

Both times Atem’s mind was shown in spirit and so forth, when he spoke to Yugi’s grandpa and when Tea, Tristan, and Joey showed up, Yugi was there, unconscious, in spirit-form. I wonder if this was intentional foreshadowing, because if Yugi’s spirit had been shredded, how could it have been there in *any* form?

“How does it feel, Pegasus, to have the… powers of mind - control used against *you*?” When has *Pegasus* used mind-control? The Millennium Eye *reads* minds, remember? Maybe he just means in terms of cards, like how his Relinquished and its gruesome cousins were able to control Atem’s monsters.

Atem and Pegasus started glowing. Maybe it’s just duel energy. I’ll go with that. I have to wonder, though, whether it was metaphorical glowing or whether they actually started giving off red and green light. I suppose we’ll never know.

Atem isn’t just determined to win, he’s determined to win a certain way: with the card that Yugi (almost) sacrificed his own soul to play.

“Disgusting fuzzballs,” huh? “Furry freaks”? You designed ‘em, Pegasus, and it’s not like many toons are cuter than a friendly little Kuriboh!

Why didn’t Yami Bakura take over Mokuba, *then* look for Pegasus? Had he been planning, when he tried to take Mokuba from Tristan, on Yugi losing? After all, the entire point was that the body would already have no soul. What if, had he taken over Mokuba just then, when Pegasus restored him Yami Bakura would have been stuck with an alter-ego *anyway*? That’s the only reason *I* can think of.

Aftermath - 4/7/07
"I should have once again been engulfed by despair, but seeing you for that brief moment gave me more hope than I thought possible..."
This was another of the first episodes I ever saw, and I didn’t understand it at all when I did (Gee, wonder why?). I haven’t seen it since, actually. It’s so funny—the only two episodes of the Duelist Kingdom playoffs I ever saw before I really got into the show were this and The Night Before, so even though the tower’s a relatively small and obscure part of the plot as a whole, it’s always been one of the first things I think about. There were so many things that surprised me in this episode—get comfy!

So *why* is everything lost to Pegasus now? Sure he didn’t defeat Yugi, but I don’t understand why, considering that he considers duels where he can see all of his opponents’ thoughts perfectly fair, he doesn’t just keep the souls, rather than saying, might as well let them go. As long as he has Yugi’s grandpa, Yugi has to keep challenging him, therefore giving him infinitely many chances. As long as he has Kaiba and a similar way to manipulate *him*, he could probably get all the virtual technology he needs. Perhaps it’s something about having lost a shadow game; the cards are real, and so are the stakes. If those were the stakes, Pegasus must honor them, or suffer the wrath of the ‘Realm. (and he knows how mean it can be when it’s friendly) but then, why did Pegasus say what he did: “besides, I’m a man of my word…” An incredible fantasy world, where even the villains have honor! Then again, I think that this episode was in part meant to show that there really is no good or evil. Pegasus, the sinister baddie from the beginning, was shown in an entirely different light in this episode. I think Yami Bakura puts it best: “Who would have thought you even *had* a heart, let alone one so easily broken!”

Pegasus at least plays fair in that he keeps his promise. I think that, in insisting upon a specific and formal promise, Yugi/Atem (they were combined) may very well have ensured that Pegasus *would* free the souls. Pegasus actually *did* swear it, unquestionably and recently, so he’s unlikely to forget or convince himself that if he doesn’t free them he won’t be breaking any promise.

“Your Millennium Eye allows you to look into people’s minds, Pegasus. Mine allows me to see into their *souls*.” Iiinteresting. So the Millennium Ring allows you to look into people’s souls, find other Millennium Items, contains an evil spirit… wow. This just makes me start thinking about how it has more history and importance than pretty much any other Item, even, dare I say, the Puzzle itself. Perhaps the Ring’s ability to detect is part of the ability to see into souls, because it may instead be detecting souls that are, I wouldn’t say tainted, but… someone with a Millennium Item is bound to have a soul that stands out somehow.

What stood out at me more than anything was Yami Bakura’s bit of fortunetelling there. When I researched Tarot for the previous GX season, I learned, among other things, that the formation of cards Yami Bakura set out there is a standard formation for reading tarot. I did a bit more homework on it today (I thought I was done with this research…? No way!), and I discovered that, indeed, the three central cards, right to left, represent past, present, and future. The card above the “present” card indicates potential, and the card below indicates the motive for asking the question. By the way, it also reminded me that when reading, the reader or the person being read (depending on who’s being read for) must ask a question, either aloud or not. Yami Bakura, I guess, would have been asking about Pegasus, but what *exactly*? And would this lower card have revealed *Yami Bakura’s* motive for asking, or something else? If it had, it would have been a card known for messing with its opponents, I’d say, or perhaps just Diabound Kernel (whatever that could have been doing in Pegasus’ deck….Then again, considering the asker, it wouldn’t have to be, exactly…). As for the potential, after all of this blew over, Pegasus really, really got it about the Heart and everything, or so it seems to me. I cite his Final Journey speech as well as his management of Industrial Illusions in the GX era. Despite his role as a villain in this time and place, Pegasus had the potential to become a strong ally and a good person, especially after being defeated by Yugi, who matched his foe’s dark magic with only courage, friendship, and heart and won, and especially after losing the Millennium Eye. The Millennium Eye was not only inherently something of a dark influence, but power corrupts, and I believe that Pegasus was another of those whose thinking Yugi changed by proving decisively that winners play with honor, respect, and above all heart. Moreover, the loss of the Millennium Eye sets the stage for the final battle, just as Shadi says, because it remains with Bakura until he gives it to Kaiba in Spiritual Awakening. Therefore, I can’t really say what that potential card might be, but I have a fair idea of what it would represent: Pegasus’ immediate future is one of turbulence and change (remember he falls out of touch for a while), but after that it has the potential to be quite bright, as the game he put his heart and his life into becomes wildly popular in the next decade or so and he realizes that Yugi’s potential is even mightier and proudly watches it blossom (The Final Journey), knowing he had a hand in its realization. If anyone has a single card in mind, do speak up. Also, I was somewhat skeptical of Bakura’s hasty explanation of the significance of Doma the Angel of Silence, and thought it might mean something else. It’s never seen again in the cartoon, as far as I can recall, so I looked it up in the nearest reference at hand (please don’t laugh…), my game of The Sacred Cards: “The angel of death, this being must never be angered. To earn its wrath is to know death.” The explanation’s brief, but I got a brainwave, especially since this is already very much like tarot. Remember, a couple times Sartorius drew the Reaper of Souls, the closest approximation I could find of which was Death. It’s rarely welcomed, for obvious reasons, but often it can just mean change. With his defeat and loss of the Millennium Eye, this episode is a huge fulcrum of change in Pegasus’ life indeed. I think *that’s* what it meant. Yami Bakura couldn’t know that, because by taking the Eye, he was playing right into Fate’s hands.

Happy Lover has been seen in quite a few places by now, including Tea’s first monster in Capsule Monsters, with the ability to heal the heart with its beam; Belowski’s main monsters; Chazz’ s duel spirit circus; Tea played it in The Gauntlet is Thrown; and now here. It always does seem to symbolize what Yami Bakura mentions here—Tea loves her friends dearly, so it’s fitting for her to wield it. Happy Lover was hanging out in Chazz’s dorm room with the thousand-odd other duel spirits that have attached to him, and I’m reminded of the quote: “*And* I don’t want any friends! *Or* any roommates! Or-- *pets!* Or—or whatever you guys are!” (Ojama Yellow:) “In that case, just call us family!” (Sibling Rivalry) Belowski’s duel spirits are also quite a family to him; come to think of it, that’s something he and *Chazz* have in common. I’d never thought of it as representing Pegasus, though. He’s really a softie at heart.

If they *did* have a shadow game, why did Shadi think the Eye had been stolen? Then again, it wasn’t exactly a *fair* shadow game, since Yami Bakura took pains to *just happen* to show up when Pegasus was weak. Then again, I can think of plenty of other shadow games, then, that by those rules would be deemed “illegal” since one player was at a distinct disadvantage going into it and was challenged for that reason. Then again, did Pegasus ever actually say he accepted Yami Bakura’s challenge? If he never accepted, then I can understand what makes it illegal. I’ll check…Yes, actually. That’s interesting. Yami Bakura may have been reading those cards to goad him into it, as it were. (Yami Bakura) “Who would have thought that you even *had* a heart, let alone one so easily broken!” (Pegasus) “Quiet! Let’s just play the game!” I think it’s very safe to say that Yami Bakura touched a nerve there. It happens to be a bit of a specialty of his: “*I* know why you *hate* me: because when you get right down to it, you and I are more alike than you would care to admit, isn’t that right, *Pharaoh*?…We’re both five-thousand-year-old spirits, aren’t we? Each one inhabiting the body of an *innocent* civilian…” (Spiritual Awakening)

Looks an awful lot like the Kal’elna of Akhnadon’s memory. Coincidence? Ha! That’s a good one!

“Once this sacred place is discovered, the only way to leave is to be chosen.”Huh. What about dying? Can you die in there and not be chosen? For some reason it occurred to me. Or getting shadow-realmmed, more likely. I was thinking about all those other guys who were making the Millennium Items with Akhnadon, and how they all got ‘realmmed and only the one of them who was chosen, namely Akhnadon, escaped.

Hey! The Ring is in the Millennium Stone! And it’s…there at all! I’m remembering when, in the Ancient Past, Bakura placed the Millennium Ring in the Stone and a shadow of Zorc came out, and in the Kal’elna flashback the Ring was the only Item left in the Stone and a shadow of Zorc came out, and so I was kinda under the impression that Ring + Stone = trouble. It was just sitting there, gleaming. Everything was fine. And Capsule Monsters is yet again proven somewhat dumb and uncanon, unless the Millennium Ring just happened to drift back to the Millennium Stone and then end up in a local marketplace in the near future. Then again, it would have plenty of time, and if Shadi got a premonition to place it there, he wouldn’t hesitate. Come to think of it, Duel Monsters must have been around for a good while yet. It was one of Seto’s hobbies when he was twelve, if not before, making the game at least six years old. It’s old enough that virtual technology is being designed specifically for it shortly before Duelist Kingdom. In their younger days (maybe even in Dr. Moto’s time?), Grandpa and Hawkins were duel fans, leading to their discoveries.

Why the vision of Cecelia? Well, for one, as I always like to say, Millennium Items serve destiny first and their wielders second; Pegasus’ seeing that is what really got all of this rolling, because he became determined to be reunited with her. For another, considering how far he was willing to go, his internal longing and emotions may have just been strong enough to will the Millennium Eye into showing him the vision. That is to say, I doubt if there was anything he wanted to see right then, and it may have just been the Millennium Eye’s being wielded.
Perhaps, incidentally, the “destiny first” rule also is why the mental defenses of the Millennium Puzzle are so very powerful and dangerous.

So… Pegasus wanted Kaiba’s holographic equipment to combine with Millennium Items and resurrect Cecelia. What did he need? Did Kaiba already have it built? If not, then how, pray, was he supposed to get anywhere by having Kaiba assassinated? Perhaps Pegasus thought that someone *else* at KaibaCorp had invented the holographic technology…? Nah, he couldn’t be *that* thick, especially considering the flashbacks of One Step Ahead (in KCGC—Kaiba vs. Zigfried). Why not go for Zigfried instead, when both had come up with essentially the same thing (Kaiba was just quicker off the mark)? Pegasus later mentioned that he had plans for Kaiba’s techinical prowess (The Scars of Defeat), so at that point he’d changed his mind, apparently, about killing him. It’s all very confusing, but okay. How on Earth did he intend to get Kaiba to cooperate, to invent what he needed for him? Well, considering that he already had the best hostage on the face of the Earth with which to manipulate Kaiba, it’s not hard to guess. Why did he not just make a friendly deal with Kaiba…? If he has the cash to buy an island, fund a tournament, and offer three million dollars as the prize, he has enough to cut a deal with KaibaCorp and *ask* for what he needs. It wouldn’t be very Pegasus, but it would be a heck of a lot less dependent on the vulnerability and amateurity of the two best duelists on the planet. I have to wonder if Pegasus lacked the funds to both do a deal with KaibaCorp *and* throw a tournament, and if he had to somehow find a plan that would allow him to acquire both Millennium Items and holographic technology simultaneously.
Remember, about five weeks passed between the duel in The Heart of the Cards and the tournament’s announcement. Pegasus heard of Kaiba’s defeat almost as soon as it happened. He had met Kaiba before on plenty of occasions; flashbacks to two (the unveiling of the original holographic technology, in One Step Ahead, and the Intercontinental Championships, in The Scars of Defeat) are canon, and logic suggests that, considering Kaiba made technology specifically for use with Pegasus’ game and would have needed some sort of deal for that, and considering that he was specifically invited as a guest of honor (if only for that all-too-casual conversation—was Pegasus seeking a way to get the holographic technology even then?), Pegasus knew Kaiba fairly well. With the Millennium Eye and his own perceptiveness, Pegasus would have known that Kaiba would stop at nothing to get a rematch with Yugi. He sent Kaiba an invitation, remember, to Duelist Kingdom, sure that a rematch with Yugi would be enough to lure him to Duelist Kingdom and not counting on Kaiba’s sudden, Puzzle-induced openmindedness and confusion. As for luring Yugi…that part went off without a hitch. So Kaiba left KaibaCorp some time before the tournament began, and Pegasus hatched a new plan: possibly the takeover plan was just an excuse to get the Big Five (and their handy bunches of thugs) on his side, because the Millennium Eye would have shown him all he needed to know about what we learn in Noah’s Virtual World. With them in his corner, rather than neutral, he could kidnap Mokuba with no fuss whatsoever and discover Kaiba’s exact whereabouts. Perhaps he even meant for Kaiba to escape capture and/or assassins, though how on Earth would he have predicted that Kaiba would *just happen* to leave his deck lying on the desk? If Kaiba *had* been captured, perhaps this would have come to an earlier, but similar, finish. When Kaiba escaped, the Big Five had goons after him, another handy reason to have them on Team Pegasus. Kaiba kept eluding capture, but Pegasus had accomplished his aim in getting Kaiba to Duelist Kingdom, and there were ways and ways to get the rest of this done and…persuade… Kaiba to help him without payment. I have to wonder how it would have worked if Kaiba *had* come as a competitor; would some eliminators have ambushed him one night or something? As for Yugi, things went a bit more as planned, though I get the sense that when Pegasus realized how much Yugi cared about Kaiba and Mokuba, he decided to use it to his advantage and time things and plan things so their souls were added to the stakes. Why he so badly wanted Yugi to hit him with absolutely everything he had… well, maybe it’s just more fun that way. He would have ended up with the Millennium Puzzle, his own tailor-made virtual technology, and few the wiser.

Virtual technology + Millennium Items? It’s just wacky enough to work!

A disturbance in the mystic alignment. Huh. Either it’s bad-continuity madness and Shadi came because Pegasus was the chosen one and he was supposed to have it (which, incidentally, Yami Bakura was, because it has an important part to play later on), or more likely the Items misinformed Shadi because he and Yugi needed to cross paths, and it’s Return of the “Destiny First” Rule.

The Millennium Items’ power was trapped within them by a brave and powerful Pharaoh, Shadi said. We all know who that is, but it’s so hard to say with all the weirdness in continuity whether a couple details went awry in the retelling, whether they changed the past when they went there in Dawn of the Duel (But…but… it was the past, so it had already happened that way. No it hadn’t, because they hadn’t made it that way yet; they’ll make it that way later. But… but…) so therefore “Long ago when the pyramids were still young…” and so forth is no longer true, or whether both “Long ago…” *and* what we witnessed firsthand were true. According to “Long ago…”, Atem “locked the magic away” within the Millennium Items. We never saw that, but it’s possible that we just never saw it even though it happened. Perhaps just taking down Zorc did that also. Here’s another crazy theory, though: when Mahad first became a royal guardian and began to wield the Millennium Ring, being the capable sorcerer that he is, he noticed that its magic was of a dark and gruesome nature, realized how it had been created. (This was revealed in Village of Vengeance I) Nobody else, and I mean nobody in five thousand years that we heard speak of them afterward, ever mentioned something like that. Sure, the Items are powerful, sure, they send folks to the Shadow Realm, sure, everyone and his evil alter-ego seems to want to get their hands on one, or two, or as many as possible. But no one has mentioned, even those who live within them, even those who can tap into their magic most deeply, an ability to tell at all how they were made. What if, somehow, the Items had been sort of “leaking” magic, allowing this sort of insight, and the events of the Ancient Past somehow trapped that magic within them so it would not act without at least its bearer’s knowledge. The Items still have a mind of their own, but it’s a bit more confined. This explains how the Items sometimes behaved differently in the Past, such as Millennium Stone + Ring = trouble (mentioned above), and why nobody since the Past has noticed the Items’ taint of bloodshed. It’s also possible that Mahad was just a really really powerful sorcerer and knew how to read things like that, and if anyone in the present knew anything whatsoever about real sorcery (which they don’t) they would be able to feel it, too. I also have a wacky theory that the Pharaoh who accomplished this *particular* feat was not Atem but his successor, that is to say Seto, and they just kinda ended up muddling the time period some, and didn’t realize that saving the world from the return of the Shadow Games and locking the magic of the Millennium Items into the Items themselves were two separate feats. Or maybe it’s just anti-continuity gone psycho.

I noticed that Shadi rarely speaks aloud in his episode, and he thinks a LOT. I somehow likened him to an archaeologist, exploring an ancient and dangerous labyrinth (like Dr. Moto, a bit). It occurs to me that his observations are those of an outsider with a lot of familiarity, and there were many things he thought that made little sense to us if we didn’t already know.

Shadi paraphrases the prologue in telling Yugi about the tablets, and I can hear a bunch of people five or so years ago going, “*Oh!*”

Dark Magician’s nemesis, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. What was it doing in the same Puzzle as its ancient foe? On second thought, we all know by now, *right*? Why were they considered nemeses if in the Past their masters were the loyalest of friends…when in their right minds? More twisty continuity on parade as I ask why Atem and Seto were remembered as rivals when the entire time we saw it they showed no competitiveness or anything other than complete and unswerving loyalty to one another?

Kind of a funny poem I wrote the other day during English class. I’m not really sure why I started trying to think up rhymes for “Kuriboh,” but there ya go. Maybe, between Match of the Millennium V and new GX, I kind of had Kuribohs on the brain. Anyway, here it is, with a rhyme pattern of my own invention.
I also wrote this one during a boring movie in history (the ’fifties were all about conformity! We get it already!); it had been a while since I’d written a sonnet or two, and the first thing I thought of was how excited I was about the last tournament.