Predictions and Observations:
Friends 'Til the End I-IV

Friends 'til the End I | Friends 'til the End II |
Friends 'til the End III | Friends 'til the End IV

Friends 'til the End I
Apparently, since Kaiba was planning to go his own way after dropping Yugi off at the pier, he considered giving Yugi a ride there as a fair trade for Tea’s helping Mokuba escape. However, he stayed to watch the duel because he thought Joey might play the Winged Dragon of Ra. HowEVER, he still tried to stop the duel and he still ended up helping out in the end by calling in the helicopter and kicking that rare hunter in the head (rock on!!!!!). This could possibly be because this is his tournament and anyone causing mischief in it is picking a fight with *him* (which would also be the case), but I think that at least somewhat he’s on their side.

Battle City in particular has a flair for the melodramatic…But it’s still a lot of fun.

They spend half the episode explaining the rules. This is about as intricate as it gets, but these Battle City duels are kind of complicated in the stakes as a rule. There’s all the getting shadow-realmmed and winners-escaping-at-the-last-minute and different motives. It’s just an observation; I don’t have a problem with it, and it’s actually kind of fun. That’s another thing I should list sometime: top ten duels with the most intricate stakes. Back to Battle City would be way up there, which was one of the things I liked about it. Let’s see… Where would Classic Paradox (you can’t lose, you can’t win) duels, like Field of Screams II, fall in that? Fighting For a Friend, both of them, might be pretty high up there. And what about Face Off or Match of the Millennium? The latter definitely, because of the whole take-over-KC-duel-holograms-plus-Millennium-Items-equals-resurrect-the-dead scheme. Head in the Clouds, ironically, might also have a spot in this. After all, Gecko had all that pressure put on him by his dad, I guess, and thus by Viper, and just got a whole two-thirds or so of the school into duels so he could take on Chazz without getting himself killed. And then Chazz had that whole jealous thing going. And there are plenty more; whenever rivals start working together (which NEVER happens in Yu-Gi-Oh!), things get complicated because it’s usually for more than one reason.

It should be noted that the reason Marik is able to possess Tea during the Battle City Finals is probably (if not canonly) because he let her go right here. She was probably the easiest person for him to speak through, because he had already taken over her mind once before and hadn’t been forced out (Joey’s mind probably would’ve subconsciously attacked him on sight!).

It was pretty cruel to release Tea right here because now she gets to watch this whole thing unfold. That was probably exactly what Marik intended. No wait, scratch the ‘probably.’

Serenity *did* grow up in Domino. I hadn’t realized. Until six years previously, their whole family lived in Domino, and then Joey stayed and she moved away.

It’s amazing—the cell phone still works. And is that a theme song ringtone?

What was Marik’s plan for Serenity? Dare I ask? Then again, even if Yugi managed to get through to Joey, if by then the rare hunters had Tristan and Serenity, it would have made it that much harder to finish the duel with everyone still alive and not possessed. Not only would all that ends up happening have to have happened, but in addition Mai and Duke wouldn’t be there, so it would basically be up to Kaiba (and Mokuba) to not only remove the threat of Tea getting squished (which does happen), but also keep Tristan and Serenity safe. If not, Marik would have easily been able to coerce Joey even if he couldn’t control him; Joey wouldn’t risk Serenity’s safety for anything, and it would have been one nasty dilemma to have to choose between Serenity and Yugi.

“So he *is* getting helped…” Of course, Kaiba! You really think Joey’s doing all this of his own free will? However much of an amateur he is or isn’t, even you can’t deny that he’s not the type to be bullied into much. Every single time he’s ever challenged Kaiba comes specifically to mind when I say that: “Yeah, that’s right, tough guy! I bet ever since Yugi mopped the floor with ya, you can’t even play a trap card without flinchin’!” (The Scars of Defeat) “You may’ve beaten me in *this* duel, and you may even beat me in the *next* duel, too. But I’m gonna keep comin’ back until I *win*, Kaiba; that’s ‘cause Joey Wheeler never gives up!” (Battle for the Bronze III)

Friends 'til the End II
“Since the day I first put together the Millennium Puzzle, you’ve given me hope, courage, and confidence. You’ve even helped me to make new friends. But I can’t go through my life depending on you. I need to know that even without the Millennium Puzzle hanging around my neck, I can still be brave and help out my friends. I guess what I’m saying is—sometimes I need to prove to myself that I can be *like* you without you. You know?” I really got the sense in this episode that this duel is foreshadowing the Final Duel more than any other I can think of.

Yugi doesn’t just shake Joey free of Marik’s control in this duel, he also shakes Marik up plenty. As they say, “psychology is half the game”.

Friends 'til the End III
“The Puzzle must be won in a duel in order to use its magic, so until we win this duel, it’s useless to me!” For the record, that very quote is the basis for most of my theoretical laws of possession regarding Millennium Items. Marik seems to know well the conditions under which he can take possession of and use the Millennium Puzzle. Since it’s been awhile, here they are:
1. Ownership and wieldership are very different. Ownership is simple possession of a Millennium Item; wieldership is the state of being the rightful owner of a Millennium Item and therefore having the ability to use it.
2. A Millennium Item may change wieldership if the old wielder of the Millennium Item loses a fair duel to the new wielder.
3. A Millennium Item may change wieldership if the old wielder freely gives the Millennium Item to the new wielder.
4. A Millennium Item may be stolen, but this only changes ownership, and the new owner cannot use the stolen Millennium Item’s power.
5. If the wielder of a Millennium Item is mind-controlled, the Millennium Item will not work for the controller, only for the wielder him- or herself.
6. A Millennium Item may become up-for-grabs if its wielder is killed or shadow-realmmed permanently. The Items, Shadi, and destiny itself guide the up-for-grabs Item to its new wielder.
7. Placing the Millennium Items in the Millennium Stone in order to open the gateway to the Spirit World requires only possession, not wieldership.
8. Millennium Items serve destiny first and their wielders second. Even true wieldership does not guarantee that one completely controls an Item, nor do Items only work when wielded.
Number 2 is pretty straightforward, spelled out in the quote above. Number 3 is exemplified here and when Ishizu gives Yugi the Millennium Necklace. Number 4 explains why Marik does not simply steal the Puzzle. Number 5 is solely exemplified by this duel, and explains why, even though Number 3 would apply to Joey, it would not apply to Marik. Number 6 explains how Marik gets the Millennium Puzzle if Yugi gets pulled down by the anchor. Number 7 is the only possible explanation for how Bakura was able to summon Zorc. Number 8 is a bit confusing, but I’m referring to how the Necklace caused Ishizu to lose in the first round of the Battle City Finals, and how the Millennium Eye (even though Bakura stole it from Pegasus and gave it to Kaiba, so therefore by rule 4, Kaiba didn’t wield it) showed Kaiba a vision of the Ancient Past in The Intruder II.

Why did Marik try to make Joey throw the Millennium Puzzle away? I have a feeling that he was trying to show that Yugi wasn’t getting anywhere with Joey, but you’d think that after Joey grabbed Card Destruction instead of Red-Eyes Marik would’ve known not to push it like that. Then again, knowing Marik, I guess he’d be more focused on proving that he still had power and that Yugi was wrong about Joey breaking free. That was his downfall; he only succeeded in rattling Joey further loose and proving Yugi’s point.

This seems like a good time for a word about the Duke, Tristan, and Serenity triangle. I’m always a bit in conflict about it, because Tristan tries so hard and it means so much to him that, like Chazz’s futile attempts to attract Alexis’ attention, you almost just want him to succeed in the end. However, on the other hand, we’ve seen throughout Battle City, and I’m referring particularly to the Mechanical Mayhem duel and other situations in Virtual World, that when protecting Serenity, Tristan tends to do the ridiculously brave and often dumb thing (taking on three rare hunters in a fistfight, jumping onto the Mad Sword Beast and steering it into the lake, defending her with his deck master), while Duke tends to be more careful and do what actually gets her out of danger (catching a ride with Mai, pulling Serenity out of the way of the Mad Sword Beast, challenging Nesbitt to duel all three of them). Tristan strives to impress her and take care of her while Duke tells her the truth and teams up with her. Joey’s opinion aside (that would be amusing…), I think that if Duke is serious about Serenity, they’d make a pretty good couple. I’m not entirely sure he is, though; he tends to charm all the girls, and he has an awful lot of fun teasing Joey and Tristan about it.

“Watch it! Cross on the green, not inbetween!” It’s one of those lines that’s a landmark; there are several different flashbacks to this car ride. Apparently after the scene cut off there, Duke was about to lead Serenity on across the street, and Mai recognized her name. And then, there’s the memory-software version, in which the same scene is played out, except Tristan is a robot monkey throughout (and still goes and takes on the rare hunters) and Joey is sitting in the passenger seat when Mai almost runs into Duke and Serenity. Which, come to think of it, how would that have been his memory to remember?

This was the way I first learned anything about Duelist Kingdom. Crazy, huh?

“If anyone can save Joey, Yugi can.” This is an example of the respect and esteem Mai has for Yugi after Duelist Kingdom.

Win Mr. Stein’s Duel I is the next new GX, next Saturday the 14th. I’m trying to think if we know any characters that might be called “Mr. Stein”, and I’m coming up blank. It seems to be another game show pun, so I wonder if Bob Banter is putting in a return cameo? Or maybe (please, no…) “Mr. Stein” is Eisenstein? Or Frankenstein? I guess we’ll find out. As for who’s dueling “Mr. Stein”, well, the pool of opponents is pretty limited unless some more people wake up soon.
Speaking of which, I just noticed that the spacing of episodes has changed. It used to be that most episodes could begin, “One day at Duel Academy…”, but these past several episodes have followed a more original-ish pattern, following each other in almost immediate succession, as is proven by Adrian Gecko’s all-important line (say it with me): “It’s day four, and duelists are collapsing left and right…”

And the next original Yu-Gi-Oh! rerun is, of course, Friends ‘Til the End IV! That’s all for now! -Clio

Friends 'til the End IV
I’d wanted to mention (and this seems as good a time as any) that most duelists seem to have acquired the skill of throwing cards. It makes sense; they take their decks everywhere they go, so they’d have plenty of time to learn, and it would be a useful talent. Mai used thrown harpies as weapons in An Unexpected Enemy, as did Kaiba right here. As long as a duelist can throw cards like that, be it a shadow game or a fistfight, all he or she would need to defend him- or herself would be a dueling deck.

The most important thing I wanted to talk about is when Yugi actually goads Marik into taking over Joey’s mind with everything he’s got and playing Meteor. First of all, Yugi delivers a fairly impressive monologue, calling Marik a coward and saying that no matter what happens next, Marik’s lost Joey, so he’s lost the duel, because without Joey he’s not even in it. At this point Joey was still struggling to hold Marik off, and it seems clear that Yugi’s words angered Marik into pouring all of his strength into subduing Joey, even to the point that he’d thought he’d erased Joey’s mind (or something: “Joey Wheeler no longer exists!”). Why would Yugi take such a risk, especially when Joey had almost regained control? I’ve decided, faith. Yugi saw Joey slowly win back control of his mind from Marik, and trusted that Joey could beat Marik in this, so he goaded Marik into pouring all of his strength into it, so when Joey did seize back control, Marik didn’t just lose his grip, he went flying (metaphorically). Another theory I have (at the same time) is that Yugi has made up his mind about this, and if he isn’t attacked, they’ll both be sunk. He knew that if this went back and forth much longer, or if Joey regained control at that point, there was no way he would be attacked (because Marik was too busy trying to keep control of Joey, and if Joey got control, he would never have attacked Yugi at that point no matter what Yugi said or did), thus having the timer run out without a winner and without a prayer for either of them. It’s impossible to say whether Yugi realized that Meteor’s other effect would give Joey a chance to save both of them, and it’s a moot point, because Yugi would’ve done the same thing either way. Evidence that he didn’t notice might be that Refpanel gave them a chance to talk, and Yugi could have told Joey about that if he’d known, if he’d wanted to, and that would’ve worked out a bit smoother for everyone. And why wouldn’t he have wanted to? It’s also worth noting that Joey and Kaiba both realized right away what Yugi was trying to do when he started shouting at Marik.

It occurs to me that we do have a way of determining the number of duelists who participate in a given tournament. This is easier in Battle City than Duelist Kingdom, but… anyway, each duelist in Battle City starts with one locator card, and in order to get to the Finals, they need six. Since the tournament officials are expecting eight finalists, no more and no less, there can be no less than 48 locator cards (six times eight) and no more that 53 locator cards (plus five, not six, because a ninth finalist is not a possibility) in Battle City. Therefore, approximately fifty duelists in Battle City. In Duelist Kingdom it gets trickier, for one simple reason: eliminators. How many stars do they start out with, to be able to match any duelist’s bet and eliminate them? They create a massive margin for error. Then there are the stars dropped in the water, the ones given to Kaiba, and other mischief with the numbers. To begin with, there are no less than twenty duelists at Duelist Kingdom, because that makes forty star chips, the absolute minimum to allow the four finalists and expect no more. How many, I wonder, were there originally supposed to be? After all, the five dropped into the water in Everything’s Relative would have been another half-a-finalist, and I doubt that was the only such incident. How did Pegasus and his cohorts keep track of how many finalists they were expecting? By the way, fun fact worth noting is that, misplaced and lost ones included, Yugi won a total of seventeen stars before he entered the castle. Would the five chips Kaiba got, had Pegasus not given them to him, been part of the tournament, and did they cut out a finalist by giving the stars to Kaiba? Isn’t this fun?

“Tristan and Mai brought me here.” What about Duke? Before, I’d been telling myself that she was just saying the people she was most familiar with, but keep in mind that she actually just *met* Mai!

Marik made the keys different after Yugi was able to save Arkana in Master of Magicians III. He wouldn’t let that happen again.