Predictions and Observations:
Tomb of the Nameless Pharaoh

So we discovered that Yami Bakura seems to be able to exist outside the Millennium Ring, because he chases Bakura.

The Legendary Gambler card- Those who guessed that the Legendary Gambler card depicts a younger Mr. Moto were right. I would also like to say that describing him as a legendary gambler also seems appropriate. He took any number of risks to reach that tomb, and his being there and taking the Millennium Puzzle to eventually give to Yugi was destiny. Therefore his gambles begin what is definitely a legend. Moreover, he takes gambles, but he also makes it through because he knows legends and history, like that puzzle where you had to walk with one foot forward. Even moreover, the tomb itself was legendary in that no one had been able to solve its puzzles yet, like the guides said, and it was impossible. The card’s effect, continuously letting its duelist roll one die against any of his opponent’s dice rolls and roll higher to cancel out the card, doesn’t seem to pertain all that much, but still. Like a lot of cards, you have to wonder how Pegasus came to create it. My theory, and a crazy one it is, too, is that when Mr. (then Dr., what happened?) Moto was leaving for the tomb, wherever he was staying a few people asked, you know, why he was there, what he was doing, and he told them and they thought he’d never make it out alive. Then the next morning he shows up, and everyone asks how on Earth did he do it. And he tells part of the story, like how it was just a game to be won. Now he leaves, and Pegasus, always on the lookout for new cards, it seems, has visited Egypt a few different times, entering tombs and seeing sights of ancient monsters and duels, though he may not be quite sure what he’s seeing. Now I’m sure Pegasus was always curious about a tomb he couldn’t enter because of the fact that no one came out alive, but knew better than to try to get in anyway. Therefore, when he heard the rumors no doubt flying about how some guy got into the tomb and said that it was a game, Pegasus was inspired to create a card, from descriptions, of this legendary gamer, the Legendary Gambler. Of course, it’s only a theory.

What did Grandpa exaggerate? I could imagine Yami’s past self designing a tomb like that, totally, after we’ve seen some of the strange rooms and traps within the inner chambers of the Puzzle. So what was exaggerated? Perhaps Yugi’s grandpa was a bit clumsier than he pretended, almost falling into a few traps before narrowly escaping. The story, though, the main portion of it, seemed to be true. It fits the era of Shadow Games and the way Ancient Yami was, to design the place so only one who both discovered how to play this game and who was pure of heart could find the Millennium Puzzle.

Yugi counts Kaiba among his friends. Rock on. I could go on and on about why that’s so, and it’s a favorite topic of mine, but I won’t. Maybe I should write a post just to go on about all this stuff that I want to go on about but don’t at the moment. If anyone’s interested in reading my rambles about everything, let me know and I will.

So we found out that Yugi has been hanging onto the Millennium Items he’s accumulated, even Bakura’s uncanny Millennium Ring that returned to him when everyone thought it gone for good. We see he has the Millennium Rod, Ring, and Necklace that he obtained from Battle City. So where are the others? Now we can guess. Yugi has the Millennium Puzzle. His bag contains the Millennium Necklace and Rod, Bakura has reclaimed the Ring. Therefore the ones we didn’t see are the Millennium Key that Shadi owns, the Millennium Eye, and the Millennium Scale. Shadi says in Aftermath that someone stole the Millennium Eye, and I think it’s safe to say that it was Yami Bakura. Therefore, the wherabouts of all Millennium Items are known, except, as always, the Millennium Scale. The only thing we know about it was that it was on KaibaCraft 3 when Shadi came to tell Yugi of the Egyptian God cards’ history, because Shadi stated that all seven were onboard. However, we do know more, because Yami Bakura states in Tomb of the Nameless Pharaoh that he only has one, which like I said is the Millennium Eye. So therefore, he doesn’t have the Scale, as I would have guessed before because by the time he reached Duelist Kingdom, he seemed to have been stealing Millennium Items and souls for a while. Therefore, unless someone else who was on KaibaCraft 3 has a weird secret (Téa, Tristan, Joey, Kaiba, Duke, Mai, Serenity…), the Millennium Scale is also owned by Shadi.

Now, what will happen next? That depends. Will Yami Bakura run off with the Millennium Items? Will he run off with the whole bag? Will he challenge Yugi to duel or try to shadow-magic him? What did he do to Weevil and Rex? Wait, I think that’s pretty obvious, never mind. Will someone else show up? Won’t Yugi catch a cold, out in a thunderstorm after midnight in pajamas and bare feet? To answer most of these questions, the properties of the Millennium Items must be considered. This is another long discussion with myself, so feel free to skip it. Firstly, I consider the well-known fact that one must defeat a Millennium Item’s owner in a duel. Now, if this is so, as is stated and shown in Evil Spirit of the Ring, Match of the Millennium, Mime Control, Friends ‘til the End, and so on and so forth. So how could Weevil and Rex have taken them like that from Yugi? They didn’t know what they were taking. Plus, therefore they weren’t seeking to use the Items’ magic. The only solid quote I have on this property is one of Marik’s, in 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!” Therefore, an Item must be won in order to be used. However, this contradicts several situations, like Ishizu’s giving Yugi the Millennium Necklace and Yami Bakura’s stealing the Millennium Eye from Pegasus, and they contradict Yugi’s giving Joey the Millennium Puzzle. The former two worked fine, but Marik states in the quote above that even after Yugi gave Joey the Millennium Puzzle it will not work until he wins. However, Marik could easily have been lying, because Yugi gave the Millennium Puzzle to his friend Joey, not Marik, Joey alone. Therefore, logically, Marik seeks to defeat Yugi so he controls the Puzzle, and that’s why he started the duel, so it’s a matter of the person’s consciousness. Marik is in control, and the Millennium Puzzle will not work for Marik, and if Marik wins, then he will be the one who will have won, not Joey, and will therefore control the Millennium Puzzle. So Joey alone could weild the Millennium Puzzle, because Yugi gave it to him voluntarily, but Marik does not want Joey to know that lest Joey use it against him, so he lies by saying that the Puzzle won’t work at all until he wins, when in reality, Marik wants to continue the duel so that the Millennium Puzzle belongs to him. However, citing the same example, Marik talks about sending his Rare Hunters to take the Puzzle from Yugi after he’s dragged down by the anchor. Therefore, what of that? He didn’t defeat Yugi in the duel and Yugi didn’t give it to him. It seems that Millennium Items whose previous owners are dead or shadow-realmmed (or otherwise permanently incapacitated) are up-for-grabs, as it were. This rule fits for why Yami Bakura tried to take the Millennium Puzzle in Trial By Red-Eyes, thinking Yugi trapped forever within his own deck in the shadow realm, when he knew these properties I’m spelling out. We know, though, that this wasn’t the case when he stole the Millennium Eye from Pegasus. How do we know? If it were a fair claim, Shadi would not have come. Therefore, we know that no duel or anything occurred between Yami Bakura and Pegasus. Pegasus was simply knocked out and Yami Bakura stole the Millennium Eye. So how could he use it? Good question. You’ll notice, no doubt, that he hasn’t been. Perhaps his mission is only to possess all seven, maybe that’s all he needs. This could be refuted by the quote from Evil Spirit of the Ring, “Whosoever wields all seven Millennium Items will possess power unimaginable,” but I have no better guess on this. So, it seems that the properties of ownership and use of Millennium Items are thus:

1.Millennium Items may be freely stolen, but only the Millennium Item’s true wielder may use it. The power of all seven Items together may be unlocked by simple possession rather than true wieldership.
2.For the ability to use a Millennium Item to pass from one person to another, one of three things must happen:
The previous owner must be dead, Shadow-realmmed, or otherwise permanently gone
The Item must be freely and voluntarily given by the current owner
The Item’s current master must be defeated in a duel by the one who seeks to wield it

3.Though unclaimed Millennium Items are technically up-for-grabs, Shadi, the tombs’ traps, and destiny itself keep them from all but their proper owners, or more commonly, those who will lead the Items to their proper owners, such as Yugi’s Grandpa or Bakura’s business-travelling dad, who found the Millennium Ring in his travels.

Therefore, given that, it’s possible that Yami Bakura would take the Items and run, because his mission only requires possession, rather than true ownership. However, from the distance Yugi and Yami Bakura are standing apart, I feel a duel coming on. Have you ever noticed that two people standing a duel-arena’s length apart almost always duel? However, refuting that, Yugi didn’t bring his duel disk. That could be a bit of a problem. And neither did Yami Bakura, come to think of it. Huh. As for whether Yugi will catch a cold, cartoon logic states, no, unless it will advance the plot.

I think Yugi will find his way to that tomb anyway, even though he doesn’t know where it is and Grandpa forbade him to go there. If he must go there, then the mystical ancient magic will lead him. It might be important.

Yugi and Yami DO make an excellent team. This is another of my favorite rambling topics, but I will refrain, if only to ensure that this post is small enough to be posted.

This is the important right-before-leaving scene. In Duelist Kingdom, it was Yugi and Joey’s conversation on the roof. In Waking the Dragons, it was Yugi and Yami’s conversation while Yugi was finishing off packing. Keep a careful eye on the ideas mentioned both in Yugi’s conversation with his grandpa and Yugi’s dream, because they’re going to come into play quite a bit if the pattern holds, and there’s important foreshadowing taking place here. To summarize them:
-That Yugi is the only one who can help Yami to unlock his memories
-That fate meant for Yugi and Yami to meet
-That all challenges should be approached as a game
-The relationship that exists between Yugi and Yami and the excellent team that they make

Watch out for Bakura; if he’s kept the Spirit at bay this long, then don’t count him out of the fight yet! I hope. Unless the Spirit was biding its time until now. But why would it? What’s going on now that wasn’t before?

As always, I’m positive I’m forgetting something, but here are this week’s predictions. Next week: Spiritual Awakening. But my next post will be tomorrow evening—Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: The Shadow Duelist I. Somehow I have a feeling that it’s not Crowler or Chazz who’s the ‘shadow duelist’… -Clio, the great ep-guiding maniac