Predictions and Observations:
Spiritual Awakening

I think that Yami Bakura’s purpose with the alleyway scene was to plant certain ideas and jab certain insecurities and doubts. For one, we learn that Yugi’s mission is also to unite the Millennium Items, like he said, which was never really said before. Yami Bakura’s mission is to unite them also, and Yami Bakura points out that their missions are very similar. So it really highlights a question of what exactly will happen when all seven Millennium Items are wielded by one person? What power has Yami Bakura been seeking, and what aim is Yugi now attempting to achieve? Yami Bakura states that when the seven Items are placed in the Millennium Stone where they were before, a gateway to the Spirit World will open. Now I believe that this is Yami Bakura’s aim with Yugi, to say that the gateway to the Spirit World will open; Yami Bakura never says what this entails though, he only convinces Yugi to open the gateway by asking, “Don’t you want to help your friend?” This convinces Yugi at once. This is also when Yami steps in. Yami Bakura had planned apparently to make his point with Yugi and also play on his inner conflicts, hopes, and fears, and that in turn provokes Yami and gets Yami Bakura a chat with him, seeing how protective Yami is of Yugi. *Then,* Yami Bakura takes an even more obvious and nasty jab at Yami’s fears and doubts. This reminds me of the same tactics Rafael and later Dartz used, tactics that did quite a bit of damage. Yami doesn’t know anything about his past; he doesn’t know how he came to be where he is, or what person he used to be, or even whether he was evil and almost destroyed the world. Nothing, and that is his main insecurity. I notice in this episode that Yami Bakura quickly and easily upsets, worries, frightens, enrages, and/or causes doubt in Yugi, Yami, and Kaiba, the main duelists and no doubt centers of the coming conflict:
for Yugi, he plays on the conflict that is the wish to help Yami against the not wanting to lose his friend forever, both of which are mentioned in Yugi’s dream earlier also. Yami Bakura specifically says or implies to Yugi that fulfillment of his mission will result in Yami’s going away, which will be for the best.
Yami, Yami Bakura upsets in several ways: first of all, he messes with Yugi’s head and upsets him. Second, he says that he and Yami are alike, which Yami reacts pretty strongly to, because, like I said, the implication that Yami might be evil. He also jibes that they are “Each one inhabiting the body of an innocent civilian,” which I suspect is aimed at Yami’s guilt at bringing Yugi into these conflicts and how many times Yugi’s almost been destroyed. And the most blatant, Yami Bakura taunts at Yami’s lack of knowledge about his past, which as we all know is a major issue. And Yami Bakura tells Yami that he knows about Yami’s past, therefore making it seem more likely that what Yami Bakura hints at is (or rather, was) true.
Next, Kaiba: Don’t even get me started. Too late. Anyone can make Kaiba angry, but any Yu-Gi-Oh! villain worth worrying about, I often say, knows how to get under Kaiba’s skin. Let me list the ways, and do let me know if I leave one out:
-MESS WITH MOKUBA- the big one.
-Remind him of the events of Duelist Kingdom
-Toy with and manipulate Kaiba (Pegasus, anyone?)
-Beat Kaiba in a duel
-Confront Kaiba with something that he doesn’t understand
And of course, no one does this like Pegasus does (notice he does all but one of the above and makes the remaining one true) which is why Kaiba loathes him so, but Yami Bakura comes pretty close in Shadow-Realmming (he says; he may be lying) Mokuba, giving Kaiba the Millennium Eye and reminding him of when he last saw it, manipulating Kaiba by forcing him into a duel, defeating Kaiba in said duel, and of course making Kaiba see visions again which is something he doesn’t understand. Kaiba is only slightly rattled, because Yami Bakura doesn’t mean him to be completely shaken, only slightly, irksomely doubtful, like the subtle jibes he used against Yugi and Yami. But I’m not done rattling on about how Yami Bakura got to Kaiba, because it gets worse: if Mokuba is indeed Shadow-Realmmed, rather than simply knocked out, then to set him free Kaiba may have to attempt to *use* the Millennium Eye. I’m not saying he’ll be in danger, after all he can read Ra’s card, but attempting to wield the Millennium Eye, rather than just hanging onto it, would be, I believe I’m right in saying, an emotionally painful experience. I doubt Kaiba would have to give up an eye for it, he can probably just hold it, but it would be taxing for Kaiba to attempt to use the Millennium Eye on Mokuba again. Or else Yami Bakura just manipulated Kaiba into showing in Egypt to track down Yami Bakura and demand Mokuba’s return.
So *what* is the purpose of these phases of Yami Bakura’s plan? I conclude, to make the two/three (depending on point of view) main people in the conflict of the shadow games antsy about the Ancient Past.

Why did Yami Bakura not take the Millennium Items away from Yugi then and there? We already know his goal: “I am a thief, and a stealer of souls, and I have done terrible things in my quest to possess the seven Millennium Items. You *do* remember the legends, don’t you? Whosoever wields all seven Millennium Items, will possess power unimaginable!” (quoted from Evil Spirit of the Ring) So why does he let Yugi keep the Millennium Necklace and Rod? Why does he give the Millennium Eye to Kaiba? I feel so much right now like rounding up all the relevant quotes foreshadowing, and information I know pertaining to this, but I’ll spare the length of this thing. I wanted though to touch on the things we learn by knowing what Yami Bakura revealed to us in this episode:
He seeks to possess all seven Millennium Items, this we know, but then what is he planning that he gives three of the seven to Yugi and Kaiba? Is there any truth to what he told Yugi about the Millennium Stone, and if so what isn’t he telling Yugi? What does Yami Bakura stand to gain by opening the Spirit World or whatever else happens when the Items are placed in the Stone or brought together? How will opening the Spirit World or placing the Items in the Stone give Yami Bakura great power, especially if it’s Yugi who’s placing them *for* Yami Bakura? I mean, I could understand it if Yami Bakura alone wanted to get all seven and place them in the Stone himself, but he’s convincing Yugi to try and do this ritual as well, making me think that there’s something or someone in the Spirit World that will help Yami Bakura considerably no matter who releases it/them. Either that, or he has a fail-safe plan to intercept Yugi should Yugi try it, and create tension by telling Yugi a skewed truth that Yami knows something to refute or simply doesn’t trust? Yami Bakura strategically gets Yugi into the mindset that doing this is the right thing to do and we know that he really wants to help Yami so if it’s just a matter of not trusting Yami Bakura, Yugi will probably try it anyway. Therefore, conflict and doubt.

I would like to observe that this is Kaiba’s first Shadow Game, although it wasn’t really too irregular of one (no missing limbs, no glowy strings from monsters, loser not short one soul…) besides the fact that it was almost normal, which is strange for Shadow Games, except that when Kaiba played Blue-Eyes it showed him a vision of the Ancient Past. This was Yami Bakura’s purpose, it’s clear.

There’s the big question: who is –was—Kisara? No clue about spelling here; Kissara, Chisara (probably more of a Greek spelling than any sort of Egyptian), let’s see, I have a name book here somewhere…Nothing. But another likely spelling is Khisara or Khissara or maybe Khissarah, Chissara, Chissarah, Kissarah, or Kisarah. Phonetically it’s “kih-SAR-uh.” Until further notice, I’ll go with Kisara. Okay, I looked online, googled ‘Kisara,’ found tons of Yu-Gi-Oh! results. A few spoilers, but I took a hit for the team (Ahhh! It burns!). It’s Kisara, and she’s female. Why did ancient sorcerer Kaiba care for her so much, and what happened to her? Who’s ‘he’ in “What has he done to you, Kisara?” Does Kisara have a modern counterpart? At first I was thinking perhaps Mokuba, probably because of the state he’s currently in (unconscious or worse). Now, I sort of doubt it. Don’t know why, maybe it’s the spoilers (My brain!!! It burns!!!!) I glimpsed. The vision definitely showed a powerful bond between ancient Kaiba and this Kisara. I’m sure we’ll find out more…

Will Kaiba go to Egypt? For one, if Mokuba’s indeed Shadow-Realmmed, then yes of course Kaiba will track down Yami Bakura like a force of nature. If it’s just a matter of Kaiba’s choice, I’d say that he’ll resist but it’ll keep bugging him, especially the bit about Blue-Eyes.

Kaiba already knows the symbolism behind Blue-Eyes in this lifetime, but come to think of it not why he originally liked Blue-Eyes. Remember, one thing that made Blue-Eyes his symbol is one night under Gozaburo Seto was being worked ‘til he dropped, then woken and made to keep working. Gozaburo, to teach Seto to trust no one, had ordered all of Seto’s toys confiscated. But unbeknownst to anyone, Mokie had saved Seto’s dueling cards from the purge and slipped them into one of Seto’s textbooks. When Seto discovered them, he found something else, too: a hand-drawn Blue-Eyes from Mokie. And someday, he fantasizes, I’ll have a real Blue-Eyes. That’s one reason why Blue-Eyes White Dragons are sacred to Kaiba; but to think of it, how did Mokie know to give Seto that monster in particular? Because Seto liked Blue-Eyes predating that. Therefore, Seto has always shared a special bond with Blue-Eyes and no one knows why and I just talked myself in a circle.

We saw hints in Battle City, Kaiba’s flashback to Clash in the Coliseum reminded me, that Kaiba is destined to wield the Millennium Rod (the Pharaoh’s Tablet, the fact that the Millennium Rod began acting up during Clash in the Coliseum and also showed Kaiba and Yugi that vision, and I believe it also started acting funny and helping Kaiba during A Duel with Destiny). I wonder when that will happen? Probably very soon considering this adventure is all about the Millennium Items and Ancient Past, or not at all because this is the end (*sob*).

Let’s see, what else? There’s no use asking how Téa managed to pay for three plane tickets to Cairo out of her pocket, that’s sort of a ‘it’s a plot device, deal with it’ thing.

This time around we DO know when they leave (remember how much fun I had postulating times of day based on background and atmosphere during Waking the Dragons?), because the departure board shows the departure time of Yugi’s flight to Cairo.

Come to think of it, there was nothing, when Yami Bakura said that, for Yugi to do *but* pester Yami Bakura for the other Items. Yugi has the Puzzle, Rod, and Necklace, Yami Bakura has the Ring and previously had the Eye, and Shadi has the remaining two, the Key and the Scale (though that Shadi has the Scale is not canon information). So unless wherever I found that is wrong about Shadi’s having the Scale, there is nothing really for Yugi to do but ‘pester’ Yami Bakura for the Millennium Ring, unless you think that Shadi will fight Yugi’s uniting the Millennium Items for a good purpose (or if it’s not good he’ll probably let him know) and Kaiba won’t want to be rid of the Millennium Eye.

May I casually note the detail that on the lights over the elevator door at KaibaCorp we see that KaibaCorp has two basement stories, and twenty stories aboveground not including, of course, the rooftop.

Yami Bakura does not have to state that Kaiba must defeat Yami Bakura in a duel to win Mokuba’s soul back; Kaiba clearly knows the drill by now because he is the one who states that it’s a duel and if he wins Yami Bakura restores Mokuba’s soul. Then again, this has happened to him and to Yugi both quite a few times, so he would know the routine by now. Lol.

Yami Bakura says, and those visions you’ve been having (don’t exist either, do they?), and Kaiba says that it’s that vision again. Depending on how vague or specific these statements are, it’s possible that Kaiba’s been having similar visions about Kisara or his ancient self. On the flip side, it’s also suggested that the last Kaiba remembers “losing his mind,” was when he and Yugi were shown that vision during their duel, refuting this.

Next week is entitled “Memoirs of a Pharaoh.” A memoir, for anyone who doesn’t know, is “n. 1. An account of the personal experiences of an author. 2. An autobiography. Often used in the plural. 3. A biography or biographical sketch. 4. A report, especially on a scientific or scholarly topic. 5. The report of the proceedings of a learned society.” (quoted from dictionary.com) Therefore, it’s a historical account which could be an autobiography, which is a book or report about a person’s life written by the person him/herself, or an account of what happened at the time or a writing detailing why what was happening at the time was happening. Either way, our heroes’ finding of such a rare document from Yami’s time would help greatly and would be almost as good as unlocking Yami’s mind itself! I have a feeling though it’s not going to be as straightforward as that, though…

What urgent business concerned Yami Bakura next? Why did he have to cut his duel with Kaiba short? Possibly he was dragging other important persons into the conflict and making *them* nervous. Perhaps he paid a visit to Joey and Yugi’s other friends, though that’s quite far-fetched, because Joey is a legendary duelist in his own right. I imagine that a few well-placed hints could send Joey, Tristan, and Téa into a tizzy of worries about Yugi, and it was clear that their plans to come with him were last-minute. This would provide a time-constraint and be something else, though unlikely, that Yami Bakura might do. Perhaps instead he himself caught Yugi’s same plane to Cairo. All we know is that he had to leave at sunrise.

That’s all for now! It’s 11 pm here, and I haven’t started my homework. Am I insane? Quite possibly, but this was worth it! Next week’s episode is “Memoirs of a Pharaoh,” but my next post will be regarding GX’s “Tag Team Trial I,” tomorrow afternoon/evening! Sorry this took so long, really I am, it’s so weird that as soon as I have one less episode to guide over the weekend, it takes four times as long! As always, do write back, I love to discuss ideas, let me know if I’ve been unclear or missed something, and until tomorrow, that’s all, folks! -Clio