Predictions and Observations:
Makings of a Magician

The name of the bird Mana called, Anzu. I wonder if it’s just coincidence that it’s named after Téa’s Japanese self. Probably is, though, if you wonder what it would be in Japanese. I mean, we know that the name “Anzu” is connected with Téa, but this show was made in Japanese probably before anyone in Japan knew that the U.S.A Anzu was named Téa, so if the bird had to be named so as to have a connection to Anzu, what would it have been?

Wouldn’t writing smiley-faces on all of the doors be detrimental to Yami’s health? I mean, not every heart is capable of getting graffitied, but still. Then again, the Puzzle is only a *reflection* of Yami’s heart, so I guess it’s okay.

I hate to say I told you so, but I was right- Mahad *is* connected with the Dark Magician! Yay!

So, if Mahad’s sealed, where’s Bakura? To me it seemed that if anyone won it was Mahad, who overpowered Diabound’s attack right at the end there. So if Mahad’s the one who got sealed, then it must have been some sort of draw. How Bakura will get out of that cave, I need not debate; the fact is that he’s still at large. Perhaps if they had brought two tablets, both would have been sealed, but in this something picked one, and it was Mahad. Perhaps it was because Bakura had the Millennium Ring?

What was Yami Bakura doing in the Millennium Puzzle? I thought the part of his spirit that was there left. Perhaps some trace of it, some evidence that it was there, remained. This also brings up a matter of symbolism: if the Puzzle reflects Yami’s heart, and Bakura was lurking in there, what does that mean? Could this be what Yami Bakura meant when he told Yami in Spiritual Awakening, “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?” This got a pretty immediate reaction, so at first I thought it was just for that, but could this be part of that? Or maybe this shows, as Shadi said, Yami’s destined, true foe, and some small part of knowing this or understanding Bakura resides in Yami’s heart.

Why did they hear Yami right away? Why was he calling out to Yugi just then? It may be simply that it’s so strange to be apart that his spirit is still wondering where Yugi went, and therefore calls out for him. Or it could have something to do with the bizarre theory about Yugi, Mahad, and the Dark Magician spelled out below. Perhaps it had to do with his emotions; I’d certainly want my closest friend at my side in the face of such a sad occurrence. Also Shadi seems to have been waiting to tell them what to do, perhaps until such an emotion was present and they would be able to find Yami with it. Revealing this plan sooner would have only made Joey in particular lose patience with it and they wouldn’t try it when it mattered.

So each Sacred Court guardian has his or her own tablet sanctuary, as I thought from the six separate pyramids glowing when they summoned their monsters back in their duel against Bakura. Yami and Mana name the tablet sanctuary that they’re in as Mahad’s in particular.

Wonder how long Diabound will retain the power to move through walls? Nasty. Maybe it won’t be so hard for Bakura to escape the cave…

Mahad summoned Shadow Ghoul and Dark Magician (okay, technically it wasn’t the Dark Magician *yet*…). Coincidence that he also summoned one of Hawkins’ signature monsters, the one used in the flashback duel in The Ties of Friendship? I think not.

I think that the creature Bakura became in the Millennium Puzzle, that attacked Yugi and the gang, was Diabound at full strength. The snake seems to have become more of a dragon. It actually sort of looked like a cross between Red-Eyes and Curse of Dragon.

So what now? I have some hunch that Mana will grow stronger. Remember she reminds me of Dark Magician Girl? What happens to Dark Magician Girl when Dark Magician is destroyed? I sense parallels! Why was Mana inclined to come to Mahad’s tablet sanctuary to help him? She had no idea what she could do, only that Mahad was in trouble and she should go there. Perhaps it’s because if my theory is right, her heart contains a monster that was made to stand beside the Dark Magician.

I need not start complaining that we still know nothing of Kaiba, Kisara, Mokuba, Ishizu, Marik, Odion, or good Bakura. The suspense is killing me!

“It’s time to duel,” just “Duel!,” “Get your game on,” “Let’s throw down (or up, lol…),” “Díahä (DEE-uh-hah; could also be anything: Dïa-ha, Dia-ha, Día-ha, etc. If anyone reads the comic, maybe you could help me out with spellings? Please?),” it’s all part of the same thing…

Okay, so I have this insane theory: Seeing Mahad in place of the Dark Magician (or rather, *becoming* the Dark Magician) and hearing him call his own ‘Dark Magic Attack!’ reminded me of the only other person we’ve seen dressed as the Dark Magician and who once called out his own attack (against the Electric Lizard, after Joey’s classic, ‘There’s two Yugis: the cool one up there, and the *puny* one down here!’), Yugi. Yugi is arriving just as Mahad left. Shadi even seems to have been waiting for something like this to occur. Therefore, why? To me it seems that there are parallels between Mahad and Yugi. As soon as one left, the other is about to take his place. Or something like that.

As something of a linguist, I have to note the similarities between the word for duel disk, diä-diäkh, and the word that paraphrased means it’s time to duel, díahä. I believe that the word root, día or diä, is therefore synonymous with ‘duel.’ Come to think of it, Diabound itself shares that same sort of root. Or perhaps “díahä” means duel as a noun, like when modern duelists shout a simple, “Duel!” or as an interjection such as, translated precisely, “duel we” (‘we duel,’ but if dia means duel it would be literally ‘duel we’) or “duel on”, and the verb itself ‘to duel’ is “día” or “diä.”

I realized something: back in Ancient Egypt, duels were no laughing matter. That sounded so obvious, but hear me (or read me rather) out. In the time period of GX and where Yugi and the others spend most of their time, the truly great duelists are those who enjoy it despite the pressure, right? But in the Ancient Past, if you enjoy duels then you must be evil to a certain extent to have fun when the monsters are real, and every move destroys something or someone forever. Could that be what everyone who says that Yami was evil means?

Mahad vs. Bakura actually reminded me of Joey vs. Yami Marik in Battle City, in that the monsters are tied to duelists’ energy and if the monster is destroyed or diminished, the duelist’s own strength is drained. Come to think of it, another duel shared that same trait, only a bit worse: Yugi vs. Pegasus, back in Duelist Kingdom. Yugi had no experience dueling in the Shadow Realm, and didn’t have the endurance to last, like Yami or Pegasus did, especially not when Pegasus overloaded this rule of monsters’ being supported through the duelist’s vitality and attacked one of Yugi’s monsters with another of his own monsters. But I’m digressing; my point is that these three Shadow Games were even more a battle of endurance and determination than downright skill. I also notice that Mahad was on his knees shaking when Bakura was just a little short of breath. I think that the world has a new most-powerful-sorcerer…

I think I’ve figured out why Yu-Gi-Oh! is so much more complex and there’s so much more to write about. It has magic in it, whereas GX is founded more in the present, and technology. This may not seem like such a big difference, but it really is, because more is open to interpretation and symbolism. My rant on the properties of Millennium Items comes readily to mind. It came to me when the gang was finding Bakura in the Millennium Puzzle and it occurred to me why that may be. We wouldn’t find such a thing in GX, or at least not yet. I also wanted to note on this front that we shouldn’t count GX out yet, because Duelist Kingdom was similar. There wasn’t much back story to build on, and I know firsthand how much that counts. We know a lot more about the characters in Yu-Gi-Oh!, a lot more about the world, so they can build on that. In GX, we could list all of what we know and it would still fit in one post. It’ll get better, I predict, when there’s enough back-story, introduction, and information to really do something with it. I sure hope so.

Next week’s episode is: (survey says…) Birth of the Blue-Eyes! I think that we’re about to get our answers about what’s going on in the Kaiba plot! Is Mokuba really Shadow-Realmmed (or to use the Sacred court’s term, Sealed)?? What happens to Kaiba once he gets to Egypt? Did he bring the Millennium Eye? Does *he* go to the Ancient Past?! Who is Kisara, perhaps? Yaaaay!

I would like to say in memory of Mahad’s sacrifice that he is not gone, nor was he ever. I had indeed wondered why Isis and Master Seto were reflected in the present, and yet other such prominent characters such as the other Sacred Court, Mana, and indeed Mahad were not. I was wrong; they are. There’s a reason that the Dark Magician is Yugi and Yami’s signature monster; Mahad is still watching over him.

That’s about it. I’m sorry I kept this so late, I kept thinking that there was something major I had wanted to say, but it’s ten o’clock Sunday night and I don’t want to hold this up any longer. If it’s anything really important I’ll make a separate post. Until then, next Saturday is Birth of the Blue-Eyes, as I said, but I will next be posting about (The) Maiden in Love (there’s still a lot of controversy about some of these ‘the’s,’ it seems to me), in GX, on Monday. ‘Til then, that’s all, folks! -Clio