Predictions and Observations:
Village of Lost Souls

Bakura *did* say that he had something more amusing in mind for Akhnadon. Turning him evil would fit the bill. I think that Bakura tampered with the Millennium Eye there (maybe somewhat like what he did when he sealed part of his soul in the Puzzle back before Battle City) to either somehow turn Akhnadon evil or put him on the way, through the Millennium Eye itself making Akhnadon remember how he felt that Seto should be Pharaoh and really making it mean something to him at that point, or by having Bakura always nearby in spirit, like before the flashback to the Millennium Items’ creation, to torment him. Considering how much Bakura wants revenge, this is another sound guess as to what Bakura may have meant, to let Akhnadon go but always keep reminding him of Kal’elna, never let him forget. I however believe that he’s doing both; he’s manipulating Akhnadon to turn against the others, *while* torturing him with that memory. Whatever this is, it won’t be good. Akhnadon, who was dead-set against Seto’s plot, if he acts on this feeling that Seto should be Pharaoh, could end up furthering this plan he was so against, becoming yet another threat.

I confess that I didn’t believe it until I saw it; last week I was sure that Bakura had mispronounced or said a similar name that was easily misheard. I was flabbergasted that Seto was Akhnadon’s son!

I noticed that in the battle at the gates in the flashback, with Akhnonkannan and his court summoning monsters, that Akhnadon’s beard and moustache had already turned white. I also thought I recognized Mahad’s Illusion Magician and Isis’ Spiria in the batch of monsters they summoned. What, if anything, could that mean? I looked at the shot pretty carefully, and neither was among the court. Mahad, I know, wouldn’t have been, because after that even when Seto joined the Court, some time after this quite apparently, Yami was standing there, still a kid, just like in Mahad’s snakebite flashback a while ago, making them about the same age and therefore logically negating all possibility of this. But as we all know, stuff like that matters little in this universe (me and my chronology…).

We know a lot of Seto’s history now: when he was this cute little toddler, he and his mom left the palace after Akhnadon his dad told them to go into hiding. They settled in a village a ways away, and Seto grew up a peasant, until that night he met Kisara, by all appearances. When he turned around, his village was in flames, completely destroyed. The only mystery left is what happened after that and before he joined the Court? What gave him such high scores on these ‘tests’ by which he joined the Court? I also would like to note that Seto Kaiba of the present had a similar childhood, orphaned about the same time that this Seto was. What an interesting coincidence.

What were these tests, I’m so curious. Shimon stated in Memoirs of a Pharaoh that the Sacred Court were chosen by the Millennium Items themselves, so therefore whatever ‘test’ must’ve had something to do with the other six Items, or possibly seven if Seto’s predecessor was still around long enough to pass on his office.

So Shimon used to carry the Millennium Key (we saw this in the Sacred Court vs. the Foreign Army and later when Seto joined the Court). Wonder why he no longer does? Probably a more peaceful transition of, ‘it stopped working for him, and so he gave it to whom it was next destined for’, like when Ishizu gave Yugi the Millennium Necklace. If this is the case, you have to ask, what is/was so special about Shada?

And speaking of Shada, I find it eerie that he seems to be becoming Seto’s right hand more and more since last time. When Akhnadon hypnotized the guards that night in the flashback, four others of the Sacred Court were by his side, and that seems to me to draw parallels to Seto, Shada, and sometimes Karim. Akhnadon warned that he made the same mistake that Seto’s about to; could this be just how similar it is?

I wanted to observe that in A Duel with Dartz, um (I can never tell six-parters apart…), IV, Dartz flashbacks to a similar scene, if not the same one. This is how I described it when it showed (from my ep-guide) about half a year ago: “The vision continues with another huge monster flying over the Egyptian city, and Yami chasing it on horseback, with Slifer following close behind. People ran for cover, but one man, wearing a dark cloak, just turned and watched: Dartz. Yami asks why Dartz hadn't confronted him then. Dartz replies that it was not yet time. Someone else was trying to destroy the world, and they were in his way. But his time came: 5,000 years later, Yugi solved the Millennium Puzzle, and the Shadow Games, as well as the Pharaoh and his rivals (namely, Kaiba and, interestingly, Yami Bakura), returned.” Well, what I know now ties up a few loose ends, such as who was trying to destroy the world who was in Dartz’s way (Bakura). Come to think of it, though, the Orichalcos was supposed to be more powerful than the Millennium Items, so why would Bakura have been in Dartz’s way? It also ties up why Bakura was the Pharaoh’s other rival that returned. I wonder if I would recognize that monster that flew over the city now?

I was downstairs getting some breakfast and my sibs were watching Viewtiful Joe, the last show in the morning KidsWB thing, and I saw a preview of next week’s Yu-Gi-Oh! I didn’t manage to record it, but from the looks of it the Winged Dragon of Ra enters the fray, Bakura is almost defeated before somehow reversing time, and Yami falls down a dark tunnel. Who *knows* what’s going to happen! (don’t answer that) My first impression was, what if Bakura knows that Yugi and his friends are there, and therefore sends Yami *forward* in time, trapping Yugi and the others in the past, and possibly forcing Yugi into Yami’s vacated position as Pharaoh? That would be quite beyond bad news.

I just realized something: If Akhnadon was Akhnonkannan’s brother, then that makes Akhnadon Yami’s uncle, and therefore Seto’s Yami’s cousin! Wow!

During the flashback, did anyone else notice that one soldier sticking his tongue out? What on Earth?

It didn’t actually tell us what happened, just showed us their rounding up everyone and taking them somewhere, but I think we can all guess that it was some sort of massacre or worse. I’m not really sure I *want* to know, yuck.

Just for the sake of argument, I’d like to point out that the Millennium Items’ purpose was not in the hands of those who created them, and Akhnadon and his cohorts had no real notion what they might do, he just knew they were powerful and might work as weapons. This continues the Millennium Items’ fashion of serving and manipulating fate through their power, rather than being truly loyal to anyone, like I said before in that long ramble last week.

The big question: who will win this…thing? I don’t think I can exactly call it a duel. I think it’ll work out to a stalemate, because it’s still early-on and the two combatants are far more likely to face each other in the big climax, rather than like this. If you were to talk about pure advantage with no regard for Plot, I would say it’s about even, if not slightly in Yami’s favor. I don’t think Diabound’s gone from Seto’s attack, because, for one, Bakura isn’t gone. For another, that would be far too easy. However, this gave Seto and Shada their opening to enter the fray, and it’s therefore three against one in a battle that I before considered an almost complete draw. Bakura’s advantage is that Yami and his team are on the defensive; he can destroy the city as he pleases, he’s the bad guy, but Yami and the others are fighting to protect the city as well as to catch Bakura. Therefore for them it’s a bit of an uphill fight. Then there’s the matter of Yugi and his pals. What will they do when they catch up? Is there anything they *can* do but watch and hope for the best? What I’m most concerned about is that I’m sure Yami will be able to see and hear them, and if he does, it’ll be incredibly distracting—they’re here! It’s not possible! Not only that, but it’s not safe there, and he doesn’t know that no one else can see them. Then again, Yami would probably know that there’s time for catching up after Bakura’s gone, and realize that everyone else is paying these four people from the twenty-first century that stick out like sore thumbs no notice whatsoever. But there wouldn’t be any time to notice that…

I’ve noticed a sort of paradox concerning Bakura. It’s clear that he holds in disdain anyone who sacrifices advantage to defend his or her inferiors. This is shown both in Bakura’s mocking when Yami protects the city with Slifer, and also back in Duelist Kingdom. Way back in Evil Spirit of the Ring, when we first met him, Bakura taunted that Yami wastes his time and his turns keeping “these foolish mortals” (Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Tea) safe. Yami replied that his friends are never a waste of time. Now, for the paradox: Bakura’s home was destroyed when Akhnadon and the others sacrificed the well-being of their social inferiors for advantage, the other way around. Considering how angry Bakura is at this, you might think that he would hold in high regard anyone who takes good care of such people. Then again, it could always be said that Bakura’s simply trying to jab at insecurities again, like the nervousness that is being responsible for people’s lives and being unsure what to do. He seems to be most adept at that.

We saw how Kal’elna occurred, and that Akhnonkannan asked similar questions to those that Yami would probably have asked. This is disquieting because it shows that a similar mishap could, is probably going to considering Seto’s plan, occur.

Next week’s episode is entitled, A Reversal of Fortune. That sounds *very* ominous. This can’t be good. And just when things were calming down, too. (pause) (bursts out laughing)

Well, that’s about it, I think (I have writer’s block again, but I should send it before it’s Monday…). This Thursday will be my next post, on GX’s The Little Belowski! Until then, clarification, questions, comments, debate, all most welcome (no rotten vegetables, please)! And finally, the ritual…that’s all, folks! -Clio