Predictions and Observations:
Down in Flames II - A Brawl in a Small Town I

FIRST AND FOREMOST: POSSIBLE SPOILERS POSSIBLE SPOILERS POSSIBLE SPOILERS BEYOND THE LATEST EPISODE! THIS IS PREDICTIONS BASED ON EVERYTHING THAT I’VE HEARD, SEEN, OR READ, NOT JUST CANON MATERIAL!!!

Yugi’s Grandpa’s Disappearance:
For this, I have a few theories. One is that this is Viv’s revenge, because I find it extremely convenient that Yugi’s grandpa disappears and Yugi is led on a wild goose chase- JUST IN TIME FOR REBECCA’S DUEL! Viv was eavesdropping on that conversation in the hallway, so she’ll know how much it means to Rebecca that Yugi come and watch her duel. However, the downfall of this theory is that Vivian’s (if it is her) targeting Yugi’s grandpa to get back at Rebecca, or both Yugi and Rebecca, means that she’s certainly given up on Yugi and is targeting him for vengeance along with Rebecca.
Another theory based strictly on non-canon evidence is that last night (okay, it was actually more like one in the morning) I was websurfing in search of who plays who in GC. Turns out that my main source didn’t have anything up yet, but I did find something very interesting, which is that the next appearances listed for the voice actors who play Marik and Ishizu (J.T. Ross and Kayzie Rogers, respectively) are both One Step Ahead I, the second new episode next week! Could this be the return of Marik/Yami Marik that I foresaw by accidentally hitting the slow-motion during a preview? Is he behind this?

Rebecca v. Leon:
Who will win? Who, as Kaiba once put it, “goes home a loser” (Back to Battle City III)? What’s with Leon’s “fairytale rejects?” Why do they so creep Rebecca out? Why does Leon like fairytales so much? Why does Leon get all the loudest fans? What do some moves tell us about them and their style? Is either off their game? Why am I asking all of these rhetorical questions? I can’t tell you who will win though Leon does seem to have the upper hand and Rebecca seems to be struggling having had her winning strategy cut off early. She has a few more good tricks up her sleeve, I’m sure, and this duel’s not over yet, but I also note that Leon planned or at least executed his strategy with Rebecca’s combos and strategies in mind, like for instance having Curse of Thorns ready for her Marie the Fallen One, whereas Rebecca did not. Leon says on several occasions that he’s heard of and seen Rebecca’s dueling style (“Just go easy on me, okay, Beck? I’ve seen you in action; you can be brutal!”- Leon, Down in Flames I). Seeing that he’s also been studying Yugi’s style (he says so in Unwanted Guest I), *if* he gets past Rebecca, of course, Yugi’ll have his work cut out for him. Leon says that he stayed up all night practicing (so he takes a nap in the arena while waiting for Rebecca to show up), so obviously takes his dueling seriously. However, he’s the one who’s been having the most fun so far. Then again, if *my* strategy was coming off so nicely, I would be too. Remember, Leon has been Yugi’s loyal fan since Duelist Kingdom, and has heard all about the Heart of the Cards, about having fun as Yugi’s (and Joey’s and Mr. Moto’s) number-one rule of dueling, and I think really takes that to heart in his dueling. I also want to say something about a conclusion that could be drawn from the fairytale monsters, and from Leon’s being there alone. When asked about his friends and family, Leon says that everyone was too busy to come, but it’s okay, he’s used to being alone. The fairy tale creatures perhaps call out to him because we quiet loners typically read a lot of books as an escape. This is actually starting to remind me of another of the series’s loners, Ms. Mai Valentine. Far-fetched, I know, but hear me out. Mai states in, I believe it was Mind Game II (*snif*) that she was an only child and her parents were often busy. Her only real friends were her harpy cards. But as cool and powerful as her harpies were, deep down she knew they weren’t real. Since Leon is such another loner, it could be imagined that he has a similar relationship with his cards and with dueling as an escape. Therefore, the idea of the Heart of the Cards would resonate pretty deeply with him, and as he may have begun dueling as an escape he would consider having fun very important anyway. All of this is just speculation based on what we know of Leon. I think everyone will be happier to know that having actually seen Leon duel now, several of my crazier theories have died down (like the possibility of another Millennium spirit…).
As for why Leon’s story book characters creep Rebecca out so, I think that the answer, with a bit of imagination on crazy people like me’s part, could be found, perhaps in her statement that she grew out of these lame fairytales when she threw out her teddy bear. THREW OUT her teddy bear. As in not even grew out of it and forgot about it, threw it out. This suggests that she consciously chose to become far more mature (or at least more mature) from when we see her first in The Wrath of Rebecca and The Ties of Friendship to when we meet her again in A New Evil II (“She traded in her teddy bear for glasses…”). Could this be evidence of a long-standing crush on Yugi over Battle City and wanting to win him over, or something else even? Rebecca’s saying that she threw out her teddy bear says to me that she had made the choice to give up being a little kid rather abruptly and forcefully, and had considered as one of the factors that she was tired of, and now above, those “lame stories.” Now, of course, she’s very miffed that she’s losing to them. Of course, this could always be a bit of misleading translation liberty that makes silly people like me rant about Rebecca’s teddy bear for hours. Wonder if the 4kids writers read these posts and have a good laugh…?
I just noticed that Leon’s fans seem to be cheering louder, or at least more distinctively, as in naming who they’re cheering for.
I think there are a few moves that tell us something about the character, and some I just wanted to point out. For one, Rebecca uses Tribute to the Doomed, which is VERY rare, as Yugi notes in awe when Bandit Keith/Marik plays it during Mystery Duelist I or II. For another, Leon uses Mirror Force, one of Yugi’s favorite traps, once more underlining the parallels between them. Rebecca uses standard, recognizable-type cards, like Shallow Grave, and Graceful Charity, in, I think, intentional (whether on her part or on the part of the writers) contrast to Leon’s weird cards.
I think Rebecca might be a bit off her game because it was such a letdown for Yugi not to show, and also because she’s getting flustered. Leon has the upper hand along with a deck full of mystery cards.
And finally, I asked all of those rhetorical questions so I could answer them.

The Mythology Section:
It was quite fun, but I at last managed to track down some background (as well as spelling) on Zigfried’s monsters. I would also like to note, just for the person with whom I was arguing, that it these myths I did see numerous references to a “Sigfried” in relation to the valkyrie myths. However, Zigfried, while probably named after this figure, could have still been spelled differently if only to make the name unique, and my own name, I suppose, could be called living proof of that because I am not in the slightest of Greek ancestry or nationality and here it’s typically spelled “Cleo.” I noticed that I contradicted my reason for spelling it Zigfried in my research of the Legendary Knights’ names, so I suppose that it really comes down to inclination. Kind of a dumb way of doing it, but yeah.
Swan Maiden (lets him summon one Valkyrie from his hand to the field): The valkyries were said to sometimes come to Earth in the forms of swans, and at times fell in love, etc.
Goddesses Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld: These were the three Norns (fates; old crones) of Norse Mythology. Ironically, they are also called the old crones, which is where Yu-Gi-Oh! departs from the myth. Urd means “those who were,” Verdandi, “those who are”, and Skuld “those who will.”
“They live beneath the roots of Yggdrasil, the world tree at the center of the cosmos (although some accounts have it that they dwell above the arch of the Bifrost Bridge), where they weave the tapestry of fates. Each person's life is a string in their loom, and the length of the string is the length of the person's life. Interestingly, Skuld was also the name of a Valkyrie…The counterparts of the Norns among the Greeks were the Moirae, known to the Romans as the Parcae...”- quoted from wikipedia article listed below
Source: wikipedia- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norns
Brunhilde: The valkyrie with the blue hair who ends the duel, Brunhilde is known as the leader of the valkyries, and there’s this whole myth that goes along with it including a bunch of people fighting over her, a Sleeping Beauty-style enchantment, her throwing herself into her husband’s funeral pyre, dealings with Huns, and reference to the ring Zigfried gave Joey (more on that later). There is a Siegfried in the story, who freed Brunhilde from the Sleeping-Beauty-ish enchantment by removing her armor. There are also several different spellings: Brunhild, Brunhilde, Brunhilt, Brunnehilde, Brünnehilde, Brynhild, Brynhilt.
“The Nibelungenlied is an epic poem in Middle High German that takes Burgundian kings as its subject matter. It is the work of an anonymous poet from the Danube, dating from about 1190/1200…The word Nibelung has several meanings, referring to the Burgundian kings portrayed in the poem, to the followers of Siegfried, and to a legendary race of Germanic dwarfs.”
Source: Wikipedia- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nibelungenlied
Nibelung’s Ring: “Der Ring des Nibelungen or, translated commonly as The Ring of the Nibelungen into English but more correctly as The Nibelung's Ring, is a series of four epic operas. Both the libretto and the music were written by Richard Wagner over the course of twenty-six years, from 1848 to 1874.The four operas in the Ring cycle are: Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold), Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), Siegfried, Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods)”- quoted from wikipedia entry listed below
“The word Nibelung has several meanings, referring to the Burgundian kings portrayed in the poem, to the followers of Siegfried, and to a legendary race of Germanic dwarfs.”- quoted from wikipedia entry listed below
This mythology also, if you can believe it, helped inspire J.R.R. Tolkien to write The Lord of the Rings!
Source: Wikipedia- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nibelungenlied
There’s reference to the fourth opera in My Fair Lady: Scene 6 (Pre-Ascot), Colonel Hugh Pickering: “Well, it’s quite simple, really. One night I went to the Opera at Covent Garden to hear one of my favorite operas- “Aida” – and as I was coming out – incidentally, they didn’t do “Aida” that night- No, they did “Gotterdammerung” instead. I’d never heard “Gotterdammerung.” By George, that’s a rackety one! Now, when this tenor chap…”
I’m a musical nut. I just couldn’t resist sticking that observation…
Reeca/Reeka/Breecka/Dreeca…’s Mediation: You guessed it. A crazy googled foray into everything from Dungeons and Dragons sites, into Harry Potter sites, and a site or two on Biology (go figure), but nothing.
Enchanted Sword Northam: Nothing on the super Dragon-Slaying Sword of Doom.
Rainbow Bridge Bifrost: The Norns (the three goddesses listed above) were said to live under the Bifrost Bridge.

That’s what I have so far. For the really obvious mythology, Leon’s cards:

-Forest Wolf, from Little Red Riding Hood, in which the wolf eats Little Red’s grandma, and then impersonates said grandma to try and eat Red Riding Hood herself, but is thwarted, slain, and the grandma somehow saved.
-Cinderella, from a fairy tale of the same name, who stays home and cleans house for her evil stepsisters, until one night her fairy godmother magicks her a beautiful dress, a carriage made of a pumpkin, and- you guessed it- glass slippers, to let her go to the big ball. She has to leave in a hurry and leaves behind a glass slipper, which lets the prince who has become smitten with her track her down and marry her, happily ever after.
-Curse of Thorns is perhaps taken from Sleeping Beauty, in which her
resting place was protected by an impenetrable thicket of thorns (alliteration…).
-Gingerbread House, from Hansel and Gretel, in which an evil witch lures
lost children to her so she can eat them by living in a house made of sugary sweets.
-Glithe the Phantom Bird, the only one here I didn’t know, I couldn’t find. I found a couple dead ends, including an interesting tale by Hans Christian Anderson called “The Wild Swans” and a few leads on a rather gruesome one I already knew called “Fitcher’s Bird,” with a large amount of gruesome murders, enough said.

So that’s it for the mythology portion of this, now where was I? Oh, I wanted to discuss why Joey lost. As always meaning no offense or disrespect to anyone, but Joey seems really off his game in this tournament. He really is a much better duelist than his recent matches have for the most part shown. Think it might be, as I have said before, that there’s not much he’s fighting for in this tournament.
This also makes me realize that the three Chosen Duelists were not those who were, necessarily, the world’s best (though I certainly do think that Yugi, Yami, Joey, and Kaiba kick way more butt than, say, Zigfried or even Leon), or it was less of a priority than those who had the most to fight for, or for which they were destined to be fighting the most. And they also had to be good people, strong of heart and spirit, because I wouldn’t imagine Zigfried saving the world either. Winning tournaments or anything has nothing to do with it.

I have one question: Why didn’t Hawkins tell Rebecca what’s going on?! I have a feeling it might matter- the field is wide-open if Viv’s looking to drive a wedge between Yugi and Rebecca, with Rebecca knowing nothing more than that “a situation came up.” Hawkins also promised that Yugi would be there by the end of the duel, which he might not be. This is worrying. Why didn’t he just tell the straight truth? Then again, considering how upset Rebecca was that Yugi didn’t show, if he had told her that Yugi’s grandpa just disappeared, she might have abandoned the duel to go to Yugi’s side, which no one would want, not Hawkins and not Yugi.

WHEN IS KAIBA GOING TO BUST ZIGFRIED??!! He knows darn well it’s him sabotaging the tournament, there’s nothing he wants or needs from Zigfried (unlike Battle City, where no matter how high the sucked-into-the-shadow-realm-or-otherwise-incapacitated toll rose, Kaiba wasn’t about to get rid of Marik because then he couldn’t win Ra off of him), so BOOT ZIGFREAK OUT OF THE TOURNAMENT! Maybe Kaiba thinks- probably accurately- that there is no way he can protect his computer system from Zigfried [the excitement during the second round proved that- Kaiba told Mokuba before the duels (flashback in Down in Flames I)], so if he were to confront Zigfried, Ziggy could bring the whole theme park down around their ears with the push of a button. To some extent, then, Zigfried exerts power over Kaiba, and if you think that Kaiba will stand for that for long, then you don’t know him very well!
Who was Politician #13? Picture kinda reminded me of Crump. Kaiba actually SMILED when he saw the guy- what will we discover about him? It wasn’t a sinister smile, even. It’s like he had solved a logic puzzle or something- could he see in the report that the guy was hiding something, perhaps rather shabbily and would yield upon further questioning? Kaiba, along with Yugi and Joey of course, is very good at reading people (like dueling opponents), because, as Mai once so very truly said, “psychology is half the game!” (Panik Attack) Did he know something about the politician that we and his lackeys don’t? Had he met #13 before?
How much longer is Kaiba going to stay on the sidelines?! It’s starting to seriously worry me now! It’s out-of-character for Kaiba not to want to duel in his own tournament, and like I said before, to invite Joey and Rebecca or to invite Yugi in a position other than that of a normal competitor.
Mokuba seems to be leaving his MC duties to Roland, in favor of helping his brother out in the control booth. Things must be getting bad (or good, depending on your point of view).
Once again Zigfried has hinted that he wants Kaiba to discover him.

Yugi’s ready to kick some serious butt to save his grandpa. This is going to be good.

By the way, I noticed at last that Harpy’s Pet Dragon is a monster in the opening sequence! That probably means we’ll see Mai again before the series is out!

That’s all I’ve got for now. Please write back, everyone! -Clio