A 
Episode
GuideEpisode 42: The Ties of Friendship (Deadly Shadow Ghoul)
Yugi tells Rebecca again that his Grandpa didn't steal her Blue-Eyes White Dragon. But she insists that he did. The Blue-Eyes White Dragon was her grandfather's favorite card, and Yugi's Grandpa took it from him!
Grandpa begins to tell Rebecca the story of how he met Professor Arthur Hawkins, and the danger they faced together. She says it's just more of his lies, but he assures her it's true, and one of the most frightening experiences he's had in his life. (Grandpa keeps saying this was "a long time ago," but in the first episode, they talk about Duel Monsters as being a new game that's just catching on. It's unclear just how old the Duel Monsters game is supposed to be, but Pegasus is a relatively young man, and he invented the game sometime after Cecelia died, when he was 17. Evidence from the manga indicates that Pegasus is 24 at the time of Duelist Kingdom, which would mean that the game is no more than six or seven years old. In the Japanese, he says it was "several years ago," but doesn't specify how many.)
Grandpa says he'd traveled to Egypt to participate in an archeological dig, exploring a new find near the Great Pyramids. (Japanese Grandpa says he was interested in Duel Monsters, though it wasn't well known back then, and went to Egypt because he'd heard you could get a lot of rare cards there.) It was so hot and dry, his canteen soon ran out, and Professor Hawkins shared his water with him. They became fast friends. Grandpa says he was a kind and brilliant man.
In his field of archaeology, Arthur Hawkins was considered a radical thinker for his theories that Duel Monsters might have played some part in ancient Egyptian history. His studies of Egyptian hieroglyphics kept turning up the word "duel," and he came to an astonishing conclusion! (In the Japanese, the word Arthur kept finding was "game," spoken in English.) One day while Arthur and Solomon Mutou were exploring, they found an inscription, which Arthur translated as, "By the spirits of the River Nile, I combine magic and monster to vanquish my enemy in our battle this day." He believed that ancient Egyptians participated in duels using Duel Monsters! (Japanese Arthur said the ancient Egyptians used engraved tablets in a ritual like a card game to foretell the future.) He took out his deck and showed Solomon his Giant Soldier of Stone card, which was similar to the monster carved in the stone of the cave, and said that the ancient Egyptians must have played a similar game. Solomon thought it was an amazing discovery, and told Arthur that he'd revolutionize the field of Egyptology!
But Arthur's colleagues ridiculed his theories. He refused to give up his studies, and invited Solomon to work with him. (Japanese Grandpa says that he agreed with Arthur's theories, so they became good friends.) Eventually, he discovered a link between the game and the Millennium Items. The Egyptians didn't play the game for fun or money, Arthur said, but for the power to rule the world! The inscriptions told of a place called the Shadow Realm, where terrible monsters dwell, and powerful warriors battled for dominion over the Earth. The ancient Egyptians dueled in this realm, and the stakes were the fate of the Earth. (In the Japanese, they don't talk about the Shadow Realm or the Millennium Items. Solomon says Arthur believed in the existence of God Cards—the first mention of these cards that will play a very important role in the Battle City Tournament coming up. This reference is removed from the US version. "If you collect all the God Cards," Arthur quotes from the inscription, "then you can replace the sun god, Ra, as the ruler of the world.")
Téa asks if Professor Hawkins gave the Blue-Eyes to Grandpa, and he says that's right. But Rebecca, who's been bored with this entire story, calls Grandpa a liar. Her grandfather would never have given away his Blue-Eyes White Dragon card!
Grandpa continues with his story. At just that moment, there was a cave-in, and he and Arthur were trapped in the ruins. They lit their lamp and waited for rescue, but no one came. Soon they'd eaten all their food, and had only enough water for just one person. Arthur suggested a duel to keep them occupied, and they agreed to play for the remaining water.
For Arthur's first turn, he played Witch of the Black Forest—just as Rebecca had. Grandpa says to Rebecca, it was her grandfather who taught her to duel, wasn't it? She just turns away. Téa asks Grandpa to go on with the story.
But Rebecca's tired of listening. Grandpa could be making the whole thing up! She wants to continue the duel. The gang would rather hear the story, but Grandpa agrees that they should go on with the game, but adds that Rebecca might have learned dueling from her grandfather, but she never learned manners from him! (Japanese Grandpa says it's eerie, but it feels as if Arthur is in the arena.
It's Yugi's turn. He plays Catapult Turtle (1000ATK) in attack mode. This monster allows him to sacrifice any monster on his side of the field, and inflict half its attack points as direct damage to his opponent. Then he plays Brain Control, and siezes Rebecca's Millennium Shield, sacrificing it for Catapult Turtle's effect. And finally, he attacks Cannon Soldier with Summoned Skull. All of Rebecca's monsters are destroyed, and she's down to 200 life points! She throws a tantrum, swearing to defeat Yugi.
But then she looks at her hand, thinking that all is going to plan. (In the Japanese, she's holding six monster cards. From right to left, they are Shadow Ghoul, Critter, Skelengel, Witch of the Black Forest, another Critter, and Electric Snake. In the US version, the mostly-hidden and hard to identify monsters are changed to magic cards. Skelengel is replaced by Tribute to the Doomed and Electric Snake by Stop Defense. I suppose that changes the number of monsters in Rebecca's graveyard, but I'm not going back to count them all.)
Rebecca draws a magic card, Judgment Blaster (Judgment Bomber), and celebrates, telling her Teddy to look what card they drew! This card allows her to discard five cards from her hand to destroy every monster on Yugi's side of the field. (Japanese Judgment Bomber destroys all monsters on the field. But Rebecca doesn't have any monsters when she plays the card, so only Yugi's are destroyed.) Then she summons her favorite monster, the Shadow Ghoul (1600 Original ATK)! It gains 100 attack points for every monster in her graveyard! Tristan recalls that she's discarded eleven monsters, and Joey rather feebly attempts to count eleven times 100 on his fingers, until Téa disgustedly tells him it's eleven hundred points—making Shadow Ghoul's total attack 2700 points!
But Yugi's a bit shocked for all the poor monsters Rebecca has casually tossed aside to power up her Shadow Ghoul. Each monster has its own abilities, and deserves respect, he tells her, but she thinks he's nuts. Duel Monsters has nothing to do with respecting your monsters, she says. It's all about winning! And anyway, what would a family of thieves know about a duelist's real power? She learned her strategies from a master, her grandfather. And Duel Monsters aren't real, they're just cards. What's to respect? But Grandpa thinks, that's not what Arthur thought.
Yugi thinks Rebecca knows strategy and tactics, but she's never found the heart of the cards. And Grandpa thinks if anyone can teach Rebecca the lessons she needs to learn, it's Yugi! (Japanese Yugi thinks he knows how the duel in the ruins ended. Grandpa thinks to Yugi, do what you need to do. Yugi nods his understanding.)
Yugi plays a monster in defense mode. (Just a dueling aside: you don't summon a monster in defense mode. "Summoning" means playing it in face-up attack mode. You set a monster face-down in defense.)
Rebecca plays a magic card, Stop Defense, forcing Yugi's Dark Magician into attack mode, then attacks it with Shadow Ghoul, destroying it. Yugi's down to 800 Life Points. Tristan says, Yugi's getting creamed! This can't be how Grandpa's duel with Professor Hawkins went. But Grandpa says it went exactly like this. But the outcome of the duel may yet surprise you! (Japanese Jounouchi asks Grandpa, isn't there anything he can do? He remembers how his duel ended, doesn't he? Grandpa just says, let's watch the duel.)
Yugi plays Swords of Revealing Light, stopping Rebecca from attacking for three turns. That's irritating, she says, and passes. Then Yugi plays Monster Reborn to revive his Dark Magician, and Rebecca responds by playing another Cannon Soldier in defense (1300 DEF).
Yugi knows Rebecca wants him to attack, but he can't leave Cannon Soldier on the field, so he destroys it with the Dark Magician, powering up her Shadow Ghoul by another 100 points. Rebecca passes again, knowing on her next turn, her Shadow Ghoul will be free to attack.
Tristan says Rebecca's strategy seems to be working. Maybe she is a genius! But Joey says don't count Yugi out yet—he learned from a master. (Japanese Jounouchi says Yugi's waiting for some special card.) Rebecca says Yugi's just stalling for time with Swords of Revealing Light, hoping for some special card to show up to save him. But it won't help. Next turn, when Shadow Ghoul can attack again, she'll wipe him out! Then she passes again. Grandpa remembers when his duel with Arthur reached exactly this same point.
Yugi draws. Rebecca taunts him, asking, didn't he get the card he needs? And Grandpa remembers Arthur asking him if he'd gotten the card he needed. But, instead of revealing his card, he surrendered the game and let Arthur win.
Yugi stares at his card. Then he lays his hand on his deck, and surrenders.
The gang is shocked! Yugi's given up! Why would he do it? Rebecca cheers her own victory and runs over to Grandpa, demanding the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. He hold out the card to her, but she's shocked to see that it's torn in half, and mended with tape. "You tore it!" Grandpa tries to explain it wasn't he who tore the card, but Rebecca as usual won't listen, and throws another tantrum.
Just then, Rebecca's grandfather shows up, telling Rebecca to behave herself. He and Solomon greet each other with pleasure, and Arthur asks Rebecca if she realizes that Yugi really won the duel. "Yugi, you're just like your grandfather," he says. He shows Rebecca the final card Yugi had drawn: it's Soul Release, a magic card that he could have used to remove five cards from his graveyard—or hers. If he'd used to to take five monsters from her graveyard, Shadow Ghoul's attack would have gone down to 2300, low enough for the Dark Magician to attack and destroy it. Yugi didn't have to surrender. (Soul Release is naked in the Japanese version. She wears a dress in the US.)
Rebecca asks Yugi why he did it. While Yugi blushes, Arthur explains that he did it to show her that there's more to dueling than winning and losing. The way to the heart of the cards is through your own heart. He goes on to explain that after that tomb collapsed, Solomon also sacrificed a victory to save Arthur's life. Arthur had been weak and overcome by the heat. Solomon had surrendered the duel in order to make sure Arthur got the water. Soon after, they were finally rescued. What's more, Arthur explains, even though he sacrificed his monsters to power up the Shadow Ghoul, he honored them for their sacrifice. Even more than the monsters, he says, a duelist must also honor and respect his opponent. After his and Solomon's duel, he was so grateful that he gave Solomon his Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
Still a brat, Rebecca says Solomon showed his respect by tearing up the card! Solomon apologizes to Arthur for letting the card be damaged, but Arthur says it doesn't matter, only that Solomon kept it as a token of their friendship. He kept the card, not for its rarity, but for what it represents, the bond of their friendship. Arthur tells Rebecca that duels can be the basis for great friendships.
Finally, Rebecca apologizes to Yugi, who readily forgives her, and gives her the Ties of Friendship card. Arthur tells Solomon it's been a long time since they dueled, and they agree to a game. This I gotta see, Joey exclaims—dueling grandpas!
The Ties of Friendship card falls to rest atop the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
