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Episode
GuideEpisode 50: The Mystery Duelist - Part I (Challenge from the Past: Horrifying Zera)
Grandpa is sweeping outisde the store when Téa comes to pick Yugi up. Upstairs in his room, Yugi is putting on his Millennium Puzzle, now hung on a nice big, thick chain. This will keep it safe, he thinks, and the spirit of the Puzzle appears in the mirror, telling him they're going to need it now more than ever. He explains that the Millennium Puzzle connects them, and he senses that fate has more in store for them! Yugi says they're in it together, no matter what, and picks up his book bag to head downstairs.
(In the Japanese, first we see Grandpa sweeping, then there's a shot of Yugi picking up his Puzzle with its new clinky chain. Then Anzu shows up, saying "Ohayo, Ojiisan," which means "Good morning, Grandfather." She doesn't call him Grandfather because he's Yugi's Grandpa, necessarily. She'd call any adult male of his age "Grandfather." Japanese kids normally call adults Grandfather or Grandmother if they're of grandparent age; younger or middle-aged adults are Aunt and Uncle, while young adults are called Older Brother and Older Sister.
(Japanese Grandpa tells Anzu what a nice girl she is, and she thinks, "What are you talking about?" Grandpa calls up to Yugi, who says he'll be right down. The spirit pops out to tell his Aibou [partner] that the new chain suits him. Yugi says he thinks it's a little too fancy, but the spirit says, no, it's not fancy enough. If I were you, he says, I'd wear a bracelet or something, but Yugi says that's not his style. Then Yugi picks up his book bag and heads for the door, while the spirit says, "Anzu is waiting for you—show her how cool you are!" Embarrassed, Yugi says "What are you talking about?"
(Next is a bit that's cut from the US version: out in the hall, Yugi runs into his mother, who asks him who he was talking to.)
(He says nobody, and runs off, with the spirit saying to do what he says and Anzu will fall in love with him. "Stop picking on me!" Yugi tells the spirit, and his poor mom has no idea what he's talking about.)
Téa tells Yugi it's about time! They're going to be late for the big game. Yugi tells her he was talking to the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle—he's worried about their destiny. But he doesn't really know that much about himself. The spirit has no memory of his past or why he's here.
(Japanese Anzu notices the new chain, and Yugi tells her it's a bond between "mou hitori no boku" [the other me] and him. Anzu thinks about Yugi and the other Yugi, reflecting that it's the outer and inner sides of Yugi's heart.)
(She remembers meeting the other Yugi at Duelist Kingdom, and now Yugi says that the other Yugi lives in the Millennium Puzzle. Yugi asks her what's wrong, and she says it's nothing—let's go to school.)
They take off for the soccer game. (They're just going to school in the Japanese. There's another little bit with Yugi's mom here that was cut from the US version. She comes out and asks Grandpa if Yugi's okay. "He's been talking to himself a lot lately." Grandpa says he just has a lot on his mind. "He's a lot like I was at his age." Yugi's mom says that's why she's worried!)
Téa asks Yugi who he thinks will win the game, but he doesn't know. Téa says Yugi's not very interested in sports. (In the Japanese, Anzu asks if Yugi's busy Sunday. She thinks they might do something fun. But Yugi's preoccupied and doesn't answer. As usual, the writing on all the city signs has been removed.)
He stops when they see a mysterious robed fortune teller at the side of the street. Maybe he can help Yugi find out more about the Millennium Puzzle! (Japanese Anzu's a bit disparaging of the fortune teller, thinking "That's so childish.") The fortune teller says he needs a personal item of Yugi's in order to tell his future, and asks him to give him the Puzzle. Yugi's reluctant, but finally hands over the Puzzle. "I see that this Millennium Item now belongs to me!" the fortune teller says, overturning his table onto Yugi and Téa and running off.
Yugi runs after him, telling Téa to try to cut him off at the corner. (In the Japanese, Yugi tells Anzu to go on to school, and she says she'll go get the others.) Around a turn in the alley, Yugi's surprised to see red arrows on the walls pointing the way. Yugi knows it's a trap, but has no choice but to follow—he can't lose the Puzzle!
Téa's running down the street, worried now because there's no sign of Yugi or the fortune teller, when she sees Bakura. She tells him someone stole Yugi's Puzzle and ran down the alley, and he says he'll go and get help. But as soon as she's run past, Dark Bakura comes out, saying no one will get the Millennium Puzzle but him! (In the Japanese, he seems pretty disgusted that Yugi would let his Puzzle be stolen, saying "What was he doing?") He drops his book bag and pulls out his Millennium Ring, intending to use it to track the Puzzle. (In the Japanese, Dark Bakura thinks his Ring is showing him a bad omen. The Millennium Items have a memory of the past, he says, and it's necessary for Yugi to own the Millennium Puzzle. "Whoever is an enemy to Mutou Yugi is an enemy of mine.") He finds the fortune teller's broken crystal ball, and the Ring points up the alley. Bakura follows, mixing up the arrows the thief left behind so that no one else can find Yugi and the Puzzle.
Meanwhile, Yugi follows the arrows to an old warehouse, and goes inside, thinking that he can sense the spirit inside. A strange voice laughs, and a spotlight reveals the Millennium Puzzle fastened to the wall by an eye bolt. If Yugi wants his Puzzle back, he'll have to duel for it! More lights come on, and Yugi sees a dueling arena in the middle of the warehouse. Yugi asks who his opponent is, and what he wants with the Millennium Puzzle. The fortuneteller says he wants the Puzzle's power, but according to the ancient rules, he has to win it in a duel. But he won't tell Yugi who he is, only that he's familiar with the Millennium Items. We see behind the fortuneteller another person, holding the Millennium Rod. (In the Japanese, the mystery man thinks, this is Mutou Yugi? He can't believe this kid beat Pegasus. It must have been the other Yugi—the one inside the Puzzle. His real intention is t find out who the other Yugi is.)
Yugi doesn't want to duel—it's already his Puzzle! But he has no choice but to accept the challenge. He tries to connect with the spirit of the Puzzle, but the bond is weak. Little Yugi will have to duel alone. "But I've never fought a duel without you," Yugi protests (forgetting that just a little while ago, he dueled Rebecca without the spirit's help). The spirit tells him to trust in himself and he'll do fine. (In the Japanese, the spirit tells Yugi he can't help him because he senses someone watching him. And Yugi, naturally, doesn't say he's never dueled without the spirit before.) Vowing to believe in the heart of the cards, Yugi ascends the dueling platform.
Yugi opens by playing the Celtic Guardian in attack mode. The mystery duelist sets a monster in defense. (Japanese Yugi wonders where he heard that voice before.) Yugi attacks, but the face-down monster is Cyber Jar (Cyber Pot), which destroys every monster on the field, and also requires the players to pick up five new cards.
Yugi sets a monster in defense, while the mystery duelists summons Mechanical Chaser and Bugroth to the field. (Cyber Jar also requires the players to set or summon any Level 4 or lower monsters they pick up to the field, which they don't tell you on the show, leaving you to wonder how the mystery duelist gets to play two monsters at once. Keith does explain all this in the Japanese.) Yugi notices that the mystery duelist is playing machine monsters, and there's only one player he knows who has a deck full of machine cards. "Show yourself, Bandit Keith!" he says, and the mystery duelist pulls back the cowl of his robe, revealing that he is indeed Bandit Keith!
But why would Bandit Keith disguise himself and try to steal the Millennium Puzzle? The last time Yugi saw Keith was at Duelist Kingdom, when Pegasus ejected him from the island after his duel with Joey. Yugi asks what happened to him, but he says he's not Bandit Keith—Bandit Keith is just a mind-slave! He explains that he fished Bandit Keith out of the sea, and turned him into a puppet to do his bidding. (In the Japanese, Keith doesn't say he's not Keith, but he talks about himself as "that man," and Yugi wonders why.) For a moment, the man's control of Keith slips, and he calls out for help. (In the Japanese, Keith calls out, "Beat him, Yugi!") But then Keith's eyes go blank again, and he tells Yugi to continue the duel. Now, he summons Machine King in attack mode, which increases its attack by 100 points for every machine monster on the field, raising its attack to 2500 points. It destroys Yugi's defense monster, Silver Fang.
Yugi plays another monster in defense. Bandit Keith summons another machine monster, Megasonic Eye, pumping Machine King up to 2600 points. It destroys Yugi's Giant Soldier of Stone. Yugi is determined to continue fighting, but how can he defeat his opponent without the spirit and his friends? (In the Japanese, Keith asks if Yugi wasn't about to call out for the other Yugi, and Yugi thinks Keith shouldn't know about his other self. Could it be that it's not Keith?)
Téa finds Joey and Tristan at school. Joey's grabbing his shoes from a locker in the entryway (one very Japanese thing that actually gets left in the US version of the series), telling Téa they'll be right with her! Outside, they're stopped by the coach, who reminds them they promised to help at the soccer game. (In the Japanese, it's a teacher who tells them they should be in class.) Joey says they've got an emergency, and Tristan comes up with the dumb story that they have to take Téa's cat to the vet. (In the Japanese, they tell him that Yugi is very ill and wants to see them for the last time.) A sucker for kitty stories, the weeping coach tells them to go ahead. Téa says it wasn't cool to mislead the coach (In the Japanese, she says they're dead if the teacher finds out they're lying), but Tristan says it was an emergency, and the kids keep running. (There's a little bit where Jounouchi teases Anzu about being a liar and she tells him to shut up that's cut from the US version.)
Back at the warehouse, Keith tells Yugi to stop stalling, and for a moment we see the man controlling him, sitting in a throne-like chair, dressed in the same robes as Keith. (In the Japanese, he's urging Yugi to call out the other Yugi from the Puzzle.)
Yugi plays Curse of Dragon and Gaia the Fierce Knight, using Polymerization to fuse them into Gaia the Dragon Champion. (Okay, you can't normal summon two monsters in the same turn. But you can perform fusions with monsters from your hand.) Gaia the Dragon Champion destroys Mechanical Chaser, taking 750 life points from Keith, as well as reducing Machine King's attack by 100 points.
Keith switches his weaker monsters to defense mode, and plays Machine Conversion Factory to increase the attack and defense of all of his machine cards by 300 points. (The real card can only equip one machine monster.) Now the Machine King's attack is up to 2800, and it destroys Gaia the Dragon Champion. Why don't you just give up and hand over your Puzzle? the man controlling Keith asks. (In the Japanese, he taunts Yugi that he'll lose his title if he doesn't let the other Yugi play, and says "Show me what you really have.") Yugi has to stop him! But how?
Yugi draws Summoned Skull, and gets an idea. First he plays Makiu the Magical Mist, which rusts the machine monsters, lowering their attack and defense points. Then he plays Summoned Skull, whose attack is increased to 3250 by... something (by Makiu, Yugi explains in the Japanese), and destroys the Machine King. The mind controller thinks that Yugi is a better player than he'd expected. But it will avail him nothing! The Millennium Puzzle will be his! (Japanese mystery guy thinks he'll use his best card to draw out the other Yugi.)
Joey, Tristan, and Téa have come to the alley where the fortune teller ran off with Yugi's Puzzle. Joey wonders if Yugi put up the arrows, but Téa says she doesn't think he had time. Then they notice that the arrows are pointing every which way! Now how are they going to find Yugi?
Keith plays Graceful Charity (Angel's Gift), allowing him to draw three cards from his deck—but he's actually pulling cards from his sleeve. (It also requires you to discard two cards, but they don't tell you that. Well, in the Japanese, they do. Why don't they explain all the rules in the US version? It seems as though they cut some of the explanations in order to simplify things, but they're really just making the game make no sense.) He plays the Zera Ritual magic card, allowing him to sacrifice his two remaining monsters on the field to summon the mighty Zera! (Well, Zera the Something, but I can't understand what Keith's saying. Zera the Mant, it sounds like. In the Japanese, it's just Zera.) Zera's attack is 2800 points, and it destroys Summoned Skull, whose attack is back down to its normal 2500 points. (They've obscured the image of Summoned Skull's arms being chopped off.)
Dark Bakura's Millennium Ring has led him to the warehouse. He senses the presence of the Puzzle, and also a dark presence from the Shadow Realm. Meanwhile, Tristan, Téa, and Joey are running around helplessly in the alleys, calling out for Yugi. The mysterious mind controller thinks that Yugi is done for. Soon the Millennium Puzzle will be in his control! (While in the Japanese, again, the mystery man continues to urge Yugi to call out the other Yugi.)
To Be Continued
