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Episode
GuideEpisode 54: Obelisk the Tormentor (This Town Becomes Battle City!)
Yami and Téa are in the museum, looking at the Egypt exhibit. She asks if he's sure he wants to go through with this, and he says he has to. It's his destiny. He stops at a door leading downstairs, sensing something as the Millennium Eye on his forehead glows. He goes down to the basement, where he sees the stone carvings Ishizu previously showed Kaiba. Téa's astonished to see that the carving on the stone looks like Yami! (Well, it looks like his hair anyway.) Yami says it appears to be him playing an ancient form of Duel Monsters. But who is he dueling against? What was this ancient game all about? (Japanese Yami says "I know who I am now. The Pharaoh's soul has been living inside the Millennium Puzzle ever since ancient Egyptian times.")
Just then, Ishizu enters, saying, "My Pharaoh, I've been expecting you." (In the Japanese, she says, "Sorry to keep you waiting.") She introduces herself and tells Yami that she's uncovered many mysteries about him and the carvings using the magic of her Millennium Necklace. (In the Japanese, she says she's been protecting part of the Pharaoh's memory, as her people have done for the past 3000 years. Yami recognizes her necklace as a Millennium Item.) She's used the power of her Millennium Item to look five thousand years into the past, she says, and saw a time when evil sorcerers threatened to destroy the world. But one king had the power to stop them—Yami! Now the time has come for him to save the world again. He asks her how he'll recognize the threat, and she tells him that he must win the upcoming Duel Monsters tournament to find his answers.
(In the Japanese, she says that she knew he was coming, and that in coming there of his own will, he's chosen the destiny of battle. In order to recover his memory, he must gather all seven Millennium Items. He tells her to stop this nonsense, and asks if she's a friend or an enemy. She says she isn't an enemy, but a person with a new Millennium Item will come before him, and that the upcoming battle will recall his memory. She says he'll know when he goes to the plaza. He'll find his future there. He asks her what's going on, but she says he'll have to find out the rest himself.)
Ishizu leaves, and Yami looks at the carving again, realizing that the Pharaoh's opponent looks like Kaiba. Could Kaiba be the enemy he's supposed to defeat? There's only one way to find out! He has to win that tournament.
Meanwhile, at the Kaiba Corp building, Kaiba's about to make the final test of his new Duel Disk system. (The sign that says "Research & Development" in English and Japanese is removed from the wall. But they did leave the Kaiba Corp "KC" logo, at least.)
Kaiba's in his official Battle City costume now—sleeveless white studded duster, black shirt and pants, straps around his arms and legs—and looking very fine. From the control room above the test chamber floor, a Kaiba Corp guy with a clipboard tells Kaiba that all safeguards have been removed from the computer, as requested, and Mokuba tells his brother he's crazy if he goes through with this! With the safeguards turned off, the monsters could be dangerous. (They don't talk about the safeguards in the Japanese. They say the computers are all check out green, and Mokuba tells his brother everything's ready and they can start any time.)
Enough whining, Kaiba says, and straps on his new Duel Disk. (Japanese Kaiba doesn't say this. In fact, he's never short with Mokuba.) He will be the one to test the new system, he thinks, which all the players will use in the tournament. Kaiba Corp satellites will track them, so that the location of each duel can be determined. And with the powerful God card, Obelisk the Tormentor, in his deck, he'll beat Yugi and reclaim his title of the Number One Duelist! (In the Japanese, he's thinking that the satellite has sped up the process, and allows monsters to be materialized any time and any place. Then he thinks: "Yugi, you will always be my archenemy. When this new Duel Disk is ready, our new battle will take place." He doesn't care if the Pharaoh carved on the stone is Yugi or not. He only fights for the future.)
The Duel Robot is lowered into the test chamber. It's been updated with the new tournament rules. (It's at this point that the show started bringing the rules more in line with the actual game. Tributes are now required to summon monsters of Level 5 or above, and a player without a monster on the field can be attacked directly. Also, the players now start with 4000 life points, instead of 2000. The real game starts at 8000 life points.)
Computer skill level is set to max, one of the workers says, and Mokuba asks again if Kaiba's sure he wants to go through with this. Kaiba Corp guy says to keep the medics on standby—probability of injury is ninety percent. Mokuba tells him to can it, but he says he's just doing his job! It's dangerous because the Duel Robot is using Kaiba's Duelist Kingdom deck, with all three Blue Eyes White Dragons. (In the Japanese, Kaiba Corp guy says even Kaiba can't be certain to beat the Duel Robot, and Mokuba yells at him that big brother won't be defeated by a computer! Then KC guy says the Duel Robot is using Kaiba's best cards.)
Kaiba remembers Ishizu telling him to be careful—the God card might be too powerful for him to handle. He thinks he won't know unless he tries it, and the only way to be sure is to set it against the most powerful dragons in Duel Monsters. He smiles at the thought of all that power... and orders the test to begin.
The Duel Disk launches its portable holographic projectors and draws the first five cards.
The Duel Robot begins by setting a monster face down (in the Japanese, the Duel Robot has a male voice, instead of the female voice used in the US version), and Kaiba responds by playing one card face down and summoning Battle Ox (Minotaur). He attacks the Duel Robot's defense monster, which turns out to be Cyber Jar (Cyber Pot). Cyber Jar destroys all monsters on the field and requires the players to pick up five cards and place any Level 4 or lower monsters among them onto the field. The Duel Robot sets two monsters in defense, and Kaiba summons four monsters (Maha Vailo, Dark Zebra, Boar Soldier, and Hitotsu-Me Giant).
It's the Duel Robot's turn, and it sacrifices its two monsters (Aqua Madoor and Wall of Illusion) to summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon! Now Kaiba's in trouble. If the Blue Eyes attacks now it will be all over! (Well, no, it won't. The lowest attack monster Kaiba has on the field is Hitotsu-Me Giant, with an attack of 1200, or Boar Soldier, if they're using its effect, which lowers its attack to 1000 if the opponent controls any monsters. The Blue Eyes has an attack of 3000. The most Kaiba could lose is 2000 life points if the Blue Eyes attacked. Japanese Kaiba just says, "Blue Eyes! Finally!" And he's pretty impressed with the tactics of the Duel Robot. Heh. Kaiba loves his gadgets.) But the Duel Robot sees Kaiba's face-down card, and ends its turn without attacking.
Kaiba sacrifices the Hitotsu-Me Giant (Cyclops) to summon Dragon Seeker (Dragon Killer) in defense mode. Dragon Seeker's special effect allows it to destroy one dragon on the field when it switches from defense to attack mode. Next turn, he'll use it to destroy the Blue Eyes. (The real card destroys one dragon when it's summoned.)
The Duel Robot sets a magic/trap card face down on the field, then summons Lord of Dragons in attack mode. Lord of Dragons protects dragons against all magic, trap and other effects while it's on the field. Now Dragon Seeker's effect won't work. (Of course, the Duel Robot could have just attacked Dragon Seeker with the Blue Eyes and destroyed it before it could be switched into attack mode—its attack of 3000 is much greater than Dragon Seeker's defense of 2100.)
Since he can't destroy the Blue Eyes, Kaiba switches all his monsters to defense mode. (Again, a silly move. Lord of Dragons' attack is only 1200. Any of Kaiba's monsters could destroy it, leaving the Blue Eyes wide open to Dragon Seeker's or any other card's effect.)
The Duel Robot plays the magic card, Flute of Summoning Dragon, which allows the Robot to special summon two dragons from its hand while Lord of Dragons is on the field, and it summons two more Blue Eyes White Dragons!
Then it plays its set card, Polymerization, and fuses the three Blue Eyes into the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. But according to the new rules, fusion monsters can't attack on the turn they're created (this isn't a real rule), so the Duel Robot ends its turn.
Kaiba smiles. (In the Japanese, he says, "Utsukushii," which means "Beautiful!" He does love his dragons.) But in the control room, pandemonium is breaking out! Without the safeguards, the Ultimate Dragon's attack will do serious injury to Kaiba! (Now, in the Japanese, one of the guys in the control room talks about the Duel Disk being programmed to do direct damage, but the subtitles aren't terribly clear about what that means.) Mokuba calls out to Kaiba to shut down the duel and get out of there, but Kaiba stands firm and faces the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. So this is what Yugi felt like at Duelist Kingdom, he thinks. But even Yugi couldn't defeat the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon! (Well, technically, he did. Kaiba only defeated Yugi by threatening to throw himself off the tower if Yugi attacked. Convenient of Kaiba not to think of that now.) If he's going to reclaim his title, he has to beat the monster even Yugi couldn't defeat! (Japanese Kaiba thinks: "Yugi! Do you face this fear whenever you fight me? But you're never afraid, rather you accept the challenge. Yes! Believe in your cards. The duelist's biggest enemy is the fear that resides in his heart.")
Now it's time to see what a God card can do! (Japanese Kaiba thinks he's going to bet everything on this card.) Kaiba draws Obelisk the Tormentor and summons it by sacrificing three of his monsters. (Where'd that third monster come from? It appears to be the card he set face down at the beginning of the duel. But he also summoned Battle Ox that turn, and a player is allowed only one normal set or summon per turn. Hmm. The monster is the Warrior from Another Dimension.) The huge Obelisk towers over the field, nearly filling the entire chamber! Its attack is already 4000, but Kaiba pumps it up even more by sacrificing his remaining two monsters, so that their attacks are added to Obelisk's. In the control room, smoke and sparks fly from the equipment as Obelisk's attack points climb off the charts.
Kaiba destroys the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon with Obelisk the Tormentor. The Duel Robot's life points go to zero, and it explodes. Kaiba gazes lustfully at his Obelisk card. If this is the power of one God card, once he has all three, he'll be unstoppable! He'll defeat Yugi and reclaim his title as the Number One Duelist!
Yami and Téa are walking past Domino Station. Téa says that the invitation said that the tournament would be announced tonight, so Ishizu was right. Yami doesn't know if everything Ishizu said is true, but he knows he must enter and win this tournament in order to fulfill his destiny. Téa asks him to promise to be careful. Yami agrees that whoever's after the Millennium Puzzle is still out there, but he pulls out his deck, saying this deck has never let him down before. As long as he and Yugi stick together, they can use it to win the tournament and unlock the mysteries of his ancient past and realize their destiny!
(In the Japanese, this whole conversation is completely different. Yami says, "Aibou doesn't know I went to see the stone tablets today. Don't tell him about the mural and what Ishizu said. I want to get my memory back, but I want to be with Yugi, too. I don't want him to worry about me." He pulls his deck out of its holster and goes on, "We created our deck together. Half of it is his work." He looks at the deck, and the Black Magician is the card on top. "The day he knows the real me will be the day the power of these cards really comes out." Anzu says, "I know that day will come.")
Suddenly, Yami hears a strange laugh. (In the Japanese, he doesn't hear anything, just becomes aware of something. He says, "I'm picking up this strange aura.") Téa asks him what it is, and he says it's nothing.
Just then, Mai Valentine comes running up to greet them, grabbing Téa around the neck and telling her she's looking snazzy. (In the Japanese, she asks Anzu if she's on a date with Yugi, and Anzu protests that it's nothing like that. They've cut out a bit of Mai cheerfully strangling Anzu, including a shot of Anzu's face turning blue.)
Mai's there for the tournament, too. They don't know who's hosting the tournament, but Mai's heard that it's someone with a lot of cash and an obnoxious attitude. She guesses Kaiba. Yami says that must be why Ishizu told him to enter. If the events of the past are going to happen again, he must face Kaiba in this tournament. But whoever it is, it's beginning to look like Duelist Kingdom all over again! (In the Japanese, Yami asks Mai what she's doing there, and she says, "You're here, but you don't know?" He says that someone told him he could find his future there. She says that a few days ago, some news got out on the Internet to go to "where ancient duelists and card engravings are." He instantly thinks of the stone engravings at the museum. Mai says a grand tournament will be held here, and Yugi should have sensed it. He says he feels evil in the air, and Mai says there are a lot of duelists there.)
They spot Weevil Underwood and Rex Raptor on the plaza, and Mai points out Espa Roba, who uses psychic powers to duel. And there's Mako Tsunami.
Big TV screens all over the plaza light up—it's Kaiba! He greets the duelists and welcomes them to his tournament. Since they're all elite duelists, he says, he's added special rules to his tournament. They'll all use his new Duel Disks to play, and each duelist will ante up his rarest card before each duel, and the loser must forfeit his card to the loser. Yami's pretty horrified about the possibility of forfeiting his Dark Magician, and Mai says that a single loss could ruin her deck! Kaiba says his competition will make Pegasus's Duelist Kingdom look like a joke!
A sudden wind comes up, and they all turn to see the Kaiba Corp helicopter flying overhead. And there's Kaiba, standing on the landing strut. He and Yami stare daggers at each other, then Kaiba tells everyone to register and pick up their Duel Disks, because the Battle City tournament begins one week from today! Yami accepts Kaiba's challenge. (The city, as usual, has all of its various signs wiped out.)
Meanwhile, a group of robed men gather around their master, the holder of the Millennium Rod, to tell him about the Battle City tournament, a gathering of the world's most elite duelists. (In the Japanese, they call him Malik-sama.) He tells his Rare Hunters to go to Domino at once and begin the hunt!
