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Episode
GuideEpisode 81: Let the Finals Begin! (Battle Ship Take Off!)
Kaiba's helicopter lands in Kaiba Corp Stadium, where he and Mokuba await the Battle City finalists—and the two remaining God cards. In the stands, Marik and Odion watch. Marik says that soon Kaiba will become a pawn in his own game. It's time to put the final part of his plan in motion. Now all he has to do is win! (Japanese Malik reminds Rishid of the promise he made to Malik's father, and vows again to end the cursed fate his tribe has endured for three thousand years.)
For five thousand years, Marik says, the world has waited for the ancient Pharaoh to return and use his boundless power to rescue the world from evil, as he did before. His spirit will emerge from the chambers of the Millennium Puzzle to rule mankind once again! Marik says that he will fulfill that prophecy, by seizing the Millennium Puzzle and draining the Pharaoh's power. According the ancient scriptures, in addition to the Puzzle, he must also hold all three Egyptian God cards. Then he will become Pharaoh, and the former ruler will wander the Shadow Realm forever. Marik says this is where he needs Odion's help. He must hide his identity, and let everyone think Odion is Marik. Everyone already knows Marik as Namu. He'll gain their trust and then crushed them with the Winged Dragon of Ra.
(In the Japanese, Malik says that the Pharaohs caused pyramids to be built as a symbol of their authority. A close-up shot of a pyramid is cut from the US version.)
(Malik goes on to say that worshippers of darkness arose and dueled with each other. Magicians created the seven Millennium Items to seal the darkness. The Millennium Puzzle is in the form of a reverse pyramid, which is a symbol of darkness. In order to protect the dark seal, Malik's tribe made many sacrifices. In their book of prophecies, it is recorded that when thousands of years have passed, evil power will wake again. Or, as the subtitles would have it, "Evil power wriggkes again." Meanwhile, in the US version, the three God cards are superimposed on this scene.)
(The soul of the Pharaoh has also awakened, and he is seeking his memory. Malik says he knows the location of that memory, and he won't give it to him. He'll use the power of Ra to send Yugi once more into the darkness. This is the only way he can regain his freedom.)
Kaiba orders a couple of his men (I shall call them Suit #1 and Suit #2) to turn on the stadium lights. He thought he heard something. No one is to enter the stadium without first reporting to him! (In the Japanese, Kaiba doesn't say why he wants the lights on. He just orders them turned on, and his men jump to obey.)
Someone appears at the stadium entrance. It's Yugi, Joey, and Mai, with Téa, Serenity, Duke and Tristan. Duke notices that the place is still under construction, and Mai says they're unfashionably early. They're welcomed by Suit #1 (Isono), who asks them to present their locator cards. Suit #2 gives them their tournament IDs, telling them to make sure they keep these cards with them at all times.
The other four finalists will be arriving shortly.
Not that it matters, thinks Kaiba. They'll all lose soon enough. (Japanese Kaiba thinks that Malik is still to arrive.)
Another finalist approaches. Yugi has a bad feeling about it, and they wonder if it could be Marik. And it is, but Joey recognizes him as Namu, the one who "helped" rescue Bakura. Joey and Téa greet him, and he asks how Bakura's doing. Joey thinks there's something he doesn't trust about him. (Japanese Jounouchi remembers that they were attacked, but only he and Anzu were caught, and Namu was safe. Malik says it's because he doesn't have any rare cards.) Marik says he's had nothing but good luck since he met Joey and Téa, winning every duel! Téa gets a weird flash of Marik's mind control.
Téa introduces "Namu" to Yugi, telling him that not only did Namu save Bakura's life, he's also one of the finalists. Isn't that right, she says to Joey, who's apparently been distracted and is all discombobulated by her question. (In the Japanese, Anzu, having been given the mental command by Malik, tells Yugi that Namu saved them from the Ghouls, which is why Jounouchi freaks out. But he agrees with Anzu.)
Marik says he's heard about Yugi, and Yugi says any friend of Joey and Téa's is a friend of his. Joey thinks maybe Namu isn't so bad after all. (Japanese Jounouchi wonders if he thinks too much.)
While they're talking, someone else enters the stadium. Everyone's shocked to see Bakura, who should still be in the hospital. (In the Japanese, Bakura still has blood on his bandage. The blood's been removed in the US version.)
But Bakura says he's fine. They're even more shocked when Bakura says he's won six locator cards and is a finalist in the tournament! Marik is pleased to see that Bakura's holding up his end of the bargain, but Yugi thinks Bakura could barely walk when they left him! How did he win six locator cards? Joey and Tristan are freaked out, but Bakura distracts them by pointing out the seventh finalist arriving.
It's Odion, but Joey and Mokuba both recognize him as their captors, and he tells them his name is Marik. Joey confronts him, telling him he'll kick his brainwashing keister! and Kaiba says he should disqualify Marik for what he did to Mokuba, but he wants Marik's God card. (In the Japanese, Mokuba doesn't mention that this is the guy who kidnapped him.)
Suit #1announces that this will not be the site of the Battle City finals. The actual tournament arena will be arriving any moment. Then Kaiba's blimp flies over the stadium. Kaiba Craft 3 (the Battle Ship) is cleared to land.
The airship lands, and Mokuba tells everyone to board. Odion and Marik are the first to go into the ship, followed by Mai, Yugi, Bakura, and Joey. But when Téa, Tristan, Serenity, and Duke start to board, the Suits stop them, teling them that no one is allowed on board without a tournament ID. Serenity tries to explain how much she's been looking forward to seeing her brother duel, and the others crowd around, asking to be given a break. Finally, Mokuba steps in, telling Suit #2 (Mokuba calls him Roland, but later Suit #1 is the one they call Roland. I think the dubbers made a mistake here) to give it a rest—he doesn't have a tournament ID, and he's going! But they're Mr. Kaiba's rules, Suit #2 protests. Mokuba appeals to his big brother, who shrugs it off with, "Whatever." Taking it as a yes, the gang runs on board, and Kaiba tells the Suits to just let the dweebs go. (Japanese Kaiba tells them to pretend they didn't see it.)
As Kaiba walks up the steps, he tells the Suits to begin take-off immediately. They protest that the final duelist isn't there yet, but Kaiba doesn't care. All three God cards are on board.
But just as Kaiba and Mokuba disappear into the airship, the eighth finalist enters the stadium. She's wearing a veil over her face, but it's Ishizu, thinking that she's here to save her brother. She presents her locator cards to Suit #2, and boards the airship.
The airship takes off, and the gang gathers in the observation lounge to watch the city below through huge picture windows. Serenity thanks Joey for bringing her, and he laughs, saying it's just one of the many perks of being related to a champion. Kaiba, who just happens to be passing, takes the opportunity to insult Joey, telling him he's only there by a fluke, and not to get his hopes up too high—it's a long way down, and monkeys can't fly. Joey's pretty steamed. (Japanese Kaiba tells Jounouchi this is as far as he'll get, and calls him "bonkotsu duelist," an ordinary or common duelist.)
Then Kaiba stops to offer Yugi some advice. He knows Yugi hasn't played his God card yet, but Yugi had better have it in his deck during the finals, because Kaiba intends to win it! When this tournament is over, he'll be the world's greatest duelist, and the owner of all three Egyptian God cards. Yami stands over Yugi's shoulder, glaring at Kaiba as he talks. Then Kaiba walks away, saying he has a tournament to run.
The finalists go to their rooms, which are accessed by their ID cards. Joey takes Serenity to his room, and she rushes in, exclaiming over the view through the porthole windows. She thanks Joey again for bringing her there, and for the operation that made it possible for her to see it. It's like a dream, she says, and Joey thanks her. She says she's the one who should be thanking him, and tells him he's the greatest brother, and her best friend. He gets teary-eyed, claiming it's his allergies, and says he couldn't have gotten there without her help. (Japanese Jounouchi doesn't make any excuses for his tears.) Fiercely, he insists to himself that he's going to do his best and let anything distract him.... (Japanese Jounouchi thinks that he'll have his duel with Yugi and become a True Duelist.)
Téa, Tristan, and Duke come bursting into Joey's room, distracting him. Tristan says they need somewhere to crash while Kaiba's people try to find rooms for them. (In the Japanese, he says that there aren't any rooms for the cheerleaders.) He and Duke raid the refrigerator, while Téa exclaims over the room service menu.
Joey shouts at them to get out of his room, but Serenity tells him to be a good sport. Joey doesn't know how he's going to focus on his duels with all this going on!
Tristan thinks he'll ask Serenity to check out the romantic view with him, but before he can make his move, Duke gets to Serenity first. Tristan weeps with disapointment, while Joey collapses into a chair in disgust. Tristan tosses Joey a soft drink, apologizing for crashing Joey's private time with his sister. Joey tells him to go bother Yugi, but Tristan says they wanted to make sure Yugi had some peace and quiet before the finals. Joey reminds him that he's dueling too! Then he thanks Tristan for taking care of Serenity. Embarrassed, Tristan assures him that it's no problem!
Kaiba's alone in his room, thinking that it's almost time. The Suits are about to knock on his door when Mokuba stops them. They intended to tell Kaiba about the arrival of the eighth duelist, but Mokuba warns them off, saying that Kaiba's preparing for his duels. In his room, Kaiba goes through his deck, thinking that the moment he's waiting for is about to arrive. With Obelisk, he'll beat both Yugi and Marik, and once he has all three God cards, he'll be unbeatable! (Randomly, the shot of Obelisk flanked by Odion and Yugi is changed to bring Obelisk to the forefront in the US version.)
In her room, Mai sips a drink, saying to herself that she might have missed out on Duelist Kingdom, but this time, she'll be victorious. (A shot of Mai with a table and wine bottle in the foreground is cut from the US version.)
Odion sits on the floor on his knees, promising that he will not fail his master, Marik. (In the Japanese, we see a flashback of Rishid's memory that's cut from the US version.)
Marik looks out the window of his room, thinking that he's manipulated so many people, he can't lose. He still controls Téa's mind, and he's fooled the spirit of the Millennium Ring into dueling for him. Soon the power of the Pharaoh will be his! (Japanese Malik thinks that the markings on his back contain the Pharaoh's memory, but he won't let Yugi have it. He'll use the Dark Game to send him into the darkness forever.)
Yugi sits contemplating his own God card, Slifer the Sky Dragon. If he really wants to stop Marik, he'll have to do as Kaiba said and put Slifer in his deck. And no matter what, he must believe in his deck and himself. Yami tells Yugi that he's made the correct decision. They're going to need that card. The Battle City finals will be an epic clash between the three Egyptian God cards. (The shot of the three Gods has Yugi in the corner in the Japanese.)
Yugi's also worried about Bakura, and wonders if the person on board isn't really Bakura. (Cut from the US version is a scene of Dark Bakura ripping into a steak like an animal, and grumbling that blood isn't enough.)
He remembers the duel with the spirit of the Millennium Ring at Duelist Kingdom. But Tristan got rid of the Ring, so how could the spirit be back? Yami says you can't predict the path of a Millennium Item. The Ring must have found its way back to Bakura. Now winning will be harder than ever, but they have to win! The fate of the world depends on it!
(Japanese Yugi is worried about another thing—the eighth duelist. No one has seen her, and he wonders who she is.)
Ishizu thinks that everything is now in place, and it's up to fate. (In the Japanese, Ishizu is silent.)
Suit #1 announces that the Battle City finals are about to begin. All the duelists are to meet in the main hall. As Joey leaves his room, he nearly runs into Kaiba, who tells him, "Winners first, monkey boy." Joey grumbles and shouts after him, but Kaiba doesn't pay any attention. (Kaiba doesn't say anything in the Japanese, just strides haughtily by. Jounouchi makes a fist and says he'll beat that guy.) Then Marik comes out of his room and tells Joey, may the best man win! Joey says he will. (Japanese Malik asks Jounouchi to take it easy on him if they duel each other. Jounouchi says he's sorry, but he always does his best, even if it's a friend. As he walks away, he thinks that he doesn't care who his opponent is. Even if it's Yugi, he'll win.)
Yugi puts his deck in his Duel Disk and Yami takes over. It's time to duel.
