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Episode
GuideEpisode 122: Back to Battle City, Part 1 (The Location of the Finals, Alcatraz)
The duel ship approaches Kaiba Corp Island for the conclusion of the Battle City finals. (This shot of the Battle Ship is cut from the US version.)
Kaiba, standing on the bridge with Mokuba, says that this is it—there are only four finalists left, and before too long, he'll be crowned the world's greatest duelist in top of his Duel Tower! (There's no dialog in the Japanese version.)
(Cut from the US version is a scene where Mokuba remembers his last conversation with Noah, and sheds a few tears. He thinks that he must brace up. Now he must live in the real world for Noah, and therefore can't always rely on Big Brother. Kaiba asks him what's wrong, and he tells him it's nothing.)
(Also cut is a short scene where Kaiba says that Alcatraz is the heritage of Gozaburo: the center of Kaiba Corporation's military industry. The Duel Tower was built on its ruins as the stage for the finals of the Battle City Tournament.)
Plus, Kaiba continues, he'll have the most powerful deck in Duel Monsters, once he wins the three Egyptian God cards. From Marik, he'll win the Winged Dragon of Ra, which seems to be the most powerful God card. Then he'll gain Slifer the Sky Dragon from Yugi. And since he already possesses Obelisk the Tormentor, his deck will be completely unstoppable! He'll be respected and feared by every duelist on earth! Mokuba looks up at his brother, saying, "Not again!" (Japanese Kaiba says now it's time to determine the winner: Malik, with the God of Ra Dragon, Yugi's Saint Dragon God of Osiris, or his own God of Obelisk. He says he is the one who can gain all three God cards. He's the one who'll stand on top of the Duel Tower. Mokuba looks up at him and says, "Nii-sama" [Big Brother].)
Joey goes to check on Mai. Serenity, who's been staying with her, says she still hasn't said a word. Joey can't believe Marik trapped her mind in the Shadow Realm! (Mai's low-cut top has been changed to a tank top in the US version.)
He kneels at her bedside, asking her to wake up, telling her not to worry. If losing to Marik got her there, maybe if he defeats Marik, it will bring her back. Serenity tells Joey to promise to be careful, and he assures her he will. Careful is his middle name! (Japanese Shizuka urges Jounouchi to win, and he says leave it to him.)
Ishizu is in her room, thinking that her brother must be saved from the evil that's controlling him. (Japanese Ishizu thinks that the final battle is about to begin.) Dark Marik confronts her, telling her he wants to know where Odion is. (Japanese Malik says that since she lost so soon, she can relax and watch the finals. Then he asks where Rishid is.) She insists she doesn't know, and he approaches, raising the Millennium Rod and saying that without the Millennium Necklace, she's powerless. She remembers giving the Necklace to Yugi, and shrinks back in fear. Dark Marik threatens to send her to the Shadow Realm if she doesn't tell him where Odion is. (Japanese Yami Malik says he can brainwash her to find out where Rishid is.) After enjoying the sight of her fear for a moment, he turns away, saying he's got a tournament to win, and he'll deal with her later. He threatens her a bit more, then leaves. (Japanese Malik says that Rishid has been unconscious since being attacked by an angry Ra—and he might never wake up again. If she thinks Kaiba and Yugi will think of a way to defeat him, it's all in vain. They'll fall before Ra. He'll defeat Yugi first, then take care of Rishid at his leisure.)
Yugi goes to Bakura's room, where the bed lies empty. This tournament's getting too dangerous, he thinks. Now Bakura's in the Shadow Realm, thanks to Marik. Yami appears beside Yugi, agreeing that everyone who's dueled with Marik has paid a large price. (Cut from the US version is a short bit where Yami explains that Bakura lost the Dark Game to Malik, and can't return unless the man who established the Dark Game is defeated.)
First Odion was struck down, then Mai's mind was trapped in the Shadow Realm. (The flashbacks of Odion and Mai have been added to the US version. Japanese Yugi and Yami are only talking about Bakura.) And now Bakura's gone. Yugi wonders why his friends have to suffer when he's the one Marik wants. Yami says it's both of them. He thinks Marik's trying to weaken them by targeting their friends. Yugi says they can't let him get away with that! He and Yami will win the tournament, and then maybe everyone will be okay. He knows they can do it! Yami agrees—when they work together, there's no stopping them. (Japanese Yugi says there have been too many sacrifices in this tournament. Yami apologizes to Yugi and says he's to blame—Malik's doing these things out of hatred for the Pharaoh. Yugi protests that it's not Yami's fault, he can't be blamed for things he doesn't remember. Doesn't Yami try to protect everyone? Besides, maybe everyone will be saved. He encourages Yami to continue fighting. Yami agrees. A True Duelist won't quit in the middle.)
Téa, Tristan, and Duke show up to tell Yugi it's almost time. Tristan says Bakura's in no shape to be out of bed. (Japanese Honda wonders if Bakura's disappearance has something to do with the Millennium Ring.) Yugi says Bakura's just getting some air. He runs out into the hallway, saying he and Joey have some duels to win, and they need the gang's help. Téa says they'll be right there on the sidelines, and Tristan and Duke agree. (Japanese Yugi says it's all right, Bakura will be back. Anzu says that's right, and the others agree.)
The ship lands on Kaiba Corp Island. The gang leave the ship, while Kaiba watches from the bridge, announcing again that soon he'll be crowned the world's greatest duelist. (Japanese Kaiba tells the warriors to leave the ship, saying he allows them to step on the territory established by his pride.) The gang gather at the base of the Duel Tower, where Kaiba tells them that this island is the site of the original Kaiba Corporation, but he tore it down. Now he plans to defeat Yugi at the top of his Duel Tower. Yugi switches into Yami. But Joey's not happy at being ignored, and tells Kaiba that he's in this tournament, too. He'll duel circles around Kaiba! Kaiba says Joey shouldn't even be in his tournament, and calls Joey an amateur. (Japanese Kaiba says he'll bury Jounouchi in the scrap.) Tristan has to hold Joey back from mixing it up with Kaiba, telling him to save it for his duel. (Japanese Jounouchi reminds everyone yet again that he was a semi-finalist at Duelist Kingdom.)
Kaiba leads the way to the Duel Tower. Dark Marik shows up to taunt Yugi, saying it's too bad some of his friends can't be there. (Japanese Malik just says it's a pleasant view, and doesn't the Pharaoh agree?) Joey's ready to go for him, too, telling him he's going down. (Cut from the US version is a short bit where Japanese Honda makes threats, too, but they sound suspiciously like monkey noises. Jounouchi asks him if he hasn't gotten rid of his monkey nature yet, and Honda's mortified.)
Dark Marik wants to get on with the duels, and asks when he finds out who his next victim is. Mokuba tells him to chill out. He'll find out inside the Duel Tower.
They enter the base of the Duel Tower, where Roland is waiting. He announces that the second half of the Battle City finals will take place here. The entryway is an empty space with four doors around the sides. Téa says it doesn't look like a dueling arena, and Mokuba tells her to just wait and see. Roland tells the four finalists they must must each choose one of the doors, and tells them to choose wisely. (Japanese Isono tells them not to be concerned, there's no difference between the doors.) Joey worries about which one to choose, and asks Yugi for his advice. Yugi says he doesn't think there's a wrong choice, so Joey starts doing "one potato, two potato," while Kaiba wonders how Joey ever made it this far, and tells him to just pick a door already. Joey finally chooses a door—just as Marik goes into it. Now what? Meanwhile, Mokuba leads the rest of the gang along a moving walkway to the spectator's area. Yugi tells Joey to just pick the door closest to him, and chooses one himself. Kaiba's already gone in, leaving Joey to take the one that's left.
Inside the four doors, the finalists find dueling stations. They take their places on them, and they begin to rise. Mokuba and the rest arrive inside the main body of the Duel Tower, an octagonal structure that rises as far as they can see. But where are the duelists? Then they see the finalists in their dueling stations rise above the tower floor, to levels marked at 4000 points. (Japanese Honda asks Jounouchi what he's doing, and Jounouchi says how should he know!) Joey asks Kaiba what's going on, and Kaiba says Roland will explain the rules, and he's asked him to speak slowly so Joey can follow. Joey's not amused.
Roland explains. This preliminary duel is to decide the match-ups for the semi-finals. They will all duel against each other in a battle royal, and as they lose life points, their dueling stations will rise. The first two duelists to reach the top will meet in the first semi-final duel, and the other two will fight in the second duel. They'll each begin with 4000 life points, and any player can attack any of the others. Their decks must contain no more than 40 cards. They connect their Duel Disks to monitors at their stations that will display their cards. (In the Japanese, the monitor says "READY" when the Duel Disk is connected.)
Roland ends by reminding them that this duel will have no effect on their final placement, it will only decide who they'll face in the semi-finals.
Téa says that's good. It doesn't really matter who wins, because it's just to decide the match-ups, but Duke explains that it's not that simple. This could be the most important duel these guys have. They can control who'll they'll face in the semi-finals, and will have adjust their strategies accordingly. Also, two duelists can gang up on one if they want. (Japanese Otogi says it's a psychological contest. For example, Jounouchi wants to duel Yugi in the semi-final, so he might support Yugi against the other two. But the other three might attack him.) Tristan wonders who they might gang up on. Knowing Joey, they'll go after him. Joey wants to know if the guys are talking about him, and Tristan says they were just making up a cheer for him. (Japanese Jounouchi sees them looking at him, and asks what they're doing. Honda tells Jounouchi not to lose too soon, and Jounouchi tells him to shut up!)
Yugi thinks that this duel is for them to choose their opponent in the semi-finals. Kaiba thinks that his opponent in the semi-finals should be Yugi, so he can get Yugi's God card and use it in the final against Marik. Marik thinks it doesn't matter who he duels next—he'll get the Pharaoh's power in the end. (Japanese Malik wants to battle Yugi, too, because he can't wait to kill him.) Roland tells the duelists to prepare themselves. (Cut from the US version is a scene where Jounouchi remembers his promise to duel Yugi in Battle City, which has inspired him to win so far, and a flashback of Yugi and Jounouchi making the promise.)
(Also cut is Jounouchi thinking that he also promised to battle Malik in order to save Mai.)
Roland announces that it's time to determine which duelist will go first. Joey wants to know why he doesn't just go first, but Roland tells him to pay attention to the rules Mr. Kaiba set up. (Japanese Jounouchi asks what the method will be.) The order of the turns will be decided by each player choosing one monster card from his deck. The players will go in order of the attack strength of the monster they choose, but the card then can't be put back in their deck. Do they choose a high-level monster in order to attack sooner, or a low-level monster to save their most powerful cards? Kaiba wants the advantage of attacking first, so he chooses a high-level monster, Masked Beast Des Gardius (3300 ATK). (Japanese Kaiba thinks he took this card from someone else by the ante rule, so he won't feel sorry to lose it.) Yugi chooses Feral Imp (1300 ATK), Malik chooses Rekunga (1700 ATK), and Joey chooses Swordsman of Landstar (500 ATK), thinking he'll keep his higher-attack monsters. The order is Kaiba, Marik, Yugi, Joey.
Kaiba thinks everything is going as planned. He'll spare Yugi so he can face him in the semi-finals, and focus his attention on eliminating Marik and Joey. Joey thinks that as much as he'd like to crush Kaiba, he has more important reasons for being there. He promised Yugi and Mai that he'd take Marik down. (Japanese Jounouchi thinks he wants to duel Yugi to keep his promise. But....) Yugi thinks that the entire world is depending on their victory. What if they fail? The stakes are too high! Yami tells him they joined this tournament to save the world, and that means stopping Marik. They can't let him win. (Japanese Yami is confused about which player he should try to duel with. He he has reasons to fight each of them—Malik, to defeat his true enemy; Jounouchi, to keep his promise to duel him again; and Kaiba, to finish their doomed war. Yugi tells him to fight according to his thoughts. Flashbacks of Malik, Jounouchi, and Kaiba, as Yami thinks about his reasons to fight all three duelists, are changed to one long flashback of Malik in the US version.)
Kaiba begins the duel by setting a card face down and summoning Vorse Raider (1900 ATK). Marik plays Newdoria in defense (800 DEF), thinking that his monster's special ability will come in handy. Yugi draws, thinking that he knows that he must eventually defeat Marik, but he's not sure who he should face in the semi-finals to make that happen. (Japanese Yami thinks he must choose his opponent with his duelist's soul.) He plays Big Shield Gardna in defense (2600 DEF), and sets two cards face down. Joey draws, but his hand is the pits! (Japanese Jounouchi thinks that he's only drawn high-level monsters he can't summon without a sacrifice.) He sets a card face down and ends his turn.
Telling Joey he doesn't belong in his tournament (Japanese Kaiba says he'll teach Jounouchi the food chain of the fight: a small fry can't touch a proud lion), Kaiba sends Vorse Raider to attack Jounouchi directly, but Yugi plays his trap card, Regulation of Tribe, to stop the attack. It allows him to select one type of monster and prevent it from attacking, and he chooses Beast-Warriors, like Vorse Raider. Kaiba is furious, but Yugi says that he and Joey are a team, and he'll always protect him. (Japanese Yugi has chosen to keep his vow to his friend.)
