Yu-Jyo A Yu-Gi-Oh!Episode Guide

Focusing on the differences between the American and Japanese episodes

Episode 154: My Freaky Valentine, Part 3 (The Miracle of Hermos)

Joey raises the Hermos card, to everyone's astonishment. Yami says that just as he was given the Eye of Timaeus, Joey was chosen to wield the Claw of Hermos. (Japanese Yami says that Jounouchi was chosen as a True Duelist by the Legendary Dragon.) Valon wonders how a hack like Wheeler got his hands on that card, and Rafael points out that just because he has it, doesn't mean he knows how to use it. That will be the true test of his power. (Japanese Rafael says that maybe they look down on that guy too much. This means he is a strong duelist.)

(Cut from the US version is this short scene in which Ryuuzaki exclaims that he never heard of the Claw of Hermos. Haga thinks Jounouchi might have gotten that rare card from Pegasus. Ryuuzaki is mad—why are they the only ones to get rare cards?)

Meanwhile, Duke has made it inside the building and is running down the hall, saying he has to get the gang out of there fast! He finds a roomful of computers and monitors and sits down at the desk, thinking it looks like the main security system. He starts busily working at a keyboard.

Back at the duel, Mai faces Joey with 3600 life points to his 200. Joey says he's found the secret to ending the duel and saving them both. (Japanese Jounouchi doesn't say anything. Mai thinks that she senses some strong power from that card.) First, he plays Monster Reborn to bring back the Fiend Megacyber. Mai's not impressed—her Harpie's Pet Dragon destroyed the Fiend once, and it can do it again. But Joey's not done. Next, he plays Time Wizard (500 ATK), and then summons Hermos, combining Time Wizard and Hermos together. (Japanese Jounouchi says that Hermos has the ability to combine with a monster on the field to form an equipment card.) Everyone watches as the two monsters fuse in a cone of light to form—a giant hammer with a winged clock face! Joey's freaked—he's not sure what he's created. And Valon laughs, calling it a croquet hammer with wings, and Tristan slaps his forehead with his palm. Téa wonders if Joey can change that hammer thingie back into a dragon (Japanese Anzu warns Jounouchi not to make mistakes), but Yami says there's no need to. Yugi adds that first impressions can be deceiving. (Japanese Yugi says he senses the power of Hermos.)

Joey says he doesn't care what it looks like, he's going to trust his deck. He orders Fiend Megacyber to pick up the hammer and attack. Téa hopes Joey knows what he's doing out there, but Tristan doubts it. (Japanese Anzu says the monster's attack hasn't changed, but he still attacks! Honda says, "Ano baka!" which means, "That idiot!")

Mai thinks Joey's monster's attack points are still lower than hers, but she'd better play it safe. She activates her trap card, Harpie Lady Sparrow Formation to destroy Joey's monster. But Joey says his hammer has the power of his dragon and his Time Wizard. The Fiend Megacyber pounds the hammer into the floor, and an abyss opens beneath it. Glowing numbers appear on each of Mai's monsters—Harpie's Pet Dragon is number 1, and the Harpies are 3, 2, and 6. Tristan asks Téa what's going on, but she says she's the wrong person to ask. Valon laughs, saying thanks for the counting lesson!

Joey exhorts his monsters to do something, but nothing happens, so dejectedly he ends his turn. Mai asks if he's still trying to lose on purpose, and draws, saying it all ends here. But suddenly, her monsters are sucked into the abyss formed by the Hermos-Time Wizard hammer. She asks him what's going on, but he's as confused as she is! Yugi thinks whatever Joey did must have destroyed Mai's monsters, but Yami says the hole is still there, and Mai's monsters might return.

Mai sets one card face down and ends her turn. Joey attacks her directly with Fiend Megacyber, reducing her life points to 1400. He hopes she'll forgive him some day. Rafael tells Valon not to worry—they'll get a soul either way. But Valon protests that Mai is one of them. (Japanese Rafael says Jounouchi is truly the duelist with the Legendary Dragon. Valon says, "Mai.") Then Joey sets one card face down and ends his turn, thinking he has to make sure that both their life points reach zero at the same time.

But Mai is holding herself and shaking, saying she can't lose! She can't go back there. The vision of her loss to Marik assails her again. She gave up everything to be a winner, she says, and she'll never lose. (Japanese Mai says that she has Doma's power, so she can't lose.) Mai draws, and Harpie's Pet Dragon swoops up out of the hole and returns to the field. Yami and Yugi realize that Joey's hammer sent Mai's monsters into the future. The numbers represented how many turns before the monster would return. Unfortunately,. Harpie's Pet Dragon was Number 1, so it came back first. And now it's Mai's turn. (Japanese Yugi also points out that since the Harpie Ladies haven't come back, Harpie's Pet Dragon's attack is only 2500. But it's still more than Gigacyber.)

Mai orders Harpie's Pet Dragon to attack the Fiend Megacyber. Rafael says he wouldn't do that if he were her (Japanese Rafael says that Mai is losing her cool), and Valon calls out to her to wait, but it's too late. Joey activates his trap card, Skull Dice. Mai's Dragon is about to lose some attack points. The die rolls a 2, and Harpie's Pet Dragon loses half its attack points, lowering its attack to 1250. It's destroyed by Fiend Megacyber, and Mai's life points are down to 450. Now they're almost even.

Mai begins to shake again, mumbling that she can't lose, she won't go back to that place. Rafael says she's lost it, and Valon leaps from the balcony. He has a piece of the Orichalcos stone in his ring, which he uses to break the Seal. It blows up, flinging everyone back. When the smoke clears, Joey is lying on the ground, and Valon is holding an unconscious Mai. Rafael asks why Valon did it—he betrayed Dartz and risked his soul to save some girl. Valon protests that she's not "some girl." (Japanese Rafael warns Valon that even though they're protected by the Oreikalkos, releasing the Seal could kill them. Valon says even so, he can't let Mai duel.)

Rafael says he'll make up for it by taking the Pharaoh's soul, and raises the amulet around his neck, saying its power puts the Puzzle to shame. A blinding light shoots from the amulet.

In the control room, Duke finally cracks the security system. (In the Japanese, the computer screen reads: "All Clear" and "Industrial Illusion Co. LTD.")

The security gates begin to rise. The gang's not locked in any more—but Rafael, Valon, and Mai have disappeared. Tristan and Téa run to Joey, still lying unconscious on the floor. He recovers, rubbing his head, demanding to know where Mai is. He was so close, he says, then shouts that he'll get her back!

The Blue-Eyes White Dragon jet comes in for a landing outside the Industrial Illusions building, as Joey continues to be upset about losing Mai. Tristan says she turned her back on them. Joey's got to face facts—Mai wasn't just playing a friendly game of Duel Monsters, she was after Joey's soul.

Kaiba and Mokuba walk in. Kaiba's not thrilled to see the gang. Then Duke runs in, saying whoa, it's a party! Kaiba says it's a dweeb convention. (Japanese Mokuba asks what they're doing there, and Yami says that Pegasus called them to come there.)

Then Kaiba asks if they've seen any sign of Pegasus (Japanese Kaiba asks if Pegasus is all right), but Yami says no, they're too late. Tristan says Mai got to him before they did and took his soul with some Orichalcos thing. Yami asks Kaiba if he's had any experience with the Seal of Orichalcos card, and Mokuba jumps in to say his brother just wiped the floor with someone who played it. He explains that the duelist pretended to be Pegasus and forced them to go to Duelist Kingdom to duel him. Kaiba adds, and then he ran away. So they came there to find some answers. Whoever captured Pegasus is trying to take over Kaiba's company, and that's unacceptable.

Yami remembers that Pegasus said that someone was after him. Pegasus gave Yami a special card and told him to guard it with his life. Yami pulls out the card, saying it might be a clue. It contains the image of a key. Duke says there was one door upstairs that wouldn't unlock, even after he'd cracked the security system. Kaiba demands that Duke take them there right now!

Tristan is steamed, asking Kaiba who invited him! Yami goes to Joey, who's still on the floor, worried about Mai. He tells Joey it will be all right, and Joey thanks him, getting up. (Japanese Yami says to Jounouchi, "Let's go," and Jounouchi says okay.) The gang all head for the elevators, wondering what's up there. Rex and Weevil are upset about being ignored, but then decide that it will be easier to sneak in and grab whatever's behind that door.

Up at the top of the tower, Duke leads them to the door. Now they just have to figure out how to open it with a Duel Monsters card! Yami takes the card and runs it through a card reader. The door opens onto a large, dark room. Who wants to go in first? Tristan asks, and Joey says maybe they can draw straws. (Japanese Honda says it's so dark in there, and Jounouchi wonders if it's a trap of Doma's.) Hmph, says Kaiba, and walks in. Mokuba follows, with a junior "hmph." Joey suggests that they close the door and run. (Japanese Jounouchi doesn't say anything.)

The lights come on, to reveal a room full of larger-than-life size Duel Monsters—all Pegasus' favorite Toons, with a huge version of Toon World in the center. Kaiba grumbles that he hates Toons. Weevil thinks Pegasus must have stashed his rarest cards in there, and he and Rex are eager to find them.

Then Pegasus appears—or a hologram of Pegasus. The hologram greets "Yugi-boy," saying, by the way, he did all the interior decorating himself, and isn't it impressive? Tristan says Pegasus should get over himself, and Téa tells him to keep it down. (Japanese Pegasus welcomes Yugi-boy to his private room, saying that here is a kingdom that can ease his mind, and asks if Yugi likes it. Honda says nobody likes it, and Anzu tells him to shut up.) Pegasus says that if Yugi's hearing this, it can only mean that the people who were after his soul have captured him. It all began when a mysterious man tried to buy out his company. Kaiba adds that he got dragged into this mess because someone tried to buy out his company, too. Pegasus continues, saying that this individual—Dartz—possesses an ancient power stronger than any he's seen. They're all in danger. Dartz plans to use Pegasus' game to destroy civilization, and he must be stopped. The key to taking him down is somewhere in this room.

(Japanese Pegasus says that the organization is called Doma, and that it's a very rich and secret organization, operating behind the scenes for thousands of years. Cut from the US version is this long sequence in which Pegasus gives a little history lesson, accompanied by various illustrations, asking if the rise and fall of Rome was the inevitable result of history, and who provided the funds for exploration during the Sailing Age? Were the various popular revolutions spontaneous actions of the people? Who gave Napoleon his power?The Industrial Revolution and the Renaissance—who provided the investment for them?)

Ever since his retirement began, Pegasus continues, he's furthered his studies of the ancient Egyptian origins of Duel Monsters. He's discovered that these creatures existed long before the pyramids were built. In the city of Atlantis, Yami adds. That's where Dartz comes in, Pegasus says. He's trying to resurrect the most terrifying beast that ever roamed the earth, the great leviathan, by draining the souls of man and beast in order to build up the strength of this monster. (Japanese Pegasus says he doesn't have any real evidence, but he believes that Doma was involved in all these elements of history. Now Doma is acting again, using the power of the Duel Monsters that Pegasus created. They seem to have some new evil plan.)

Yami remembers the bearded man speaking of the great beast awakening from its ancient slumber. (Japanese Gurimo tells Yami that his soul will be a sacrifice for their god, to destroy the corrupt world and become a foundation for the new age.) "You're our only hope," Pegasus tells Yugi. He's created an exclusive card just for Yugi and hidden it somewhere in this room. Think strategically, he says, and asks where one would find an extra card. (Japanese Pegasus says he wanted to give Yugi the card himself, but he's sure Yugi can find it.)

The Pot of Greed! It lets you draw extra cards. (Japanese Yami says Pot of Greed is the only thing in the room not connected to Toon World.) Rex and Weevil run for the Pot, but Tristan gets it first and pulls out—a blank card. Kaiba says it's worthless. Pegasus tells Yugi only he can save the Duel Monsters, and the hologram breaks up and disappears.

Joey can't believe this is happening! Why would Mai join a plot to destroy the world? They brainwashed her or something. Kaiba tells them to wake up—this is a hoax planned by Pegasus. There's no one traveling around stealing souls with a magic playing card. It's the same nonsense Pegasus pulled in Duelist Kingdom. He's convinced Pegasus is just trying to distract him long enough to take over Kaiba Corp. (Japanese Kaiba warns the others not to get too close to Doma. He remembers something Gozaburo once said—that there must be some dark force behind the world economy. Kaiba says he didn't think it was important—he thought it was the nonsense of a coward. Then he tells Yugi that no matter how he struggles, these are not opponents he can deal with.)

Yami tells Kaiba that's enough. It's not always about him. (Japanese Yami says it's hard to say. Maybe he can't touch a huge organization by himself, but...) He pulls out the Eye of Timaeus, and a shocked Kaiba asks him where he got it. Same place he got his, Joey says, pulling out his own Claw of Hermos. Yami knows that Kaiba has one of them, too, and Kaiba draws the Fang of Critius from his deck. The dragon cards all begin to glow, and Yami says he believes that the only way to defeat the leviathan is to use the three cards together. He asks Kaiba to trust what's inside his heart and join them.

Kaiba, Yami, and Joey all hold up their dragon cards together.

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