A 
Episode
GuideEpisode 171: Fighting for a Friend, Part 3 (Resounding Soul)
[Note: I'm using a low-resolution 320x240 WMV copy of the US episode for this comparison, so it's hard to get good screencaps from it. (Thanks to Asj for providing some replacement screencaps!) Also, there might be some changes I'm missing because I can't see them in the low-res copy. Whenever I can finally get a good copy of this episode, I'll redo this comparison.]
Back at the Hawkins trailer, Rebecca is at work on her laptop, trying to access the Kaiba Corp satellite so she can find Joey. Finally, she gets in. Her grandfather says well done, and asks her what it says.
Outside, an impatient Tristan says he can't wait around any more. Joey needs their help, and he needs it now! Téa tells him to chill, and Duke says Téa's right—without Kaiba's tracking system, they have no hope of finding Joey. But Tristan says Joey might be losing his soul as they speak! Téa wonders if they should go, but Yami says to wait a little longer. They have to give Rebecca a chance to find him. Until then, he has faith that Joey can take care of himself. (Japanese Honda protests that Valon isn't the only one looking for Jounouchi—Mai is, too. Anzu says, what if Mai duels Jounouchi? Yami says Jounouchi can't fight Mai—they'll both get hurt, no matter who wins. Jounouchi knows that.)
Rebecca comes to the door of the trailer, saying that she found Joey. According to the readout, he's not far. Yami takes the map from her, saying that he'll track Joey down. Turning to go, he tells the gang to move the trailer to a safer place.
Téa tells Yami he's not going alone, and Tristan agrees that they're all in this together. Yami thanks them and says let's go. Rebecca clears her throat, but Yami tells her to stay there, and asks Duke to keep an eye on Rebecca and the professor until they get back. Rebecca protests, but Professor Hawkins says no, they need her talents back there. Yami tells Rebecca that as soon as Joey's safe, they'll find Yugi, and he promises her that Yugi will be all right. Duke tells Yami to go kick some butt, and Yami, Tristan, and Téa take off, as Rebecca and the professor watch. Professor Hawkins tells Rebecca that Yugi will soon be back safe and sound. He believes in the Pharaoh, and she should, too. (Japanese Professor Hopkins tells Rebecca it will be all right. The other Yugi won't be confused by the temptation of darkness. She must trust him.)
The professor thinks, Rebecca's having a hard time forgiving the Pharaoh for what happened to Yugi. She must think he'll be tempted by evil again. They'll just have to hope she's wrong. (Japanese Professor Hopkins thinks, everything has fallen on the other Yugi's shoulders. He asks the Nameless Pharaoh to safe the world. Rebecca asks the other Yugi to save her "darling.")
Meanwhile, back at the duel, Valon asks Joey if he's going to stare at that card all night long. He says it works better if you actually play it. The score stands at Valon 900, Joey 1300. (Japanese Valon doesn't speak. Jounouchi says he'll put everything on this card.)
Joey summons the Brigadier of Landstar (Gunman of Landstar) (900 ATK). (The Brigadier's rifle is changed in the US version to look a bit less rifle-y.)
Then he plays Monster Reborn to bring back Rocket Warrior (1500 ATK). Finally, he plays the Claw of Hermos.
Valon says it's about time! He's been waiting for this. Now he can finally prove his strength. No monster's too strong for his armor! (Japanese Valon says when he defeats the dragon, he'll achieve the perfect victory.)
Yami and the others are running down the street. Téa, who has the map, says Joey should be only a few blocks away. Then Yami stops, noticing a glow from his Duel Disk. He draws his legendary dragon card, which is glowing. Tristan says Joey must have played his dragon.
Joey merges Hermos with Rocket Warrior to form the Rocket Hermos Cannon, which he equips to the Brigadier of Landstar, which still has 900 attack points. Valon thinks Joey must be kidding—that puny little guy couldn't put a dent in his armor! Joey says he's not looking to make a dent—he'll blow the whole thing away. He orders the Brigadier to attack, and the Rocket Hermos Cannon blasts its missiles at Valon.
When the smoke clears, Valon is lying on the ground, his armor destroyed. Joey cheers, thinking that he's won, since he's the last man standing. (Cut from the US version is this bit where Jounouchi wonders why the Seal doesn't disappear.)
But Valon's fingers twitch, and he struggles to his feet, saying he's down, but not out. Joey may have destroyed his armor, but when he did, he let loose its most devastating ability! (Japanese Valon says that really hurt. Hermos' power is very strong. But Jounouchi forgot the effect of Active Guard, which heals the player's damage. Cut from the US version is this flashback, in which Valon explained the effect of Active Guard the first time, and then Jounouchi saying he almost forgot.)
Valon still has his Data Brain magic card, which activated when Joey destroyed his armor. The Data Brain's sensors reach out to analyze the Rocket Hermos Cannon, memorizing its molecular structure, and creating an exact duplicate on Valon's side of the field. (Japanese Valon explains that when his armor is damaged by the opponent's magic, Data Brain can copy that magic effect.) Then, Valon brings back Psychic Armor Head (0 ATK, raised to 500) from the graveyard, and plays another Burning Knuckle (0 ATK, raised to 500 by the Seal of Orichalcos, then raised 200 points for every Armor monster on the field, to 900). This time, he says, he's upgrading his armor with a new weapon—the one he just got from Joey.
Valon attacks with the duplicate Rocket Hermos Cannon. (This close-up shot of the barrel of the Cannon is cut from the US version.)
Joey's monsters are destroyed, and he's flung back into the Seal's barrier by the force of the attack, then falls on his face.
In Yami's hand, his Timaeus card stops glowing.
Elsewhere, Kaiba's also holding his dragon card and watching its glow fade.
Joey's down to 400 life points. Valon says it's lucky for Joey that the duplicate Rocket Cannon only lasts for one turn. But it looks like Joey's down for the count, so one turn was all he needed. (Cut from the US version is this close-up of Jounouchi lying on the ground, quivering.)
Joey struggles to his feet, saying that Joey Wheeler never gives up. Valon tells him he's a mess—he should walk away while he still can, but Joey says no way. He's doing this for Mai, because whether she knows it or not, she needs his help. And in order to do that, he needs to win. (Japanese Jounouchi says he'll never give up until the last moment.)
Valon thinks, Joey's even tougher than he thought. He's never faced an opponent with this much determination before. With a fierce look on his face, Joey draws, saying there's too much at stake for him to lose. (Japanese Jounouchi says now is the moment of truth.)
Meanwhile, Mai is speeding towards the duel on her motorcycle.
Kaiba and Mokuba are at a car dealership, picking out transportation. (The sign at the top of the building is removed from the US version. It reads "Perr...")
Mokuba likes the red sports car, and Kaiba says that's fine—they don't have time to shop around. Delighted, Mokuba gets in. Kaiba says it's time to go pay Dartz a visit.
Then the car salesman shows up, asking what they're doing in the car. Mokuba says they're buying it, and Kaiba whips out his checkbook with a flourish, twirling his pen, and writes out a check. Telling the salesman to keep the change, he hands it to him and drives away. The startled salesman shouts for them to come back—until he looks at the check. It's for $500,000, signed Seto Kaiba. (The writing at the top of the check is removed in the US version. It says "Yumeta Bank" and underneath that, "Downtown Branch." By the way, it says, "Kaiba Corporation" beneath the signature line, and it's check number 191138. And that's a pretty darned expensive sports car.)
As they drive off, Mokuba says it beats taking the bus. Kaiba thinks, he has a feeling Wheeler's in trouble again. But he doesn't have time to bail that chump out. He has bigger things to deal with. He steps on the accelerator, and the car zooms down the street.
Joey is huffing and puffing. Valon asks if he's too weak to make a move, but Joey says he doesn't think so, and plays a card face down and ends his turn. Valon says Joey couldn't find a monster strong enough to take him down, so that leaves Joey's life points wide open. He plays Black Hole Shield in attack mode (0 ATK, raised to 500). This gives his Burning Knuckle another 200 attack points, raising it to 1100. His Psychic Armor Head analyzes the attack, noting that Joey has 400 life points, no monsters to defend him, and one face-down card. (Japanese Valon says even if Joey's set card is a trap, he'll just go ahead anyway.) Valon attacks with Burning Knuckle, punching Joey. (These close-ups of Jounouchi getting punched in the face are cut from the US version.)
But to Valon's astonishment, Joey doesn't go down. Instead, a suit of red and white armor forms around him. Valon's attack activated Joey's trap card, Aura Armor. Joey says he decided to fight armor with armor. Aura Armor can be activated when he's attacked and has less than 2000 life points, as long as he pays half his life points. Now he's down to 200 life points, but he's canceled Valon's attack.
Valon asks why Joey doesn't try something original, but Joey says his armor is different from Valon's. Joey's armor is linked directly to his life points, so when it's destroyed, he loses.
Valon says he sees. One more round, one more attack—last man standing wins the duel. He's in. He plays a card face down.
Meanwhile, Yami and company are still running down the street. Yami thinks Joey must have summoned his legendary dragon—that's why Timaeus was glowing. But why did the light fade?
Joey says it's his turn, and draws. He plays the magic card, Roll of Fate, which rolls a die. Whichever number the die lands on, Joey gets to pick up that many cards, then send that same number of cards to the graveyard. He rolls a four, draws four cards, then discards four, while Valon wonders what he's up to.
Next, Joey plays the magic card, Red-Eyes Transmigration. All he has to do, he says, is sacrifice his Red-Eyes Black Dragon, and Valon's done. Valon protests that Red-Eyes isn't even on the field! But it is in Joey's hand. So he sacrifices the Red-Eyes and his new armor card so he can play Lord of the Red. The dragon roars, and Joey is surrounded by blue flame. (In the Japanese version, the flame is flame-colored).
When the field clears, Joey is standing in a new suit of dragon armor, all dark red. The armor cools to black, with an attack of 2400. He attacks Valon in the Lord of Red armor, telling him there's no way out this time.
But Valon activates the effect of Black Hole Shield, repelling the attack. Sacrificing Black Hole Shield protects his life points, which remain at 900, and Burning Knuckle's attack returns to 900. Joey's upset—he thought he'd won.
Valon thinks, he saved himself, but just barely. He's shaking—that's never happened to him during a battle before! This guy's pushing him to his dueling limits. Valon smiles to himself, thinking this could be the greatest challenge he's ever faced. (Japanese Valon wonders if he's afraid. Then he thinks, no, he's never been so excited. He's never felt so impassioned and nervous.)
Valon says he has to admit, Joey's putting up quite a fight. Joey says, Valon, too. But Joey's not fighting for fun. This is about saving his friends. (Japanese Valon says it's a good fight. Jounouchi says, it's the same for him. He's so excited—this is a real duel.)
Just then, Mai arrives at the duel. Valon tells her she's just in time to catch the end of the greatest duel ever played. Mai angrily tells Valon that they had a deal—Joey Wheeler's hers. She runs into the barrier formed by the Seal of Orichalcos, then stands back, and tells Valon he's done enough, so why doesn't he take a hike and let her finish this? Valon says no—he's having way too much fun to stop now. Plus, too much is at stake, and he won't let her risk losing everything she has. That's why he challenged Joey in the first place—to protect Mai. He wanted to get rid of Wheeler so she'd be able to move on with her life, and that's exactly what he's going to do. (Japanese Valon says he finally understands why she insists on fighting Jounouchi. Now that he's dueling Jounouchi, he knows. Jounouchi has something Valon and Mai don't have—that's why she's attracted to him. Jounouchi has a simple and direct passion for the duel. That's what they're missing. A bit of this conversation is cut from the US version to fit with the changed dialog.)
But Joey says guess what—he's fighting for the same reason. (Japanese Jounouchi says "Valon!") So Valon tells him to get on with it. Joey plays one card face down and ends his turn.
Valon draws, and plays Monster Reborn, bringing back Buster Pile (0 ATK, raised to 500) from the graveyard. It increases Burning Knuckle's attack to 1100, and Valon says, here comes the last attack of the duel. But Joey says, not quite, and activates Scapegoat. Valon says those pip-squeaks can't stop his fist of iron, and Joey says that's not what he's trying to do. Clouds of blue flame swirl around Joey (again, the swirls are yellow flame in the Japanese),
as he explains that Lord of the Red has a special ability, too—it can destroy every other monster on the field whenever two magic cards are played in one turn. Valon protests that Joey only played one magic card, and Joey says that Valon's Monster Reborn counts as the second card.
Mai watches in awe as Valon says Joey must be bluffing, and attacks anyway. The two armored duelists meet in a mighty explosion above the field. The Scapegoats are destroyed, and Mai covers her face from the force of the attack. Then she looks up, as Valon falls from the sky to land on his side of the field. Joey also returns to the field, asking if Valon still thinks he was bluffing. Valon's armor dissolves, but he says he still has a few life points left, so the duel's still on. He tells Joey to give him everything he's got.
Joey draws, then launches his attack. Valon activates his trap card, Extinction Fist, to stop Joey's attack and destroy Lord of the Red. He tells Joey it was a good effort, but he was one step ahead, again. (Japanese Valon explains that his trap card can stop the attack of a ritual monster, returning the monsters used to summon it to the field.) Joey falls back, and his Lord of the Red armor is destroyed, leaving him in the Aura Armor. He struggles slowly to his feet, saying he didn't see that one coming. They face each other, both gasping for breath, while Mai watches sadly, thinking that this is it. They're both one attack away from defeat. In the next round, one of them will be trapped by the Seal forever.
To Be Continued
