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

Focusing on the differences between the American and Japanese episodes

Episode 24: Face Off - Part III (Kuriboh Multiply! The Astonishing Result)

Kaiba has done it—he's summoned the powerful Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Yugi has no monsters on the field, and his deck has been infected by Kaiba's Crush Card virus, so that he can't use any monsters with more than 1500 attack points. Can he possibly win? Everything depends on this next draw!

Kaiba tells Yugi it's hopeless. No matter what he draws, it can't stand up to his Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Yugi might as well give up. Joey says that the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon can wipe out the rest of Yugi's life points in one breath! Kaiba's got the upper hand, and he knows it. He's just waiting for Yugi to back down. The gang watch anxiously as Yugi draws. Joey doesn't see how Yugi's going to pull this one out. (Japanese Kaiba thinks that Yugi is just prolonging his agony by defending. No one else speaks.)

Yugi draws his card—and laughs, teling Kaiba he's drawn the card that can defend against the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Kaiba thinks it's impossible, but Yugi tells him to watch and learn. He reels in his Duel Disk, places his card on it and flings it back onto the field, where his monster forms—it's Kuriboh (300 ATK) in attack mode. The tiny little furball is dwarfed by Kaiba's huge dragon.

Kaiba says this is ridiculous. Kuriboh's the weakest monster in the game! Joey agrees—what can Yugi be thinking, playing that little guy? Kaiba laughs, telling Yugi's he's free to concede, but he shouldn't embarrass himself by playing that runt of a monster. Kuriboh makes a little scowly face at Kaiba, while Kaiba goes on to say that he's never known a serious duelist to keep Kuriboh in their deck. Kuriboh can't possibly defend against his ultimate Blue-Eyes!

Yugi just smiles and tells Kaiba he's wrong. Before the duel is over, Kaiba's dragon will fall. Kaiba tells Yugi to hurry up and finish his turn, so Yugi continues, activating the magic card Multiply. (The card has different colors in the US version.)

It works on monsters with attacks lower than 500, and multiplies them endlessly. Suddenly, Kaiba's facing a whole field of little Kuribohs. Annoyed, he asks if this is some kind of joke, but Yugi says the joke's on Kaiba. Yugi's now got many defenders, and he's getting more by the second, as more Kuribohs continue to pop onto the field.

Kaiba says it doesn't matter; his dragon will burn them all to a crisp. He orders the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon to attack, and its Neutron Blast fires into the crowd of Kuribohs. But when the smoke clears, Yugi is still standing unharmed behind a wall of still-multiplying Kuribohs. Kaiba wants to know what's going on! Yugi says Kaiba can't touch his life points until he's wiped out all the Kuribohs, but as quickly as he destroys them, they multiply right back. Kaiba may have created the ultimate attack monster, but Yugi has the ultimate defense—an ever-expanding army of furry protectors. They've stopped Kaiba's dragon in his tracks. (Japanese Kaiba realizes that the Kuribohs explode on contact, like torpedoes. Yugi says that's right—they explode the moment they contact their enemies, so Kaiba's dragon will never be able to destroy them.)

But Yugi says that's just the beginning. Now, he goes on the attack. It's Yugi's turn, and he plays Mammoth Graveyard (1200 ATK), Polymerization, and the Living Arrow (Magic Effects Arrow) magic card. Living Arrow, Yugi says, allows him to use his own cards in combination with his opponent's cards, and he uses it to fuse the Mammoth Graveyard with the Kaiba's dragon. The arrow shoots Mammoth Graveyard into the heart of the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, where its head bursts, alien-like, out of the dragon's chest.

Yugi explains that since Mammoth Graveyard is an undead-type monster, it can't fuse properly with the living dragon, causing the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon to decay and rot. Each turn, the dragon will lose attack points, until there's nothing left of it. (In the Japanese, it's the combination of a Light monster like the dragon with a Dark monster that causes the fusion to go bad.)

Kaiba is horrified. There must be something he can do to save his dragon! Yugi says that since the Mammoth Graveyard's attack is 1200, it will drain 1200 points from the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon each turn. Soon it will be weak enough for Yugi to destroy. (Need I point out that none of this wacky partial-fusion stuff is possible in the real game?)

Kaiba's on the ropes now. His powerful dragon is rotting away, and knows he has nothing in his deck that can reverse it. (Japanese Kaiba thinks that he has a card that can negate damage from an attack, but he can't stop damage from a fusion.) The Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon's attack goes down to 3300, and Yugi's friends cheer for him, thrilled that he's managed to turn the battle around. Joey says Kaiba's had it, and Téa thinks that that's just like Yugi—even when things are bad, he always finds a way to overcome his opponent. (Japanese Anzu thinks that she believes in the power of the other Yugi.) Even Bandit Keith is impressed by Yugi's intensity.

Twitching in frustration, Kaiba mutters that he can't lose—Mokuba's fate is riding on this duel. In desperation, Kaiba orders his decaying dragon to attack the Kuribohs. But, as before, the attack has no effect. Yugi draws a card and ends his turn, letting the Mammoth Graveyard drain another 1200 points from the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Now its attack is down to 2100. Soon, it will be weak enough for Yugi to destroy. Refusing to admit defeat, Kaiba makes another futile attack.

Yugi tells Kaiba that his attack has failed, and with no other strategy to use against Yugi, his time is running out. Yugi lets another turn take another 1200 points from Kaiba's dragon. Its attack is only 900 points now, and even Yugi's weakest monsters can destroy it.

Devastated, Kaiba stands in shock. He's failed his brother. He sees the photo of Mokuba in his mind's eye, and the rotting dragon, thinking that his brother's soul will be trapped forever.

Mokuba appears to him in the dragon's heart, crying out to him for help. Young Seto rushes to Mokuba, but he's too late—Mokuba is consumed by the decaying Blue-Eyes. LIttle Seto turns on his older counterpart, telling him he's rotten to the core, just like his dragon, for letting his little brother down. Kaiba sees himself rotting away, helpless.

Yugi and the others wonder what's up with Kaiba. He's just standing there, speechless, apparently unable to deal with his impending defeat. Bakura says it's sad to see a player of his caliber take losing so hard, and Bandit Keith says it looks like there's going to be a new champ. Kaiba remains motionless, silent on the other side of the field.

Yugi thinks, it doesn't matter what card he draws now—any monster can defeat Kaiba's weakened dragon. He draws Celtic Guardian (1400 ATK) and summons it, telling Kaiba to prepare to meet his demise! The Kuribohs clear a path so that Celtic Guardian can slash the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon with its sword, and one of the dragon's rotting heads falls to the ground. The gang cheer, but then Joey points out that the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon is still standing. Bakura explains that since the dragon is a fusion of three Blue-Eyes, each head has its own attack power. Celtic Guardian has destroyed one of the heads, and Kaiba loses 500 life points, bringing him down to 400, but two of the dragon heads remain. When Yugi attacks another head next turn, Kaiba will be wiped out.

Coming back to himself, Kaiba makes a decision. He tells Yugi it can't end this way. If he doesn't defeat Yugi, Pegasus will keep Mokuba prisoner forever. He can't let that happen. Even though he doesn't have a card that will keep Yugi from attacking, he still has a strategy that will stop him in his tracks.

Kaiba begins to step backwards on the tower. The gang watch in horror as he reaches the ledge, and Yugi calls out to him to stop as he steps up onto it. (Japanese Kaiba tells Yugi that the real game starts now. He's lost 500 points, so for every 100 life points he loses, he'll take a step backwards. That makes five steps. This brings him to the ledge. Cut from the US version is a long, sweeping pan from the ground to the top of the tower, showing us just how high the tower is from the ground.)

Kaiba stands grimly on top of the ledge, his coat billowing around him in the breeze. Joey wonders what Kaiba's up to now. Does he think this cheap stunt will keep Yugi from winning the match? (Jounouchi doesn't say anything in the Japanese. Cut from the US version are these shots of the gang and Bandit Keith watching Kaiba.)

Kaiba says that if Yugi attacks again, the resulting shockwaves might cause him to lose his balance and fall off the tower. (Japanese Kaiba says, he's reached the edge. That means Yugi will take Kaiba's real life in the next round. Kaiba wants to die fighting.)

Joey is enraged by Kaiba's ploy, exhorting him to come down off the ledge and play fair. Yugi doesn't want to hurt Kaiba. Bakura says Kaiba knows that—he's counting on Yugi to surrender. Joey says Yugi can't do that—if he loses to Kaiba, he won't get into the castle. (Japanese Bakura asks, what if Kaiba is serious? Jounouchi says, what? Anzu thinks to herself that this is impossible. The other Yugi has a hard look in his eye, and would probably do anything for victory. This shot of Anzu, as she thinks about the other Yugi, is shortened in the US version.)

Bandit Keith laughs—it looks like Kaiba will do anything to win, just like him. Yugi warns Kaiba not to push him. He has to win to save his Grandpa. Kaiba says he has to win, too, to save his brother—the difference between them is that he's willing to do whatever it takes to win. (Japanese Kaiba tells Yugi that the next round will determine his real strength as a duelist. A duel is like a mirror with two sides. Each player must decide how he would react if he were the enemy. In order to win, he has to put himself in his enemy's place. And if he were Yugi, he'd push his enemy to the bottom of the mountain without hesitation.)

It's Kaiba's turn, and he draws Reborn the Monster, which he uses to resurrect the Blue-Eyes head that Yugi had destroyed, with its normal 3000 attack points. As long as Yugi's only monster on the field was Kuriboh, Kaiba couldn't touch him, but now that Yugi's got Celtic Guardian in attack mode on the field, Kaiba can attack it with the revived Blue-Eyes and wipe out the rest of Yugi's life points. He'll do that next turn, unless Yugi attacks him first. (Japanese Kaiba explains that because the Blue-Eyes is part of a fusion monster, it can't attack in the turn its summoned. This isn't a real rule, but then, you can't revive part of a fusion monster in the real game, either. And one fusion monster doesn't have separate attacks for its different parts.) Their life points are equal. Kaiba tells Yugi that he'd better strike now if he dares, or next turn Kaiba will take him down.

Yugi stares at Kaiba in horror. If he attacks, he'll win the duel, but what if the battle knocks Kaiba off the ledge? Making a throat-cutting motion, Kaiba tells Yugi to surrender—unless he has the courage to unleash his attack! (Japanese Kaiba says, "Use your cards to cut my throat!")

"We must!" Yami Yugi says, willing to destroy Kaiba if necessary in order to win. Yugi appears in spirit form beside him, protesting, "We can't!" Yugi says it's not right, and Grandpa appears behind them, calling out to Yugi. Yugi insists there must be another way. (Japanese Yugi and Grandpa don't speak. We just hear Yami saying, "I... I... I must not lose." The doubled shot of Yugi and Yami is added back in the US version, to cover Yugi's added dialog. In the Japanese, Yugi disappears as the shot pans back from Grandpa.)

Téa watches Yugi struggle with himself to do the right thing. He can't risk hurting Kaiba. (Japanese Anzu sees the sharp expression of the other Yugi, and realizes that he would throw his enemy to the bottom of the mountain without a second thought.) Yami Yugi prevails, and sends Celtic Guardian to attack.

Téa runs towards Yugi, shouting at him to stop the attack. (These shots of everyone are cut from the US version. This whole scene of Téa running to Yugi is rearranged a bit in the US version.)

Téa continues calling to Yugi, saying this isn't like him, and he's got to stop. (Japanese Anzu calls out for the "ordinary Yugi" to come back. This shot of Yugi's expression changing as he hears Anzu is cut from the US version.)

Yugi takes control. (This shot of Yugi popping out beside Yami is added to the US version.)

He falls to his knees, calling out to the Celtic Guardian to stop. Celtic Guardian halts his attack and lets his sword fall. (Japanese Yugi doesn't say anything. Elf Swordsman stops when Yugi takes over, without being told.) Yugi remains on his knees, horrified by what he's almost done, and a triumphant Kaiba attacks with his restored Blue-Eyes, winning the duel.

Kaiba steps down from the ledge, while Yugi stays on his hands and knees, crying. Kemo calls Pegasus to inform him that Kaiba won his duel with Yugi, and asking if he should now allow Kaiba into the castle. Pegasus says yes, a deal is a deal. (Japanese Pegasus says, "No problem," in English.) In his dining hall, Pegasus congratulates Kaiba, and tells him that he will be his next opponent. But little Yugi didn't fare nearly so well. Pegasus is holding a hand of Duel Monsters cards. Selecting one, he says that Yugi's grandfather's soul remains his. (Japanese Pegasus tells Kaiba he did a good job. Kaiba can now fulfill his wish to duel with Pegasus—in a Dark Game.)

As Yugi's tears fall to the ground, Bandit Keith wonders what's going on. Yugi could have won, but he handed the game to Kaiba.

Yugi's friends rush to him, and he sobs that he almost couldn't control the other presence inside him, who was willing to go all the way against Kaiba. Joey and Tristan wonder what Yugi means by "another presence," and Bakura explains that, like him, Yugi has some sort of ancient spirit inside him. It has something to do with their Millennium Items. (Japanese Yugi says he couldn't do it. If he hadn't stopped his other self, Kaiba would have died. Jounouchi says, "Yugi, you...." and Honda says Yugi lost the game to save Kaiba. Bakura says it was the only way to stop this unstoppable duel.)

Yugi says he's afraid of the spirit inside him. He's so afraid that he'll never duel again. (Japanese Yugi says he's afraid of the game, and his other self.) Téa tells him she's sorry about his Grandpa, but she knows he did the right thing. Yugi couldn't hurt another person to save his Grandpa. He wouldn't want to be saved that way.

Kaiba's disdainful, saying Yugi was too weak to do what had to be done to win. Téa turns on him, telling him that Yugi spared him, and showed him compassion, which is more than he deserved. Kaiba says Yugi lost the game. Angrily, Téa says that Yugi may have lost one Duel Monsters game, but at least he hasn't lost his heart. She says Kaiba's spent so much time with his machines, he's no longer human. Yugi has a heart, she says, and friends who'll stick by him whether he wins or loses. "And what do you have, Seto Kaiba?" (Japanese Anzu tells Kaiba he's the real loser—he planned to give up his most important card, his life. She tells him he didn't have the courage to face himself if he lost, and it was Yugi who saved him.)

Kaiba tosses his Star Chips in the air, and says he has all he needs. (Japanese Kaiba doesn't say anything.) He walks away, coat flapping elegantly in the breeze, and enters the castle, ready to face Pegasus.

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