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

Focusing on the differences between the American and Japanese episodes

Episode 57: Yugi vs the Rare Hunter - Part II (Turn the Tables: Chain Destruction)

Yugi has figured out that the Rare Hunter is using an Exodia deck. Joey happily thinks that now that soon his Red Eyes will be back where it belongs, but Yugi realizes that knowing what the Rare Hunter is up to doesn't mean he'll be able to stop him. (In the Japanese, Jounouchi mentally congratulates Yugi for figuring out the Rare Hunter's tricks. Then he reflects that Yugi has taught him something else, as well—a duelist's faith and self-esteem.)

The Rare Hunter gloats that Yugi's realization is too little, too late. He already has four pieces of Exodia in his hand, and with his x-ray contacts he can see that the fifth piece is on top of his deck. One more draw, and he'll win!

Meanwhile, at Kaiba Corp, the satellite imaging system has detected the invisible ink on the Rare Hunter's cards. Mokuba once again wants to kick the guy out for cheating, but Kaiba tells him to let it go. Mokuba protests that he's the Battle City commissioner—it's his job to make sure the rules are enforced. But Kaiba says, "I need him." This Rare Hunter may have something he needs. Besides, he thinks to himself, he wants to see Yugi squirm, having to face the same Exodia Yugi once used on him. (Hm, the subtitles make this exchange a little hard to follow, but Mokuba says that this is a tough duel, but Kaiba tells him to wait. Mokuba says they're in charge of the tournament, why can't they do anything? Kaiba says he knows how terrible Exodia is. Mokuba protests that Yugi's as good as Big Brother—is it right to let him be taken advantage of? Kaiba says that's enough. "If you're lucky, you can meet him." Then he thinks, "Once he loses, Yugi will be my top enemy.")

Yugi plays a magic/trap card face down, and attacks the Rare Hunter's Stone Statue of the Aztecs with Chimera, the Flying Mythical Beast. Now the Rare Hunter only has one monster to protect him.

The Rare Hunter doesn't care! All he has to do is draw his next card, and he'll win! He starts to draw... but Yugi plays his trap card, Time Seal, which stops the Rare Hunter from drawing. Yugi's saved—but for only one turn. He has to figure out how to win this duel! The fate of the world depends on it! (In the Japanese, he thinks, "In Battle City, I must find my lost memory. I can't lose here. This card will decide my fate. I have faith in myself and my partner. Let's open the road to the future with this card." Then Yami and Yugi draw together.)

Yugi draws Lightforce Sword. (This is the card Yami bought at the card shop on his day out with Téa in the episode "Steppin' Out.") It will randomly pierce one card in the Rare Hunter's hand, and take it out of play for three turns. (In the real game, trap cards must be set for one turn before they can be played, so Yugi wouldn't have been able to play his Lightforce Sword immediately upon drawing it.) He activates it, naturally hoping it will take one of the pieces of Exodia, and it pierces the Right Arm of Exodia. Yugi's saved for another turn!

Mokuba cheers, while Kaiba watches grimly.

But Yugi's not finished yet. He sacrifices Chimera to summon Summoned Skull (good lord, the subtitles call it Steel Demon Koko), which destroys the Rare Hunter's other defense monster, whatever the heck its name was. Now the Rare Hunter's life points are undefended.

The Rare Hunter's sweating now! He draws the Left Arm of Exodia, but what he really needs are monsters to defend his life points. Then he laughs—a Rare Hunter is prepared for any situation! He plays Swords of Revealing Light, to stop Yugi's monsters from attacking for three turns. Now all he has to do is wait for Lightforce Sword to wear off.

Mokuba's getting frustrated. He asks his brother why they're letting that cheat beat Yugi! Why not? Kaiba replies. Yugi should have been prepared for anything. (Japanese Mokuba asks if Yugi will lose, and Kaiba says, no, it's just begun. Then, he thinks, "My enemy, show me your ability.")

Yugi draws, and ends his turn.

The Rare Hunter gloats. He doesn't have to wait for Yugi's Lightforce Sword to wear off—he has two more copies of the Right Arm in his deck. All he has to do is draw another one, and he'll win now! But Yugi tells him he's got so many Exodia pieces in his deck, the odds of drawing the right one are slim. (In the Japanese, Yugi says he knows how to break the Swords of Revealing Light.) He says he'll win in three turns. The Rare Hunter draws, and gets another Exodia head. It doesn't do him any good, but with the Swords of Revealing Light stopping Yugi from attacking, he's still safe.

Joey encourages Yugi, telling him that he's still got two turns to figure out a way to stop the Rare Hunter. (In the Japanese, Jounouchi just says, "Yugi!" and Yugi thinks, "Don't worry, Jounouchi. I'll get your Red Eyes back.") Yugi draws, and plays one card face down, then summons Alpha the Magnet Warrior in attack mode. It can't attack, but it will be ready when the Swords are down! And the Rare Hunter is still defenseless, with only Exodia pieces in his hand, and no monsters to defend himself. (In the Japanese, Yugi now tells the Rare Hunter what the weakness of Exodia is: the five cards together are very powerful, but individually they're weak, and can't defend.)

The Rare Hunter draws another Right Leg of Exodia. What if Yugi figures out a way to destroy the Swords of Revealing Light? His life points will be wiped out before he can get his final Exodia piece. He plays his spare Exodia head in defense mode to protect his life points.

Yugi activates his trap card, Chain Destruction. It passes through the Exodia head on the field, leaving it unharmed, but destroys the Exodia heads in the Rare Hunter's hand and deck. Now the Rare Hunter can no longer draw all five pieces of Exodia into his hand!

Next, Yugi activates the trap, Dust Tornado, and destroys Swords of Revealing Light. Now his monsters are free to attack. Then he plays Monster Reborn and revives Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast. He uses Chimera to destroy the Rare Hunter's Exodia head, leaving the Rare Hunter open to a direct attack. Summoned Skull's electricity increases Alpha the Magnet Warrior's attack by 200 points, to 1600. With Summoned Skull's 2500 points, their total attack is 4100 points, wiping out the Rare Hunter's life points in a single blow.

Yugi wins.

Mokuba cheers for Yugi. He beat Exodia! Unimpressed, Kaiba says Yugi may have beaten Exodia, but there's one card he'll never beat—and Kaiba's the one holding it. (In the Japanese, Kaiba says, "Yugi wins the first game. It's what I expected.") He heads out to join the tournament, and Mokuba hurries after him, reminding the clone-girls to let them know right away if they detect a God card being used.

Yugi retrieves the Red Eyes Black Dragon and the locator card from the deck of the Rare Hunter, who's collapsed on the ground in defeat. As he thumbs through the Rare Hunter's deck, he notices something rubbing off on his fingers—the cards are marked! (In the Japanese, he says that these are fake cards.) Angrily, Yugi rips up the Rare Hunter's cards and tosses the pieces into the air.

The Rare Hunter lies on the ground, bemoaning his defeat. "Forgive me, Master," he cries out, then jumps up, clutching his head and screaming! The Millennium symbol glows on his forehead, and suddenly, another voice emerges from him. "Remember me, Pharaoh?" He congratulates Yugi on defeating his Rare Hunter. But this was the weakest of his duelists. The others will prove much more formidable. "I've waited for you for years," the man controlling the Rare Hunter says. "Finally I will destroy you!" He says he's trapped the Rare Hunter's mind in the Shadow Realm, and forces the body to dance like a broken doll.

Yugi asks how the man is controlling the Rare Hunter, and he replies that all of the Millennium Items have their own power, and the power of the Millennium Rod is mind control. Is this the great evil Ishizu warned Yugi about?

The man controlling the Rare Hunter introduces himself. "My name is Marik." Yugi asks what Marik wants, and he says he wants what belongs to him, and he'll take it using the power of the Egyptian God cards! You'll never claim the Millennium Puzzle, Yugi says, but Marik wants more than the power of the Puzzle, he wants the power of the Pharaoh himself! He'll conquer and rule the world! Yugi says it's his destiny to stand between Marik and the power he seeks. (In the Japanese, Malik doesn't make a lot of threats. He says he's the holder of a Millennium Item, like Yugi, and he tells Yugi one of the God cards is loose in the city, and warns him that if he comes up against it, he'll be destroyed.)

Enjoy the game while you still can, Marik tells Yugi. Your reign is coming to an end! (Japanese Malik says, "Let's begin the game. I'm looking forward to playing with you.") Then he relinquishes the Rare Hunter's body, and it collapses in a heap.

Yugi offers the Red Eyes to Joey, but he refuses to take it. "It isn't mine to take, Pal. You won it fair and square." He goes on to say that, with the Rare Hunters filling their decks with so many rare cards, Yugi's going to need all the powerful monsters he can get. Joey says, "You can think of me whenever you play my Red Eyes." Yugi helped him at Duelist Kingdom, taught him rules and strategies, and now it's Joey's turn to help Yugi. "A part of me will be a part of your deck." Joey says he still has a rare card he can use as his stake in the Battle City Tournament—the Time Wizard card that Yugi gave him. He and Yugi are a team, and they'll beat Marik and his goons together.

(This exchange is quite a bit different in the Japanese, and it really annoys me the way they've changed it. When Yugi tries to give him the Red Eyes, Jounouchi says, "No, I can't take it right now. If I take it back so easily, I won't be a True Duelist. The Red Eyes wouldn't accept it, either." He tells Yugi, "You are a True Duelist. You're always with me. When I dueled you at Duelist Kingdom, I was fighting for something. That's why I came here. You always play honestly with any opponent. You really gave me a lesson—what I lacked is the player's self-esteem. The Red Eyes Black Dragon is my special card—he is always my partner. That's why I can't take it now. If I did, the Red Eyes wouldn't be happy." Then he says, "Yugi, you can have the card temporarily. I prepared a deck of 40 cards for today's duel. With these cards, I'm still qualified for the tournament. Just in case, I brought the Time Magician with me—this is my last Rare Card. I want to become a True Duelist. In Battle City, I must show you—when I win in this tournament, when I become a True Duelist, please play with me again."

(Yugi says he understands, and accepts Jounouchi's challenge. "We'll wait until then." Jounouchi thanks him and they shake hands.

(This is a thread that runs all through Battle City in the Japanese. It's Jounouchi's personal quest—to become a True Duelist, to meet his friend in an honorable duel and win back his Red Eyes Black Dragon fair and square. It's what drives him. And it's also something Yugi respects and honors Jounouchi for, and the promised duel becomes a goal for him, too. And it's been completely cut out of the US version. Why? What's wrong with Jounouchi wanting to win his card in an honorable duel with his friend, rather than having it handed to him? It makes no sense. And sure, the whole "a part of me will be in your deck" speech is sweet and all, but it's just not Joey. Sigh. This is probably the change I hate most of all the cuts and rewrites that were made.)

Yugi thanks Joey and calls him a true friend, and they shake hands. (Here's a bit that's cut out of the US version, of Anzu running along and stopping on a walkway, finally spotting Jounouchi and Yugi as they shake hands in the plaza.)

Then they part, both off to find new duelists to challenge. (And by the time Anzu reaches the plaza where she saw her friends, they've both left. "Wait for me," she shouts, running after Yugi.)

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