Episode 23: The Strongest! The Magnificent! Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon

Yugi and Kaiba's duel continues. Téa, Joey, Tristan and Bakura make rude remarks about Kaiba from the sidelines, while Bandit Keith watches from a nearby tower window. Yugi has Dark Magician on the field, while Kaiba is protected by the Ancient Lamp. Yugi reflects that Kaiba's trying to finish him off quickly this time, which isn't like Kaiba, who enjoys toying with his opponents. Something's different about him.

Kaiba taunts Yugi, asking him if he's afraid he can't win without his precious Exodia cards. Yugi says he doesn't need Exodia to beat Kaiba. (In the Japanese, Yugi just thinks he has to beat Kaiba, and Kaiba thinks that once he fuses his three Blue Eyes White Dragons, he'll win.)

Kaiba draws De-Spell, which he combines with La Jinn to destroy Yugi's Swords of Revealing Light. (The real De-Spell is a magic card that can destroy one magic card on the field. It doesn't need to be activated through a monster.)

Yugi draws Mystic Box, and thinks this may be just the card he needs. But first, he plays a magic card, the Eye of Truth, which forces Kaiba to reveal the cards in his hand. (This is really a trap card, although it's being played as a magic card. For some reason, its colors were changed for the US.)

Yugi is startled to see that Kaiba has a Blue Eyes White Dragon in his hand, but he hasn't played it. He wonders what Kaiba's up to, but Kaiba thinks Yugi can't possibly guess what he means to do—fuse the three Blue Eyes into the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon—because it's never been done before. (Japanese Kaiba thinks to Yugi, "I need you to leave this island with shame." And Yugi suspects that Kaiba plans to fuse the three Blue Eyes.)

Now Yugi plays his Mystic Box, sealing up the Dark Magician in one of the boxes. The box is skewered with numerous swords, but when the box opens, it's Kaiba's Ancient Lamp inside, while the Dark Magician emerges from the other box unharmed, shaking his finger teasingly at a frustrated Kaiba. Now Yugi can destroy La Jinn with the Dark Magician, bringing Kaiba's life points down to 800.

Kaiba still isn't worried. He's drawn the Crush Card (Deck Destruction Virus of Death) and has a plan to play it in combination with Saggi the Dark Clown.

Okay, I'm officially confused here. It's been my impression that when cards are redrawn for the US episodes, they've used the actual cards as templates, which is why we get things like Flame Swordsman being shown with the purple background of a fusion monster in the US—he really is a fusion monster, and the card the US animators were working from would have a purple background, even though the card is being played as a normal monster in the series, and has a yellow background in the Japanese episodes. Similarly, occasionally magic cards are played as if they are trap cards, and vice versa, and generally the US episode will redraw it to match the real card, while the Japanese episode shows it as it is being used.

But here, the Crush Card is really a trap card, and it's being played as a trap card, and has the red background of a trap card in the Japanese episode, but for some unknown reason, it's a magic card in the US version. Oops.

Kaiba plays Saggi the Dark Clown, a weak monster with an attack of only 600 points and defense of 1500. Yugi again wonders what Kaiba's planning, holding his Blue Eyes White Dragon in reserve. He didn't see any trap cards in Kaiba's hand before, but he could have drawn one in the meantime.

Yugi draws Gaia the Fierce Knight, remembering that Gaia destroyed Saggi in his previous duel with Kaiba. He summons Gaia the Fierce Knight and attacks, destroying Saggi—or so he thinks. Actually, Kaiba's sacrificed Saggi the Dark Clown to activate his Crush Card, a deadly virus trap that destroys every monster in Yugi's deck with an attack strength greater than 1500. Gaia the Fierce Knight and the Dark Magician are both destroyed, along with all of Yugi's other powerful monsters. His deck has been crippled. Kaiba taunts him, saying he's broken the heart of Yugi's cards.

Yugi says it will take more than a virus to win this duel, but Kaiba just says he has a lot more debilitating cards to use. The gang wonders how Yugi can win, when he can only play weak monsters, but they continue to stand by him. Bandit Keith thinks it's quite a show—all he needs is a hot dog and a bag of popcorn.

Yugi says the body of his deck may have been weakened, but the heart of the cards will still see him through. He draws Summoned Skull, but he can't use it because of the virus. He plays Silver Fang in defense. With an attack of only 1200, it's immune to the Crush Card's virus.

Kaiba draws his second Blue Eyes White Dragon, and does some more inward gloating about how he's going to crush Yugi. Meanwhile, he plays Battle Ox and destroys Silver Fang, telling Yugi to accept his fate.

Yugi summons Gryphor, another monster with an attack of 1200, and powers it up with the Horn of the Unicorn, making it strong enough to destroy the Battle Ox, and take another 200 life points from Kaiba. Yugi's friends cheer him on, and Kaiba congratulates him on being able to combat the perils of his virus. But Kaiba at last draws his third Blue Eyes. Now he only needs the Polymerization card to put his plan into effect....

But first, Kaiba plays the Mystical Elf to raise his life points by 300. (Actually, he's playing Gift of the Mystical Elf [Japanese name: Holy Elf's Blessing], a trap card that raises the player's life points by 300 for each monster on the field.) The Elf gets a slight change of facial expression for the US—she's shown eyes open and smiling, while the Japanese card shows a solemn, closed-eyed Elf. Here again, the card is being played as a magic card, and has the green background of a magic card in the Japanese episode, while in the US it's redrawn as a trap card, which is what the real card is.

Yugi again reflects on how methodically Kaiba's dueling—as if this were a battle of life and death! And Kaiba mentally promises Mokuba that soon he'll defeat Pegasus and rescue him.

Now, finally, Kaiba summons one of the Blue Eyes White Dragons. Everyone gasps in awe as the mighty dragon rises over the field! Kaiba sends the Blue Eyes to attack Yugi's Gryphor, destroying it and reducing Yugi's life points to 400. Kaiba says Yugi's cowering in fear of his Blue Eyes, but Yugi says he's not afraid, and plays Giant Soldier of Stone in defense.

Kaiba draws the Polymerization card he needs, and triumphantly summons the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon! It has an attack of 4500 points, seemingly unstoppable! Yugi's friends are worried, but still hope he'll find a way to come back.

Kaiba's been waiting for this moment—finally he'll be able to avenge his previous defeat at Yugi's hands, the only Duel Monsters duel he's ever lost! (Japanese Kaiba says he never won again after the duel with Yugi. Hmm.) And the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon attacks, destroying Yugi's Giant Soldier of Stone.

Yugi's devastated, but his friends urge him not to give up, reminding him of his reasons for fighting. Yugi vows not to let his Grandpa down, and refuses to surrender. Kaiba's glad to see it—he wants to take Yugi down fighting. Everything depends on Yugi's next card.

"Let's finish this, Kaiba!" Yugi says, and draws his card....

To Be Continued