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The Really Big Long Entry That DF Wrote During Work Tonight!! Begun at 5:13pm, finished somewhere around 8:20pm. Wow, that was quite a project. Since my little 5MB of space on my RoadRunner account is full, I decided to finally start making use of my 100MB 1ASPHost account. All the random pictures in my Blurty, if not simply stealing bandwidth from other sites (sorry, BnG), will be brought to you courtesy of 1ASPHost. Not only that, but I went back through my 300-some past entries and moved all those pictures from RR to 1ASPHost. >_> And I'm not even done. See, I back up all my Blurty entries on my comp, complete with comments, in case the site should fail. It's quite a project too. With about 20 entries per file, I've got 16 files. >_> But at least I'll have it if it ever gets deleted from Blurty for whatever reason. I like reading over old entries, so many memories. So why did I decide to move my Blurty image archive, you may ask? So that I may have space to provide you with lovely visuals to supplement my long Yu-Gi-Oh musing that's coming up next. *ahem* <begin overly-long, deeply-thought-out, over-obssessive Yu-Gi-Oh analysis> Upon waking this morning, I realized that I still hadn't watched Yu-Gi-Oh episodes 197 and 198, the last two episodes of the KC Grand Prix arc. See, Saiyaman's computer was down when 197 and 198 were released in Japan, so he wasn't able to put them online for download until a few weeks later. By the time I DLed these two, I was too busy with the Egyptian arc to bother to watch them, since KC Grand Prix is a rather unimportant arc. (Actually, it's probably the least important arc in the series, it's basically just the producers stalling for time while they get the Egyptian arc ready, angering many impatient fans in the process.) So I watched them this morning. They were actually good. Leon really does have "shin no duelist" - the heart of a duelist. And he's cute, too. So that arc was wrapped up neatly, even if it was rather pointless. While watching these episodes, I was amused by the fact that the future of KaibaCorp rests on Yugi's victory - and Seto doesn't even seem worried. The thought never enters his mind that Yugi will lose. But what further amazed me is that not once does Seto threaten him. With the reputation of KC hanging in the balance, you'd think that Seto would at least say, "Yugi, you lose this duel, and I'll <insert random threat here>!" But he doesn't. He's just that confident. And not without reason. This reminded me of the final duel of the Doma arc. Yami and Seto versus Dartz. I don't know why Seto is dueling in that game; Dartz probably forced him somehow, or maybe he did it of his own free will. I'll have to look that up. (Note: Yeah, I looked it up. Seto wanted to duel Dartz, but Yami wouldn't let him do it alone. I'm surprised Seto gave in that easily. Maybe he knew he'd need Yami.) But in episode 180, which is the fourth episode of the duel, you really see the true Seto for probably the only time in the series. ;_; I can't figure out how I missed all this the first time I watched this episode. The only duel that comes close to this is ep 116, Seto vs. Noa. Seto finally realizes that to save Mokuba, he must forget his pride and all that toughness that covers his heart, and he's willing to do this for his little brother. You can tell that at the start of his and Noa's duel, even after he sees Mokuba under Noa's control, he's uneasy about revealing this part of himself, especially since Yugi and company are watching. It makes him vulnerable, and he hates that idea. But as the duel goes on, he realizes that he's willing to do whatever it takes to save Mokuba. And he does. But back to 180. Again, Seto starts of wanting to hold on to his pride, and again, he gradually lets go of it. By the time you get to episode 180, Seto's already pulled it off: he and Yami are working as one unit. It's like all the past events of the series have led up to this; everything that's happened has served to prepare Seto for the time when he'll have to duel side by side with Yami to quite literally save the world. See, here's the thing: to work together with another person on this level means that you're making yourself vulnerable to that person. And if there's one thing Seto Kaiba isn't, it's vulnerable. He's built so many walls around himself, it's a wonder he can still breathe in there. This is why he can't just team up with Yami or Yugi all at once (remember the duel against Lumis/Light Mask and Umbra/Dark Mask?). It must be done gradually. Even in this duel, things are shaky at first. Yami and Seto are still a little unsure of each other. But once they (mostly Seto) get used to the idea, they work together like they've been double-dueling all their lives. Seto gradually overcomes his pride and allows Yami to become his teammate, represented physically by how the two move closer together as the duel goes on (yes, you can notice this if you pay attention like I do). And this culminates when Seto loses the duel. (^_^ Now we're getting to the good part. I'm excited.) Dartz somehow manages to get Seto's LP down to zero by destroying his Mirror Force Dragon (a monster formed from Critias and the Mirror Force trap; more on that later). Since Dartz has the Seal of Orichalcos card in play, Seto's soul is taken when he loses. After the (rather violent) attack, Seto falls to the ground, and Yami runs to catch him. (Remember what I said in the last paragraph about physical closeness? This is the last stage; Seto's putting all his faith in Yami.)    Before his soul is taken, Seto activates one last trap card: Kesshi no Kibou, which is translated as "Hope of Desperation" or "Final Hope" and literally means "hope of one who is prepared to die." This card takes the attack points of a monster that was just destroyed (the Mirror Force Dragon - 2800 ATK) and adds it to a player's LP. Seto uses it to raise Yami's LP to 4000. Now, here's the million-dollar question: Could Seto have used that card on himself? I don't know. It could very well be that since Seto already lost, he can't bring himself back into the game by using a card to increase his LP. But what if he could have, and instead chose to sacrifice himself and use the card to help Yami? ...Remember the 4-way duel in the Battle City finals? Seto saw that the easiest and surest way to make sure he dueled Yugi was to make himself and Yugi lose. But he couldn't bring himself to lose a duel on purpose, even a duel that had no effect on his ranking, so he chose the harder route of defeating both Joey and Yami Malik. ...What if Seto could have saved himself, but instead chose to lose the duel to give Yami the best possible chance of beating Dartz? ;_; Now that's teamwork. Even if he wasn't allowed to use the card on himself, it's still cool that in his last act, he chose to help Yami the best he could. He could have just been angry about losing, but he wasn't. So Yami's holding him (XD yaoi fanservice) and here's what Seto says to him, according to Janime's summary/script translation: "Now I have repaid my debt... You must press on, over my remains..." Then Dartz takes his soul, rendering his body unconscious.  XD I think I took a screenshot of every single scene of Yami holding Seto, but then, what else do you expect of this yaoi-obssessed fangirl? ;_; Of course, when he sees Seto fall, Mokuba's first instinct is to run to his brother. But he can't, the Seal of Orichalcos is projecting a barrier around the duel and Mokuba can't get in. So he's standing there, pounding his little fists on the greenish-glowing wall, yelling "Niisama!!" over and over. ;_; His voice would just tear your heart out. *sigh* So my first point is made; namely, that although after this duel, Seto may seemingly go back to being just as proud and self-absorbed as before, he has now achieved the depth of character and the faith necessary to be able to place his trust in another, when he wants and needs to. Stop and take a deep breath, that was a lot of information. Now, I shall begin proving to you my second point. *deep breath* Ready? Rewind a little, to the beginning of ep 180, before Seto loses the duel. If you're not familiar with the three legendary dragons, allow me to explain. Critias (held by Seto), Timaeus (Yugi), and Helmos (Joey) are three dragons that are played as magic cards. They are the only cards able to stand against the evil magic of the Seal of Orichalcos card. The dragons work by combining themselves with another card (usually magic or trap). This can result in either an equipment card that can be used by another monster, or a monster with a special effect. Dartz, the main "bad guy" of the Doma arc, has taken the souls of Yugi, Joey, Mai, and Pegasus, as well as thousands of other rather random people. All of these souls are imprisoned in small stone tablets set in the wall of this temple-like thing. Dartz, Seto, and Yami are dueling in that temple, so they can see the etchings on the walls of all the taken souls. Somehow, Dartz manages to summon the souls of Yugi, Joey, Mai, and Pegasus as his monsters. They all become Mirror Knights, meaning each one has a mirror shield that can be used once, and only once, to reflect an opponent's attack. At this point in the duel, only Pegasus still has his shield. Seto has 600 LP left, and Dartz tells him that this draw will be his last (ooo, ominous). Of course, things are looking bad, and Seto is a bit discouraged. But then he remembers how he swore to Amelda that he would protect his brother. "Amelda... The future you entrusted in me... And my own road to glory. I refuse to have those destroyed here!" Then, of course, he draws Critias, the one card that has the power to turn it all around. Yay. ^_^ He combines Critias with Yami's Mirror Force to create the Mirror Force Dragon, which has the power to reflect any attack and destroy all the monsters on the opponent's field. See, here's the thing: Since the Mirror Knights hold the souls of Yugi, Joey, Mai, and Pegasus, of course Yami can't destroy them because he thinks it will kill them. Seto realizes this, and he understands. Not once does he yell at Yami or tell him to toughen up. He knows that Yami can't do it, and he respects that. But at the same time, he realizes that the Mirror Knights must be destroyed for him and Yami to win. "If severing the bonds of friendship is beyond your will, I will do it!" He's understanding enough to do what has to be done without making it too hard for Yami. Gentle yet firm. I know this is hard, but it's gotta be done.  May I remind you again of my physical closeness point? How he does it is pretty cool. He has the Mirror Force Dragon attack Pegasus. Pegasus's shield reflects the blast and is destroyed in the process. But the Mirror Force Dragon's effect reflects it right back, and since none of the knights have a shield left, they're all destroyed. (BTW, they're alright. Before they're destroyed, Yugi says "Daijoubu [it's okay]... This is how it should be" and Pegasus says "Kaiba-boy... Thanks." Their souls are just fine, and they're free from the duel, although not free from the stone yet.) Yeah, Yami's scared and probably more than a little pissed off, but I think he trusts Seto. And even though he doesn't realize it yet, he's probably grateful to Seto for doing what Yami couldn't while still being somewhat understanding about it. I think Seto saw that his attack would be hard enough for Yami without him adding a snide comment. See, underneath it all, he's really a kind, caring, considerate person. (XD You can decide for yourself whether or not that was sarcasm, I'm not quite sure.) Now here's my second point: This episode provides fulfillment for Seto's character. He has come to terms with his need to be able to work together with Yugi and Yami, but more importantly, in this episode, it seems he fully comes to terms with his past (his own past, not his past life as Priest Seto. Gotta do this in small steps. XD). Here's the quote, spoken just before Seto destroys the Mirror Knights, which is a blow to Dartz and a triumph for Seto (I know the grammar is weird, but it's translated directly from Japanese, just try to get the meaning): "The so-called 'heart of darkness' that you speak of... You have shown this to Mokuba and I for long enough! The depths beyond the depths of the heart of darkness we didn't want to see! We have overcome all of this and have come this far! What is in my heart... is the light that will carve out our future! That is all we need!" ... "What is in my heart is the light that will carve out our future." Seto is finally able to end his fixation on the past and move forward. Somewhere between meeting Noa, almost losing Mokuba, learning about Amelda's story, and coming to depend on Yugi, Seto finally figured it out. He's ready to leave all the hurt and pain in the past and start to move forward. It didn't happen how he wanted it to, by him winning on top of Duel Tower, but it happened all the same. *flips back through all the pages she's written* O_O Wow, this is going to take forever and a day to type. But it's worth it. See the depths of my devotion to Seto? ^_^' I need a new hobby. Ahh... Why did I not realize all this the first time I saw this episode? Lots of reasons. When I saw this, I was still new at watching and deciphering and analyzing Japanese episodes. In fact, I think this may have been the first episode I actually downloaded from Saiyaman. I also probably didn't read the summary carefully since Janime's rather creative grammar (she's not a native English speaker, takes some getting used to) was still comfusing me. Sure, I had some guesses, but I wasn't sure of anything. This time, I know I'm right. ^_^ I love you, Seto. *whew* It's now 10:59pm, and I'm finished typing this monster of an entry. My closing thoughts: (1) I need a new hobby; (2) Seto, you are awesome. If you actually read the whole darn thing, (1) congratulations, you have more patience than me; (2) please leave me a comment so I can commend your achievement; and (3) why am I numbering my thoughts? And to all a goodnight! *hugs Seto* ~DigiFaith (EDIT: For more screencaps, click here.)
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quixotic
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