Yu-Gi-Oh! - Episode 045

Legendary Heroes - Part 3 is the 45th episode in the second series of Yu-Gi-Oh!, airing in Japan on March 6, 2001 and in the United States on October 26, 2002.

Plot Summary
While Tristan and Tea are still warding off the Big 5's thugs, the flying machine has just been repaired, and Yugi, Joey, and Mai are set for the Castle of Dark Illusions. But when they approach the castle, a herd of monsters is waiting for them, and they defeat as many as possible while penetrating the barrier surrounding the castle. In the process, Adina's aide (Key Mace) takes a hit for the heroes, and his death angers Yugi so much as to call Yami into the fight from this point on. Although the flying machine is destroyed soon after, the heroes ride Winged Dragon and make it to the castle, where they must battle even more monsters. Meanwhile, the captured Mokuba is brought to join Kaiba. However, Mokuba still has Kaiba's cards, and he uses "Swordstalker to free Kaiba. Mokuba then hands Kaiba back his Deck and he then uses it to wipe out the monsters guarding him. Then, he and Mokuba rejoin Yami, Joey and Mai.

Suddenly, the Big 5's voices are heard. Having monitored the progress of the heroes, they have decided to join the battle personally. By overriding the game, they brush away the castle setting. Then, they skip any need for a sacrifice ritual and summon the Mythic Dragon immediately, speaking through the monster. For good measure, they set a condition that only Dragon-type monsters are allowed to attack. The heroes' initial attacks are useless, and the Big 5 take advantage of Mokuba's lack of a monster to target him. Joey orders Red-Eyes to take the attack instead, and when his Life Points reach zero, he vanishes. Mai also falls by intercepting the attention of the Big 5 while Yami tries to convince Kaiba that he has a plan but needs Kaiba's help for it. But the next attack targets Kaiba, and Mokuba pushes him out of the way, collapsing fading from his brother's arms. This convinces Kaiba to cooperate, and Yami summons Dragon Master Knight to defeat the dragon. In a rush, he and Kaiba reappear at Adina's castle, and she honors their bravery by showing that she is in fact the Mystical Elf. With her magic, she brings back Key Mace and their friends, and the heroes return to the real world safe and sound.

Yugi Muto, Joey Wheeler, and Mai Valentine vs. monsters

 * The heroes summon Dark Magician, Giltia the D. Knight and Harpie Lady Sisters to defeat the enemy monsters, which include Whiptail Crow and Ocubeam. Key Mace is destroyed, and the flying machine is incinerated.
 * Inside the castle, a forest setting holds enemy monsters that include Killer Needle and Hercules Beetle, as well as a Man-Eater Bug that destroys Joey's monster. Yami activates Mirror Force, destroying all the opponents in a storm of explosions that set fire to the forest.
 * The fire awakens the multiple Cocoons of Evolution, and they hatch into Great Moths. Yami summons Catapult Turtle, loads Kuriboh onto it, and activates Multiply as the catapult fires. The Kuriboh copies explode on impact with the targets, and the barrage knocks down all of the moths.

Seto Kaiba vs. monsters

 * Kaiba summons Blue-Eyes White Dragon to destroy the Witty Phantom that had been in charge of the sacrifices.
 * An army of Armed Ninjas arrives, and one of them activates a Dragon Capture Jar. Remembering this move from earlier, Kaiba anticipates this, summoning Trap Master to destroy the jar. This frees his Blue-Eyes from earlier, and he uses his two dragons to destroy all of the ninjas.

Yugi Moto, Joey Wheeler, Mai Valentine, and Seto Kaiba vs. The Big Five

 * The Big Five speak through their monster, Mythic Dragon.
 * Mai summons Harpie Lady Sisters but discovers that a condition is set to only allow Dragon-type monsters to attack.
 * Kaiba summons Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Joey summons Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Mai summons Harpie's Pet Dragon, and Yami summons Curse of Dragon. The four monsters attack, but four of their enemies' heads block the attacks with attacks of their own.
 * Mythic Dragon attacks Mokuba, but Joey orders Red-Eyes to take the hit. His Life Points go to zero, and he disappears.
 * Yami activates Black Luster Ritual, sacrificing his dragon with Gaia the Fierce Knight to summon Black Luster Soldier. It cannot attack, but Yami tries to convince Kaiba to help him.
 * Mythic Dragon is about to attack, but Mai sends her dragon in to be the opponent. Mythic Dragon destroys it and all of her Life Points, and she disappears.
 * Kaiba is still not listening to Yami's order to summon his ultimate dragon, and the Mythic Dragon targets Kaiba. Mokuba pushes his brother out of the way, taking the hit for his brother and disappearing.
 * Kaiba activates Polymerization, fusing all three of his Blue-Eyes White Dragons to summon Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Yami activates his own Polymerization, fusing both of their monsters into Dragon Master Knight, which (in the anime) has the ability to gain 500 ATK for every Dragon in the Graveyard and on the field besides itself. The total comes to 9000 ATK. Their monster attacks and destroys Mythic Dragon.

Changes to the English Dub

 * The stone slabs are redesigned to make them less cross-like in the US version.
 * At the end of the episode in the dub Joey says, "Now where's the john? I had like 7 sodas before we got into those pods". In the Japanese version he says, "Let's go get some ramen".

Errors

 * When Joey summons "Giltia the D. Knight" he refers to it as "Fierce Knight" the way Yugi would for "Gaia The Fierce Knight" who is also a "Dark Knight" in the original Japanese naming.
 * Mai refers to the creature that sets their wing on fire as a "Salamandra" while it is more likely a "Darkfire Dragon".
 * When Kaiba throws "Trap Master", its card shows it as a Normal Monster.
 * When Yugi summons Kuriboh and Catapult Turtle, he is shown drawing Multiply with Kuriboh instead of Catapult Turtle. He draws and activates Multiply a moment later.

Trivia

 * "Mythic Dragon" and "Dragon Master Knight" are both shown to have 4000 DEF while they both actually have 5000 DEF in every instance after this as well as in real life.