Society of Light

The Society of Light (光の結社, Hikari no Kessha?) is a fictional cult in the anime series Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX in Japan) appearing between episodes 53-104.

History
The Society of Light is led by a mysterious duelist by the name of Sartorious (Takuma Saiou). On the surface, the goal of Sartorius and his organization appears to be world domination starting with Duel Academy (Duel Academia) by expanding their syndicate, but Sartorius evidently wishes to put his stalled fate back into motion through the powers of Jaden Yuki (Judai Yuki) and Aster Phoenix (Ed Phoenix). His ultimate goal is to put an end to the "age of darkness" by destroying the planet to restore balance to its imperfect state, and create the world (or on a greater scale, the universe) anew. Members are brainwashed into the Society's fold by losing to Sartorius or one of his representatives in a duel, using Sartorius' own mystical powers of fate-prediction and his talent for pushing an opponent's buttons to make them lose faith in their own lives and convince them that joining the Society is a much preferable alternative.

Duelists reined into the Society in this manner are usually very devoted to its goals, and have a deep obsession with the color white. Essentially, the truth of their obedience is clouded behind the Society, Sartorius, and the lies they are told. Only those with incredibly strong wills or those under the influence of outside forces can escape the Society's hold, and at its basic level, Sartorius' mind control is not necessarily absolute; with some duelists, aspects of their old personalities can shine through on occasion, though this can be rectified should Sartorius exercise more strength in using his powers. The signature card used by the highest ranking members is White Veil, which represents their belief in the "light of truth." Shortly after the second year begins, Chazz Princeton (Jun Manjoume) is defeated by Sartorius and coerced into joining the organization. From then on, he serves as means of converting the remaining top Obelisk Blue students, and by episode 70, most of them are defeated and have "seen the light." In protest, Alexis Rhodes (Asuka Tenjouin) duels with Chazz, only to become a member herself upon her loss. During the field trip to Domino City, Sartorius confronts Seto Kaiba and requests the use of Kaiba Land. Once his request is granted, Jaden and Aster are lured into the virtual world by his sister, Sarina (Mizuchi Saiou). Upon learning of their victory, Sartorius suddenly becomes more interested in leading them towards their respective dooms. As his sister alludes (states explicitly in the Japanese version), the universe's threat lies in the Wheel of Fate (Wheel of Fortune), a metaphor for both Sartorius' destiny and the weapon of mass destruction he would later obtain.

In episode 82, Chazz begins recruiting top students of Ra Yellow for the Society of Light, which leads Bastion Misawa (Daichi Misawa) to challenge Sartorius to a duel. Sartorius sends Chazz in place of himself, and Bastion allows himself to be defeated in order to become a member of the organization. Two episodes later, under Sartorius' request, Sheppard (Samejima) invites Prince Orgene of the kingdom Misralz to participate in the Genex tournament. Sartorius thus acquires the control switch for the most destructive laser satellite known to the world, Sora (ソーラ Sōra), along with the two keys for its activation, by defeating him in a duel. To prevent his evil side from instigating world destruction, Sartorius eventually approaches Jaden and Aster, giving them the keys. In response, his evil personality assigns more dueling assassins to win the keys back, but is unsuccessful.

In episode 97, Maximillion Pegasus (Pegasus J. Crawford) reveals the origins of the Society of Light. In the dark recesses of space, several hundreds of millions of years ago, a white hole released the dark matter of a black hole, as well as a great energy known as the Surge of Light (光の波動 Hikari no Hadō), which bombarded the Earth throughout the course of history, propogating wars, disasters, crimes, and dictatorships. The "Ultimate D-Card" created by Aster's father was corrupted by such energy, and caused both Sartorius and Pro League king, DD, to develop split personalities. Because of its infectious properties that rival the powers of the Egyptian God Cards and Sacred Beast Cards (Three Phantom Demons), as well as his concern that Aster will be harmed should it ever arrive in his hands, Pegasus wishes to seal the card away before it brings an end to the world.

In episode 100, Aster breaks into Obelisk Blue looking for Sartorius, and finds him waiting in the Society of Light's private duel field, the Great White Temple (ホワイト大神殿 Howaito Dai Shinden). Intending to keep his promise of saving Sartorius from his destiny of becoming a destroyer, Aster considers relinquishing his key to Sora, but is persuaded by Jaden to do otherwise. Recognizing the present Sartorius as an imposter posing as his dearest friend, he wagers the key in a duel, but is quickly overwhelmed by the persona calling itself the "Light of Ruin" (破滅の光 Hametsu no Hikari). Following Aster's defeat, Jaden takes his place to determine the fate of the world by dueling Sartorius. While the battle is taking place, Chazz successfully reverts most of the Society of Light's members back to their former selves with the assistance of a group of Obelisk Blue students, thereby releasing Duel Academy from the Society's grip. Having obtained both keys due to a blunder on Jaden's part, Sartorius takes complete control of Orgene and orders him to the fire the laser satellite. Although it does cause some damage to the planet's surface, Sarina hacks into Sora's programming to disable it, allowing both Elemental Hero Neos and Tyranno Hassleberry (Tyranno Kenzan) to destroy the satellite. Shortly afterwards, Jaden defeats Sartorius, and the Light of Ruin is sealed away.

Membership

 * Sartorious (leader)
 * Chazz Princeton ("Joined" in Episode 61, Left the Society after his defeat in Episode 88)
 * Alexis Rhodes ("Joined" in Episode 70, Left the Society after her defeat in Episode 94)
 * Bastion Misawa ("Joined" in Episode 82, Left the Society in Episode 96)
 * Lorenzo
 * Princess Rose
 * X
 * Bob Banter
 * Prince Orgene
 * Dr. Eisenstein (Dr. Albert Zweinstein)
 * The Light Brigade
 * Sarina
 * Frost
 * Thunder (Frost's tag partner)
 * T-Bone
 * Blaze