Ceremonial Battle

The Ceremonial Battle (Tatakai no Gi), called End Game in Kids' WB's promotions, is the final story arc of the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga series in Millennium World. The Ceremonial Battle took place in episodes 221-224.

The Introduction
Pharaoh Atem has obtained all seven Millennium Items, acquired all three Egyptian God Cards, defeated Zorc Necrophades in the Memory World, and has found out all about his past, including his name. Now, the pharaoh can quietly leave the mortal world, and join his faithful priests in the afterlife. However, the doorway to the afterlife can only be opened if the pharaoh is defeated in a duel called The Ceremonial Battle.

They follow the Egyptian belief that a pharaoh must depart via a boat. During the cruise, Jounochi and Kaiba ask Yugi Mutou (Yugi Muto in the English anime) to take on the pharaoh. Yugi however wants to battle Atem himself and declines the help from Kaiba. They arrive at the Eye of the afterlife and Atem and Yugi split from the one body they occupy. Yugi takes on the challenge so that Atem's spirit may finally rest in peace.

Even though Atem would very much want to go to the afterlife, he has a good pride in his skills, and will never let anybody beat him easily. He would show his true power through the Legendary God Cards.

Summoning of the God Cards

 * The battle begins with Atem bringing out The Tricky by discarding 1 card from his hand, (which happens to be Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight).
 * Yugi then brings out Green Gadget, sets Stronghold the Moving Fortress facedown and activates Swords of Revealing Light to hinder The Tricky.
 * Atem then uses Rebellion on Green Gadget so that he can force it to attack Yugi. Yugi activates Stronghold the Moving Fortress to summon a monster in defense to block the attack, but loses 600 Life Points since it is considered his monster attacking.
 * Yugi then uses Ties of the Brethren and pays 1000 Life Points to summon Yellow Gadget and Red Gadget in defense mode before attaching them to Stronghold, raising its attack to 3000 since all 3 Gadgets are on the field.
 * He attacks, but Atem activates Bounce to transfer the effect of Swords of Revealing Light to Yugi's field.
 * Yugi decides to switch his Green Gadget to defense and end his turn.
 * Atem sacrifices The Tricky to activate Tricky's Spell 4, which summons Trickey Tokens equal to the number of monsters on Yugi's field- in this case, 4. He then sacrifices 3 of the Tokens to summon Obelisk the Tormentor.
 * Obelisk destroys Stronghold the Moving Fortress, and Yugi is down to 1400 Life Points.
 * Yugi sets 3 facedown cards and summons Silent Swordsman.
 * Atem responds by setting his own card facedown, and plays Card of Sanctity so they both draw until they hold 6 cards.
 * Obelisk attacks the Silent Swordsman, but Yugi activates Ground Erosion, which will drain Obelisk of 500 points each turn. He also activates Turn Jump, which advances the turn count by 3. Since Silent Swordsman gains 500 points for each turn it's on the field, it and Obelisk stand tied at 2500 points.
 * Atem activates Summoning Clock, and sacrifices his final Token to summon 1 extra monster for each turn that has passed, which is 3.
 * He chooses to summon Queen's Knight and King's Knight, and the effect of King's Knight summons Jack's Knight to join them.
 * Finally, Atem uses his third extra summon to play Slifer the Sky Dragon.
 * Yugi activates Ambush Shield, sacrificing his Red Gadget to add its defense points to Silent Swordsman's attack points, bringing it to 4000.
 * Atem attacks with his Knights, destroying Yugi's two remaining Gadgets.
 * To end his turn, Atem sacrifices his 3 Knights to play The Winged Dragon of Ra. This completes his strategy: Atem now controls all 3 God cards, and played all 3 of them in two turns, no less.

The Created Bonds of the Past and Present

 * Atem plays Pot of Greed to draw 2 cards.
 * Ishizu Ishtar then tells about the power of the pharaoh. She says that the power of the pharaoh was so strong that no one wanted to battle him because his sword was too strong.
 * Kaiba then talks about the God Cards. He believes that since Atem holds the most feared cards in the world, no one can defeat him. He feels that this is why his name is written in history. He hastily decides to leave but is momentarily stopped by Jonouchi.
 * Kaiba shuns Jonouchi by asking him if he knew any way to defeat the cards and none of them could come up with a way.
 * Ishizu says it is up to fate now: if Yugi and Atem are ready to separate, then Yugi will win. If not, Atem will remain for another 5000 years.
 * Kaiba offers Atem a rematch, since it seems (to Kaiba, at least) he'll be sticking around for a while.
 * Yugi asks why Kaiba will leave if Yugi is losing, but Kaiba replies that he only wants to watch Yugi lose to him.
 * Yugi reminds Kaiba about their bond (sparking a flashback when Atem gives the Millennium Puzzle to Priest Seto), and says Kaiba has to stay to watch. Yugi assures Kaiba that he has a plan to defeat the God cards, and Kaiba stays, if only to step in and duel Atem once Yugi loses. Fear then enters Yugi's heart.
 * Honda tries to encourage him but Marik stops him. He and Jonouchi rekindle the fact that the fear in facing the god cards in indescribable.
 * Yugi ruminates that forever he has tried to follow in Atem's footsteps and yet when he thinks he is nearing, he is actually so far.
 * Atem then encourages him by telling him to trust in the deck or he would not win. Anzu recognizes that Yugi knows how to defeat Atem.
 * Atem reminds him that it takes heart in building the deck that one trusts. Yugi then tells Atem that it is from him that he gains his strength but reminds him that Yugi himself has taken pain that Atem was supposed to receive.
 * Yugi then is more confident and tells him that he built his deck so that Atem's spirit would rest.

Defeating the God Cards

 * Silent Swordsman grows to Level 4 with 3000 points.
 * Next, Yugi sacrifices Alpha the Magnet Warrior, Beta the Magnet Warrior, and Gamma the Magnet Warrior from his hand to summon Valkyrion, the Magna Warrior to attack mode.
 * This activates Slifer's ability to drain Valkyrion of 2000 points, but Yugi activates Mirage Spell, which negates Slifer's ability and adds 2000 points to his Life Points, brining him up to 3400 Life Points.
 * Even Kaiba is impressed, but knows it will take more to beat the Gods. Yugi sets 2 cards and ends his turn.
 * Jonouchi and Marik question why Yugi wouldn't attack Obelisk, since both of his monsters are strong enough to destroy it. Kaiba demands Yugi show his strategy, and Atem reflects that Yugi's monsters are still too weak to defeat either Slifer or Ra.
 * Atem then thinks that Silent Swordsman level 5 and Valkyrion the Magna Warrior are the best cards, however, he still feels that this does not compare to the God Cards.
 * He draws and now that he has four cards, Slifer's attack power becomes 4000. Atem orders Slifer to attack Silent Swordsman. Yugi activates a trap, and Atem reminds him Slifer is immune to traps.
 * Silent Swordsman is destroyed, and Yugi is down to 2400 Life Points. Next, Atem attacks Valkyrion with Ra, destroying it and bringing Yugi's score to 900. *Finally, Obelisk attacks, but Valkyrion and Silent Swordsman reappear on the field, and Yugi's score goes back to 3400.
 * It turns out Yugi's last trap was Mirage Ruler, which, provided his monsters are all destroyed in one turn, brings them back and reverts his score to what it was at the start of the turn, although all this costs him 1000 Life Points, taking him down to 2400.
 * Atem ends his turn.
 * Everyone sighs in relief, including Grandpa who thought he would have a heart attack. Anzu is also relieved, but is now confused who she is siding with.
 * However, Kaiba merely thinks Yugi is stalling until he can find a weakness in the God cards. The only weaknesses he knows of that the God cards possess is that they require 3 sacrifices, but since they've already been summoned, this is a moot point.
 * Kaiba thinks Atem is the true King of Games, and Ishizu believes Yugi can still win. The suffering that a soul bears after 3,000 years has strengthened him. Only a strong body would be able to carry that soul whose own soul strengthens with the other soul. Because of that, the soul who owns the body could make miracles, Yugi could make miracles.
 * Yugi decides to start thinking like the Pharaoh, and deduces that Atem's facedown card is Mirror Force. If he's right, he knows how to defeat the God cards.
 * Yugi draws, and Silent Swordsman grows to 3500 points at Level 5. Then, he uses Valkyrion's ability to diffuse it into the 3 Magnet Warriors.
 * However, Slifer's ability activates again, blasting each of the 3 Magnet Warriors with a force strong enough to destroy them.
 * But Yugi responds with his trap Magnet Force, redirecting each of the 3 blasts to the God cards, draining each of them of 2000 points. Ra, Slifer and Obelisk now have 3000, 2000, and 500 points, respectively.
 * Yugi orders Silent Swordsman to attack, and Atem activates Mirror Force to destroy Yugi's monsters. Yugi admits he wanted Atem to use Mirror Force, and tells him the time has come to destroy the God cards.
 * Yugi plays Magnet Reverse to revive Valkyrion, activating Slifer's ability again. Magnet Force redirects the blast to Obelisk, destroying it.
 * Finally, Yugi diffuses Valkyrion again, and Slifer's 3 blasts are again reflected, 1 blast to Slifer and 2 to Ra, destroying them.
 * Everyone is amazed: while Atem managed to summon all 3 Gods in two turns, Yugi destroyed all 3 of them in one turn.
 * Yugi reminds Atem of something he learned of in their battles together: sometimes to defeat someone with a strong power, you need to turn that power against them. Atem is impressed and notes that that is how a true duelist thinks.

Post God Cards

 * Atem comes back by playing Polymerization to fuse Berfomet with Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beasts, to summon Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast.
 * Chimera destroys Alpha the Magnet Warrior.
 * While Atem is now in the lead, Kaiba admits that Yugi is the true King of Games for defeating the 3 God cards, surprising Jonouchi.
 * Yugi sacrifices Beta and Gamma to summon Buster Blader, and attacks Chimera, destroying it and bringing Atem to 3500 points.
 * Atem uses Chimera to revive Berfomet, and sacrifices it to summon Beast of Gilfer, before setting a card and ending his turn.
 * Yugi and Jonouchi realize that Atem wants Yugi to destroy the Beast, so he can use its ability to weaken Buster Blader.
 * Yugi sets 1 card and attacks, destroying Beast of Gilfer and draining Buster Blader of 500 points, leaving it with 2100 attack points. Yugi ends his turn.
 * Atem sets 1 card, and plays Awakening from Beyond, letting Yugi draw 2 cards, and allowing Atem to add 1 Monster from his Graveyard to his hand.
 * Yugi thinks that The Tricky can't be summoned unless Atem discards a card (which he can't), and the God cards need 3 sacrifices to be summoned. Nothing that Yugi can think of is strong enough to beat Buster Blader, but Atem calls back the monster he discarded to summon The Tricky, back during his first turn: Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight.
 * Yugi is amazed that Atem discarded Gaia at his first turn, and Atem admits he knew the duel would end up this way. The second he choose his cards to make his deck, he knew how the duel would go. He knew all along that Yugi would defeat the God cards, surprising everyone. Now that the Gods are gone, the true duel begins.
 * Gaia destroys Buster Blader and takes Yugi to 2200 points. Yugi activates Soul Rope, and pays 1000 Life Points to summon Witch of the Black Forest.
 * Yugi draws and sacrifices Witch to summon Summoned Skull, and uses Witch of the Black Forest's effect to place Marshmallon into his hand.
 * Summoned Skull attacks Gaia and takes Atem to 3300 Life Points. This however is emotionally painful as these two cards defended the two the most (other than Dark Magician.)
 * Atem thinks he has to fight hard to win, and draws exactly what he needs, calling out the card's name before he draws it: he summons Big Shield Gardna in defense mode.
 * While Jonouchi and Honda think its luck, Marik tells them he knew what he would draw. Ishizu agrees that Atem's will was so strong, he influenced fate to draw what he needed.
 * Yugi plays Pot of Greed to draw 2 cards, and summon Watapon by its effect, before sacrificing it to play Curse of Dragon. Summoned Skull attacks Big Shield Gardna, but is too weak to defeat it, bringing Yugi to 1100 points.
 * But Big Shield Gardna's special ability activates, switching it to attack mode.
 * Curse of Dragon destroys Big Shield Gardna, and Atem is down to 1400 Life Points.
 * Anzu says she can't watch anymore, and asks the duel to stop: she isn't ready to say goodbye to Atem.
 * Jonouchi comforts her and tells her that every duel Yugi and Atem ever fought has led up to this duel, and its a test to see how much both of them have grown, and if they're ready to move on. The duel is for the best, and Anzu agrees.
 * Atem thinks he senses an old friend in his deck and is sorry he kept him waiting for so long. He then draws.

Atem's Trusted Cards

 * Atem activates Dark Magic Curtain, paying half his Life Points to summon Dark Magician. Then Atem uses his facedown card Book of Secret Arts to increase the Dark Magician's attack and defense by 300.
 * Dark Magician destroys Summoned Skull and Yugi loses 300 Life Points, leaving him with 800.
 * The Dark Magician suddenly speaks with Mahado's voice, and tells Atem that he has crossed time and space to assist him in this final battle.
 * Yugi realizes that to defeat Atem, he has to destroy his most trusted monster. Yugi sets 1 monster in defense, and switches Curse of Dragon to defense.
 * Atem thinks Yugi's facedown card is Marshmellon, which inflicts 1000 points of damage to him when attacked while facedown, enough to defeat him.
 * Atem draws and activates Thousand Knives to destroy Marshmellon without attacking. Dark Magician attacks and destroys Curse of Dragon.
 * Yugi summons Blockman in defense mode and places 1 trap card facedown.
 * Atem counters with Dark Spear, allowing Dark Magician to inflict damage to Yugi even when he attacks a defense monster. Dark Magician attacks, and Yugi activates Soul Shield, paying half his Life Points to negate the attack.
 * Yugi activates Gold Sarcophogus, and removes 1 card from his deck.
 * If Atem activates that card, the Gold Sarcophogus negates that card. While no one knows what card Yugi chooses, they all think it unlikely that Atem will play the same card.
 * Anzu realizes the Gold Sarcophogus looks like the box the Millennium Puzzle came in: the same symbol that brought them together may now split them apart. In reality, the card that Yugi places is a card that he knows he could have used for himself but knows that Atem would also use it when Dark Magician would be defeated.
 * Yugi uses Blockman's special ability to split it into 2 Blockman Tokens, and sacrifices them to summon Gandora the Dragon of Destruction.
 * Anzu remembers that Yugi used that card to defeat Yami Bakura to prove he could duel on his own, so she thinks it is the perfect card to beat Atem with.
 * Yugi uses Gandora's special effect, and pays half his Life Points (leaving him with only 200) to destroy all the cards on the field and remove them from play.
 * Atem activates "Dark Illusion", protecting Dark Magician from Gandora, and allowing Yugi to draw 1 card.
 * Yugi sets 2 cards and ends his turn, and Gandora is destroyed.
 * Atem draws and attacks, and Yugi activates Magician's Circle, and uses it to summon Silent Magician.
 * But the Magician's Circle lets Atem play a Spellcaster too, and he chooses Dark Magician Girl before he continues his attack.
 * Yugi activates his second facedown card Spell Textbook, and discards his hand to draw 1 card, and play it right away if it is a Spell card. Yugi has no cards in his hand so all he needs to do is draw.
 * He draws and plays Card of Sanctity. The card allows both duelists to draw enough cards to make one's hand hold six.
 * Since Silent Magician's special ability increases its attack points by 500 for each card Atem draws and Atem just drew five, the Silent Magician is brought to level 5 and now has 3500 attack points.
 * Dark Magician is still in the process of attacking, and with 2800 points, Atem will lose 700 Life Points, which is all he has left.
 * So that he wouldn't lose right away, he activates Magicians Unite to let Dark Magician attack with Dark Magician Girl to inflict an attack with 3000 points. Both are destroyed, and Atem and Yugi stand tied with 200 Life Points each.
 * Atem tells Yugi this is his last turn, and thanks Yugi for trying to set him free. But the duel will end with Atem's victory.

Atem's Defeat

 * With the thought of winning, Atem plays Monster Reborn to revive Slifer the Sky Dragon. Since he has 4 cards in his hand, Slifer gains 4000 attack points.
 * But Yugi reflects that, if he were in Atem's situation, he would have played a God card too: which was exactly what Yugi was counting on. In a second, Yugi's Gold Sarcophogus glows, and opens to reveals Yugi's own Monster Reborn.
 * Jonouchi sees that Yugi could have benefited from that card but to ensure victory, that sacrifice had to be made.
 * Ishizu recognized it as a message to Atem that a peaceful soul should not be brought back to life to experience suffering. Atem's card is then negated by the sarcophagus, and Slifer dissolves back to the Graveyard.
 * Atem ends his turn and tells Yugi this has been the best duel of his life. Yugi stands motionless with his head bowed, and Honda asks why he's hesitating: one attack and he wins.
 * But Bakura explains that that's the problem: once he wins, Atem leaves forever.
 * One last tear falls from Yugi's eye as he commands the Silent Magician to attack. Atem loses his remaining Life Points, and Yugi wins the duel.

The End of Atem's Story
Yugi falls to his knees, cries and tells Atem that he is weak. Atem tells him that he would not cry if he were in his place. Yugi says that that is the point, he admits that he could not follow in the footsteps of Atem. Atem reminds him that he is not a coward and it was he who taught Atem about the principles needed to win. He also says that now he is leaving, there would be no one else for Yugi to follow and that there would only be one Yugi.

The Eye of Wdjat glows on the wall, and Ishizu says the spirit of the Pharaoh has been freed. Atem stands before the Eye and declares that he is Atem. The wall parts to reveal a glowing light, and Atem walks towards it. Téa, Joey and Tristan step forward, asking him if this is how it ends: Atem can't show up, change their lives, and leave.

Yugi says that they don't want to say goodbye, and Téa cries that while she know its for the best, it doesn't seem fair that Atem has to leave. They were just getting to know him, and Atem was just getting to know himself, but now he's leaving. She knows they should be happy for him, but its hard when they're losing their best friend and they don't understand why. Joey says there are some things they aren't supposed to understand: he goes through half his life like that. But he does know that while Atem's stay isn't as long as they'd like, they were lucky to know him at all. Atem silently thanks him, and Téa wishes him luck.

Joey shouts that Atem isn't going anywhere: the memories he gave each of them will remain in their hearts. Joey and Yugi give Atem a thumbs-up, and Atem returns the gesture as he walks forward. The Pharaoh's cloak and clothing appear around him as images of Adviser Siamun, Mana, Akhenamkhanen, and the six priests (Young Akhenaden, Mahado, Seto, Ishizu, Kalim and Shada) greet him. Atem vanishes into the light, the wall closing behind him.

The Wdjat temple then starts to crumble as the Millennium Stone shatters, scattering the Millennium Items in a bottomless pit. They all run away from the temple while Shadi's spirit watches the temple he protected crumble.

The Start of Yugi's Story
(This is in the one-off end credits. This is not shown in the English version as it ends with them still being in Egypt.)

Yugi, Tea, Joey, Tristan, Duke, Grandpa, Kaiba and Mokuba all leave Egypt and return to their home. In the airport, they meet up with Rebecca and Serenity. Both Duke and Tristan fall for Serenity but are pulled back by Joey. Yugi and Rebecca hug as they see each other again.

Weevil Underwood and Rex Raptor get into an argument again and decide to duel. Zigfried and Leon von Schroeder make a business proposition with Pegasus, which turns to their favor. Mako Tsunami sets sail from their fishing trip to be met up with Esper Roba at the harbor. Mai Valentine and Vivian Wong are facing a two-on-two duel against the Paradox Brothers atop the Great Wall of China.

The credits end with a cutscene where Sugoroku is sweeping while Yugi comes out from the house to join Anzu, Jonouchi and Honda to go to school. Yugi ends the show by saying that his story has not ended and that his story is not about a pharaoh who after three-thousand years defeated the evil Zorc.



In fact, he says that his story is just beginning. This alludes to the famous phrase "This isn't the legend of a Pharaoh. Everybody has his own story....The story that completes in the light. My story has just started." FIN

Episodes

 * The Final Duel (1)
 * The Final Duel (2)
 * The Final Duel (3)
 * The Final Duel (4)

Trivia

 * The English-language episode ends with Yugi and his friends in Egypt; in the Japanese version, the episode contains more footage and ends with Yugi and his friends walking down a street.
 * In the English version, Kaiba finally acknowledges Atem as 'Pharaoh', and seems to accept that he and Yugi are different people. He even seems to believe in the idea that Atem will leave if he loses, telling him at one point when he is winning, that it looks like he is not going anywhere. He also seems to finally concede his rivalry with Yugi after he defeats all three Egyptian God Cards in one turn, acknowledging Yugi as the true King of Games, and finally making peace with himself and the rest of the gang, in the process.
 * The decks of both Yugi and Atem share only 3 of the same card: Pot of Greed, Card of Sanctity, and Monster Reborn. Both decks have cards used in prior seasons, but the above 3 cards are the only cards in both decks built specifically for the Ceremonial Battle.
 * Although, after Yugi summons the Silent Swordsman, Atem claims to set Mirror Force, but he does not. An underside shot of the card shows the card is, in fact, Dark Mirror Force. Later, the real Mirror Force is used.
 * Yugi uses Ambush Shield to boost Silent Swordsmans ATK to 4,000 before Atem summons Winged Dragon of Ra. However, when Yugi's turn comes, Silent Swordmans ATK raises from 2,500 to 3,000, instead of 4,000 to 4,500.
 * The chant Atem uses to summon The Winged Dragon of Ra is different from the one Marik Ishtar uses in Battle City.
 * Yugi's Blockman card is a homage to Lego blocks.
 * In the English version of the anime, Atem continues with the phrase "Son of Pharaoh Aknamkanon" but in the Japanese and Philippine versions, it continues with the phrase Pharaoh of Egypt.
 * Yugi's level monsters function differently from the real cards. The real version of Silent Swordsman only levels up when it attacks, and is only level 3, 5, or 7. Silent Magician, starts at level 4, only levels up once, when the opponent has drawn 5 cards, to level 8.