Yu-Gi-Oh! GX - Episode 144

The Forbidden Ritual - Part 1, known as '''Activate! Ultimate Unsealing Ritual Art''' in the Japanese version, is the one hundred and forty-fourth episode of the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime. As Jaden Yuki recovers, his small group of remaining companions continue on. Adrian Gecko reveals himself after a long absence and intends to sacrifice his childhood friend Echo to release the spirit of Exodia. Aster Phoenix opposes him.

Summary
Jaden Yuki is freed from the influence of the The Supreme King, but at a great cost. His only remaining companions are Syrus Truesdale, Ojama Yellow, Aster Phoenix and Zane Truesdale. Jaden is sleeping it off, and wakes up screaming as he remembers his duels with Jim Crocodile Cook and Axel Brodie. He questions where they are, and realizes they are gone - defeated by his own hands. Aster tells him to calm down and reveals that Jesse Anderson is still alive, so Jaden needs to focus on locating and saving his friend. Jaden responds that at this point, he doesn't deserve to be anyone's friend. Jaden then passes out again.

Elsewhere, Adrian Gecko is in a cave, holding the five Exodia cards he received from Marcel Bonaparte while the latter was still possessed by Yubel. Adrian determines that he was will have to fight Yubel for control of this dimension and believes he can win if he unlocks Exodia's seal and makes it his servant. He also realizes that to break the seal, he needs a sacrifice. He reveals that Yubel's Devil Arm has been transplanted onto his own, as his current power is only a result of his deal with Yubel.

Aster thumbs through Jaden's deck and sees the "Super Polymerization" card and is confused as to how it got there - as it was not there the last time he checked. Zane comments that he would have liked to duel The Supreme King and explains that he came here seeking his ultimate opponent. Aster wants to help Jaden find Jesse, as Aster feels he is indebted to Jaden, since the latter aided in saving Aster's own friend - Sartorius. In the canyon below them, Dr. Crowler and Echo are being chased by a pack of "Abare Ushionis". They are saved when Zane and Aster summon "Cyber Dragon" and "Destiny Hero - Diamond Dude" respectively. Crowler and Echo begin traveling with the rest of the group.

That night, Aster returns a locket Echo had dropped to her - one with Adrian Gecko's picture. He questions whether she's here to save Adrian. She replies that she's not - she knows Adrian will rule this dimension, without his brother and the rest of his family to hold him back. A deep fog gathers, and the whole group is suddenly transported into a cave, where they meet Adrian, who reveals that he was not left behind in the other dimension - he chose to stay. Jaden questions whether he's seen Jesse, but Adrian replies he hasn't. He reveals that in order to become King, he needs to sacrifice Echo's life. Aster steps in, wishing to save Echo and challenges Adrian to a duel.

The duel begins, and Adrian's strategy seems to consist of playing defense and reinforcing his hand. Eventually, Aster realizes that he may be trying to complete Exodia, and blocks this strategy by playing "Force of Four". At this point, Adrian's hand consisted of four Exodia pieces and a Spell Card - and he had just moved the fifth piece to the top of his deck after his "Deep Diver" was destroyed. However, the Spell Card he discarded was "The Ultimate Ritual of the Forbidden Lord", which lets him Ritual Summon "Exodius the Ultimate Forbidden Lord". However, he must sacrifice someone he loves in order to break the seal. Echo willingly steps forward to be sacrificed.

Adrian's turn

 * Summons "Vortex Trooper" (0/600) in defense position and activates its effect, which lets him shuffle two cards from his hand into his Deck and draw two cards.

Aster's turn

 * Summons "Destiny Hero - Diamond Dude" (1400/1600) in attack position.
 * Activates "Diamond Dude's" effect, checking the top card of his Deck. If it's a Normal Spell Card, he can show it to his opponent and activate it on his next turn from the Graveyard; if not, the card goes to the bottom of his Deck. The top card is "Destiny Draw", so Aster shows it to Adrian and sends it to the Graveyard.
 * Attacks and destroys "Vortex Trooper" with "Diamond Dude", which lets Adrian draw one card via "Vortex Trooper's" effect.
 * Sets two cards.

Adrian's turn

 * Summons "Deep Diver" (1100/1100) in defense position.
 * Sets a card.

Aster's turn

 * During his Main Phase, due to his "Diamond Dude's" effect, Aster activates "Destiny Draw" from the Graveyard and draws two cards.
 * Activates "Diamond Dude's" effect again, checking the top card on his Deck. He shows "Doctor-D" to Adrian and sends it to the Graveyard.
 * Summons "Destiny Hero - Dunker" (1200/1700) and activates its effect, discarding "Destiny Hero - Disk Commander" from his hand to inflict 500 damage to Adrian (Adrian 3500).
 * Activates "Clock Tower Prison"
 * Activates his two face-down "Eternal Dread" Trap Cards. Each one adds two Clock Counters to "Clock Tower Prison", for a total of four.
 * Activates "Mystical Space Typhoon", destroying his own "Clock Tower Prison".
 * With four Clock Counters on "Clock Tower Prison" when it was destroyed, Aster can Special Summon his "Destiny Hero - Dreadmaster" (?/?).
 * "Dreadmaster's" effect Summons "Disk Commander" (300/300) from his Graveyard, whose own effect lets Aster draw two cards.
 * Meanwhile, "Dreadmaster's" original ATK and DEF both become equal to the total ATK of all Destiny Heroes that Aster controls, in this case 2900.
 * Attacks and destroys "Deep Diver" with "Dunker".
 * Attacks directly with "Disk Commander" (Adrian 3200).
 * Attacks directly with "Diamond Dude". (Adrian 1800).
 * Attacks directly with "Dreadmaster", but Adrian activates his face-down "Dimensional Prison", removing the attacking monster from play
 * "Deep Diver's" effect activates at the end of the Battle Phase, allowing Adrian to select a card from his Deck and place it on top.
 * Activates "Force of Four", limiting both player's hands to four cards each. Since Adrian is holding five cards, he must discard one of his cards to the Graveyard.

Adrian's turn

 * Discards "Exodia the Forbidden One" due to "Force of Four", but declares he has a backup strategy, and activates his "Ultimate Ritual of the Forbidden Lord" Spell from his Graveyard. On this note, Echo steps toward Adrian, agreeing to offer her life force in exchange for Adrian's victory.

Duel continues in the next episode.

Trivia

 * In the English version of this episode, when Adrian approaches the chamber where Exodia was sealed in at the start of the episode, the five Exodia cards still have their original Japanese art, complete with card text.