Yu-Gi-Oh! GX - Episode 168

"Opening of Graduation Duel! Neos vs Black Flame Dragon of Horus" is the one hundred and sixty-eighth episode of the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime. It first aired in Japan on January 4, 2008.

Summary
In Domino City, a small boy named Tsutomu cries, bemoaning the fact that he can't become stronger as a Duelist. His eyes briefly glow blue, and a strong wind comes through his window, blowing his cards onto the ground. He goes to pick them up and his "Gigobyte" card turns black. Trueman appears before him and informs him that his grief, anger and pain has tainted the card. He recommends that Tsutomu accept the darkness in his heart - in this way, he'll become stronger. Trueman disappears, taking the form of the whirlwind of black cards again, and engulfs Tsutomu. His parents go to check on him, and Tsutomu tells them not to worry, but to follow him to the World of Darkness.

At Duel Academy, Chancellor Sheppard and Dr. Crowler announce the start of the graduation Duels. Crowler explains that the third-year students' goal is to obtain one hundred points through Dueling. A loss earns one point. A win against a first-year student earns one point, a win against a second-year student earns two points and a win against a third-year student earns three points. Each student may only Duel the same opponent one time. Once you earn one hundred points, the last requirement for graduation is met. However, students may continue accumulating points past one hundred. The student with the most amount of the points at the end of the year will receive a replica of Yugi Muto's Deck, provided by Industrial Illusions.

When Jaden returns to the Slifer Red dorm, he finds a group of students waiting for him. A second-year Obelisk Blue student named Taigo Sorano challenges him, stating he's always dreamed of Dueling Jaden and informs him that the large group of second-year Obleisk Blue and Ra Yellow students behind him also wish to Duel him. At the Obelisk Blue dorm, Alexis, Syrus and Chazz find themselves similarly popular targets, as students crowd around, wishing to Duel them. Atticus is also attempting to find an opponent, and is then cornered by what appears to be the entirety of the girl's dorm, save Alexis, who all wish to Duel him.

The Duel between Jaden and Sorano begins, and Sorano mentally thinks that he's studied Jaden's strategy and believes he has a counter that can defeat him. Sorano is playing a Horus Lockdown Deck, and Summoned "Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8" by the end of his first turn. This card can negate the activation of Spell Cards, so Sorano believes that will prove to be the key victory, since much of Jaden's strategy revolves around "Polymerization". Axel is sitting a van in Domino City, several computer monitors around him detailing the residents of Domino. One by one, the names of the residents begin to vanish. He calls KaibaCorp, but there is no answer, and it shows a list of employees on clipboard, which vanish one by vanish, leaving only Seto Kaiba's name behind. The city appears completely empty save for Axel himself.

At the Duel, Jaden plays "E - Emergency Call", which is negated by "Horus", but Jaden reveals he knew that would happen, and uses the opportunity to remove "E - Emergency Call" from play to Special Summon "Spell Striker". Sorano then seals the effect of Trap Cards with "Royal Decree", and reduces Jaden to 1000 Life Points. Jaden wins using by using "Contact Out" to Special Summon "Elemental Hero Neos" and "Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab" after destroying "Horus" with "Elemental Hero Flare Neos" via Contact Fusion (which does not use any Spell or Trap cards). After his loss, Sorano wanders through the forest, wondering how is calculations failed him. Because of his anger, his Deck turns black, and Trueman appears before him. Sorano questions who he is, and he responds that he was awakened from the darkness of Sorano's heart. He changes his form, now looking identical to Sorano himself, and states he'll need to get rid of the original. He activates his Duel Disk.

Jaden defeats a Ra Yellow student using "Elemental Hero Sparkman" and then notices a flock of black birds over the forest. Trueman defeats Sorano, attacking directly with "Dark Archetype" to win. The black birds swoop down on him. Jaden has a vision as his eyes change to the bichromatic style of Yubel, and he sees Sorano and other students engulfed in blackness and asking for help. His next Duel is supposed to start, but Jaden tells them all they'll have to continue tomorrow, and calls Tyranno Hassleberry to follow him. The two run off. They arrive where Sorano was defeated by Trueman, and find a pile of black-tainted cards. Jaden receives a call from Axel, who informs him of the strange going-ons in Domino City, and requests Jaden join him there. Jaden tells Hassleberry to locate Sorano, and runs off towards the docks. On his way, he calls Chancellor Sheppard, telling him it's an emergency, and he's borrowing one of the school's speedboats. Axel sees Tsutomu and attempts to question him on what's happening as he's the only resident Axel has located. Tsumotu runs, and leads him into a trap. He's surrounded by what appear to clones of Tsutomu, and they merge into their true form - Trueman.

Jaden's turn

 * Summons "Dandylion" (300/300) in Defense Position.
 * Sets a card.

Sorano's turn

 * Summons "Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4" (1600/1000).
 * Activates "Level Up!", sending "LV4" to the Graveyard to Special Summon "Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6" (2300/1600) in Attack Position while ignoring the summoning conditions.
 * Attacks and destroys "Dandylion", which Special Summons two "Fluff Tokens" (0/0 each) in Defense Position.
 * During the End Phase, "LV6" becomes "Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8" (3000/1800), since it destroyed a monster in battle this turn.

Jaden's turn

 * Summons "Cross Porter" (400/400) in Defense Position.
 * Activates "E - Emergency Call", but it is negated by the effect of "Horus".
 * Removes "E - Emergency Call" in his Graveyard from play to Special Summon "Spell Striker" (600/200) in Attack Position.
 * Attacks directly using "Spell Striker's" effect (Sorano 3400).

Sorano's turn

 * Activates "Stop Defense", switching a "Fluff Token" to Attack Position.
 * Attacks the Attack Position "Fluff Token", but Jaden activates his face-down "Secret Mission", which would end the Battle Phase
 * Sorano counters with the Continuous Trap "Royal Decree", which negates all other Trap Cards while it is face-up on the field. Thus, the attack goes through (Jaden 1000).
 * Activates the Continuous Spell "Sealer Formation", which, during his Draw Phase, would let him add a card named "Stop Defense", "Block Attack", "Mask of Restrict", or "Anti-Spell Fragrance" from his Graveyard to his hand instead of drawing.

Jaden's turn

 * Activates "Cross Porter's" effect to send "Spell Striker" to the Graveyard and Special Summon "Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab" (500/500) from his hand.
 * Tributes his "Fluff Token" and "Cross Porter" to Summon "Elemental Hero Neos" (2500/2000)
 * Contact Fuses "Neos" and "Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab" to form "Elemental Hero Flare Neos" (2500/2000) in Attack Position. Its effect increases its attack by 400 for each Spell and Trap card on the field, to 3300.
 * Attacks and destroys "Horus" (Sorano 3100).
 * Activates Quick-Play Spell Card "Contact Out", Special Summoning "Flare Scarab" (500/500) and "Neos" (2500/2000) in Attack Position. The former's effect increases its attack to 1300.
 * Attacks directly with "Flare Scarab" (Sorano 1800).
 * Attacks directly with "Neos" (Sorano 0).
 * Jaden wins.

Featured cards
The following cards appeared in this episode. Cards in italics debuted here.

Trivia
The names of Trueman's victims include many characters from the first series anime, including Miho Nosaka, Koji Nagumo and Tetsu Ushio.