Yu-Gi-Oh! - Episode 221

The Final Duel - Part 1 known as The Fated Last Duel in the Japanese version is Episode 221 of the Yu-Gi-Oh! second series anime.

This episode marks the beginning of the final Duel between Yugi Muto and Yami Yugi to determine the Pharaoh's fate. If Yugi wins, the Pharaoh will be able to return to the Spirit World; otherwise, Yami must remain in the "real" world for another 5,000 years.

=Summary=

(NOTE: for steps in the Yami Yugi and Yugi Muto Duel please see the Featured Duel section below)

Arrival at the Temple of the Realm of the Dead

 * Ishizu Ishtar has taken Yugi & the Pharaoh (along with all their friends) to the shrine of the Millennium Stone, its final resting place.
 * At the entrance, Téa asks why they have to rush into things: after all this might be the last time they get to see the Pharaoh. Ishizu replies "Yugi and the Pharaoh must carry out this battle ritual as quickly as possible; if too much time should pass, [their] window of opportunity will close".
 * Inside the Temple and in front of the Tablet of the Realm of the Dead, Ishizu explains what will happen next by reading the text engraved on the Tablet.
 * 'Ishizu Ishtar: "Before the ritual can begin, the Millennium Items must be returned to the Stone from whence they came. The Eye of Wdjat will then peer into your soul Yugi, thus unraveling the Pharaoh's spirit from your own".


 * Yugi begins placing the items one by one: first the Millennium Eye, then the Millennium Key, the Millennium Scale, and finally the Millennium Rod, the Millennium Necklace, and the Millennium Ring (NOTE: for dramatic effect, before placing the Rod, Necklace, and Ring the scene briefly focus on their previous owners Marik, Ishizu, and Bakura).
 * Before placing the final item, his Millennium Puzzle, Yugi thinks about the wish he was granted.
 * Solomon Muto: (thinking) "All of this began the day Yugi solved that puzzle. And it will all end the moment he returns it."
 * Yugi Muto: "All right, here it goes." (thinking) "(...) And my wish did come true the day I met my friends! And thanks to you Pharaoh, I'm ready to give it back."


 * After placing the final item, the Eye of Widjat lights up and separates Pharaoh Atem and Yugi from one another (they both wear the same clothes as the original Yugi, and they both seem to be equal in height; later in Duel however it is obvious Yami is slightly taller than Yugi).
 * Mokuba Kaiba: "Hey wait, so which one are we supposed to root for?"
 * Téa Gardner: (thinking) "If the Pharaoh wins, he gets to stay, which means we won't have to say good-bye."
 * Joey Wheeler: "We gotta root for Yugi guys, it's the only way to set the Pharaoh's spirit free."
 * Téa Gardner: (thinking) "Joey's right. I should want what's best for the Pharaoh, and that's for his spirit to move on. I have to be strong."
 * Yami Yugi: (thinking) "This is the first time in my life that I've hoped for my opponent's victory, but in order for this Duel to truly test our readiness to separate, I must fight with ALL my strength."
 * Yugi Muto: (thinking) "Pharaoh, now that you've left the Millennium Puzzle I can't hear your thoughts any more, but somehow I still know what you're thinking. And I feel the same way. If you've taught me anything is to put your heart into your Deck and Duel with everything you've got. And that's exactly what I'm gonna do!"
 * Seto Kaiba: "I guess we're about to find out who the true 'King of Games' is."


 * THE FINAL DUEL BEGINS!!! (see Featured Duel section below)

Enter "Obelisk the Tormentor"

 * During the Duel, after Yami Summons "Obelisk the Tormentor" and destroys Yugi's "Stronghold the Moving Fortress", there is a small pause. Their friends comment on what just happened.
 * Joey Wheeler: "Yugi!"
 * Tristan Taylor: "''You've gotta hang in there dude!'""
 * Joey Wheeler: "The Pharaoh means business!"
 * Téa Gardner: "Yugi...!"
 * Duke Devlin: "Poor guy. Not only did he get clobbered by Obelisk, but thanks to "Swords of Revealing Light" he can't strike back!"
 * Yami Yugi: (to Yugi) "I told you I wouldn't go easy on you."
 * Mokuba Kaiba: "Check it out guys! Yugi is back on his feet!"
 * Seto Kaiba: "Big deal! There's still no way he can stand up to Obelisk"
 * Duke Devlin: "Then why is he smiling?"
 * Ryo Bakura: "Perhaps Yugi WANTS to lose so the Pharaoh doesn't have to go!"
 * Joey Wheeler: "No way Bakura! Yugi may not wanna say goodbye, but there's no way he'd be happy about losing."
 * Téa Gardner: "So why the smile?"
 * Joey Wheeler: "He's having the time of his life! Think about it Téa: this is Yugi's shot to finally PROVE himself! Usually he takes a back seat during Duels, but this time is in control of his own Deck! So this time instead of standing BEHIND the Pharaoh, the two of them are face to face for one last Duel."
 * Téa Gardner: "Yeah but can Yugi win?"
 * Joey Wheeler: (thinking) "It's gonna be tough. But if anyone can do it, Yugi can!"


 * The Duel resumes.

=Featured Duel: Pharaoh Atem vs. Yugi Muto - Part 1=

Pharaoh Atem's Turn

 * Activates "The Tricky's" effect: Atem discards a card to Special Summon it (2000 ATK / 1200 DEF) from his Hand in Attack Position.
 * Sets a card.

Yugi Muto's Turn

 * Activates Spell Card "Swords of Revealing Light": Atem's monsters cannot attack for the next three turns.
 * Summons "Green Gadget" (1400 ATK / 600 DEF) in Attack Position: its effect lets him add "Red Gadget" from his Deck to his Hand.
 * Sets a card.

Pharaoh Atem's Turn

 * Due to Yugi's "Swords of Revealing Light", Atem cannot attack (3 more turns).
 * Activates Spell Card "Rebellion": it forces Yugi's "Green Gadget" to attack Yugi directly.
 * Yugi activates Trap Card "Stronghold the Moving Fortress": it is immediately Special Summoned in Defense Position as a Machine-Type/EARTH/Level 4 Effect Monster with 0 ATK / 2000 DEF.
 * Due to the effect of "Rebellion", Atem must use Yugi's "Green Gadget" to attack "Stronghold the Moving Fortress" instead. Since "Green Gadget" is still considered one of Yugi's monsters, Yugi is dealt 600 points of Battle Damage (Yugi: 4000 → 3400 Life Points).

Yugi Muto's Turn

 * Activates Spell Card "Ties of the Brethren": Yugi pays 1000 Life Points (Yugi: 3400 → 2400 Life Points) to Special Summon "Red Gadget" (1300 ATK / 1500 DEF) from his Hand and "Yellow Gadget" (1200 ATK / 1200 DEF) from his Deck in Defense Position.
 * Since all of "Green Gadget", "Red Gadget", and "Yellow Gadget" are on the field, "Stronghold the Moving Fortress's" second effect allows it to gain 3000 ATK ("Stronghold the Moving Fortress": 0 → 3000 ATK / 2000 DEF).
 * Uses "Stronghold the Moving Fortress" to attack Atem's "The Tricky".
 * Atem activates Spell Card "Bounce": the effect of "Swords of Revealing Light" is transferred to Yugi's side of the field. His monsters cannot attack for the next three turns.
 * Yugi switches "Green Gadget" to Defense Position.

Pharaoh Atem's Turn
(Insert dialogue from Enter "Obelisk the Tormentor" Summary section above)
 * Activates Quick-Play Spell Card "Tricky's Spell 4": Atem Tributes "The Tricky" to Special Summon as many "Tricky Tokens" (2000 ATK / 1200 DEF) in Defense Position as the number of monsters Yugi controls. Since Yugi controls 4, Atem gets 4 "Tricky Tokens". These Tokens cannot attack.
 * Tributes three of his "Tricky Tokens" to Summon "Obelisk the Tormentor" (4000 ATK / 4000 DEF).
 * Uses "Obelisk the Tormentor" to attack & Destroy Yugi's "Stronghold the Moving Fortress" (Yugi: 2400 → 1400 Life Points).
 * Sets a card.

Yugi Muto's Turn

 * Due to "Swords of Revealing Light", Yugi cannot attack (3 more turns).
 * Sets three cards.
 * Summons "Silent Swordsman LV0" (1000 ATK / 1000 DEF) in Attack Position.

Pharaoh Atem's Turn
Main Phase 1: Battle Phase: Main Phase 2:
 * Sets a card.
 * Activates Spell Card "Card of Sanctity": both Duelists draw until they have 6 cards in their hand. (NOTE: Card of Sanctity's real-life effect allows you to remove every card in your hand and on your field, and then draw until you have 2 cards in your Hand).
 * Uses "Obelisk the Tormentor" to attack Yugi's "Silent Swordsman LV0".
 * Yugi activates Continuous Trap Card "Ground Erosion": Yugi selects the Monster Card Zone occupied by "Obelisk the Tormentor". During every one of Yugi's Standby Phases, Obelisk will lose 500 ATK.DM-221 Obelisk attacks.jpg
 * Yugi activates Quick-Play Spell Card "Turn Jump" but Atem activates Continuous Trap Card "Summoning Clock". Because of "Turn Jump", the Turn Count moves forward by 6 turns (3 turns for each Player), and all cards on the field are treated as having had their effect(s) active for three full turns.
 * Since 3 turns have passed for Yugi, the effect of "Swords of Revealing Light" vanishes.
 * Since 3 turns have passed for Yugi, his "Silent Swordsman LV0" increases by 1 LV and 500 ATK for each turn i.e. by 3 LV and 1500 ATK ("Silent Swordsman LV0" → "Silent Swordsman LV3": 1000 → 2500 ATK / 1000 DEF).
 * Since 3 turns have passed for Atem, Yugi's "Ground Erosion" decreases "Obleisk the Tormentor's" ATK by 500 for each turn, i.e. by 1500 ATK ("Obelisk the Tormentor": 4000 → 2500 ATK / 4000 DEF).
 * Since 3 turns have passed for Atem, he can Tribute a monster to Special Summon 3 new monsters for "Summoning Clock".
 * "Turn Jump" also brings Atem back to the beginning of his Battle Phase, so he can choose whether to attack with Obelisk again or not. He chooses not to.
 * Atem Tributes "Tricky Token" to Special Summon "Queen's Knight" (1500 ATK / 1600 DEF), "King's Knight" (1600 ATK / 1400 DEF), and "Slifer the Sky Dragon" (X000 ATK / X000 DEF) with "Summoning Clock".
 * "King's Knight's" effect immediately lets him Special Summon "Jack's Knight" (1900 ATK / 1000 DEF) from his Deck.
 * Since Atem holds 3 Cards in his Hand, Slifer's ATK/DEF is 3000 ("Slifer the Sky Dragon": X000 → 3000 ATK / X000 → 3000 DEF).
 * Yugi activates Trap Card "Ambush Shield": he Tributes "Red Gadget" to increase "Silent Swordsman LV3's" ATK by the amount of Red Gadget's" DEF i.e. +1500 ("Silent Swordsman LV3": 2500 → 4000 ATK / 1000 DEF).
 * Atem uses "King's Knight" to attack & destroy Yugi's "Yellow Gadget".
 * Yami uses "Queen's Knight" to attack & destroy Yugi's "Green Gadget".
 * Atem Tributes "Queen's Knight", "King's Knight", and "Jack's Knight" to Summon "The Winged God Dragon of Ra" (???? ATK / ???? DEF) (NOTE: in the anime, Yami also has to recite the Hieract chant to "unlock" Ra. It's chanted exactly as it's written on the Card itself, so no-one but Atem himself and the Grave Keepers can understand it. The Japanese version has him chant in this idiom, so a transcription of it isn't possible.)
 * The ATK/DEF values of Ra are equal to the sum of the respective ATK/DEF of the monsters Tributed to Summon it i.e. 1500 + 1600 + 1900 = 5000 ATK and 1600 + 1400 + 1000 = 4000 DEF ("The Winged God Dragon of Ra": ???? → 5000 ATK / ???? → 4000 DEF).
 * Since Atem now holds 2 cards in his Hand, Slifer's ATK/DEF is 2000 ("Slifer the Sky Dragon": 3000 → 2000 ATK / 3000 → 2000 DEF).

Duel continues next episode.

Featured Cards
Cards in italics debuted in this episode.