Yu-Gi-Oh! - Episode 003

Journey to the Duelist Kingdom, known as The Lost Exodia in Japan is episode three of the second series anime

Yugi and Joey attend the ferry to Duelist Kingdom with Téa and Tristan sneaking onboard as well. Yugi and Joey meet some of the world's top duelists, most of which aren't too friendly towards the duelist who beat Seto Kaiba.

Episode Summary
Yugi stands on the roof of Domino High, looking out over the city in the late afternoon sun, wondering how he got into this mess. He can't believe that Grandpa is really gone. Why did Pegasus steal his Grandpa's soul away? What does Pegasus want with Yugi? Could it have something to do with his Millennium Puzzle? He vows to get his Grandpa back.

Joey's at home, about to play a videotape, he received from his younger sister, Serenity, in the mail. She tells him she misses him, and can't believe it's been six years since they've seen each other, when their mother took Serenity to live with her. A brief flashback to six years ago shows them being separated, little Joey running after the car, calling his sister's name, while she sits in the car with her face pressed against the window, crying. She's running out of time, she says, and was hoping to see him one more time, "before... you know." Joey's very upset.

Meanwhile, Yugi finds an envelope tucked into the door of the game shop when he goes home. It's from Pegasus, and it contains five special Duel Monsters cards. The next day at school, Yugi shows the cards to his friends and explains that it's an invitation to a special tournament at Pegasus' island, Duelist Kingdom. Joey wonders if that's where Pegasus is keeping Yugi's Grandpa. Yugi doesn't know, but the only way to know for sure is to become a contestant. The boat will be leaving in two days. Téa warns him that it could be dangerous, but Yugi says he has to go. It's the only clue he has for rescuing his Grandpa.

Tristan notices that one of the cards states that there's a prize of three million dollars for the tournament winner. (The Japanese card doesn't specify an amount. It reads, "Bakudai naru shoukin," which means, "Vast prize." The scene is cut slightly in the US version, showing only the picture on the card.) Yugi explains that he is not interested in the money. Joey, on the other hand, grabs the card to take a closer look, as his interests are made clear.

Later, Yugi finds Joey sitting on the roof, watching the sunset, and asks him what's with him. Joey insists that one way or another, he'll help Yugi beat Pegasus and rescue his Grandpa. Together they recap Yugi solving the Millennium Puzzle, that he made a wish on the Puzzle, he asked it to give him a real friend. And he thinks the Puzzle came through for him since he met up with Joey and Tristan, although they didn't act like his friends at first. Joey asks if Yugi means when he and Tristan were playing keep-away with the Millennium Puzzle, and says they were just trying to toughen Yugi up so he could stand up to the real bullies. But Yugi reminds Joey that he took a piece of the Millennium Puzzle and threw it out the window. But later Yugi found Joey and Tristan getting beat up by a huge bully, and jumped in to try to defend them, telling the bully that these guys were his friends. (In the Japanese version, the bully, Ushio, was trying to get money from Yugi, claiming that he was protecting Yugi by beating up Jounouchi and Honda, the boys who'd picked on him. Ushio tells Yugi that his bodyguard fee is 200,000 yen.) Joey remembers that Yugi stood up for him against the bully, and says he'll never forget that. He and Tristan learned what it was like to have a true friend. Then he retrieved the puzzle piece for Yugi and apologized to him, saying that he underestimated Yugi, and maybe they should hang out more often.

Present-day Joey tells Yugi he's the best friend he ever had and Yugi wishes Joey could come with him to Duelist Kingdom. Joey repeats his promise that somehow they'll do it together.

At Domino Pier, the duelists have gathered to board the ship for Duelist Kingdom. Kemo (Saruwatari), welcomes them, and tells them their Star Chips will grant them entry to the tournament. They're all elite duelists, who've been invited because of their performance in past Duel Monsters contests. They all have a fair and equal chance to win. So they board the ship and proceed to Duelist Kingdom!

The duelists are told to present their Star Chips as they board the vessel. But there's a commotion—Joey's been caught trying to sneak aboard. Yugi runs to ask him what he's doing, and Joey says there's no way he'd let Yugi do this on his own. Meanwhile, Tristan and Téa are waiting for a chance to sneak past the cargo handlers. Yugi tells the men holding Joey that Joey's with him, but they say only people with a Star Chip are allowed on board. Yugi says Joey has a Star Chip, and gives him one of his. One of the men warns Yugi that he'll be at a disadvantage if he gives up one of his Star Chips, but Yugi says he'd rather take that risk than be without his friend. The man calls Pegasus on his cell phone to ask what to do. Tristan and Téa have stow away in the cargo hold.

Yugi and Joey stand at the railing on the outer deck of the ship as it disembarks. Yugi says he's glad they let Joey on board, and Joey says it's only because Yugi sacrificed one of his Star Chips for him. If any of the other players find out they only have one Star Chip each, he says, they could try to take advantage of them. So Yugi tells Joey to be quiet about it. (In the Japanese version, Jounouchi says it seems that Pegasus can do a nice thing every once in a while. Then he tells Yugi that he'll owe him for the rest of his life for this. Yugi says it's okay.)

They're joined Mai Valentine, who's curious to meet the little squirt that beat Kaiba. (Japanese Mai calls Yugi "O-chibi-chan," which is an overly familiar and rude way of calling him a little guy.) Yugi and Joey both go all goggle-eyed over the glamorous Mai, and Joey tries to attract her interest by telling her he's a good friend of the Master Duelist, Yugi, but she says you're either a champ or a chump, and tells Yugi to cut this guy loose—he deserves to be crushed. As she saunters away, Joey asks her to please crush him! She says she'll crush them both, and tells them her name is Mai Valentine. Téa overhears and is quite indignant over Mai's arrogance, saying nobody's better at Duel Monsters than Yugi, but Tristan's just as doofy over Mai as the other boys, and warns her to be quiet or they'll hear her.

Meanwhile, Joey's complaining about the dorm room accommodations being provided for the unranked duelists. Surely a luxury cruiser has better rooms somewhere! Pegasus' suits are threatening to throw Joey out, when Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood show up, saying that the private rooms are reserved for finalists in previous championships, like them. Yugi congratulates Weevil for winning the Regionals, while Joey brags that he and Yugi will win this tournament. Weevil says he won't really consider himself a champion until he defeats the duelist who beat Kaiba, but he's sure he'll end up dueling Yugi in this tournament. Yugi cheerfully says he's looking forward to it. Weevil tells Yugi he'll let him in on a little secret—there are new rules on the island that will require more strategy. But Rex says rules are for wimps—in dueling, you either smash your opponent or get smashed. Joey offers his recently-learned wisdom that strength is good, but you also need to combine it with other types of cards. Rex tells him to stay out of it, and walks away, saying he'll stomp Joey like everybody else.

After Rex leaves, Weevil points out the advantage to rooming with everyone else—the opportunity to get to know their opponents, who are making last-minute trades to improve their decks. Yugi thinks Weevi's pretty smart, and Joey immediately runs off to trade cards. But Weevil says if you've come all this way and are still trying to improve your deck, you've got to be pretty desperate. Then he leaves, too.

Mai, who's furious about the communal living arrangements, is demanding one of the suits get his superiors on the phone, when Rex shows up, telling her he's a champion with a luxury room. Mai goes all coy and wangles an invitation to visit his room. (In the Japanese, Dinosaur invites Mai to his room without any encouragement.)

Meanwhile, Téa's looking very uncomfortable. She spots their classmate, Bakura, by the railing. But what's he doing here? Tristan thinks she's seeing things.

Back in Rex Raptor's room, Mai flatters Rex for a bit, then challenges him to a duel, with a kiss for the prize if he wins. (In the Japanese, Mai says she'll do anything he wants if he wins.)

Joey shows Yugi the cards he traded for: "Salamandra", "Kunai with Chain", "Baby Dragon", "Shield & Sword". Yugi says that with these new Magic Cards, Joey will have a real strong deck. Joey thinks he's ready to win every duel he plays, but Yugi says it might be a bit harder than that. He gives Joey his "Time Wizard" card to add to his deck, saying it can be helpful in a tight spot. Joey can't believe how Yugi's always helping him out. Just then, Weevil shows up, smiling slyly.

Mai puts her deck on the table and tells Rex to cut the cards. If she wins, she says, he'll agree to clear out of the room for the rest of the trip. Mai says that the first card in her Deck is "Shadow of Eyes", and Rex turns it up, astonished to see that she's right. The second card is "Harpie Lady", then "Elegant Egotist" and "Cyber Shield". She always knows the cards in her Deck, she says, and can pick what she wants at any time. Rex begins to get a clue that dueling Mai might not be as easy as he thought.

Out on the deck, Weevil asks Yugi if he traded for any good cards, but Yugi says he's going to stick with the cards he brought. Weevil says he figured as much, and asks Yugi about his Exodia cards, asking if he could possibly see them? Naively, Yugi hands Weevil the cards, telling him to be careful with them. Weevil says that for a long time, he's been trying to think of a strategy to defeat Exodia, but he couldn't come up with anything—until now. He throws the cards overboard, and walks away laughing, saying that now there's no one who can challenge him.

Yugi is distraught, explaining that those were the Exodia cards his Grandpa gave him! Joey jumps into the ocean to try to retrieve them. Yugi shouts at Joey that the cards aren't worth drowning over, but Joey tells him not to worry. He finds one of the cards, but Yugi calls out to him to swim back to the ship. Joey refuses, saying that this time, there's something he can do to help someone he cares about. If he punks out now, who's going to help his sister, Serenity? Joey finds one more of the cards before the current overcomes him. Then Yugi jumps in after him. Joey begins to sink into the sea, and Yugi swims down and pulls him back to the surface. Téa and Tristan throw a rope ladder down to them, and they're saved.

Mai tosses a humiliated Rex Raptor out of his room.

Back aboard the ship, Yugi thanks Téa and Tristan for their help. They say they're a team, and they all stick together. Joey apologizes for not being able to find all the cards. Yugi tells him it's okay, but Joey's upset that he couldn't help. He can't help anybody, he says, and tells them about his sister, Serenity—she's losing her eyesight, and without an expensive operation, she'll soon go permanently blind. He's hoping to win the prize money to pay for her eye operation.

The four friends stand in the bow of the ship together, as it approaches Duelist Kingdom. They'll both do their best, Yugi says. Joey for his sister, and Yugi for his Grandpa.

Changes to the English version

 * In the dub when Yugi is on the Domino High School roof he wonders why Pegasus stole his Grandpa's soul and what does Pegasus want with him, and he vows to get Grandpa back. In the Japanese version Yugi thinks Pegasus has the power to see into others' hearts. He wonders how can he beat this guy? But he has to do it. Pegasus has taken his Grandpa, and he must get back what is important.
 * In the dub when Yugi was on the Domino High School roof. Pegasus and Grandpa's faces were floating in the sky. In the Japanese version it was just Pegasus.
 * The writing on Ushio's armband has been removed in the English version.
 * Ushio is unnamed in the dub.
 * In the dub when Téa was on the ship she was cold and the Tristan says to her the sun will come up in a few hours. In the Japanese version Anzu (Téa) needed to go to the bathroom so badly because there were no bathrooms on the ship. Honda (Tristan) tells her to pee over the side and Anzu replies "I'm not a boy!"
 * A few shots of Téa needing to use the bathroom are cut from the dub.
 * The background on "Shadow of Eyes" is changed in the dub.
 * In the dub, "Shadow of Eyes" is a Trap Card. In the Japanese version, it's a Magic Card.
 * Mai sitting behind the table and a zoom in of her skirt is replaced in the dub with a shot of her cards.
 * Cut from the end of the dub episode is a shot of Yami appearing in the sky telling Weevil that he's going down first.

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

Trivia

 * This marks the first episode to not feature dueling.
 * This is the only episode that says "Last Time On Yu-Gi-Oh!" instead of "Previously On Yu-Gi-Oh!"