Yu-Gi-Oh! - Episode 172

Valon and Joey are both being pushed to their physical limits, but both are determined to see this through to the end. Valon revives his ace armor monsters en masse for one final attack, and Joey answers with a combo that puts his whole heart into his own attack. When the dust settles, Joey is the victor, and Valon trusts Joey with the task of protecting Mai. This becomes necessary right away when Mai's pride returns. Joey declares that she can't keep this up, and the two begin their true rematch.

=Episode summary= Yami, Tea and Tristan are still trying to navigate the city, and the map says Joey should be nearby. Yami is lost in thought, remembering that his Timaeus card had glowed when Joey used Hermos, but it stopped reacting some time ago. They consider what that might mean about Joey's condition, and he insists that they must find Joey soon. At that moment, Joey and Valon are both bruised and gasping for breath, down to only a handful of life points each. Joey remarks that he thought he'd had Valon beat with his most recent attack. Valon replies by complimenting Joey as the most tenacious opponent he's ever faced. Mai listens to this, wondering how such a fierce duel could still have both of them insistent to keep going. Her desire to fight returns, and the Seal appears on her forehead before she winces, suppressing it.

Joey pays half his life points to maintain the armor, and he places two face-down cards to finish his turn. With Valon's turn, he draws a new spell that lets him summon a new suit of armor monsters from his graveyard. All at once, he is armed with his strongest weapons. He compliments Joey on getting so far, but it's because of this strength that he must fight back with all his power. Joey agrees, but clarifies that Valon will be the one defeated. He uses both his face-downs to put into play a chosen card from Valon's graveyard and a random one from his own. The one he chooses from Valon is Big Bang Blow, and for his own, he closes his eyes in preparation to draw. Both duelists have one card in mind, and after a silent wish, Joey picks and holds the card high.

It is Hermos, to Joey's elation and Valon's amazement. Joey immediately fuses his two new cards to create Big Bang Dragon Blow, commenting that this time, he will be the one using Valon's weapon. Valon laughs, affirming that this is the duel he's wanted, one to push him to the limits. The time has come for the last attack, which Joey confirms. Both duelists lunge at each other, fists colliding precisely in an explosion so strong the shockwave knocks Mai off her feet. From several blocks away, Tea stops running, signaling the others to look. A spiraling white column of light is blasting up to the sky, and Yami sees Timaeus glow once again.

At the center of the energy storm, Joey and Valon struggle for ground. Both are happy even as they fight, and outside, Mai gets back to her feet and cries out Joey's name. Valon's surprise at this is overwritten when Joey activates his weapon's ability: by tributing his other monster, he is able to destroy all of Valon's monsters and then inflict damage to Valon equal to the total ATK of those monsters. The power of Joey's attack gathers, and with one final yell, Joey sends Valon flying back, all of Valon's armor breaking apart even as he brakes himself to a standing stop. The rest of his life points drop to zero, and he admits defeat, dropping to one knee.

He turns to Mai, who is very shaken by the outcome, and he tells her not to look like that. No matter who she's thinking of, he believes they'll come back together in the end. Even though she saw the awful side of him and he still lost, he has no regrets. She moves closer to him, stepping within inches of the border. Valon then turns to Joey and leaves Mai in his care. Just after Joey nods to this, Valon slumps to his side, and Mai calls out his name. But he's already unconscious, and the Seal closes in on him, beaming to the sky before leaving his body. At Dartz's temple, a new tablet appears with the image of Valon, crouching and quiescent.

Mai bends down and hugs Valon's body, crying and whispering his name. She remembers him telling her how he was like her, unable to live without winning. But then he found someone he could share his victories with -- her. Her eyes clear up, and she regains her breath, setting him down as Joey calls her name. She calls him stupid for talking about duels like they can be shared, when they're really for oneself. But when she grins and adds that that's why Valon lost, Joey insists that Valon gave his best for that fight. Mai notes his emotion and turns to him, the Seal glowing briefly on her forehead as she asks, "Isn't Valon an enemy?" Joey confirms it, but says he respects people who fight with all they have. She only smirks at him, and he challenges her to duel. He realizes that's the only way to reach her feelings, and he encourages her to duel with no holding back from either of them.

With Valon's body set aside, the two prepare their duel. Yami and the others continue in Joey's direction, guided by Yami's intuition from Timaeus. Kaiba and Mokuba remark that there's no one around them, and Kaiba's hunch that Doma is responsible is confirmed when ranks of Orichalcos Soldiers appear before them. Mai begins the duel, and Joey struggles in his response, still feeling the injuries from the previous duel. His turn is a simple one, which Mai thinks about and realizes is unlike him. But he assures her he's not holding back. He now understands that, in his duel with Valon, they talked a lot, and not just with words. In doing so, Joey sensed Valon's heart, and that's why he also wants a serious duel with her. He hopes that she'll understand him by the end of it, and he wants to understand her, too. Speechless for a moment, she laughs at the idea he could understand her, who keeps dueling just to win. He answers that he doesn't understand that at first, but even so, he's doesn't want to give up.

Her response is to keep going, and their duel becomes a fight to keep a monster in play. Joey gains the upper hand with a high-level monster, but when Mai plays the Seal of Orichalcos, it affirms the drive to win in her heart and puts her monsters back in the lead. As a final defense, Joey uses Scapegoat, but Mai is fully prepared for this move with her Nightmare Tri-Mirror trap, flooding her field with high-powered Harpies. Joey is still hardly closer to reaching through the feelings in her heart, and he has only one turn to prepare for the attack she is still eager to unleash.

=Featured Duel #1: Joey Wheeler vs. Valon - Part 4=

Duel continues from previous episode.

Joey Wheeler's Turn

 * Since Aura Armor's "Player Token" was Special Summoned to the field, Joey must pay half his LP (Joey Wheeler: 200 → 100 Life Points).
 * Joey sets two cards.

Valon's Turn

 * Activates "Psychic Armor Head's" second special ability, Special Summoning it (0 → 500 ATK / 500 DEF) back from the Graveyard.
 * Activates Quick-Play Spell Card "Phoenix Gravitation": Valon Special Summons "Burning Knuckle" (0 → 500 ATK / 1000 DEF), "Jet Gauntlet" (0 → 500 ATK / 1500 DEF), "Over Boost" (0 → 500 ATK / 1000 DEF), and "Active Guard" (0 → 500 ATK / 2500 DEF) back from his Graveyard.
 * Thanks to its special ability, "Burning Knuckle" gains +200 ATK for each face-up Armor Monster Valon controls: with 5 such monsters this totals to a +1000 ATK bonus ("Burning Knuckle": 500 → 1500 ATK / 1000 DEF).
 * Joey activates Trap Card "Graverobber", activating "Big Bang Blow" in Valon's Graveyard and Special Summoning to his side of the field (0 ATK / 0 DEF) (NOTE: in the real game, only Spell Cards can be targeted with "Graverobber" and the activation of the robbed spell has a 2000 LP cost).
 * Joey activates Trap Card "Take One Chance": the card randomly selected from his Graveyard is "The Claw of Hermos". It is immediately activated.
 * Joey fuses "Big Bang Blow" with "The Claw of Hermos" to form "Big Bang Dragon Blow", equipping it to his "Player Token".
 * Valon uses "Burning Knuckle" to attack Joey's "Player Token", but Joey activates "Big Bang Dragon Blow's" special ability: he Tributes "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" to destroy Valon's monsters and inflict him damage equal to their combined ATK values (Valon's Active Guard is thereby destroyed before damage is dealt, and thus can't be used as damage prevention). (Valon: 900 → 0 Life Points). Joey wins.

Epilogue

 * "The Seal of Orichalcos" claims Valon's soul. Just before he collapses, he entrusts to Joey the task of protecting Mai from her fears.
 * Hearing Mai hide her concern and turn a hard heart to Valon's fall, Joey renews his vow to save her from the dark influence of the Orichalcos, and challenges Mai to another Duel.

=Featured Duel #2: Mai Valentine vs. Joey Wheeler - Part 1=

Mai Valentine's Turn

 * Summons "Cyber Harpie Lady" (1800 ATK / 1300 DEF) in Attack Position.

Joey Wheeler's Turn

 * Summons "Blue Flame Swordsman" (1800 ATK / 1600 DEF) in Attack Position.

Mai Valentine's Turn

 * Summons another "Cyber Harpie Lady" (1800 ATK / 1300 DEF) in Attack Position and equips it with Equip Spell Card "Aero Nail", increasing its ATK by 300 ("Cyber Harpie Lady": 1800 → 2100 ATK / 1300 DEF).
 * Uses the "Cyber Harpie Lady" equipped with "Aero Nail" to attack & destroy Joey's "Blue Flame Swordsman" (Joey: 4000 → 3700 Life Points). "Blue Flame Swordsman's" second special ability activates: Joey can Special Summon "Flame Swordsman" (1800 ATK / 1600 DEF) in Attack Position (NOTE: in the anime, "Flame Swordsman" is not a Fusion Monster).
 * Sets a card.

Joey Wheeler's Turn

 * Tributes "Flame Swordsman" to Summon "Cyber-Tech Alligator" (2500 ATK / 1600 DEF), and uses it to attack & destroy Mai's "Cyber Harpie Lady" equipped with "Aero Nail" (Mai: 4000 → 3600 Life Points).
 * Thanks to its special ability, "Aero Nail" can re-equip itself to Mai's other "Cyber Harpie Lady" ("Cyber Harpie Lady": 1800 → 2100 ATK / 1300 DEF).
 * Sets a card.

Mai Valentine's Turn

 * Activates Field Spell Card "The Seal of Orichalcos". From now on, all of Mai's monsters will receive a +500 ATK boost and the loser of this Duel will lose his soul ("Cyber Harpie Lady": 2100 → 2600 ATK / 1300 DEF).
 * Summons another "Cyber Harpie Lady" (1800 → 2300 ATK / 1300 DEF).
 * Uses the "Cyber Harpie Lady" equipped with "Aero Nail" to attack & destroy Joey's "Cyber-Tech Alligator" (Joey: 3700 → 3600 Life Points).
 * Uses the second "Cyber Harpie Lady" to attack Joey directly, but Joey activates Quick-Play Spell Card "Scapegoat", Special Summoning 4 "Sheep Tokens" (0 ATK / 0 each DEF) in Defense Position.
 * Activates Trap Card "Nightmare Tri-Mirror", selecting "Cyber Harpie Lady" and Special Summoning 4 more copies of it to her side of the field (1800 → 2300 ATK / 1300 DEF). These monsters cannot attack.
 * Uses the second "Cyber Harpie Lady" to attack & destroy one of Joey's "Sheep Tokens".

Duel concludes next episode.