"Soul Solution" known as "Battle of Souls! Polar God Emperor Thor VS Scar-Red Nova Dragon" in the Japanese version, is the one-hundred-and-twenty-fifth episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.
Jack and Dragan fight each other, betting their pride on the line. Jack's Ace Monster, "Red Dragon Archfiend", is destroyed when Dragan summons Thor. Jack is forced into a defensive position in the presence of "Thor, Lord of the Aesir", resulting in his Life Points dropping to 900. At that point, all seems over for him, however, Jack's wild fighting spirit refuses to back down. And in this raging battle, he performs a Double Tuning, summoning "Red Nova Dragon".
Summary[]
Dragan tunes all three of his monsters together, and his Rune Eye glows as Thor, Lord of the Aesir descends from the sky in a great beam of lightning. Yusei mutters that the monster has arrived, and Dragan claims that this outcome was determined ever since his Brisingamen trap was activated. He calls on his monster's strength, and with one swing of the hammer, "Red Dragon Archfiend" is wiped out. The MC is surprised at Jack's ace monster being defeated so quickly, and Dragan declares that he'll definitely get back the pride he'd lost before.
Jack shakes his head to clear it, and he wonders at the shock running through his body. But even in the face of a god, he knows he'll keep fighting and won't lose. He takes his turn, with Halldor and Brodor curious to see what he'll do. But all he does is build up defenses, which Dragan declares is useless before a god.
He takes his own turn, using Thor's effect to take the effect of "Top Runner" again, and the extra ATK makes the 5D's crew amazed at such a card's strength. Then he activates a Trap that will let his divine monster destroy both of Jack's monsters and deal damage for each one. The bolt of power striking Thor also causes interference in the broadcasting equipment, which catches Yusei's attention. Thor launches its first attack, destroying "Barrier Resonator" with no resistance, and the impact causes Jack yell in pain and his D-Wheel to spin out. Shaking, he manages to stay upright, but Yusei is stunned to realize that the damage was real. The crew and the MC are amazed at such a thing, while the audience can't believe it. Even Halldor wonders at this development. With this duel between the Crimson Dragon and the Rune Eye bearers, perhaps the duel is receiving some of the god's power.
Dragan is still attacking, and the second impact destroys the last monster, reduces Jack to 900 Life Points, and sends Jack spinning out wildly in a cloud of smoke. Everyone else calls out in fear, and they look on fervently, but Jack isn't coming out. Yusei manages to maintain his solid expression, but the MC voices their growing fears that he might have crashed. The very idea makes Dragan look back, and Lazar is terrified that Jack might have lost, which then makes him afraid that Jack will want revenge on him. Halldor comments that Jack couldn't handle such an opponent, but just then, the smoke clears, and Jack is solidly upright, but he is groaning and heavily beat up. The team calls to him, and Jack declares that if he were to crash at this point, he wouldn't be Jack Atlas. Lazar sighs in relief.
In their lair, the three emperors are eagerly watching to see how Jack could possibly win. The 5D's crew calms down, and Broder and Halldor comment that Jack is one of a kind. Dragan affirms that it's a relief that Jack didn't crash because he wants Jack to be his opponent and face him in this duel. Jack declares he'll throw those words right back at him, and to show his strength, he activates a trap that revives both his Tuners and damages Dragan with their ATK. Dragan loses much of his lead, but Broder notes that Jack is still too low on life to be safe, and Halldor adds that Thor still has an effect that hasn't been used yet.
Looking at the opponents, Dragan wonders if Jack's planning on calling a new Synchro monster, but even that won't be enough. Jack renews the fight, activating Speed World 2 and revealing his signature Speed Spell to deal more damage to Dragan, who mocks this as a backup strategy of someone who can't face Thor head-on. But Jack denies that, saying that his absolute power will break that target. He then revive his ace monster, though it is in Defense Mode and has a DEF of 0. Dragan says a shield is useless here, but Jack never intended on building up a shield.
Jack clenches his fist, and his whole body glows red. He calls upon the raging fighter within him, his Blazing Soul, and he calls out a Double Tuning, which bewilders all three members of Ragnarok. The tuners burst into flames, releasing rings of fire that envelop Red Dragon Archfiend. Jack chants the summon, the new card appears in his hand, and his ultimate monster, "Red Nova Dragon", appears on the field in a fiery roar. It's the first time most of Jack's friends have ever seen such a strong monster, not to mention everyone else watching, and the dragon's effect makes it stronger yet. The crew realizes that this monster's attack can take Dragan's life down enough that the four Speed Counters on Jack's next turn will deal the finishing blow, no matter what monsters Dragan has. With all his monster's power, Jack calls the attack.
Dragan replies that Jack still doesn't get it: his team's ace cards are ancient gods, and nothing can beat them. He activates a trap that, because he has a divine monster on his field, lets him reduce the dragon's ATK by 2000 and prevent Jack from using any Spell or Trap on it. Then he adds a continuous trap that will make his divine monster immune to Traps for two turns. He mocks Jack, saying that all his traps are cut off, and his teammates smile at the unequal ATK matchup, which will cause a counterattack strong enough to defeat Jack. But Jack declares he won't lose here -- he'll fight on with his friends. All of their signs glow as he activates the permanent trap, "Burning Rebirth", which lets him release "Red Nova Dragon" to revive "Red Dragon Archfiend", binding its life to the trap's. Because it was a cost and not an effect, Dragan's effect can't stop it, but the monster is still too weak. Jack then activates his trap's other effect, which lets him discard a Tuner and destroy the trap to revive the released monster. "Red Nova Dragon" reappears, even stronger than before. Dragan is stunned at such high ATK, Brodor is amazed that Jack thought of such a dodge, and Halldor realizes that that margin is now 1500. As his teammates cheer him on, Jack orders the attack, and Thor is wiped out. Without a word, Jack points to the sky in his signature pose of victory.
The crowd and his friends all cheer for him, and Lazar collapses with his life saved. Team Ragnarok grits at the outcome, and when Dragan says it's The King's abilities, Jack counters and says the bonds of his friends gave him this power. These words cause Dragan to close his eyes in thought. He admits defeat and states that the shadow in his heart is gone. Even so, the ones who will win this duel and stop Iliaster will be Team Ragnarok! The stadium and city begin to rumble, and all three Rune Eyes glow. As lightning rains down, the ocean parts, and a familiar warrior rises from the water. Thor is revived, to the fearful surprise of Team 5D's. Dragan declares that the god won't die when the player does. This is the bond of Team Ragnarok, and "Thor" activates its last effect upon revival, dealing 800 damage to Jack. This take Jack down to 100 Life Points, and as Jack is struck by the lightning of "Thor", even Yusei calls out to see him shuddering so close to defeat.
Featured Duel: Jack Atlas vs. Dragan[]
Turn 4: Dragan
Dragan sets two cards. On Dragan's End Phase, the effect of "Thor, Lord of the Aesir" expires ("Thor, Lord of the Aesir": 4100 → 3500/2800).
Turn 5: Jack Atlas
Jack draws. During the Standby Phase, the effect of "Speed World 2" activates (Jack's SPC: 3 → 4; Dragan's SPC: 3 → 4). Jack Normal Summons "Barrier Resonator" (1/300/800) in Defense Position and switches "Top Runner" (4/1100/800) to Defense Position. Jack then sets a card.
Turn 6: Dragan
Dragan draws. During the Standby Phase, the effect of "Speed World 2" activates (Jack's SPC: 4 → 5; Dragan's SPC: 4 → 5). Dragan's hand contains "Raging Sacred Curse" and "Swords of Revealing Light". Dragan then activates the effect of "Thor, Lord of the Aesir" to negate the effects of "Top Runner" and grant "Thor" those effects ("Thor": 3500 → 4100/2800). Dragan then activates his face-down "Nordic Relic Mjollnir" to allow "Thor, Lord of the Aesir" to attack twice this turn and allow "Thor" to inflict 1000 damage to Jack should it destroy a monster in battle.
"Thor, Lord of the Aesir" attacks and destroys "Barrier Resonator" and "Top Runner". The effect of "Nordic Relic Mjollnir" activates twice (Jack 2900 → 1900 → 900). Jack activates his face-down "Tuner's Reflect" to revive both "Barrier Resonator" (1/300/800) and "Top Runner" (4/1100/800) in Attack Position and inflict damage to Dragan equal to the combined ATK of the revived Tuner Monsters (Dragan 3400 → 2000). Dragan sets a card. On Dragan's End Phase, the effect of "Thor, Lord of the Aesir" expires ("Thor, Lord of the Aesir": 4100 → 3500/2800).
Turn 7: Jack Atlas
Jack draws "Speed Spell - End of the Storm". During the Standby Phase, the effect of "Speed World 2" activates (Jack's SPC: 5 → 6; Dragan's SPC: 5 → 6). Jack's hand contains "Trap Eater" and "Speed Spell - End of the Storm". Jack activates the effect of "Speed World 2" to remove four Speed Counters (Jack's SPC: 6 → 2) and inflict 800 damage to Dragan for each Speed Spell in his hand. Jack reveals "Speed Spell - The End of the Storm" (Dragan 2000 → 1200). Jack then activates his face-down "Descending Lost Star" to revive "Red Dragon Archfiend" in Defense Position with its effects negated, its DEF reduced to 0 and its Level reduced by one (8 → 7/3000/2000 → 0).
Jack then double tunes "Red Dragon Archfiend" with "Top Runner" and "Barrier Resonator" in order to Synchro Summon "Red Nova Dragon" (12/3500/3000) in Attack Position. Due to the effect of "Red Nova Dragon", it gains 500 ATK for each Tuner monster in Jack's Graveyard. There are two ("Red Nova Dragon": 3500 → 4500/3000).
"Red Nova Dragon" attacks "Thor, Lord of the Aesir", but Dragan activates his face-down "Raging Sacred Curse" to reduce the ATK and DEF of "Red Nova Dragon" by 2000 ("Red Nova Dragon" 4500 → 2500/3000 → 1000) and make it immune to Jack's Spells and Traps. Dragan then activates his face-down "Solemn Authority" to prevent "Thor" from being affected by Jack's Trap Cards for two turns. Jack then activates his face-down "Burning Rebirth" to Tribute "Red Nova Dragon" and revive "Red Dragon Archfiend" (8/3000/2000) in Attack Position as well as equip it with "Burning Rebirth".
Jack then activates the second effect of "Burning Rebirth" to send "Trap Eater" from his hand to the Graveyard and send "Burning Rebirth" to the Graveyard in order to revive "Red Nova Dragon" (12/3500 → 5000/3000) in Attack Position. Since "Burning Rebirth" was removed from the field, "Red Dragon Archfiend" is destroyed. "Red Nova Dragon" attacks and destroys "Thor, Lord of the Aesir" (Dragan 1200 → 0).
Due to the rulings of the WRGP, it immediately goes to Jack's End Phase. Dragan activates the final effect of "Thor, Lord of the Aesir" to revive itself (10/3500/2800) in Attack Position and inflict 800 damage to Jack (Jack 900 → 100).
Duel continues in the next episode.
Mistakes[]
- In the Japanese version, when "Red Dragon Archfiend" was Special Summoned by "Descending Lost Star", its DEF was shown to be 2500, instead of 2000. This was fixed on the Japanese DVD version.
Trivia[]
- In the dub, Crow asked Yusei, "Where did Jack get that card?" and Yusei replied, "Not sure", since the episode was skipped in the dub. In the Japanese version, the conversation is different, since Yusei was there when Jack got "Red Nova Dragon".
- In the dub, when the Dueling Screen for both Dragan and Jack came up after Jack started his turn, the screen for Dragan shows him in his outfit from their first Duel, which was featured as a flashback in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's - Episode 123, instead of in his current outfit.
- In the dub, when "Thor, Lord of the Aesir" is revived, music from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX can be heard.
Featured cards[]
The following cards appeared in this episode. Cards in italics debuted here.