"Back to Duel", known as "The Beginning of Destiny! New Student, Edo Phoenix" in the Japanese version, is the fifty-third episode of the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime. It first aired in Japan on October 5, 2005 and in the United States on August 21, 2006.
Summary[]
Jaden Yuki has begun his second year at Duel Academy. Chancellor Sheppard has left on a trip, and so Dr. Crowler has been promoted to "temporary principal" in his absence. He acts in concert with a new employee, Vice-Chancellor Bonaparte. The two go to the docks to meet the incoming first-year students, with both curious as why Aster Phoenix has chosen to enroll, as he already Duels professionally.
Unaware of Aster's status, Jaden Duels him, eager to teach a new student about Dueling. During the Duel, Ms. Dorothy reveals to Chazz Princeton, Alexis Rhodes and Syrus Truesdale that he constructed the Deck out of eight packs of cards he purchased that morning. Jaden attempts to give him advice, which Aster pretends to take. He receives a cell phone call from a white-cloaked man, who had told Aster to seek out Jaden in the first place, as the cloaked man believes Jaden to be "the one". Aster is not impressed by Jaden, and leaves after being defeated. Syrus realizes who Aster really was, and Jaden is eager to have a rematch with Aster when the latter is using his true Deck.
Crowler and Bonaparte wait all day at the docks for Aster, but he arrived earlier. They meet Tyranno Hassleberry, a Ra Yellow student, who is perturbed that he was not admitted into Obelisk Blue despite scoring well on the entrance exams. Bonaparte reveals his intentions of destroying the Slifer Red dorm, believing it to be a blot on the school's reputation, as he views all of the dorm's Duelists as weaklings.
Featured Duel: Jaden Yuki vs. Aster Phoenix[]
Turn 1: Aster
Aster draws "Ojama Yellow" and subsequently Normal Summons it (0/1000) in Defense Position.
Turn 2: Jaden
Jaden draws "Hero Ring". Jaden's hand contains "Elemental HERO Avian", "De-Fusion", "The Flute of Summoning Kuriboh", "Elemental HERO Clayman", and "Elemental HERO Sparkman". Jaden then Normal Summons "Sparkman" (1600/1400) in Attack Position. "Sparkman" attacks and destroys "Ojama Yellow".
Turn 3: Aster
Aster draws "Wild Nature's Release". Aster's hand contains "Soul Absorption", "Beckoning Light", "Reload", "Chaos Greed", and "Recycle". Aster then Sets a card ("Beckoning Light"). He then Activates "Reload" to Shuffle his hand back into his Deck and draw a new hand with the same amount of cards that he shuffled back into his Deck. Aster's hand now contains "The Sanctuary in the Sky", "Warrior of Zera", "Archlord Zerato", and "Mystical Shine Ball".
Aster then activates "The Sanctuary in the Sky". Now any Battle Damage that a player takes that involves a Fairy-type monster they control will become 0. Aster then Normal Summons "Warrior of Zera" (1600/1600) in Attack Position. He then Tributes "Warrior of Zera" to Special Summon "Archlord Zerato" (2800/2300) in Attack Position. Aster then activates the effect of "Zerato" to discard "Mystical Shine Ball" and destroy "Sparkman". "Archlord Zerato" attacks directly (Jaden 4000 → 1200).
Turn 4: Jaden
Jaden draws "Metamorphosis". He then Normal Summons "Elemental Hero Clayman" (800/2000) in Defense Position. Jaden then activates "Metamorphosis" to Tribute "Clayman" and Special Summon "Elemental Hero Clay Guardian" (0/2800) in Defense Position. Since "Clay Guardian" was Special Summoned, its effect activates, inflicting 200 damage to Aster for each card he controls. Aster currently controls three (Aster 4000 → 3400). Jaden then Sets a card.
Turn 5: Aster
Aster draws "Monster Gate". He then activates his face-down "Beckoning Light" to discard "Monster Gate" and add the "Mystical Shine Ball" in his Graveyard to his hand. Aster then activates the effect of "Zerato" to discard "Mystical Shine Ball" and destroy "Clay Guardian". "Archlord Zerato" attacks directly, but Jaden activates his face-down "The Flute of Summoning Kuriboh" to Special Summon "Winged Kuriboh" (300/200) from his Deck in Defense Position. A replay occurs, and "Zerato" attacks and destroys "Winged Kuriboh" instead.
Turn 6: Jaden
Jaden draws "Elemental HERO Bubbleman" and subsequently Normal Summons it (800/1200) in Attack Position. Since Jaden summoned "Bubbleman" while he had no other cards on his side of the field, its effect activates, allowing Jaden to draw two cards ("The Warrior Returning Alive" and "Polymerization").[Notes 1]
Jaden then Sets a card. He then activates "The Warrior Returning Alive" to return "Sparkman" from his Graveyard to his hand. Jaden then activates "Polymerization" to fuse "Sparkman", "Bubbleman" and "Elemental Hero Avian" together and Fusion Summon "Elemental HERO Tempest" (2800/2800) in Attack Position.
"Tempest" attacks "Zerato". Jaden then activates the effect of "Tempest" to send his Set card to the Graveyard and prevent its destruction, so only "Archlord Zerato" was destroyed.[Notes 2]
Jaden then activates "De-Fusion" to return "Tempest" to his Fusion Deck and Special Summon "Avian" (1000/1000), "Bubbleman" and "Sparkman" from his Graveyard in Attack Position. "Bubbleman", "Avian", and "Sparkman" attack directly (Aster 3400 → 2600 → 1600 → 0).
Differences in adaptations[]
- In the dub, the narration in the beginning of the episode is done by both Jaden Yuki and Syrus Truesdale. In the original version, the narration is only done by Syrus. While Vellian Crowler and Jean-Louis Bonaparte are running to the ship, the animation stops (in the dub) and Jaden says "Yep, you heard right. Crowler's head of the school now. And that short stocky balding guy is his new sidekick, Vice-chancellor Bonaparte. Now these two ..." Syrus interrupts by saying, "Uh, Jaden, you're narrating again." Jaden then says, "Uh, right sorry." and then the episode resumes. In the Japanese version. there is no pause nor narration when Crowler and Bonaparte are running to the ship.
- In the dub, Syrus makes a reference to American Pie Presents: Band Camp, saying "This one time, at Duel Camp, when an Archlord attacked me..." until Chazz tells him to zip it.
- In the original Aster tells Jaden he is acting like a senior causing Jaden to tell Aster not to praise him too much. In the Dub, this is changed to Jaden being wrong with his math.
Featured cards[]
The following cards appeared in this episode. Cards in italics debuted here.