"Pieces of the Puzzle", known as "Playmaker's Breath" in the original version is the sixty-fifth episode of the Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS anime. It aired in Japan on August 22, 2018. It will air on Teletoon on January 12, 2020.
Kolter talks about Playmaker's origin. According to urban legends, there is a mysterious dungeon filled with many deadly traps hidden in LINK VRAINS. In that dungeon, lies…
Summary[]
Yusaku and Cal's first mission together, as unnamed avatars in LINK VRAINS, is recalled. They explored a dungeon when suddenly, Cal stepped on a trap and would have fallen onto a spike pit. Yusaku quickly pulled Cal up. Cal saw that the spike pit was full of Duel Disks, and postulated that they were victims as well. Yusaku reminded Cal that it was on Cal's recommendation that they explored. Before they began exploring, Yusaku had just finished another LINK VRAINS mission, having logged in from Cal's booth for the first time. He was fed up that none of the Hanoi he defeated knew anything about the Lost Incident. Cal suggested being patient. Yusaku knew he had to get closer to higher-ups of the Hanoi, but how?
Just then, Yusaku saw what Cal was looking at - something he found from online research. From a dungeon that Cal looked up was the rumor that a secret stash of Cyberse cards was at the end of it. Yusaku doubted that it was a rumor, because the Knights of Hanoi were after Cyberse cards. Yusaku wanted to get the cards for himself so that the Knights of Hanoi would come to him, especially the higher-ups. Yusaku prepared to enter the dungeon, and Cal followed. In the dungeon, having saved Cal, Yusaku continued to explore. Yusaku reached a dead end, and started to feel for secret buttons in the walls. One of the buttons were suddenly pushed, causing the wall to open up and reveal a secret chamber. The chamber was separated by a chasm laid in the style of a duel mat, with the treasure to be found, located opposite of the chasm where Yusaku and Cal were standing. Yusaku was confident that this was their last puzzle.
A Knight of Hanoi entered the puzzle chamber from a lower floor of the dungeon. Yusaku was confident that they would be able to get insider knowledge of the puzzle, or "trap" as Cal called it. The Knight's Duel Disk was activated, to his surprise, and cards appeared on the pillars of the chasm. Cal realized that the Knight was likely to play a blind first attempt, but was still worried about him getting to the Deck first. Yusaku responded that they cannot worry about things they have no control over. Yusaku was confident that the Knight would fail to solve the puzzle, giving them time to do the same whilst watching an attempt before theirs. Cal thought that the Knight would just try again and again, but Yusaku knew that failure to solve the puzzle would deny him another chance.
Cal explained the puzzle's initial setup, which featured an "Ancient Ghost" as their opponent, and the fact that the challenger starts with only 100 Life Points. He didn't know the face-down cards on the field, or the cards in the Knight's hand. The Knight chose to equip "Megamorph" on "Update Jammer" so that when it attacked "Link Spider", it would deal 3000 damage plus another 1000 from "Update Jammer's" effect. Cal got worried. However, the Knight never accounted for the opposing face-down card, which was "Chaos Burst", which made him fail the puzzle. Before he could think of a second way to solve the puzzle, a strange creature emerged from the chasm and gobbled up the Knight - his Duel Disk latched onto one of the spikes under the chasm as a result. Having only one chance to solve the puzzle was as Yusaku figured. However, Yusaku knew the risk all along, and still set his sights on the Cyberse cards.
Yusaku jumped down to the floor the Knight entered the chamber from, and was followed by Cal. Yusaku held up his Duel Disk to accept the puzzle challenge. He reiterated the cards he controls, in his Graveyard and his Extra Deck, and also explained to Cal that "Update Jammer's" effect to jam other card effects only works during the Damage Step - "Chaos Burst" was activated before then. Yusaku knew this would be tricky. Cal therefore suggested finding a solution that did not involve attacking his opponent. Yusaku looked at his three burn cards - "Tremendous Fire", "Thunder Crash" and "Torrential Reborn". He would fail the puzzle if he used "Tremendous Fire", due to only having 100 Life Points. To use the other two cards, he would need to control five monsters.
In the middle of the story, Ai asks if Playmaker solved the puzzle. Flame says logically that if Playmaker didn't solve the puzzle, they wouldn't be here to listen to the story.
Yusaku's attempt at the duel puzzle is revisited. When Cal saw Yusaku complete his five-monster setup, he thought out loud that Yusaku would be able to use "Thunder Crash" and "Torrential Reborn" already, but a voice claimed that it wouldn't work because one of the monsters is a Token. Cal and Yusaku saw another Knight of Hanoi behind them, snooping in on the puzzle. The Knight threatened to push both down the chasm before solving the puzzle himself. Cal immediately charged at the Knight to restrain him, and cuff him to the chain on the wall. Yusaku started worrying about Cal at this point. But, he knew the Knight was correct, therefore he set up a Link Summon with the token and "Dotscaper". At that point, the Knight claimed Yusaku messed up because he used up all his Link Summons and still only controlled four monsters on the field. Cal agreed reluctantly. Yusaku reminded Cal of his advice before starting the puzzle, claiming that he is on the right path. Yusaku therefore activated "Tremendous Fire", prompting the Knight to get ahead of himself.
However, Yusaku negated his own card by activating "Link Restart" (the dub also has Cal misappropriate "Link Restart" as also being used by the "Ancient Ghost", when in reality it is the challenger's "Link Restart" negating damage to both sides). "Link Restart's" effect allowed Yusaku to revive a Link Monster and complete the five-monster setup that would allow "Thunder Crash" and "Torrential Reborn" to be activated for the win.
The treasure holding the Cyberse cards was lowered to the same floor as Yusaku and Cal, who were now able to cross the chasm. They crossed just when the chained Knight broke free. But when Cal touched the treasure chest, it malfunctioned and disappeared. The Knight of Hanoi claimed to have fooled them, and logged out, but not before laughing. Cal cursed that he wasted his and Yusaku's time. The chamber then started to collapse, prompting Yusaku and Cal to log out.
Later at sunset in the real world, Yusaku led Cal out through the Den City harborside and into a warehouse. As they continued on inside the warehouse, with Yusaku holding a flashlight, Yusaku explained that when the duel puzzle was completed, it formed a layout similar to a map of Den City. Yusaku asked if Cal remembered what happened how the layout formed, and Cal replied that pillars would rise when a link is formed between two Link Monsters. Yusaku remembered that when he summoned "Secure Gardna", the pillar linking it to "Proxy Dragon" didn't rise until the end of the duel. So when the puzzle was solved, he knew that the real-world location corresponding to "Secure Gardna's" zone had the key. Yusaku and Cal reached a room in the warehouse marked with the "Secure Gardna" card.
They entered the room and saw a chest identical to the one they saw in the puzzle chamber. Yusaku placed a hand on the chest, which authorised Yusaku's Duel Disk and revealed its contents from the top - the Cyberse cards Yusaku was looking for. Yusaku and Cal bumped fists on the conclusion of their first successful partnership. And that concludes Kolter's story. Theodore asks if Yusaku would add anything to the story Kolter told, and Kolter claims he told the entire story.
At school, Naoki Shima is still keeping Yusaku busy in a classroom. He knows that Yusaku is "Playmaker"... and offers to re-style Playmaker because he's his sidekick. Yusaku is told of a "costume party" that Shima went to, and gets confused. Shima clarifies that he wants to re-style Yusaku because he dresses up as Playmaker. However, after Shima waffles on for too long, his "hostage" leaves the classroom. Shima busts himself out to the corridor and shouts at Yusaku.
The final flashback is narrated by Kolter, who says Yusaku does not need to add to the story told by Kolter. It shows a Knight of Hanoi running for his life, and the pursuer declaring his new alias for the first time... Playmaker.
Flashback Featured Duel: Ancient Ghost's Trial[]
A 'Duel Quiz' in Master Duel format against Ancient Ghost who has 4000 LP, while Challenger has 100 LP.
Ancient Ghost controls "Honeybot" (1900/LINK-2/←→) in the Middle Main Monster Zone, two copies of "Tri-Gate Wizard" (2200/LINK-3/←↑→) Co-linked to "Honeybot", "Doublebyte Dragon" (1500/LINK-2/↑↓) and "Link Spider" (1000/LINK-1/↓) in Left and Right Extra Monster Zone (counting from the Ghost's view), creating an Extra Link between them. He also has "Chaos Burst" Set on his field. No other cards in hand, GY, Deck or Extra Deck shown.
The Challenger starts with "Update Jammer" (2000/LINK-2/←↑) Co-linked to "Doublebyte Dragon" and "Sea Archiver" (300/2100) in Attack Position at his Rightmost Main Monster Zone, while "Link Restart" and "Torrential Reborn" are Set on their field, and a "Dotscaper" in their GY. Challenger's hand contains "Megamorph", "Thunder Crash" and "Tremendous Fire". While they have "Cyberse Gadget" in the Main Deck, and "Binary Sorceress", "Proxy Dragon" and "Secure Gardna" in their Extra Deck.
Ancient Ghost vs. Challenger: Knight of Hanoi[]

Knight of Hanoi's Turn:
KoH draws "Cyberse Gadget". He equips "Megamorph" on "Update Jammer". As KoH's LP is lower than Ancient Ghost, the effect of "Megamorph" doubles the original ATK of the equipped monster ("Update Jammer": 2000 → 4000 ATK). KoH declares the attack of "Update Jammer" on "Link Spider".
Since an attack was declared, Ancient Ghost tributes "Link Spider" to activate his face-down "Chaos Burst", which allows the user to destroy the attacking monster and inflicting 1000 damage to the opponent (KoH: 100 → 0 LP).
Ancient Ghost vs. Challenger: Unknown[]

Unknown's Turn:
Unknown draws "Cyberse Gadget" and subsequently Normal Summons it (1400/300). As "Cyberse Gadget" was Normal Summoned, Unknown activates its effect, Special Summoning a Level 2 or lower monster from his GY. He Special Summons "Dotscaper" (0/2100) from GY in Defense Position via this effect. Unknown uses "Cyberse Gadget" and "Dotscaper" to Link Summon "Binary Sorceress" (1600/LINK-2/←→). As "Cyberse Gadget" was sent from the field to the GY, Unknown activates its effect, Special Summoning a "Gadget Token" (0/0). As "Dotscaper" was sent to the GY, Unknown activates its effect, Special Summoning it (0/2100). Next Unknown uses "Gadget Token" and "Dotscaper" to Link Summon "Proxy Dragon" (1400/LINK-2/←→).
Unknown uses "Binary Sorceress" to Link Summon "Secure Gardna" (1000/LINK-1/→). Unknown activates the Spell Card "Tremendous Fire", inflicting 1000 damage to Ancient Ghost and 500 damage to himself. As a card effect was activated that would inflict damage to Unknown, he activates his face-down Counter Trap Card "Link Restart", negating the activation, then Special Summoning a Link Monster from his GY. He negates the activation of "Tremendous Fire" and Special Summons "Binary Sorceress". Unknown activates the Spell Card "Thunder Crash", destroying all monsters he controls, and inflicting 300 damage to Ancient Ghost for each monster destroyed via the effect. He destroys his five monsters and inflicts 1500 damage (Ancient Ghost: 4000 → 2500 LP).
Since the WATER monster "Sea Archiver" which Unknown controlled was destroyed by a card effect and sent to the GY, Unknown activates his face-down Trap Card "Torrential Reborn", Special Summoning all the monsters destroyed and sent from the field to the GY at that time, then inflicting 500 damage to Ancient Ghost for each monster Special Summoned this way. He Special Summons "Sea Archiver", "Update Jammer", "Binary Sorceress", "Proxy Dragon", and "Secure Gardna", and inflicts 2500 damage to Ancient Ghost (Ancient Ghost: 2500 → 0 LP).
Featured cards[]
The following cards appeared in this episode. Cards in italics debuted here.
Mistakes[]
- In the dub, when the Duel Puzzle is attempted, the Vs. screen shows the challengers' LP at 4000 instead of 100.
Differences in adaptations[]
- As the names on the vs screen in the dub are removed, Yusaku's original avatar name (Unknown) isn't revealed. In addition, this also means the Ancient Ghost's name is also unrevealed leaving it unnamed in the dub.