"Contact", known as "Earth Ignis "Earth" in the original version is the sixty-sixth episode of the Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS anime. It aired in Japan on August 29, 2018. .
Ai browses through the Internet, and discovers some mysterious messages relating to the Ignises. In order to confirm whether they are true or not, Playmaker and Ai head into LINK VRAINS. They then run into the Earth Ignis.
Summary
At night in Yusaku's room, Roboppy looks at a message board online and informs Ai of its contents supposedly praising Ai. However, Ai sees that the praise is all towards Playmaker, so Ai starts writing a comment about himself. Roboppy then scolds Ai for self-promotion ("spamming" in the dub), claiming that he had already posted 212 times the day before. Ai continued to complain and brag that he was the real hero, only for Yusaku himself to enter his room. Ai greets Yusaku embarrassingly, then finds a post apparently signed by the EARTH Ignis.
Yusaku and Ai later talk this through with Kolter at Café Nom. Kolter is certain that the message could lead to a trap, but Yusaku says it's their only lead and they can't ignore it. Kolter argues that someone in hiding would not suddenly uncover their status on a public platform. Ai claims the EARTH Ignis doesn't believe in "being sneaky", so if he wants something, he'll find a way to ask everyone. Yusaku asks if Ai can write back to the EARTH Ignis, and Ai complies. At SOL Technologies, Akira Zaizen assigns his task to the security workers and puts his assistant, Risa Hayami, in charge of them while he goes to a meeting.
Meanwhile, Ai posts his response to the EARTH Ignis. It appears to be a cipher for the message "Where are you?" The message receives its response fairly quickly, in which Ai reads the coordinates of a location in LINK VRAINS. Yusaku believes the Ignis wants to meet them there. Kolter still has his reason for being extra-cautious. He refers back to the time he sent Playmaker and Soulburner to investigate a portal which turned out to be a trap. Yusaku knows how worried Kolter is about him, but if it can help save Kolter's brother, he's willing to take the risk. Yusaku warns that if others have seen this message, they are already on their way.
At SOL Technologies, one of the security workers informs Hayami of a suspicious message on a message board about Playmaker. Meanwhile, Akira is at the poolside meeting Queen again. Queen gets impatient that not one Ignis has been found yet, but asks about Akira's other commitment. Akira claims it is on track, as The Gore is undergoing experimentation and results will be in soon. Queen makes herself clear that even she has limits to her patience, and dismisses the meeting, which is revealed to have been holographed as Akira finds himself back in his office again.
Playmaker and Ai arrive at the scheduled meeting spot in LINK VRAINS. Ai warns that SOL Technologies may have seen the message, so Playmaker decides to look around. Back at SOL Technologies, Hayami appears to undermine the informant security worker's work when she laughs that an Ignis posting on a public message board is just a prank. Akira returns to assume charge, and Hayami replies that they haven't found anything yet. Meanwhile, Playmaker has returned to the scheduled meeting spot, and asks Ai what he's supposed to be looking for. Ai decides to inform Playmaker of the identities of the other Ignis: the LIGHT Ignis which Ai claims is much smarter than him, and the WATER Ignis which Ai identifies as female. Playmaker acknowledges Ai's tale about the WATER Ignis, before Ai then rounds up the rest of the Ignis, including the one they're supposed to be meeting.
Ai describes the EARTH Ignis, only to realise that he's hugging said Ignis. After Ai greets his visitor, said Ignis beckons Ai and Playmaker to follow him through a portal. They land on a barren wasteland, and Ai introduces Playmaker to the EARTH Ignis, before asking how Playmaker should call him. The EARTH Ignis names himself "Earth", and says that Ai was named after A.I., to which Ai sheepishly admits the irony. Earth says it's not irony. Playmaker asks why he was summoned to meet Earth. Ai agrees, claiming that they should've been finding Earth instead of the other way round. Earth says he wants to duel Playmaker, and to that, Playmaker narrows his eyes.
Ai is surprised that the first thing Earth would do, after months of silence, is to duel, rather than greet. Earth therefore greets nonchalantly, and also says that he is socially awkward. Ai shrugs, but still asks why he wants to duel Playmaker. Earth says that he wants to see what humans are like. Ai says he knows - they're "nothing special". Earth and Ai then communicate in weird tones. Ai notices that they're talking about the WATER Ignis in their language, therefore proposes to give her a name. Earth names her Aqua, and remembers the last time he saw her. Aqua asked Earth to see what humans are like, because she sensed the Cyberse World splitting due to differences, and Earth would have to take a side soon. Playmaker wonders what that means. Ai asks if Earth knew the Cyberse World was completely destroyed. Earth says it was a metaphor, then asks Ai why he has joined the humans. Ai boasts that there was a lot he wanted to teach Playmaker. Playmaker ignores Ai and says there are things he can learn from Earth. He wants to know if Earth has seen Bohman, someone who has hurt a person Playmaker knows, and may be responsible for the Cyberse World's ruin.
Earth replies that he will only answer after a duel. Ai wonders how Earth can duel without a partner. Earth uses his power to bring up a tree from the ground, molding it into a human shape and standing on its "arm". Playmaker immediately recognizes that Earth originated from Specter. The duel gets underway, with Earth choosing to go second. Playmaker thus makes a defensive play of two Set cards and a Defense Position monster during his turn. Before Earth begins his turn, he again asks Ai why he sides with the humans. He notices Ai attempting to dodge the question, and accuses humans of destroying Cyberse World. Ai says they wouldn't exist if it weren't for humans. Earth says humans claimed the Ignis were mistakes, and Bohman and Varis wanted to destroy them. Ai says not all humans are bad. Whether Ai is right or wrong, Earth says his duel will determine, and he gets on with it.
Playmaker mentions to Ai that Earth was created from Specter, which takes Ai by surprise. Playmaker also calls for Ai to pay attention to Earth's dueling style, unless Ai knows it in advance, to which Ai says he doesn't. Ai only remembers once Earth ends his turn, and temporarily hides into Playmaker's Duel Disk in fear of his retribution. During Playmaker's next turn, Earth notices his opponent go into battle with a weaker monster against his "G Golem Invalid Dolmen", but nevertheless, is able to use its effect to prevent it from being summoned to the opposite side of the field. Earth then brings out "G Golem Crystal Heart" on his next turn, which transforms the wasteland around Earth and Playmaker into grassland next to a river flowing towards a waterfall. Ai recognizes the area as being similar to Aqua's area in Cyberse World, and also recognizes "Crystal Heart" as originally belonging to Aqua, and wonders why Earth has it. Earth thinks that he still does not trust humans, but will keep his mind open, as he promised Aqua that he would.
Featured Duel: Playmaker vs. Earth
This Duel is conducted as a Master Duel.
Turn 1: Playmaker
Playmaker Normal Summons "Poisoning Blocker" (0/1400). Playmaker activates the effect of "Poisoning Blocker", changing it from Attack Position to Defense Position, then increasing its ATK and DEF by 800 ("Poisoning Blocker": 0/1400 → 800/2200). Playmaker Sets two cards.
Turn 2: Earth
Earth activates the Spell Card "Cost Down", discarding a card to reduce the Levels of all monsters in his hand by 2, even after they are Summoned. He discards "G Golem Rock Hammer". Earth Normal Summons the now Level 4 "G Golem Rock Hammer" (1800/2400). Earth activates the effect of "Rock Hammer", tributing it to Special Summon three "G Golem Tokens" (0/0) in Defense Position. Earth uses the three "G Golem Tokens" to Link Summon "G Golem Invalid Dolmen" (2800/LINK-3/←↑→) to the Extra Monster Zone. "Invalid Dolmen" attacks and destroys "Poisoning Blocker", with the effect of "Invalid Dolmen" inflicting piercing damage (Playmaker: 4000 → 3400 LP).
Turn 3: Playmaker
Playmaker draws and subsequently Normal Summons "Bitron" (200/2000). Playmaker uses "Bitron" to Link Summon "Zombie Prosaber" (1600/LINK-1/↑) to the zone the top-center Link Arrow "Invalid Dolmen" points to. "Zombie Prosaber" attacks "Invalid Dolmen". During damage calculation, as a Link Monster that was Link Summoned this turn battles a monster, Playmaker activates his face-down Trap Card "Link Rush", destroying the monster that is battling that Link Monster. "Invalid Dolmen" is destroyed. As a monster Earth controlled that "Zombie Prosaber" pointed to was destroyed by battle or card effect, Playmaker activates its effect, Special Summoning that monster, but as "Invalid Dolmen" was destroyed, Earth activates its effect, negating the effects of all face-up cards Playmaker controls. The effect of "Zombie Prosaber" does not resolve.
Turn 4: Earth
Earth draws and subsequently activates the Spell Card "Gravity Balance", Special Summoning two EARTH monsters from his GY of the same name in Defense Position with their effects negated and ATK and DEF reduced to 0. He Special Summons two copies of "Rock Hammer" (both "Rock Hammer": 1800/2400 → 0/0). Earth uses both copies of "Rock Hammer" to Link Summon "G Golem Crystal Heart" (0/LINK-2/←↓) to the Extra Monster Zone.
Duel continues in the next episode.
Featured cards
The following cards appeared in this episode. Cards in italics debuted here.
Trivia
- Part of the Ignis algorithm that Ai uses to contact Earth contains the English flavor text of "Evilswarm Heliotrope".
- This episode's English dub title is shared with an earlier episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS.
Dub edits
- The message board's comments are replaced by screenshots of Playmaker's Duels and fan art. The ciphered messages, including Japanese characters, are unchanged.
- Queen's cleavage is erased.
- In the original, Ai claimed Aqua might have a crush on him. In the dub, he exaggerates more about how hard he worked, and said she would tell him to take a break.
- Earth names himself in the dub. In the original, Ai named him.
