"The Ultimate Connection", known as "Chain Destruction" in the Japanese version, is the eighty-seventh episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS anime. It aired in Japan on January 30, 2019. It aired in English on Teletoon on October 4, 2020.
Specter was able to use Judgment Arrows to his advantage and destroy Lightning's Extra Link, turning the tide of the Duel in his favor. With his Sunavalon towering over the field, Specter launches a fierce attack against Lightning, and does everything he can to carry out the Knights of Hanoi's mission to destroy the Ignises.
Featured Duel: Lightning vs. Specter[]
Duel continues from the previous episode.
Turn 3: Lightning
During the Standby Phase, Lightning adds the banished "Armatos Legio Galea", "Armatos Lex" and "Armatos Legio Magica Alcum" from his hand due to the effect of "Armatos Legio Pilus Prior". Lightning activates "Armatos Replacement", Tributing an "Armatos Legio" Link Monster, then targeting a different "Armatos Legio" Link Monster in his GY with an equal or lower Link Rating to Special Summon it. He Tributes the Link-2 "Pilus Prior" to target and Special Summon the Link-2 "Armatos Legio Centurion" (1700/LINK-2/←→). Lightning activates the effect of "Armatos Colosseum", sending a Level 4 or lower "Armatos Legio" monster from his hand to the GY, then targeting an "Armatos Legio" Link Monster he controls to Special Summon as many "Armatos Legio" monsters as possible with different names from each other and the monster sent to the GY to activate this effect in Defense Position to his zones that Link Monster points to. He sends the Level 3 "Galea" and targets "Centurion" to Special Summon "Armatos Legio Scutum" (0/1800) and "Armatos Legio Sica" (0/400) to the zones the middle-left and middle-right Link Arrows of "Centurion" points to respectively.
Lightning uses "Sica" and "Armatos Legio Primi Ordines" to Link Summon "Armatos Legio Legatus Legionis" (2400/LINK-3/←↓→) to the zone the middle-right Link Arrow of "Centurion" points to. Lightning activates the effect of "Legatus Legionis", targeting two Level 4 or lower "Armatos Legio" monsters (one he controls and one in his GY) and sending that monster on the field to the GY, then Special Summoning that other monster from his GY. He targets the Level 3 "Scutum" and the Level 3 "Galea", sending "Scutum" to Special Summon "Galea" (0/1000) to the zone the middle-right Link Arrow of "Legatus Legionis" points to.
Turn 4: Specter
Specter Normal Summons "Sunseed Twin" (0/800). As "Twin" was Normal Summoned while Specter controls a "Sunavalon" monster, he activates its effect, targeting a Plant Normal Monster in his GY and Special Summoning it. He targets and Special Summons "Sunseed Genius Loci" (0/600). Specter uses "Twin", "Sunvine Thrasher" and "Genius Loci" to Link Summon "Sunavalon Melias" (0/LINK-3/←↑→) to the zone the bottom-center Link Arrow of "Sunavalon Dryas" points to. As "Melias" was Link Summoned, Specter activates its effect, targeting a Plant monster in his GY and Special Summoning it in Defense Position to his zone it points to. He targets and Special Summons "Genius Loci" to the zone the middle-right Link Arrow of "Melias" points to.
Specter uses "Genius Loci" and "Sunavalon Daphne" to Link Summon a second copy of "Melias" to the zone the top-left Link Arrow of "Judgment Arrows" points to. As "Melias" was Link Summoned, Specter activates its effect, targeting a Plant monster in his GY and Special Summoning it in Defense Position to his zone it points to. He targets and Special Summons "Genius Loci" to the zone the middle-right Link Arrow of the second copy of "Melias" points to. Specter uses "Genius Loci" to Link Summon another "Sunvine Thrasher" (800/LINK-1/↓) to the zone the middle-right Link Arrow of the second copy of "Melias" points to. As "Thrasher" was Special Summoned, Specter activates its effect, targeting a "Sunavalon" Link Monster that points to it and increasing its ATK equal to that monster's Link Rating times 800. He targets the Link-3 "Melias" and increases the ATK of "Thrasher" by 2400 ("Thrasher": 800 → 3200 ATK).
Lightning activates the effect of "Legatus Legionis", targeting two Level 4 or lower "Armatos Legio" monsters (one he controls and one in his GY) and sending that monster on the field to the GY, then Special Summoning that other monster from his GY. He targets the Level 3 "Galea" and the Level 3 "Scutum", sending "Galea" to Special Summon "Scutum" (0/1800) to the zone the middle-right Link Arrow of "Legatus Legionis" points to. During the turn "Galea" was sent from the field to the GY, its effect prevents Lightning from taking any Battle Damage from attacks involving his "Armatos Legio" Link Monsters that were linked to "Galea".
At the start of Specter's Battle Phase, he activates the effect of "Melias", targeting a "Sunvine" Link Monster it points to and during this Battle Phase, it can attack a number of times up to the number of "Sunavalon" Link Monsters he controls. He targets the "Thrasher" that the middle-left Link Arrow of the first copy of "Melias" points to, and as he controls three "Sunavalon" Link Monsters ("Dryas" and two copies of "Melias"), "Thrasher" can attack up to three times. "Thrasher" attacks "Legatus Legionis", but Lightning activates the effect of "Centurion", letting him negate an attack on an "Armatos Legio" monster once per turn.
"Thrasher" attacks "Legatus Legionis" again, and as a Link Monster "Judgment Arrows" points to is battling, its effect makes that monster's ATK become double its current ATK during damage calculation only ("Thrasher": 3200 → 6400 ATK). The first time an "Armatos Legio" Link Monster Lightning controls linked to "Scutum" would be destroyed by battle, its effect prevents it from being destroyed. The attack continues and "Legatus Legionis" is not destroyed, with the effect of "Galea" reducing the Battle Damage Lightning would take to 0.
"Thrasher" attacks "Legatus Legionis" again, and as a Link Monster "Judgment Arrows" points to is battling, its effect makes that monster's ATK become double its current ATK during damage calculation only ("Thrasher": 3200 → 6400 ATK). The attack continues and "Legatus Legionis" is destroyed, with the effect of "Galea" reducing the Battle Damage Lightning would take to 0. As "Thrasher" destroyed a monster by battle, Specter activates its effect, Special Summoning that monster to a zone a "Sunavalon" Link Monster points to. Specter Special Summons "Legatus Legionis" to the zone the middle-left Link Arrow of the second copy of "Melias" points to. "Legatus Legionis" attacks and destroys "Centurion" (Lightning: 4000 → 3300 LP).
Specter activates the effect of "Sunvine Cross Breed", letting him Tribute a Link Monster he controls to Special Summon a Plant monster from his GY with its effect negated. He Tributes "Thrasher" to Special Summon "Daphne" (0/LINK-2/←→) to the zone the top-center Link Arrow of "Judgment Arrows" points to. Specter activates the effect of "Sunvine Shrine", which lets him Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Plant Normal Monster from the GY once per turn. He targets and Special Summons the Level 1 "Genius Loci". Specter uses "Genius Loci" to Link Summon "Thrasher" to the second Extra Monster Zone, creating an Extra Link.
As "Thrasher" was Special Summoned, Specter activates its effect, targeting a "Sunavalon" Link Monster that points to it and increasing its ATK equal to that monster's Link Rating times 800. He targets the LINK-3 "Melias" and increases the ATK of "Thrasher" by 2400 ("Thrasher": 800 → 3200 ATK). Specter activates the effect of "Sunseed Shadow" in his GY, banishing it to target an Extra Linked Link-2 or lower Plant Link Monster he controls and Special Summon a Link Monster from his Extra Deck with the same name to his field so it is co-linked. He targets the Link-2 "Daphne" and Special Summons another "Daphne" to the zone the middle-right Link Arrow of the first copy of "Melias" points to. Specter uses "Dryas" and a "Daphne" to Link Summon "Sunavalon Dryanome" (0/LINK-3/↙↓↘) to the Extra Monster Zone.
As Specter has two or more Link Monsters in his GY with the same name, he activates the effect of "Twin" in his GY, banishing it and a Link Monster he controls to target one of those Link Monsters in his GY with the same name and Special Summon it. He has two copies of "Thrasher" in his GY, so he banishes "Twin" and "Legatus Legionis" to Special Summon a "Thrasher" to the zone the middle-left Link Arrow of the second copy of "Melias" points to. As "Thrasher" was Special Summoned, Specter activates its effect, targeting a "Sunavalon" Link Monster that points to it and increasing its ATK equal to that monster's Link Rating times 800. He targets the Link-3 "Melias" and increases the ATK of "Thrasher" by 2400 ("Thrasher": 800 → 3200 ATK).
Turn 5: Lightning
As Lightning controls no monsters in the Extra Monster Zone, he activates the Spell "Judgement Sword", targeting a Link Monster Specter controls in the Extra Monster Zone and banishing it, then Special Summoning an "Armatos Legio" Link Monster from his Extra Deck with the same Link Rating as that monster, then Special Summoning the banished monster to Spectre's Main Monster Zone. He banishes the Link-3 "Dryanome", Special Summons the Link-3 "Armatos Legio Tribunus Militum" (2000/LINK-3/↙↓↘) to the Extra Monster Zone, then Special Summons the banished "Dryanome" to Specter's field.
Lightning activates the effect of "Colosseum", sending a Level 4 or lower "Armatos Legio" monster from his hand to the GY, then targeting an "Armatos Legio" Link Monster he controls to Special Summon as many "Armatos Legio" monsters as possible with different names from each other and the monster sent to the GY to activate this effect in Defense Position to his zones that Link Monster points to. He sends the Level 4 "Armatos Legio Magica Alcum" and targets "Tribunus Militum" to Special Summon "Armatos Legio Speculata" (0/1800), "Armatos Legio Gradius" (0/800), and "Sica" (0/400) to the zones the bottom-left, bottom-center, and bottom-right Link Arrows of "Tribunus Militum" point to respectively. Lightning uses "Speculata", "Gradius", "Sica" and "Scutum" to Link Summon "Armatos Legio Magnus Dux" (3000/LINK-4/↑←↓→) to the zone the bottom-center Link Arrow of "Tribunus Militum" points to.
While Specter controls a "Sunavalon" monster, the effect of "Sunvine Plunder" prevents Lightning from targeting it or the targeted "Judgment Arrows" with card effects. Lightning activates the effect of "Tribunus Militum", letting him negate the effects of a number of cards on the field until the end of this turn, up to the Link Rating of a Link Monster it points to. It points to the Link-4 "Magnus Dux", so Lightning negates the effects of "Shrine", "Plunder", "Cross Breed", and "Dryanome". Lightning activates the effect of "Magnus Dux", targeting cards on the field or GY up to the number of monsters co-linked to it and returning them to the hand. "Magnus Dux" is co-linked to "Tribunus Militum", so he targets "Judgment Arrows" and returns it to his hand.
As "Judgment Arrows" left the field while it points to monsters, its effect destroys all those monsters. "Daphne" and two copies of "Melias" are destroyed. As there are no "Sunavalon" monsters pointing to the two copies of "Thrasher", both are destroyed by their own effects. Lightning activates the Link Spell "Judgment Arrows" (↖↑↗) at the Spell & Trap Zone the bottom-center Link Arrow of "Magnus Dux" points to. "Magnus Dux" attacks "Dryanome", and as a Link Monster "Judgment Arrows" points to is battling, its effect makes that monster's ATK become double its current ATK during damage calculation only ("Magnus Dux": 3000 → 6000 ATK). The attack continues and "Dryanome" is destroyed (Specter: 3200 → 0 LP).
Featured cards[]
The following cards appeared in this episode. Cards in italics debuted here.
