If I thought I enjoyed watching Yugi vs. Kaiba in Duelist Kingdom, oh boy, was I in for a ride reading the manga version.
A succession of events took place in the final two chapters that were *chef’s kiss* fucking beautiful. First, when Kaiba succeeded in wiping out Yugi’s powerful monsters before summoning his pride and joy Ultimate Blue Eyes, his plan falling exactly into place, we move from Kaiba’s exultant joy to Atem’s existential dread. With so much on the line, not to mention Atem’s abject horror of losing, he starts panicking at the thought that there is truly no way out. He thinks almost instantly about Yugi’s grandpa… and remembers a very specific bit of wisdom that was given: “You can’t be afraid to lose.” Conquer that fear, and you will discover your “true strength.” Obviously, with Atem’s full story arc in mind, this is a very meaningful thing for him to think about in this moment. BUT. He continues the duel, and finds a way to defeat Kaiba anyway. So did he follow grandpa’s advice? Abso-fucking-lutely NOT. He took that wisdom and corrupted it for his own ends. Sure, he got the courage to continue the duel, but it wasn’t because he wasn’t afraid to lose anymore. It was because he’s no coward, and won’t back down just when things look bad. He continued that duel with every intention to fight until the end, because that possibility of victory was more important. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
But before we get to the end of the duel, something else happened. How the turn tables. Now we move from Atem’s exultant joy after pulling this victory out of his ass, to Kaiba’s existential dread. He’s going to lose Mokuba. This fact in and of itself, besides the fact that he’s obsessed with revenge against Yugi, is what pushes him over the edge. He sees himself, younger, before he was corrupted by Gozaburo and his obsession with winning, the ideal version of himself in his own mind, reaching out for Mokuba, who’s enveloped in the goo that is the monster he had staked all of his hopes on as it slowly decays in front of his eyes. Underneath everything he has become to survive, he is first and foremost Mokuba’s brother. So if he can’t even win a duel, a game he has dedicated his life to, in order to save his little brother, then what could his purpose in life possibly be? In the end, he does the only thing he can think of. He puts his own life on the line, and dares Atem to attack him. This is a win-win for Kaiba. If Atem is too afraid to kill him, then he wins, and he can save Mokuba. But if Atem does attack, as I think Kaiba expects him to, then he wouldn’t have to contemplate his purpose in life anymore, because he will cease to exist.
Why do I think Kaiba expects Atem to attack? Because of this one little monologue he throws at him: dueling is like holding a mirror to your opponent. You have to think like them to win. And then he blatantly tells him, if the tables were turned, he would not hesitate to attack. He’s basically telling Atem, I know you, because I am you. If I know I would attack in your position, then that’s inevitably what you must do.
Of course, Kaiba was right. Atem attacked because he, like Kaiba, cannot stomach the thought of losing. They both have loved ones to rescue. They are two sides of the same coin.
Yet we, as the audience, fully expect Atem to hold off, because he’s the hero of this story, and heroes don’t kill people who don’t deserve it. But our expectations are subverted, and we discover that we were wrong about our protagonist. He may be dueling for the right reasons (and so is Kaiba in this moment), but he’s also ruthless. In the end, the audience, who has been following Atem for 12 volumes, doesn’t know him better than Kaiba, who has maybe been in contact with him for a handful of hours.
