1. im obsessed with the panel layout for these two pages of this scene. both have an eerie almost disjointed structure that works well in portraying a panicked state of mind, and the first page i especially like the way the close-ups of the melting break up kaiba’s thoughts
2. breaks my damn heart how much kaiba truly believes no one would want to help mokuba if he couldnt. i do wonder how much mokuba would have been leveraged against kaiba by gozaburo- i doubt their closeness was something someone like gozaburo would just ignore or consider too far to use.
Edge of Sanity
3. Seto is in a dark mental state because his instinct to protect Mokuba is being destroyed as the duel goes on. He needs to beat Yugi in order to face Pegasus & if he fails, he'd be failing his brother & that fear is the biggest one he has.
4. Nobody has ever wanted Mokuba except him & his real parents when they were alive. Seto has never known of anyone wanting to save his little brother & anyone who does, he doesn't trust worth a damn because Gozaburo tore into him on the "you can't trust ANYBODY" motif. Seto, therefore, doesn't trust Yugi to even remotely want to save Mokuba & even if he did, Mokuba is nobody's responsibility but his.
5. The extreme emotions being played out like this shows that Seto does feel, but his emotions are so strong that they can & do put his mind in a dangerous place, especially when Mokuba is in danger like this. He is terrified of what Pegasus will do to his only brother & that fear is eating away at what sanity he has left.
6. This is Seto's mental breakdown, but it's a breakdown that's very real & he's suffering from it. The melting ultimate dragon is his chance of saving Mokuba & his pride at being the best big brother to him slipping away as Yugi gets closer to victory. Mokuba being trapped in the dragon, screaming for him as his disappears is his fear of never seeing Mokuba again & torment Pegasus will put him through. Seto's younger self is his instinct & sheer will to win the duels to save Mokuba, but as the duel with Yugu moves closer to his loss, Mokuba disappears entirely, dying within his Ultimate Dragon & suddenly...what was once the instinct to protect...turns into a pure, destructive rage at not only himself, but to all who did this. Seeing his older self starting to melt is his will to live slipping away & the heartbreak of losing Mokuba kills him slowly from the inside out.
7. Losing Mokuba can & will result in him dying from a broken heart.
8. Mokuba is his emotional & mental trigger. He is the only thing that's kept Seto's sanity in line, his will to live burning & his mind from going to these extremly dark places. Due to Pegasus kidnapping him though, this whole mental breakdown in Seto's head plays out & it's one that shows just how attached Mokuba is to him & how much emotion he feels when Mokuba is in any given danger. This whole scene plays out in his head again in battle city & isn't shown, but because of this we understand that yes, he loves Mokuba with zero doubts & also, his biggest fear isn't losing the company, it's losing Mokuba. His riches & life don't mean a thing to him if Mokuba is dead because that's who he's busted his ass for all these years after their parents died. What's a billion dollars if he has nobody he loves & trusts to share it with?
