So happy to see people as insane over season 4 as me - Yug1-W0ah!
YAAAAAS season 4 my BELOVED... will never be normal about it... excuse me while I rant about it...
Having now read Duelist Kingdom in the manga now I'm even MORE convinced this humbling was 100% necessary for Yami's character development. In the anime they put more emphasis on his choice to potentially kill Kaiba with the duel, and Yugi's negative reaction lasts MUCH longer. Like... the difference is WILD. He basically immediately gets over it in the manga and Yami doesn't even truly apologize. In the anime at least he had a bit of a back-and-forth trying to show Yugi he can be trusted again... and somewhat acknowledging that his drive to win can be dangerous. BUT STILL... after that, he does not lose a battle no matter how much trash talk he throws out...
until RAFAEL BABEY!!!!!!! (love that guy) Rafael TOTALLY gets in his head. The entire Orichalcos ordeal up to the Rafael duel (+ having the god cards stolen! He went to the museum thinking he was potentially going to be LEAVING, getting his memories back, and instead he was shown that he and the GODS could be manipulated and taken away from him from anywhere in the world!!! THAT'S SCARY!!!) just kept showing him even people he thought he knew could be turned against him (Mai) and the fact that you're trapped in the duel with an EXTREMELY NARROW MARGIN OF ERROR if you want to get out alive (as far as I can tell, you can't just surrender, that would still steal your soul. If you want to get out, you have to win by defeating your opponent. If you want BOTH of you to get out, if he were to try to be a true golden hero and save everyone, you have to find a way to tie! BUT!!! THE THING IS!!!!! he doesn't even know for sure that would work! We only learn that as the AUDIENCE when Kaiba duels Amelda the first time, but as far as I remember Yami never sees it proven! So he can't be certain! The only CERTAIN, PROVEN WAY to get out alive is to defeat your opponent!) and that this power doesn't play fair, whether that's the whole stealing the god cards or the extra monster spaces or maybe you also count the bonus attack points... it's dangerous! They're in an unfamiliar place kinda on their own, especially after they learn Pegasus was defeated too, then Professor Hopkins' lab is BOMBED, he's kidnapped, they're in a fucking desert, he's probably exhausted and thirsty, and he's being taunted... god there's so much weighing on him.
And then in the sub Rafael keeps taunting him about knowing about his past and specifically saying things like "destiny played us both," AND!!!! HE TARGETS HIS BOND WITH YUGI he says basically "well, if your bond is light and it's stronger than our darkness, prove it!" and implies Yami could use the Seal without being corrupted or something, so THAT'S in the back of Yami's mind... like YEAH. fuck this guy, how dare he say our bond isn't stronger, say we aren't in the right... AND THEN RAFAEL DIGS EVEN MORE AT HIM by taunting him about not knowing his past, "do you even know if you were a good pharaoh???" AND REMEMBER. REMEMBER. he was locked in the Puzzle, Pegasus called him the "evil intelligence," the only other being that came from a Millennium Item has been evil, even Shadi doesn't know the full extent of his power or why he was locked away but he certainly came at him with the assumption of being a threat, plus the whole Tombkeeper legacy HORRIBLENESS being done in his name... FFS his history even just since waking up in Yugi!!! He started out VIOLENTLY distributing his sense of justice. He protected his partner and his friends, but at what cost???? (Inogashira chapter 6 lmfao... and of course burger world criminal) He has already been told at least once that despite how convinced he felt that he was in the right, it was still WRONG. And despite not truly knowing all of this, Rafael gets his fingers in the wounds and DIGS. It's so fucking good.
And god there has GOT to be something tugging at his heart to see Rafael so devoted to his cards, sacrificing his life points to save them, they are his guardians and they saved him in his own hell... Yami's got to see himself in that. He has to feel like they are mirrors. In Rafael's shoes, is Yami not the same? An opponent who went through hell and wields dark powers to protect the ones he cares about?
It's all irrational and pure fear and he's so uncertain and he just wants this to STOP... AND GOD it's impressive the way Rafael got his hand down to just the one card and used Exchange to make sure Yami would get the Seal. Rafael won't even use his most powerful card! He's GIVING IT TO HIS OPPONENT, certain that he'll falter! He's THAT CONFIDENT. Yami wants to prove him wrong. He wants to be the protector. He HAS to be the protector. If he can't win against some random guy not even using his most powerful card, how could he ever hope to defeat the leader???? His trump card, Timaeus, the power that was supposed to be able to stop the Orichalcos, has been taken out of play!
AND DON'T FORGET HE'S WEARING A PIECE OF THE STONE. This is implied to literally affect your mind. So that's adding even MORE to the spiral of madness (though he's not paying attention enough to recognize this, WHY doesn't he toss it away after Rafael points it out I don't Know... plus we saw in the first Joey vs Mai duel that you can use it to break the Seal even after it's in play but....... y'know. whatever. doesn't mean he knows how to do that.) and with Purity of the Cemetery the turns are a ticking time bomb, it's moving so fast he has to do SOMETHING FAST— and surely he'll be stronger? Surely he'll be able to prove Rafael wrong? Surely if he can wield his own powers of darkness without being a monster anymore then he can make the Orichalcos bend to his will as well? If they just get this over with, his partner will be safe... he'll understand some drastic measures are necessary, doesn't he realize how much danger they're in? (Nevermind the fact that if he'd lost before playing the Seal, nothing would've happened... Rafael gave him the Seal so he's actually perfectly safe (assuming he only has one Seal lmao) and if he'd just been humble and accepted that he could lose then he'd either walk away a loser but safe, or he'd have a clear head and faith in the cards and his partner that would give him the answer to win just like always....... but nope. He is AFRAID and IRRATIONAL and I LOVE IT...)
...I did not intend for this to get this long... there's still more I could say... because fucking obviously I haven't even gotten to the delicious angst of being torn away from Yugi. GOD. god it's so good. it's SO good. he's so MISERABLE. there is so much time for him to wallow in his regret and feel like he doesn't deserve this body and this kindness, and I like to think he's suddenly extraordinarily overwhelmed and overstimulated by having to be in control of the body for so long, and he's EMPTY and LOST WITHOUT HIS PARTNER—
ahem. anyways. I Really Like YuGiOh Season 4. if you couldn't tell. thank you @yug1-w0ah 💕💖💕💖💕💖 OH ALSO I JUST REALIZED YOU DID THAT SICKASS YUGI ORICHALCOS ART I REBLOGGED HELL YEAH
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