YU-GI-OH!
TV SPECIAL

Information

The Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters TV Special is about the length of one episode and is pretty much a clip show from the second season Battle City arc. The clips and narration roughly begin around episode 53 and continues through to episode 86.

Major spoiler warnings for most of the second season! Be warned! You may not want to continue!



Pan-Chan's Happy Little Guide to the TV Special ^^
(AKA Pan's Pathetic Attempt at a Summary)

Since it's a clip show from the Battle City arc, there's no real way to write a summary without explaining the entire season. So, instead, here's a guide to the TV Special. I'll explain some of the main scenes and give background information for those of you who may be confused. This is in no way a complete guide to the season. Some duels are omitted from the TV Special and lots of details are missing. I'm making up the names for the scenes as they are not named. You may also want to keep in mind that since I don't understand Chinese, I translated the Japanese myself. Also, I'm using my knowledge of the manga as well as my Chinese subtitled episodes to write this. But it's pretty much written off the top of my head. Things may not be 100%, but at least I'm trying.^^

The Museum
What Happens: Yami Yugi and Anzu enter the museum and go through a restricted area. They see an Egyptian tablet. On it is an image of what looks to be Yugi and Kaiba, with duel monsters around them. Isis comes in and Yami Yugi notices her millennium item. She introduces herself and tells Yugi that a battle will soon begin and that he will soon find his memories.

Explanation: Yugi set up his dark half and Anzu on a date, and after going through a little bit of "dancing", they end up at the museum. The tablets they see are the same ones that Kaiba saw earlier. Isis appears similarly to how she met Kaiba in an earlier episode and gave Kaiba his God Card. What Isis says in major foreshadowing for later episodes, but this makes sense since she has the Millennium Tauk.

Defeating Exodia
What Happens: Yugi faces a Rare Hunter who has many copies of Exodia in his deck. Just as the Rare Hunter is about to gather all five pieces of Exodia, Yugi figures out his plan and uses chain destruction to destroy Exodia and all the copies of the card in the Rare Hunter's deck. Yugi wins and receives Jounouchi's Red Eyes Black Dragon. Jounouchi doesn't except it due to his sense of honor. Jounouchi and Yugi shake hands agreeing that they'll battle for it one day.

Explanation: According to the rules of the tournament, the loser must give the winner of the duel one of their rare cards. Earlier, Jounouchi faces the same Rare (Card) Hunter. Since the Rare Hunter has many copies of Exodia in his deck, he easily draws them and Jounouchi loses forfeiting his Red Eyes Black Dragon. Yugi challenges the Rare Hunter to get Jounouchi's card back. Jounouchi doesn't get a chance to tell Yugi about Exodia, but Yugi is able to figure it out on his own.

Jounouchi vs Roba
What Happens: Jounouchi faces Roba who is said to have some sort of psychic powers that allow him to see his opponent's hand. As the duel progresses, Jounouchi realizes that someone must be looking at his card. The truth is that the spies are Roba's brothers who are hanging out on a near by roof watching Jounouchi's hand and relaying the information back to Roba. Jounouchi plays a "roulette" monster. The attack bounces off another monster and ends up hitting Roba's Psycho Shocker. Jounouchi wins. All the while, Honda is in Shizuka's room telling her how the duel is going via his laptop.

Explanations: Jounouchi uses his last rare card to challenger Roba. Roba cheats, but Jounouchi still manages to win and receives Roba's Psycho Shocker. At the hospital, Shizuka has just gone through her operation to get her sight back. Honda (who seems to be spending a lot of time with her) informs her of how the duel is going via his laptop.

Battle of Magicians
What Happens: Yugi faces a duelist named Pandora(?) who specializes in magician cards. Yugi finds himself up against the Black Magician. Pandora has no care for his Black Magicians, but Yugi does for his. When Yugi is attacked, Yugi's Black Magician gets in the way and blocks the attack. Yugi ends up placing the Black Magician Girl onto the field and is able to win the duel.

Explanation: The duel is all thanks to Malik and his evil-ness. Yugi and Pandora's feet are chained in place. When a player wins, they will receive a key to allow them to escape. If their lifepoints should happen to reach zero, their feet will be cut off (Lovely, ain't it?). Throughout the duel, Pandora has no care for his monsters. He doesn't understand why Yugi goes through all the trouble of resurrecting the Black Magician over and over again. This duel is also the first time the Black Magician Girl is played. At the end of the duel, the key appears near Yugi and he frees himself. The Rare Hunter is about to have his legs chopped off, but he has an extra key secretly on him just in case. Malik, being his caring self, makes Pandora think the key has gone missing and he panics. Thankfully, Yugi is able to save him before the blade hits.

Ugh! Bugs!
What Happens: Jounouchi defeats the creepy bug boy - AKA Haga.

Explanation: A kid runs off with Jounouchi's deck and Jounouchi goes after him to get it back. There he finds Haga and agrees to duel him. He gets his deck back, but during the duel, Jounouchi finds that there is an Insect Parasite (like a Crush Card) in his deck. He figures the little kid put them in his deck when he stole it. The card turns Jounouchi's monsters into bugs. Jounouchi still manages to win though.

Yugi's God Card
What Happens: Malik takes over a mime and challenges Yugi. Later in the battle, the mime draws the god card - Osiris. He also draws this slime that seems to absorb all of Yugi's attacks, but instead of being destroyed, the slime merely regenerates itself. To make matter's worse, Malik (controlling the mime) activates a card that allows his to pick up three cards every time a monster is brought back to life. He later plays a card that allows him to have as many cards in his hand as he wishes. Also, Osiris will attack any monster Yugi puts on the field. Yugi then takes control of the slime and since it's a monster on Yugi's field, Osiris attacks it. The slime recreates itself and Malik picks up three more cards. Osiris sees the slime as a target and attacks it. The slime recreates itself and Malik picks up three more cards. Osiris sees the slime as a target and attacks it. The slime recreates itself and Malik picks up three more cards. This loop continues until Malik runs out of cards. Yugi wins the duel and Mokuba hands him the God's card, Osiris.

Explanation: Osiris's attack and defense depend on the number of cards in a the duelist's hands. It also reduces the attack and defense points of any monster on the opponent's field by 2000. As the battle is going on, Kaiba is looking for the other god cards and he and Mokuba eventually find themselves at Yugi's duel. Yugi sees no way to defeat the God's card, but surprisingly, it's Kaiba that tells him not to give up. Using his "loop", Yugi defeats Malik (the mime) and thanks to the rules of the tournament, Yugi gains his own God Card.

Sea World
What Happens: Jounouchi battles Ryouta (guy with sea creature cards that they battled earlier in the series during the Duelist Kingdom tournament) on a sea field. Jounouchi uses his Panther and eventually wins. Jounouchi receives Ryouta's most precious card - Legendary Fisherman. The two grab hands as friends and as fellow duelists. And as they do, a whale jumps up in the background. *heh*

Explanation: Jounouchi and Ryouta battle on a sea field which allows Ryouta to hide some his monster under the water. Jounouchi is finally able to win when Ryouta revives the Legendary Fisherman instead of the whale. Jounouchi asks him about it later and Ryouta explains that his Legendary Fisherman card makes him feel like his father is with still with him (if you recall, his father disappeared at sea). Even though the Legendary Fisherman isn't very powerful, to Ryouta it's his rarest card and he gives it to Jounouchi saying that his father will always be with him in spirit.

And so the Evil-ness Begins...
What Happens: Anzu is taken captive and Jounouchi is beaten up.

Explanation: Malik's men manage to grab Anzu. Jounouchi attempts to help her, but in the process is beaten up himself. All going accordingly to Malik's plan, they knock Jounouchi out and Anzu can't do much of anything. /Joy./

Tag Team - Kaiba and Yugi
What Happens: Kaiba and Yugi are in a tag team duel against two members of Malik's Rare Hunters. Kaiba and Yugi manage to work together and Kaiba summons Obelisk. Stuff happens, yada, yada, Kaiba and Yugi win.^^

Explanation: Kaiba and Yugi are forced into a duel against two Rare Hunters - one wearing a light and dark mask. On a glass roof above the city, the duel begins. However, there's a lot at stake here. If a duelist's lifepoints reach zero, a bomb under the player will go off breaking the glass and sending them falling most certainly to their death (Another example of Malik's "good" side. Oi!). The battle begins and through it all, Yugi tries to show Kaiba the strength of working together. Kaiba hides messages in his words and Yugi catches on. The two rivals work together and manage to defeat the Rare Hunter with the dark mask. (The bombs goes off, but he has a parachute.) Before they can defeat the one with the white mask, Malik takes over his body and informs Yugi that he has Jounouchi.

Meet Jounouchi Gone Evil
What Happens: Anzu meets Jounouchi and realizes that he's gone evil.

Explanation: Jounouchi enters the room where Anzu is being held. Her face lights up as she sees her friend, but she soon notices that something isn't right. Jounouchi is no longer himself and he looks to be hypnotized. Rishid appears behind him confirming Anzu's fears.

Eyecatch

The Battle of True Friendship
[These are my favorite scenes out of the entire series. Even though the TV Special condenses almost four episodes into something like five minutes, it's worth explaining. Again, the standard SPOILER WARNING remains. I am going to explain things as they happen to hopefully insure that this scene isn't ruined for you. Also, I am putting in a lot of details that are not in the TV special. Why? Because this scene is precious, and like I said, there's no way I'm going to ruin it. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do. It truly contains some of the most precious moments of the entire series.]

What Happens & Explanation: After being informed that Malik has Jounouchi, Kaiba finds that they are at the harbor and Mokuba arrives in a helicopter to pick them up and take them there. When Yugi arrives and spots Jounouchi, it takes him a moment to realize that his friend's mind in under Malik's control. Evil Jounouchi announces to Yugi that they will duel, but Yugi doesn't wish to fight his best friend. Malik then informs Yugi that Anzu has a pill placed in her mouth. If Yugi should refuse to duel Jounouchi, Anzu will die. Yugi has no choice but to accept the duel.

The hypnotized Anzu chains the two friends to an anchor and the rules are explained. Both Yugi and Jounouchi are chained to an anchor. If one of their lifepoints reaches zero, the anchor will drop and they will drown. As for the other player that wins, a box near them will open revealing a key to the chains. To make things even more interesting, they have a time limit of fifteen minutes. If the time runs out and no one wins, both of them will be pulled under.

Yami Yugi remembers that he still has Jounouchi's Red Eyes Black Dragon and places it into his deck. The battle begins and Yami Yugi still has trouble facing his friend under the circumstances. If he is to win, it will mean the Jounouchi will be killed. He continues to try and get Jounouchi to break free of Malik's control but doesn't have much luck. It is then that the real Yugi asks his Yami to let him face Jounouchi. Afterall, Jounouchi is his best friend. Unable to deny his other half, Yami Yugi retreats back into the puzzle leaving little Yugi to face his friend.

Yugi then picks up a card. It's the Red Eyes Black Dragon - Jounouchi's card. Hoping the card will help Jounouchi's memories return, Yugi plays it and the dragon appears before them. It shocks Jounouchi slightly, but thanks to Malik's control, Jounouchi attacks it. The dragon's attack decreases, but it still stands.

Pain fills Jounouchi's mind as he falls to the ground holding his head. Jounouchi attempts to fight Malik, but is failing. Yugi can only see one way to save Jounouchi's life. It's now that Yugi walks towards his friend. The young boy removes the puzzle from his neck and bends down near Jounouchi. He places his beloved puzzle around Jounouchi's neck and smiles sadly. He tells Jounouchi that if is going to die, then Jounouchi will wear the puzzle instead of him. He then walks back to his side of the dock.

Malik regains control and orders Jounouchi to talk apart the puzzle and throw the pieces into the ocean as this would destroy Yami Yugi. Jounouchi removes the piece of the puzzle with the eye on it, but as he is about to throw it, something happens that makes Jounouchi freeze in his tracks. This scene is just like one that took place at the beginning of the series (In the first manga volume and in the original Yu-Gi-Oh series this happens before Yugi and Jounouchi are friends and before Yugi completes the puzzle. Jounouchi steals a piece of Yugi's puzzle and throws it into the school pool. Later, Jounouchi goes back and gets the piece and returns it to Yugi. It's after this that they become friends. Now, aren't you happy little old me is attempting to explain all this? *heh*). Instead of throwing the piece into the ocean like Malik wants, Jounouchi puts the piece back into the puzzle and they continue their duel.

This confuses Malik who doesn't understand why a part of the two friends are fighting each other on their own. Kaiba, noting the time limit and the rate at which the friends are dueling thinks that both of them will end up dying. Also, Yugi finally figures out that Malik is the one controlling Jounouchi's actions. Jounouchi plays a card that will do 1000 lifepoints of damage and take Yugi's lifepoints to zero. All the while, the real Jounouchi fights for control of his mind. Just as he attacks, the real Jounouchi takes control and tells Yugi not to die. Yugi blocks the attack and captures it with his Spirit's Mirror. He is happy to know that the real Jounouchi is back. Tears role down the sides of Yugi's face as he smiles back at his friend.

Jounouchi notices the puzzle around his neck and their situation. He isn't really sure why they're fighting. As all this is going on, the timer is counting down and getting closer and closer to zero. Yugi tells Jounouchi how much his friendship means to him. Tears role down Yugi's face as his utters his last words of friendship to Jounouchi...

"Jounouchi, I love you..."

Yugi order his Spirit's Mirror to attack him with the attack Jounouchi used last turn. The blast hits and there's a huge explosion while Jounouchi looks on in shock. Yugi's lifepoints reach zero and his weak body collapses and falls to the ground.

A box near Jounouchi opens revealing a key to his chains, but Jounouchi's mind only wishes to save Yugi's. In the few short seconds left before the timer runs out, Jounouchi orders the Red Eyes Black Dragon to attack him. The dragon attacks the blond boy and Jounouchi's lifepoints drop to zero. This causes the box near Yugi to open revealing the key to Yugi's chains. The timer runs out and just as the anchor they are chained to begins to drop into the sea, Jounouchi rushes to Yugi and manages to grab his key. The anchor continues to fall and pulls both Jounouchi and Yugi deeper and deeper into the ocean.

Jounouchi, Yugi's key in hand, manages to find Yugi's limp body. Jounouchi unlocks Yugi's chains and the small innocent boy begins to float up towards the surface. All the while, Jounouchi continues to sink deeper into the sea. The blond boy watches his friend as they are separated.

Jounouchi tries Yugi's key in his lock, but it doesn't work. His key is still at the surface. Jounouchi is also running out of air.

Yugi reaches the surface and Mokuba pulls him to the dock. Kaiba notices Jounouchi's key. Acting out of character, Kaiba drops the key into the water. Just as Jounouchi is about to run out of air, he sees the key and is able to free himself. Yugi comes to and Jounouchi reaches the surface shortly after.

Jounouchi and Yugi face each other. Jounouchi holds the puzzle and apologizes to Yugi for all the trouble. He then places the puzzle back around Yugi's neck and they both can't help but smile.

Brotherly Sight
[*smiles* Another precious scene...]

What Happens: On the dock, Jounouchi and his sister, Shizuka, hug with a sunset in the background.

Explanation: Shizuka, Honda and Otogi get a ride with Mai to the harbor (Mai drives like a maniac *heh*). Shizuka still has bandages covering her eyes from her operation. Mai helps Shizuka out of her car and she begins to make her way blindly towards her older brother. Jounouchi spots her and runs to face her. Jounouchi yells at his friends for bringing Shizuka with them. After nearly killing Yugi, Jounouchi feels that he can't face his sister. Mai yells at him (and slaps him *he he*) and Otogi restrains Honda from attacking Jounouchi. Jounouchi is reminded of the reason he competed in the Duelist Kingdom. All of this is stopped once Jounouchi realizes that his sister has begun to remove the bandages from her eyes.

Jounouchi gasps as she throws the bandage behind her. Keeping her eyes closed, she faces her brother. Slowly, she begins to open her eyes. Before her she sees a blurry vision of her brother. Soon this image clears and her first sight is Jounouchi standing before her.

Tears form in Shizuka's eyes as she runs to her brother. She presses her face into his chest and hugs him. Jounouchi holds Shizuka close. He smiles as he strokes her hair. He has succeeded at being a good older brother and has saved his little sister's vision.

Finalists
What Happens: The final duelists make their way to Domino Stadium. Bakura appears, as does Rishid and a mysterious lady in white. They board a blimp where the final duels are to take place. They draw numbers to see who will battle who. The first battle will be between Yugi and Bakura.

Explanation: To become a finalist, you must collect "puzzle cards". These act much like "star chips" did in the Duelist Kingdom. The mysterious lady in white is Isis. Bakura's appearance is strange. Let me explain - back around the time when Jounouchi battled Ryouta, Yami Bakura and Malik meet. They made a deal - Yami Bakura will help Malik kill Yugi, and Malik will give Yami Bakura all the millennium items. Yami Bakura then took out a knife and cut his right arm. He collapses, and when Anzu and the others find him, he is being supported by Malik who is pretending to be someone named "Namu". The real Bakura has no idea why his arm is bleeding, but is in a lot of pain. After Jounouchi beats up the guys Yami Bakura stole his duel disk from, they take Bakura to the hospital.

Just before they arrive at the stadium, Anzu is told that Bakura is no longer in the hospital. Yami Bakura has been going around winning the last of his puzzle cards.

You may also want to note that Yugi and the others still think Yugi defeated Yami Bakura back when they faced each other in the Duelist Kingdom (episode 12^^). Personally, I think this is silly considering Honda had a run in with him later while he tried to rescue Mokuba from Pegasus. But I didn't write the story, so I am not responsible for the happy plot holes. *heh*

Also, Malik is still pretending to by "Namu". He's entered Rishid in the tournament under the name "Malik". Malik has also given Rishid his Millennium Rod so Bakura's ring points to it making Yugi and the others think that Rishid is the "Malik" that has been causing them all of their problems. Gah... Malik looks so innocent here. I just feel sorry for Bakura...

Yugi vs Yami Bakura
What Happens: Yami Bakura reveals himself much to everyone's surprise. The battle begins and Yami Bakura's demonic cards seem to be no match for Yugi. However, this is not the case. Bakura uses monsters from his graveyard to call upon Dark Necrophia. Yugi calls upon the Black Magician Girl and defeats the demon doll. Well, at least Yugi thinks he does. Dark Necrophia has some interesting effects that paralyze Yugi's monsters and hurt his life points. They also help Yami Bakura gain back lifepoints. Spirits are also flying around at this point. Yami Bakura also activates his Ouija Board. Every turn it will select a letter. Once it spells the word "DEATH", Yugi will lose.

Yugi only has one turn before the "H" appears on the field. He draws Osiris and Bakura stares in shock as the God Card appears before him. Knowing full well that he's about to lose, Rishid comes out and Yami Bakura goes back into the ring leaving the real Bakura on the field. The innocent boy holds his bleeding arm and falls to the ground. Rishid tells Yugi that if he attacks Bakura, he will die. Yugi won't attack his friend, but then something surprising happens.

Yami Bakura takes control once again and Yugi attacks with Osiris defeating Yami Bakura. As they leave the battle field, Honda carries Bakura's limp body on his back.

Explanation: I kinda explained this one while I told you what was happening, but maybe I should try and explain something about Yami Bakura. It was Malik's plan to force out the real Bakura. Yugi wouldn't attack his friend so Bakura could have a chance of winning. However, upon realizing that Yugi will be forced to attack his lighter half, Yami Bakura takes control of the ring and orders Yugi to attack him. It could be argued that Yami Bakura cared for his other half enough to take the hit for him. Before Yami Bakura is hit with Osiris's blast, he declares that in the end he'll have the powers of darkness.

Jounouchi vs Rishid as "Malik"
What happens: Jounouchi and Rishid begin dueling. Jounouchi does fairly well until Rishid plays his Selket. The power of the creature causes Jounouchi to freak out and Anzu and Shizuka cover their eyes at the sight. The special ends with the Selket confronting Jounouchi.

Explanation: Jounouchi has a lot of anger towards Rishid as he believes that Rishid is Malik - the one that took over his mind and caused his to battle Yugi. And yes, the ending of the special is a cliff-hanger.

Concluding Comments
And thus concludes my happy little guide to the TV Special. I'm sorry if it's confusing. It's hard enough to keep things straight in my head, let alone trying to write them down. In any case, I hope you enjoyed my guide, and I hope that my explanations were good enough to allow you to experience the magic that is Yu-Gi-Oh!