Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 276 Than Curse the Darkness

 ... What? 

Listen, VIZ, I'm paying to access your official, PROFESSIONAL translations of this manga. Granted, I'm not paying very MUCH, but I don't have to be paying squat if I'm willing to put up with poor grammar. Unless you're suggesting cursing the darkness as an unfavorable to alternative to something else, I don't want to see you using this form of the word. Then again, I don't know what in the balls it would mean for it to be spelled with an "e" either. Is it the next in a list of weird ultimatums? Either way, if I wanted to be confused about the weird wording of a title, I could do that for free.

I love how everyone is absolutely horrified by other!Marik's screaming agony, except for Kaiba - maybe the pitch matches his own internal screams and he doesn't really notice. 

Ra is swept away in pieces by swirling digital winds, and Yami holds his arm up to protect his face from... pixels, I guess. Below the platform, an amazed Honda is in awe that Yami beat Ra, and wonders if that means Yami has won the entire match. Jonouchi explains that, no, that's not the case, because Ra converts all but ONE of the player's life points to attack points - Marik is still technically hanging on by one point. 

The virtual wind is at last starting to die down; Ra had to make a dramatic and over-extended exit. Yami and Yuugi both watch the dissipating tornado, both looking a bit tense. Yuugi recaps that Yami had believed in the viability of that final point left to Marik and went ahead and attacked other!Marik. They're on edge waiting to see if the one point was enough I suppose, Yami muttering Marik's name nervously. Interspersed with more shots of the digital smoke clearing are Rishid and Ishizu also worrying over Marik, until we get a close-up shot on one of Yami's eyes widening at a shape forming in the fog, which I'm sure will clear ANY MOMENT NOW.

FINALLY!

I mean, yay he's okay I'm so happyyyyyyy....

Actually I am rather glad to see that original recipe is back without the weird bulging veins or lolling tongue. So is Ishizu, who looks like she's ready to throw herself up on the platform, lunging the way she is toward her brother. I think it's a bit too high, though. Ryuji gets his first line in quite a while when he urges everyone to look at Marik's face, asking if the guy's dark side is gone. Rishid stands proud of Marik, thinking it was his strength to live that overcame his dark personality. 

Meanwhile, Marik whips that heavy-looking cape off his shoulders, reminding Yami that he's still got one point left and their duel isn't over. This is far from a threatening statement, though, and even if an exclamation point has appeared over Yami's head, he looks straight-faced and determined. But Yuugi urges him to look a bit harder at the scrap of nothing hovering next to Marik's shoulder.

It's other!Marik's bulging wild eye; Yuugi says that now regular sized Marik is back in control, other!Marik is in the sacrifice seat. Other!Marik's eye darts over to original recipe, wondering how he got control of their body, what Yami DID, and how he ended up the sacrifice in this shadow game. I wouldn't hold your breath for any coherent explanation, dude. Then again, I doubt other!Marik does much breathing at all in this form, so I guess he'd have an easier time of it anyway.

Gracious, for a guy without a mouth, he managed to DOUBLE his word output. And multiply the pathetic bullshit by a factor of about a million.

Marik states that other!Marik was created by his intense suffering, and that other!Marik can't control him anymore. He keeps his eyes stubbornly pointed forward as other!Marik responds with disbelief. Marik promises to destroy other!Marik with his own hands, which other!Marik decries as a lie, worrying if original recipe is planning on killing himself to die along with his evil counterpart. Regular sized Marik responds that he's not going to die; he says he's done some crimes that will never be forgiven, but he's going to live and bear his guilt just like the scars on his back, seeking the small spot of light in the darkness of life. A little dramatic, but fair enough, and inspiring Rishid's glowing pride by the look of admiration he's giving Marik at the moment. 

Correcting his initial call to Yami as a call the the spirit of the pharaoh, he announces that their duel is done now. I guess he was just bullshitting when he said it WASN'T over earlier, but we already knew this guy was a liar. Anyway, Marik thanks Yami for saving him, and Yami looks on with alarm. Not as much as the frantic other!Marik, though, who tries to deny original recipe is going to do what's coming next. 

... Anticlimactic much?

Other!Marik's scrunched-up eye is sure wound up over it. He stutters that Marik can't, couldn't, do this incredibly passive thing, and screams out his refusal like it's not going to just make Marik all the more glad he's finally getting rid of other!Marik's constantly babbling ass. Marik commands his dark self to be gone, renouncing it. With a final drawn-out scream, other!Marik's eye stretches, shrinks, and pops out of existence. Ah, at long last, he can be united with his precious darkness. Just as he always wanted... for OTHER people, somehow. 

Marik lifts his hand from his Duel Disk, the panel reminding us that his life points are now at zero. As the last of other!Marik, and the rest of the holograms, disappear in wisps of digital smoke, Marik admits to Yami that he's lost everything, and the game is the pharaoh's. Ishizu stares up at her brother in some awe, a tear escaping her eye while she silently assures Marik that their future is not lost, and thanking the great pharaoh. Rishid also stares up at his master, but with a slightly sad expression. 

Yami thinks that Marik may have lost the game, but he was victorious in a different way. Probably a better way, when it comes down to it. After all, what's better than NOT having to surrender your body to a maniac personality born of your hatred and anger for the rest of your miserable existence? At least now Marik's miserable existence is autonomous. Congratz, kid. Yami and Yuugi smile amicably at the guy who has just confessed that he's done crimes that can never be forgiven. 

But then again, who the hell HASN'T in this comic?

THAT'S OUR CUE! POP THOSE BOTTLES, BOYS!!!

I'm not the only one stoked about it. Yami's friends leap and cheer, screaming their elation, and reiterating that Yami won. Yami holds his arm with the Duel Disk strapped to it close to his chest, thanking the deck of cards inside helping him, then looks at the group of wild animals stampeding toward him to bury him in an avalanche of congratulations and thanks them as friends too. It's a very subdued acceptance speech. 

Them and KT, anyway. 

Jonouchi excitedly calls Yami the greatest duelist in the world for his victory, while Honda crosses his arms in the background and nods sagely, talking about how long a road it's been to victory in hindsight. I can't help but agree; I have several hundred blog entries to look back on to that end. Yami looks at Anzu and asks her if she has her mind back now, casual as can be, considering how often Anzu's brain is taken over by random spirits. Eyes crossed, Anzu points at her head and says she has a few memories missing, then immediately assures him she's okay now. 

... Somebody take this girl to a neurologist, please. She needs help.

Jonouchi appears to be looking past Yami at something, so Yami glances over his shoulder to see the cozy group of three Ishtars formed with Marik hanging his head as the center. Ishizu begins to address him, and he says her name too, possibly the start of an apology. Ishizu cuts him off to assure him that though their family lived in darkness for generations under the fate of the Tomb Guardians, it was Marik's destiny to end that. She monologues a bit about darkness not being eternal, how revenge shouldn't last thousands of years or even a single lifetime, and that maybe they were assigned the duty of guarding their king's memories so their king himself could teach them that lesson. GENERATIONS of a family lived and died underground and suffered horrible abuse so that you and your brothers could have a nice little classroom session with Yami? That sounds like a serious miscarriage of justice to me, but I'M not the damn justice dispensing spirit of the Millennium Puzzle here. Wanna weigh in here, Yami?

Nah, Marik just asks Ishizu if she thinks their family can still live outside of the dark. She affirms that yes, they're Tomb Guardians, and that doesn't change no matter where they live. Wish your ancestors had the same attitude, Ishizu. She declares that they're family, and Marik seems to agree that they can overcome any obstacle as long as they have that bond. Rishid gapes in astonishment at first, then looks down and sheds a single tear. Rishid, my dude, you deserve all of this validation and more. 

Oh balls, what is that asshole in the ring up to NOW????

No time to get into it now, apparently. Kaiba has appeared to yell at Yami, who turns from his eavesdropping to give Kaiba some kind of questioning glance. Kaiba shouts that, by defeating Marik, Yami has earned the title of Duel King. He claims that he applauds this achievement as the host of this event, but Kaiba's stiff posture definitely does NOT allow for any clapping. Nor does his sour expression, really. Still, in the glow of victory, Yami thinks on Kaiba warmly as well, knowing he couldn't have won without that card thrown at him in the beginning of the duel. 

Mokuba appears much more genial when he announces the ante; that the champion will accept a rare card from the loser. Ishizu encourages Marik to fulfill his final duty, like the good older sister she should have been the whole time. Marik obeys her with a simple affirmation, walking toward Yami silently until they are face-to-face, where he assures him that the spells cast on his friends have all been broken and they'll all be conscious again soon. Yami remains emotionally neutral when thinking of Mai, but Jonouchi and Honda share another round of joyous grins. News just keeps getting better!

Ugh, the asshole has returned in full form, I see. Can't wait for him to be a dildo again and then leave without doing anything substantial.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? You know I'm grabbing some nice wine tomorrow at the store to celebrate the end of this tournament. More than that, I feel like I need to celebrate the end of other!Marik, who can shut up forever more in his hell of choice. Watching him devolve almost immediately into a sniveling coward begging to be accommodated the moment he loses the control he so heavily abused every second he had it over the past hundred chapters or so was cathartic as hell. The adage that anger and hate are just fear puffing itself up is really potent in other!Marik's defeat. And defeat through nothing more than the original Marik's acceptance of the pain he's endured, the pain he's CAUSED, and the courage to face life in spite of all that, no less! It doesn't make a lot of "logical" sense, which is why other!Marik doesn't really understand how Marik took control again and put HIM up as the sacrifice. But as anyone who has suffered through life's hardships and their own follies knows, it takes a lot of strength to get back up, dust oneself off, and face their mistakes. It really is as simple as Marik deciding that he wanted to take responsibility for himself again and not let his fear and hate drive him anymore. That's a powerful message, and I appreciate that KT made it so clear. 

I only have a couple of issues with how it was executed. The first is that the mere affirmation that other!Marik was disowned just got rid of him. I understand that it was a condition of the game that the loser lost their "other self" so to speak, and that there's still another nasty spirit lurking on Marik at the end of the chapter. I am also by no means saying that I wish other!Marik had stuck around - I have never been so happy to see a character disappear in my life! But DISOWNING those horrible parts of our lives and ourselves isn't really possible. We can acknowledge them, make amends for when they hurt people, and be conscious of expressing them in healthier, more manageable ways, but they are nonetheless parts of us regardless, and they don't disappear when we bid them. Perhaps if there was some indication that a small SILENT piece of other!Marik continued to hang around Marik afterward, that would be a better analogy to dealing with darker, more unhappy aspects of our existences. Especially in the context of the conversation the Ishtars were having after the duel, it would have driven home the point of living life despite the unpleasant bits.

Also, as stated above, I feel like the forfeit Marik performed was rather anticlimactic. At the very least, Marik shouldn't have led his return to control by claiming his and Yami's duel wasn't over, only to take that back in a couple of pages. I think I might have preferred, however, a more symbolic loss, where Marik plays a card that is inferior in points but represents his will to carry on as a final ACTION in the match, as opposed to just calling it quits. That would be a far more assertive move for someone who just declared their intention to continue living, in my opinion. But I also understand that Yami's points were rather precarious as well, and this whole thing needed to be wrapped up, so maybe what I suggested wasn't so possible with the final setup. 

All-in-all, though, I very much enjoyed the end to the duel and the tournament, and I'm really looking forward to the final two chapters of the arc as well! Falling action, here we come!

Inuyasha Manga: 217 Shiori's Power

I'll try to take some inspiration from little Shiori, then, because today I feel like I'm sorely LACKING power. As I type this cold open, I'm also between stages in cooking a huge celebratory dinner, I have to vacuum later, and shower, and it is the BUSIEST day of the week at work for me, with over 70 items I have to check the progress on over the course of eight hours. It's madness, and has effectively drained me of energy before noon. I'm sitting here yawning, and it's not even DINNERTIME yet. I haven't even managed to get most of my regular chores done yet. 

Laying it all out like that above, I think I'm going to need a lot more than just a little bit of inspiration though...

I feel like characters in this comic talk A LOT about how unforgivable they find the behavior of their enemies. Is that just me, or...?

Taigokumaru giggles, asking Inuyasha what his deal is, if he plans to kill him somehow. Inuyasha yells at him to shut his gob, claiming he won't hold back anymore. Just as much a warning to the little girl sitting in Taigokumaru's palm as a threat to Taigokumaru himself, I'm sure. Miroku wonders if there's any chance of Inuyasha winning, while Kagome, cradling Shiori's unconscious mother, is more concerned about if it's specifically possible to slay Taigokumaru without hurting Shiori. Since it's obvious that Shiori can't control the barrier, Kagome knows that Inuyasha will kill both her and her grandfather even if he cuts the barrier cleanly. 

This is all VERY amusing to Taigokumaru, who questions the assertion that Inuyasha has been holding back until now. He encourages Inuyasha to let him see that full power, shooting another echolocation attack at him. Inuyasha scoffs as the attack approaches, lunging forward with sword raised, at the same time lecturing Taigokumaru that the youki he's vomited at him is just the passage that his own youki needs. It's a rather wordy comeback for such a small window of opportunity. And we all know where he's going with this anyway.

It surprises Taigokumaru that Inuyasha's youki has enveloped his own, and that a whirlwind of both seem to be heading right back at him. At least, that's what the dialog suggests, because Taigokumaru's mask-like appearance doesn't really lend to changes in expression, it seems. Inuyasha thinks this is good, and urges the point of that swirl of youki to go straight through Taigokumaru's head. 

It's really looking like Bakuryuuha peaked the moment it debuted and is never going to move beyond that superfluous starting gate. Sango confirms that the attack was no good, and the barrier has gone back to normal. Kagome and Shippou peer up at Taigokumaru, providing the latter and former parts, respectively, of the astute observation that Taigokumaru remains uninjured. No shit. Inuyasha curses, saying that he was a bit too late? I guess he thinks if he hit Taigokumaru a second earlier, Bakuryuuha would have gone through? What in the world would give him THAT impression?

Taigokumaru chuckles, praising Shiori for how well she defended him. She is not taking THAT backhanded bullshit anymore. 

And just like that, Taigokumaru is flung out of the protective bubble Shiori is projecting, along with the other bats that were chilling in there. Inuyasha makes a shocked noise, while Miroku exclaims in disbelief that Hyakki clan have been ejected from the barrier. 

Taigokumaru curses his granddaughter, a lowly hanyou who kicked his ass right out of her barrier. Although, he does take a moment to acknowledge to himself that she has so much power - even HE wasn't ever able to manipulate the barrier like that. Suddenly, the realism on his characterization is gone. Too much self-awareness! Also, I guess Shiori was hovering in the air waiting patiently for his cogent thought to finish before she starts to tip and fall. Even in her rebellion, she's such a considerate granddaughter. 

Kagome exclaims that Shiori is falling, and Shiori's mother lunges forward, calling out to her in panic. She positions herself under her daughter, intending to catch her, but her attention is caught by the radiating concentric rings of Taigokumaru's echolocation attack heading straight for her. Taigokumaru petulantly says that he won't let a lowly human woman have Shiori, Kagome tries to pull Shiori's mom out of the path of the attack, and Shiori screams for her mother despite her own fall. 

Inuyasha jumps in front of Shiori's mom and Kagome, shouting at Taigokumaru. 

Uhhhhh... I sure hope that tangle of DEATH missed poor Shiori....

Thankfully, after a transition panel of the sun rising over the ocean, we're shown Shiori is okay. No word on HOW she didn't break her little body on the beach, or how narrowly Inuyasha avoided shredding her with Bakuryuuha along with Taigokumaru. Never mind those head-scratchers; the only pain Shiori is enduring right now are the mental scars as she bawls in her mother's arms, who apologizes for giving her a bad memory. Inuyasha and Kagome hang back speechlessly in the background, until Inuyasha turns to his team and suggests they head out, since there's no reason for them to stick around anymore. 

Myouga jumps up and down on Inuyasha's shoulder, protesting in disbelief and anger, asking Inuyasha just what he's saying. Inuyasha looks at him with some surprise at the fact that Myouga is still here. Probably expected him to have run away by then, what with the danger and all. Myouga reminds him, a little loudly, of the reason Inuyasha came here in the first place: to slay a youkai that could produce a tough barrier and let Tessaiga absorb said youkai's blood, thereby making it stronger. Shiori's mom hears this, of course, and tentatively asks if Inuyasha really came here to kill Shiori, still enveloping her in a comforting (likely now protective) embrace. 

Inuyasha confirms that was his aim at first. We all know how bad Inuyasha's aim is, so it's no surprise to anyone, least of all his friends. Miroku comments on the fact that the youkai in question is a tiny baby girl, and Sango adds that she's a hanyou, like Inuyasha. Inuyasha follows up with his own statement that he's not SO low that he would slay a child, and says he'll just find a villain who can create a stronger barrier and kill them instead. Like it's no big deal. Kagome makes the sparkly eyes at Inuyasha for his obvious moral decision. He passed the ethics test; someone buy him a fucking cookie.

Myouga, still suspiciously offended that Inuyasha refuses to murder a little girl, complains that Inuyasha wasn't like THIS before as he hops around on his shoulder. Inuyasha demands to know what THAT'S supposed to mean. Miroku, turning his head in a rather unnatural manner, like an astonished owl, suggests it means Inuyasha has grown up quite a bit. I think it means that Myouga has a thirst for blood in more than one way and he's getting the side-eye from me even more than ever now.

Shiori, honey, when Inuyasha said he would help you do whatever you decide, I don't think he meant for you to decide to let him slice you. I don't think that's a request he's likely to grant, all in all.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? It has its issues, most of the same ones that Inuyasha habitually shows. RT's tendency to just gloss over issues she can't write herself out of quickly enough for taste/deadline shows here with Shiori just magically standing on the beach without serious injury despite her fall being made a big deal. And one does have to wonder, after thinking about it for a minute, how Tsukuyomaru even managed to get murdered when he had control of a barrier powerful enough to deflect Taigokumaru's attack, as demonstrated above. In fact, one wonders why he would GIVE UP the family duty of a barrier when it is clearly portable and he could have brought it to the village with him to protect his wife and daughter instead. On it's surface, this story is tragic, but it lacks a little logic under its thin skin.

Still, these are small complaints, and they don't really cut into the important core of this chapter: Shiori's badassery. Anyone who has, as a child, been made to defer to an adult family member who seems to take advantage of their power over them at every opportunity will have been cheering this girl on with gusto during this chapter. She kicked her passive aggressive piece-of-shit grandfather OUT OF HER BUBBLE, and it was something even HE had to admit he'd never been able to do. Not only is it courageous and amazing of a child like her to stand up for herself and her father against a tyrannous jerkwad like that, but she did it in a way that Taigokumaru couldn't have imagined; using his own tool for control against him. 

Shiori is my hero.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 275 One Point of Life!

Once again: what a mood. I've frequently felt like I'm running on one point of life during the past year, and now that there seems to be the most distant pinprick of light at the end of this long tunnel, I'm really TAXING that last point while sprinting toward it. It's all adrenaline now - I'm running on fumes. I don't know what's going to happen if I manage to reach the light, whether I'll just collapse into a Kaiba-esque broken brain coma for 6 months to a year, or if the light is even real. All I know is that I'm already exhausted, and have been so for an entire revolution around the sun. 

Yami, I'm begging you man, if you're GOING to do it, just finish me off already. Have mercy.

This is it! The beginning of the end! Yeet me into the Shadow Realm, Obelisk!

Kaiba reiterates what's happening here - Yami is activating Obelisk's special ability by offering two sacrifices before other!Marik attacks, wiping out all the opponent's monsters. Definitely clears it up for any new readers to stumble on this story in the store. He does wonder if this will work on Ra, though, which is fair. Ra does seem to dodge just about everything thrown at him, and there's no reason to think any trick will really stick at this poin-

Wait. 

Wait wait wait. Is this happening? Is this FUCKING happening right now????

... If you hear something that sounds like a distant scream of frustrated anguish, that's me. Hell, you'll probably hear a second one as other!Marik's bulging eyes are overlaid with his revelation that this is it - infinite attack points. How many times must I rant about how infinity isn't a number in recaps about this fucking manga??? I cannot stress enough just how much this infuriates me. 

I'm going to move on before I give myself an aneurysm or something. Yami tells other!Marik to take THIS new and improved god-fist to the face. 

Sorry? I'm still seething about the misuse of the continued misuse of mathematical terms to be concerned with this bullshit. Can you wait until I've had time to finish malfunctioning over the PRIOR bullshit before you throw some NEW bullshit at me KT? Please???

As the slowest attack in the world heads toward Ra/other!Marik, Kaiba thinks on other!Marik's life points being increased by 1000 by the Soul Taker card. He adds the attack points of the sacrificed monsters to those life points, and the sum comes out to 4899 on Ra's attack. It's rearing back and roaring, like it's preparing to do its own attack in the meantime. I guess Kaiba did his calculations out loud, to my ETERNAL surprise, for Jonouchi asserts with a raised fist that it doesn't matter HOW many attack points Ra has because Obelisk has infinite attack. This sends me into yet another angry tirade that I will not repeat here; I don't want to waste YOUR time too, dear reader. 

Other!Marik grins sadistically as he thinks that they'll see about his efforts not mattering. He will keep this duel/arc on his shoddy life-support system of circular play style as long as he possibly can, dammit! Indeed, Obelisk's impact attack diverts to either side of Ra like it's surrounded by an invisible shield. Yami gapes in disblief that he didn't hurt other!Marik at ALL, and other!Marik claims that this is because even gods know their betters. Apparently, because Ra is the highest rank of all the god cards, Obelisk's powers are useless against it. So, Ra gets off without a scratch against an objectively more powerful opponent because of a flimsy HIERARCHY?

Yeah, that checks out. 

Yami growls in frustration, but there's some genuine fear in his face now. Jonouchi and company down below, including the still possessed Anzu, stare open-mouthed and horror-stricken at the scene above. And yet, it's not the original Marik who explains through Anzu that Obelisk's attack points go back to normal when its special attack ends - it's JONOUCHI. Did he get a good look at the text on that card by looking over Kaiba's shoulder while he was admiring it or something? 

Anyway, other!Marik declares his Surprise Attack from the Darkness again, shouting that this is the end for Yami. Meanwhile, Rishid has limped onto the scene unnoticed below the platform, just in time to see other!Marik laughing it up above. He mumbles Marik's name, as other!Marik commands Yami to die, calling him a dried-up mummy and a pathetic ghost. He has clearly lost the last of his shit, but at the same time, I'm appreciative of how much hilarious resentment he stuffed into those insults. It's glorious. 

I'm having a hard time believing ANYONE is going to win this duel at this point. Are we certain we haven't ALL lost a shadow game and now are sitting in hell watching the eternal duel of doom?

As expected. the next panel has Yami smiling like he didn't just have a terrified expression a couple of pages ago, asking other!Marik if he's SURE. If only the word "sure" had a similar mnemonic device as the word "assume", because when other!Marik's incomplete falls, he does kinda look like an ass. Yami reveals the face down card Dimension Magic, and other!Marik is just utterly flabbergasted by this. Probably because he too has forgotten if Yami even set out another face down card, just as I have. There's just been so much going on, forgive me. 

Yami says Dimension Magic lets him sacrifice two monsters, of his OWN this time, while sacrificial whirlwinds surround Obelisk and Gazelle. Other!Marik is now in disbelief that Yami would be sacrificing his GOD, even though he's just demonstrated that the thing isn't really worth much out there on the field right now. May as well, based on that alone. Other!Marik is still extremely distressed by this prospect, though, this evasion tactic by sacrificing Ra's targets - what he calls "Sacrifice Escape". However, he finds the silver lining and his grin again in the next panel when he reminds Yami that his last god card is dead. 

Yami's rebuttal is, of course, that he has his friends/trusted comrades whom he has carried in his cards throughout all his duels. It helps that they physically follow him around like a litter of puppies through the whole thing too, I'm guessing. Other!Marik isn't listening, really. He's been distracted by a shape forming in the digital smoke. 

When Yami said he had his friends, did he REALLY mean he had his funny little cartoon magic card people?

Jonouchi cheers that Yami dodged Ra's attack and brought out his two best magicians, all in one swift movement. Kaiba snickers, seemingly understanding that Obelisk was just a decoy now. It's clear the time for questioning Yami's dueling wisdom has passed, abruptly and without much cause. After all, there's EVERY reason to believe that this ol' switcheroo will work where all the other clever moves before failed, right? 

Yami yells at other!Marik that the tables have turned, and that when his master and disciple magicians join forces, they can destroy any one monster. A condition that came out of left field like a bat outta Hell, but resolution is near and we gotta wrap this shit up. Yami says their target for monster destruction is other!Marik and Ra's fused form, to which other!Marik reacts with a dismayed growl, and then speechlessness. I love it when he stops talking. It's like music to my eyes, just like that saying definitely goes.

But it's short-lived. Other!Marik is grinning again in an instant, bidding him not to forget that destroying Ra will leave him with a single life point, which will kill the original recipe Marik. Yami's the one with his jaw clenched and stressing out now, wondering if other!Marik is truly saying that he can't save regular-sized Marik even if he leaves the one life point. Marik himself, as a single eye floating there in "sacrifice space" is kinda just... staring. Resigned. Other!Marik encourages Yami with psychotic glee to try it if he's prepared to KILL Marik, claiming that his ego will be permanently broken and will be always dominated by his dark side if Yami injures him THAT bad. So, not KILL him, but turn him into something of a mental vegetable? And is it worth it to point out that other!Marik has done WORSE to regular-sized Marik, so I kinda have a hard time believing that this could possibly compare? Maybe it's the straw that breaks the camel's back, I don't know...

Yami growls in frustration, and Yuugi suggests that Marik doesn't have the willpower to go on living with just the one life point - I'm supposing he's speaking from the position of a fellow "sacrifice" in this situation, because quite frankly, I don't have the mental space to add yet another question about how characters could possibly know these things they assert in this chapter. We'll just roll with it. Yuugi begs Yami not to do it; they have to come up with another plan. This just delights other!Marik, who's convinced he can't lose as long as he has his hostage sacrifice. 

It's about damn time. Rishid, honey, please bring some sense back into this chapter. Or, failing that, at least tell other!Marik to go straight to Hell.

Other!Marik dashes my hopes that he'll fuck off now right off the bat, when he sneers at Rishid, asking sardonically if he's really still alive and comparing his toughness to a scarab beetle's. He claims he's too strong for Rishid to push into original recipe Marik's subconscious anymore, and I am so far beyond fuming at this point, it's killing me. He just doesn't. Shut. UP. Rishid pants in response, apparently still catching his breath from the grueling trip up there. Relatable. As other!Marik watches this, he zeroes in on Rishid's DIY guardian tattoo, spitting that it's vile carving. He says that his other self's psyche is in a fragile state, and he has neither the strength to speak or live. Regular sized Marik seems to agree through his single eye's downcast look. 

At last, Rishid works up the breath to speak, directly to Marik. He monologues for a minute about how the fate of the Tomb Guardians brought tragedy upon them, hatred and resentment, and that all created the evil heart that stands before them now. Other!Marik snaps at him to shut up, but Rishid keeps going, warning original recipe Marik that he's about to throw himself into the darkness of despair. I thought he was several steps beyond that point by now, but it is a nice little speech, so I suppose he can get away with that little error. Marik still looks a little hopeless, but Rishid's monologue reaches a climax when he shakes his fist in the air and yells that Marik must keep living, even if his path leads into darkness - it's the fate of not only the Tomb Guardians, but every human. 

The pretty words finally reaches Marik, whose single eye widens at the final phrasing. Other!Marik yells at Rishid that he told him to shut his trap, a double image of his face stretching out from him so he's hollering from it, but also clenching his jaw on his physical mug. He doubles over, clutching at his missing eye with clawed fingers while the rest of his expression remains panicked. Yuugi observes other!Marik is acting awfully strange, as if he hasn't been this WHOLE TIME, while Yami just stares at the spectacle with a vaguely disgusted face. Other!Marik grunts and his one eye rolls, bulging. 

Rishid has yet more to say: that it is not through death that people go into the light, because there is only light in LIFE. With that final proof that Rishid was actually LISTENING to his Victorian ghost boy form in that coma, Marik's single brow lowers over his eye in determination.

Why is other!Marik suddenly so concerned with HOW things are happening? Just sit back and get what you give, baby. 

Yami is shocked to see original recipe Marik's eye hanging out in other!Marik's creepy version of their face. Other!Marik continues grunting demanding that Marik stop, but Marik isn't paying any attention. Rather he's wondering if he's really evil and a monster, supposing that they'll find out with Yami's next attack. Yami gets the gist after a pause, thinking this is the moment of truth. He decides he's going to believe in Marik's one point of life (title-mention whaaaaaaat) and warns him that he's going for it. 

Yami points up at his magicians, bidding them to combine their power, and they produce a bright light at the point where their wands cross. Other!Marik lets out a growl of frustration, stretching backward away from the impending attack as regular-sized Marik thinks on Ishizu and Rishid. Fearful of the growing bright light before him, other!Marik grits his teeth.

... Do I dare hope this isn't another fake-out? 

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I have to start out by saying, so sorry for the digital scream, that the first half of this chapter was SO MOTHER-FUCKING POINTLESS. It was bad enough that Yami had to recycle his last move using a face down card to sacrifice two monsters to activate some heretofore unmentioned special ability of a couple of new monsters, but the fact that it was because Obelisk's attack wouldn't go through for the DUMBEST possible reason? A petty little hierarchy that only Obelisk seems to be subject to when a couple of REGULAR monsters were able to get away with the same thing just pages later? And while my objection to infinity attack points on Obelisk was rather small at first, all of this eventually had me questioning why gaining infinite attack points would be a necessity in the first place, if it can't even be used against the strongest monster in the game due to its programmed respect for authority. It's this ouroboros of narrative uselessness that exists for the sole purpose of filling space with redundant tension and I HATE it.

But Rishid dragging his ass up to the top of that tower to give Marik a speech inspiring him to regain some will was compelling. The implication that Rishid actually heard what Marik was saying at his bedside in the blimp was a nice touch, because it leads to the additional implication that Rishid rejects the notion that he's in Marik's shadow, as expressed by Marik in his bedside confession. Rishid's soliloquy compares Marik and their family to regular people, and states that their struggles aren't much different from those of others. His declaration that Marik needs to keep on keeping on just like everybody else puts Marik not only level with Ishizu and himself, but the whole world - it re contextualizes Marik's issues not as the fate of a special chosen one shouldering the heavy burden of a family legacy, but as the entirely human matter of surviving a dark depressing period. Putting it that way, it seems a lot more manageable, so it's no wonder this helps Marik regain the control necessary to ask for Yami's help in defeating the manifestation of his inner demons here. 

I also like how Marik's comment about seeing whether or not he's an evil monster. It's a throwback to Yami's own decision to explore those missing memories of his, even though it might lead to unpleasant revelations. Drawing this parallel between the hero and Marik was a great way for KT to solidify Marik's coming redemption, even though Marik still has a LOT to answer for. He may not be a monster, just a guy who only knows how to inflict his own abuse on others, but that doesn't mean he doesn't owe some SERIOUS apologies. 

As pleased as I am with the latter half of the chapter, I just think it should have been in the previous one. KT REALLY should have cut out the nonsense at the beginning of this thing and not doubled back in the home stretch. What a WASTE. 

Inuyasha Manga: 216 Father's Wish

Forgive me, but I don't give a FUCK about what that man's wish is. If we have to conk him over the head and drag his unconscious ass into the doctor's office, he is GETTING vaccinated. He can waffle and hand-wave all he wants; we are in the middle of a damn pandemic, and he is higher risk. My grandmother went in to get her own vaccination last week, because she remembers I've forbidden her from getting sick. My damn fool of a dad better remember too, before I smack him one!

THIS winged dipshit, on the other hand, can get fucked. His bat-ass probably already has covid anyway.

Remember those angry village men who ganged up on Shiori's mom? Well, now they're stammering that INUYASHA can be the one to take care of the bat-mob, begging him to please do something. Inuyasha recognizes them as those guys he pummeled before, and says he would have wasted Taigokumaru even if they hadn't asked, only to help and bring back Shiori. These guys look downright scandalized by his deliberate support for Shiori, and one of them asserts that she's an ally of the Hyakki Bats. Inuyasha suggests that what they REALLY mean to request is that he get rid of them altogether. The two men, with transparently hateful glares, confirm that this is exactly what they expect because Shiori is a youkai child after all. Just said the quiet part out loud like that. Wow.

Kagome and Mom stare over at the men with disgust, the former thinking how utterly cruel their attitude is, especially since Shiori was separated from her mother and went to live with the Hyakki Bats for the sake of the village in the first place. Sango leans over to ask Miroku if these aren't the kinds of guys Inuyasha would hate the most. Miroku responds that it's understandable, since this is the kind of treatment Inuyasha has gotten himself in the past. Shippou stares wide-eyed over Miroku's shoulder like he's expecting a fight to break out. Kagome calls out to Inuyasha tentatively; he HAS been strangely tolerant of this bullshit from the village men, not really pushing back against it thus far. 

Inuyasha raises his voice to address Shiori, asking if she heard that, and warning her that it might not be very nice returning to a village full of people who hate her for no reason. She identifies him as the guy who accompanied her mother to the cave earlier in the day, looking down at him with a curious expression. He offers to help her, if she still wants to come back to the village. 

I mean, if you've totally disregarded endearing yourself to your captive granddaughter at this point and are just relying on being stronger than this guy who is clearly better at it than you, then there's one BIG way in which he could get the upper hand...

Taigokumaru giggles, asking for confirmation that Inuyasha is hanyou too, because he sure smells that way to the big ol' bat. He suggests that Inuyasha is remembering his own abuse, and pitying Shiori through projection. Shiori looks even MORE intrigued by Inuyasha now, knowing that he's the same as her. Always a step behind in the conversation, but a sweetheart nonetheless. Inuyasha insists that she decide now whether she wants to return to the village or not, and she's pretty sure she wants to go back with her mother, but she still hesitates to say so. Her grandfather suggests that she understands if she stops protecting him with the barrier, then her mother's life is forfeit. It speaks to how big a piece of garbage Taigokumaru is that he outright admits at this point that he's extorting a tiny little girl.

Frustrated, Shiori exclaims that she doesn't understand, and asks what she should do. Taigokumaru acts outraged that this brat would confuse Shiori, and fires one of his echolocation attacks again. It doesn't seem to actually hit anything, nor does Inuyasha appear to dodge. In the next panel, he's just standing on the ground, cursing. I kind of wish I had someone to yell at RT not to confuse ME like this, but alas, I do not. Probably for the best, honestly, because a true parallel would be just as much of a dick to me as Taigokumaru is to Shiori, and I don't have a child's compliance anymore.

Inuyasha draws Tessaiga and bids Shiori to just protect herself with her barrier. This statement has Taigokumaru in angry disbelief, and he calls Inuyasha a brat again as that there brat releases a one of his signature Kaze no Kizus. 

Not that we expected this to be easy or anything.

Taigokumaru looks down at Shiori sitting in his palm and praises her for a job well done. Meanwhile, Inuyasha observes a little too late that Taigokumaru has a hug barrier surrounding him, as well as the rest of the bats. Inuyasha had THOUGHT that if any part of Taigokumaru's body had gotten outside the barrier, they'd have had a chance, but he supposes that this means Shiori can't adjust the size of her barrier. Look at this little scientist! Performing experiments and drawing conclusions from them! Adorable. 

Taigokumaru points himself at them and a whole group of crackling energy fans out from his mouth. It might be that he's diving at them and his attack is stretching to either side, or a phalanx of bats are coordinating each of their echolocation attacks at the beach. It's kind of unclear. Inuyasha turns and tries to warn the villagers to watch out and run away, in a somewhat lack-luster manner. Gee, I wonder why.

Oh no, the village men who beat up Shiori's mom are getting knocked around too. Say it ain't so.

When the attacks clear, men are laying splayed out among several deep trenches carved into the sand. Kagome expresses horror at the destruction as she and Shiori's mom sit sprawled to the side. Some of the villagers sit up and confirm for us that they're not dead, but one severely injured man bleeding from the head reaches out a shaking hand in supplication for someone to save him. Shiori's mom looks upon him with pity, then shoots to her feet, running to beg Taigokumaru to stop. 

He hums at her in question, and Mom reiterates that the village was at peace when his son, Tsukuyomaru, lived there, because he protected them. She says that Tsukuyomaru wished for his daughter to live in peace and for the village not to be attacked all the damn time. Shiori looks down at her mother, eyes wide, as Shiori asks Taigokumaru to consider those feelings of his son. 

Taigokumaru laughs about these feelings she references, calling them nonsense. The only feelings that make sense are Taigokumaru's, apparently. And Taigokumaru feels that Tsukuyomaru was a damn fool, even though he was his son. According to Taigokumaru, Junior hastened his own death by falling in love with a human. The implication is clear enough here that Inuyasha and Kagome look all the angrier and horrified for it in the background (respectively), but Shiori's mom is so taken aback that she's speechless for a moment. Then she has to ask just what Taigokumaru means by this. 

He reminds her that she said herself Tsukuyomaru wanted her village protected, and adds that Junior threatened to abdicate his position as protector of the barrier inherited through his father, even leave his own bat clan, if this request of his couldn't be managed. Taigokumaru calls this a degeneration of his youkai heart to the level of a human woman's. That's rich coming from a guy whose ideology seems to be 99% shared with the human alt-right. 

Mom looks close to tears down below while Taigokumaru starts to make the connection between Tsukuyomaru standing up for his human lover and their baby, and his death. Before he can get it out, though, an infuriated Inuyasha interrupts to spit a trailing accusation that Taigokumaru can't POSSIBLY mean what he's building up to - that he couldn't have POSSIBLY done something to his son. Taigokumaru takes this in stride, giggling again to confirm that he did indeed.

Took a while for him to spit it out, huh? 

Mom faints, and Kagome and Miroku kneel on either side of her, the former calling out to her in worry, the latter encouraging her to hang in there. Inuyasha calls Taigokumaru a bastard that he'll never forgive, and vows to tear that piece of shit apart. Taigokumaru chuckles and tells Inuyasha he can TRY, but reminds Inuyasha that Shiori can't adjust the size of the barrier. He warns Inuyasha that if by some miracle he manages to cut through the barrier, Shiori will die too. Inuyasha appears to balk at this, snarling, but hesitating to charge like he would normally have done. 

Meanwhile...

Taigokumaru may as well have poured pig's blood all over our girl here.

She's gonna go ape-shit.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? The only real complaint I had was how drawn out the revelation that Taigokumaru murdered his son was. I don't know if there was anyone who didn't see it coming, especially when Shiori made it a point to wonder why her father died before. All the stretching of that scene did was fill a couple of pages, and I get the feeling that RT wasn't quite sure how to take up that space otherwise. It would have been more classically dramatic otherwise, but as it stands, it seems more intentionally delayed.

Otherwise, I'm really rather impressed with the way this chapter, and Inuyasha, set up Shiori's outcome as her choice. In particular, Inuyasha is careful to put the ball in Shiori's court, gently but firmly. He has a lot more patience with her than he does with some other younger characters he's dealt with before, which in itself says a lot. Part of that is undoubtedly because she's a girl, but the other part is that he seems to realize he's in a unique position to sort of mentor her in this situation, since he grew up much like she did. Feeling torn between two sides of a conflict that resent you for existing in that position canNOT be easy, but Inuyasha doesn't sugarcoat it for her; he outwardly tells her that returning to the village probably won't be pleasant for her. 

And yet, even as he's pointing out how awful both the Hyakki Bats AND the human villagers are outwardly being, he reframes this issue as a CHOICE for Shiori. Up until this point, Shiori has only known herself in the context of how others view her, and how others can use her. The humans in the village eagerly give her away to her grandfather, who makes her sit and project a barrier all day. But no one ever told her she had the power to choose what SHE wanted to do and where she wanted to go. Being encouraged to take control of what she wants and have some agency in her life, even with someone else's helping hand, is confusing to her at first... but it's POWERFUL. 

It also returns some depth and nuance to Inuyasha's character that we haven't gotten the opportunity to see in a while. Inuyasha is actually extremely kind and empathetic, and he's perfectly willing to help others even if he sometimes complains about it. His real complaint seems to not be HELPING so much as SAVING - this chapter has shown that he doesn't just want to rescue helpless victims, but ASSIST others in asserting themselves, showing them how to carve out that place for themselves like he had to do. 

Inuyasha's got some wisdom deep down in there. REAL deep.

Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 274 Attack from the Darkness!

What else is new? Attacks from the darkness seem to be quite the regular occurrence these days, so I'm not exactly surprised. I WAS rather excited to see that we're so very close to the end of this tournament, though! Five chapters to go, including this one, so there is a light at the end of the tunnel for the victim of these nighttime punches! Just a little further, and then we get to take a nice, relaxing vacation. To Egypt. 

There isn't much that Slifer could have done before disappearing back into the ether anyway, so it really cost Yami nothing but a Monster Reborn card. Which can stay gone forever for all I care. 

Yami, and what remains of Yuugi's disappearing face, stare speechlessly at other!Marik. While they're having a quiet moment, other!Marik reiterates how Ra is returning to his graveyard on this turn, as it turns to a cloud of digital smoke and crams itself back in his Duel Disk. However, other!Marik asserts that once he plays the spell card in his hand, Yami's life is over. Very unnatural compared to the metaphorical social way in which his life would end when his peers learned an embarrassing secret about him, under normal circumstances. 

Yami glares and other!Marik sneers, both at 700 points, and their situation quite unsustainable. Something's gotta give soon, for sure. And down at the blimp, it looks like a catalyst is on its way. Rishid huffs it down the stairs and onto the island, groaning a little with the effort. 

Yeeeeaaaah, I'm not sure you want to know what he's been up to while you've been conked. I've seen the whole thing and I wish I didn't know.

Back on top of the tower, we get nice neat labels of which monsters are out there and what their stats are. Yami acknowledges that other!Marik's battle phase is finished, but he's nervous because the guy said he would beat Yami this turn. He wonders if other!Marik has one more trick up his sleeve. Indeed, other!Marik apologizes mockingly, and declares his turn isn't over yet. Somehow, Yami is in disbelief, despite the ample warning other!Marik's constantly running mouth gave him. 

Other!Marik repeats that he has a spell card, "Surprise Attack from the Darkness"! I can guess why the first word on that card was left off the title, at least. Still, Yami gapes in disbelief, because the card essentially says other!Marik gets a second battle phase, and therefore a second attack. Other!Marik makes sure to declare this fact as well, high on his wave of luck, if not actual drugs. Jonouchi shakes his fist over his head at other!Marik, complaining that it's not FAIR he gets another battle phase, and betting that the card isn't tournament legal. As if Kaiba's been doing fuck-all to enforce rules during this tournament thus far. In fact, Kaiba continues to quietly glare at the platform, wondering if other!Marik is going to special summon Ra all over again. Not a care in the world as to whether there's a rule prohibiting the use of this card, as expected. 

And he's rewarded for his predictability by other!Marik immediately confirming his suspicions; he is ABSOLUTELY summoning Ra again, slapping it back on his Duel Disk. Yami watches his emergence again, knowing what's coming all too well. Ra pops back into existence in his big shining ball form, other!Marik saying through a huge threatening grin that it hasn't taken a battle form yet. He asks rhetorically what shall be the form of Yami's death, then seems to make a conclusive decision and starts chanting his ancient summoning words. The ball starts to unfold like a Transformer, and Yami notes with clenched teeth that other!Marik's body is dissipating again - he identifies Ra's second form, with which other!Marik will fuse for that one-turn-kill move. Other!Marik chuckles darkly while he disappears, arms crossed over his chest. 

Again, a single eye is left of him on the platform at one measly life point, while Ra roars at Yami. Yuugi optimistically declares to Yami that this is their chance, and Yami actually agrees that it's now or never. 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, here you go again. Shocker. 

Not that my lack of enthusiasm matters; he has enough for probably 100 of me. Other!Marik laughs it up while Yami confirms that indeed, monster and player have become one in the same, which means that this is the one moment when other!Marik and Ra can be defeated simultaneously. Other!Marik ecstatically explains that he'll have 6899 attack points when he sacrifices the other monsters to give Ra more power, and thus more than enough to overcome Obelisk and take it and Yami out in one shot. But when he warns Yami to brace himself, Yami grins and says they'll see. This takes other!Marik aback, so Yami takes advantage of other!Marik's rare stunned speechlessness, and says he was waiting for the moment his evil heart took the form of a beast. 

To elaborate, Yami throws out his arm to reveal his face down card, Soul Taker. This just confuses other!Marik, who wonders about Yami sacrificing one of HIS monsters. Yami says that magical effects only work for one turn against gods, and that's when it occurs to other!Marik (with a quite a bit of uneasiness) that Yami may be trying to sacrifice him along with Ra. My question is what that sacrifice is FOR, of course, and I'm sure looking forward to finding out!

Ra is surrounded by the sacrificial whirlwind, as tradition dictates, and other!Marik holds up his arm across his eye like he's caught in a real dust storm. Down below, Kaiba is thinking it's utter INSANITY to sacrifice Ra, but Ishizu understands, considering other!Marik has one life point left, it means the original recipe Marik won't have to die. She's in some serious awe at the execution of this method. Other!Marik's eye is wide inside the whirlwind, and he yells on the way into a vortex above him and Ra.

Jonouchi shouts that Ra is falling into the sky as Honda wonders if Yami got the bastard. But Jonouchi seems pretty convinced that this sacrifice is one way to defeat a god, and congratulates Yami. Too Early. Now I KNOW this isn't going to work. Yami and Yuugi are definitely less sure themselves, staring up into the sky where the sacrifice is STILL in progress, the former sweating. A pinpoint of crackling light sends tendrils of lighting out of the void Ra disappeared inside a moment before, and Yami's eyes widen in response.

SON OF A - - 

It's like when you keep mentioning to a guest who has overstayed their welcome that it's getting REALLY late, and they just. Won't. LEAVE.

Yami observes with no small amount of frustration that Ra has escaped the void, with all the onlookers gaping or grinding their teeth. Except for Kaiba. He just looks mildly perturbed. Other!Marik laughs maniacally, as if he could laugh any other way, asking if Yami really thought a sacrifice effect would work against a god. You know, for a minute there... yeah. Yeah we did. Other!Marik yells that Yami is a fool and that Soul Taker could never have affected him.

He refocuses on his previous intent to sacrifice all his other monsters to give Ra 6899 attack points. Jonouchi worries that this is a LOT of attack points, more than Obelisk, and frets about what happens if that hits Yami, sweating bullets in the process. Meanwhile, other!Marik returns to sneering at Yami's attempt to sacrifice him, telling him to prepare himself for the knife. 

But Yami is smiling, scoffing smugly, even. Other!Marik maintains his grin as he asks what Yami finds so funny, but when Yami retorts with a question of who said he was trying to sacrifice Ra, other!Marik's eyes bulge in alarm. As do mine, because what in the HELL was that whirlwind/void trying an failing to swallow up Ra if it WASN'T targeted at Ra??? What caused that if not Soul Taker? Did the platform just decide to randomly perform a tense but meaningless light show?????

No time for sorely-needed explanations - Yami tells other!Marik to look at his monsters. 

... I really never thought I would EVER be in agreement with other!Marik, but... 

Well, here we are. 

Yami explains, his self-satisfaction practically oozing out of the screen at me, that the God-Slime is nothing more than Revival Jam and Metal Reflect Slime fused together. With the one card, Yami gets to have both of those creatures at once. They make a weird slurping sound as they pull apart from one another. It's kinda gross.

But you know what ISN'T gross? Quite the opposite? Yami tells other!Marik that it wasn't his Soul Taker that caused Ra to disappear into the void, but the visual effect from his own Surprise Attack from the Darkness card! What a relief! Saves me at least two paragraphs worth of rant at the end of this post! THANK YOU YAMI! 

Other!Marik demands to know what Yami expects to accomplish by sacrificing RJ and MRS, and Yami answers that it's to activate Obelisk's greatest ability. 

There has to be a classic murder-grin attached to that last panel! You can't convince me he's not wearing that murder grin! Just pan down!!

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? Did... did KT just make an inside joke in the climax of the Battle City arc? It certainly seems like it. I don't know what else to make of the fact that he has a history of misdirecting audiences in ways that look flashy but generally have no good explanation behind them, and then specifically making a point to give THIS chapter's misdirect a rather silly sort of explanation. Especially since weird animation of Ra going into a void and then bursting back out of it doesn't really make a ton of sense in the context of when Surprise Attack from the Darkness was played and what it's supposed to DO. It seemed like a very pointed statement; that KT is aware he has had a problem in the past of misdirection through nonsensical visual means, and he's kind of drawing attention to it now in a "hey, remember this?" kind of way. I'm probably reading way too much into it, though, because this meme pretty much sums up me trying to explain this to my husband earlier:

Whether this was intentional or not is entirely beside the point anyway, because it is HILARIOUS either way. The explanation is tacked onto there like it was an afterthought to Yami, and it doesn't come CLOSE to satisfying additional questions about why it more closely followed Yami's counter-play than other!Marik's card, OR why it resembles a sacrifice animation so much. This no-effort explanation is only marginally better than no explanation whatsoever, but it is BETTER, technically. So I'll take it. 

All of this kind of overshadowed Rishid's impending return, but I AM very interested to see how his presence will affect the match. We know that his unconsciousness brought OUT other!Marik, will the regular Marik come back by default when Rishid is within good-influence distance? Or does other!Marik have too tight of a grip on their body at this point. And does Rishid's weak condition factor into this equation at all? I'm really fascinated to find out.