Yu-Gi-Oh Manga: 341 The Master of Servants

This is an... awkward chapter title. The existence of servants kind of implies a master, but the way this is worded without any kind of article suggests that the master is for ALL servants, not specific ones. I don't like the concept of servants and masters in even the kindest of interpretations, but there's something even MORE sinister about the sound of this phrase. Should we imagine that servants as a whole have some OVERLORD master that can command them all? Is this some kind of essentialist rhetoric that speaks of naturally servile entities that are beholden to the commands and whims of a natural master? 

Or was this just a really unfortunate translation compromise? Only one way to find out I guess.

Well the duel isn't over yet. Maybe we should be a little patient, hm Yuugi?

After both big bad monsters dissipate into tendrils of smoke, Atem scoffs, thinking that his partner has grown quite a bit. Jonouchi admits on the sidelines that he'd thought Atem (the OTHER Yuugi as he says) would dominate this duel, but neither player is giving an inch in this one. Honda agrees, adding that all they can do is watch, not that someone suggested they interfere with the match in the first place. Anzu thinks about how Yuugi's gotten stronger and stronger, and wonders how Atem feels watching him - happy? Sad? A little hungry? She's certain that Atem is happy as "the OTHER Yuugi", but as Atem, maybe he's a little sad. A very intriguing line of thought, to be sure.

Yuugi notes the face down card as he declares the start of his own turn, marveling at the fact that they were together in the same body for so long, and now they're facing each other in a duel. He urges himself to think about what he would do if he were Atem, closing his eyes in concentration on how he would think and fight. The first thought in his mind is that if he were Atem, he'd be scared to lose and be separated from his friends, and it would be too painful to go to "that other place" alone. Looking at his own deck of cards in the Duel Disk on his arm, Yuugi draws the conclusion that Atem CAN'T lose, and will have stacked his deck with the strongest cards, the god cards and his most trusted servants (read: monsters). Given Yuugi has JUST faced one of the god cards, this isn't exactly a stretch of a conclusion to draw. 

But he knows that the god cards need sacrifices, and it's risky to fill one's deck with too many low-level monsters for that purpose. So, Yuugi is thinking that Atem would only include ONE god card in his deck. Getting a bit riskier in his logic now, I like it. From there, he thinks that since Obelisk is now in the graveyard, after a short pause, Yuugi thinks he would play a CERTAIN card next. 

Now thoroughly inside his conception of Atem's strategy, Yuugi plays two face down cards, and then summons Marshmallon in defense. Excuse my flinch of horror at this smiling squishy psycho. Yuugi ends his turn here, again closing his eyes and thinking at Atem that he KNOWS all this sorrow must hurt, because he knows he's got some pretty painful feelings himself and they must be experiencing a pretty similar emotional reaction right now. And this is why...

That meek defenseless kid doesn't really exist anymore anyway. Your definitions are outdated, Atem.

Atem starts his turn with a declaration, thinking at Yuugi that he'd better be ready, because he's going to use his full power to dominate this duel, as he draws a new card. A bit late for that resolution - you've already been playing this thing for a while now, dude! Not to mention, his full power is expressed in this turn with a play of Jack's Knight in attack position and then the end of his turn. It's not BAD, per se, but I don't know if I buy it's turning the power up to 100%.

It's Yuugi's turn again, as he announces, and he summons a Lego monster in defense called Blockman, which ends his turn too. They are REALLY moving along here. Atem says it's his turn again, thinking that if Yuugi DOES win somehow (he's still in denial about Yuugi's badassery, apparently) and takes his sword, it's his wish that Yuugi stab his soul with it without mercy. Please no, Atem, PLEASE don't bring back the abuse of metaphors. I BEGGING you, dude. 

He sacrifices both his monsters.

There he is! This just wouldn't feel right without him.

Somehow, Yuugi looks shocked at DM's appearance, but while Jonouchi's posture suggests alarm, his statement proclaiming that "the other Yuugi's" partner is here suggests he was expecting DM. Atem would probably contest the claim that DM is his partner, though, because he's more in the habit of using that term for Yuugi. Regardless, Honda declares that Dark Magician is Atem's best servant, and has gotten him out of all kinds of scrapes. Jonouchi is convinced this means Atem is SERIOUS, because summoning the god before wasn't serious enough for him.

With a combative expression, Atem silently urges Yuugi to just TRY and take his sword, asserting that his grip is firm and his aim is true. Not as bad as the other metaphor, but maybe you should just lay off the damn sword imagery, Atem. He commands the Dark Magician to attack, who points his staff at Marshmallon and blasts it right apart. As it goes "splat", Atem narrates its death. 

Yuugi raises his arm against the digital smoke remains of his monster, realizing that OF COURSE Atem knew that Marshmallon could only be destroyed by magic. He's not the only one who can get into his opponent's head, lol.

Shit, DM, no need to give Yuugi the stink-eye.

Yuugi silently admits that it was comforting having DM on his side in the past, but there's no stronger opponent. Clearly, Obelisk was just chopped liver in comparison. Yuugi's not exactly stoked to have to defeat DM, but he knows he has to, otherwise this whole match is hopeless. 

Atem continues his turn, not QUITE finished yet, by placing a card face down, as one does. THEN he ends his turn. Yuugi responds with an uncertain-looking acceptance of the announcement, but he's pretty certain in his mind that he'll have to take a chance here, one that will lose him the duel if he fails. Jonouchi asks how Yuugi's going to beat the Dark Magician rhetorically, and Honda adds that this is a critical moment for Yuugi, win or lose. 

Yuugi plays a spell card from his hand, called Gold Sarcophagus of Sealing. It looks VERY SIMILAR to the box that once housed the Millennium Puzzle, and its text says that any card placed in it will be immune to magic effects and cannot be used by either player. I assume until certain conditions are met, at least. 

Atem ponders the box critically. Jonouchi wonders aloud what card Yuugi chose, while Anzu points out what I just did, that it looks just like the puzzle box, and Honda agrees. Anzu has an extended thought about the actual box that held the Millennium Puzzle, what she considers a symbol of friendship that brought Yuugi and Atem together. She seems to be picking up what Yuugi's putting down, huh?

After a panel showing the floating digital box Yuugi summoned, Yuugi declares he's going to do one more thing: he activates Bockman's special ability, called Block Release. All the Lego pieces pop apart, which appears to shock Atem a little, or at the very least gives him a gape. Yuugi explains that Blockman can break into the same number of Block Tokens as the number of turns passes since its summoning. The blocks have rearranged themselves into two smaller kinds of little Lego robots, a move that makes Grandpa Sugoroku proud because now Yuugi can sacrifice them to summon a high-level monster. 

Indeed, the smaller Block Tokens are already surrounded by those familiar sacrificial whirlwinds, and Yuugi is sure he'll defeat the Dark Magician with their replacing monster. He announces it's on its way.

That dragon is the bomb. Don't give me that look.

Atem looks pretty nervous about Gandora, sweatdropping about it and everything. Yuugi shouts that Gandora's special power is to destroy all the monsters out and about, no matter their level of strength. Acknowledging that Yuugi has a chance at winning if he can destroy the Dark Magician, Jonouchi leans forward, gaping at the scene in similar fashion to Honda next to him. 

Yuugi calls for Gandora to do its thing.

Damn your impossible poker face, Atem.

Atem reveals a trap card he'd laid - classic ol' Mirror Force. Wide-eyed and lock-jawed, Yuugi seems to realize he's in it deep. Atem narrates the transparent bubble that appears around Dark Magician as a holy barrier that reflects the Giga Rays, which bounce off DM at close arcs, slamming right into Gandora instead. As a somewhat douchy flex, Atem declares that Gandora has killed itself.

Gandora explodes and yet again Yuugi doubles over behind his arm in the waves of virtual fallout, groaning. When he looks up, one eye still screwed shut, he's got just 1000 points left. Jonouchi panics about how bad it is that Yuugi doesn't have any monsters left, and either he or Honda makes the observation that if the Dark Magician hits Yuugi, he'll lose. While the smoke is still clearing, we get a view of Atem. 

That's an... expression.

So, what did I think of this chapter overall? This one is actually pretty straightforward, so there's not a LOT for me to say. I thinkYuugi's statement that he has to defeat the "him" that Atem has in his head is a particularly sharp point. As we discussed in the comments of the last chapter's review, it's clear Atem's construction of Yuugi in his mind is still pretty weak and defenseless, not to mention relatively incapable of fighting for himself or his friends. This is something Atem can be kind of forgiven for; to some extent, we've all got to build SOMEWHAT inaccurate ideas of the people in our lives, because there's no getting into their head to see what they're REALLY like. The problem here is that Atem's image of Yuugi in some ways casts him as a fragile extension of himself that requires protection constantly in order maintain it, simultaneously giving him anxiety over both what happens if Yuugi is left without his aid and is hurt, AND if Yuugi doesn't actually need him anymore and can function just fine as an autonomous person. These are both fears of Atem's ego, and split as that ego is between Yami the other Yuugi and dispenser of justice through games and Atem the pharaoh embodiment of the gods and light in his own time, only one of these definitions of himself is rooted in the conception of Yuugi and company as fragile. Defeat that conception, defeat the "other Yuugi" Yami concept as well, leaving just Atem without any excuse to avoid stepping into that great unknown that we all must one day.

I WOULD be more nervous about all of Yuugi's attempts to gain the upper hand in the duel here failing miserably if that mystery card in the box wasn't still hanging out. Also, the fact that KT has laid out a string of failures before the ultimate success in duels before. The try-fail cycle is a very effective way of raising the tension in a match as well as making the audience more sympathetic toward the protagonist, so that the win in the end feels more "earned". I love me a good try-fail cycle (one of the more prominent reasons why Jonouchi is my favorite character), but sometimes it is just a TAD obvious after more than 300 chapters of its employ. 

Still having a blast, though, I can't deny that!