Kaiba becomes somewhat upset, demanding to know how Yuugi's image can possibly be on a so-called "ancient" Egyptian artefact. Isis admits she doesn't know anyone named Yuugi, but HAS always thought that the engraving of the pharaoh on the tablet had almost appeared to be alive throughout the years. She drones about how her home country was a glorious kingdom that lasted through more than three thousand years, and how the pharaoh depicted on the tablet in front of them is from the 18th Dynasty. Kaiba's shock appears to extend to the description of what he sees as Yuugi as a pharaoh, and Isis confirms this tablet is supposed to depict a pharaoh.
She explains that the name of this pharaoh was originally carved into an ellipse on the tablet, but the picture of the ellipse looks like that name has been chipped out of there. Isis says that someone carved it out, in addition to everywhere else in the tomb where the name was recorded. This has resulted in this pharaoh having been erased from Egyptian history, something that has ACTUALLY happened to real historical figures in Egypt. Isis stares intently at this particular anonymous king from three-thousand years ago as Kaiba's expression turns angry.
He refuses to acknowledge that the person on the tablet is a pharaoh, insisting that it's Yuugi, and that Isis's talk is all foolishness. Yeah, sure, challenge the expert on her area of expertise, and call HER the foolish one. So rational. He asks Isis how Yuugi could possibly be a pharaoh from three-thousand years past, despite the fact that she STILL doesn't know who the hell Yuugi is, and rants about how she can't prove the tablet is three-thousand years old because the DNA from the people who supposedly carved it would be long gone by now and she can't use carbon dating on the rocks.
Isis, please smack the shit out of this stupid-ass mansplainer for me, won't you? I would do it myself, but you know, I'm three-dimensional and everything.
She does me one better, calmly telling Kaiba that there's really no need for him to be so emotional over this, especially since he hasn't even calmed down and looked closely enough to realize that this tablet ALSO concerns him personally yet. Maintaining professionalism AND shutting down a hysterical Kaiba. She could call HERSELF a queen and I'd totally see it. Anyway, while she stands in quiet dignity, Kaiba peers at the tablet again and puts back on his shock, because no one told him that EMOTIONAL rollercoasters are the kinds that aren't fun.
He's taken more notice of the priest in the mural, and Isis begins to explain that that young man facing the pharaoh looks an awful lot like Kaiba before he shouts at her to shut up.
But as we all know well enough, Kaiba has no sense of proportional response, and declares that Duel Monsters existing three-thousand years before is just ridiculous. Isis fires back at him that the Tarot was created by someone who based the deck off Egyptian hieroglyphs, which would be a perfectly valid point about a little thing called "inspiration" existing, except she goes on to imply that it, and Pegasus's creation of Duel Monsters, was fate. For some reason, Kaiba doesn't object to the obvious leap in terminology and logic here and just thinks Pegasus's name as though it has him actually considering Isis's talk on fate. Make up your mind, Kaiba. Do you believe her or not? Stop waffling.
After a moment of gazing at the images of both Yuugi and Kaiba on the stone, Isis suggests that fate is also what led the young priest and pharaoh all the way into the present. Kaiba turns his back on her to leave, stating that the Minister of Egyptian Archaeology is wasting both their time on talking about fantasies and magic. Kaiba states he's a very busy man and could be using this time to work on his holograms. Isis says that she understands only to have Kaiba rudely snap at her to make her point. Isis complies, asking if he knew that Pegasus left behind a legendary Duel Monsters card.
NOW it seems believable that Kaiba whirls around, disbelief on his face as he repeats the phrase in his head, probably because he's astounded he didn't inherit it when Pegasus bit the big one. Isis points up at the tablet again, telling Kaiba to look, and Kaiba gapes at where she's indicating.
Isis explains that Pegasus created three cards based off the god carvings on this very tablet, and Kaiba looks at her with an almost wary awe, like he knows he's going to be freaking out again REAL soon. She continues with the names of the three gods depicted; Obelisk, Osiris and Ra, and this time with FEELING! Isis goes into philosophy mode when telling Kaiba all about how each one represents a different duality of the universe, such as Obelisk's light and dark, Osiris's good and evil, and Ra's sky and earth. I can sense that an affinity will be shared with each unique wielder of each card already.
Describing the hypothetical owner of all three of them as unbeatable, a defeater of all duelists, and earner of the title of "King of Games", Isis sure knows how to get Kaiba's attention. He's looking pretty hungry right now, and I don't think it's for a meal. Kaiba asks her who has the cards now, and Isis doesn't appear to answer. Instead she talks about PREVENTING someone from owning all three at once by borrowing Kaiba's power. He's shocked by this, as per usual, as Isis explains that Pegasus considered the god cards his biggest mistake because their owner wields the immense power of a god. Kaiba repeats this phrase in his head, and it's awfully surprising that there's no boner sound effect accompanying it.
Isis just drones on about the cards' owner being able to cause much good or evil, the latter kind of heart being able to take away lives, and the cards themselves becoming the ultimate weapon. Meanwhile, Kaiba is silently interpreting the droning to mean that these god cards can possibly do direct damage to an opponent, as the LEGENDS say.
Oh yeah, I forgot this card game is basically a religion instead of an invention, the rules of which are the whims of some corporate douchebags looking to sell a card for a shit ton of money. Unless, of course, the legend Kaiba is referring to was the rumor started by Pegasus that some cool cards would be coming out that new rules said would be able to attack player points directly and they never came out. I'm guessing it's the former explanation, though.
Isis exposits that Pegasus entrusted the cards to the Ministry of Egyptian Archaeology, and they put them separately in three different places throughout the Valley of the Kings, presumably because they thought the white idiot who presented them with trading cards to protect was a bit touched in the head and decided it would be kind to humor him. How nice. Isis tells Kaiba someone stole the cards from where they were put, which Kaiba is strangely quiet about, though there IS another exclamation point above his head. He's not even screaming anymore when he presumes out loud that even Pegasus was afraid of their power, so it stands to reason that not many people should know of their existence. Except those who listen to LEGENDS, apparently. He asks who stole the cards.
When Isis says that ghouls stole the cards, Kaiba's face goes right back into horror-mode, even as Isis says he should know about them. Kaiba immediately launches into a description of said "ghouls", an organization with members all over the world dedicated to stealing Duel Monsters cards.
Kaiba has even heard that they counterfeit cards to sell for money too! The scandal! The nerve! He muses on how these card thieves are like the real-life version of the Muslim folkloric creatures they've named themselves after, who were said to feast of dead flesh and rob graves. Okay, first, the stealing and robbing are the only thing that those two types of ghouls really have in common here. Second, how the fuck does Kaiba know ANYTHING about Muslim folklore?
He decides he can't forgive them for stealing three god cards that he suddenly believes in, despite the fact that he was questioning everything ELSE Isis was saying earlier. Your are a pillar of logic, Kaiba, truly. Isis informs him that the power of the ghouls is the reason she needs his help, and he gapes back at her like he only just realized she was talking. She claims she needs to get those cards back for Pegasus's last wishes and the sovereignty of the Egyptian government. Not sure what the latter has to do with this. Is it going to be occupied if you don't get those cards back?
Isis says the Ministry of Egyptian Archaeology chose Domino City to house their exhibit because they want people to know the true origin of Duel Monsters, and believe that the tablet has the power to bring duelists together. Kaiba smirks, asking if he's correct in assuming she wants him to turn the city into a dueling stage. Before she answers, he starts contemplating aloud how it could actually lure the ghouls who would want a tournament participant's rare cards, like his Blue Eyes White Dragon.
You guys remember he has the Blue Eyes White Dragon, doncha??
Isis pulls out a card, holding it out to Kaiba as she says that all his musing is exactly why she wanted to give it to him. Yet again, he's freaking out, exclamation points on the end of his unfinished thought about what this card is.
Such a spaz, that boy!
Isis explains that only two of the three cards were stolen, and she's willing to lend him the third in order to get back the other two. While holding the card up in front of his face, Kaiba thinks something that I can't really read, then he lowers Obelisk to smirk at Isis again, asking if she trusts him. He says he might just decide not to give Obelisk or the other two cards once he's got them all. Nice of him to warn her how much of a piece of shit he is, but she takes the warning in stride, saying she trusts him with all her heart. Awwwww, sweeeeeeeet! Not sure if Kaiba deserves that, but Isis is being cute here.
Kaiba scoffs as he turns to leave again, boot-heels clacking as he strides out of the exhibit. He gets in his car again, door held for him by his own secret service servant, and as the car speeds out of there, Kaiba cackles about his new acquisition. Spaz.
Back at the hospital, Yuugi is leaning on some railing lining the roof, totally stoked he gets to leave the hospital today. He states that Jonouchi and the others had to go to school in the morning, but they'll come back to play with him in the afternoon. A nearby nurse whispers to another about how that weird kid has been talking to himself for quite some time as they gather the washing from the lines on the roof. Yuugi don't give a shit, because Yami IS actually hanging out with him there as they stare at the horizon.
After a moment of quiet contemplation of the skyline, Yami tells Yuugi he has to thank him. Yuugi is confused by this, so Yami explains that Yuugi had put his life in danger trying to put the puzzle back together in the fire. Speechless for a moment, Yuugi tells Yami that the one who actually saved them was Jonouchi, in dragging their sorry asses out of there. Yami says that's right and they have some really good friends, which Yuugi agrees with, but with a somber expression. He asks for Yami's attention, Yami granting it with a mystified look, and tells him that asshole!Bakura said the one who solves the Millennium Puzzle has a responsibility to awaken the pharaoh's memories. With some hesitation, he asks Yami if he is indeed a pharaoh.
Yami stays silent as Yuugi looks to him for an answer, but all Yami can tell him is that he doesn't know who he is or where he came from. Yuugi is shocked by this, while Yami says all he really knows is that he exists because Yuugi put the puzzle together, and that in the Valley of the Kings is a tablet that supposedly holds some information. He doesn't get to finish before Yuugi starts throwing a fit, shouting that they should just stop talking about it. Jeez, what is with all these characters and their tantrums today? Yuugi swings around, forcing a jovial tone as he shouts that they should get out of that hospital and go play with Jonouchi and the others.
Yuugi is stopped dead by Yami continuing patiently, saying that he wants to stay with Yuugi forever, even if that means never recovering his memories at all.
After a beat, Yami draws Yuugi's attention to their friends running into hospital below, and Yuugi immediately dries his tears, excited that they showed up early. They call Yuugi's name, and he beams at them.
Diabetes I tell you!
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? The end definitely resolves the only problem I had with Anzu's revelations at the beginning of the last chapter. Now I know Yuugi is having the same painful realizations around the vague issue of Yami's inevitable departure, and that he's even MORE torn up over it than Anzu is, which is understandable. His way of testing the waters of the subject and then immediately trying to back out of the conversation was typically childish too, and justified in that I can't be sure I wouldn't be doing the same thing. It's a delicate subject, and Yuugi didn't like the way Yami's answer sounded like it might indicate finding Yami's lost identity might mean their separation.
And it seems like Yami might not like the thought of that outcome either, given how he indicated he would forego finding that identity if it meant he would get to stay with Yuugi forever. While this is kind of adorable on its surface, it indicates a couple of more obscure issues. One is that Yami is actually quite scared of figuring out who he is, presumably because he's afraid Pagasus was correct and he's an "evil" in the puzzle. Recovering his memories means risking finding out some rather... unsavory information as well. Another is that he's grown comfortable being here, attached to Yuugi and the life he has with him, and selfishly wants to cling to that. He also risks learning that he has a responsibility to return to his old identity and won't be able to reconcile it with the new one he's now built. We'll have to see if that's an issue.
As for the beginning of the chapter... You know, people often joke about how a damn card game would be so important to the world in this series, and I DON'T think it's such a difficult element for me to swallow in the story. There's plenty of things in our universe that are massively important and I will never, for the life of me, understand why. I mean, football/soccer is a big enough thing that the players can get away with MURDER a lot of the time, and that is also just a game, so it's not such a stretch for me to believe that Duel Monsters might rise to a level of fanatic following that fans of, say, the World Cup has amassed over the decades. I could TOTALLY see Pegasus or Kaiba as a sort of Sepp Blatter of Duel Monsters.
That being said,
Speaking of religions, how DOES Kaiba know anything about Islam? I thought he was all about technology and the future, so what's he doing carrying around random mythology in his head? He just knows whatever the plot NEEDS him to know, doesn't he? Just like how he reacts and believes however the plot needs him to. Just slap him with the expressions and dialogue no one ELSE wants and watch him go!
*Note on the strike-throughs: Read below for further discussion on this topic, where Kailyn Mei elaborates on why card counterfeiters and underhanded dealings in the trading card and gaming world isn't as unbelievable as I thought.
