This week were were treated to what I thought was a fantastic episode. I was enjoying it so much, I was bummed out when it ended. Honestly, Spectre VS Lightning has to be my favourite match-up to date, simply because Spectre is so good at playing mind-games. As soon as he flipped the switch for his crazy persona, I excitedly thought to myself, “AHAHA HERE HE COMESSSS!”.
Without a doubt, the main reason why I was so excited about watching these two face off against each other was because they are both extremely adept at playing the mind games. Lightning decided to target Spectre first, since he is deemed as the “weakest” link of the team. But boy, while Lightning analyzed his deck, he certainly didn’t do himself any favours by neglecting to study Spectre’s character. While he may not be as manipulative as Lightning, he knows damn well how to get under one’s skin, and exploit their insecurities. He did just that by revealing Lightning possesses a secret about himself he hasn’t told anyone about. While Lightning tries to keep his composure, you can see his discomfort and irritation of Spectre’s probing, especially when he so eloquently says he has an affinity with Lightning, because among one of the many things he dislikes, is being told he is similar to someone he perceives as an inferior being. And he was certainly provoked even further when Spectre managed to rob him of his Judgment Arrows, so he could use it against him.
Another important point Spectre brought up that will certainly come back to haunt Lightning was the subject how with free-will, the Ignis are bound to experience their own strife among themselves. If that isn’t foreshadowing to what has been increasingly looking to become of Bohman and Lightning in the future, I don’t know what is.
Needless to say, given Spectre is Lightning’s first target, it’s seem clear regardless of how good of a fight he puts up, it looks like he is set to fall here, after-all, they can’t have Lightning fall just yet! But this also makes me concerned about who and how many will fall before Bohman is all set, so Lightning can officially launch his grand scheme. Spectre, I can understand why he’s the sacrificial lamb in this, but aside from Yuusaku, what about the remaining four? If I had to guess, Windy might go out of his way and pick a fight with Revolver first, since he wants to get revenge on him the most, but both Aoi and Takeru are both perceived as the next weakest link (my guess Aoi, unless Windy fears Aqua’s power so much, he’d rather avoid her). It would be interesting though if Ryoken and Spectre ends up being the only two to be picked off, especially since they are the Hanoi Knights, who Lightning pointed out, were the ones who instigated the war against Humanity in the first place.
Aside from the solemn tone behind the Mind Games, before the storm rolled in, they gave us a lot of reasons to laugh within the first half of the episode. In fact, it felt like the writer decided to make the most out of the classic villain mistakes and fears, while staying true to the Ignis/A.I.’s lack of comprehension of how the power of “bonds” actually work. What’s also funny about it, was how despite Lightning’s idea to separate them so he and Windy can pick them off by one by, just moments earlier, Yuusaku’s team had already planned to spread out in attempt to find him. Obviously the ideas wasn’t necessarily to fight him once they pinned down his location, but the risk of doing so are more or less the same.
And to make this scene an even bigger joke (in both a good and bad way) was when Lightning actually agreed to Windy’s idea of making them watch their friends fall, even if it means revealing their plan. Lightning has always been meticulously calculated with his plans, so it kind of felt out of character, but if he feels he can gain a lot from it, it is certainly something he would have done on his own anyways.
Finally, saving the best for last, my favourite scene of the entire episode was when the tense music faded out and Ai turned to Yuusaku like, “Did you just call me a part of yourself?” and was immediately shot down with “I did not.” and the music resumed, I can’t tell you how hard I laughed when that happened. I thought it was absolutely hysterical. Classic Ai and his comedic timing. Really, I have to hand it to the writer, the humour was on point today.
Looking forward to next week, but I’m going to be sad if Spectre does get defeated here because he even though he’s crazy, he is such an interesting character to watch when he duels!
Damn. I gotta say I actually love Specter in this episode. He is so cool, able to make Lightning losing his composure like that! Some people said that it was cowardly of Spectre whose tactics involves stealing opponent’s cards, but I think differently, especially in this episode. I think it’s a clever move. So Lightning’s arrogance came from a complex. What kind of complex that Lightning has, I wonder…
Playmaker and the others indeed decided to split up, but don’t forget the difference is Lightning and Windy have set up a barrier to prevent them from leaving the place. Meaning, if Playmaker’s team split up like they originally planned without the enemies’ interference, they would be able to help each other in need. But with this barrier, coming to help each other won’t be possible unless they break the barrier somehow.
For the next Duel after this one…I know that Bohman is still busy, but it’s possible that he has finished whatever he was doing and then join the fight. If he is, I’m guessing he’ll go after Blue Maiden first to avenge Haru. And seeing Soulburner at an airport makes me think: Airport = Wind. It would be interesting to watch Windy against Soulburner and Flame. But yeah, as you said, Windy will also try to get his revenge, so Revolver should be his main target.
From what I understand, looks like Specter just can’t think of the Ignis the way he used to like Revolver and other Hanoi Knights does. He was quite contradicting himself though. He blamed Lightning for Earth’s demise and it was clear he was upset by it, but as Lightning said, Spectre who is a Hanoi Knight himself should know that Hanoi won’t stop hunting down Ignis even if Lightning remains quiet in Cyberse World. And I have no doubt that despite the newfound sentiment Spectre has for his own Ignis, Revolver is still number one for him and he will destroy all Ignis including Earth either way since Revolver wishes for it.
I can’t recall any other Yugioh series that made me laugh as much as Ai does….
Yeah, the episode was interesting today. We now know Lightning has a vulnerable side to his character. I wonder what causes him to be so arrogant. My theory is that maybe he’s jealous and fearful of Ai’s instinct. Ai may not be the most intelligent, but he is the wisest Ignis and wisdom can be just as important as intelligence. I feel like Ai should become the new leader of the Ignis after Lightning is taken down. But who knows until next week. Lightning’s definitely gonna lose it next week if Spectre continues to try to pry out his vulnerabilities. I know Lightning didn’t evilly laugh the last time, but I think this time it’s gonna come out if he wins the duel.
Yeah, the humor was on point today like you said. I couldn’t believe Windy was being sadistic just to get Frog and Pigeon to film the duel. I was like,
Yeah, that wasn’t necessary”. They were planning to do that from the start. I couldn’t believe it when Frog and Pigeon meet the Ignis for the first time and are basically blackmailed to serve Lightning. Windy looks creepier and more intimidating with the eyepatch and the torn cape. Of course, his evil laughs send shivers down my spine.
Spectre is still as sadistic and manipulative as ever, but shows more concern for his teammates including the Ignis holder trio. That Sunvine Thrasher brings back bad memories when he stole Trickstar Holly Angel and Trickstar Crimson Heart from Blue Angel during their duel as well as one of Playmaker’s Link monsters. The red eyes of the controlled monster still creep me out to this day. I don’t know about you, but I still don’t trust Spectre at the very least, not after what happened to Blue Angel. Plus he had really sadistic looks on his face that made cringe at the sight. He did say he wants the Judgement Arrows card for himself. Although I do admit it was a good idea to get rid of the Judgement Arrows to destroy the Extra Link. Plus there’s an attack boost that comes with it.
Yeah, I was surprised that Lightning didn’t understand bonds that well and that keeping people separated will keep them from using that power. I thought, “Lightning, you may be the smartest Ignis, but you are definitely dimwitted in how you think humans’ minds work”. Bonds aren’t shown through physical distance. No matter how far away you might be from the person, what matters is how well you’re mentally in sync with each other, or how often you may think of or be concerned for each other. There are also different types of bonds. Friendship bonds, love bonds, sibling bonds, etc.
I do like that Spectre is gaining a humane side after what we have seen from his previous duels where he was cruel, ruthless, and toyed with his opponents. Perhaps, losing Earth is making him slowly change since they were a part of each other (also, loved that scene with Ai and Yusaku).
If I had to rank the duelists by their play styles, Spectre would easily come out on top for me. I always enjoyed his duels.
Also, Spectre pointed out that Lightning has a weakness, and my mind instantly thought of human emotions. Lightning always mocks bonds and human weakness, but I think he’s jealous of those human aspects. It also deepens my theory that human emotions are definitely going to be the cause of Lightning’s downfall.
Yup that’s the first thing that came to my mind too. Not to mention, that’s also why he created Bohman, because unlike him, Bohman (and even Haru) are capable of experiencing emotions. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Lightning will set Bohman off just by making an offhand comment about Haru.
Other than human emotions, maybe Lightning is actually also jealous and envious of human bonds? Maybe that’s part of a reason he keeps Jin around instead of eliminating him like Windy did to his partner. He made Playmaker and Ai as models for Bohman because he also secretly wishes to understand the relationships between the Ignis and their partners.
Oooh that’s a good point too. I can definitely see him being jealous of that.
Hahaha, Specter’s strategy of circumventing Lightning’s turn 1 (trash) Extra Link (which should’ve been impossible under usual circumstances) was to use Judgment Arrows for himself. Great to see them reaffirm that detail of Specter feeling something within him was gone after Earth’s demise. And who can’t adore those crazy faces he made when the duel commenced? Plus it’s exciting to see Sunavalons back in action again, as opposed to the bland-looking Armatos Legios.
Still a shame that Specter’s defeat is all but certain according to next episode’s preview, can’t have the primary antagonist lose SO easily.