I must say, although I am salty about how Lightning ended things on his terms, from the story’s standpoint: I am also glad that they did that. Lightning has been an incredibly evil antagonist, and what better way for him to fall than to take out the hero with him, while cheating in order to secure his survival.
And boy, just when we thought Lightning was already evil enough as he was, he proves us on multiple fronts a whole new level of cruelty. We learned of how Lightning deliberately tormented Jin, and how he was entertained by torturing him. He would crush the boy’s spirit by teasing him with illusions of hopes of being saved, only to rip it away and terrorize him. It’s no wonder Jin locked himself away in his room all this time, he had been traumatized and abused over and over and over again by a monster! And the worst part about this? Nobody went in to save him during that time. It’s beyond me how Dr. Kogami and the other researchers didn’t intervene during that period! Goes to show they didn’t give a shit about the children’s psychological health!
He also revealed that he was the true culprit behind Dr. Kogami’s coma, and he was mislead into thinking it was SOL Technology responsible for the attack. He did it to stop him short of discovering he was the Ignis who would lead the downfall of both the Ignis and Humanity.
Oh and as if holding Jin’s hostage wasn’t enough, he also held Spectre’s data hostage as well!
This naturally was a bitter pile to swallow for the Ryoken and the Hanoi Knights, as their revenge has been misdirected the entire time. Nevertheless, despite their mistakes, Ryoken was given the chance to continue making better choices. Lightning was goading him into sacrificing Jin to take him out, but Yuusaku stepped in to make sure Ryoken didn’t fall for it, reminding him that he has changed and not to fall back into his old ways.
Ryoken should and would have won the duel had Jin not been taken in hostage, or Bohman had acted sooner before he could end his turn. It was terribly sad to see him lose to Lighting in such fashion, especially when Lightning was able to slither out alive thanks to converting pieces of Jin’s spare data into a single life-point to secure his survival and victory.
But we were able to get an incredibly bittersweet scene between Ryoken and Ai, where for the first time, he called Ai by his name. It’s proof that he officially acknowledges that Ai is not an evil entity that needs to be purged from the face of the Earth. He now knows that its Lightning who was to blame. It was also sad but also nice to see Ryoken at the most peace he has ever been in a long time. Laying in the bed of flowers reminded him of his blissfully innocent, and carefree childhood before the Lost Incident. It as a bit funny to me how he was talking in a way as though he were going to be permanently dead since I am convinced everyone is bound to return some way or another, except for the Ignis that have been absorbed into Bohman, their fate is an uncertain one. I just hope won’t turn it Yuuya/Yuzu and their counterparts all over again because my heart won’t be able to take it!
And speaking of the devil himself: No surprise to see that Bohman interfered and “rescued” Jin from being held hostage since he was still ticked off with how Lightning had Windy interfered with is duel against Takeru. But as the duel was playing out, I had started to wonder if Bohman was going to outright reject Lightning once he falls. I am almost sad that they didn’t go down this path because that would have been a great karma for all the shit he has done. Unfortunately, much to my dismay, Lightning’s efforts were not in vain, as Bohman perceived his determination of doing everything he did to survive is what makes him the most Human of all the Ignis.
Whether we like it or not, Bohman is absolutely right, which is ironic considering Lightning hates Humans. Lightning embodies the wicked/ugly side of Humans. While there are those who are willing to put others ahead of themselves, there are also those who are willing to use step on/sacrifice others to ensure their own gain. Naturally, Lightning is fits into the latter group.
And as I realized that, it gave me a new perspective of the Ignis’ personalities. Every single one of them reflects a particular set of Human virtues. It was because of these traits that enabled them a better chance to form a healthy relationship with Humans. Since Lightning being the odd-ball of the bunch was consumed by his inferiority complex and lack of compassion, he resorted to corrupting Windy, so that he could create an ally for himself.
At long last, we have finally reached the final duel of the season, Bohman VS Yuusaku/Ai. Considering Lightning’s and Ryoken’s lasted three episodes, we are probably set to be in store for more or less the same to coincide with the mark of the next season in May (since YGO VRAINS began in May 2017).
You forgot to mention that Lightning also used Specter’s data as hostage. I think Lightning also included Specter in case Jin is not enough to unnerve Revolver.
I’m a bit frustrated that Lightning’s end is rather more peaceful compared to the other Ignis who have perished. For every horrible things he had done, I had wished his end would be more painful. But at the same time, this also established Bohman and Lightning’s character, so I guess I gotta accept this.
I absolutely love the scene between Revolver, Playmaker, and Ai. I take back everything what I said about doubting Revolver, now it’s official that he trusts Ai and the rest. Furthermore, the flowers around Revolver is Kikyo flower. It means friendship, trust, and sincerity, which symbolised his newfound trust in Playmaker and Ai. It’s also often to symbolise old friends got reunited, which may reffering to how Yusaku and Ryoken were once friends as children but went separate ways because of their conflicting beliefs, and now they are reunited again as friends/comrades. The writers sure know how to use the symbolism here 😀
Ah, I knew I was missing something haha!;;; (*Added it in, thanks!) I agree, he definitely included Spectre as a safety net of a sorts. But knowing Spectre, he probably would have told Ryoken to finish him anyways, which would have backfired Lightning’s plans splendidly.
Yeah Lightning’s peaceful ending is a tough pill to swallow.
Thanks for sharing about the flower meanings! That makes the scene all the more bittersweet! ; v ; MY EMOTIONSSSSS!!!!
You said that you think each Ignis represents a particular set of human virtues, right? Lightning is the ugliness and wickedness, but what about the rest of the Ignis? What kind of virtues do you think they respectively represent?
Something along the lines of:
Flame: Courage/Wisdom/Compassion
Aqua: Temperance/Truthfulness
Earth: Loyalty/Love
Ai: Friendship/Wit/Justice/Freedom
Windy: Unfortunately we don’t know enough about his original self.
While I understand the meaning/symbolism behind Revolver going down the way he did it cause me quite the anoying feeling that this is the wrong way to write a story. For my own sanity´s sake I´m gonna conclude that Revolver won this duel and that he deserved better but in the end we are now down to the last 2 duelist, though to be honest the only reasson I´m not spewing flames is because I´m looking foward to seeing a Link 5 monster and the fact that PLaymaker will most likely also aquire one to match Bohman.
Sadly there isn´t that much more to say about the episode, it was slow and kinda predicable and as mentioned leaves a sour taste.
Lightning elevated his status from evil lemon to rotten lemon. He can’t be juiced and is probably not worth it. This episode proves that everything is Lightning’s fault. He might even be the one who caused Crystal Heart to be so dang cursed.
Though, learning that it was he who put the virus in Dr. Kogami actually makes a lot more sense given that how it’s quite similar to Miyu’s current situation. He placed the virus in Dr. Kogami to prevent him from running further simulations. He placed a virus in Miyu so that Aqua wouldn’t be able to come at him with her full potential. It kind of sucks how Lightning has to resort to underhanded tactics in order to eliminate those he considers as threats. Given that he put Specter and Jin as hostages to rattle Revolver, used Kusanagi to rattle Playmaker, and forcibly put a virus in Windy (also reprogramed him and made him “kill” his Origin) to affect Flame and indirectly caused SB to lose, I’m guessing that he considers origins as much as a threat to his own brethren.
I’m just angry that Lightning’s end has to be calm, albeit bittersweet. I understand that it’s to show that he’s playing the part of the wickedness of humanity, but humans are complex. The wickedness in them are because of environmental factors and/or how they are raised. Lightning was just a diabolical creature from birth given that he basically was a newborn and decided to torture Jin, his human counterpart, just for humor purposes.
The good aspect of this episode…I like how Revolver’s data become flower petals scattering in the wind. It’s a nice, symbolic detail. I do like how this whole season (or rather, this Ignis war arc) had been a Revolver redemption arc. I never expected him to grow on me this much. I’m really glad that he’s finally seeing color in contrast to how black and white he was before.
What bugged me the most about this Duel is considering all the “Classic” Traps Revolver used (Mirror Force, Magic Cylinder, and Mind Crush) he couldn’t have added in a Ring Of Defence???? Seriously. Blows my mind. I figure the next Duel will be a 4-Part one. Yay.
Ring of defence is a classic spell, not a trap. No surprise he doesn’t have it.
Yes I know Ring Of Defence is a Classic Spell. But considering the Traps he’s used before it would make a little sense for him to have it.