Yugioh: The Shadow Realm, Living Hell - Two Victims of Pegasus & The Motivation of Two Men Bound for a Clash - Yugi VS Kaiba Redux by Dan

In the original Japanese version of Yugioh, it was bloody, it was gory, and it was painful to lose. The games were high stakes, and people would put their lives on the line. But in the United States, such scenarios were to be censored. Mentions of death or hell, or even too much blood were a big no-no. These Christian Mothers were an older generation of people pushing for trigger warnings.

So one way around this form of censorship was creating a fictional fate that would seem far more kid friendly, cause after all, to the minds of these people, cartoons were for children. But unaware of the implications of the new invention, the “Shadow Realm” was far worse than anything that one would imagine, raising the stakes from gambling with their lives, to gambling with their souls.

It also helped the studios determine the rules of the magic of the Millenium Items that showed up in the series, which helped them streamline things. It was also an odd situation that because the English version was far more popular, with even the Japanese preferring to view the English dub with Japanese Subtitles, over the Japanese version of the series, eventually needing to adapt it to the Japanese version, leaving the American studio to take charge of the Japanese staff, because of weird situation involving the topic of the Shadow Realm.

Therefore, the Shadows also represented the danger, the evil, and the chaos that can easily drive one mad, such as Pegasus. Even if there was something good in him as a child, what part of that child that may or may not have been kind is forever gone. With his obsession with his wife, and a sense of arrested development, he started playing with fire, and he got seriously burned.

And it’s not just that, as when he requested a duel against Yugi and gambled his own soul, he played a game against Yugi stealing Solomon’s soul as a guarantee. But also, when a Shadow Game is to be initiated, a soul has to be put on the line, And Pegasus chose Solomon’s soul instead, tying Solomon to Yugi’s victory or loss. But then he does something else.

He kidnaps Mokuba Kaiba, takes Kaiba Corps, and tries to have Seto Kaiba killed, but when things went awry, he used Mokuba in order to control Seto. And the worst act is unnecessary, as he takes Mokuba’s soul, without reason. He just does so because he wants to. He could leave Mokuba in the cell, just promising Seto that if he does what Pegasus wants him to do Mokuba will not be harmed. But instead, insurance is taken in the form of Mokuba’s soul.

So what does it mean to be stuck in the Shadow Realm? Living in a world of darkness, monsters and pure evil. A prisoner in a place that becomes your worst nightmares. Bonz and his crew later are stuck in a crazy loop of a small area of a graveyard, sometimes stuck with the undead coming out and attacking them. Earlier, during the duel against Yami Bakura earlier, Tristan ended up in the graveyard, fending off against creatures in front of his own grave, as he was then revived by Monster Reborn.

And the monsters are the souls of humans that had their Ba sealed within stone tablets, with their essence transferred to the cards that come out particularly in mystical duels. Those spirits are twisted to become something different than what they were, depending on how strong their will is. Kisara and Mahad are two individuals who have had their souls sealed into such tablets, creating the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and the Dark Magician. If done incorrectly, it can twist souls with weak wills into truly twisted evil monsters, such as Yubel in Yugioh GX.

But what of innocent spirits, such as Mokuba and Solomon? Surely mercy could be parted upon them? Unfortunately, they are not spared, since the Shadow Realm is not so merciless. And it doesn’t end there.

The Millenium Items often hold ancient spirits with terrible dark energy within them. The Puzzle, the Ring and the Rod all have such spirit attached to them. We often called them Yami Yugi, Yami Bakura, and Yami Marek, the term “Yami” being the Japanese term for “Darkness”, which means something different. It can mean physical darkness, as turning off the light switch leaving no light in the room, or it could mean something more metaphysical, and the dark side of someone’s inner self. But it’s not Yugi, Bakura or Marek that are these Shadow spirits. They are Atem, Zorc, and the dark side of Priest Set.

Pegasus’ Victims…

Where does this leave Solomon and Mokuba? Mokuba was being rescued by his older brother, Seto, who was interrupted by Maximillian Pegasus, who played mind games with Seto, only to take Mokuba’s soul, when Seto was right there. This is an act of pure sadism, as Mokuba had his one hope of breaking him free from the dark, dank cell, to a prison of pure blackness and despair, used as a bargaining chip, and a Plan B in case Pegasus were to lose a duel, as a “get out of jail free card”.

But it also puts Yugi in an impossible situation. And Joey’s situation complicates it even further. Yugi would know that his grandfather would want Yugi to choose Mokuba, as he already lived his life, and he would want Yugi to choose the child to be set free, if Yugi only had one choice. There is also no guarantee that Pegasus will grant the money for Serenity’s operation. These are hellish mind games that Pegasus is playing with both Yugi and Seto, not just pushing their spirits, but the very concept of morality, right and wrong, and the will to act.

As for Solomon and Mokuba… Are they aware of each other’s prison? That’s hard to tell. Other individuals in the Shadow Realm became aware of other individuals connected to them in some way, so perhaps. And with Pegasus having imprisoned both of them in cards in the same way the ancient Priests would seal someone’s Ba inside the tablets.

Pegasus is playing with the Shadow Realm, and that is dangerous and playing with fire. People with Millenium Items tend to attract each other. And there are things some don’t know about the Shadow Realm, some of it no one should know. Pegasus is playing with a Ouija board, and he doesn’t even know what might happen.

He could summon something noble and peaceful like the Dark Magician Girl, or summon something as twisted and insane as Yubel. And yet, this is what causes the downfall of so many individuals. Playing with something they have no idea what they are playing with.

Atem's duties involve fighting those who would dare abuse the Shadow Realm, but Yugi lost his grandfather in a duel that haunted him after a madman like Pegasus robbed him of his grandfather, all the while the Shadow Games was still fresh in his mind, and was basically just starting to learn. Seto Kaiba just had a part of his psyche shattered which caused him to need to mentally recover only to have his brother kidnapped and everything he worked hard to get, only to have the rug swept from under him right when he was at the finish line, and not of his own doing, but because of Pegasus, and now he must acknowledge that there’s something more than this mortal coil. They have everything to lose, and they are having more and more stolen by the shadows, and the people they hold closest and dearest to them are being stolen and tortured in a prison of pure dark evil.

**********

Also Crown of Blood has a new edition, with maps, character bios and more!