"Any card—so long as it exists—has a power that is needed."
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I love the way this scene sets up questions about responsibility and redemption. Amelda accuses Kaiba of responsibility for his brother’s death. Mokuba immediately protests. That’s when Kaiba intervenes, stopping Mokuba cold, giving Amelda the space to continue. The ice cold glare in one of the middle frames is Kaiba shaking his head at Mokuba when he protests.
Amelda takes full advantage of Kaiba’s silence, scathingly telling him that redemption is impossible because every act that Mokuba is praising… everything Kaiba is or will ever do is based on blood money – and that none of it will ever make up for the past. In a few brief sentences, Amelda gets straight to the heart of Kaiba’s own doubts.
There are a lot of things Kaiba could say in response: that he was a child at the time trying to choose between various bad options, that he had no control over Gozaburo’s actions. Instead Kaiba states that he’s never denied his responsibility, that he accepts that he inherited Kaiba Corporation’s sins with his company. He acknowledges that Amelda’s point of view has validity.
There’s never been any doubt that Kaiba feels a deep responsibility for Kaiba Corporation’s role in killing people or an equally deep guilt for his part (even inadvertently) in designing weapons. He schemed to take the Kaiba name and he is willing to live up to what he sees as the obligations that go along with that choice. But I also think that Kaiba would rather take the blame for things he had no control over than admit that he was helpless and powerless to prevent them.
The duel starts with two opposing beliefs: Amelda’s certainty that redemption is impossible versus Mokuba’s equally absolute belief that everything his brother has done moving forward is redeeming both himself and his corporation.
There’s a real sense that Kaiba doesn’t know which truth will ultimately be his, that as much as he want’s to believe in Mokuba’s version of his life, he’s afraid that Amelda’s is the true one. And Amelda’s is the one that ties in more deeply with his own attitudes and philosophy. So Kaiba does what he always does – he presses forward and puts everything on the line emotionally in his duel with Amelda. He’s dueling to prove his own worth.
And then the duel ends in a tie.
It has to end in a tie. Because whether redemption is possible isn’t a simple yes or no question. It’s also a question that Kaiba himself doesn’t know the answer to. This duel cuts to the heart of Kaiba’s own doubts and conflicts and while those are still unresolved how could the duel end in anything but a tie?
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Kaiba is taking this surprisingly calmly. ^^; Also it’s interesting that there’s no voice that tells him what to do. In the dub DMG spoke to him but here he just kind of acts on instinct. He’s just like “Welp, might as well find out what happens if I remove it. I’ve got nothing better to do.”
(via blueeyeswhitegarden)
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(via ygo-gx)
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(via sapphiresarchive)
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kaiba + 14
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(via fujiwarayuusuke)
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(via fujiwarayuusuke)
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…And omg, Kaiba’s face in that first one. He had no clue that his beloved little brother still felt so strongly about this and he’s just kind of stricken by it. And I love that it’s because of Mokuba that what everyone has been saying to him finally starts to really penetrate into his brain. He’s still not ready to give in yet, but he’s started actually thinking about what he’s heard now. I also like that he doesn’t really know whether he’ll actually be able to let go even if he does destroy the tower. He’s acknowledging that he doesn’t know if he can or not.
You’re slowly making progress, Kaiba. Keep it up!
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“I knew how much Seto wanted that card and I thought that if I drew one for him, he’d always remember his dream of owning a real one someday. And I secretly dreamed that Seto and his Blue-Eyes would fly me as far from my stepfather’s house as we could go.”
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GAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
*hides under the bed*
