Wow…this is really it. Even several days later, I’m still having trouble excepting it.
Anyways, it should be obvious to most that, just as most of the structure of this series was based upon that of the original series, so too was the finale arc. In the original series, the finale of the season took place when Atem battled and defeated Zorc, and then the finale of the series was Yugi’s ceremonial duel with Atem. Similarly, the battle with Ottiuk was meant to be treated as the season finale, and then the extra duel, Yu-Gi-Oh vs. Seto, was meant to be the series finale. As a child, I always remembered thinking that Kaiba got treated a little unfairly in the final season of the show. Ge barely did anything important at all. When he suggested that it should be him who faces Atem in the ceremonial duel, I actually agreed with him. He was Atem’s greatest rival, and it would tie up the series nicely, as the first episode was Yugi/Atem dueling with Kaiba (That being said, I do realize why it had to be Yugi, but still…). When I started thinking of my plot, I realized that not only could I put things right, but it would work out perfectly for the story if I did. This also, at least in my mind, helped make up for the fact that the incarnations of Prince Seto had little to do during the final duel with Ottiuk. This helped remind the reader that they’re important too.
The first episode was designed to be Yuni’s finale, as it was his final appearance in the series. It was all about tying up loose ends. The whole thing with his grandpa is actually something I’ve had planned since the beginning. I’ve always portrayed him as a carefree man that will let Yuni do anything he wants and be happy, as long as he has his recliner chair and a holovision. On the surface, this was an excuse for why Yuni could go off on a moment’s notice to save the world without his grandpa caring, but I figured that it would be more interesting in the end if there actually was a reason for this. As for Ma’at, it has been my intention all along to have him end up as the Lord of Chaos. His entire character arc had been leading up to that one discussion the two of them had.
On to the duel itself. There was a purposeful duality to this duel. Yu-Gi-Oh was using a deck based on Evolution Summoning, the newest way to summon a monster, while Seto was using a Tribute Summon deck, the most classic way (save straight up Normal Summoning) to summon a monster. Yu-Gi-Oh’s deck also served another purpose. It allowed me to showcase my original intentions for Evolution Monsters. My original concept was that Evolution was fairly versatile, and that the Evolution Base could vary, and the effect and/or power of the Evolution Monster would vary depending on the Evolution Base used. In order to best write duels though, I ended up focusing more on Evolution Monsters with set Evolution Base requirements. The Stellamancer deck was a way to better showcase my original idea.
I have always seen Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium as being a potential grand finale for the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise as a whole. Because of that, I knew it had to end with a bang. The previous record for highest finite Attack Points ever achieved was done in Zexal, during Yuma’s duel with Don Thousand. He managed to boost Utopia up to 204,000 ATK. I decided that not only did I want to break that record, but I wanted to smash it. Hence we have two monster with over a million Attack Points battling it out in the end. Being the end of the franchise is also the inspiration behind Yu-Gi-Oh’s final line, a quote of Yugi’s final line in the original series. It’s also worth pointing out that the mention of fireworks occurring at the end of the speech is actual an joke. Right before Yugi says his final line, Joey asks in disbelief if this is really how it ends. Kaiba then asks sarcastically, “What were you expecting? Fireworks?” So, I decided to make fireworks happen.
And that concludes the final episode review Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium. With that said though, don’t think this website is dead. I have some plans for the future, so stay tuned. Also, the Episode Guide, Yu-Gi-Oh! Timeline, and Card Database/Reader’s Companion pages have all reached their final form.
Duel on, always…
Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium The Official Website 