Joey's duel with Bonz continues, with Joey unable to destroy Bonz's Zombies in battle thanks to Call of the Haunted. He tries using Time Wizard to turn things around, but he ends up losing the Time Roulette spin, which destroys his own monsters and takes a big chunk out of his life points. Bonz increases his lead even further by playing Pumpking the King of Ghosts, which raises his zombies' attack even more. Joey is forced on the defensive, but even that option is taken from him when Bonz plays Stop Defense, which will force him to place his monsters in attack mode. Joey's Red-Eyes Black Dragon manages to destroy Pumpking before it can power Bonz's Zombies up any further, but they still have a lot of extra power and Joey's Red-Eyes is destroyed, leaving him with only 150 life points.
Just when it all seems hopeless, Yugi and his friends find Joey (after Bakura gets crushed by a fake boulder in the process), and remind him of his promise to Serenity. Yugi tells him that there's one card that can turn the duel around, and Joey plays Shield and Sword, swapping the attack and defense of Bonz's monsters as well as his own. Since the zombies now have 0 Attack, Joey is able to destroy them with ease, winning the duel.
Joey now has eight Star Chips, meaning he only needs two more to become a finalist. As the group approaches the cave's exit, Keith's gang blocks the entrance with a boulder, too heavy for any of them to budge. Keith then beats up Bonz, Sid, and Zygor, taking all of their Star Chips and earning himself a spot in the finals. The episode closes on Tea wondering if they'll be trapped in the cave forever.
This episode contains examples of:
- Apologizes a Lot: Bakura repeatedly apologizes for setting off one of the traps.
- Bowdlerize:
- A shot of Tristan looking pissed off beyond belief (with a forehead full of Cross-Popping Veins, bloodshot eyes, and sharp fangs) when the group find out that the boulder that was chasing them moments beforehand was actually a giant balloon is removed from the dub, and the veins on his head are removed from the scene prior to that.
- When Bandit Keith beats up Bonz, Sid, and Zigor, cartoony sound effects are used in the dub instead of the sound of blows landing. The unconscious Bonz also has pupils added back to his eyes, which swirl around in his head.
- Chekhov's Gun: Shield and Sword, one of the cards Joey got for trading, helps out here as it switches the attack and defense scores of all face-up monsters on the field. And the three zombies have 0 defense.
- Cliffhanger: Although Joey wins his duel with Bonz, Bandit Keith has his flunkies seal the cave entrance before Yugi's group can escape, trapping them.
- Crippling Overspecialization:
- Call of the Haunted is good for reviving Bonz's zombie army, but that was only because they were originally non-zombie types. Since Pumpking was a zombie-type, Call of the Haunted couldn't bring it back after it was destroyed by Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
- The zombies get their attacks raised, but their defenses are a big goose egg. So when Joey brings out Shield and Sword...
- Drama-Preserving Handicap: Time Wizard is coming in to save the...oh wait, it exploded. Never mind.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Yugi gets this upon realizing that the zombie cards only have 0 defense.
- Foreshadowing: As Bandit Keith is leaving, Joey tells him that he should fight him face to face next time rather than back seat duel. Keith laughs at the idea of dueling him...
- Forgotten Superweapon: Joey draws the Time Wizard and remembers how it saved him twice. Unfortunately, the time roulette lands on a skull, destroying both of Joey's monsters.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: After Joey's time roulette backfires, it not only destroys his Time Wizard and Flame Swordsman, but half their attack points are deducted from his life points. Bonz jokes if Joey is trying to defeat himself.
- Hope Spot: Joey has two throughout the duel:
- After drawing Time Wizard and remembering the previous times it helped him, he decides to use its time roulette against the Zombie monsters. It ends up backfiring and putting Joey in an even worse position.
- Joey summons Red Eyes Black Dragon, his strongest monster, and uses it to destroy Pumpking, preventing Bonz from powering up his Zombies any more. Unfortunately, Dragon Zombie still has more attack points than it and is able to destroy Red Eyes in turn.
- Indy Escape: Yugi and the others have to outrun a giant boulder—which turns out to be a balloon with a speaker inside.
- Never My Fault: When Keith was taking his lackeys' star chips due to Bonz losing, Bonz pointed out that he did everything Keith told him. Keith refuses to listen and beats him up.
- Never Say "Die": Averted; just like the last episode, the word "killed" is said multiple times.
- Oh, Crap!: Bonz has one when Joey brings out Time Wizard, and frantically prays that the time roulette doesn't hit a time warp. He's quite relieved when Joey gets a skull.
- You Have Failed Me: Keith beats his lackeys up since Bonz lost to Joey, taking their star chips for himself.
