In his room, Yuya wonders what will happen to Gongenzaka now that he's lost. Chojiro comes to see him after bribing a guard to get out of his room, and warns that rumor says the losers in the tournament are hauled away to serve as slave labor in an underground garbage plant.
The next duel is announced — Reira vs Shinji. Reiji goes to collect Reira for the duel, but Reira refuses and runs to Yuya. Yuya gets mad at Reiji for how Reira's been acting and lists out his suspicions about Reira. Reiji explains that Reira is "necessary" for the war against Academia, although he doesn't clarify why. He then asks Reira why he doesn't want to fight, to which Reira explains it's because Shinji gave him candy. Reiji accepts this and sends Tsukikage to duel in Reira's place. As Reiji leaves, Reira grows distressed and runs to him, begging Reiji not to be angry and promising to follow his orders. Reiji just smiles and reassures him he isn't mad. Reiji insists he's proud that Reira is developing a sense of self, before explaining that ones sense of self has significant contribution to ones growth as a duelist. Yuya is still upset, thinking Reiji is going to force Reira to duel in the future. Chojiro stops him from running after the brothers, and Sam asks Yuya to go back to his room.
Meanwhile, Reiji has flashbacks to Reira's past. Reira is actually his step-brother, found in a war-torn country where he was so traumatized he lost any sense of self. Himika emphasizes Reira's ability to become anyone or follow anyone's orders, making him a puppet they can train as a duel soldier to fight Academia. However, Reiji is more interested in Reira regaining his sense of self, and thinks to himself that Himika wouldn't approve of Reira's actions today.
This episode contains examples of:
- Because You Were Nice to Me: The reason Reira doesn't want to duel Shinji.
- Big Brother Instinct:
- Arguably Reiji shows some in this episode. When Reira refuses to duel, he first asks him why. After hearing him out, Reiji allows Reira to skip the duel and sends Tsukikage instead. He even smiles at Reira and the two of them hold hands.
- Yuya showed this, defending the scared Reira from Reiji and was angry for Reira's sake.
- Black-and-Gray Morality: Himika Akaba puts LDS in a darker shade of grey, with the reveal of how she's used Reira as a test subject and Child Soldier.
- Darker and Edgier:
- In Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds, Satelite citizens could only find work in garbage processing. Now, it looks like garbage processing is the ultimate punishment.
- This episode makes Arc-V one of the darker series to date, as we have our resident Big Good willing to use very traumatized children as soldiers.
- Emotionless Boy: Turns out Reira is an enforced version.
- Just a Kid: Both Yuya and Chojiro were uncomfortable with Reira being in the tournament for this reason. Later Yuya's rage against Reiji is that he sent Reira, who's just a child into a war. And seeing how Reira's been acting since he's been in the Synchro Dimension, Yuya has a very good point.
- A Lighter Shade of Grey: Reiji compared to Himika while they are both dedicated to defeating Leo. Reiji was disturbed by Reira's condition and seems ok with the idea of Reira gaining a will compared to Himika.
- Metaphorgotten: Chojiro has a line about shrimp.
- Poor Communication Kills: Downplayed. Yuya is furious with Reiji because he doesn't know about Reira's background and reasons for sending Reira out to duel.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The guard Chojiro bribes returns the card and runs off once Yuya starts yelling.
- Subverted Trope: Yugioh frequently has Kaiba-expies with a younger brother to look after. It's a bit of a shock to learn that Reira and Reiji aren't biologically related.
- War Is Hell: Reira's backstory.
- Wham Episode: We learn just how far Himika, and possibly Reiji, is willing to go to defeat Leo.
- Wham Shot: Reira attached to wires.
- Wicked Stepmother: In all accounts Himika is one to Reira, considering she adopted him to be a soldier
