Tear Jerker / Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V

Between Yuya's past and the ongoing war plot, ARC-V has plenty of tearjearking moments.

Anime:

General

• Ending 4, while very heartwarming, can be sad at times. Each of the dimensions have their members sleeping together, except the Fusion Dimension. Sora was seen sleeping with the Synchro Dimension citizens next to Jack Atlas, completely covered in the shade, while Serena was seen sleeping next to Sawatari and later the other Lancers. Yuri was completely alone despite the peaceful expression on his face. It gives us wonder to the dynamics of their dimension if even the Synchro Dimension people are sleeping together, which included douche-bags like Gallager, Duel Chaser 227 and the Executive Council. Dennis is nowhere to be seen among the people sleeping, signifying his expulsion from the Lancers.
• What Yuya goes throughout the series is just depressing. He already has a horrible past and due to his power and potential, he is forced to face a war that goes against his beliefs and each time he tries to do things his way, he is mocked and hated for it.
• Yuya's reaction to his father's disappearance and being reduced to a wreck. Episode 1 is a good example.

Season 1

• Yuya's distress in episode 2 at becoming a Broken Pedestal to everyone after messing up Pendulum Summoning, and being called a cheat in general.
• Yuya's heartbreak in episode 3 when Sawatari steals his Pendulum cards and then puts Yuzu and the others in danger.
• The last moments of Episode 37: After summoning their dragons, both Yuto and Yugo have entered some sort of trance and start dueling much more viciously while talking about destroying everything. Yuya manages to bring Yuto back to his senses by reminding him of what Yuto had told him earlier about how dueling used to fill his hometown with smiles. Yuto says he doesn't want to hurt anyone, and ends his turn before his dragon can attack. Unfortunately, Yuya fails to bring Yugo back to his senses as well, and Yugo powers up Clear Wing Synchro Dragon before having it deliver the finishing blow to Yuto and Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. After this, Yuya hurries over to check on Yuto, as their dragons begin to glow and envelop the two in light. Yuto smiles and decides to hand Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon to Yuya, telling him to keep dueling to make people smile before disappearing.
• In episode 38, Yuzu's despair over Yuya not waking up.
• Episode 39. After Yuya awakens from his Superpowered Evil Side, he finds that instead of bringing smiles and cheer to his audience, he silenced them, breaking his own ideals. He has no idea why everyone is looking at him in fear.
• Yuya spends most of episode 40 depressed over the last episode's events.
  • Hokuto being sealed and defeated by Serena, sad for a character that had come so far from the arrogant jerk in early ARC-V.
• Yuya's duel in epsiode 42 against Umesugi and Takeda is incredibly hard to watch as he, despite his best efforts, is more or less a rag doll to them. As well as their taunt that his Superpowered Evil Side is his true self.
• End of episode 44 and beginning of episode 45: Yuya witnessing the Knights of Duel being sealed and seeing in his head Yuto's memories of the Xyz invasion. Basically, both Yuya and Yuto are getting retroactive trauma.
• Halil and Olga being sealed into cards by Yuri in episode 47.
• Episode 48
  • Having Michio being sealed into a card was depressing. But Teppei looking at Michio's card, waiting to be carded, and saying "What're you doing as a card? Our combo was perfect, wasn't it?" was heartbreaking.
  • The total number of people carded in this episode is a grand total of three, with all of them on-screen.
    • Comparing the people carded in this episode to the Knights of Duel who were carded in Episode 44, Yuya knows Michio and Teppei. Hikage is Tsukikage's older brother. The enemy is not attacking random people anymore. They're now attacking your own family and friends. In another aspect, they aren't Asshole Victims like the Knights. They are just good people trying to protect their home.
  • Yuya going into berserk mode in this episode was absolutely heartbreaking. The worst part was when Yuya imagined all six of the people who were carded in front of him falling into darkness.
• Episode 49:
  • The look on Yuya's face when he finds out that Serena isn't Yuzu. He looks shocked and horrorified as he thinks that Yuzu might have been carded by the Academia. This gets worse in the preview in episode 50, where he breaks down crying, screaming in rage for Reiji to return Yuzu and everyone else.

Season 2

• Episode 50 has Yuya finally breaking down, as he mourns the loss of Yuzu. He says that she was always next to him, she always supported him even when he was bullied, and it was because of her he evolved Pendulum Summoning.
  • Serena doesn't have it easier when she hears from Kurosaki's mouth how evil the Academia was. You can just see her image of them break as she hears Kurosaki talk.
• Episode 51: Yuya, despite everything and giving a hell of a fight, lost to Reiji. At the end of the episode Reiji especially tells Yuya that he can't save Yuzu the way he is now, which Yuya is forced to accept.
• Episode 52: This episode was rough.
  • Yuya breaks the news that Yuzu is missing to Shuzou and the rest of the You Show group. Shuzou nearly breaks down begging for Yuya to tell him where she is so he can rescue his daughter. Meanwhile Ayu and Futoshi blame Yuya for not protecting Yuzu, which Yuya just silently accepts.
  • Masumi and Yaiba realizing that Hokuto was carded when they see the footage of duelist being carded.
• Episode 54: Yuya isn't the only one having a hard time due to their separation. Yuzu has a breakdown when she's forced to admit she's stuck in the Synchro Dimension away from Yuya and the rest of her important people.
• Episode 55: The desperation in Yugo's voice when he explains his desire to enter the Friendship cup as that is his only way to a better life.
• Reira's situation is episode 56, he's in an alternate dimension separated from his brother, the only person he cares about. The fear in his voice, when asking Yuya where Reiji is, was incredibly depressing.
• Episode 58:
  • Riding Duels become this when you learn their origins. Episode 58 reveals Riding Duels were created by the Commons by accident and gained popularity among them as a way to rebel against the Tops, eventually becoming a symbol of freedom. But the thrill generated by them also caught the latter's attention, leading Security to establish the Duel Chasers corps, turning Riding Duels into nothing more than a source of entertainment for the Tops, and yet another means to oppress the Commons.
  • A retroactive one when Kurosaki reveals that he never bothered searching for the other Lancers. This is a guy who embodies No One Gets Left Behind, so it's a little sad to see that he still doesn't treat the Lancers as proper teammates.
• Episode 59:
  • When Crow tells Reira to eat some sweets, his reaction is to ask if it was an order. How was he raised?
  • For those that knew the cheerful, optimistic Crow in 5ds, seeing how cynical and food-obsessed he is here is heartbreaking.
  • The completely panicked and horrified expression on Yuya's face when he notices Reira is suddenly missing.
• Episode 64:
  • When Yuzu sees Yuya again, she is so happy that she even cries upon realizing that Yuya is in the Synchro Dimension with her. She even smiles happily when he Pendulum summons, giving her absolute proof that the one she is seeing is her Yuya. Also a moment of Heartwarming.
• Episode 65:
  • The fact that no matter what Yuya and Yuzu do, they cannot meet up, ranging from Yuzu being stopped by the Council and Security while seeing unconscious Yuya, to both of them being locked in their rooms while having absolute proof that the other is in the same building.]]
  • Sam's reaction to meeting Jack Atlas and how his worship turned into hatred.
• Episode 67:
  • Reira's entire life is depressing. He's not an Akaba genetically, but was adopted to be used as a puppet by Himika to defeat the Academia. He grew up in a war-torn country, where he was alone and lost all sense of identity. The background tune does not help in the slightest, and actually makes it worse.
• Episode 68:
  • The normally stoic Tsukikage gets very angry when Shinji insults his clan and his brother. It is clear he misses Hikage.
  • Reira thinking Reiji wants to replace him with Tsukikage, unaware that Reiji just sees the ninja as a pawn.
• Episode 70:
  • Even if he is a bad guy, Duel Chaser 227's fate is depressing. After he lost to Yugo, he was branded a Commons and hunted down by his former comrades, then arrested. He's reduced to a crying mess when Roget gives him a second chance.
  • The fact that it's confirmed Sam completely misinterpreted Jack Atlas' gift. Tuning Magician was Jack's first card, which inspired him to become a duelist and strive for the Tops. By giving it to Sam, he hoped to inspire him as well. But poor Sam only assumed Jack gave him the low stat card as an insult, and a boy who could have grown up to become Jack's successor instead started hating his guts.
• Episode 71: The entire episode is depressing from the realization of how messed up the City is, Yuya finally having enough and consciously being aggressive, Yuzu being distraught when she sees how Yuya acted, to Yuya being filled with regret over his actions.
• Episode 74: Dennis's Say My Name for Trapeze Magician is heart-rending, despite him being the villain here.
• Episode 75:
  • Yuya's reaction to Dennis being the mole is heartbreaking, he quietly says that can't be and is shown to be repeating it a few times out of shock.
  • Kurosaki finding out that Dennis was responsible for getting Ruri kidnapped in the first place and orchestrating the fall of his home dimension. The man's rage and despair are completely understandable.
• Episode 77:
  • Just the fact that Yuzu, a 14 year old who wants so deeply to protect everyone that she spends the duration of the duel worrying about Sergey's well-being, is hit into a BUILDING which then explodes. The fandom was left in shambles after this episode.
  • All of the remaining participants other than Shinji were horrified over the outcome of Yuzu's duel with Sergey.
    • Kurosaki shows open concern over Yuzu, which can not only be attributed to the fact that she looks like Ruri, but also to the fact that even someone as stoic and battle-hardened as Kurosaki can be horrified by such violent events.
    • Given Serena's personality and background, she may consider Yuzu the closest thing she has to a best friend, even smiling proudly at Yuzu's dueling, which makes Yuzu's loss all the more tragic.
    • Yuya's scream when Melissa Claire comments that Yuzu might be in danger is devastating. His desperation is brutally obvious in his voice and expression.
    • Yugo got to know Yuzu in the days leading up to the Cup and seeing someone who you not only grew close to but also shares the face of your most precious person fly dangerously into a building must have been very hard to watch.
    • Crow was likewise shocked. He and Yugo were raised by the society that condones these violent games.
• Episode 78:
  • In-Universe, Yuzu's loss is this to Yugo.
  • Crow is visibly upset at the fact that Yuya and Shinji have been chosen to duel each other.
  • Yuya is so worried about Yuzu's condition that he can't focus on his duel, which he needs to win in order to be able to help her. Mixes with Heartwarming Moments.
  • Shinji's goal is heroic, but it's tragic that the only way he can think of to reach it is by demonizing and scapegoating innocents. Worse if you agree that no better option is available to him.
• Episode 79:
  • Yuya attempts to reach out to Shinji saying that he can understand Shinji's feelings but he can't duel like this. Shinji laughs in his face about his solution to make everyone smile.
  • Crow reveals his internal turmoil about the revolution, revealing he personally doesn't want anything that violent and originally wanted Jack to change things peacefully. When Jack didn't do anything, he was crushed and now reluctantly thinks Shinji's more violent views might be the only way to change society.
• Episode 80:
  • Roget has engineered a situation that makes all of Commons hate Yuya.
    • Yuya keeps trying to deny the allegations that he's allied with Tops, but no one listens to him.
    • In the end, Crow and Sam feel betrayed by this with each of them growing more cynical as a result.
  • Sora wants Yuya to give up Serena in exchange for Yuzu. Thankfully, Yuya refuses.
  • Sora talks about his past and growing up at Academia and ultimately says that he considers Yuya and Yuzu his first friends. What kind of childhood did he have to go through?
• Episode 81: While he was being a Jerkass, Kurosaki did show a few minor signs of opening up, like helping rescue the other Lancers in prison and enjoying a duel. But now he makes it clear that after his last duel he thinks he can't trust anyone and believes all of his true comrades are dead.
• Episode 82: In retroperspective after episode 105 was aired, Kurosaki saving Tanner becomes this. Tanner clinging on Raikiri's back and almost falling on the ground must remembered Kurosaki of the fate of children he used to play with. Those children have been already carded.
• Episode 83:
  • Sora's speech to Yuzu as to why he cannot leave Academia.
  • Tsukikage appearing before Sora demanding to duel him for what he did during the battle royale. Its shows that Tsukikage is deeply hurt by his brother's carding.
• Episode 85: Serena stating it was the first time she had fun dueling. This really makes you question how rough her childhood was.
• Episode 86: Seeing Serena helpless after being gassed by Security and unable to help Reira from fighting off several goons, resorting to begging to try and get them to stop. Thankfully Reira wins.
• Episode 87: This episode continues the trend of torturing Yuya.
  • Yuya is electrocuted into Berserk Mode and the change is horrifying.
  • Crow thinks that in the end Yuya was just a Top dog after he doesn't go through with their plan, especially sad when Yuya didn't go through with the plan because he was in intense pain. You can see the rage and pain in his face as he thinks this.
  • Yuzu worries about Yuya when her bracelet starts to blink.
  • Yuya destroying his Hippo cards becomes this in hindsight with the reveal that all cards have souls. Awakened Yuya essentially murdered his hippos as they were freaking out.
• Episode 88: Yuya struggles against his dark side as Crow simply tries to survive.
  • After Crow was able to safely cross the gap, Sora quickly worried about Yuya, you could hear the desperation in his voice as he thought he was going to see one of his first friends fall to his death.
  • Sora pleading with Crow to knock some sense back into Yuya, wanting his friend to be safe and wishing he could do it himself before realizing that he can't do so due to his newfound need to protect Serena from Obelisk Force.
  • For all the crap Yuya unwittingly put Crow through, not once does Crow blame Yuya for it once he learns the truth of Yuya's mysterious dark side, instead pleading with Yuya to leave the stadium and protect Serena from Obelisk Force, based on what Sora said. The look on Yuya's face as Crow is taken away is heartbreaking.
  • Yuzu's constant worry for Yuya and her wish to go back aboveground to confirm that he's safe.
  • Serena voicing that she would only slow Tsukikage and Reira down and pleads with them to leave her there. Reira is having none of it but is exhausted from his last duel. Tsukikage can only glance helplessly as his two comrades berate themselves.
• Episode 91:
  • Serena and Reira's situation. Reira is forced to realize that despite finding the will to fight back, he's too tired to duel anymore and nearly has to watch Serena be kidnapped right in front of him. While Serena is desperately trying move only realizing she still has no strength
  • When Yugo summons Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, Yuya starts going Berserk but unlike the other times, we see that Yuya is scared when he hears Starve Venom Fusion Dragon's roar. He just seems so powerless as he starts changing again.
• Episode 92:
  • Despite Yuya, Sora, Reira and Tsukikage's best efforts, all four fail to prevent Serena and Yuzu from being captured by Academia and Security respectively.
  • Yuzu voicing to Yuya that she becomes scared whenever Yuya is angry and notes that he becomes like a different person as a result. She begs for the guy to return to normal.
  • The capture of Serena bears extra mentioning since she essentially tried her entire life to escape from Academia's clutches. While at first for selfish reasons, Serena grew to appreciate the meaning of friendship thanks to the Lancers and the fun one can have during a duel thanks to Yugo and Yuya (instead of always using dueling for war). After learning what her home really stood for, she now doesn't want to return for morality's sake. Which makes her capture at Barrett's hands all the more tragic. Unless she can somehow escape again, Serena is trapped by the Professor until Yuya and the Lancers can mount a rescue.
• Episode 94: Sergey's death, even if he was a monster, he finally got what he wanted, a beautiful duel and end. Subverted in that he actually survived, but look right below.
• Episode 95:
  • If you thought Sergey's apparent death last episode was tragic, then his actual demise will plunge your heart over a cliff.
  • Shinji and the other refuse to stop the revolution despite Crow's pleas, and then decide to attack him as well, as he refuses to join them.b
• Episode 99:
  • After all the hell Yuya and his friends went through to stop Roget and save Yuzu, the Lancers' battle strength is cut in half as Yuya, Sawatari, Gongenzaka, Kurosaki, and Yuzu are sucked into a wormhole (and the first four ended up in the Xyz Dimension), leaving Reiji, Reira, Tsukikage, Sora and their new Synchro Dimension friends, Jack and Crow, behind.

Season 3

• Episode 100:
  • The state of the Xyz Dimension is heartbreaking. It is completely destroyed with what little of their population and mostly non-Duelists are being picked off by the Academia.
  • The fact the average citizen's reaction to a Duel Disk is to run away in terror shows how badly the Academia destroyed the dimension.
  • The fact that Academia students may not be inherently evil like Sora and were simply tricked by the Professor into genuinely believing they're doing the right thing by attacking other dimensions.
  • Kurosaki going back to the Resistance's base to see it's completely empty. He even accepts that the Resistance has been destroyed.
• Episode 101
  • Seeing the flashback to Kaito in his earlier days, a smiling champion, compared to his current rage and hatred towards Academia, to the point of invoking a wrathful god of retribution in Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon's summon chant. It's incredibly sad and horrifying to see what Academia's invasion made him into.
• Episode 103:
  • When Allen brings up Yuto and that maybe Yuya is Yuto. Kurosaki sadly states Yuya isn't Yuto and he just doesn't know what happened.
  • The look of pain on Yuya's face when Allen calls Yusho a coward. You can tell Yuya is looking for a reason for why his father disappeared and just when he found one, Allen crushes it.
• Episode 104:
  • Yuto saying that maybe bringing smiles to everyone with dueling might not be as plausible as Yuya, Yusho, and even Ruri say it could be. After all this time, Yuto has just about given up trying to end things peacefully.
  • Seeing Ruri in such distress as her home dimension is torn apart, voicing aloud that dueling was meant to bring happiness to others, not oppress them through sheer force. Viewers at home now know why Yuto is so adamant about "bringing smiles to others through dueling" and why he resonated so much with Yuya: it keeps Ruri's memory alive.
  • Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon represents Yuto's guilt for leaving his friends at the mercy of Duel Academy. He is convinced he is solely responsible and that if he didn't leave, they wouldn't have been carded. Yuto has survivor's guilt as a result.
  • A mixture of both funny, sad and heartwarming at the same time but the scene where Yuya is wandering around the old remains of Yuto's duel school and finds a locker with Yuto, Ruri, and Kurosaki all squeezed together in a picture. Ruri looks extremely happy between her two most precious people, which makes the events of the Academia invasion that much harder to take in.
• Episode 105:
  • Kurosaki tries to make Kaito remember how they used to play with children prior to the invasion. Kaito does remember that happy time... and then he remembers that all of those children have been carded by Academia.
  • Just as Kaito was about to card Kurosaki, Sayaka reveals that she witnessed Yuri kidnap Ruri, but was powerless to stop him, breaking into tears as she revealed it.
    • For that matter, the fact Kaito nearly carded Kurosaki. He only stopped after hearing what happened to Sayaka and seeing Kurosaki stare him down. Kaito though was willing to card someone he considered a friend before the war, and an ally during the war, who merely wished to reason with him. Goes to show how much Kaito has been broken.
• Episode 106:
  • The reveal that the Interdimensional war has only been going on for one year. That in one year, Heartland has been nearly destroyed. Makes sense why the Xyz characters are so traumatized.
  • Yusho's life for the last three years has not been an easy one. In an attempt to peacefully resolve the war, he left Standard to talk to the Professor, reasoning that he could convince him to stop. He was instead sent to the Xyz Dimension with no way home and was eventually forced into the Fusion Dimension hurt because of Edo. Currently he can barely walk and is thought as a coward in Standard and the Xyz Dimension despite his efforts.
    • The fact that he can barely walk is particularly heartbreaking because he can no longer perform the stunning acrobatics and other feats of athleticism that make up the entertainment dueling that he pioneered.
  • Asuka finds about how terrible the Invasion of Heartland is from a first hand account of another female Academia student. Said student shows massive signs of immense PTSD and guilt for not only carding duelists, but innocent civilians, and her terror at how so many of her fellow students think it's just a game, driving said student into hysterical sobs. She asks Asuka to run away from Academia with her, only for Academia to card her immediately the moment they get off the school grounds. Asuka's horrified look on her face says it all.
• Episode 109's title gives the viewers a hint who's going to get out of comission: "The Falcon Perishes on the Battlefield". Whatever it is, Kurosaki might get injured again in the middle of the Duel, not unlike what happened to Shark several times.
• Episode 110:
  • Edo's past with Yusho Sakaki. The two had met during the Heartland Invasion, with Edo mocking Yusho's notion that "Duels can bring smiles". After being knocked into a wall though, Yusho plays Smile World and manages to beat Edo, with Edo even appearing to accept Yusho's ideals. Academia however managed to completely indoctrinate Edo though, causing him to suffer a mental breakdown and reject Yusho's ideal at the last second. Before Yusho can help further, he is warped away to the Fusion Dimension, causing Edo to believe he ran away. Enraged, Edo refused to leave the Xyz Dimension, choosing to wander Heartland until he finds Yusho.
    • The truth behind the torn Smile World. Yusho had offered it to Edo as a gift, but Edo tore it in half during his breakdown, with Yusho originally picking up the top half to offer it back to Edo. It was at that point though he was randomly warped to the Fusion Dimension.
    • The flashback of Yusho and Edo's duel shows that Yusho did succeed in making Edo smile. What makes it sad is the dialogue that goes along with it right before he attacks Yuya with Dystopiaguy.
    Edo: It's a lie. It's all wrong. There's no way I would smile…
    • The source of Yusho's injuries. Doubles as Nightmare Fuel. He obtained his injuries after being knocked into a wall from Edo's Dystopiaguy. The mere fact Yusho obtained his injuries from something the Lancers routinely are dealt highlights the dangers of Real Solid Vision even further.
    • For added Fridge Horror, Sawatari, Kurosaki, Gogenzaka, Allen, Sayaka, and Yuya have suffered repeated injuries similar to the one Yusho took in the Xyz Arc alone. They too could end up crippled before the wars end.
• Episode 113: Sure, Kachidoki betrayed his own dimension and joined Academia just to get revenge on Yuya, but it's hard not to feel sorry for the guy when when it's revealed that the Ryozanpaku school basically shunned and ignored him after losing to Yuya. Added with his downright abusive childhood from the Ryozanpaku school, he's a rather sad character.
• Episode 114: The pain just keeps on coming!
  • When Kaito talks about comrades, Dennis looks rather sad and then gives a small smile that shows he did enjoy his time with the Lancers.
  • After losing to Kaito, Yusho offers Dennis a chance to redeem himself. But Dennis refuses to take it as he betrayed the Lancers so he feels he has no right to come back. So he tells Kaito where Ruri and Rin are and cards himself feeling he has nowhere to go. But he does beg for Yusho to tell Yuya that he truly did enjoy his time as a Lancer.
    • Made even more horrible by the buildup. The tone of voice, the words, the Background Music, the way Dennis slowly and deliberately backs away towards the edge of the ship's deck... It all makes it horrifically, abundantly clear what's about to happen long before he turns the Duel Disk on himself, making the scene incredibly hard to watch. It's made even worse because a character effectively shooting himself on-screen is probably the absolute last thing you'd expect to see in a Yu-Gi-Oh! series, giving the scene an awful sense of "He's not actually going to do it... Is he?"
• Episode 116: Also heartwarming, Rin breaking down crying during her and Yugo's reunion, having felt alone and helpless the entire time.
• Episode 117: After finally reuniting with Rin, poor Yugo not only has to fight her, while she is turned into a sick, corrupted version of herself by the Doktor, and having their D-Wheel that they worked so hard on broken. Poor guy is reduced to tears as well.
  • The sheer amount of abuse Yugo goes through in this episode is staggering. He actually manages to rescue Rin, only for her to turn on him. He tries invoking everything he can think of that can make her happy, only for her to brush it all off with complete indifference. To top it all off, his D-Wheel - the vessel of both of their hopes and dreams, into which they put an untold amount of sweat and tears - gets trashed by Rin herself, and just when he thinks he's brought her to her senses, it's brutally snatched away from him. In short, the poor guy loses pretty much everything he's ever cared about in the space of a single episode. No wonder he's crying by the end of it...
  • Kurosaki's look of disbelief when Kaito tells him and Edo that Ruri just tried to kill him. All he can do is scream "Ruri!" and run up the stairs, ignoring everything else.
• Episode 118:
  • Academia students in the Survival Duel, questioning the loss of their comrades, and whether what they are doing is right.
  • Tsukikage's carding.
• Episode 119:
  • The situations of all of the girls. The Parasite Monsters take control and leave them in a dark, cold place in their mind, almost helpless to interfere as they watch themselves hurt their loved ones. It makes the actions of both Serena and especially Rin a few episodes ago that much more sad.
• Episode 120:
  • Crow being "carded". Right after he saved Sawatari by destroying his Duel Disk so he wouldn't be at risk of being carded. Yuya and Sawatari freak out and start crying, and Sawatari does a Diving Save to save Crow's card while still weeping.
  • Gongenzaka effectively sacrificing himself to save Yuya from being defeated, ruining his entire deck's play style by using an Action Card. It would've been sadder had BB gone through with "carding" the guy. Thank goodness for the intervention of Jack Atlas.
• Episode 121:
  • Continuing from 120, the reason Jack is there is, Crow's kids asked him to go help the Lancers, and Jack feels terrible that he has to go back knowing that Crow is now gone.
• Episode 122:
  • Yuya sympathizing with BB's upbringing, noting how miserable he is under Sander's tutelage. After BB's defeat, BB himself is overwhelmed by regret over what he's done.
• Episode 123:
  • Asuka's attempts to reach out to Yuri and make him see the error of his ways are ignored and mocked by Yuri himself. For all her trouble, she ends up being "carded". Sora himself is forced to watch behind a locked gate.
• Episode 124:
  • Yuya and Yuto are forced to fight against Ruri and Serena, who is under the control of the Doktor and his parasites. This is especially hard on Yuto since he's spent all this time trying to rescue Ruri from Academia's clutches and now he has to fight the person herself to return her to normal. Even sadder when the audience realizes that Yuto is implied to be in a relationship with Ruri.
  • Yuya learning that he was too late and is shocked to hear about Yuzu's fate. ^note She ends up being infected by the Doktor
• Episode 125:
  • In the end of the episode, Serena and Ruri are still under the Doktor's control despite losing to Yuya and Yuto. As Yuya runs to find them, he is captured and desperately calls out to Yuzu to wake her up only to be coldly ignored instead.
  • Yuya and Reiji seeing their fathers for the first time after three years, but it is not hearwarming at all. Yuya is in a cage, and he only gets to see Yusho due to a holoscreen, while Reiji approaches the Professor as an enemy. And the Professor only speaks to Yusho, not to Reiji at all. Yusho doesn't know where Yuya is and that he watches him.
• In Episode 126's Wham Episode, there's one particular moment: Zarc accidentally injuring his opponent and seeming shocked and horrified. For just a moment, he reacts how Yuya would, how Yuya did, in fact. It's enough to suggest that if the crowd hadn't started cheering him on or if his morals had been stronger, he could have been just like Yuya instead of the monster he became.
  • The reveal that the monsters have souls and the reason the dragons and Zarc are full of hatred and anger is because the monsters were forced to fight for the amusement of humans. Just imagine how terrible it would be to be summoned only to tear apart other monsters and be torn apart in turn. No wonder the dragons rip the Original Dimension to pieces.
• Episode 127:
  • After two and a half seasons, Yuya and Yusho finally reunite face-to-face for the first time in over three years.
  • The Professor had to see his daughter not only face Zarc but be split into four as he stood powerless to stop it.
    • Not only that the Professor originally intended for himself to be sacrificed, feeling guilty that it was his technology that helped Zarc rise to power thus he believes that he should be the one who had to make the sacrifice only to watch his beloved daughter sacrificing herself for his "sins" must had been heartbreaking.
  • Reiji's recollection of the time his father abandoned the family, how much it affected him and his mother. It is specially hard to watch when you notice how he continues to change his use of "watashi" to "boku" making obvious how much he was affected by the revelation that the Professor abandoned his family to chase the ghost of a dead sister he didn't even knew he had.
  • When Yuzu is finally freed, Yuya and Yuzu try to reunite only for the Professor to step between them.
  • The Professor telling that Yuya is the revival of Zarc. Yuya takes it hard that he was once the man that destroyed the world.
• Episode 128
  • Yusho realizing that Zarc placed Yuya as his son so he could regain his dueling skills by studying under the best duelist is heart breaking when Yusho stated earlier his dream was to train Yuya to surpass him.
    • Yusho remembers playing Smile World to play with a baby Yuya as he sees an Awakened Yuya happily attacking the Professor. The contrast is heartbreaking.
  • Yuzu gets to watch in horror as Yuya is slowly being absorbed by Zarc.
    • In fact watching Yuya getting absorbed by Zarc is depressing especially considering all he's done.
• Episode 129:
  • Yuya and Yuto struggling to remain in control.
  • Despite the girls' best efforts, in the end the boys fall into rage to protect them.
  • Reiji spends the entire episode being shown up by the Professor.
  • While Yusho did it to save Yuya from killing Reiji, you can tell he's not happy having to bound his son up.
• Episode 131:
  • The Bracelets Girls disappearing in Arc-V, away from their loved ones as they are fused back into Ray.
  • Despite his best efforts, Yugo is defeated by Yuri.
• Episode 133:
  • It's stated several times that monsters have souls. Here we have a shot of Sky Magician in pain when Yuri's combo activates and Sky Pupil's shocked/sad face seeing his master's suffering.
  • Yusho is defeated. His last actions was to smile to Yuya, hoping that Yuya has the strength to keep smiling as Yuri cards him.
  • Yuya's reaction to Yusho being carded in HEARTBREAKING.
    • Consider for a moment that Yuya has had to spend so much of his life hearing people claiming that Yusho ran from this or that, calling him a coward. He finds evidence that Yusho's been to the Xyz Dimension, and is overjoyed to have evidence that his father wasn't a coward, only to learn that he was missing once again and the people there thought the same thing. All his life, his belief and objections to the contrary fall on deaf or mocking ears. Well now, here's the man himself at the end of his rope, and in the end, he never did run. Yuya's been vindicated at last, at the most terrible cost imaginable.
• Episode 134:
  • Throughout the episode Yuya struggles to keep control as the duel elevates to the Four Dimension Dragons being summoned. Not to mention that each time one of the dragons was summoned Yuya and Yuto experienced extreme pain.
  • At the end of the episode, due to the four dragons being summoned both Yugo and Yuto have been absorbed by Zarc. This means Yuya is truly alone facing Yuri.
  • The sad fact that Yuya is scared to even play his ace Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. The monster that he relies on the most and has a strong bond with, is currently spelling his doom.
• Episode 135:
  • To survive Yuri's onslaught, Yuya has to discard Smile World which breaks Yuya's spirit. Yuya imagines his action as Yusho walking away into the darkness as he begs his father to come back. He breaks down feeling that he threw away his father's protection, as such he can't win.
  • The fact that despite Yuya fighting to the bone and even defeating Yuri, Zarc was still able to take over Yuya's body. In the end he still lost.
• Episode 136: This was a depressing episode for Sora.
  • As Sora and Edo duel Zarc, they keep trying to awaken Yuya to no avail. Sora even attempts to remind Zarc of his and Yuya's very first duel which Zarc coldly ignores even as Sora holds up Yuya's pendulum. Sora actually cries as he sees that Yuya isn't waking up.
  • Sora begs Kurosaki to awaken Yuya after Zarc defeated him, even handing him the pendulum as he faints.
• Episode 137:
  • Despite their best efforts, Kaito and Kurosaki were unable to save Yuya and Yuto and fall to Z-Arc, the sheer look of horror on their faces after seeing Z-Arc counter their impressive combo and strip their monsters of all of their ATK cemented their feelings
  • Kurosaki pleading for Gongenzaka to get through to Yuya and save him after being defeated by Z-Arc.
• Episode 139:
  • Shuzou, Tatsuya, Ayu, and Futoshi look on in horror as Zarc summons Odd-Eyes and they all wonder why is Yuya's dragon on that monster's side. Then they get a clear look and see Yuya's body mutated into Zarc.
• Episode 141:
  • As a result of last episode everyone except Reiji, Yusho and Himika have forgotten about the Dimensional Wars and Yuzu. It's painful for Shuzuo to look at Yuzu's fan and wonder why it seems so familiar.
  • More of a happy kind of tears but we see everyone that was carded has come back.
• Episode 142: The previews that Yuya finally remembers Yuzu and he doesn't take it well that she's missing.
  • And not just Yuzu, their counterparts are also nowhere to be seen, which means Yuya is the ONLY existing counterpart who survives in the interdimensional war's aftermath.
    • For extra anguish, Yuya's continuous efforts to find and retrieve Yuzu ended in a complete and utter failure.
  • Shuzuo finally finds out that Yuzu is missing after visiting her room.
  • When Yuya finally remembers that Yuzu is missing. He goes through everything they've been through.
  • Yuya finally remembers who he is and collapsed as he states he's Zarc.
• Episode 145:
  • Kurosaki is close to the Despair Event Horizon as he realizes that not only is Ruri gone but so is Yuto. He states that he only has dueling now.
  • The Professor feels such guilt for thinking that the Yuzu girls were just phantoms of Ray]] instead of individuals with their own lives, that he does nothing as Kurosaki attempts to punch him.
• Episode 146:
  • Yuya realizing that the Four Dimension Dragons' cries aren't of hatred and rage but fear.
• Episode 147: Yuya realizing that Zarc was originally a good person and never wanted to be evil but the world at large and the pressures of dueling to meet everyone's high standards took its toll on the man and twisted him into something he's regretted ever since deep down. Yuya is in tears as a result and Zarc's soul is in lament, shown as Reira openly weeping in Zarc's place.
• Episode 148: The last episode of the series:
  • Despite finally making Reira smile, she's still stuck as a baby.
  • It's never confirmed if Yuya's counterparts and Yuzu's counterparts will ever be their own person again, though they are content with simply "existing" within their main counterparts for the time being.

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Manga:

• Yuto, Yugo and Yuri have to remove every memory of Yuya that has of any of them in it. They do so because they believe that those memories would bring Yuya nothing but pain and sorrow.
  • Scale 34 reveals why. It's because all four of them were brothers. Scale 35 even ups this by showing what really happened during the World Illusion event. It started with them excited to give their birthday presents to Yuya, then everything went to hell when the G.O.D card awakened. Yuya got knocked out after saving his brothers from a falling pillar and in turn, sent him off with the last escape pod at the cost of their own lives. They spent their last moments together by sharing a meal and throw roses while wishing Yuya happy birthday before they perished from the blast.
• Scale 38 had the Genesis Omega Dragon offering Yuya a chance of getting his normal life back, and he almost fell in despair as he thinks of how his birthday would have happened if the World Illusion hadn't happened.

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