The Trial of the Mind, known as the Weighing of the Mind in the Japanese version, was a Shadow Game in the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga and first series anime, which Shadi used to test Dark Yugi.
Manga events
Prior events
Shadi came to Japan to put Professor Kanekura and Professor Yoshimori on trial for an excavation they carried out in the Valley of the Kings, which he saw this as trespassing on the territory of the gods. After killing Kanekura in a Weighing of the Heart Shadow Game, Shadi found the Millennium Puzzle on his desk and soon discovered it had been solved by Yugi Mutou.[1]
Shadi entered Yugi's soul room using the Millennium Key in order to test Yugi, but instead became tested by Yugi's alter-ego Dark Yugi as his search for Dark Yugi's true soul room has turned into a Shadow Game. Shadi lost the Shadow Game, but was spared by Dark Yugi, who said that their game had really only just begun. When he left Yugi's soul room, he learned that Yugi was unaware of Dark Yugi's existence and returned the Millennium Puzzle to him.[2]
Shadi prepared to put Yoshimori on trial later that day. However after entering his soul room, Shadi learned that Yoshimori was expecting a visit from a group of people, including Yugi. Shadi saw this as his chance to test Yugi and planned a Shadow Game, involving using Yoshimori as an instrument.[3]
The game
Setup
Shadi used his Marionette Design to redecorate Yoshimori's soul room, turning him into a zombie with the intention of making Yugi's friends suffer.[3][4]
Anzu suspended on the board by the ushebti.
Yugi, Sugoroku, Anzu and Jonouchi visited Yoshimori in his laboratory at Domino University, hoping to comfort him after Kanekura's death. They were greeted by the zombified Yoshimori and suspected something was up when he claimed that someone killed Kanekura. Yoshimori then tried to strangle Jonouchi, which Shadi suspected would cause Dark Yugi to emerge.[3] Unable to pull Yoshimori off Jonouchi, Anzu grabbed a globe and walloped him in the face, knocking out three of his teeth and causing him to let go.[4]
As Yoshimori proceeded to chase Yugi and his friends, Shadi thought that possessing Yoshimori alone might not be enough and decided to redecorate Anzu's soul room too.[4]
Yoshimori knocked Sugoroku out and was then lured out of the room by Jonouchi. With everyone else gone, Shadi showed Yugi that he had possessed Anzu. Shadi ordered Dark Yugi to come out and explained that Anzu will only do what he commands her and will even die if he gives the order. With that Dark Yugi appeared.[4]
Everything Shadi needed to set up the game was in the laboratory and he instructed Dark Yugi to meet him on the roof in ten minutes at eight o'clock.[5]
While Shadi and Dark Yugi prepared for the game, Jonouchi was still being chased by Yoshimori. He tried punching him in the face to try and snap him back to normal, but only knocked out more of Yoshimori's teeth.[4]
Shadi suspended a board over the edge of the roof of the university, by tying four ropes to it and stringing them through a fence, where they were tied to ushebti on the opposite side. He stood Anzu on the board and had her hand touch the ropes. A fifth ushebti was tied to the Millennium Key, which the other four ropes ran though. When Dark Yugi arrived, Shadi explained that the four ushebti holding up the board represented Dark Yugi's heart, and would break if a weakness in Dark Yugi's heart was detected. If the four of them would break, Anzu would fall to her death. He explained that the fifth ushebti represented his own heart, and if it broke, the Millennium Key would slide along the ropes to Anzu's hand; if she touches it, she would return to normal. During the explanation, fear was detected in Dark Yugi's heart, causing one of the ushebti to break.[5]
Stage 1: Hell Quiz
Stage 1
For the first stage of the Shadow Game, the ground cracked as corpses emerged and began grabbing Dark Yugi. The corpses were just an illusion and Dark Yugi needed to find their true nature to pass the stage. Shadi gave him the riddle, "What creeps on the ground and clings to the pillars?" as a hint to find out what the illusion really was.[5]
Although Dark Yugi knew that the corpses were an illusion, he couldn't break free from it. He tried to relax and find the answer the riddle, hoping that would make the illusion go away. He figured that the corpses were what creeps on the ground and he was the pillar. He tried looking at it the other way around, thinking of a pillar and wondering what comes off of it onto the ground. He realized that the answer was a Shadow and that the illusion's true nature was his own shadow. Once he announced this the illusion disappeared.[5]
Stage 2: Concentration or Death
Stage 2
A large hole appeared in the ground near Dark Yugi and Ammit's hands and head emerged. She grabbed onto Dark Yugi's arms and opened her mouth wide over his body.[5] Although Ammit was another illusion, but her bite would still kill Dark Yugi. Shadi explained that Ammit's least meal was Kanekura's soul, causing Dark Yugi to realize that Shadi was the one who killed Kanekura. In order to dispel the illusion of Ammit, Dark Yugi had to clear the stage by playing "Concentration or Death".[6]
A 3×3 grid of stone plates labeled with question marks appeared before Dark Yugi. Shadi compared the tablets to the game concentration, where players attempt to find matching cards on a surface of face-down cards by turning over two at a time. Dark Yugi pointed out that such a game would require an even number of plates, but there were nine in this game. Shadi explained that there is an extra plate in the middle, and Dark Yugi must name the picture on it without turning over any of the nine plates. Dark Yugi was told that the plates are a mirror of Ammit and that he has fives minutes to solve the puzzle before Ammit closes her jaws on him.[6]
Dark Yugi tried to concentrate, but he thought there wasn't enough clues and found it hard to think straight as he was too scared. One of the ushebti started to crack. Remembering that if shows weakness, the ushebti supporting Anzu would break, he vowed to save her, even it costs his life and promised that he'd solve the puzzle no matter what.[6]
In his last minute, Dark Yugi ran the puzzle by himself again; there are nine plates, the one in the middle is the puzzle and all of them are a mirror of Ammit. Since a mirror reflects a person's form and this was a game of concentration, he deduced that, eight of the plates represented four pairs of things Ammit had and the remaining one was something she had only one of. Ammit had two ears, eyes, nostrils and hands. In the last second, he called out that the answer was "mouth". The nine plates flipped over, revealing images of the body parts Yugi mentioned, with the mouth in the middle. With that, Ammit, the plates and the holes in the floor all vanished.[6]
While Dark Yugi was playing Concentration or Death, Jonouchi was still being chased by Yoshimori. He led Yoshimori to a room for a fight, but sprayed him with a fire extinguisher. However Yoshimori knocked the extinguisher out of his hand and pushed him out the fourth story window. Jonouchi managed to grip onto the side of the building and saw Anzu on the board up above.[6]
Stage 3: Game of Death
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Stage 3
Shadi congratulated Dark Yugi on passing the first two stages and still having three of his ushebti intact, but vowed to make them all shatter in the next game. Dark Yugi started to think about what he could do to make Shadi's ushebti break and wondered if Shadi had any weaknesses.[7]
For the final stage, the "Game of Death", Shadi created an illusion of Jonouchi who still had his bully persona, having caught a glimpse of him like this from Yugi's memories, when he visited his soul room. Jonouchi took the Millennium Puzzle from Dark Yugi and the ground around them disappeared creating a bottomless pit. The rules were each player took turns tossing the Millennium Puzzle and their opponent moved two floor tiles in the direction that the puzzle landed pointing.[7]
Although Dark Yugi was sure that this Jonouchi was another illusion, he worried that there was still a chance it could be the real Jonouchi, possessed like Yoshimori and Anzu. He tried talking Jonouchi out of playing the game, but Jonouchi taunted Yugi about caring so much for the Millennium Puzzle. For a split second Yugi regained control of his body and wept, causing two ushebti to break.[7]
Jonouchi went first and caused Dark Yugi to move two spaces back. To Shadi's surprise, Dark Yugi refused to take his turn, saying he didn't want to play this game with Jonouchi. Jonouchi rolled again, sending Dark Yugi two more spaces in the direction of the pit, such that he was on the edge of their platform. Jonouchi offered Yugi his next turn, reminding him that if he might land in the pit next turn. Once again, Dark Yugi passed.[7]
Shocked, Shadi asked why Dark Yugi was throwing the game and if it was because he admits defeat. Dark Yugi said that it wasn't defeat, but trust in his friend. Shadi insisted that Dark Yugi had lost because he was unable to defeat his past and that Dark Yugi's excessive trust was the weakness he was testing in this stage. Shadi said that trust is more easily broken than ushebti and friendship is nothing but weak hearts clinging together for solace. He claimed that true strength of the heart is the ability to believe in yourself and had Dark Yugi sent his friend to the pit, he would have gained that strength.[7]
Shadi ordered the illusion of Jonouchi to throw the puzzle one last time. However Jonouchi stood still and the illusion vanished. Dark Yugi explained that there is no past or present with friendship and if you trust your friends they will trust you.[7]
Endgame
The last rope supporting Anzu began to break under its pressure. However Jonouchi, having climbed up the side of the building held onto the board to support it. Shadi was astonished to see Dark Yugi and his friends supporting each other, without hesitation and his ushebti began to crack. Dark Yugi explained that true strength of the heart cannot be gained alone; the power to trust your friends is the true strength of the heart.[7] Shadi's ushebti then shattered, causing the Millennium Key to slide down to Anzu's hand, causing her to return to normal.[8]
Anzu was surprised to find herself standing over the side of a building and screamed in terror. Below her, Jonouchi urged her to get back onto the building, as he couldn't hold her up much longer and the zombie Yoshimori was coming. Anzu began walking back to the roof, but Jonouchi lost his grip and the board fell out of place. However Dark Yugi arrived in time to catch Anzu's hand and pull her onto the building. Unaware of Dark Yugi's existence, Anzu was surprised to see Yugi acting this way. With Yoshimori tugging at Jonouchi's leg, Dark Yugi instructed Jonouchi to make him touch the Millennium Key. Jonouchi was also surprised by Yugi's different attitude, but complied and Yoshimori was returned to normal.[8]
Dark Yugi, Anzu, Jonouchi and Yoshimori climbed back over the fence onto the roof, where they met up with Sugoroku who had regained his consciousness.[8]
Aftermath
Shadi accepted his defeat and said that while he had used a number of illusions to test Yugi, it had seemed to him that the image of friends trusting and helping each other was an illusion. Dark Yugi also realized that the Millennium Puzzle also has the power of unity: like with friends, its pieces bind together to become undefeatable power.[8]
The rest of Yugi's friends faced Shadi, and Jonouchi warned him not to come back. Shadi agreed to leave, and said that although he was beaten he was happy; his bloodline had been searching for a long time for someone like Yugi, who may be the one able to "open that door".[8]
Jonouchi and Anzu decided to approach Yugi about how he had been acting different, but Dark Yugi had returned control of the body to regular Yugi. Yoshimori thanked everyone for coming to see him, but couldn't remember what happened. Jonouchi tried blaming Anzu for all of his lost teeth.[8]
As Shadi left the university, the board Anzu was standing on vanished and the Millennium Key dropped from the side of the building to his hand. As he caught it, he said to himself, "Goodbye, Yugi... We'll meet again!"[8]
Anime events
 | This section is currently incomplete. |
References
- ↑ Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel 13: "The Man from Egypt (Part 1)"
- ↑ Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel 14: "The Man from Egypt (Part 2)"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel 15: "The Other Criminal"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel 16: "Shadi's Challenge"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel 17: "Game Start!"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel 18: "Second Stage"
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel 19: "Final Stage"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel 20: "Game Over"