As Yuri attempts to turn Sora into a card, Yugo arrives and challenges Yuri to a Duel. While a vicious battle between Yuri and Yugo unfolds, Yusho, as well as Reiji and others, manages to reach Leo, who begins to tell them about the "Demonic Duelist" who leads the world to its annihilation, as well as the Four Dimension Dragons. What is the reason that the world is divided into four dimensions?
This episode contains the following tropes:
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Zarc become who he was when the audience wanted more aggression and exciting duels. As Zarc stated he became a being of ultimate power like how the people wanted him to become.
- Big Damn Heroes: Sorry, Yuri; but you're not going to card Sora right now and Yugo would like to have a word with you.
- Blood Knight: Zarc's motive went from For Happiness to this, to the point that even after he won the championship he still wanted to continue fighting.
- Blood Sport: Horrifyingly, this is basically what dueling became in the Original Dimension. Zarc was inspired to become more violent due to the audience loving it when he accidentally injured his opponent, and other duelists copied his example.
- Call-Back: Zarc's Start of Darkness has parallels with Yuya during his duel with Duel Chaser 227.
- The Dreaded: It's heavily indicated that Zarc is this to Leo.
- Face Framed in Shadow: Downplayed since Zarc and Ray are the original of the counterparts.
- When Zarc first appeared, everything but his face was shown.
- Downplayed again with Ray whose face wasn't shown until the preview for the next episode.
- Follow the Leader: In-Universe, the Original Dimension's duelists, seeing how popular Zarc was for being brutal and violent, started to imitate his style, only for Zarc to get more violent to surpass them and meet the audience's desires.
- For Happiness: Deconstructed with Zarc. Zarc was just like Yuya and wanted to make people happy. But when he accidentally injured his opponent, the audience loved it and Zarc continued to act aggressively to keep them happy. This eventually drove him crazy.
- Foreshadowing: The below Freeze-Frame Bonus foreshadows the reveal more than ten episodes later that Zarc is afraid of losing.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: At one point, Zarc is surrounded by a ring of light with English writing on it. The text is cut off, but the readable portions are: "Your duel will be the powerful weapon. Be scared of defeat. Change the..."
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Zarc was originally a normal duelist that eventually became a god.
- Fusion Dance: Zarc fused himself with the Four Dimension Dragons to create Supreme Dragon King Zarc.
- Humans Are Bastards: While Zarc did destroy the world, it was due to the people of the original world enjoying his accidental aggression and their enjoyment of his continued aggression that he grew so twisted. Furthermore, the dragons rampage like they do out of revenge for being forced to fight other monsters by humans.
- Ironic Echo: "There are souls residing within Duel Monsters cards" is said twice, first with Leo narrating how he considered it to be just a superstition as he adapted Real Solid Vision to use with Duel Monsters, and then as he stares in horror at Zarc's rampage and realises that not only is it true, but that by doing so he filled the monsters' souls with anger and hatred over being forced to fight.
- It's Personal: Yugo hates Yuri for taking Rin that he feels that he has to defeat him.
- Madness Mantra: Once again, "We will become one!" for Yuya and his counterparts, except this time it's revealed that Zarc said it originally.
- Mr. Exposition: Leo finally explains his motives for his plan which gives the backstory for the Dragon Boys and the Bracelet Girls.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Leo's reaction when he realized his research allowed Zarc to become a monster.
- Zarc initially seems shocked when he accidentally injures his opponent, but it's quickly squashed when the audience cheers.
- Mythology Gag:
- One could draw some parallels between Ray & Zarc and the Creator God of Light Horakhty & the Great Evil God Zorc Necrophades respectively.
- Zarc like Judai and Ruka, can see and talk to Duel Monster spirits.
- A lot of monsters from the various series are shown in the flashback.
- After Zarc fused with his dragons, we see him as part of his dragon just like Yami Marik and the Winged Dragon of Ra. He also grows wings that make him resemble Vector.
- Zarc's name and role as an Evil Counterpart of the protagonist feel rather like a nod to the Red Herring in 5D's of Z-one being a future Yusei, though reversed in that Zarc came before Yuya.
- In a flashback when Leo was talking to Yusho, he was wearing the original duel disk.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: If someone else mention Zarc's name, then run.
- Nigh-Invulnerable: Being made of Hard Light, the monsters are practically immune to normal weaponry, as Zarc demonstrates when he unleashes his dragons on the Original Dimension and after he becomes Supreme Dragon King Zarc.
- Omnicidal Maniac: Zarc, who caused the original world to split into four.
- One-Winged Angel: Supreme Dragon King Zarc.
- Person of Mass Destruction: The reason giving the monsters bodies with Real Solid Vision was a terrible idea: when Zarc sics his dragons on the Original Dimension and its people, they tear the place apart with ease, and it only gets worse once he fuses with them.
- Plot Armor: Sora ends up getting unexpected rescue from Yugo, who has his personal reasons to face Yuri in a Duel.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: A shot reveals that Zarc had red awakening eyes.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: The four dimension dragons are sick of being forced to fight other monsters for the entertainment of humans and have decided to murder all of humanity as revenge with Zarc as the only exception.
- Shout-Out: Add the word "new" on this episode's title and you'll get "The Day a New Demon was Born".
- Wham Episode:
- Leo's reason for attempting to unite the Four Dimensions is finally revealed: it's because Zarc destroyed the original world he and his daughter, Ray, was from.
- The reveal that the four dimensions used to be one is a massive game-changer, completely changing the context of Leo's plans and finally answering one of the show's driving questions: why are there people across the dimensions who share faces?
- Wham Line:Zarc: We will become one!
- Wham Shot: When Zarc summoning Astrograph Magician, it cuts to Yuya's glowing Stargazer and Timegazer Magicians.note
