ARC-V started as a positive and light-hearted series but quickly showed it's true nature in a series of wham episodes and this has only continued as the show progressed.
Season 1:
- Episode 7: Prior to this episode, ARC-V was a semi-comedic story about Yuya trying to figure out his Pendulum monsters and other people trying to get them or learn more about them, so this episode comes completely out of the left field. Out of nowhere, the Monster of the Week gets attacked by a mysterious masked figure who may or may not know Yuzu, the duel causes real damage (established as impossible out of an Action Duel), reintroduces Xyz Summoning, starts interrogating said villain about an organisation nobody ever heard of, turns out to be an Identical Stranger to Yuya, and then gets teleported by what was previously a simple bracelet nobody paid any thought to. Both Yuzu and the audience were completely baffled after all this, but it became obvious there was a lot going on under the surface.
- Episode 13: In which Akaba Reiji busts out Pendulum monsters out of nowhere.
- The 30s episodes are pretty much one Wham Episode after another, and each raises the ante more and more from the one before. By the time Episode 40 hits, arguably the entire tone and plot of the series has undergone a major shift, and you'll look back at Episode 30 and realize "wait, everything that just happened was in the span of 10 episodes?"
- 33/34. Sora and Kurosaki have a brutal duel that obliterates the Action Field, and throughout the duel, references are made to how Sora's people invaded Kurosaki's home, with Sora revealing his true colours as an Ax-Crazy psycho. When the duel ends, Sora is injured by the falling rubble of the Action Field, and the crowd is left in stunned silence at what they just witnessed.
- 36. Sora is transported back to his dimension, which revealed Academia is the enemy that Yuto and Kurosaki have been fighting. There are alternative universes based on the advanced summoning they use and they are at war with each other because of, Leo Akaba, Reiji's father. Then at the end, Yugo appears on his D-Wheel to challenge Yuto.
- Episode 37: Yugo is revealed to be independent from Academia and to have lost someone precious to him. Yuto is defeated by Yugo and dies, entrusting his Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon to Yuya. And Yuri, the Fusion Dimension's equivalent to Yuya, Yuto and Yugo, is sent after Yuzu by the Professor.
- Episode 39: Yuya seems to fuse spiritually with Yuto, unleashing a fearsome and destructive personality with Glowing Eyes of Doom who summons Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon and absolutely demolishes Isao Kachidoki in an OTK. The episode ends with the audience and Yuya's friends became horrified (with Tatsuya and Futoshi giving a "What the Hell, Hero?" reaction) at his winning move, and not only Yuya himself having no idea what happened, but also beginning to question himself for breaking his ideals.
Season 2:
- Episode 67: All of Reira's backstory is one, and it shows just how far Reiji and Himika are willing to go to stop the Professor.
- The 70s episodes are shaping up to be another series of Whams in their own right:
- Episode 71: Yuya falls into his Superpowered Evil Side once again in his Duel against Duel Chaser 227. He quickly returns to normal, but continues to be aggressive, going so far as to ram 227 right off his bike.
- Episode 72: Yuya and Yugo appear to synchronize with one another, sharing a mind and their skills to win over Sawatari.
- Episode 73: Amid the backstory on Sergey Volkov, it's now all but confirmed that Roget is originally from the Fusion Dimension.
- Episode 74: Dennis finally reveals himself as an agent of Academia, though this is mitigated somewhat. See Wham Shot.
- Episode 75: After more than fifty episodes of speculation, Ruri Kurosaki makes her debut appearance at last. Furthermore the episode has a lot of important information given that a lot of viewers overlooked due to all the violence: Yuya's Superpowered Evil Side outside of a duel and then brings himself out of it without hurting anyone, the Resistance is organized enough to have a small village of people living in tents, the council outright says that they're more concerned with keeping the status quo and don't want to enter the war, and the entire Heartland invasion might have been nothing more than a distraction to kidnap Ruri. Much of which is overshadowed on the first viewing by the violence, but this episode has a lot it reveals to the audience.
- Episode 76: Roget stages a coup and take controls of the City from the Council. While he is from the Fusion Dimension, he is not a part of Academia, and seeks to create his own kingdom to rule in the Synchro Dimension. Sora sends Dennis home to the Fusion Dimension, and Leo begins making plans for Barrett to lead Obelisk Force in an invasion of the Synchro Dimension.
- Episode 77: Sergey throws Yuzu off the building by ramming her D-Wheel at the end of their duel, leaving the audience, the Lancers, Yugo, and especially Yuya, horrified. Note that this is not the first time we've seen such intense violence, but it is the first time said violence wasn't caused by Solid Vision, which is specifically stated to have safety precautions. Sora getting crushed by a building is survivable because the system doesn't let him be hit with lethal force, but Yuzu is going to feel the full impact of that crash.
- Episode 78: Sora saves Yuzu. It's an in-universe Wham Shot to Yuya to see Sora again, especially holding Yuzu's helmet.
- Episode 79: Yuya Synchro Summons Enlightenment Paladin without his Superpowered Evil Side, catching Roget's attention as a result.
- Episode 80: Sora's reason for his actions in Episode 78? Because Yuya and Yuzu are his Only Friends. He also began having doubts about Academia's Evil Plan.
- Episode 86: Reira saves Serena and Reiji reveals he could have escaped anytime but was waiting for the right time. He essentially destroyed Roget's plan by having all the Lancers, excluding Yuya, and Yuzu underground away from Roget's reach, but Roget forces Yuya and Crow to duel right away to speed up his plans.
- Episode 87: Yuya and his three counterparts synchronize and their Superpowered Evil Side kicks in.
- Episode 98: Yuya wins against Jack, and then out of nowhere Sora shows up on live TV an announces that he and Tsukikage were defeated by Roget, who is planning on using Yuzu as a bargaining chip to get back into the Professor's good graces. Then the room Sora is in explodes, and furthermore Roget is destroying his entire HQ and trapped all of his subordinates inside.
Season 3:
- Episode 119: We finally see Ruri outside of a flashback! And she's brainwashed just like Rin- wait, she broke out of it on her own? And the Doktor has more plans for her?
- Episode 120: Did they just CARD CROW?
- Episode 122: For some reason the Professor needs Yuya dead for his plans to work.
- Episode 126: Possibly the greatest wham since the series began. The four dimensions used to be one, Leo's plan is all for the aim of recreating that original dimension, and the original dimension was destroyed by a duelist called Zarc when he went mad and fused himself with the four dragons that Yuya and his counterparts have.
- Episode 127: Continuing episode 126, this episode reveals that Ray and Zarc are indeed the original forms of the Bracelet Girls and Dragon Boys. Leo created four cards that use the force of nature to defeat Zarc but before he could use them, Ray, his daughter, stole them to save his life. The cards became the four bracelets and not only stopped Zarc but split him, Ray and the Dimension into four. Leo reveals his plan is to revive Ray by carding the citizens of Xyz Dimension to gather enough life energy to fuse the four dimensions into the Original Dimension.
- Episode 128: Yusho realizes that he doesn't have any memories of Yuya's birth or even Yoko's pregnancy and realizes that Zarc placed Yuya as his son for his revival. Leo reveals that his Deck is filled with Pendulum Cards of his own, which raises questions concerning the summoning method's true origins. The end of the episode has Yuya summoned a demonic fusion monster as Zarc starts to take control of Yuya's body.
- Episode 135: Despite Yuya beating Yuri, Zarc was able to take over Yuya's body at the last second. Zarc was able to absorb all of the Dragon Boys and revive his Dragon Form. Leo may have started the fusion of dimensions but Ray isn't reviving.
- Episode 140: Ray is able to duel Zarc because Reira allowed her into his body. Ray using the Four Nature Cards was able to destroy Supreme King Dragon Zarc weakening Zarc's grasp on Yuya. Yuya with the help of Yuzu's words was able to free himself temporary so Ray and Reira could defeat him once and for all. But as Zarc's spirit exited Yuya's body Ray and Reira sealed him inside of them.
- Episode 141: While the Four Dimensions have been recreated due to Ray's victory over Zarc, Standard, now called "Pendulum Dimension", is suffering from a mix of Fake Memories and Laser-Guided Amnesia towards the dimension wars to the point forgetting Yuzu, her counterparts, or even Yuya's. Reiji, Himika and Yusho are trying to get Yuya to remember so he can save Reira who has been turned into a baby.
- Episode 145: Turns out that Yuya had his other three counterparts and the Four Dimensional Dragons with him all along. As for Yuzu and her counterparts, they're Not Quite Dead, as Leo theorized.
- Episode 146: When Yuya summoned the Four Dimension Dragons during his third Duel against Jack, their roars are not out of rage, but out of fear towards Ray.
