Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX - Episode 169 " The Price of Decisiveness ! The Darkness in O ' Brien ' s Flame " is the one hundred and sixty - ninth episode of the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX " anime . It first aired in Japan on January 9 , 2008 . Summary . Trueman confronts Axel in Domino City , with Axel asking what Trueman has done with the residents of Domino . Trueman responds by saying to ask him through a Duel , and they activate their Duel Disk s . Axel activates a camera hidden in his Duel Disk to record the Duel , so a record of this incident will exist no matter the result . The Duel begins , and Trueman Summons " Dark Psycho Eye " via the effect of his " Dark Archetype " . Having received information from Jaden Yuki about Trueman ' s strategy , Axel is prepared with " Buster Trap " , which destroys a monster Special Summon ed during the Battle Phase . However , this plays right into Trueman ' s hands , as the effect of " Dark Psycho Eye " triggers upon its destruction , allowing Trueman to take control of Axel ' s " Volcanic Slicer " . This also triggers strange effects in Axel ' s mind , causing him to believe he ' s Dueling his own father , not Trueman . Prior to the Duel , Trueman had taken the memory that Axel had of his father ' s Deck , and used his dark powers to copy its contents and mix it with some of his own cards , furthering the masquerade . Trueman tells Axel to calm down and make his decisions wisely , which is something Axel ' s father had always told him . He also suggests that Axel is being calm in this Duel - like the time he left his own mother to die on a mountain . Trueman plays " Firewall " , " Flame Wall " and " Volcanic Wall " , which is a combo that Axel ' s father had once taught him during training . With this , he is able to negate direct attack s , effect damage and deal damage to Axel by sending the top cards of his Deck to the Graveyard . Axel decides to break the combo by depleting the number of Pyro - type monsters in Trueman ' s Graveyard , so that " Firewall " cannot activate . Axel Set s " Volcanic Mine " and " Switch Off " , the former would allow him to Special Summon " Bomb Token s " to Trueman ' s field , which all be destroyed if " Volcanic Doomfire " attacks , while the latter would let him negate the effect of a Continuous Spell or Trap Card like " Flame Wall " , which would let the effect damage from the destruction of the " Bomb Tokens " defeat Trueman . Trueman again makes reference to the death of Axel ' s mother . He Summons " Volcanic Queen " to Axel ' s side of the field . Axel remembers the time of the mountain , his family have crashed their van , setting the area around them on fire . Axel was the only one out of his family still conscious , and he had to choose between saving his mother or saving his father , knowing he only had time to get one of them out alive . Trueman then plays " The Unchosen One " , forcing Axel to choose between saving his " Volcanic Doomfire " or " Volcanic Queen " . He chooses " Volcanic Doomfire " , which Trueman states mirrors Axel ' s decision on the mountain - he chose to save his father , not his mother . " The Unchosen One " also thwarts Axel ' s strategy by destroying his face - down cards and Special Summons " Volcanic Queen " to Trueman ' s side of the field . The psychological effects that this decision has on Axel are profound , and he believes he should have simply let himself and both of his parents die rather than choose . Ultimately , Trueman defeats him using " Volcanic Curse " to increase the ATK of " Volcanic Queen " after Axel attacked it with " Volcanic Doomfire " . Axel is absorbed into the World of Darkness , and Trueman takes his true form again , and crushes Axel ' s Duel Disk under his feet , destroying the camera within it . It then shows both of Axel ' s parents in a mountain hut , alive and well , and reading a letter from Axel . Trueman now takes Axel ' s form and arrives at the hut , telling his parents that though his father regained consciousness and saved them all , Axel had made the decision on who to save before that had happened . Had his father not revived himself , he would have saved him and left his mother to die . Jaden arrives in Domino , trying to contact Axel via cell phone . Instead , he encounters numerous clones of Axel , who surround him . Featured Duel : Axel Brodie vs . Trueman . Turn 1 : Axel < br > Axel draws " Volcanic Slicer " and subsequently Normal Summons it ( 1800 / 1200 ) in Attack Position . He then activates the effect of " Volcanic Slicer " to inflict 500 damage to Trueman ( Trueman 4000 → 3500 ) at the cost of forbidding " Volcanic Slicer " from attacking this turn . Axel Set s a card . Turn 2 : Trueman < br > Trueman draws " Dark Archetype " and subsequently Normal Summons it ( 1400 / 400 ) in Attack Position . " Dark Archetype " attacks " Volcanic Slicer " . The latter monster then destroys " Dark Archetype " ( Trueman 3500 → 3100 ) . Since " Dark Archetype " was destroyed by battle , its effect activates , letting Trueman send " Volcanic Blaster " from his hand to the Graveyard and Special Summon " Dark Psycho Eye " ( 400 / 1100 ) in Attack Position . Axel activates his face - down " Buster Trap " to destroy " Dark Psycho Eye " and end the Battle Phase . Since " Dark Psycho Eye " was destroyed , its effect activates , letting Trueman take control of " Volcanic Slicer " . Trueman activates the effect of " Volcanic Slicer " ( Axel 4000 → 3500 ) . Trueman sets a card . On Trueman ' s End Phase , " Volcanic Slicer " returns to Axel ' s side of the field . Turn 3 : Axel < br > Axel draws . " Volcanic Slicer " attacks directly but Trueman activates his face - down " Firewall " . Now if Axel attacks directly , Trueman can remove from play a Pyro - Type monster from his Graveyard and negate the attack . During each of Trueman ' s Standby Phases , he must either pay 500 Life Points or destroy " Firewall " . Trueman activates the effect of " Firewall " by removing from play " Volcanic Blaster " from his Graveyard . Turn 4 : Trueman < br > Trueman draws an unknown Spell Card . On Trueman ' s Standby Phase , he pays 500 Life Points to keep " Firewall " in play ( Trueman 3100 → 2600 ) . He then activates " Flame Wall " . Now all Effect Damage to Trueman will become 0 while " Flame Wall " is face - up on the field . Trueman then activates " Volcanic Wall " . Now once a turn , Trueman can send the top three cards of his Deck to the Graveyard and inflict 500 damage to Axel for each Pyro - Type monster sent this way . If this effect is used , Trueman can ' t declare an attack for one turn . Trueman activates the effect of " Volcanic Wall " and he reveals his top three cards to be " Volcanic Rat " , " Volcanic Cyclone " and " Volcanic Shell " ( Axel 3500 → 2500 ) . Turn 5 : Axel < br > Axel draws " Tri - Blaze Accelerator " . Axel ' s hand contains " Switch Off " , " Big Volcano " , Volcanic Mine " , " Volcanic Doomfire " , and " Blaze Accelerator " . Axel activates " Blaze Accelerator " and sends the latter to the Graveyard in order to activate " Tri - Blaze Accelerator " . Axel then sends " Tri - Blaze Accelerator " to the Graveyard in order to Special Summon " Volcanic Doomfire " ( 3000 / 1800 ) in Attack Position . " Volcanic Slicer " and " Volcanic Doomfire " attack directly , but Trueman activates the effect of " Firewall " twice by removing from play " Volcanic Rat " and " Volcanic Shell " from his Graveyard . Axel sets two cards ( " Switch Off " and " Volcanic Mine " ) . Axel intends to activate " Volcanic Mine " to Special Summon five " Bomb Token s " to Trueman ' s side of the field . He will then activate " Switch Off " to negate the effects of " Flame Wall " until the End Phase and switch one Bomb Token to Attack Position . Once " Volcanic Doomfire " attacks and destroys the Attack Position token , the effect of " Volcanic Doomfire " will destroy the remaining Bomb Tokens and inflict 2000 damage to Trueman . Turn 6 : Trueman < br > Trueman draws . On Trueman ' s Standby Phase , he pays 500 Life Points to keep " Firewall " in play ( Trueman 2600 → 2100 ) . Trueman then Tribute s Axel ' s " Volcanic Slicer " in order to Special Summon " Volcanic Queen " ( 2500 / 1200 ) to Axel ' s side of the field in Attack Position . He then activates " The Unchosen One " to make Axel select one monster on his side of the field . The selected monster will remain on the field , but all other cards are destroyed . Axel selects " Volcanic Doomfire " , so his Set cards and " Volcanic Queen " are destroyed . Trueman then activates the second effect of " The Unchosen One " to Special Summon " Volcanic Queen " ( 2500 / 1200 ) from his Graveyard in Attack Position . Trueman then activates the effect of " Volcanic Wall " and he reveals his top three cards to be " Volcanic Hammerer " , " Bonfire " and " Volcanic Rat " ( Axel 2500 → 1500 ) . Trueman then activates the effect of " Volcanic Queen " to send " Flame Wall " to the Graveyard and inflict 1000 damage to Axel ( Axel 1500 → 500 ) . Trueman sets a card . On Trueman ' s End Phase , he takes 1000 damage as he didn ' t Tribute a monster besides " Volcanic Queen " ( Trueman 2100 → 1100 ) . Turn 7 : Axel < br > Axel draws " Volcanic Scattershot " . He then activates " Big Volcano " to send " Volcanic Scattershot " from his hand to the Graveyard and Special Summon " Volcanic Rat " ( 500 / 500 ) and " Volcanic Hammerer " ( 2400 / 1500 ) from Trueman ' s Graveyard to his side of the field . Trueman chooses for his newly summoned monsters to be summoned in Defense Position . Since " Volcanic Scattershot " was sent to the Graveyard , Trueman takes 500 damage ( Trueman 1100 → 600 ) . " Volcanic Doomfire " attacks " Volcanic Queen " ( If the attack succeeds , the second effect of " Volcanic Doomfire " will destroy all of Trueman ' s remaining monsters and inflict 500 damage for each one destroyed ) , but Trueman activates his face - down " Volcanic Curse " to increase the ATK of " Volcanic Queen " by 500 for each Pyro - type monster in both players ' Graveyard . There are currently two in Axel ' s Graveyard ( " Volcanic Queen " : 2500 → 3500 / 1200 ) . " Volcanic Queen " destroys " Volcanic Doomfire " ( Axel 500 → 0 ) . Featured cards . The following cards appeared in this episode . Cards in italics debuted here .