The fourth season of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, created by Kazuki Takahashi, was broadcast in Japan on TV Tokyo from February 18 to December 17, 2003. In the United States, the season was broadcast under the subtitle Waking the Dragons, and aired from September 11, 2004 to May 28, 2005 on Kids' WB. This season aired at the same time that the Millennium World chapters were being written, which would later become Season 5.
The season follows an original story arc in-which Dartz, using the magic of the Orichalcos stones, and his three servants – Alister, Rafael, and Valon — bring chaos to the world. Yugi, Joey, and Kaiba face off against the Orichalcos using three legendary dragon cards from the monster world.
The first 28 episodes of the season were released in three DVD volumes between December 2005 and April 2008 through Funimation. The season was fully released on DVD and digital format on March 25, 2014, through Cinedigm, after striking a deal with 4K Media Inc. The fourth season was formerly licensed by 4Kids Entertainment in North America and other English-speaking countries and territories, and was formerly distributed by FUNimation Productions, LTD. on Region 1 home video and also distributed by Warner Bros. Television Animation through US television rights, when it aired on Kids’ WB!, also in North America. It is now licensed and distributed by Konami Cross Media NY, Inc.
Between December 2005 and April 2008, Funimation Productions released the first 28 episodes of the season over three volumes of DVDs, each containing 7-9 episodes.[1][2][3][4] In late 2013, Cinedigm and 4K Media Inc. reached a distribution agreement that would result in the release of every episode from the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise on DVD and Blu-ray and to digital retailers.[5] The complete fourth season, titled Yu-Gi-Oh! Classic: Season 4, was released on March 25, 2014, on DVD.[6] It was also released in two volumes, like the previous seasons, on the same day both digitally and on DVD.[7][8]
Without Yugi by his side to support him, Yami loses faith and is losing to Weevil. Joey struggles against Rex’s enhanced deck until he uses his Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Metalmorph combo.
Joey plays Release Restraint on Gearfried the Iron Knight to summon Gearfried the Swordmaster, then fuses Hermos and Red-Eyes Black Dragon into Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword to win the duel against Rex. Meanwhile, Yami is having trouble defeating Weevil without Timaeus, who has seemingly deserted him after Yugi's sacrifice. Weevil plays a cruel trick on Yami, who responds by ruthlessly discarding monsters and attacking Weevil repeatedly with Breaker the Magical Warrior long after the duel has ended; shortly after, the train falls off the edge of a cliff...
The duel between Alister and Kaiba continues, with Alister summoning his powerful Air Fortress Ziggurat. Meanwhile, Mokuba is having trouble controlling the airplane, narrowly escaping a collision with a mountain. Eventually, Roland arrives to help out. Kaiba fuses the Fang of Critias with Tyrant Wing and Blue-Eyes White Dragon to form Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon and win the duel against Alister. Critias, Hermos and Timaeus appear and help Kaiba land the plane safely where the Pharaoh and his friends are waiting. Meanwhile, Dartz manages to buy out the rest of Kaiba's company, making him the owner of KaibaCorp.
Kaiba's company has been completely taken over by Dartz and Dartz brags to Rafael that Alister's soul was taken. Kaiba and Yami break into KaibaCorp headquarters to get info off of the company’s hard drive and end up fighting off an army of monsters. Rebecca hacks into the security system to help them out. The Seal of Orichalcos is revealed to be the symbol of the "Paradias Organization", of which Dartz is the leader. Joey runs off to Paradius headquarters to find Mai, while Tristan and Téa chase after him.