This week, Usagi has discovered the true balm for misery–friends, video games, and a vacation. Yes, the upcoming trip to the moon looms on the horizon (that was a great pun, you have to admit), and Usagi is eager to learn the rest of the story of her past.

The others are preparing in their own way: Ami by researching, Rei by quoting the omens, Mako by being energetic, and Minako by being mysteriously knowledgable and unwilling to share that knowledge. When the moon is full, they transform and fly up to the surface of the moon, and the ruins of their former kingdom.

They end up at Moon Castle, because somebody didn’t pay the Naming Bureau again this week (I guess I should be glad it’s not called Castle D), in the crystal prayer room. There, the Senshi combine their efforts to pull a sword from a stone, though it’s ultimately Venus who gets it. They release the hologram/ghost of Queen Serenity, Usagi’s past-life mother and the apparent source of her love for gravity-defying dresses. She recalls to them their idyllic time on the Moon before the coming of “pure evil.”

The translation here is really shoddy, but fortunately it’s not too hard to follow, since we know most of this already. Except for…wait, Princess Serenity committed suicide? Over Endymion’s dead body? What?

And she leaves her mother and guardians to seal the evil away, but only after it wiped out life on the moon and on Earth, too. I…wait…what? That’s not romantic or tragic, Crystal. That’s awful. Or have you forgotten:

She said prettier, not dead.

When asked about the Silver Crystal, the Queen only says that it still belongs to Usagi. Queen Serenity also points out that this time, they’re all human and live on earth, just like Princess Serenity longed to do. When she fades, the Senshi resolve to discover the deeper meaning of their humanity and connection to the Earth and the moon.

Deep in the Dark Kingdom, the Four Kings are regaining their memories too, despite Queen Beryl and Queen Metalia’s wishes. I am very, very happy with this turn of events. They’ve spent the season denying the Kings any semblance of personality, so at least now we can attribute it to their lost memories and not inept writing. They were once Endymion’s knights, much like the Senshi were Serenity’s.

Unfortunately, Beryl catches them and returns them to ignorance, and they resume trying to destroy Tokyo. This time, they begin to freeze it. The Senshi appear, and Sailor Moon’s conversation goes like this:

Usagi: You’re trying to turn Tokyo into the North Pole?

Kunzite: Yep.

Usagi: ‘Kay. Where’s Mamoru? Is he okay?

SIGH.

The other Senshi, having more sense (geddit?), face off against their opposites until Venus informs them of the Kings/Knights tragic past. They were each in love with one of the knights, which is super convenient, and also erases the Kunzite/Zoisite romance I loved from the original. (Canon, not just wishful thinking. They had to turn Zoisite into a woman in the American dub to make it acceptable.) So that explains the “deeper meaning.” The Senshi immediately refuse to fight, and Sailor Moon has to step in to stop the brainwashed Knights from destroying the ladies. She also shoots up into the sky and heals all of Tokyo.

This snaps the Senshi out of it, and they recall their sacred duty to protect the princess, over and above their own feelings. They attack and drive off the Knights with a combined attack. But their victory is short-lived, for Queen Beryl has succeeded in brainwashing a new champion, Tuxedo Mask/Endymion/Mamoru himself (him selves?).

Next week: Endymion should see a doctor about all these memory problems.