Episode 14 Conclusion and Commencement (a.k.a) The power of Christ compels you!

We are finally reaching the end of the Dark Kingdom story arc and man, have the writers taken some liberties. But I suppose it all worked in the end.

We are back at the north pole with Sailor Moon awakening to her princess powers. She pours all of her strength into defeating Metallia, only wavering for a moment. With her princess powers, Luna's prayers, and the final wishes of her dead comrades, she's able to shoot a lunar kamahamaya wave right into Metallia's face.

With her power exerted, her transformation brooch breaks and she collapses. It takes one of Mamoru's magical kisses to bring her back and the two share an embrace and vow to never be apart.

Ah, but then Sailor Moon finally asks the right question. "Where is everyone?" Despite the fact that she gave little thought to them, she now realizes that it's only her and dear old Mamo-chan in the frozen landscape.

Mamoru, upon seeing her panic, volunteers his services to find her friends. Somehow, he gained clairvoyance powers and is able to scan the earth just by touching it concentrating a bit. Because Usagi is holding his hand, she can see the earth as well.

The earth has taken it's toll from Metallia's attacks. plant life is dead, people are probably dead, and cities are in the beginning stages of ruin. After seeing all that, they finally locate the remaining senshi and the fact that they have sacrificed themselves in the fight to said their world.

Usagi is devastated, but her devastation is short lived when Luna contacts her from the moon and asks her to come there.

Using the newly formed moon stick, she and Mamoru transport to Moon Castle to see that the power of the crystal has restored the castle to its former glory.Now, Sailor Moon has the chance to become the new Queen of the moon.

Usagi declines, stating that her place is on earth with her family and the man she loves. Queen Selenety's hologram gives her blessing and Usagi is given a new brooch in which to harness the power of the Silver Crystal and become powerful enough to save the world.

The Moon Healing Escalation spell gains interplanetary range and the earth is healed. People start to wake up, plants begin to grow, and cities are restored.

As the episode nears its end, the senshi wake up back on earth and share a tearful reunion. The girls settle into peaceful days. That is, until Rei gets a glimpse of something in her sacred fire while meditating.

We end with Usagi and Mamoru meeting in the park and sharing a moment when suddenly a vortex opens up in the sky! In drops my second most hated character in all Sailor Moon-dom, Chibi-friggin-usa. The three share an awkward threesome before a heated introduction results in Chibi-Usa pointing a gun at Usagi's forehead.

So I'm done gushing about the art as they continue to step up their game. I'm super stoked that we get a look at Luna's human form while she's immersed in praying. This does however, go against the fact that Luna's human appearance was a projection given to her by Sailor Moon in accordance to a wish, and not so much as a result of hardcore prayer.

Speaking of prayer, it's crazy that it was the prayer of a cat and the dead senshi that ultimately won the day. In the five minutes of battle, it all came down to prayer to amplify the power of the Silver Crystal. Underlying message much?

I won't hash (again) about how the other senshi were kicked to the wayside to focus more on Usagi and Mamoru's "destined" relationship. But I will say how disappointed I was in the final fight. The writers and animators had done so well in making the fight sequences less stand-off-ish only to end with a stand-off.

My last qualm is the Moon Healing Escalation spell. Before it could only hit a sing target, then a city, now she can heal a whole planet? How far will they take it? The fact that it's being elevated so much will only make it more unbelievable when it fails. And it will fail.

And what about the people. No one is going to ask what the heck just happened? The streets are filled with people simultaneously back from the dead and no one will inquire further. But I guess with Dark Kingdom running about, they've gotten used to odd occurrences and the occasional memory loss.

Anyway, we are heading straight into the second story arc for Sailor Moon where we'll get to see Chibi-Usa make life a living hell for everyone around her with her secrets and lies and overall bad attitude. On the upside, you know that Sailor Pluto is coming!