The "Desert River of Oblivion" is a river that was guarded by Sailor Lethe. The "Desert River of Memory" is a river guarded by Sailor Mnemosyne. Together they form the outer defences of the Galaxy Cauldron at Sagittarius Zero Star. They are rivers of sand which can be turned to water to ensnare their victims. The first has the power to make people lose their memories and forget everything while the later has the power to return memories.
Nomenclature & Etymology[]
Lethe is one of the 5 Rivers of Hades in Greek Mythology and together form the outer most perimeter of the underworld. Travellers would typically travel deeper inside with the help of the ferryman Charon. The souls of the dead would drink from the river so they do not remember their previous lives when they are reincarnated.
Mnemosyne was a titan in Greek mythology and mother of the Muses. In Hades, she presides over a pool which had effects opposite of Lethe and restored memory and would stop the reincarnation process.
The desert rivers in Sailor Moon are named after what the names of their keepers literally mean in Greek. Lethe means "Oblivion" or "Forgetfulness" and Mnemosyne is related to the word mnēmē which means "Remembrance" or "Memory". The Eternal Edition translation calls it's river "Forgetfulness" using the synonym.
Manga[]
Immediately inside the Gates to the Zero Star lies this arid desert. It is watched over by a cloaked woman aboard a ferry in the sand who introduces herself as "Lethe" and rows outsiders across. She has the ability to make the sand surrounding the boat turn into water making those aboard fall into the river.
The strength of the memory-loss effect the river has on those who fall in varies from individual to individual. This part of the story is shown through Usagi's point of view so her experience is the most detailed.
After falling into the river, Usagi awakes at the bottom in a dream-like world where she is in her Juban High School uniform on a swing-set. She doesn't know where she is or how she got there. Sailor Lethe is there and tests her memory and finds the little she can remember is extremely vague. She can't remember Mamoru, the cats, or anything about herself but she retains her personality and her principles. The real deaths of Luna, Artemis, and Diana bother her but they do not trigger her memories to return. Even being attacked does not trigger their return. They do not start to return until Lethe tells her "You came here to lose everything" which she strongly disagreed with and knew the opposite was true. She fully regains her memories when Sailor Lethe and Sailor Mnemosyne both call her by her name, "Sailor Moon".
With her memories back, Sailor Moon transforms to find herself underwater in the river with her fellow guardians asleep nearby. Sailor Moon notices them and thinks "Everyone?!" which causes Sailor Chibi Chibi to open her eyes and immediately join Sailor Moon to the surface suggesting she was the least affected of the river's victims. The others have to be magically carried out of the river by Sailor Mnemosyne. Out of the river, Princess Kakyuu awakens but does not have her memory or regain it when her name is called. She has to drink from the Desert River of Memory to return to her normal self. The Sailor Starlights are the most strongly affected and remain asleep and never awaken or regain their memories no matter how much their names are called or what happens to their sleeping bodies.
Musicals[]
In Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon – Le Mouvement Final – a sequence occurs at the river where Sailor Moon loses her memory and Sailor Lead Crow and Sailor Aluminum Siren play roles vaguely similar to the ones Sailor Lethe and Sailor Mnemosyne respectively did in the manga.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This encounter is the start of Sailor Moon's Katabasis, or journey to the Underworld. These are common in Greek Myths and in this case Lethe plays the part of the ferryman Charon.