Shadow of Silence: The Pale Glimmer of a Firefly

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Template:Infobox animeShadow of Silence!? The Pale Glimmer of a Firefly was the 26th episode of the third season of the Sailor Moon anime and the 115th episode overall. It first aired in Japan on November 26, 1994. The English dub title for this episode is "The Shadow of Silence" and it first aired in North America on July 17, 2000.

Plot

In the opening scene, Setsuna meets with Chibiusa, and they reminisce on their time together in Earth's future, the Silver Millennium. Setsuna, the reincarnated Sailor Pluto, still recalls her time in the future with Small Lady but now that she lives in the present she can spend more time with Chibiusa. After Chibiusa heads home, Haruka and Michiru arrive and restate their intent: to find the dark Messiah of Silence and prevent him or her from being revived.

Chibiusa goes to see Hotaru, but is turned away by Kaorinite because Hotaru is sleeping. However, Hotaru was actually awake and heard Chibiusa downstairs. Distressed, she defies Kaorinite and runs after Chibiusa despite her frail condition. When she catches up however, she has another seizure; Chibiusa does not know what to do, but luckily, Usagi and Ami happen on the scene and the trio end up taking Hotaru to the hospital owned by Ami's mother.

As Hotaru is unconscious, we see flashbacks of her early childhood - whereby an evil force within her takes control of her sometimes during her seizures and causes her to hurt anyone who gets too close to her, including her classmates and pet goldfish. Because of these fits, Hotaru has been unable to make any friends - that is, until Chibiusa came along. Hotaru comes to, but denies Ami's request that the doctor look at her, stating that her family has instructed her never to let any outside doctors examine her. Chibiusa volunteers to walk her home, but Haruka pulls up in her convertible and gives the two little girls a lift.

Mimete meanwhile has been targeting another celebrity's pure heart crystal. As luck would have it, this very individual is located near to the street where Haruka is driving the two girls; when Mimete's daimon U-Tomodachi attacks him, Uranus senses it and pulls over. Chibiusa then senses the attack too and both leave Hotaru in the car to take on the daimon. As Uranus attacks it, Chibiusa uses Luna-P to call the Inner Senshi, then transforms and leaps into the fray herself, though she does little more than get in Uranus' way.

As they battle the daimon, Saturn begins having another seizure in the car. The inner senshi then arrive and, against such overwhelming odds, both Mimete and the Daimon flee. Mimete vanishes, while the daimon retreats on foot, heading (to Uranus/Chibi-Moon's shock) straight towards Haruka's car where Hotaru is having difficulty standing. The daimon spots her and attacks, yet a dark power surges within Hotaru and the daimon becomes paralyzed. Uranus arrives first and witnesses the display of power and Hotaru's glowing eyes, stopping in fear. As Hotaru stops and collapses, Sailor Moon and the other senshi arrive, and Sailor Moon uses the opportunity to eradicate the daimon with Rainbow Moon Heartache.

After the battle, Chibiusa (having reverted) runs to Hotaru and wakes her. However, Hotaru, realizing that a power she cannot control has come out of her again, warns Chibiusa not to visit her anymore and runs away. Uranus reverts to Haruka and echoes these sentiments to Sailor Moon, telling her to keep Chibiusa away from the strange girl, then drives off. The Inner Senshi however cluster around Chibiusa and support her friendship with Hotaru, believing that despite the mystery surrounding the frail girl, that she is ultimately a good person. Chibiusa resolves to continue being friends with Hotaru despite the danger.

Changes

Dub Changes

• In the French dub, the scene where Hotaru attacked U-Tomodachi was omitted.

First Appearances

• Characters
• Items
• Transformation phrases
• Attacks

Trivia

• This is the first time Sailor Uranus transforms back to her civilian form on-screen.
• This is the first time Hotaru's power is seen to be used offensively (as opposed to when she used it to heal Chibiusa's scrape.)
• It is revealed that Haruka knows of Hotaru's father, Souichi Tomoe. This is also the beginning of Haruka's suspicions that Hotaru may in fact be related somehow to the Death Busters' Messiah of Silence.
• This episode features an abbreviated version of Chibiusa's transformation sequence, where she merely assumes her ending pose and a series of hearts transform her uniform on the spot.

Gallery

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