“A powerful, evil energy is about to be unleashed into the world. And we're the only ones who can stop it. Oh sacred light of the moon, give us the strength to succeed in this fight. Sailor Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Mars. No matter what happens...we'll always be together.”
— Usagi Tsukino
(DiC Episode: "Day Of Destiny"note )
Luna and Artemis tell the Guardians they need to go to the North Pole so they can confront Beryl and defeat her once and for all. But with her Heavenly Kings slain and her great ruler in the cusp of awakening, the Dark Queen summons her strongest monsters to grant her hated foes their death sentences.
Tropes for this episode include:
- Adaptational Jerkass: In the DiC dub, during the group transformation sequence, Artemis was rather skeptical about Serena being able to handle herself compared to the others and snarked about her having a "klutz attack" that'll keep her safe from the bad guys. In the original, he and Luna explain that the Guardians will use Sailor Teleport to reach D-Point and give them their blessings for victory against Queen Beryl.
- Bowdlerise: The DiC adaptation removes the Scouts' deaths, and splices this episode and the next one into one singular episode ("Day of Destiny"). Their deaths are changed to the girls being "captured" instead.
- Call-Back: The DD girls take the form of Tuxedo Mask, Motoki, and Urawa. Motoki's illusion stops Jupiter in her tracks right when she's about to attack.
- Casual Danger Dialogue: While being electrocuted, Mercury protests about being called a pig.
- Cliffhanger: As Sailor Moon gains the resolve to fight and runs towards the Dark Kingdom's entrance, Endymion awakens from his brainwashing chamber ready to fight his ex-lover.
- Continuity Nod:
- The reason why the cats aren't going along is that they got injured in the previous episode.
- Mercury smiles at the illusion of Urawa, remembering their brief bond.
- Darkest Hour: One of the darkest in the series. By the end of the episode, Sailor Moon's friends are dead, leaving her to face Beryl. Then Endymion awakes, meaning she has more baggage to contend with once she reaches the base.
- Deconstruction: The Sailor Guardians' drawn-out attacks isn't very effective fighting tactic when you have an enemy who doesn't care and attacks anyway.
- Dub-Induced Plot Hole: A minor example in the DiC dub. Despite re-editing and combining this episode with the next one to avoid showing the deaths of the Sailor Scouts and instead having them getting captured by the Negaverse, the scene where their ghosts comfort Sailor Moon was included in the episode's Sailor Says segment.
- Dub Name Change: The DD Girls become the "Doom & Gloom Girls" in the DIC version.
- Dwindling Party: The party slowly is left to just Sailor Moon at the end and she is barely keeping herself up from losing all her friends.
- Elite Mooks: The DD Girls are regarded as Dark Kingdom's greatest warriors. Along with their various powers and effective teamwork, they manage to accomplish what the Four Generals and their youma have failed to do in dealing with the Sailor Guardians.
- Exposed to the Elements: Subverted at first when Sailor Moon goes to the artic North and is shivering in her sailor uniform. None of her friends are bothered by the cold and Moon soon gets over it after meeting the DD Girls.
- Fade to White: On each Guardian's death, there's a brief shot of them in their normal attire before they vanish into whiteness.
- Fan Edit: In 2022, A de-bowdlerised version of the DiC version was released, becoming "Day Of Destiny: Part 1", with the tragic deaths of the Sailor Scouts included.
- Genre Blindness: Even with her friends warning her that the Dark Kingdom would use "Tuxedo Mask" as bait to kill her, Sailor Moon can't help but run to save him.
- Get a Hold of Yourself, Woman!: Mercury smacks Moon when the latter rambles about giving the crystal to Beryl.
- Go Out with a Smile: Both Jupiter and Mars do this just before they die in front of Sailor Moon.
- Godzilla Threshold: With the resurrection of Queen Metallia being so close, Queen Beryl orders her greatest monsters to greet the Sailor Guardians and send them to hell.
- The Hero Dies: By the end of this episode, all of the Inner Guardians die via a Heroic Sacrifice so that Sailor Moon can finish off Beryl once and for all.
- Heroic BSoD: Sailor Moon starts suffering this for the rest of the episode after Sailor Jupiter dies, as it sinks in that her friends can and will sacrifice their lives for her. She only snaps out of it when their ghosts comfort her and remind her she's not alone, and never will be.
- Heroic Sacrifice:
- Sailor Mercury willingly stays behind to rout the DD girls and stop their illusionary powers. She pays for it with her life, but destroys their ability to cast illusions.
- Sailor Venus pushes Moon out of the way of an ambush, leading to her suffering a High-Voltage Death.
- Sailor Mars refuses to let Sailor Moon help her fight the DD Girls. She goes alone, knowing she won't return alive.
- Heroic Second Wind: After Mars's death, Sailor Moon takes a moment to mourn her friends and hoping that it's all just a dream. Thankfully, her friends appear as ghosts and give her the motivation to keep moving forward.
- High-Voltage Death: All of the Inner Guardians are fatally electrocuted with the DD Girls' lightning meant for Sailor Moon. But just before Sailor Jupiter dies, she summons Supreme Thunder to take two of them down with her.
- Hope Spot:
- Tuxedo Mask appears, not brainwashed and supposedly begging Sailor Moon for help. Since she's been worried he's dead and brainwashed, Moon runs to him with tears in her eyes. The girls dogpile her because it's Too Good to Be True. They're right; Tuxedo Mask is an illusion the DD Girls created to ambush the Guardians.
- Just as Moon thinks Mars is dead, a burst of fire comes out from the ice mountain where they fought her. She lights up and calls out her friend's name. Then she hears Mars screaming, and the last DD Girl comes out holding an unconscious Sailor Mars by the hair. Mars then uses the last of her strength to finish off the DD girl.
- Hostage For Macguffin: Subverted; Sailor Moon offers to trade the crystal for Venus's life. The DD Girls gleefully inform her that they'll kill all the Guardians and take the crystal from their corpses.
- If We Get Through This…: Before leaving to fight, each of the girls express interest in getting their First Kiss or finding some type of romance after the battle is over.
- In the Dreaming Stage of Grief: Sailor Moon is sitting alone in the snow after all four of the other Inner Guardians die one by one, each sacrificing themselves for her. She tells herself that she is only dreaming, and when she wakes up everyone will be there and tell her good morning.
- Ironic Echo:
- Before leaving to D-Point, Rei yells at Usagi for insisting that she should kiss Yuichirou in case anything bad happens. Her last words before her death are admitting that Usagi was right.
- And before she goes to fight the last DD Girls, Sailor Mars tells Moon that she really enjoyed arguing with her just in case "something bad happens".
- Kid Hero: Deconstructed trope; Sailor Moon isn't emotionally ready to handle the trauma of losing her friends so suddenly. She's still a teenager whose biggest worries were getting good grades, not seeing her best friends be brutalized by heartless monsters.
- Kill It with Fire: After delivering her Pre-Mortem One-Liner, Mars uses Fire Soul to burn the final two DD Girls alive.
- Mess on a Plate: Usagi makes the effort to create a homecooked curry meal for her family just before her final mission. It ends up being too spicy to eat and Shingo doesn't think it looks edible.
- Mood Whiplash:
- The beginning of the episode has Usagi eating curry with her family and making hijinks with her friends. By the end of the episode every one of her friends are dead and she is facing down a planet-scale threat alone.
- The last scene for Sailor Moon features her finding the resolve to continue fighting for the sake of her friends. It then cuts to inside Dark Kingdom where Prince Endymion awakens, ready to face off against her.
- Mutual Kill:
- Jupiter takes out two DD girls with electric attacks as they do the same to her.
- Venus conducts a Crescent Beam at point-blank range, blowing up the DD girl tethering her underground as it gives her a High-Voltage Death.
- Mars gets the last two DD girls after they seemingly defeat her.
- Natural Disaster Cascade: The ongoing sunspots have created natural disasters to occur around the world.
- Never Say "Die": In DiC's version of the episode, the Sailor Scouts besides Sailor Moon are "captured" instead of explicitly dying in their battles with the DD Girls.
- Nightmare Face: A pink DD Girl's face turns more monstrous just before she's destroyed by Crescent Beam at point blank.
- No-Nonsense Nemesis: The DD Girls are far more effective against the Sailor Guardians due to the simple tactic of not standing there and waiting while the girls charge up their attacks. They attack swiftly and show no mercy.
- Oh, Crap!: The DD Leader is utterly shocked after she sees that Mars survived her attack and is ready to kill her.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- Nice Girl Sailor Mercury is the one who smacks Moon to calm her down. Even Mercury herself is surprised by this development.
- When it's Mars's turn to fight, she calmly tells Moon that she's grateful for all the time they've spent together. She even turns super sweet in assuring her friend that she'll survive the fight.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: The spirits of her fallen friends reappear to Sailor Moon to assure her that she is not alone, and inspire her to carry on with the journey.
- Please, Don't Leave Me: Sailor Moon goes to Sailor Jupiter's body, and tells her it's going to be okay, they'll get her down. Jupiter smiles and says she's done for, but at least Sailor Moon is alive.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner:
- Sailor Jupiter gives one before unleashing a devastating Supreme Thunder attack on the DD Girls electrocuting her.
Sailor Jupiter (original): You dare use electric shock against me? Prepare yourselves!Sailor Jupiter (Viz Dub): Allow me to give you a taste of real thunder. Go to hell!- Before killing the final two DD Girls, a mortally wounded Mars says "Not yet... I'm not finished yet... Fire Soul!".
- Pyrrhic Victory: The DD Girls are defeated, at the cost of the Guardians' lives, minus Sailor Moon. She barely has the strength to stand after Mars dies.
- See You in Hell: In the Viz dub, Sailor Jupiter says "Go to hell!" to the DD girls just before she kills them with Supreme Thunder.
- Skyward Scream: Sailor Moon screams in despair after Jupiter dies first.
- Spared by the Adaptation: While DiC's version of this episode removes the Sailor Guardians' deaths, Sailor Moon still carries on with the mission alone.
- Spoiler Title: "Death of the Sailor Guardians: The Tragic Final Battle", and that's precisely what happens in this episode.
- Taking the Bullet: Sailor Venus instantly notices that the DD Girls are about to attack Sailor Moon from underground and pushes her out of the way. This in turn results in them taking her instead.
- Teleportation: The Sailor Guardians travel to D-Point by holding hands and using the Sailor Teleport technique.
- This Is Unforgivable!: Sailor Venus warns Moon that she'll never forgive her if she gives up the Crystal to the Dark Kingdom.
- Tonight, Someone Dies: Four to be exact. As stated in the episode title, the Inner Guardians are killed off one by one until only Sailor Moon is left by the end.
- Trying Not to Cry: As Sailor Moon grieves over Mercury, Mars angrily shouts that crying won't solve anything, but a close-up shows her trying to hold back her own tears.
- Uncertain Doom: The DIC adaptation changes the fate of the Inner Scouts, they are never explicitly shown being killed off by the DD Girls, but rather "captured by the negaverse" and disappear without a trace, leaving their fate in a state of uncertainty.
- Wham Episode: It doesn't get anymore shocking then seeing your favorite magical girls die on screen.
- Wham Shot: The image of Jupiter suspended in a giant ice spire and on the verge of death showcase how serious the final battle truly is.
- When All You Have Is a Hammer…: Just before she's strangled to death by the DD Girls, Mercury uses her supercomputer to smash the DD Leader's jewel so she can't use her illusions anymore.
- Who Would Be Stupid Enough?: When the DD Girls use the same Tuxedo Mask illusion, Sailor Mars openly asks who would be dumb enough to fall for the same trick twice. Apparently Sailor Moon is dumb enough.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Averted. The DD Girls dispose of the Sailor Guardians by just simply attacking them and not waiting around.
- The Worf Effect: The DD Girls capture Jupiter and Venus, the two most powerful Guardians, and electrocute them. Downplayed as they both fight back and blow up at least one youma using suicidal attacks.
- You Are Not Alone: The Sailor Guardians' spirits appear before Sailor Moon and assure her she'll never be alone. These scenes aren't in the DIC version, where the girls disappear and their fate is left unknown.
