As a Nightmare Fuel page, all spoilers are unmarked as per wiki policy. You Have Been Warned!
S-S-Sora..?
Episode 4- As much as Sora was a schmuck for falling for Kabaton's trap that Mashiro was able to see through, it's still disturbing on how he resorts to bullying "side-characters"note . He steals Sora's pen, shuts her mouth, and even gets her tied by his Mushroom Ranborg, while having another one outright chase Mashironote and Agehanote up a building. It's fortunate that Mashiro was able to transform into Cure Prism and save Sora.
- The Mushroom Ramborg wraps Sora with several tentacles. Getting your mind out of the gutter for a second, how do you think a girl will feel when she's gagged and several tentacles are about to assault her?
- Sora has a nightmare of Prism getting hurt, which makes her hesitant on letting her tag along.
- We get to hear the Undurg Empire Leader for the first time, and it's clear she isn't pleased with Kabaton's failures.
- For everything, Kabaton using calories as fuel for Ranborgs is rather disturbing, considering he looks horrifically scrawny - in contrast to the Fat Bastard he usually is.
- Kabaton decides to step things up a notch by riding a UFO Ranborg knowing Sky and Prism wouldn't be able to reach him. In fact, this is his first act of outright destroying the city in an attempt to get the two to show up.
- Being fed up with Kabaton's failures, the mysterious voice gives Kabaton one more chance - with death by lightning as punishment.
- While most of the initial battle against Kabaton (Sora fights him 1 on 1) is on the level, the moment Kabaton realizes that he's lost (and is therefore about to be executed), he drops the honorable act and attempts to snatch Elle as a Desperation Attack to save his hide. Once that fails, he is lifted up to the sky by the Underg Empress, which makes him shout how "there's no room for the weak" in the Underg Empire. Had Sora not saved him, he would've been done for.
- During the trip back to Sky Land, we are introduced to the next general, Battamonda. While he has smug tendencies and appears calm and collected, the moment things go bad for him, he immediately shifts to a screaming mess, which can come off as scary for some.
- Battamonda's debut was a warm-up compared to what he does during his second attack. He orders Ranborgs to attack Sky Land, knowing that the Azure Guard cannot properly purify them, and then forms their remains into a massive bomb that would envelop Sky Land in Underg Energy (which would kill them) if they don't hand Elle over.
- Said bomb is also capable of knocking out Cure Wing easily and even withstanding the Shining Updraft Finisher, which so far was flawless, even in Kabaton's final episode. Fortunately, Shalala manages to intervene and the finisher successfully goes through, but...
- Shalala gets shot by dark energy by the Ranborg, essentially making her disappear. Her body wasn't even found either. (No, she wasn't obliterated—but what actually happened isn't much better.)
- Even after the Ranborg gets purified, Battamonda isn't done yet. With Sky and Prism incapacitated after their finisher and Wing easily taken out by Battamonda himself, Elle is left defenseless against Battamonda. Her parents defend her, but Battamonda retaliates by cursing them into a coma—something that they won't wake up from on their own.
- After Elle screams, Sora comes in with a Heroic Second Wind, and she isn't pleased. All it just takes is for her to stomp on some glass to make Battamonda retreat in fear. Do not mess with Elle.
- Battamonda even mocks and tries to humiliate Ageha, knowing she's incapable of becoming a Cure unlike Sora, Mashiro, and Tsubasa. He manages to trap the three Cures and attempts to attack a child (no, not Elle, an actual nursery school child). Fortunately, Ageha wasn't having any of it and transforms into Cure Butterfly to retaliate and force a retreat.
- It's revealed that Shalala has been eerily lurking around Sky Land, but everyone who sees her witnesses her disappearing without a trace upon alerting her. Sora sees Shalala lurking around on Earth and chases her for several blocks, always lagging behind Shalala by a considerable margin no matter how fast Sora runs—but when she finally catches up, "Shalala" draws her sword with hostile intent. She freezes in place, and then vanishes into a cloud of black smoke. As it turns out, Battamonda used her image to lure Sora into a trap.
- Almost immediately upon confrontation, Battamonda calls forth a Ranborg from underground. After a brief fight in Sky's favor, things end up getting really bad. After the Ranborg forms a familiar cape, Battamonda reveals that Shalala herself is the host of this monster, which could probably kill her if Sora damages her.
- After Prism, Butterfly, and Wing attempt to intervene, we get the revelation that not only is Shalala the host for this monster—but that the Ranborg is essentially a life support to the captain (who was severely wounded in the previous battle)—and even then, only temporarily, as Underg Energy is toxic to humans. A purification attack—either the Titanic Rainbow Attack or the Updraft Shining—could possibly kill her in the process, meaning the Cures are forced to make a Sadistic Choice: purify and try to heal Shalala, which has a very high chance of killing her, or allow her to die a slow death by Underg Energy poisoning. Thankfully, Battamonda was kind enough to retreat for the time being, but things are still looking bad for our Cures.
- The battle with the Shalala Ranborg ends up breaking Sora to the point where she outright renounces her heroism. This in turn causes her pen to turn gray and fade out of existence, making her unable to transform into Cure Sky.
- Unlike Episode 15 where there's some hope and optimism after Battamonda's assault, this one one outright sinks into a Downer Ending, complete with red sky.
- Minoton is casually working out at a gym when all of a sudden, he's confronted by Empress Undurg, who chastises him for not capturing Elle. Minoton claims getting stronger to face against the Pretty Cures is his priority, but she isn't having any of it, electrocutes him, and sends him back to the Undurg Empire.
- Skearhead's introduction to the Cures is very frightening. Ageha and the others are driving back from having a fun outing with Elle, when she sees him standing in the middle of the road and slams on the brakes. Then he appears behind her, then on top of the vehicle—then teleports them into a Pocket Dimension where he faces off against the four Cures and sends Elle away to the Undurg Empire right under their noses.
- Skearhead then proceeds to easily stomp the Cures into the ground without any issue—and would have finished them off had Elle not transformed into Cure Majesty and saved them.
- Just the fact that Empress Undergu considers the very presence of Cure Majesty to be her Godzilla Threshold, with Skearhead telling the Cures that they no longer wish to abduct the princess, they just want the Cures gone.
- Skearhead's first Ranborg target is none other than Minoton himself, which would make him the second on-screen victim of becoming a Ranborg. Sky and Prism manage to purify him, only for Skearhead to drag him back away to be re-infused.
- How does the rematch with Mino-Ranborg go? First, he brute-forces his way past multiple barriers that only the Cures should have been able to cross; then, when it seems that the Cures have the upper hand, he ingests even more Underg Energy—the effects of which are not pretty in the slightest—and practically downs them all, even Cure Majesty, in one hit each. Thankfully, the Cures unlock their group finisher, Majestic Halation, and save Minoton for real this time.
- The Undergu Empress finally shows herself and quickly shows how dangerous she is by handily defeating the Pretty Cure, reversing their most powerful attack and preparing to eliminate or corrupt Elle, even threatening that she could send an army of countless Ranborgs to conquer Skyland and the surface world in a finger snap.
- The Undergu Empress's false memories of giving Ellelain a hand-made doll of herself are both tragic and nightmare-inducing, as Ellelain coldly dismisses her, summoning a group of guards to subdue her as she advances on her father with her weapon at the ready.
- The whole method by which the Empress' Power form overwhelms the Kira Kira Shield, by creating cracks in it filled with Undergu Energy, which rains on the city below, turning whatever it hits into a Ranborg, causing hundreds of Ranborgs to begin appearing within the capital. When she threatened 'countless Ranborgs', no-one expected she'd actually do it.
- At the very end, Empress Undergu has been purified and is finally willing to talk things out... and then she's impaled from behind. By Skearhead. The guy who was supposed to be protecting her.
- The truth of how the Emperor died: Skearhead harpooned him with an energy spear right in front of the Empress, then dragged her off to rewire her memories.
- As he's got her in a telekinetic deadlock, Skearhead—now "Darkhead"—bluntly informs the Empress that he never actually loved her. Sora was right about him being void of any human qualities...
- Dark Cure Sky. Just as they're about to confront Darkhead on his own turf, Sky and Prism collapse from the effects of Underg Energy corruption. Darkhead takes Prism, brings forth a gigantic concentration of Underg Energy, and seemingly gives Sky a choice: accept his "gift" and all it will entail, or try to save Prism on her own dwindling power. "Seemingly", because in reality, he's not giving her one—he blasts her before she can so much as utter a single word. When the smoke clears, Sky has been visibly corrupted, with a darker outfit, a single black wing growing out of her back, and her eyes shining an unearthly electric-blue. She staves off full possession as long as she can, saving Prism and beating the living pigshits out of Darkhead, but she eventually succumbs, with Darkhead joyously taking what he thinks will be his next vessel. This doesn't last long thanks to Prism, mercifully, but those two minutes of a fully-corrupted Dark Sky are harrowing.
