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"Shadow of Silence: The Pale Glimmer of a Firefly" is the 26th episode of the 3rd season of the Sailor Moon anime and the 115th episode overall. It aired in Japan on November 26, 1994. The CWi English dub title for this episode is "The Shadow of Silence" and it aired in North America on July 17, 2000.

Summary[]

Haruka Tenoh grows suspicious Hotaru Tomoe may be linked to the Death Busters, while Chibiusa attempts to befriend her. Her suspicions are heightened when she sees the girl exhibiting demonic powers.

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 Kaolinite because Hotaru is sleeping. However, Hotaru was awake and heard Chibiusa downstairs. Distressed, she defies Kaolinite 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 ends 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 too but denies Ami's request that the doctor looks 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 Sailor Senshi, then transforms and leaps into the fray herself, though she does little more than get in Uranus' way.

As they battle the daimon, Hotaru begins having another seizure in the car. The Inner Sailor Senshi then arrives 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 Sailor 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 Sailor 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.

International Dub Titles[]

  • Brazilian Portuguese: A Sombra do Silêncio ("The Shadow of Silence")
  • European Portuguese: A Sombra do Silêncio! ("The Shadow of Silence!")
  • European Spanish: La sombra del silencio ("The Shadow of Silence")
  • French:
    • TV: Olivia à l'hôpital ("Olivia in the Hospital")
    • DVD: L'Ombre du silence ? L'Éclat pâle de la luciole. ("The Shadow of Silence? The Pale Shard of the Firefly.")
  • German: Seltsame Kraft ("Strange Power")
  • Hungarian: Olivia kórházba kerül ("Olivia Goes to the Hospital")
  • Italian: L'ombra del silenzio ("The Shadow of Silence")
  • Latin Spanish: ¿La sombra del silencio? ("The Shadow of Silence?")
  • Polish: Cień Wielkiej Ciszy ("Shadow of Great Silence")
  • Russian: Под покровом тьмы (Pod pokrovom t'my) ("Under the Cover of Darkness")

Changes[]

Changes from the Manga[]

  • Hotaru was never taken to the hospital owned by Ami's mother. Instead, it was Mamoru during the Dream Arc.

Dub Changes[]

  • In the French dub, the scene where Hotaru attacked U-Tomodachi was omitted.
  • In the CWi English dub, the scene where Sailor Uranus transformed back into Haruka was cut.

First Appearances[]

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • This is the first time Sailor Uranus transforms back to her civilian form on-screen.
    • As a result, this episode is one of the few occasions a Sailor Senshi de-transforms onscreen.
  • 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 might be related 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. The full version was only seen twice in the anime, with the first time being in the Sailor Moon S Movie.
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