Torture scene 1: I remember when I first saw the sub of Episode 46. The dub REALLY did cut so much. I felt so bad for Usagi. Intensely.
Could you imagine being electrocuted by a man you love? By the roses that used to save you?
And people tend to forget that BOTH characters are hurting. Usagi is hurting physically. Mamoru is hurting mentally. Think about it. What if you were hurting, killing, a loved one and you didn’t realize you were? What if they died? That’s really painful.
Terrifying.
*sigh* all these terrifying/torture scenes remind me that I have to work on that evil Endymion vs. ‘tainted’ Sailor Moon fanfic of mine.
[VILLAIN GROUP] The Dark Kingdom.
The major enemy in the first season was an ancient organization called The Dark Kingdom (ダーク・キングダム). They were led by Queen Metalia, an evil entity from the sun. She imbued beings with her power, including the Earth sorceress Queen Beryl, and the Shitennou (四天王) - Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoisite and Kunzite. Eons ago, the Dark Kingdom surprised the Silver Millennium with a major assault. Metalia ravaged the moon and its citizens while Beryl went after the Moon Princess, Serenity, and the prince from Earth, Endymion. Queen Serenity sealed the Dark Kingdom with the Silver Crystal, and reincarnated her kingdom as humans on present day Earth.
Metalia managed to slightly break Queen Serenity’s seal, but her power had diminished greatly. The Dark Kingdom’s headquarters was located at D Point in the North Pole. Beryl was told to gather energy for Metalia’s ascension. She elected Jadeite and Nephrite to do this, but both eventually failed. They employed monsters called “youma” to do most of their dirty work.
Zoisite was sent to find the Rainbow Crystals so the Dark Kingdom could form the Silver Crystal. Queen Beryl punished him for betraying his orders, though. This left Kunzite, Zoisite’s mentor and lover, as the final general. His job included finding the reformed Silver Crystal. Mamoru was turned evil by Metalia so he became part of the Dark Kingdom. He partly assisted Kunzite at times, but was really more of a foil and rival. Once Kunzite was defeated by Sailor Moon, the senshi went to D Point for the big battle.
Beryl summoned her youma quintet DD Girls to greet the senshi. The four guardians were killed and Sailor Moon was taken to Beryl’s lair. She fended off Endymion before purifying him with the power of the orgel. Beryl combined with Metalia to form Super Beryl. She faced off with Princess Serenity and the spirits of the dead senshi. Finally, Super Beryl was overcome by the Silver Crystal. The entire Dark Kingdom was wiped out along with Mamoru, Sailor Moon and the bodies of the fallen senshi. The humans were reborn with no memories of the war.
The Dark Kingdom’s origin was more detailed and somewhat different in the manga than in the anime. During the initial fight between the Dark Kingdom and the Silver Millennium, Beryl killed Endymion out of jealousy. Sailor Venus then destroyed Beryl with the Holy Sword before the enemy was sealed. She was reborn as a normal human, and she discovered the ruins of the Dark Kingdom at D Point. The Shitennou were human allies of Endymion turned evil. Each one had a specific region of Earth that they managed. Queen Metalia was revealed to be a part of Chaos, the ultimate evil.
[LOCATION] The Dark Kingdom, Queen Beryl’s Lair & Queen Metalia’s Lair.
In the first season of the anime, the enemies lived in a subterranean series of caves and catacombs beneath the North Pole. There seemed to be no natural sources of light as every area was filled with darkness. There was finished, marble-like flooring and a purple tint to almost everything. A thin shroud of mist filled some areas.
Queen Beryl’s lair was a large ballroom space with a platform. Her throne attached to a huge structure with a demonic face in the front. The room was big enough to house an audience of youma.
Queen Metalia had her own section that could be accessed by ramp. Queen Serenity’s powers diminished her size and she was sealed within some kind of vessel.
Please do not reupload/repost these images; reblogging is okay.
The Dark Kingdom Lair at D-Point
Just the look of the place, as it’s shaped as a demon skull in my opinion, it has just a sinister vibe that it sends off. I remember it used to scare me as a child. (Really I’m a coward when it comes to the simplest things.)
Personally, I depicted this secret lair as one of the most horrid because its the one place was outside of Tokyo in isolation AND it wasn’t set up right in front of civilians. Queen Beryl knew what she was doing when she chose the place.
