The Past Returns

"The Past Returns" is the 39th episode of Sailor Moon (season 1) and overall in the series. It aired November 2, 1995 on the UPN Network.

Plot
The Sailor Scouts, Luna, and Artemis find a portal to the Negaverse and enter it. The Sailor Scouts separate from Luna and Artemis to find Queen Beryl's palace. The Sailor Scouts run into Malachite, and fight him. After easily dodging Sailor Jupiter's Jupiter Thunder Crash, he tells Sailor Moon to give him the Imperium Silver Crystal, and says that the Negaverse wasted Queen Serenity and will do the same to her. Sailor Moon asks how he knows about Queen Serenity.

He says he was there during the invasion of the Moon Kingdom. Sailor Moon doesn't believe him because it would mean Queen Serenity sent him and the others into the future with them. Malachite shoots them all with an energy wave. Sailor Moon's wand goes flying out of her hand. Malachite tries to take it, but it suddenly reacts (due to the Crystal's power), avoids his attempt to grab it by spinning around and hitting the back of his hand that was about to grab it, and vanishes with the Sailor Scouts.

They appear in an alternate time and reality, at the ruins of the Moon Kingdom. Queen Serenity appears and takes them back to the final days of the Moon Kingdom. The Moon Kingdom was the most peaceful place in the universe. Queen Serenity raised Princess Serena to rule the Moon Kingdom. Serena was in love with Prince Darien from Earth. At one point, Darien told Serena that Queen Beryl and her warriors are going to attack. The guards suspected he was a spy, as they suspect everyone from Earth and chase him away from speaking further with the Moon Princess.

In the original reality's present, Luna and Artemis exit the caves into a snowy area where Beryl can launch her attack from. In the flashback, Darien, as Tuxedo Mask, dances with Princess Serena and says that Beryl is more dangerous than he thought and must conquer the Moon to take over the Earth, and that Queen Serenity wants him to help defend her kingdom.

Eventually, the Negaverse, led by the Negaforce, who has the appearance of a giant, shadowy monster, attack the Moon Kingdom. Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Venus all use their attacks on the Negaforce, who is unaffected and attacks them. Queen Beryl attacks Serena, but Darien stops her. Beryl asks Darien to join up with her, but he refuses, calling her a "snake who is all twisted and ugly and full of bitterness", infuriating Beryl.

The Negaforce shoots a powerful energy wave that pulls Darien toward her. Serena jumps after him, but both are cut down and killed, to the grief of Queen Serenity, Luna, and Artemis. Seeing no other way left, Queen Serenity uses the Imperium Silver Crystal. With Cosmic Moon Power, she traps the Negaforce, Queen Beryl, Jedite, Neflite, Zoycite, Malachite and the other Negaverse warriors inside the Imperium Silver Crystal.

In the present, Luna and Artemis find a dark pit that indicates that Queen Beryl is already setting up her attack. As they head off to inform the Sailor Scouts, Malachite appears and stops them. Back in the flashback of the past, among the ruins of her destroyed kingdom, Queen Serenity says that if she destroyed the warriors of the Negaverse, she would have destroyed Serena and the others, all of whom are also inside the crystal, and who must be sent to a new future on Earth to be reborn.

She tells Luna and Artemis that they and the other inhabitants of the Moon inside the crystal will be reborn on Earth with no memory of the Moon Kingdom whatsoever, but if the Negaverse tries to repeat what happened there, they will know what to do. She uses the last of the crystal's power to send them all into the alternate future on Earth before succumbing to her own wounds and passing away.

The Sailor Scouts, along with the Crescent Moon Wand, reappear in their own time and reality, inside the cave, having seen the entire flashback. Then, nearby, Malachite attacks Luna and Artemis with an electric attack because they "trained the Sailor Scouts to be as annoying as they are". Malachite shrouds the cave in darkness and throws two energy blades at Sailor Moon, which cause quite a bit of damage to her. Malachite is getting stronger every time they see him. The other Sailor Scouts all try to use their powers to stop him, but he injures them all with the energy blades.

Sailor Moon tells Malachite she is the Princess of the Moon Kingdom and his worst nightmare. She uses Cosmic Moon Power. Malachite will not be defeated, and throws an energy blade at her. She reflects it back at him. He tries to block with his cape, but it stabs him, and he begins to lose strength. He tells Zoycite he will be coming to join her, and dissolves into nothingness, gone forever. The last of Queen Beryl's generals has finally been vanquished. And while this battle may have been won, the war itself against the Negaverse is far from over.

Luna and Artemis tell the Sailor Scouts that they found the Negaverse base and that Queen Beryl will stage her first attack. The Sailor Scouts decide to go after Beryl and destroy her once and for all. It's the ultimate goal in the ultimate battle on the ultimate day. The stakes are high now, but they're going to get even higher next time!

Trivia

 * Artemis says "Central Control said we'd find a portal to the Negaverse". Luna also tells Artemis "Central said there were strong Negavibes out here". This suggests that Central Control is a separate from Artemis, who initially provided Luna with information prior to her discovery that he was "Central Control" himself.
 * When Serena, Darien, and the Sailor Scouts are sent into the future, Sailor Neptune can be seen.