The Ending Of Sailor Moon Eternal Explained
On June 3, 2021, Netflix premiered the latest installment in the "Sailor Moon" universe with the new two-part movie, "Sailor Moon Eternal." The film is an extension of the three-season anime series, "Sailor Moon Crystal," which was broadcast on Neon Alley, Hulu, and Crunchyroll. With some of the voice cast carrying over to "Sailor Moon Eternal," the film picks up right where the finale of Season 3 ends, adapting the "Dream" arc of the original manga.
At the end of the "Sailor Moon Crystal" Season 3 finale, Usagi, Chibiusa, and Mamoru are all relaxing together watching a solar eclipse when they hear a bell ringing. In the movie, fans finally find out that this signifies the arrival of Helios, a pegasus who asks the group for help fighting off the Dead Moon Circus and Queen Nehelenia, who have the power to attack with nightmares. The villains are strong and committed to their task, giving Usagi and her friends a run for their money. Along with that, Usagi and Mamoru, who represent the Moon and the Earth, respectively, become physically affected by the evil taking over, and if they don't defeat Nehelenia and her lackeys, they will die with their kingdoms.
As you'd expect, Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Mask, and the Sailor Guardians prevail in the end and save the universe from evil, but there are a few important details of the ending that might need explaining. Here's the ending of "Sailor Moon Eternal," explained.
The Eternal King and Queen have arrived
At the end of "Sailor Moon Eternal," the Sailor Guardians are able to overcome the nightmares and take down Nehelenia, destroying her mirror realm and reversing the damage done to the planet. But aside from that, the characters undergo a very important transformation in the final act that makes them more powerful than ever before.
In the big face off with Nehelenia, Sailor Moon, a.k.a. Usagi, and the Sailor Guardians go through a final transformation into the "Eternalized" version of themselves. Becoming Eternal Sailor Moon, Usagi gains enough power to completely destroy Nehelenia and all of her creations. The Eternal form of the Sailor Guardians is their strongest state, giving them enough power to destroy entire realms, and it's rarely ever shown in the anime. Thankfully, "Sailor Moon Eternal" gives the Guardians a huge power up worthy of the movie event.
On top of that, the final moments of "Sailor Moon Eternal" show Usagi and Mamoru transforming into Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion, no longer prince and princess, which leads Luna to exclaim in surprise that they are her king and queen and this is basically their coronation. It looks like the couple understands their responsibility as the rulers of both the Earth Kingdom and the Moon Kingdom, and they are dedicated and eager to keep their people safe. The Sailor Guardians — and Tuxedo Mask — are then sent back to Earth, but is this the end of the story?
Sailor Chibi Moon and the Guardians of the asteroids
As another major revelation in the film's final scenes, Sailor Saturn arrives with four orbs, asking Queen Serenity for the Silver Moon's Crystal Power. This transforms the orbs into the Amazoness Quartet, or so they think. When the transformation is over, the Sailor Guardians have four new members in the Sailor Quartet, or the Guardians of the asteroids. Introducing themselves as Sailor Ceres, Sailor Pallas, Sailor Juno, and Sailor Vesta, the four girls explain that Nehelenia "used a curse to force [them] to awaken into a nightmare [...] made to do her bidding." Thanks to Usagi, the four are now free. But instead of staying with the original Sailor Guardians, the Sailor Quartet explain that they must go back to sleep until their "true awakening," which will come once Chibiusa, or Sailor Chibi Moon, grows into a full-fledged Sailor Guardian herself.
In the original manga — and now the anime — Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta are the four team members and protectors of Chibiusa, like how Mars, Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter are for Sailor Moon. Eventually, the group goes on their own missions to save the world, leaving the modern anime universe after "Sailor Moon Eternal" open to explore these characters in the near future. This is the first time this aspect of Chibiusa's storyline has really been explored or hinted at in this way, and add to that Helios's promise that they will meet again, there's a lot of potential for the character's story to expand going forward.
Hopefully "Sailor Moon Eternal" is only the start, and soon enough we'll see an older Sailor Chibi Moon taking on the world just like her mother.