Enter Venus, the Last Sailor Guardian

Reeling from Nephrite's death, Queen Beryl grants Zoisite a final opportunity to seize the two Rainbow Crystals that Tuxedo Mask carries. Kunzite volunteers to isolate the caped hero from the other guardians, and the pair build their trap around a counterfeit Sailor Moon whose reckless heroics have already flooded the news, leaving Usagi humiliated that someone is using her name.

The bait draws all four girls to a harbor, where Kunzite seals them inside a shrinking dome that drinks every attack they throw at it. Meanwhile Zoisite, wearing the fake Sailor Moon costume, lures Tuxedo Mask into the open and wounds him. The rescue comes from an unexpected quarter: a girl in a mask who calls herself Sailor Venus, backed by a talking white cat named Artemis.

Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter both unleash their signature strikes against Kunzite's barrier, and both are swallowed harmlessly, so the dome merely tightens until the trapped girls can no longer breathe. Tuxedo Mask, betrayed while carrying the decoy, takes a blade to the shoulder and hides. When Zoisite finally corners him and knocks his mask loose, Beryl glimpses his true face and reacts with shock.

Just as Zoisite moves for the kill, a voice cries out and a beam of light blasts his hand. The masked stranger declares herself the guardian who fights for justice, then fires Crescent Beam at both generals, shattering the dome. Artemis confirms her identity, Luna recognizes her old companion, and Beryl orders a retreat. With five soldiers and both cats finally assembled, Usagi wonders aloud whether Venus is the Moon Princess.

This installment marks the debut of Minako Aino as Sailor Venus, of Artemis, and of the Crescent Beam attack. It is the first time the girls face Kunzite, an encounter they lose, and the second of several attempts by the Dark Kingdom to run Tuxedo Mask through. The DiC dub, retitled Sailor V Makes the Scene, reworked the plot into a joint Zoisite and Kunzite scheme and cut Zoisite's vow to die for his partner.

The episode also departs from the manga, where Minako is introduced still operating as Sailor V rather than Venus, and where she kills Zoisite the moment she appears. It was the final time Usagi opened an episode by introducing herself to viewers.