I Won't Run Away from Love Anymore: Ami vs. Mamoru

Queen Beryl means to reclaim the seven ordinary people who once bore the Rainbow Crystals, planning to fuse them with the Black Crystal into a single unstoppable youma capable of crushing the Sailor Guardians. She sends the brainwashed Prince Endymion to round them up, and he has already sealed away everyone except Urawa and Rei's grandfather. A worried Urawa phones Ami, warns her the shrine priest is next, then urges her to guard the old man rather than him and hangs up, privately resolving to stop leaning on her.

Makoto, having glimpsed Urawa in town, coaxes Ami into searching for him, insisting it is fine for a guardian to follow her heart and accusing Ami of fleeing her own feelings. As snow falls, Endymion corners Urawa at a crowded crossing, but the boy uses his foresight to see the trap coming and shakes off his pursuer by crying out for help. Ami and Makoto finally reach him just as Endymion catches up in a back alley.

Sailor Jupiter shields Ryo and sends Sailor Mercury to hide him while she confronts Endymion alone, but her Supreme Thunder barely fazes him and he leaves her beaten, calling the kill too easy. Mercury and Ryo take refuge in a small amusement park, where he confesses that visiting one with her was his only remaining wish. She pushes back, telling him they are alike in always running away and that both should choose to keep living instead. When Endymion reappears atop the Ferris wheel and traps Ryo in the Black Crystal, Mercury fights through her doubt, fakes him out with Shabon Spray, seizes the crystal, and smashes it to free every captive.

Sailor Moon and Sailor Jupiter arrive to pin Endymion with their attacks, and Sailor Moon channels the Moon Stick through Moon Healing Escalation. As memories of Usagi and Rei surface, the light restores him to Mamoru, marking the first time she manages to heal him in the anime. The victory is fleeting, though, as a black glow swallows Mamoru and spirits him away. Beryl locks him in a brainwashing capsule and, finding his memory intact, decides to steep him in Queen Metalia's power to corrupt him for good.

The episode is the last physical appearance of Ryo Urawa, and every human form of the Seven Great Youma except Reika and Rei's grandfather is seen for the final time when Endymion flashes their images from inside the Black Crystal. Luna's instruction to pour more energy into the healing hints that an attack's force depends on the effort behind it. In the DiC version the installment was retitled Tuxedo Unmasked.