From: keith987@juno.com   
      
   "Chris Kern"  wrote in message   
   news:s69qh2tvuqhn67pp31u9vtu5cqapa20atq@4ax.com...   
   > Episode 125 - Shining shooting stars! Saturn and Messiah   
   >   
   (snipped)   
   >   
   > The second criticism which has a little more validity to it surrounds   
   > whether or not Sailor Moon was stupid to give Mistress 9 the Sacred   
   > Cup. The general opinion seems to be that it really was not the wisest   
   > thing to do, but it was in character for her. You do wonder why Sailor   
   > Moon seemed to be so emotionally invested in Hotaru's survival that   
   > she would do almost literally anything (including giving her the   
   > powerful Sacred Cup knowing that she was an enemy, following her into   
   > the vortex knowing she might die).   
   >   
   > The third criticism which is somewhat story external is that the   
   > ending of the series is a writer cheat -- basically there is no   
   > logical reason within the story why the good guys should have won   
   > after Sailor Moon gave Mistress 9 the Sacred Cup. This I do not agree   
   > with. I definitely agree that Sailor Moon did not have a clear picture   
   > of what was going to happen. Her giving up of the Sacred Cup was not a   
   > calculated maneuver designed to awaken Sailor Saturn -- it was just   
   > her increasingly desperate actions designed to try to save Hotaru   
   > above all else. One problem is that it's hard to say just from   
   > watching this episode why Saturn appeared. She doesn't specify; she   
   > just thanks Sailor Moon for protecting her body.   
   >   
   > In any case, my opinion on the conclusion is that the failure of the   
   > Death Busters and Pharoah 90's invasion was sealed when they chose   
   > Sailor Saturn to be their Messiah of Silence. It's not clear how much   
   > help she had from Usagi or Tomoe when breaking out of Mistress 9's   
   > control, but Saturn's awakening and her defeat of Pharoah 90 seem to   
   > have come about separate from Usagi's giving up of the Sacred Cup. But   
   > it's kind of hard to say since there's a lot of stuff in this season   
   > that is never really explained.   
      
   I think this helps to answer the question asked earlier - did Pharaoh 90   
   know about Hotaru being Sailor Saturn? If so, he must have been using the   
   same misinformation that led Uranus and Neptune to fear her awakening so   
   much. Despite her powers, Saturn is as kind-hearted as Hotaru, which meant   
   using her as the Messiah of Silence would be impossible. Pharaoh 90 would   
   not have risked his plan if he knew Hotaru had within her the only person   
   that could defeat him.   
      
   > One interesting thing that some people miss is that Pharoah 90 would   
   > not have been defeated if Sailor Moon had not given up the cup   
   > (although of course she couldn't know this either). If they had just   
   > gone in and killed Mistress 9, the invasion of Pharoah 90 would   
   > probably have been stopped, but Pharoah 90 would have still been out   
   > there and could have tried again later.   
      
   One more thing - whatever happened to the 89 previous Pharoahs? And is there   
   a Pharoah 91 waiting in the wings? ^_^   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)