Many fans seem to think that Sailor Saturn performs her Silence Glaive Surprise in the anime to destroy the world. They also claim that she performs her Death Reborn Revolution in the manga to destroy the world.

However, the canonical sources from both continuities (the actual manga, the Nakayoshi Anime Albums, et cetera) state that Sailor Saturn simply needs to bring down her weapon (in a certain way) to unleash her world-destroying power. No three-word incantation is stated implicitly or explicitly to be involved.

In the manga, Death Reborn Revolution is shown to be a maneuver that Sailor Saturn performs to attack Master Pharaoh 90. The power of Death Reborn Revolution sucks up the monster's energy. (We are not told whether or not it can do more than that.) It should be noted that nothing besides Pharaoh 90 is damaged from that maneuver. Some people may think that the maneuver is misnamed since its name mentions the term death. However, not all sailor soldier maneuvers literally involve what their names suggest. Sailor Mercury's Mercury Aqua Mirage maneuver does not seem to have anything to do with mirages. There is no reason to think that Sailor Saturn's Death Reborn Revolution maneuver must involve death and rebirth.

When Sailor Saturn performs Silence Glaive Surprise in the manga, its power creates a haze that confuses or disorients her enemies. The Amazones Quartetto seem to be affected by it for a few moments. That maneuver certainly does not destroy the world.

After Sailor Saturn says the words "Silence Glaive Surprise" in the anime, a ball of purple energy appears from the top of her weapon. It expands and produces several cracks in the floor. (The cracks in the floor do not count as explosions. The purple light show does not count as explosions, either.) The purple energy moves out of the windows of the palace to produce purple beams of light. Then Sailor Saturn begins to bring down her weapon. The actual explosion does not occur until then. When the explosion occurs, the purple lights disappear. An observant viewer will notice that Sailor Saturn does not even begin to bring down her weapon until after she says the words "Silence Glaive Surprise." Sailor Chibi Moon intervenes before Sailor Saturn can complete the action of bringing down the Silence Glaive. Even an incomplete version of Sailor Saturn's world-destroying power produces a large explosion!

Someone may ask, "If Silence Glaive Surprise is not what destroys the world, then what is the point of it?" The idea that her Silence Glaive Surprise maneuver is either part of the bringing-down-the-Glaive technique or the incantation that she recites to unleash her world-destroying power does not fully agree with what we read in the anime sources. We could say that she needs to recite a three-word incantation even if those sources do not tell us that. That idea implies that her bringing-down-the-Glaive technique and Silence Glaive Surprise are both different from their manga counterparts. However, we do not need to postulate such an idea. We could say that the lights of the Silence Glaive Surprise maneuver distract, surprise, or confuse Queen Nehellenia (to make her stop using her lightning power) so that Sailor Saturn has enough time to bring down her weapon. That idea agrees with what we read in the anime sources. We do not need to think that she needs to recite anything. The idea also tells us that the anime and manga versions of the bringing-down-the-glaive technique and Silence Glaive Surprise similar.

Submitted by: Ian Andreas Miller
Posted on: 02 / 19 / 2003