Free Will Timeline Theory

The common theory that most people believe is that the Pluto we meet in the Black Moon arc has lived from the Silver Millennium to the 30th century, and that even after Setsuna was reincarnated and sent to the present time of the Infinity arc (or even back to before the other senshi were born, according to some theories), that first Pluto will live until the time Crystal Tokyo becomes the present. If you look at the manga superficially, that does appear to be what happens, but there are so many holes in that theory, you might as well have Swiss cheese.

First off, just why would the original Pluto, which for the sake of simplicity I will call Pluto 1 from this point on, and the Time Gate be "anchored", so to speak, in the 30th century when it doesn't even exist yet as anything more than a possibility? Surely, there are other possible futures out there. What if Usagi and Mamoru don't marry? What if Usagi gives birth to a boy instead of a girl? With if Usagi, Mamoru, or any of the Sailor Senshi die in battle before Crystal Tokyo comes into existence? Any of those things would mean that Crystal Tokyo Chibi-Usa came from would not exist, so why would Pluto 1 be from that particular future?

Secondly, there is only one Pluto Crystal. If Pluto 1 is still living at the Time Gates at the time of the Infinity arc, then there can't be another Pluto -- Pluto 2 or Setsuna, if you prefer -- living in time. This is by far the most conclusive evidence that Pluto 1 ceases to exist at the Gates after the events of the Black Moon arc.

Third, to have two Plutos would cause a time loop, because if Pluto 2/Setsuna was to disappear before Chibi-Usa's birth so Chibi-Usa won't "know" her, as seems to be the popular explanation, and she met Pluto 1 again at the time she was supposed to when that time finally became the present, then she would again go back to the past, and it would be a never-ending cycle. (And if she didn't, then Chibi-Usa would have to awaken as a Sailor Senshi some other way, since that would mean that Pluto 1 actually wouldn't die and that the future changed.) There has to be a reason why it is forbidden to travel time, and it is because it screws up the timeline. From the time the Black Moon attacked and Chibi-Usa stole Pluto 1's key to go back to to the present of the Black Moon arc, she doomed the future she came from not to exist since that future was built on a past in which they did not fight the Black Moon. The only way that future could exist exactly as it was before was if there was a never-ending loop, and that would mean that time would end at the 30th century, which we know is not true because of the existance of Sailor Cosmos, who came from the far future.

Okay, so it has been established that the most widespread theory has some major flaws. Is there another way to logically explain the manga timeline? I believe so, and I call it the Free Will Theory.

The basis of my theory concerning the timeline is free will -- the idea that the future is only a possibility, not something that definitely will happen. Before I begin explaining, however, I made this outline to help clarify some important points concerning definitions and Pluto herself.

I. Definitions of Time (Source)

A. Present

• "now existing or in progress"
• Looking at the definition above, we see that the "present" comprises the period of time happening right at this moment. Once something has already happened, it becomes the "past". A time that has yet to happen is called the "future". The present is also constantly changing. I am writing this in the present, but by the time you read this, it will already have become a past. The present does not include the entirety of the 20th century canon, though it is common practice to refer to it as such as a way to distinguish it from the time of Silver Millennium (past) and Crystal Tokyo (future). If you happen to be reading, say, Vol. 14, the events shown in that volume are the present at that time. All the volumes before that would be considered past, and all the volumes afterward would be considered future. Even within the volume itself, there are past events and future events. Once you have read a scene, it becomes past. The scenes you have yet to read are future. The present is only what exists at that moment.

B. Future

• "a: time that is to come, b: what is going to happen"
• The future is nothing more than a possibility. It does not exist in real time. That means the glimpses of the future we see in canon may or may not happen. Many fans of Sailor Moon seem to believe that no matter what happens, the "canon" future will come to exist. They seem to think Crystal Tokyo really exists, but according to real time, the 30th century has yet to happen. It is the future, only a possibility -- one of probably many. If Crystal Tokyo actually existed, it would be the present. (I?ll elaborate more on this in the "Pluto" section.)
• What about free will? For those who believe that the future we see will happen no matter what, are you saying that there is no such thing as free will? Because if you believe that Crystal Tokyo already exists and its only a matter of Usagi and the gang catching up to it, you are essentially saying that they have no free will.

C. Past

• "having existed or taken place in a period before the present"
• The past is a time that has already occurred before the present. I emphasize that, because Small Lady does not travel to the past. Yes, from her perspective, she is traveling to the past, but in the universe's perspective (real time), she is only traveling to the present. That is important to remember for my next point.
• Now, is it possible to travel to the past? There is no clear-cut answer to this, but I believe it is not possible. Ever hear of the saying, "The past is set in stone?" It means that it is impossible to change the past, and I, for one, think it is an accurate observation. In all of canon, did a character ever once travel to the past, as in a time before the present? No, they did not. I realize that simply the fact that nobody did doesn't necessarily mean it can't happen, but do you realize what kind of power that would be? I'm reminded of the first season finale of one of my favorite shows, "Charmed". In it, the Charmed Ones face a powerful demon with the power to turn back time for a day, which he uses to help another demon kill the girls. The theory was that the killer demon, who kept his memories, was supposed to learn from his mistakes until he finally succeeded in killing all three, and it would have worked too if Phoebe hadn?t also remembered what happened due to her powers of premonition and strong connection to time. So what does this have to do with Sailor Moon? Well, if it was possible to travel to the past in Sailor Moon, then why doesn?t anybody ever do it? Think about it. With that kind of power, they could have saved Silver Millennium or the Black Moon family could have kept repeating battles until they won, like in that "Charmed" episode. The fact that they don't is a pretty strong indicator that it simply isn't possible. Besides that, traveling to the past would mean that the past would change. If the past changes, then it stands to follow that the present and future will also change in response to that change, causing MAJOR problems to the timeline. The ability to travel to the past is just too powerful.

D. How is time measured outside of time? There is no definite answer to this. The realm of Time-Space is both all times at once and no time at all. However, I think the simplest way to think of Pluto 1's realm is happening in real time, or the present. Why? Because it is the only concrete existence. Now, that doesn't mean that the realm is the present, but when dealing with explanations, it's the easiest way to deal with it.

E. The Effect of the Present on the Future, and Vice Versa

• If present Mars dies in the present, the future we saw will change
• If present Mars dies in the future, she will cease to exist in the present and the future will change.
• If future Mars dies in the present, the future will probably remain the same until the time she was supposed to go back to the present. Since at that time, the present will have become a past, and it is impossible to go to the past, the future Mars, who is now a present Mars, will continue to live since she will no longer be able to go back to the past to die. (That means if Chibi-Usa dies during one of her trips to the 20th century, she's not really dead.)
• If future Mars dies in the future, when she is supposed to die, the timeline is unaffected.
• Pluto 1 is a special case, since she lived outside of time. See below.

II. Pluto

A. Pluto 1 - Many fans like to call the Pluto shown during the Black Moon arc the 30th century Pluto, but that is incorrect. She does not live in the 30th century. She lives outside of time, and there is only one Pluto. Up until her death, there is no such thing as a past or future Pluto because she does not live in time. She is the real time Pluto who just happens to die in the 30th century. Her death has no affect on the present time, since she did not live in the present.

B. Pre-reincarnation or Resurrection? In the Infinity Arc, Pluto 2, taking the name Meioh Setsuna, reappears, this time in the time line itself. She claims that Neo-Queen Serenity did something akin to pre-reincarnation, sending her to complete an important mission, but that does not make sense in the least if you believe, as I do, that the past cannot be changed. For that to have happened, NQS would have had to sent a reborn Pluto 2/Setsuna to a time before the present. Thus, it is my opinion that Pluto 2/Setsuna was simply resurrected and sent back only as far as the present. This is further evidenced by the fact that we learn absolutely nothing about Pluto/Setsuna before she appears in Infinity, attending university. Or, if she was reborn, she went through something akin to Hotaru's rapid growth spurt in the Dream Arc. In any case, I don't believe that she existed in the time stream proper prior to the events of the Infinity Arc.

C. Appearance of a Future Pluto? - In the last arc, we see a Pluto in the future. I believe that is in fact the true 30th century Pluto (Pluto 2), a future version of Setsuna. We can call her a future Pluto because Setsuna is now living in the time stream. It is my theory that after the Pluto 1's death during the Black Moon Arc, Neo Queen Serenity resurrected her and sent her to the present, releasing her of her duties at the Time Gate. Because of that, I believe that Setsuna will still be living in the time stream in the future and that after the Pluto 1's death, the Gates of Time will remain unguarded. Setsuna still can access the Gates, though, which explains how the future Pluto 2/Setsuna can tell NQS about the trouble happening in the present. Now, why don't I believe that anybody is guarding the Gates? Two reasons. One, Small Lady, the Asteroid Senshi, and Sailor Cosmos are able to time travel without any interference from Pluto, and two, the fact that there can only be one Pluto existing at the same time, even if one of the Plutos is living in the realm of Time Space, which we have established as being the same as real or present time. There is only one Pluto crystal, so only one Pluto. When there is a Pluto (in this case, Pluto 2/Setsuna) already living in the time stream, there cannot be another one guarding the Gates.

D. The first law of time - The first law of time that Pluto 1 promised to uphold was not to allow time travel. Why do you think that is? I believe it is because time travel damages the timeline. This is why I find the idea of the "canon" future occurring even after everything they learn illogical. The idea that the timeline will simply fix itself in the end doesn?t make sense. If that was true, then why ban time travel in the first place?

Okay, now on to the explanation itself.

In the simplest terms possible, it's my belief that because of the damage done to the time line due to time travel, one of either two things happened:

Number One: The time line ends up destroying itself, making way for a new time line with a completely new future.

or

Number Two: The timeline is not destroyed, but the future we see in canon will not come into existence. (This will be the one I'll be discussing here.)

I guess the easiest way to explain this is to make a basic timeline.

Silver Millennium is destroyed.

Everybody except for Pluto 1 is reincarnated in the 20th century

Events of the Dark Kingdom Arc

Events of the Black Moon Arc

Pluto 1's death results in the Time Gate being unguarded from that point in the present onwards

Chibi-Usa returns to the 20th century, still thinking Pluto 1 is gone forever

Neo-Queen Serenity resurrects or reincarnates (with rapid growth) Pluto 2 and sends her, now known as Meioh Setsuna to the present (Infinity Arc)

Events of the Infinity Arc

Events of the Dream Arc

Chibi-Usa returns to the future in which Pluto 2/Setsuna is still alive, though Pluto 2 is no longer obligated to guard the gates (It is unclear what future she returns to, though.)

Events of the Stars Arc

Mamoru and Usagi get married, take the throne, and become parents of Small Lady

The future goes on normally (as long as they don?t make a decision that contradicts it - see below) until Small Lady is meant to meet Pluto 1 who guards the Gates of Time. Since Pluto 1 does not exist anymore, she is unable to do so, and thus a new future is begun in which Small Lady never time travels to the 20th century. Yet, because there once existed a future in which that did happen and it is impossible to change the past, everybody else retains their memories.

Now, if you want to get more complicated, we can delve into the idea of choice and different possibilities. Say, for example, that Usagi and Mamoru were to decide not to get married. Until they make their choice, there are at least two different immediate futures - one in which they do get married and one in which they don't. Once they make their choice, the future they don't choose is destroyed, while the future they do choose becomes a present and they are presented with more futures. Every single choice they make affects what futures still exist, although it should be noted that not every decision will have such a major effect on the timeline. If Ami decides to eat cereal for breakfast on a day that she was supposed to have eggs, I highly doubt that will cause the non-existence of Crystal Tokyo. Both will theoretically lead to the same future shown in canon, just not in the same way. There are multiple ways to achieve the same future. It's not a straight line from the present to the future.

This, of course, begs the question, if Small Lady's visit to the 20th century in the Black Moon Arc began the original timeline's downfall, then how is it that she still has a future to go back to? Shouldn't the fact that she went to the present, thus changing the course of the future, make that future null and void?

Not necessarily. This is because the future is still just a possibility. Even if Pluto 1's death (which has no affect on the present time stream - see outline) means that the "canon" future theoretically will not exist, to the universe, it's still a possibility until a present choice is made in the time stream to make it impossible. That means, Chibi-Usa's future will still exist until they reach a present point in which that future becomes impossible. In my timeline, I chose the moment that Small Lady was meant to meet Pluto 1, but that's just an arbitrary point. It's entirely possible that the point will come before that, like if Neo Queen Serenity decided not to make Nemesis into a penal colony or if a second child is born after Small Lady. Both of those choices will lead to radically different futures than the one shown in canon.