Episode 12 (season 2 Doki Doki)

**"The Story Of Splendorius"**, known in Japan as **"Ace and Regina! The Truth Behind Their Birth!"** (エースとレジーナ！誕生の真実！ *Ēsu to Rejīna! Tanjō no Shinjitsu!*) is episode 12 in season 2 of *Glitter Force Doki Doki*. Overall, it is the 27th episode of *Glitter Force Doki Doki*, the 46th episode of the original Japanese version, and the 67th episode of the *Glitter Force* franchise.

## Summary

*"The girls find out the truth about Princess Maria Angelica, her father's transformation and the troubled history of Splendorius."*

## Synopsis

The episode starts where the last one left off: Glitter Ace telling the other Glitter Warriors and Regina that she and Regina were created from the light and dark halves of Princess Marie Angelica. Regina can't believe that what Glitter Ace is saying is true, so Ace gives her the Golden Crown of Wisdom so she can see their origin story for herself. The Crown works on Regina just like it did on Natalie last episode; it generates an electric aura around her and leaves her frozen in place.

Glitter Heart and the others want to see how Glitter Ace and Regina were born for themselves. Fortunately, even though only Ace and Regina are the chosen wielders of the Golden Crown, Ace can let the others see the flashback that Regina is seeing. The Glitter Warriors (including Dina) all join hands. Ace grabs the Crown, and the seven girls all disappear from sight.

Regina, Dina, and the Glitter Force (now de-transformed) find themselves in the past, where they see the whole story unfold before their own eyes. It all started with the birth of Princess Marie Angelica. Her mother, the queen of Splendorius, died shortly after Marie Angelica's birth due to an illness. Marie Angelica's father, the king, refused to let this get him down, and he was determined to raise his daughter to be an excellent princess just like his wife would have wanted. The princess had a happy childhood where she developed her many talents such as horseback riding and swordplay. Her father wished she would focus more on ladylike behaviors, but he was still supportive of her anyway.

Then, one evening, a mysterious black droplet floated from a crystal pillar and into Marie Angelica, causing her to suddenly fall ill. Nobody in the entire kingdom could figure out how to save the princess, and it seemed she was doomed to the same fate as her mother. There was, however, one very risky way for the king to save his daughter. By using the Golden Crown of Wisdom, he could gain the knowledge to create a cure for his daughter's disease. However, the Golden Crown of Wisdom encircled the crystal pillar from earlier, which contained a powerful source of darkness. The legendary Glitter Force from millennia ago had sealed the darkness away using the Crown. The only way for the king to use the Crown would be to destroy the pillar keeping Splendorius safe from this force of evil.

The king was left with an incredibly difficult choice: let his daughter die or put his entire kingdom at risk. He knew his wife would have wanted him to keep Splendorius safe no matter what, but he couldn't bear to lose both his wife and his daughter. So, he destroyed the pillar, used the Golden Crown, and cured Marie Angelica's illness. Unfortunately, just as the princess started to feel healthy again, the darkness escaped its prison and declared the king's actions to be the height of selfishness and thus a worthy vessel for its powers. It forced itself into the king, turning him into a gigantic, monstrous, and evil being: King Mercenare.

Upon King Mercenare's awakening, Ira, Marmo, Bel, Riva, and Gura bowed before him and offered to do his bidding. By his orders, they ravaged Splendorius. The only warriors who remained were Glitter Spade and Marie Angelica. Marie Angelica tried to convince King Mercenare to stop attacking Splendorius, but he refused to listen, so she used the Spear of Light to trap him in stone.

Marie Angelica and Glitter Spade tried to escape to Earth using a magic mirror. Then, Bel shot a mass of daggers at Marie Angelica. She forced Spade to go by herself to Earth while she took on Bel. Bel asked Marie Angelica why she paralyzed King Mercenare instead of finishing him off, even though it would have saved Splendorius and Earth a lot of suffering. He realized that the princess couldn't bring herself to kill her beloved father and chided her for being a selfish hypocrite. Then, he started to corrupt Marie Angelica's heart and turn her into a Distain. Before her heart could be completely darkened, Marie Angelica pulled her heart out of her body and broke it into two parts: the half that had been darkened and the half that was still pure. She couldn't bring herself to choose between the selfish desire to save her father and the selfless desire to save the world, so she sent the two halves of her heart away to do battle. Whichever one won out in the end would represent the right decision.

The dark half of Marie Angelica's heart flew to King Mercenare in Splendorius and became Regina. The light half flew to Earth and became Natalie. Without a heart, Marie Angelica's body reverted into an egg - the very egg from which Dina hatched.

With the flashback over, the girls reappear in present-day Splendorius. Regina is in awe of just how much her father loved Marie Angelica - and, by extension, her. The very fact that he put the entire kingdom in danger just to save her moves her to the point that she becomes unbrainwashed. However, she's still on King Mercenare's side and is even more loyal to him than ever before.

Just then, the ground rumbles as King Mercenare finally breaks free of his stone prison. Regina flies to his side, ecstatic to see her father up and walking again. She uses the Spear of Light to create a portal to Sea Shell Bay, and she and King Mercenare go to destroy Earth just as Splendorius was destroyed. Though the Earth's destruction is nigh, the Glitter Force is as determined as ever to stop King Mercenare. They use Maya's Glitter Crystal Pad to teleport to Clover Tower and transform, ready for the final battle.

## Characters

### Glitter Force

* Maya Aida / Glitter Heart
* Rachel / Glitter Diamond
* Clara Yotsuba / Glitter Clover
* Mackenzie Mack / Glitter Spade
* Natalie Miller / Glitter Ace

### Pixies

* Kippie
* Rory
* Lance
* Davi
* Dina

### Villains

* Regina
* King Mercenare
* Ira
* Marmo
* Bel
* Riva (posthumously)
* Gura (posthumously)
* Distains

### Minor Characters

* Johnny
* Queen of Splendorius (posthumously)

## Major Events

* Regina regains her lost memories just like Natalie did, and the other Glitter Warriors and Dina get to see the same flashback she sees.
* It's revealed that King Mercenare is actually the king of Splendorius, who was originally a kind and loving king until he was possessed by the ancient force of darkness that the previous Glitter Force defeated.
* It's revealed that Princess Marie Angelica took her heart out of her body and split it in half, and the halves became Natalie and Regina. After this, her body turned into Dina.
* King Mercenare breaks free from the stone casing that Princess Marie Angelica trapped him in.
* Regina breaks free of her brainwashing that was induced by King Mercenare. However, she's still allied with him.
* King Mercenare and Regina go to Earth to destroy it just like Splendorius was destroyed.

## Trivia

* There were some differences between the Japanese and English versions regarding the queen's death.
	+ In the Japanese version, Aguri (Natalie) says that the queen died when the princess was born, implying that she died from childbirth. In the English version, Natalie says that the queen died shortly after the princess's birth due to her illness.
		- It's possible (though never made clear one way or the other) that the queen's illness came from the force of darkness, just like her daughter's illness did.
	+ Near the beginning of the flashback, the Japanese version has two shots of a group of attendants crying over the queen's dead body. This footage, which lasts only a few seconds, is cut.
	+ While the king holds his daughter for the first time, he cries. In the Japanese version, this is because he is grieving for his wife. In the English version, Natalie's narration makes it clear that he's crying "tears of joy" because he's happy to have his daughter.
	+ Later, the king gets a flashback to the queen telling the king to raise her daughter to be a wise and kind ruler. In the Japanese version, these are her last words, and we see her die afterwards. The English version keeps her last words in, but her dying is cut.
* A shot of the king breaking through a window after getting possessed by the darkness appears in the Japanese version, but not the English version.
* When we see the other Mercenares bowing to King Mercenare, two shadowy figures are seen in the background. The *Doki Doki! Pretty Cure Official Book* specifies that these two people are also villains, and that their names are Lust and Goma. Lust is based on the sin of Lust, and Goma is based on the sin of Pride. Lust and Goma were defeated during the battle with the forces of Splendorius.

## References

1. ↑ https://prettycure.fandom.com/wiki/DDPC46
2. ↑ https://www.netflix.com/title/80175619
3. ↑ https://prettycure.fandom.com/wiki/Lust
4. ↑ https://prettycure.fandom.com/wiki/Goma