Episode 2. "Burn! Meteor punch of Pegasus" In the arena of the Grand Coliseum in Tokyo, where the Galaxian Wars are being held, Unicorn Jabu defeats Lionet Ban in the ring. The next day, Seiya arrives at the Graude mansion in Japan, where he ends up arguing with Saori and Tatsumi. He expected to find Mitsumasa Kiddo in charge, only to be told Saori's grandfather has died while Seiya was in Sanctuary in training. They don't know where his sister is, and Seiya wants to forget the competition and go looking for her. Jabu arrives, and there is a brief confrontation between the two Saints. Seiya leaves to return to the orphanage they kidnapped him from to see if anyone there knows anything about his sister. He meets an old friend, Miho, who doesn't know anything about his sister but suggests that if he enters the Galaxian Wars she's bound to notice, the event is receiving world-wide coverage from all the media. Seiya finally agrees to enter the competition, and finds himself paired against Bear Geki. He is soon locked in deadly combat, and is being throttled by his opponent. Marin's words, that in order to defeat a stronger opponent he must redirect the opponent's strength back against him, comes to his mind... but how to do it before he passes out? (Yes, he wins... Otherwise they would have had to rename the show before it barely began!)

Episode 3. "Cygnus! Warrior of the ice cold" Seiya returns to the orphanage where he was raised and discovers that Miho has arranged rooms for him near by where he can live (And where the other orphans, who hero-worship Seiya, can visit!). Saori wonders where Phoenix and Cygnus are, but is primarily worried about Phoenix. In Siberia, Hyoga is visiting the ice-covered lake where his mother is "buried", where she drowned in a sinking ship. Breaking the ice, he dives downward and places a rose in her hair. A pile of other roses around her shows this is far from his first visit. Surfacing, he is met by a young Eskimo boy who leads him to the glacier where the Cygnus Cloth is frozen. Calling upon his power of the "Aurora Thunder Attack", Hyoga breaks the glacier into pieces, and earns the Cloth. In Tokyo, the games are ready to begin again. Competing tonight: Cygnus Hyoga, in his first match, against Hydra Ichi. Hyoga starts the match basically dodging Ichi's blows, content to let his opponent tire himself out and see how he moves. This results in his getting hit several times, until he counterattacks. He starts by half-freezing Ichi's arm, then delivers a full-blown punch that shatters Hydra's Cloth. The game is over... next up will be Seiya and Dragon Shiryu.

Episode 4. "Dragon! Unrivalled fist and shield" It's Seiya's turn in the ring again. People nearly come to blows over tickets for the match. It should be the most exciting one yet, pitting Shiryu against Seiya. Seiya barely remembers the older boy from their days in the initial training camp at the Graude Foundation; Shiryu has grown into a tall, splendidly muscled young man whose very aura of calm assurance is infuriating to his opponents. The two square off and the rain of fists starts immediately; no tentative sparring for these two! Shiryu lands the first punch, and Seiya falls. Just then Shunrei, Shiryu's foster sister, arrives with a message from home. It seems his sensei, Roshi, is ill. Shiryu remembers how he won his Cloth, his sensei instructing him to use his power to reverse the flow of a great waterfall. His Cloth was underwater, beneath the full force of the falling water. He succeeded, and he is determined to succeed in this endeavor, too. This distraction allows Seiya time to recover, and the two face each other again. Shiryu demonstrates his "Rozan Ascending Dragon" as the other Saints look on in shock; but somehow, to Dragon's disbelief, Seiya gets up and reciprocates with the "Pegasus Meteor Fist". Shiryu blocks all the punches with his shield and it's Seiya's turn to be shocked. Shiryu strikes and his blow crumbles Seiya's arm piece! Dragon tells him he should quit while he's still able and his armor basically in one piece. Seiya refuses. They clash again, and Seiya goes down, but Shiryu's shield has been shattered! Replay shows the Dragon hit and damaged it himself when he missed a blow at Seiya's head, as Seiya dropped to the ground in a faint (He'd run into the same shield face first...). Shiryu refuses to take advantage of Seiya's faint to destroy his opponent or the Pegasus Cloth, and again allows his opponent the time to recover. Despite their enforced rivalry, the two are coming not only to respect but like each other. Because Seiya is obviously hurt, Shiryu does what he sees as the honorable thing and dispenses with his armor, sending it flying. Seiya, not to be outdone, follows suit. Shun objects; without their armor their blows may well prove lethal. Shiryu and Seiya ignore his protests. They'll be fighting without the protection of their armor, despite the danger.

Episode 5. "Miracle of rebirth! Friendship of the Cosmos" The battle between Seiya and Shiryu continues. Both now do their best to evade each other's blows rather than block; and demonstrate both are very agile! Seiya attacks with his "Pegasus Meteor Fist". Shiryu dodges most of them... but one gets through, and for the first time Shiryu's blood is seen. They clash again, Shiryu jumping over Seiya's head to avoid another "Pegasus Meteor Fist". He collapses upon landing. Remembering his sensei's warning of his weak spot, a pressure point just above his heart, and to keep his guard up, Shiryu struggles to his feet again to continue the battle. He realizes that without his armor that pressure spot is unprotected by anything except his own skill. Yet he must lower his guard over that area to launch his "Rozan Ascending Dragon" attack. He dares not be overconfident now! The two go at each other again. Both land good, solid blows, but Shiryu is knocked out of the ring and lies still, while Seiya is still on his feet. Seiya is called the winner (because Shiryu has landed outside the ring, not because he has not gotten up), but as the doctors rush to Shiryu's still form, Seiya collapses. As the stretcher bearing Seiya begins to leave the ring, the other doctor declares that he can't find a heartbeat in Shiryu! The tatoo on the Dragon's back is fading rapidly as Shunrei goes to Seiya, begging him to help. A blow of his fist is the only thing which may get Shiryu's heart going once more. Seiya, still reeling and nearly unconscious, agrees. He nearly faints again, but manages to land a punch on target. He is actually imparting a part of his own life force to Shiryu. Shiryu's body and Andromeda Shun, who is holding him, are knocked through a wall, and the tatoo on Shiryu's back returns to its full splendor as a heartbeat resounds. Seiya is carried out of the arena in triumph. But behind, Andromeda's chains rattle a warning, and we get a brief glimpse of a rather nasty grin...

Episode 6. "Phoenix! Look at Hades, warrior!" Seiya is still in a hospital bed with Miho and several children from the orphanage in attendance when Shiryu, recovered, and Shunrei come visiting. Shiryu is momentarily unsure of his welcome, but Seiya greets him as a good friend. Shiryu tells Seiya that tonight it is Shun and Jabu squaring off. But, he adds, there is an odd feel to the air... there is danger coming. He reminds Seiya that there is still one Bronze Saint missing, Phoenix Ikki, who was sent to the infamous Death Queen Island to train. They decide to go to the arena, despite the fact that Seiya isn't supposed to be out of bed yet. Shun and Jabu are already in combat, and Jabu is in difficulty. Shun is beating him without even raising a sweat, the "Nebula Chains" doing most of the work. Jabu is momentarily on the ropes, his Cloth damaged in several places, when Shun's chains begin indicating much greater danger. First they spell out the name "Axia", to everyone's confusion. Who is Axia? Then the chains point to the box where the Gold Cloth is kept. The box opens, and the Phoenix emerges. The crowd goes wild, but both Seiya and Shiryu still feel uneasy. For one thing, Shun's chains are still going nuts; Shun throws them at the Phoenix, who catches them! Seiya informs Shun that the Phoenix should be his older brother, Ikki, and Shun is overjoyed. Shun remembers their parting when Ikki was sent to Death Queen Island. Then Ikki delivers a punch through the "Nebula Chains" that knocks Shun off his feet.

Episode 7. "It is stolen! The Gold Cloth" "Defend yourself, Shun!" Ikki yells as he attacks, but Shun only stares at him in disbelief. As Shun goes down, Unicorn Jabu interferes, this was supposed to be his match with Andromeda! Ikki knocks the Unicorn out with a single punch for his trouble. Ikki then laughs and taunts Tatsumi, remembering the many times Saori's butler-cum-bodyguard beat him up while he was a child. We get to see through his memories some of the training the young warriors were put through as kids, as well as the fact that Shun was something of a cry baby, and that Ikki continually stood up for him. Then each trainee drew for their final training camps, and Shun got Death Queen Island. Ikki volunteered... nay, insisted... on going in his place. Returning to the present, Ikki is then pitted against Wolf Nachi. Poor Nachi never has a chance. Ikki hits him once with his "Phoenix Illusion Demon's Fist", and Wolf goes catatonic. Ikki pushes him over with a single finger. Then Ikki summons the Dark Phoenixes, his minions, who all look like him, except that their armor is black. They each steal a piece of the Gold Cloth, and disappear, while demonstrating their ability to teleport.

Episode 8. "Win it back! The Gold Cloth" The five remaining Bronze Saints and the Tokyo police give chase to Ikki and his Black Phoenix team through downtown traffic to the waterfront. Hyoga stays right on their tail, following by leaping from rooftop to rooftop after them. He summons the others to the wharf Ikki is at by sending a plume of snow to them. Ikki knocks down a police helicopter with his Phoenix fire. The Saints search the warehouses for their quarry, and Seiya interrupts Ikki just as he is trying to don the Gold Cloth. Ikki and his men escape, carrying the pieces of the Sagittarius Cloth with them. The Bronze Saints manage to find and annihilate quite a few of the Black Phoenixes. They retrieve about half of the missing Gold Cloth. Ikki, however, is determined to have all of it. The Bronze Saints discuss matters, and Shiryu says they can't properly fight the enemy until he and Seiya have their Cloths fixed. He volunteers to take both sets of Cloth and try to find someone to heal the damage. As he leaves, we get a glimpse of Ikki's booted foot as he, too, watches Shiryu depart.

Episode 9. "Formidable enemy! The four Heavenly Knights of darkness" Open to a press conference with Saori and Tatsumi speaking on the theft of the Gold Cloth. Seiya brings in a policeman and his police dog; they are going to try and track Ikki down. The other Bronze Saints follow their own leads. Shun sees a tree that Ikki used to practice his punches on and has another flashback of their early years training in the area. Then, suddenly, a cold breeze whips up, and Shun feels a chill up his spine not caused by the sudden rain of snowflakes. Is it Cygnus Hyoga? Well, it's a Swan, but not Hyoga! Shun barely escapes being crushed by the tree as it's knocked over by his foe, Black Cygnus, Hyoga's evil counterpart. Shun finds himself taken by surprise and fighting for his life, rapidly loosing the battle. Then Hyoga arrives, and Black Cygnus finds he's met his match. His black snow turns white as Hyoga exerts his influence. Seiya arrives next on the scene. Hyoga is distracted and his doppleganger takes advantage of this for an attack. Hyoga shrugs it off and counterattacks, is winning when Black Andromeda shows up and interrupts the battle. All four of the Black Saints face the three Bronze Saints and deliver a combined warning and challenge to the Bronze Saints before teleporting away. Saori retreats to her planetarium to consult with Mitsumasa Kiddo's spirit. Ikki and his requested reinforcements from Death Queen Island, the Black Saints, plan their next move.

Episode 10. "Beware Shiryu! The cementery of Cloths" The episode opens as Seiya is washing his hair. Saori arrives with a message from Ikki: He and his Black Saints against the Bronze Saints, the winner taking the entire suit of Gold Cloth. Meanwhile, Shiryu and his foster sister Shunrei go to visit his sensei. Shiryu asks him what he can do to repair the damaged Cloth. His mentor tells him the information must be earned; Shiryu agrees to the contest. Roshi discharges energy into the water fall, which in turn sends flashes of power back at Shiryu, who must deflect all the blows. Finally he succeeds, and his mentor sends him onward to Mu, who he says can fix the battle damage. Enroute, Shiryu finds he must fight animated skeletons wearing what appear to be ancient Black Cloths. Despite being badly outnumbered by the evil spirits, the Dragon prevails and then must continue the arduous journey. Finally he finds Mu's residence, a tall spire on the top of a rock out-cropping. There, he is confronted by Kiki a telekinetic young brat, who drops rocks on his head until Shiryu knocks the spire off its foundation. Then Mu appears, and demonstrates his own considerable power by resetting the spire on its base. Shiryu pleads with him to heal the Cloth, the battle against Ikki cannot be won without the Pegasus and Dragon Cloth. Finally Mu agrees. And at home on the waterfront, Seiya wakes to a nightmare vision of Shiryu being attacked by a demon (looking suspiciously like a distorted Mu) and knocked into an endless crevasse to his death...

Episode 11. "Life and death struggle! Terror of the Black Death fist" The Bronze Saints are transported to the mountains in Central Asia where Ikki and his Dark Saints are to confront them. As they separate, Shun gives each of them a bell to wear as identification. Seiya then thinks he sees Shiryu, with the Pegasus Cloth on his back. As Seiya runs forward happily, Shiryu's form dissolves into a dragon and disappears. The Pegasus Cloth leaps forth and encases its wearer. Seiya realizes the box is leaving, seemingly under its own power, and strikes, and an invisible Kiki becomes visible. He tells Seiya that Mu told Shiryu that it takes a Saint's blood to heal a Saint's Cloth. Remembering that Seiya saved his life, Shiryu cuts both his wrists and allows the blood to pour over the armor. Kiki is upset, but Mu restrains him. Shiryu slowly turns white as his blood pours forth, and Mu grabs him before he can fall. Mu then seals the cuts in Shiryu's wrists, while thinking that Shiryu has more than enough courage for a Saint. Mu tells Kiki to take the Pegasus Cloth to Seiya while he takes care of Shiryu and the Dragon Cloth. Seiya is understandably upset; he's barely gotten to know this good friend. It is a high price to pay for the repair of the Cloth... and now he must make sure that Dragon's sacrifice is not in vain. Seiya gives the bell meant for Shiryu to Kiki, and leaves... to encounter Black Pegasus. He wins, but not before his doppleganger has delivered several blows of the "Black Pegasus Meteor Fist". Seiya picks up the three pieces of the Gold Cloth that are now 'his', and continues. He shortly finds himself thirsty, with a burning fever. Pulling off his armor, he is horrified to see growing patches of black where Black Pegasus struck him. He falls off the ledge, knocking the pieces of Gold Cloth with him. Meanwhile, Hyoga. faces his counterpart and defeats him, enduring Black Cygnus's most powerful blasts as if they were the mildest summer breeze. Then Hyoga goes Ikki-hunting. He walks right past the area where Seiya has fallen, and never notices. He takes Ikki on all by himself, and the battle begins as the episode ends.

Episode 12. "Catch! Nebula Chain of friendship" Ikki and Hyoga face each other in battle. Cygnus launches an "Aurora Thunder Attack" against Ikki, only to have it reversed and strike its sender. Shocked, and with his confidence shaken, Hyoga gets up and tries again. This time Ikki launches his "Phoenix Illusion Demon's Fist" attack, and Cygnus Hyoga sees his mother's body decaying in front of his eyes, skin and flesh rotting away... Somehow, Hyoga shakes off the nightmare and counterattacks viciously. When he's finished, there's the Phoenix Cloth, but no Ikki, he teleported out of the way! Ikki punches Hyoga in the chest, making a hole in the Cygnus Cloth. Hyoga grabs Ikki's wrist and tries to freeze it, but collapses before he can succeed. Ikki leaves him for dead. With a smile, he picks up the Gold Cloth pieces and goes on. Elsewhere, Shun hears Seiya's bell as Seiya tries to climb back up the mountainside, and further down the valley Kiki hears someone coming. Clearing away the fog, he is overjoyed to see Shiryu. Mu, Shiryu tells him, was able to save his life. Kiki gives him the bell, and Shiryu goes into battle with it. Shun discovers Seiya's discarded armor and soon finds Seiya. He lassoes Seiya with his chains, but is attacked by Black Andromeda. Refusing to let Seiya go, he is rapidly loosing the battle when Seiya himself breaks the chain and falls back down the steep incline. We also get our first real demonstration of the telepathy shared between these Bronze Saints as Seiya "talks" to Shun and tells him the rescue of the Gold Cloth is more important than his life. Incensed, Shun attacks and kills his doppleganger. But Black Dragon is on the scene, and has been watching the battle with some amusement. Now he prepares to attack. Shiryu intervenes and tells Shun to go save Seiya while he takes care of the Black Dragon. Andromeda wraps one end of his chain around a convenient out-cropping and drops toward Seiya as Shiryu and Black Dragon begin their battle.

Episode 13. "Blaze up! A blow of friendship" As the battle between Shiryu and his Black Saint doppleganger commences, it becomes rapidly clear that while Mu was able to heal Shiryu, he has not been returned to complete health. He is not at full strength and is considerably slower than his opponent. In some ways it's the mirror of his earlier battle with Seiya, this time Shiryu is soon bleeding and bruised as Black Dragon gets first blood several times over. Mu has warned Shiryu that further blood loss could be fatal, but Shiryu battles valiantly on, as it becomes clear that his true goal is to hold Black Dragon until Shun's rescue attempt is successful. Essentially self-centered, Black Dragon simply can't understand why Shiryu would throw his life away to save his friends. Shiryu manages a full-power blow with the last of his strength, and knocks Black Dragon into the mountain-side, where a fall of rock covers him. Shiryu collapses in a pool of his own blood, fully expecting to bleed to death, content knowing that Shun and Seiya should be safe. Then he sees Black Dragon climb out of the rubble. Struggling to his feet, Shiryu can stand only by supporting himself against the rock behind him. In despair because he knows Black Dragon will kill Shun and Seiya next, Shiryu can't lift even a finger in his own defense as Black Dragon prepares to deliver a killing blow. A blow that never comes, for instead Black Dragon strikes him in the chest with a single finger, and as he withdraws the finger, all Shiryu's hurts are healed, and Black Dragon himself collapses and dies. Somehow Shiryu's willingness to sacrifice himself for his comrades has touched Black Dragon's inner core, and the dark Saint has saved Shiryu's life at the cost of his own. Shiryu then goes over and helps pull Seiya and Shun back up the mountainside. He then examines Seiya and knows what to do, he uses his fingers to punch holes in Seiya where the Black Pegasus' deadly punches landed. This will allow the evil essence imparted into Seiya to leak out, and Seiya's own natural strength will do the rest. Shiryu has now finally paid Seiya back in full for saving his life. He and Shun pick up the pieces of the Gold Cloth and go looking for the others. Instead, it is Ikki who finds them! Shun knocks Shiryu out and faces his brother himself. He pleads that Ikki forget his current evil ways and rejoin the Bronze Saints. He's powerful enough to win the Cloth without resorting to stealing it. Ikki responds by attacking, but Seiya, now fully recovered, arrives to intervene. He then proceeds to launch his own attack, only to trip over a rock. Ikki, amused, prepares to respond with an attack of his own.

Episode 14. "Defeated! The Illusion Demon Fist" Ikki is about to attack Seiya when Hyoga arrives. Ikki is astounded, he thought he'd killed Hyoga earlier. Shiryu has also awakened, and now Ikki must face four Bronze Saints. Shun again pleads with his brother, to no effect, only Hyoga's interference prevents Ikki from punching Shun out. Hyoga attacks, Ikki counterattacks with a psionic attack, but Cygnus turns it back on him. Ikki imagines that his own Black Saints have turned on him, and are trying to destroy him with his own power. Hyoga tells the entranced Ikki that turnabout is fair play, tries to complete the job by punching out Ikki. Shun stops him, which gives Ikki time to recover and attack Hyoga (Evidentally Ikki can't be driven much crazier than he already is). His blow is not fatal; Hyoga's crucifix (given to him by his mother) deflects the power of his fist. Phoenix launches his "Flaming Wing Takeoff" attack and knocks over the Bronze Saints like ten pins. Only Seiya is on his feet afterward, due entirely to the fact the Gold Cloth has assembled itself and protected Seiya behind its armor. They battle, and Seiya shatters the Phoenix Cloth, only to see it reassemble itself in a burst of flame! As the fight continues, the other weapons respond to Seiya's needs. Shiryu's shield appears on his arm to stop Ikki's punches, Shun's Nebula Chains wrap around Ikki's arms and attack him, and Seiya throws an "Aurora Thunder Attack". Even with the others unconscious, the Bronze Saints are fighting Ikki as a team. Ikki finds himself outmatched, and collapses in Seiya's arms.

Episode 15. "Now it's revealed! The enigma of Ikki" Ikki recovers rather quickly and renews his attack. Seiya's "Pegasus Meteor Fist" punches him, but Ikki's still conscious. A sudden flashback of how he got his Cloth comes unbidden, causing him pain. His sensei (a large, muscular, scarred man who eternally wears a Japanese demon's mask to conceal his true features) had beaten him to a pulp again, and the man's daughter, Esmeralda, came to see him and patch his wounds. They gradually became good friends. One day she took him outside to show him a field of flowers, proving that not everything on Death Queen Island is brutal and bleak. His mentor interrupts them, and while he and the sensei do battle, the man accidentally kills Esmeralda. The sensei reacts callously, as if she'd deserved death for getting in the way. Ikki berserks and kills his sensei, using the Phoenix power for the first time, and thus winning the Phoenix Cloth, with no real sense of accomplishment. The woman he loved is dead and unable to share his triumph. He had to get the Gold Cloth at any cost in order to revenge her memory... or so he told himself. He tells Seiya that everyone on Death Queen Island has moved to Sanctuary, but before Seiya can react several of what Seiya believes to be Ankoku Saints arrive. A new battle begins, and a still dazed Ikki falls into a crevasse. Shun sees this and throws one of his chains to him. He blames himself for what has happened to Ikki, for he should have gone to Death Queen Island rather than let his brother take his place. Ikki seems to be regaining his own mind, and Shun brings him upward with a single jerk on the Nebula Chains. Ikki is half-fainting and completes the process of freeing his mind from Evil influence. The others are still fighting the enemy warriors. Then Docrates, a fire elemental and equivalent to a Silver Saint, shows up. As they prepare to battle, Ikki warns them that Docrates is not to be underestimated. Docrates tells Ikki he must rejoin their cause or die a traitor. Ikki refuses and strikes back, succeeding in throwing Docrates off-balance. A landslide results, and Ikki, collapsing, is buried under it. Seiya has to carry Shun away forcibly or he would have ended up buried too in an attempt to save Ikki's life. The rest of the Sagittarius Gold Cloth is buried as well, only the helmet remaining. The Bronze Saints leave a cross with Ikki's name on it, hang Hyoga's crucifix from it, and mourn their fallen comrade.

Episode 16. "A giant! The fierce attack of Docrates!" Somewhere in the world, a bloody war is being fought, and Arles' (the Master of Sanctuary) dark-Clothed minions glory in it. Sanctuary has become a training camp even more brutal than Death Queen Island. In the arena, Shaina is fighting Marin and beating her into a pulp, ostensively because Marin has not yet accepted the Master of Sanctuary's decision that Seiya is a traitor. Another saint, a young man named Aioria, interrupts Shaina's beating of Marin, telling her she's doing it out of spite over Seiya's defeat of her rather than bringing Marin into line. At the Graude mansion, Saori and her Bronze Saints are discussing the loss of the Gold Cloth, and Ikki's information that Evil now controls Sanctuary. A commotion outside interrupts them, and the Saints erupt out of the room expecting an invasion to find Kiki "playing" with Tatsumi. Everyone laughs and tension is relieved for a short time. Saori again consults with Kiddo's spirit. The Saints have all gone to their rooms to relax (well, sorta relax; Hyoga is busy doing push-ups), Seiya goes home to his rooms near the orphanage, and Saori has gone to her control center. Several of Docrates' proteges go to the area of the landslide and 'dig up' Docrates, who still lives. The next morning the Saints' rest is interrupted by the arrival of Docrates, who demands the Sagittarius helmet. The Saints enarmor, and Shiryu sends Kiki after Seiya. The three Saints are outclassed by Docrates' strength, power, and size but valiantly fight on, while the mansion sustains a lot of damage. Her Saints defeated, Saori bravely faces Docrates as Seiya arrives and the others recover. The arrival of a battalion of police interrupts the battle. Docrates kidnaps Saori by the simple expedient of picking her bodily up and tells them they'll exchange her later for the helmet.

Episode 17. "Rescue! Saori's crisis" Docrates threatens to crush Saori in his hand if the Saints don't comply with his demands. He takes Tatsumi hostage as well. In Sanctuary, Gigas, the Arles' chief aide-de-camp, reports on Docrates' progress. The Arles plans to give the Gold Cloth to one of his loyal Saints once they have all the pieces. Marin overhears some of these plans from some gossiping guards. The Bronze Saints discuss their plans. Kiki has located the rest of the Gold Cloth with his psychic/mystic powers; it will be his job and Shiryu's to go get it. The other three will go to the arena where Docrates has brought Saori and Tatsumi. Shun and Seiya approach the foe warily. Seiya hands over the helmet. One of Docrates' henchmen picks up Saori and runs with her, while a third takes off with the helmet. Seiya goes after Saori, but Docrates blocks his way. Hyoga, waiting outside, confronts the men running away with the helmet. Shun tries to support Seiya but is attacked by three of Docrates' Saints. Meanwhile, Saori is being dragged to the roof as Seiya and Docrates fight. Docrates is about to trash Seiya when Shun intervenes, having successfully defeated his opponents. This allows Seiya to go after Saori. With Hyoga's arrival all three saints face Docrates. Hyoga remembers the polar bear he defeated while learning to use his powers of coldness. He lands at Docrates' feet and begins freezing them to the ground despite the pounding Docrates gives him. Once the evil Saint's legs are frozen, Seiya and Shun attack. Between the three of them, they defeat Docrates. Meanwhile, Shiryu and Kiki arrive just in time to see an enemy helicopter leave with the rest of the Gold Cloth. They've failed, but the helmet is still theirs.

Episode 18. "Great rage! Ghost Saint of the Caribbean" In an attempt to get hold of the Sagittarius helmet, Arles' minions send Ghost Saint Geist to capture an oil tanker. They hold the tanker and its crew hostage. The Bronze Saints must bring the helmet with them, or the crew will be killed. In the ensuing battle the Ghost Saints are defeated, but their mistress projects an illusion that enables them to escape, taking the helmet with them. Now the Bronze Saints must follow their enemy back into her stronghold.

Episode 19. "Life or death! Bloody battle of the Island of Spirits" Following the evil Ghost Saints back to the Island of Spirits, the Bronze Saints find their aircraft shot out from under them by the power of the Ghost Saint who leads their current opponents. Swimming toward the island, they are attacked by one of the Ghost Saints they fought earlier, Dolphin (Delphinis); and Hyoga defeats him by freezing the sea around him, separating Dolphin from his "natural environment". Reaching the island, they are attacked by wasps. They overcome that attack, but as they proceed further into the island, one by one the Saints drop out, while defeating each of the evil Saints who fought them earlier. Only Seiya remains to invade the castle and locate the missing helmet. Seiya confronts the Ghost Saint and defeats her. At one point when she is ready to kill him, the Sagittarius helmet protects him, shattering her mask in the process. Seiya counter attacks and kills her, regaining the Sagittarius helmet. When her mask comes off he recognizes her as someone he once saw in Sanctuary, and, though he doesn't know it yet, is Shaina's sister!

Episode 20. "Desperate battle! Shaina's revenge" Most of the Saints are returning to their training camps in order to find answers about what's going on. In Sanctuary, Marin overhears that the Crystal Saint has been set to destroy Hyoga. Earlier she'd seen what happened when Hyoga's sensei, the Crystal Saint, returned to Sanctuary. He discovered that things had changed drastically, and that the Master of Sanctuary is not the same as he remembers him! he took over his mind with his "Demon Emperor Fist", sending him back to Siberia to oversee a project. Seiya arrives in Sanctuary and is immediately attacked by Shaina, dressed in the Cloth of Ophiuchus (the Serpent Holder) and several guards. Marin intervenes, attacks and drives Seiya away herself, but not before warning him the Crystal Saint has been set to destroy Hyoga. Worried, Seiya follows Hyoga to Siberia... where the Crystal Saint has just attacked his former student!

Episode 21. "Passionate misdeed! The Aurora confrontation" Wearing his Cloth this time, Cygnus Hyoga confronts the Crystal Saint again. But his reluctance to harm the man he has come to love as a father prevents him from doing his best, and as a result Hyoga is nearly killed. Only the arrival of Seiya saves his life, and Seiya imparts to him the knowledge that his sensei has been possessed. Hyoga turns to fight his sensei, preventing Seiya from entering the battle. Just as Hyoga strikes, the Crystal Saint experiences a pain attack (this seems to be the result of his own soul fighting Arles' control), and he cannot block Hyoga's blow. Overcoming Arles' hold on his mind and returning to his senses, the Crystal Saint destroys the structure Arles had commanded him to build, and dies in Hyoga's arms.

Episode 22. "Rebirth of the flame! Invincible Ikki" In Siberia, Hyoga and Seiya have buried the Crystal Saint in a block of ice, and head homeward to rejoin their companions. Meanwhile, Shun has been guarding Saori and the Sagittarius helmet in a woodland retreat. At the mansion, the Incendiary Saint and Master of Sanctuary's chief lieutenant, Gigas, have broken into the building. Not finding the helmet, or anyone else, for that matter, they burn the mansion to the ground. Upon hearing the news, Saori and Tatsumi want to return at once, but Shun warns that it is a trap. Tatsumi ignores him and returns, is captured by the enemy, and under torture reveals the location of Saori and the helmet. They attack, Shun doing his best to defend the house... but Gigas slips by as he is preoccupied by the fire Saint. Then Shun's attention is distracted by Saori's scream, and the enemy Saint gets a fireball through Shun's guard... but the fireball is then sucked away, assuming the shape of a firebird. It is Ikki... Ikki confronts Arles' Saint and defeats him, and forces Gigas to retreat. Ikki, it seems, is in his right mind once more... perhaps his near-death had finished ejecting Arles' influence. He is welcomed back into the brotherhood of the Bronze Saints...

Episode 23. "Silver Saint! Vain and boastful assassin" Arles has decided that Seiya is a danger to him, and as the Master of Sanctuary sends Lacerta ("the Lizard") Misty, one of his Silver Saints (and called "The Silver Saint"), and his prime assassin, to kill the young Bronze Saint. Marin, to Shaina's amusement, is chosen to accompany him. Shaina figures that Marin will be forced to watch Seiya, her pupil and protege, be killed. At the Graude Estate, the five Bronze Saints and Saori are having a joyful reunion dinner. Only Seiya is not in a good mood; he's remembering the changes that have taken place in Sanctuary since he left. They know now that somehow Arles has secretly taken over Athena's training camp, subverting the Saints that are supposed to be hers. Chances are Arles now has the rest of the Gold Cloth. Saori remembers Kiddo's warning of what would happen if Arles wins the current conflict: World Wide War for years. But they are not yet strong enough to take on Sanctuary. They need a Gold Saint as their leader; none of the Bronze Saints has yet established a firm claim to captaincy of their group. Seiya returns to the orphanage for a walk on the beach with Miho, Kiki trailing behind. Then Seiya sees Marin, dressed the Cloth of Aquila the Eagle. As he runs happily toward her, the Silver Saint Lacerta Misty, who looks like a tall, beautiful blonde woman, teleports between them. Seiya tells Miho to get the hell out of there; she shows the common sense to do so and go call the Graude Foundation for help. Seiya is knocked about a bit by Misty, who's enjoying 'playing' with this Bronze Saint. Seiya is perhaps a bit reluctant to use his full strength against someone he thinks is a woman, while Lacerta Misty tells him no mere Bronze Saint has a chance of defeating a Silver. Kiki summons Seiya's Pegasus cloth with his telekinesis. Misty demonstrates he can control the wind. Then Aquila Marin grabs Seiya from behind and seemingly kills him. The rest of the Bronze Saints immediately sense trouble (another demonstration of their group telepathic/cosmo bond). Misty congratulates Aquila Marin on proving her devotion to their Master by killing her favorite student. They bury Seiya, and Aquila Marin leaves. Lacerta Misty is not sure of Marin's loyalty and digs up the grave, Seiya emerges battered but still alive. Lacerta Misty frowns and says this is proof that Aquila Marin is a traitor; he will deal with her once he's taken care of Seiya...

Episode 24. "Fly Pegasus! Like a Comet" Each episode usually starts with a recap of the previous one; this one has a short recap of the entire storyline from the first one on! Then cut to Seiya and Lacerta Misty facing each other across the beach where we left them last episode. The battle continues full throttle. Finally Misty thinks he's successfully killed Seiya. Noting in dismay that there's blood in his hair, Misty undresses and goes swimming in the ocean, incidentally proving he is male. Seiya surfaces and notices this fact. He won't attack until the Silver Saint has put his Cloth back on, however (such chivalry...). Seiya's first attack is seemingly easily repulsed, and Lacerta Misty strikes back... but then discovers at least one of Seiya's blows got through as he coughs up blood. Seiya's next attack is air-borne, and Misty is taken by surprise and damaged, but still remains on his feet. Lacerta Misty says that while he's wearing a Bronze Cloth, this is no Bronze Saint he faces! Seiya successfully blocks Lacerta Misty's next attack, and in his counter-attack kills the Silver Saint. Saori informs Hyoga of where Seiya is and that there's big trouble. Seiya has returned to his rooms to think about what has happened. What sort of game is Aquila Marin playing? Two more Silver Saints accompany Marin back to Seiya's supposed grave, only to find Misty's body instead. They decide Marin is a traitor and after a struggle tie her to the grave marker for Seiya head down, and put it in the water so she will slowly drown with the rising tide. Then the two of them, Canes Venatici (Greyhounds or Hunting Dogs constellation) Saint Asterion and Cetus (the Whale) Saint Moses settle down to wait for Seiya to arrive. Seiya 'hears' Aquila Marin's telepathic call of distress, and responds. Seiya momentarily stuns Cetus Moses, then is distracted by the sight of Marin's predicament. As he fights Moses again, the Whale tells him something that makes Seiya realize that Marin is his sister! It's not just his sensei he is fighting for, but the sister he's been searching for for so long. As he berserks, Seiya manifests real wings and hits Cetus Moses hard enough to destroy his Cloth. But there is still Canes Venatici Saint Asterion to deal with. Hyoga is enroute, but will he be in time?

Episode 25. "Fight! The rise of Athena" Seiya and Canes Venatici Asterion fight, and Seiya, already tired from two previous battles and distracted by the fact Aquila Marin's face is nearly all underwater, is defeated. The enemy saint creates multiple images and Seiya can't tell which is real and which fake. Then the greyhound saint is attacked by Marin, who has been freed by Kiki while Asterion wasn't looking. The two fight, and Aquila Marin, seeing through his illusions, defeats him. When Hyoga arrives to find a dazed Seiya and several dead Silver Saints, Marin has left... but they see the message she has inscribed in the sand: "Seiya guard Athena". The three (Hyoga, Seiya, and Kiki) return to the arena where their comrades await, and discuss the fact Aquila Marin is Seiya's lost sister as well as the puzzling message. Who is Athena? Tatsumi speaks up and tells them Saori is Athena. It seems that she is not really Kiddo's blood relation. He was given her by a Saint who escaped Sanctuary with her. This Saint, Aioros, tells Kiddo that the reincarnation of Evil has infiltrated Sanctuary and wants the infant Athena before she can come to her full power. He gives the old man his set of Gold Cloth, the Sagittarius cloth, to give to one of the Saints who will support her. This news is met with some disbelief, even on Saori's part. Then each Saints' cosmo appears around each of them, and the Sagittarius helmet glows as well. A towering golden aura appears around Saori, and for a moment Athena stands in her place. Then one of the Master's saints appears and says he's come to revenge Lacerta Misty, and the chance to destroy Athena's imposter is an additional bonus. This Silver Saint, Centarus Babel, knocks them all for a loop; Shiryu has to drag a badly battered Seiya out of the way. Then three glowing lights appear in the sky, and three strange Saints land in the arena. They are the Steel Saints of Water, Land, and Air. Which side are they on...?

Episode 26. "Friend or foe! Steel Saints" The arrival of the Steel Saints and their ensuing attack on Silver Saint Centarus Babel allows Hyoga time to recover and annihilate the attacking Silver Saint. By the time the battle is over (Babel bemoaning the fact he's been defeated by a "mere" Bronze Saint), the Steel Saints have disappeared. Athena, manifests through Saori. He acknowledges that she is the real Athena, and dies with tears of happiness in his eyes from the knowledge his goddess is not dead, as the Master had told her Saints. Athena and her Saints sorrow over his body. Following, the Saints worry about what's become of Sanctuary. Something must be done, but they aren't powerful enough yet to act. Arles learns Athena has manifested and is rather upset. Shaina suggests luring the Bronze Saints into a trap. Argor, a Silver Saint, kills three trainees trying to escape with his "Medusa shield", turning them into stone with his "Medusa shield", he is the Perseus Saint. Shaina, watching the performance, intends to use Argor as one of her fighters against the Bronze Saints. Seiya, Shun, and Shiryu's plane is pulled off course by the power of Spartan, the other Silver Saint whom Shaina enlists, and crash-lands near Sanctuary...

Episode 27. "Stone Seiya! Shield of Medusa" Shaina, now dressed in the Cloth of Ophiuchus, Perseus Argor, and Spartan attack our intrepid trio. Seiya manages to defeat Shaina... but only after she's picked from his mind that Marin is his sister. Shiryu is stalemated by Spartan, who seems to be a teleporter and telekinetic capable of manipulating his power into various force fields, and Shun is turned to stone by Argor. Seiya tries to come to his aid, while Spartan teleports Shiryu into that battle zone as well as he goes to Shaina's aid. Seiya is also turned to stone, and only Shiryu remains to fight Argor. Meanwhile, Ikki has sensed that Shun is in danger, and he and Hyoga are enroute. Shiryu protects his eyes with his shield, but that leaves him open to more physical attacks. Spartan returns, and Shiryu tricks Argor into turning his own ally into stone. Shiryu lands a few good blows, but in general is getting the shit beat out of him...

Episode 28. "Dragon! Victory of self-sacrifice" Shiryu, remembering the legend of Perseus and Medusa, tries to use his shield as a mirror. The problem is that he can't maneuver it well enough to keep an eye on Argor. He gets blown across the valley from the Silver Saint's blow. Next he tears his pants to create a blindfold, but the power of the Medusa destroys the cloth, and Shiryu finds his left arm (including his shield) has turned to stone. Argor attacks again, but the Air Steel Saint arrives, knocks the Medusa shield down before Argor can force Shiryu to look at it. Then the other two Steel Saints arrive. At the Graude Foundation, Saori is informed that the remains of the Saints' plane has been discovered. Hyoga and Ikki are also enroute and nearing the site. The Steel Saints are keeping Argor busy while Shiryu recovers but are obviously outmatched, and fall to Perseus' power. Shiryu now knows what he must do. He blinds himself using his own fingers as the Steel Saints watch in horror. As Argor attacks the blind Shiryu unmercifully, Shiryu receives a vision of what Argor is doing, and strikes, destroying the Medusa shield and killing Argor. As he dies, Shiryu's arm returns to normal, and both Shun and Seiya become flesh once more. Shiryu collapses into the Steel Saint's arms. Seiya and Shun discover what their comrade did to save their lives as Hyoga and Ikki arrive. They take Shiryu back to the Graude Foundation for care, and watch the Steel Saints work out while Shiryu is in the operating room. It seems Kiddo had his scientists put together the Steel Cloths as a wild-card counter to Arles' more numerous Saint. The Steel Cloths are basically machines, not mystic. Then they get the bad news: Saori's doctors cannot restore Shiryu's sight. Have they permanently lost Shiryu as a Saint?

Episode 29. "Kidnapped! Corvus' army calls unexpectedly on Saori" Kiki and Shunrei are in Shiryu's hospital room, Shunrei packing Shiryu's suitcase when Saori and the rest of the Saints arrive to say their (hopefully temporary) farewells. Shiryu is returning home where Shunrei plans to take care of him, hoping that they will find some way to restore his eyesight. After Shiryu and Shunrei leave, the Saints return to Saori's command post, where she shows them that her satellite cameras will no longer show Sanctuary, something is interfering with the signal. Seiya and Ikki have an argument over Shiryu's continued status as a Saint, and Ikki leaves. Saori goes back out in the open arena to contemplate the stars; the three Saints hear her scream. All three race to the stairs, then Seiya returns for his Cloth. As they get to the top of the stairs, they see Saori's limp body being carried off by thousands of crows. Seiya goes after her as Hyoga and Shun return for their Cloth. Seiya follows into the mountains, where he discovers that Saori has been captured by Corvus (the Crow) Jamian, whom the Master has sent to capture his rival. They fight, and Seiya falls to one of Corvus' tricks, becoming completely covered with feathers, he can't see, hear, and barely breath. Somehow he finds the energy to dispel the mess, but before he can counterattack notices that Corvus has sent his birds off with Saori. Seiya decides that his duty is to Athena, and goes after her, as Corvus laughs behind him. And, not far behind, Hyoga and Shun are enroute as well.

Episode 30. "Rising glow! Cosmo light" Saori has been captured by Corvus, accompanied by Shaina. Seiya saves Saori, only to be cornered on a ledge above a high canyon by the two Silver Saints. To escape, he walks off the ledge with Saori and falls... when morning comes, Shaina leaps down as agile as a cat and finds Saori alive and well, bent over a comatose Seiya. Corvus arrives and attacks, only to find a golden aura builds around Saori, and his birds land at her feet in what can only be described as adoration. When he orders them to attack again, they attack him. Shaina realizes that Saori is demonstrating powers similar to those of Athena, and begins to wonder if "Ojosan Kiddo" is really Athena. As Saori's power fades, Shaina prepares to attack... but is prevented from succeeding by the arrival of Shun and Hyoga. Corvus is knocked for a loop and stumbles off the ledge. Shaina, infuriated, attacks. Neither Hyoga nor Andromeda have fought a female Saint before, and are slow to react. Then Hyoga hits Shaina hard enough to knock her over the ledge. The ordeal is not yet over... two more Silver Saints have just arrived!

Episode 31. "Evil apparitions! Deadline of life or death" Hyoga and Shun face off against the two new Silver Saints, who identify themselves as Auriga Saint Capella and Cereberus Saint Dante. Shun puts down the unconscious Seiya to do so. Shun finds his "Nebula Chains" stymied by Cereberus Dante's maces and chains. Auriga Capella throws numerous sharp-edged disks, one of which gets through Hyoga's defenses and hits him in the back. Tying the two Bronze Saints together with his chain, Cereberus throws them over the ledge together into empty space. But the chain catches on a dead tree on their way down, and the two struggle valiantly upward (We see Corvus Jamian's body below them, but no sign of Shaina...). The two Silver Saints chortle over Saori's predicament, but Ikki arrives to protect her. He kills Auriga Capella and thinks he's finished Cereberus Dante, a nearly fatal mistake as the second tries a surprise attack. Shun and Hyoga's arrival and their interference prevents more damage; Ikki leaves it to Shun to finish off Cereberus. Shun does so with dispatch, a considerable change in attitude from the first time we saw him fight! Meanwhile, Ikki has decided that it's time to return to Death Queen Island and find out what's going on there.

Episode 32. "Great explosion! Death Queen Island" Seiya is still in the hospital. Saori, Hyoga and Shun tell him Ikki has gone to Death Queen Island. Seiya is upset, saying it is obviously a trap set up for Ikki. Ikki, meanwhile, has arrived on the island and finds himself beset by the guards there. He dispatches the three of them easily, unaware that his actions are being observed elsewhere. Ahead of him, one of the island's volcanoes smokes warningly. Ikki finds some flowers and remembers Esmeralda and her death. The Steel Saints have followed Ikki, and Seiya is frantic in that the Bronze Saints need to go too. The others find his worry catching, and they decide to go to Death Queen Island as well. Seiya insists on going too, despite the fact he hasn't been officially released from the hospital. Ikki now finds himself under even greater attack, including by Black Phoenix Saint. By the time the others arrive Ikki is fighting for his life, his neck in the grip of Black Phoenix's fingers. Ikki hears and sees Esmeralda, who tells him it is not yet time for them to be reunited. Then he hears the voices of Shun, Seiya and Hyoga calling for him. Esmeralda urges him to free himself; he is still needed on the other side. Ikki pulls out of the spell and calls his Cloth to him, and fights Black Phoenix as Seiya, Hyoga, and Shun arrive to battle the other guards. Together, the four win the battle, and know they couldn't have done it if they hadn't acted as a team. Then Arles destroys Death Queen Island, and only Athena's intervention saves the lives of the four Bronze Saints.

Episode 33. "Dragon and Tiger clash! No light for Dragon tears" In China, Shiryu is almost totally depressed. His foster-sister Shunrei tries to raise his spirits but does not have much success. All Shiryu can remember is taking his own sight and the final vision of Perseus Argor running toward him, with nightmares that he hears the voices of his friends and can't find them, and Argor is strangling him with the coils of the Medusa. He believes he can no longer be a Saint without sight... of what use to Athena is a warrior who can't see the enemy to fight? He tries to teach himself to fight using only sound as clues but is not very successful. Even Roshi is upset and worried; he can't teach Shiryu what he needs. Shiryu must learn this lesson on his own. At the Foundation estate, Saori and the Steel Saints confer, while Seiya and Ikki come near to blows over and argument over Shiryu's continued status as a Bronze Saint. Seiya decides there is only one solution. He himself must go to Mu and ask the elemental to heal Shiryu's eyes. And so off he goes, Pegasus armor on his back. His going is something of a rebellion on his part, due to the fact that will leave Saori with only two of her Saints present (Ikki having disappeared in the meantime). Only the prospect of them regaining Shiryu as an active Saint if he is successful sways Athena's decision. Shunrei takes Shiryu to the river, where she goes swimming while Shiryu waits on the bank. An undertow grabs her and she is dragged down river toward the rapids screaming. Shiryu tries to run after her along the bank, tripping and stumbling as he does so. Her life is saved by Okho, Shiryu's old rival from when they were both students of Roshi. Okho got sent away for being a bully and ever since has felt cheated out of his chance to win the Dragon Cloth. He attacks Shiryu, his power manifesting as a tiger. Shunrei interrupts, asking what sort of fighter is Okho, to pick on someone who can't see? Okho, who's been too busy enjoying getting revenge to notice the signs in front of his face, pulls back. He says that his revenge is meaningless if Shiryu can't fight back, and leaves. Which makes Shiryu feel even more useless and depressed. Seiya is still enroute to Mu, and is wondering how Shiryu ever managed the trip with two sets of Cloth on his back, and Seiya doesn't have to fight the animated skeletons! Shunrei tries to comfort Shiryu, but he won't be comforted. He goes to sit under the waterfall, contemplating Okho's words. Shunrei begs her foster father to help Shiryu, but Roshi tells her Shiryu must find his own mind's eye... in this he cannot help.

Episode 34. Farewell friend! Rest in peace" Okho stands waist deep in the river, gathering himself. Then he hits the water hard enough for it to fountain... and then collects the fish stunned by the concussion. Later, he is cooking the fish in his fire when Roshi arrives. Okho remembers the day Roshi tried to teach him the skill of hitting the water he's used that afternoon; it had taken years for him to learn the secret. The two talk and then Roshi leaves. Okho tries to hit him, but is stopped by a golden aura that appears around his target. The next morning Shiryu is still meditating on Okho and his own blindness, and decides that he must face his old rival in combat. If he cannot win, then he no longer deserves the Dragon Cloth, and it should go to Okho. Roshi agrees with his proposal. Shiryu worries about what will happen to Shunrei should he lose, but the Cloth and Athena come first. Meanwhile, Seiya has finally reached Mu's spire, only to find that while Kiki is there, Mu is nowhere to be found! Meanwhile, Okho and Shiryu ready for their battle. Okho displays at least some sense of chivalry as he ties a scarf around his eyes to even the odds. The battle commences as Roshi watches. They struggle and fall over the edge into the river below. Both pull themselves out of the water and continue the combat. Shiryu is beset with uncertainty and Okho is confident. Both call upon their powers, and Dragon manages to throw the Tiger a considerable distance. But Okho comes back for more. As he runs at Shiryu, the Dragon suddenly hears the voices of Shunrei and his friends, and realizes that they need him, will miss him for more than one reason if he is defeated. Okho simply couldn't fit in with the Bronze Saints, couldn't work with them as part of a team, even if he did win the cloth. Shiryu must win this battle, for their sakes! He summons the full power of the "Rozan Ascending Dragon" and wins. As Okho dies in his arms, the two of them make their peace, and Roshi is pleased. Shiryu has made the first step in his full recovery. At the Graude mansion, the Sagittarius helmet is glowing. The two halves take flight of their own volition, merging somewhere above Central Asia, and settle to the bottom of a lake.

Episode 35. "Desperate journey! Open Dragon's eyes" Saori and the others are frantic about the Gold Cloth taking off on its own. They track it, and discover its approximate location. One of the Steel Saints is sent after Seiya. Shiryu is finally accepting his blindness, as well as learning how to use his "inner" or "mind's" eye, and is far happier as a result. Meanwhile, Kiki has told Seiya of a rainbow spring in a mountaintop nearby that has great healing powers; Mu often uses its waters. It is a perilous journey upward... Seiya finally fights a flock of eagles near its top. When one eagle is injured he picks it up and is kind to it; as a result the whole flock, which is evidentally magical, pull away and reveal the rainbow spring he is looking for. Below, Kiki is beset by a Silver Saint, Tarantula Arachne. The Tarantula has been sent to convey orders to Mu; but he'll settle for killing a Bronze Saint instead as he sees Seiya coming back down with a waterskin full of the water. Kiki summons the Pegasus cloth, and the two Saints fight. The arrival of the Steel Air Saint, Sho, gives Seiya an opening, and he kills the Silver Saint. Then Sho tells him of the disappearance of the Gold Cloth, and passes on Athena's order for him to return to Tokyo. Seiya, forced to chose between duty and friendship, gives the waterskin to Kiki with instructions to find Shiryu, and returns to Tokyo to join the others.

Episode 36. "Amazing! Reality of the Twelve Gold Clothes" Back at the command center, Saori has been assured that the Gold Cloth is not in Sanctuary, that her opponent has not successfully stolen it. Seiya is all for going after it, but collapses. He's simply been through too much in too short a time, and ends up in the hospital. In Sanctuary, the Master relaxes in his shower before receiving Gold Saint Scorpio Milo, who kneels to his liege as they discuss the problem of Saori's Bronze Saints. The Master recounts how all the Silver Saints he has sent after them have been killed. Milo reacts in shock, for Bronze Saints should not be able to defeat Silver. He says that they must be considered at least Silver Saints, even if their armor is Bronze. The only solution is to send Gold Saints to destroy them. The Master pulls aside a curtain in his throne room, revealing 9 gold boxes, each the repository for Gold Cloth. He controls nine of the twelve, he says; Saori has the Sagittarius armor, and the Libra Cloth is controlled by neither of them. While he does not possess the Aries Cloth, its wearer swore to obey the Master of Sanctuary... He agrees that a Gold Saint must take care of Seiya, but it won't be Milo. Back at the hospital, Seiya enjoys a brief few minutes of tag with Miho on the hospital grounds, unaware that they are being watched by Shaina, who survived the fall after she lost the battle with Hyoga and Shun. Later that night, she attacks Seiya in his hospital bed. He escapes, jumping out the window (protecting himself from the shattered glass with the curtains), and does his best to evade her attacks. She takes off her mask, and asks if he remembers her at all; suddenly he remembers that when he was much younger he accidentally chased a rabbit into the training area for the women and met her there, binding up a cut in her wrist with a strip from his own shirt. She tells him that she's been fond of him ever since, and that his forgetting her hurt her greatly. Her goal is to become the best of the women fighters... and as he is her only real weakness, she must destroy him. She attacks again, and Seiya continues to easily avoid her blows. In Sanctuary, Scorpio Milo and the Master are still discussing the Bronze Saints, and the Master calls in Aioria. He is to be given a chance to redeem his family by recovering the Sagittarius cloth and killing Seiya. Scorpio Milo is to be given another mission... Aioria, with the Gold Cloth of Leo on his back, leaves Sanctuary, remembering his brother, Sagittarius Aioros, and vowing to complete the mission he has been given. Seiya has told Shaina he isn't interested in fighting, and she pauses for a second, tears in her eyes.

Episode 37. "The Mask cries out! Love or death?" Shaina doesn't stop her attack on Seiya for long, however. But she can't seem to bring herself to attack him with all her strength and speed, and despite his weakened condition Seiya avoids every blow. Then they both see a gold-colored shooting star, and waves of gold-colored energy envelope them. Shaina tells Seiya to get away; it must be a Gold Saint, who could only have been sent by the Master of Sanctuary, who has ordered Seiya killed. Too late, both are picked up and drawn toward the source of the gold fire, which turns out to be Gold Saint Aioria, wearing the Leo Cloth. Shaina protects Seiya, and attacks Aioria. She is easily swept away, Aioria using a single finger to knock her down. Seiya receives the same treatment, but struggles to his feet regardless. Seiya tells Aioria that he serves Athena, and that Sanctuary rightfully belongs to her, not to the Master, whom Athena believes has come the reincarnation of Evil. Aquila Marin, his sensei, has charged him with protecting Athena, and so he shall. Aioria responds by telling him about how his older brother trained him, and what happened after Aioros was accused of kidnapping Athena. Aioria spent the next years learning how to be a Gold Saint on his own, persecuted and ignored in Sanctuary as his brother was declared a traitor. Aioros is dead, and so is Athena. Saori is just a clever imposter. Seiya declares that Saori is Athena, and attacks. Aioria barely blinks, his armor protecting him completely from Seiya's blows. Aioria gives him a lecture on what it is to be a Gold Saint, and Seiya responds by calling him a fool for believing the Master, despite evidence to the contrary. Aioria attacks Seiya, but his blow is intercepted by Shaina, who has woken and throws herself in between the two antagonists. She collapses in Seiya's arms, telling him she loves him. He slowly puts her down and then attacks Aioria, who shrugs off the blow but agrees to examine Shaina. She can be healed in Sanctuary, he says, and picks her up. Then three more Silver Saints arrive. They are Canis Major Saint Sirius, Musca (the fly) Saint Dios, and Hercules Saint Algethi. They tell Leo Aioria that they were sent to see that he finished his mission. Seiya is still alive, but they'll see to it that he doesn't live long. Airoia stands by as they attack Seiya. Seiya, already weak before he had to deal with first Shaina and then Leo Aioria, is being beaten to a pulp and wishing heartfully for his Cloth. But it isn't the Pegasus armor that answers. Aioria gapes as Seiya is surrounded by a golden glow, and in her command post Athena awakens within Saori, feeling the power. The Silver Saints draw back, and Aioria warns them that only a Gold Saint can deal with a Gold Saint. Canis Major, Musca, and Hercules ignore him, trying to get at Seiya before the Gold Cloth arrives, but too late. They are all blown away by the tremendous power discharge as the Sagittarius armor snaps into place around the injured Seiya, and he becomes Sagittarius. Now Aioria will have to act, even if he really doesn't want to...

Episode 38. "Clash! Gold Saint" Aioria puts down Shaina's limp form to face Seiya. He strikes, but misses; the wings of the Sagittarius armor have enabled Seiya to fly out of the way. Seiya counterattacks. He is still very weak and does no damage, only throwing Aioria across the clearing. Aioria regains his feet and tells Seiya that merely wearing Gold Cloth does not make one a Gold Saint. Aioria responds in kind and Seiya is knocked down. Aioria prepares to strike again, but Hyoga and Shun arrive, in civilian cloths. They are shocked to see Seiya in the Gold Cloth but rally immediately to attack Aioria who easily blocks their blows and sends them flying. They've gained enough time for Athena to arrive. Aioria is shaken but still insists she is an imposter. By this time Athena is regaining her memory and tells him that his older brother, Sagittarius Aioros, saved her life. Arles was about to kill her when Aioros intervened. Arles responded by attacking Aioros. Wounded, Sagittarius Aioros escaped with both her and his Cloth. He lived long enough to get her to safety. Still disbelieving, Aioria attacks, but Seiya intervenes, stopping the power of Aioria's blow. For an instant, Aioria sees his brother's spirit superimposed over Seiya, and Aioros tells him she is indeed Athena. Seiya returns the power sphere Aioria had attacked Athena with, and Aioria is knocked down. Leo finally accepts that Saori is indeed Athena, and kneels before her. Seiya's armor flies off, reassembling into the Sagittarius statue as Aioria swears fealty to Athena. He then picks up Shaina, intent of returning her to Sanctuary. In Sanctuary, Arles is in a large Roman-style bath, thinking that the battle is far from over... but he holds the majority of the trump cards. Back with our Bronze Saints and Athena, a golden beam of light shoots out from the arrow of the agittarius armor, pointing toward Sanctuary. It is time for Athena and her Saints to try and take back what is rightfully hers...

Episode 39. "Speed of light! Force of exceeding match" Shunrei and Kiki are watching anxiously as Shiryu takes off the bandage over his eyes. Has the 'magical' water Seiya worked so hard to obtain worked as planned? They are tremendously disappointed when Shiryu tells them it hasn't; but he reassures them by telling them he has already learned he doesn't need his eyes to fight; his victory over Okho proved that. Roshi agrees and tells Shiryu to follow him back to the waterfall (Shiryu has hidden the Dragon Cloth under the base of the waterfall again). They are discussing Shiryu's plans when Shiryu gets a shock, behind Roshi, he senses a powerful cosmo appearing, one that allows him to "see" not only the Gold Saint casting it but everything around as well. It is Cancer Death Mask, sent by Arles to retrieve the Libra cloth. Death Mask readies to deliver a blow to the unresisting Roshi, but Shiryu interferes, interposing himself between Death Mask and his sensei. Battle then commences between Shiryu and the Gold Saint. Shiryu's powers have increased, but he is still no match for a Gold Saint. Shunrei and Kiki arrive just in time to see Shiryu drop headfirst into the base of the waterfall, and Shunrei faints. Death Mask faces Roshi again. Roshi tells him that if Arles wins, there will be no honor or glory in battle; Arles' way is complete destruction with no honor at all. Both are unaware that deep in the water below, Shiryu has managed to summon the Dragon Cloth to him. Shiryu then displays the affinity he has for water when he causes a whirlpool; and from the center of the whirlpool rides a waterspout that shoots up toward the ledge where Roshi and Death Mask are facing each other. Shiryu has enough power to knock Death Mask across the ledge, but then the Gold Saint use his "Sekishiki MeikaiHa" (Hades Waves), and tries to draw Dragon into it. His attempt is stalemated by the arrival of Aries Mu, whose own power cancels out Death Mask's. Death Mask laughs and says he'll see Shiryu again in Sanctuary, with no one to interfere with that battle, and departs. After telling Aries Mu that he has no intention of going to Sanctuary to "defend" it against Athena's true Saints, his oath was to Athena personally, not to the Master of Sanctuary, Roshi tells Shiryu he has more than earned his Cloth back, and it is time he rejoined his companions in the attempt to retake Sanctuary.

Episode 40. "Go! The official departure" Back in Japan, Saori, Shun, Hyoga, and Seiya are at the orphanage, participating in an impromptu soccer game. Afterwards, Seiya and Miho spend the evening together, Seiya telling her about what they've been going through and that the assault on Sanctuary is next. Their farewell is interrupted by three of the orphans, who had been spying on them, falling out of a tree... The next day they are gathered at the airport, ready to take off for Greece. But Shun still hasn't arrived. Unknown to the others, he has been waylaid by Cameleon June, one of his former comrades on Andromeda Island, where he trained. The Master has sent Scorpio Milo to Andromeda Island, where Milo gleefully wreaked havoc. Among the injured is Albireo, Shun's sensei. It seems Arles wants Shun out of the game, and Scorpio Milo will continue to return to the Island until Shun is eliminated, one way or the other. Shun manages to defeat June, whose heart really wasn't in the fight anyway. Then two more of Shun's contemporaries show up (referred to as the "Pretty Punk Saints" in some parts of fandom, they are Spica and Leda) and manage to wrap him up in their own chains. Shun is in bad shape as the Episode ends...

Episode 41. "Great Sanctuary battle! Athena's greatest crisis" Seiya, Hyoga, and Saori are waiting impatiently for the arrival of Shun, while the Steel Saints go looking for the missing Bronze Saint. Hyoga jokes that maybe Shun had to say goodbye to a girlfriend of his own. Meanwhile, the two "Punk Saints" are doing their best to strangle Shun, while Andromeda remembers his brother telling him that a true Saint doesn't need his armor to utilize his or her inner power (Ikki also tells Shun that the five of them are a "new breed of saint", they do not have the traditional abilities and limits of Bronze Saints, and their learning curve is much steeper than that of a normal Saint. This unpredictability is one of their greatest strengths). Energizing his cosmo, Shun sends a power surge through his enemies' own chains. The chains snap, and Andromeda uses them to destroy his opponents (They won't be so pretty now, if they're still alive...). Then, picking up June, he goes to the airport. Enroute to Sanctuary, the Saints and Saori speculate about Arles, and Saori realizes that the only one who could possibly be Arles, who has appeared as two different persons, is Gemini, the zodiacal constellation of the Twins. Meanwhile, Aioria has returned to Sanctuary; he faces the Master of Sanctuary and accuses him of trying to kill Athena and pinning the blame on Aioros. He fights him briefly, to no avail... they seem to cancel out each other's powers. Then Virgo Shaka enters and challenges Aioria himself. Shaka and Aioria fight, throwing identical energy bolts at each other. The two are thrown apart by the resulting explosion... Seiya, Shun, Saori, and Hyoga arrive at the steps of Sanctuary, where they are met by a masked "monk" who tells them they must enter Sanctuary through the pathway of the Zodiac. Each of the twelve Gold Saints has his own House on the steps, and in order to reach Sanctuary, and confront the Master to prove Saori is Athena, they must go through each of the Twelve Houses of the Zodiac and either defeat the Gold Saint in each one or persuade him to let them pass. Then, from above, they hear laughter; it is Shiryu, who has arrived to join them. They are taking the first steps when their guide whips off his cloak and mask and reveals himself to be Sagitta Ptolemy. With a sweep of his arm he shoots golden arrows at them. They pass straight through the Saints without harming them, and Seiya fatally wounds their opponent. Then they turn, and see that one arrow has hit Saori solidly in the chest, and she falls...

Episode 42. "Cosmo's desperate situation! 7th. Sense" As Saori falls, she remembers how she sometimes had treated the young warriors rather badly when she was younger, particularly the time she'd used Jabu as a "horse". She awakens in Seiya's arms, to hear Sagitta tell them the Master himself help design the arrow she took, it is poisoned, and if they don't get her into Sanctuary in 12 hours, she will die. Enarmoring, they leave her with their empty boxes and go to take on the first Gold Saint. It is Aries Mu. When they demand he let them pass, he refuses. Shiryu attacks; Mu sends him flying, and breaks his shield! Kiki then teleports in, as Mu comes down the steps toward them. Kiki can 'x-ray' their armor, revealing that their previous battles have left numerous microscopic "cracks" in their armor. "I did this to you," Mu says, gesturing at Shiryu's shattered shield, "And I'm your friend. What do you think some of the other Gold Saints will do to you?" Reluctantly, Seiya and the others agree that they must take the time to allow Mu to repair their armor. While they are waiting, the Saints notice a clock... a fireclock whose hours are marked by the signs of the Gold Saints rather than numbers. They are horrified to watch the blue 'fire' in the first sign, that of Aries, go out as they watch. Obviously, the clock marks the amount of time they have to get Saori into Sanctuary before she dies. Mu not only repairs the damage that has been done over their battles, but actually makes the armor stronger than it had been before it was been damaged. Once done, Mu tells them that Gold Saints not only know how to draw on the microcosm inside themselves, but also on the macrocosm, the power throughout the universe, specifically that of their totem constellation. The Gold Saints have learned to use all 7th. sense... That is what gives them their true power. He agrees to look after Saori as they go to take on the next Zodiacal House, that of Taurus. Shun's chains indicate no danger from the second House. But Taurus Aldeberan is waiting for them, and knocks all of them flying as they try to run through his House.

Episode 43. "Big Bang! Battle of Taurus" All four Bronze Saints attack again, and are blown away for their troubles. Seiya gets up first and challenges him. Taurus Aldeberan then causes the blocks of the floor to rise up around Seiya and explode. Seiya leaps to a ledge above to escape, and Aldebaran knocks down the ledge. Seiya strikes, but his blows don't even phase Aldebaran. He knocks Seiya across the room and then tries to step on him; Seiya catches his foot but the pressure is so great the floor collapses under him. Seiya nearly loses consciousness, but Athena's mental voice talks to him, her image appearing before him, to urge him on. Marin's image then appears to him, and he remembers one of her lessons, to allow an enemy to attack once to see what their strong and weak points are, and when they attack a second time use those strong and weak points against them. Encouraged, Seiya reaches deep into his cosmo for the energy he will need; as Aldeberan turns away from the hole in the floor blue light pours out of it and rubble from the destroyed masonry flies up, and Seiya rises gently in the middle of it. Aldeberan crosses his arms and waits, confident that Seiya can't hurt him. He's right... Seiya's blows still bounce off the gold armor. Then Seiya uses the trick he learned from Aioria, creating a miniature ball of energy and hitting the Gold Saint with it. Aldeberan is barely able to catch it, and the force of the blow pushes him across the floor and into the wall. He is basically still unhurt, though. Still more amused than angered, Aldebaran launches his personal power attack, the "Great Horn". Seiya is knocked through the wall, but has seen a potential weak point in the Gold Saint's attack. Seiya summons up his own personal power, the image of the Pegasus rising behind him. The two clash again, and this time Seiya successfully deflects Aldebaran's attack for several seconds, shocking the Gold Saint. Even more to Aldeberan's surprise, Seiya gets up again to renew the fight. The two face each other once again as the Episode ends, and Mu and Kiki, keeping watch over Saori's unconscious form, see another hour sign, this one of Aldebaran, extinguish itself on the fireclock.

Episode 44. "Gemini! Mystery (maze) of light and dark" The three other bronze saints are finally waking up, and Shiryu can sense where Aldebaran and Seiya are. They go to join in. Meanwhile, Seiya and Aldebaran are still battling it out. Their blows meet, and the two are thrown apart. It seems that while Seiya cannot seriously hurt Aldebaran, neither can he hurt Seiya. Then Seiya launches an attack utilizing Aldeberan's weak point, the fact he tends to leave his head unguarded, and breaks off one of the horns on the Taurus cloth! Aldeberan seems to be getting mad for a minute, and then he sits back and starts laughing. He says Seiya has earned the right to go on to the next House. The other bronze saints arrive then, but Aldeberan will not let them pass. Seiya has earned the right, but they have not. Shiryu tells Seiya to go on; time is of most importance now. They will do battle with Aldebaran now, and join him when they can. Aldeberan sends them flying during their first attack. Then Shun wraps up Aldebaran in his chains. While Aldeberan easily breaks them, in the moment thus gained Hyoga and Shiryu combine their attack into one. While Aldebaran deflects the attack, his hands are frozen solid as a result. He starts laughing again and tells them they've earned passage. Seiya will need them to face Gemini. They thank him and run on, following Seiya to the House of Gemini. As they leave, Aldeberan admits to himself that he rather likes these Bronze Saints. Above, they find Seiya running out of the House toward them. He turns around, very confused. He was trying to run throght the house, and doesn't remember taking any turns, but here he is running back in the direction he'd come from! Together, all four of them try again, but again find themselves on the plaza leading into the House. Back at Taurus' house, Mu comes to talk to Aldeberan. Mu makes a crack after seeing Aldeberan's helmet about someone taking the bull by the horns, and Taurus laughs and admits that Seiya is indeed a fine warrior. Then Aldebaran tells Mu of seeing an image of what he believes to have been Athena rising behind Seiya just before Seiya made his next to last attack on him. Mu is surprised; while he was fairly sure Saori was Athena, this last has convinced him, and he tells Aldeberan that this is proof that Saori is Athena, and that their leader has been lying. Their duty is to Athena, now that they know she is alive, but according to the rules and the oaths they made to the Master of Sanctuary when they became Gold Saints they cannot help the four Bronze Saints any more than they have. What to do, if the four lose? They can't allow Arles to kill Athena, but what are their options? They can do nothing to support her until her Bronze Saints have won her way into Sanctuary for her. Mu realizes that Saori is unconscious because her spirit is no longer in her body, but 'riding' with her chosen champion... Seiya! Aldeberan thinks that considering how strong these 'Bronze Saints' are, the Master may have a lot more problems with them than he anticipates, even using Gold Saints against them. Their leader may have bitten off more than he can chew... Meanwhile, there is a burst of power above them, and the Gemini House is suddenly doubled. The four Bronze Saints must split into two groups, Shiryu and Seiya take the House on the left, and Shun and Hyoga take the one on the right. As they advance, both groups are faced with the sinister figure of Gemini, and Shun and Hyoga are also greeted with ghoulish laughter...

Episode 45. "Panic! Adrift in a different dimension" Gemini has obviously gotten tired of playing mind games with them. Shun's chains twist and turn, almost wrapping up upon themselves. He cautions Hyoga against attacking until they are more sure of their opponent, but Hyoga strikes anyway, at Gemini's face, with a "Diamond Dust" attack. Gemini absorbs the attack and returns it back at them, doubling the power of the blow. Both Shun and Hyoga are blown away. Hyoga and Shun recover from their initial assault, and Hyoga launches an "Aurora Thunder Attack" against Shun's advice. This time they are blown through a wall as Gemini again returns and redoubles the attack. On the other side, Shiryu and Seiya face the other twin... or Seiya thinks they do, anyway. Shiryu, with his special "inner eye", sees nothing but the temple itself. He prevents Seiya from attacking Gemini, and instead grabs his hand and drags a thoroughly reluctant Seiya after him as he runs straight for the door on the other side, passing through Gemini in the process. All they faced was a false image, one Shiryu deduced was an illusion because his own inner sight didn't detect it. Shun and Hyoga have not joined them, however, and not only is there no time to wait for them, but they don't even know how to reenter the temple in the way to help out their comrades, on the back side, there is only one exit, the one they came through! Instead, they go on up the next set of steps, towards the House of Cancer. Shiryu considers the fact that this means he'll be facing Death Mask again, this time without Mu to help him. Inside, Shun has recovered, but Hyoga lays where he has fallen in a pool of blood. Gemini approaches, and Shun throws one of his chains at him. The chain almost reaches the Gold Saint and then falls limply to the ground, its length twisting into knots. Then Shun spirals his chains around him and Cygnus in his Nebula defense measure, but Gemini walks right over the chains... they don't even react, as if he wasn't really there at all. The "eyes" on the faces on either side of Gemini's helmet light, and for a minute we see the Master's image superimposed over that of Gemini. "Another dimension!" Gemini cries, and the two Bronze Saints find themselves swept away into another time and place. Shun's chains lash out and wrap themselves around pillars in the Gemini House, holding him anchored to this dimension, but Hyoga is swept away, out of Shun's reach, despite his efforts to grab his friend. The attack fades, and Shun falls to the ground. "Hyoga...where's Hyoga?" he demands, and Gemini tells him he's gone forever, drifting away in another dimension. Then he launches another attack. Shun's chains still hold him in place, but then Gemini breaks one. Under the stress, the second chain starts to weaken, and Gemini is turning his attention to it as the Episode ends...

Episode 46. Cry out! Nebula Chains fight as one" Gemini proceeds to break Shun's remaining chain, and Andromeda goes flying away, only to feel a surge of power and abruptly drop out of the other dimension and to the floor of Gemini's House. "Nissan!" he calls, recognizing Ikki's cosmo. Ikki speaks to him telepathically from his hiding place, in the center of an active volcano in/near Sanctuary, he is recovering his strengths for rejoin them in battle. He is transferring some of his energy to Shun, lending him strength for the battle. Arles, however, also senses this. "Seeing" Ikki, Arles worries somewhat, thinking that if he lets the two brothers get together their combined powers which together equal more than the sum of the parts could be the key to Athena's victory. He must, at any cost, keep the two of them separated. Preferably by killing one or the other. Distracted, Arles momentarily lets loose his hold on the illusions he has kept Shun penned up with; as he returns his attention to Gemini House Shun seems to be transported to a shattered House, his way free blocked by fallen pillars. Gemini approaches and sends him into another dimension again, but Shun finds the strength and courage to face his enemy, uses his powers to repair his chains, and then launches his "Thunder Wave" attack, which sends one of his chains flying into, and through, the Gemini helmet. In his throne room, Arles is nearly hit by the chain as it comes flying out of the power field he's been using to manipulate the Gemini armor. As it is, his "rosary" is cut and tangled in with Shun's chain as he reels it back in. Arles has a disagreement with the other side of his personality. Back at the Gemini House, the illusions and power field fade away, and as Shun watches the Gemini Cloth falls apart, empty!, and reassembles into its "storage" shape. Shun starts up the steps to the next House. As the Episode ends, Hyoga wakes up to find himself thrown out of space-time onto the floor of yet another Zodiacal House, Libra, and with the company of Aquarius Camus.

Episode 47. "Farewell Hyoga! Sleep, o brave one!" Hyoga, still weak from his battle with Gemini, tells Camus that the Crystal Saint often mentioned him, Camus being the Silver Saint's sensei. Flashbacks reveal that in fact Crystal held up Camus as a role-model for Hyoga, and Hyoga came to hero-worship Camus even more than he did Crystal. Camus tells Hyoga that he's going to test him, to see what they're making Silver Saints out of today; he strikes Hyoga with his own "cold" powers. Hyoga is blown away. Camus tells him his training was ended too soon. Further, his obsession with his memories, especially those of his mother, has held Hyoga back from developing to his full potential. Using his powers, Camus strikes at the submerged ship where Hyoga's mother rests, and knocks it off its ledge into deeper water. Hyoga cries out that he can no longer 'feel' her, and strikes at Camus. It seems his heart isn't really into it, however, and Camus easily deflects the attack. Camus then prepares to hit Hyoga with an attack that will either force Hyoga into his full potential, or kill him. Hyoga meanwhile is remembering how he was partly responsible for the Crystal Saint's death. Held by those memories, he offers no resistance to the attack, giving up to it. As his spirit bids farewell to his comrades, they sense his death... and Hyoga's spirit races to rejoin his mother (Who turns him away, telling him it isn't his time yet). Camus grieves over his body, but senses a faint spark of life... but it is dying. He freezes Hyoga in a block of ice to preserve what life is left. Then, Aquarius apologizes to the spirit of the Crystal Saint for what he has done. Weakened by his previous battle with Gemini as well as his memories, Hyoga could not respond properly to Camus' power to fulfill his potential. Camus walks away, grieving over what his mistake has cost.

Episode 48. "Dragon! Revival in the Land of Death" Shun, Seiya, and Shiryu have all felt what they believe to be Hyoga's death, but the battle must proceed. As Shiryu and Seiya approach Cancer's House, Shiryu tells Seiya that they cannot afford to lose time by both fighting Cancer Death Mask. He will take on Death Mask while Seiya proceeds to Leo. Seiya reluctantly agrees. They enter the House, and both are disturbed by the miasma of death that pervades the structure. Shiryu nearly trips over a protrusion in the floor and asks Seiya what it is. Seiya peers down and discovers, horrified, that it is a face, features twisted in agony! Moans and screams are heard, growing in volume. Even Death Mask's evil laughter can't drown them out, and he tells them they are hearing the final sounds made by those people Death Mask has kill. The faces lining floor, walls and ceiling are "trophies" to his victories. Shiryu hears for a second Shunrei screaming, and tells Seiya to carry out their plan. Seiya sends his "Pegasus Meteor Fist" towards Cancer Deathmask, who easily blocks them... only to discover that it was a ruse, as he sees Seiya heading for the far exit! Death Mask's attempt to intercept Seiya is blocked by Shiryu. Death Mask attacks Shiryu With his "Hades Waves", and sends him flying. At home in China, Shunrei sees a star fall from the constellation of Draco. Considering it a sign, she goes to one of the ledges over the waterfall and begins to pray to the gods to help Shiryu. Further up the steps, Seiya turns and sees the fires of Hell superimposed over the third House. He is tempted to turn back and help Shiryu, but then hears Shiryu's telepathic voice telling him to go on. Shiryu wakes to find himself in a dimly lit, hellish landscape. Above him a double line of people march toward a vast pit in the distance. Then Shiryu sees Hyoga in the line, and calls to him to stop. He starts to run toward the line, but Athena's form appears before him. She tells him he is in the lower section of Hades, reserved for those who have lost all hope when they died (Apparently Hyoga gave up all hope when his mother's spirit turned him away). Get too close to those walking toward the pit, and he may find himself lost, too. So long as he does not lose hope, Cancer Deathmask cannot keep his spirit here. Thus encouraged, Shiryu startles Cancer when his spirit returns to his body above. Angered, Death Mask sends Shiryu back to Hades a second time.

Episode 49. "Love! Sunrei's prayer" Shiryu wakes up, and realizes he is back in Hades yet again. He despairs for a moment, but then he hears Shunrei's prayers... and when he calls her name she hears him and responds. Shiryu remembers all the good times he and Shunrei have shared, and his hope is renewed. Just in time, as Cancer Death Mask has arrived to insure the job gets finished. Before Shiryu has a chance to respond, Cancer is beating him mercilessly, then, one hand wrapped in Shiryu's long hair, flies both of them to the edge of the pit, and drops him. But Shiryu, still encouraged by Sunrei's "presence", doesn't fall in. This time Cancer Death Mask grabs an exhausted Shiryu by the hair again and drags him toward the pit. He lifts him up, preparing to bodily throw him in, when both hear Shunrei's voice again (Death Mask almost seems physically pained by the experience). Shiryu's spirit is once more renewed. Enraged, and hoping to plunge Dragon into despair (thus making him more succeptable to the pit), Death Mask uses his power to reach out to Sunrei, and knocks her off the ledge. She drops, screaming, into the base of the waterfall far below. Death Mask has badly miscalculated, however. His actions make Shiryu go berserk rather than make him give up. Death Mask screams in agony as his hand burns where he is holding Shiryu. Shiryu's eyes flare, and his hair flies up as he demonstrates a truly awesome power build-up. Death Mask goes flying as Shiryu launches into him, and very quickly becomes terrified. Not only, he says, is that sort of power display something only a Gold Saint is capable of, but Shiryu is producing more energy than any Gold Saint Cancer has encountered! As the Episode draws to a close, Shiryu is beating the crap out of a thoroughly frightened Death Mask.

Episode 50. "Arise Dragon! Shiryu's angry Cosmo" Death Mask goes flying, but gets up laughing, tells Shiryu it'll take more than that to take him out. Shiryu may have the power of a Gold Saint, but the Bronze Saint doesn't know how to use it yet. They exchange blows, and Shiryu is thrown over the edge, barely hanging on with one hand. Death Mask tries to step on Shiryu's hand but is held back by a group of the dead, who evidentally know him as a tormentor. Shiryu gets his second hand on the cliff side. Death Mask throws off his adversaries easily, and starts stomping on Shiryu's hands. Shiryu tries to strike at Death Mask's leg, but the Gold Cloth protects Deathmask from his blow. Athena appears to Shiryu and tells him that the Gold Cloth belongs to her, and, as one sworn to her, he may use her power to have some control over the Cloth. Encouraged, Shiryu flies up and strikes Death Mask. Death Mask is stunned as the armor on the leg Shiryu hits flies off, allowing Shiryu to hurt him. Death Mask falls back in astonishment, which allows Shiryu to climb back up and get on his feet. He next strikes Death Mask's arm and that piece of the Cloth deserts him. Shiryu tells him that as the Gold Saint has deserted Athena and her principles, he no longer deserves the Cloth; the rest of the Cancer Cloth flies away from Death Mask and reassembles itself. Shiryu doffs his armor, too. Deathmask laughs and says that even without the Cloth he can still outfight him. He's incorrect, as Shiryu defeats him and Death Mask ends up falling down into the pit where he'd intended to throw him. Shiryu's form dissolves into a bright blue ball and returns to the "real world". There, Shun has just entered the Cancer House and discovered Shiryu's still form; as he watches the light ball appears and re-enters Shiryu's body, upon which he awakens. Shiryu begins to mourn Shunrei, but Roshi's telepathic voice is heard, telling them he has saved Shunrei. Then Shun notices, Shiryu's vision has returned! Roshi tells them the mystic water Seiya got for him can only be activated by a Gold Saint's power field; when Shiryu learned to draw on the power of the macrocosm the "potion" healed his eyes. The two turn to look upward, knowing Seiya must be now encountering Leo, and head upward themselves.

Episode 51. "Why! Fang of the Gold Lion" Seiya enters Leo's House expecting to find a friend, remembering that Aioria swore fealty to Athena the last time they met. But Leo Aioria is silent, and his eyes are empty. Finally, in a dull voice Aioria tells Seiya it is his duty to defend Sanctuary from all enemies; it is as if he doesn't even recognize Seiya. By this time Seiya is realizing something is wrong, as Aioria advances and strikes with his "Lightning Bolt" attack. Surprised, Seiya is thrown back, and Aioria strikes again. Several of the Sanctuary guards approach, but Aioria tells them to leave, he will take care of the interloper, and strikes again. Elsewhere, a mysterious cloaked figure approaches Sanctuary, taking out several guards in the process. One of them tears off her cloak, revealing Marin underneath. Knowing the other guards have been alerted, Marin hurries towards her goal. She remembers going to the hospital where June was recovering; she told her that Seiya and the others had gone to retake Sanctuary. Cut back to Seiya and Aioria, where Seiya is still reluctant to strike back. he tells Aioria that Athena is dying; the real Aioria shows through for a moment as he reacts with worry and astonishment. Then Arles reasserts his control, and Aioria bends over in real pain (Seiya, who saw how Arles' "brain burn" affected the Crystal Saint, still hasn't made the connection...). Seiya realizes that he must fight, or Saori will die. Aioria's counterattack blows Seiya away again, the Gold Saint not even feeling Seiya's attack. Elsewhere, approaching Sanctuary itself, Marin is nearly crushed under a boulder thrown by one of Arles' giant guards. She remembers a time when he wiped out a whole squad of guards when he got angry. They battle, and Marin does not fare too well against him. He gloats that even now Seiya is facing Aioria, whom Arles has brought under his control; Seiya doesn't have a chance. Marin remembers how Aioria helped her in the past when Seiya was being stubborn; both she and Seiya had become fond of the Gold Saint. Marin becomes terrified not only for Seiya but also for Aioria; if what the giant says is true then chances are that one or the other will end up dead, and it seems she may have feelings for Aioria as well as her pupil. We switch back and forth from one scene to another, until Aquila Marin pulls both herself and the giant guard over a ledge. The last we see of her, she is telepathically shouting for Seiya... and then, nothing. Seiya reacts, his power output going up. For a moment it seems it will be enough to allow him to break free of Aioria's energy net, but then he falters...

Episode 52. "Arles! The Demon Emperor plots" The battle between Aioria and Seiya continues, but Seiya is still pulling his punches somewhat... he likes Aioria and doesn't really want to hurt him. Aioria, under Arles' control, feels no such compunction. Seiya flies upward, but Aioria proves he is capable of that feat, too. He blows Seiya through the wall, and Seiya's leg hits a pillar just wrong, his armor is shattered, and his leg badly damaged if not actually broken. Elsewhere in Sanctuary, Cassios is tending an unconscious Shaina; Cassios remembers how Aioria brought her to him. It seems that not only does Cassios revere her as sensei, but also loves his teacher hopelessly (Talk about complicated love "triangles"...). Seiya can barely stand, as Aioria approaches again. Back in Cassios' cottage, Shaina is hallucinating, re-living the events where she was so badly hurt when she got between Aioria and Seiya. Cassios, hearing her words, is most upset, he hadn't realized that it had been Aioria who had hurt Shaina, and becoming rather jealous of Seiya. He leaves the cottage, as much to get himself together as to go down to the little village outside Sanctuary for supplies. Seiya tries to attack Aioria, but his damaged leg puts him at a considerable disadvantage. collapses to his knees and is unable to avoid Aioria's next blow. He faints from the combination of the blow and the pain from his leg. Below, Cassios overhears some of the guards discussing recent events, particularly the fact that some of them witnessed the Master's "taming" of Aioria. After Shaka and Aioria went flying apart in their battle, the Master brain-burned Leo as Aioria got back to his feet. Cassios returns to the cottage, to find Shaina awake and rational. Upon learning that Seiya and company are in Sanctuary going up the steps through the Houses of the Zodiac, Shaina tries to get up, and collapses. She persists in trying to go to help them, and Cassios hits her and knocks her out. As he puts her back to bed, Cassios remembers how Seiya defeated him when they battled for the Pegasus Cloth. Not only did Seiya defeat him then, but it seems Seiya has also won the heart of the woman Cassios loves. Cassios leaves for Leo House, not sure if he's going to try and save Seiya for Shaina's sake, or so he can kill him himself... and on the steps to Sanctuary, it seems as if Seiya is losing his battle with Aioria.

Episode 53. "That man! Cassios dies for love" Aioria is still busy beating Seiya up, and both Shiryu and Shun feel Seiya's pain through their cosmos. Shiryu and Shun meet Cassios on the steps as they head up for Leo's House. They recognize him from Seiya's description of his fight to win the Pegasus Cloth. Cassios tells them Aioria is no longer their ally; the Master has taken over the Gold Saint's mind. Alarmed, the two try to go to help Seiya, but are taken by surprise when Cassios attacks them. He throws Shiryu bodily down the steps. When Shun casts a chain at him, Cassios catches it and whirls Shun around a few times before letting lose so Shun lands on the steps near Shiryu. Then Cassios goes on his own up toward Leo's House as the two Saints recover. Aioria is busy stomping on Seiya's leg as Cassios comes in, further tormenting the injury he's already caused, in addition to otherwise simply beating the crap out of poor Seiya. Cassios intervenes, recounting again how Seiya defeated him, and hinting that he'd like to beat up on the kid a little bit, too, before Aioria finishes him off. Instead of pounding Seiya, however, he turns and takes on Aioria. He tells Seiya that he does it for Shaina's sake. He loves and reveres the Silver Saint, who was always a hard but fair taskmaster for him as student. He also respects her as one of the best warriors Sanctuary has produced, making up for what she lacks in strength with speed, agility, and technique. He has learned Shaina loves Seiya, and knowing that Shaina can never love him in return, is giving her Seiya's life as a gift. He also tells Seiya that Aioria is under the Master's control. Aioria fatally wounds Cassios, then launches his "Lightning Plasma" on Pegasus, but there is enough life in the Titan Cassios that he gets up and shields Seiya from the attack with his own body. Dying, it is Shaina's face he sees in the place of Seiya as Pegasus bends over him. In her cottage, Shaina wakes as she feels her student's cosmo 'vanish' with his death. Then Seiya turns and launches an attack of his own at Aioria. Caught off-guard, and fighting Arles' control himself, Aioria is knocked against a pillar and looses consciousness briefly. Shiryu and Shun arrive just as Aioria wakes up... free of Arles' control. They all mourn the loss of Cassios, and Aioria covers the body with his own cloak.

Episode 54. "Ikki! The Phoenix's blazing wings" Aioria warns Seiya, Shiryu, and Shun that the three are to next face Virgo Shaka, one of the oldest, most experienced, and powerful of the Gold Saints. They must gain full control of their "7th. sense" if they hope to defeat Shaka. Then Aioria heals the damage he did to Seiya's leg, telling them that all Gold Saints are capable of such healing, although Mu is best of them at it. He then sends them on their way. Elsewhere in Sanctuary, the Master and Shaka together have come up with a plan to bring Ikki out of his hiding place within the volcano and away from that source of power. Several of the Sanctuary guards rough up the inhabitants of one of the villages outside Sanctuary, and take an old man and his granddaughter to the volcano. It seems their goal is to throw the youngster into the lava. Grandfather objects and is beaten to death; the young girl's cries penetrate to Ikki, who arrives to try and save her. He handily defeats the guards, but then must face Pavo (Peacock) Shiva and Lotus Argora, both disciples of Shaka. He attempts to fight them but it is quickly apparent he is out-powered. Not only are these two Silver Saints, but Shaka is lending them his own power as well. Shiva tosses the little girl into the volcano when she asks the Saints to help her grandfather. Ikki reacts predictably, but even the added fuel of his anger can't help him against Shaka's disciples. Even Ikki's psycho-punches have no effect on these two; Shaka has trained them well and the Gold Saint's power helps protect both of them from Ikki's attacks. On the steps, Shun feels his brother is in trouble, but can do little to help. Then both Shiva and Argora start chanting a mantra; Ikki tries to attack Shiva but is paralyzed by Shaka's transferred power mid-attack, and Pavo Shiva proceeds to counter-attack (This is the first time we've ever seen Ikki really being beaten into a pulp; it's sort of a shock for him, too). Ikki is knocked near the edge of the volcano, and sees the young girl doing her best to crawl out from it, somehow, she caught the side of the cliff and has pulled herself back up. Ikki stands between her and Shiva, knowing that if he falls Pavo will undoubtably kill her. Argora intervenes, Shiva has had his fun, it's his turn now. Briefly, as Argora powers up, Ikki sees a lotus flower superimposed over Argora, and that is replaced by the visage of a mediating Shaka, Virgo's power aura lighting up around them. And Ikki still can't move a muscle...

Episode 55. "Fellowship of harm! Athena's cry" The image of Shaka burns brightly behind Argora as he prepares to attack a paralyzed Ikki. As he strikes, the three "tails" of the Phoenix Cloth respond to Ikki's need, superimposing themselves in front of Ikki and taking the brunt of the force of the blow. Ikki is still sent flying, and nearly falls into the mouth of the volcano behind him. Argora and Shiva look at each other, nod, and grin. Shun feels his brother's pain and wonders what could be strong enough to seriously affect his brother. At the volcano, the young girl climbs up near Ikki and reaches out to touch his hand; she then slips and would have fallen back into the pit, but Ikki wakes up and catches her before she's out of reach. He holds her protectively for a minute before turning to face his two antagonists again. Ikki remembers past victories and jumps upward, to a level above the youngster he has saved, insuring she is now out of the way of any stray blows and power bursts. He goes back into battle, and again is being badly beaten when Athena intervenes, disrupting the power flow between Shaka and his disciples. She also speaks to Ikki, letting him know what has happened and why his two opponents outclassed him so much, restoring Ikki's shaken confidence in himself. The two Silver Saints have got guts, though. Even though they know they aren't getting additional power from Shaka, Shiva and Argora attack. This time, Ikki counters their attacks, but with difficulty. His victory is not as easy as he expected, as Ikki is battered from the earlier battles, and it takes Shun and Athena's voices to give him the will to win. Ikki comforts the small girl for a few moments, and then must go onward, but not back to the volcano. His next goal: Virgo's House. Shaka has earned Ikki's anger, and Ikki intends to make him pay. Shun, Shiryu, and Seiya arrive on the plaza where Shaka's House rests, and Shaka waits inside, with a dangerous, nasty little smile on his lips.

Episode 56. "Shaka! Most Sacred Saint" Shiryu, Seiya, and Shun have reached the Virgo House. As they enter, they are greeted by an illusion of beautiful, peaceful fields populated by gorgeous birds and flowers. Warily, they go further into the House, and the illusion fades to reveal Shaka floating above his lotus flower-shaped throne. Seiya attacks first, despite Shiryu's warning to wait, and is knocked across the temple. Shiryu attacks next with an energy bolt. Shaka catches and holds the ball of energy (and Shiryu's hand), congratulates Shiryu on learning so much so fast, and then reflects it back at Dragon. Shun's nebula chains freeze before they can strike the Gold Saint, and then wrap around their owner and begin crushing Shun to death. Seiya attacks again, more to distract Shaka from Shun than a full-scale attack. Shaka throws Shun into Seiya, knocking them both to the floor. Shaka seems to be an expert at turning an opponents' weapons and attacks against them. He tells them that even if they have achieved the power level of Gold Saints, their experience level is still that of Bronze Saints, and they are no match for an experienced Gold Saint. Then Shaka lets loose with a full-scale energy blast, and all three of our Saints are knocked out. Shun moans and Shaka prepares to deliver the final blow, when something hits and cuts open the Gold Saint's hand. It is one of the metal "feathers" from Ikki's Cloth, and Ikki stands before the Gold Saint, telling him he won't let Shaka hurt his brothers. Shaka laughs and says that while Ikki may have drawn first blood, he is no more experienced than the others and must ultimately fall to the Gold Saint. Shaka then launches an attack, which Ikki barely counters. They spar back and forth, then Shaka hits Ikki full on, and Ikki falls. Shaka looks with some satisfaction at all four of Athena's remaining Saints, unconscious on the floor of his House.

Episode 57. "Mu's fear! The open eyes of Shaka" Shaka is still gloating over Ikki's unconscious form as it starts to rain. Above, Arles is in his swimming pool again, contemplating recent events. Below, Kiki shields Saori's head from the rain with his own shirt. Shaka goes over to examine Ikki's body, and Phoenix rises and attacks, knocking Shaka's helmet off. Ikki has been playing possum, it seems. His psycho-attack has no effect on the Gold Saint other than to momentarily surprise him. Shaka and Ikki exchange words before Shaka starts calling on the power of his cosmo. Ikki is drawn into an illusion of sorts, facing a memory of himself, his younger brother a baby in his arms as he struggles across a barren, rocky landscape. Then he is back in the Virgo House facing Shaka again, wondering what sort of demon Virgo really is. Shaka strikes, and the Phoenix Cloth disintegrates. Then Shaka uses his cosmo to control Ikki's body, twisting it until Phoenix's bones nearly break, following up with an energy discharge. Ikki manages to land on his feet, to find Shaka isn't done yet. He attacks again, but Ikki uses his Phoenix power, and the Phoenix Cloth reforms around him as he does. Shaka catches Ikki's next blow easily, blocking his strike... and simply moving out of the way of the next one. Shaka uses another power surge and sends both of them... elsewhere. Ikki's Cloth is torn off by Shaka's telekinetic power, and sinks through the floor, where Ikki's cosmo can't call on it. Shaka opens his eyes and looks at Ikki, then strikes at the unprotected Ikki. Phoenix still won't give up. The lives of his brothers are at stake as well as Athena's. Ikki, held in place by Shaka's paralyzing power, is tossed back and forth by Shaka's telekinetic blows, but he remains defiant even as Shaka blows him across the room.

Episode 58. "Hero! Ikki destroyed for brotherly love" Shaka is again telling Ikki what he's going to do to him next while battering Phoenix about. Below, Athena calls on Ikki telepathically, trying to strengthen his resolve. Ikki dreams that he's a child again, playing soccer with his friends. Then, those who were his enemies taunt him, and his friends act as if they can't see him. Even a tearful, younger Shun walks past him without noticing older brother. Meanwhile, as Shaka continues the torture, rain is falling through the broken roof of the Virgo House, and hitting Shun. He wakes, and immediately comes to Ikki's rescue, a "Nebula Chain" wrapping itself around Shaka's wrist as Shaka prepares to strike Ikki yet again. Distracted, Shaka turns to Shun, allowing Ikki a chance to recover. Ikki orders Shun to release Shaka. The three exchange words, Shaka saying even the two of them together can't defeat him. He sends another energy impulse at Ikki. But Ikki absorbs the energy, adding it to his own; the whole Virgo House lights with his power. Ikki is learning how to be a Gold Saint! Even Shaka is shaken by the power level Ikki is generating now; his House begins to crumble, and both Seiya and Shiryu also wake up. Virgo Shaka strikes Ikki and temporarily knocks him down. Shiryu and Seiya race forward, but Shun stops them, saying Shaka is his. Shaka laughs, but Ikki's voice telling them to stop shocks him. Ikki's cosmo abruptly glows even brighter. Above, the storm clears, as Ikki's cosmo eclipses that of Shaka. Shaka, overconfident, has woken something he can't control. Shaka has given Ikki the full destructive power of the Phoenix in the hopes he would power overload and burn himself up; but the plan has backfired. Ikki grabs Shaka, saying that if he's going to go, he'll take Shaka with him. It's Shaka's turn to be paralyzed by Ikki's greater power. There is a blinding flash of light. When it clears, the only thing left is the Virgo cloth in the middle of the House. But the gold faceplate of the armor somehow reminds us of Ikki's features, as Shun stares at it and starts to cry. He hears Ikki's voice, comforting him. Shiryu and Seiya offer to let him stay for a while to recover, but he then surprises them with a smile. Ikki, he says, wherever he now is, is at peace and happy for the first time in his troubled life. Seiya and Shiryu stare at him for a moment, then all three turn back to the stairs. It's time to head up to the next house, that of Libra.

Episode 59. Revive Swan! Life, death, and love" In a wooded grove in Sanctuary, Aioria carries Cassios' body to a quiet clearing, and is startled by a sudden power surge that he recognizes with shock as being caused by the defeat of Shaka. What are these Bronze Saints, that they can wipe out Gold Saints the way they are? Then Leo looks up, and sees Shaina. She is upset as she sees Cassios' body, and blames Seiya; but Aioria tells her Cassios died saving Seiya... from the Gold Saint's own blow while the Gold Saint was possessed by Arles... and Cassios' last thoughts were of her. She remembers how tenderly her pupil cared for her, even turning away and covering his eyes when she had to remove her facemask to eat. She realizes how much the young Titan loved her. She is determined to go and take on the Master herself, despite Aioria's protests, blaming him for Cassios' death. She gets gut-punched again, this time by Leo, and is knocked out. As he buries Cassios, Aioria promises the dead man's spirit that he will take care of Shaina for him. Elsewhere, Shun is still remembering Ikki's sacrifice as they approach the Libra House. They don't know quite what to expect when they reach it, but what they do find is a shock, Hyoga's body, frozen in a huge block of ice! Shiryu says that the power to do such a thing belongs to only two people, the Crystal Saint, now deceased, and his sensei, Gold Saint Aquarius Camus. That also means that in all likelihood it was Camus who brought Hyoga here for them to find. Seiya strikes the ice in an attempt to free their companion, but even his most powerful blows have no effect. Shiryu says that according to Roshi, even most Gold Saints wouldn't have the power to break the ice. Then, the House begins to shake, and one of the floor blocks rises, revealing itself to be the hidden storage box for the Libra Cloth. Seeing its multiple weapons as the box opens, Shiryu realizes that they hold the key to freeing Hyoga... which is certainly why Gold Saint Libra Roshi, his mentor, has shown it to them. Shiryu takes off the Dragon Cloth, and each of the Libra Cloth's weapons fly to him. He wastes a certain amount of time demonstrating his prowess with each of them. Then the weapons arrange themselves in a circle around Shiryu. Eying the ice and each of the six types of weapon, Shiryu selects the sword and uses it, combined with the power of his cosmo, to strike the ice imprisoning Hyoga. For a moment nothing happens, then Shiryu barely touches the ice with the point of the sword, and the block splits and shatters Hyoga falls free as the ice dissipates. But Cygnus is still near death. Shun tells Shiryu and Seiya to go on; he'll stay and do what he can for Hyoga. Shiryu resumes his Dragon Cloth (presumably the weapons and Libra Cloth being returned to their hiding place), and the two head on upward as Shun holds Hyoga close, activating his cosmo, sort of sharing warmth on all levels in an attempt to revive his friend.

Episode 60. "Hyoga's return! At risk of life" Shun is still transferring power to Hyoga and sees an image of his brother as he does so. Then he remembers one of his lessons on Andromeda Island, in which he was sparring with Leda. Even then, Leda didn't like Shun, and felt he was unworthy to be a candidate for the Andromeda cloth. Shun's tendency to use his training only for self-defense rather than offense clearly makes Leda contemptuous (And Leda even then was using pink chains...). June yells at Shun to fight back, or he'll be killed, and dishonor his brother. Shun reacts, breaking Leda's chains and counterattacking with his own. Leda falls. Shun feels no real sense of victory, and when he goes to help Leda to his feet, Leda strikes him angrily, he doesn't want Shun's help. Shun realizes that Hyoga is his first real friend, liking him just for himself... and that he'll gladly give up his life if it would help Cygnus recover. Decision made, Shun's cosmo suddenly brightens and expands. Shiryu and Seiya, on their way up to Scorpio House, feel it, and wonder as they pause of the steps before entering the House. Then Shiryu remembers an old legend Roshi once told him. A holy old man was freezing in the forest. None of the animals could help him, until the hare threw itself into his fire, giving up its life to revive the embers. Horrified, the two turn around to head back, but Milo blocks the way. The two Bronze Saints remember Shun's story of how even all the Saints on Andromeda Island together, including Silver Saint Albireo, could not touch Milo when he attacked them. Milo wastes no time and immediately attacks, resulting in both Shiryu and Seiya being held motionless above the floor in his power field as Milo demonstrates his strength. Shiryu tries an attack of his own, but Milo blocks it easily. Shiryu's next attack is thrown back at him by Milo, redoubled with Milo's own power. Shiryu holds fast for a minute, then is thrown against the ceiling and falls at Seiya's feet. Seiya attacks next, trying to recall how he called upon the power of the macrocosm in his battle with Taurus Aldeberan. Milo's helmet is knocked off and Milo sent flying, but the Gold Saint lands on his feet and counterattacks, telling Seiya he has a long way to go before he gains control of his 7th. sense. Seiya is the loser in the next exchange of blows, being driven into a pillar. Shiryu tells him they must combine their power for their next attack. Neither of them at the moment is strong enough to hurt Milo alone. As they generate their cosmos, Scorpio Milo does the same thing. Seiya and Shiryu strike together, but Scorpio proves stronger still, and both Bronze Saints fall, stung by Milo's power and immobilized by it. Milo prepares to kill them both, but is interrupted by the arrival of Hyoga, who carries Shun's unconscious body in his arms. Milo is even more surprised than Seiya and Shiryu, having believed that Camus had finished off Hyoga. Hyoga tells them Shun gave all his energy, down to and including most of his life force, to save his life. He then berates both of them as giving up too easily. Shiryu and Seiya manage to struggle to their feet, as Milo picks up his helmet, preparing for his next attack, but seemingly not untouched by Hyoga's tale.

Episode 61. "Surrender or die! Scorpion Vs. Swan" Hyoga watches as Seiya and Shiryu struggle back to their feet; turns as Milo addresses him. Then Milo launches a telekinetic attack. Hyoga resists it, and launches an attack of his own, one which places an ice ring around Milo. Hyoga gives Shun to Seiya and tells his friends to go on. The others are tired from their earlier battles, and he has done little to advance the cause. Hyoga will fight Milo while they go up to the next House. Below, Kiki is surprised to see Tatsumi approaching. He is shortly followed by guards from Sanctuary, who tell Mu he is ordered by the Master of Sanctuary to allow them to deal with the false Athena, Saori Kiddo. Reluctantly, Mu follows orders, despite Kiki's protests. Tatsumi does his best to defend Saori, proving he in indeed the Kendo master he claims to be. But he is heavily outnumbered and soon falls, about six of the guards holding him down. Two of the other guards prepare to send a spear through Saori, finishing the job Sagitta started. The spear is intercepted by Jabu, as he and the other five Bronze Saints eliminated in the Galaxian Wars teleport in. They wreak havok among the guards, and announce they are there to defend Saori. Above, the others have already left as Milo breaks the ice ring Hyoga put around him and puts his helmet back on. The two prepare to attack one another, Milo with another telekinetic attack, Hyoga defending himself from it with an ice shield. Then Milo and Hyoga both wind up their prescence attacks and go at each other, Scorpio Milo using his "Scarlet Needle" attack, and Hyoga his "Diamond Dust" attack. Shiryu and Seiya both feel Hyoga's reaction, but go onward. Milo breaks out of the ice Hyoga has encased him in; and Cygnus realizes Scorpio Milo's attack has punched holes in his armor, and him. Their battle continues, with Hyoga definately getting the worst of it. Hyoga may be determined, but Milo is by far the more experienced and powerful fighter. Milo is somewhat surprised when Hyoga keeps getting up and coming back for more, ignoring the blood slowly seeping from every hole Milo has punched in him with his "Scarlet Needle". The Episode closes as Shiryu and Seiya, an unconscious Shun on Seiya's back, continue racing up the steps toward the Sagittarius House.

Episode 62. "Forge ahead Hyoga! Proud and brave" The battle between Milo and Hyoga continues. Hyoga gets in a few good blows... and sends Milo's helmet flying once more. But Milo is winning as Hyoga's injuries begin to take effect and he starts leaving a trail of blood behind him. Milo reminds Hyoga of what Camus did to him, and that Hyoga fell to that Gold Saint. He would have died, too, had not Camus decided to give him another chance. Milo does not intend to be so lenient. So far Hyoga has not shown he has the potential to be the equel of a Gold Saint, let alone defeat one. Therefore, he is not worthy to advance further into Sanctuary. Truely only worth to be a Saint of a false Athena, Miro sneers. Camus may be disappointed that he won't have another chance to test the Crystal Saint's student, but if Hyoga can't stand up to Milo, he certainly wouldn't fare any better against Camus the second time. Hyoga is distraught, but decides that this time he won't give up. He says the others have all proven themselves; if he is to continue to be their companion he must do the same. He attacks, and gets a heel to the head for his efforts. Hyoga gets up again, and attacks. Milo strikes back, and nearly kills Hyoga. Dying, Hyoga begins to crawl in the direction his friends have taken. Scorpio Milo realizes that Hyoga has begun to manifest 7th. Sense during his last attack. The "Aurora Thunder Attack" actually partially penetrated his Gold Cloth. He also sees a brief vision of Saori as Athena. Perhaps Saori is not an imposter? Surely Hyoga would not be this devoted to her cause if she were not! Alarmed, Milo runs to Hyoga and cures him. Go on, Miro tells him, and rejoin his companions. He has proven himself worthy. And above, Camus stands outside his House, waiting...

Episode 63. "Be heard! (Resound! Sanctuary's Gold Cloth)" Tatsumi and the remained Bronze Saints are still guarding Saori's unconsious form. Jabu tells them to relax, there is nothing they can do to improve Saori's condition. Only Seiya and his group can do anything. They must depend on them to carry through. Running up the steps to the Sagittarius House, Seiya and Shiryu remember Hyoga's decision to take on Milo by himself, as well as the tongue-lashing Hyoga gave them about giving up too soon. Below, Bear Geki has retrieved Athena's staff from the plane and brought it. Tatsumi places it in her grasp; it glows and stands upright on its own. In response to its call, the Sagittarius Cloth arrives! Above, Mu and Kiki observe its arrival, and Mu remembers Sagittarius Aioros, and knows the Bronze Saints must be approaching the Sagittarius House. Below, Tatsumi tells the other Bronze Saints about Aioros' sacrifice, and that Saori is the current reincarnation of Athena. Everything that has happened is because of that, he says, from the planning of the Galaxian Wars, the theft of the Gold Cloth, to their current situation. If Saori dies, then Arles will have won. Tatsumi begs the spirit of Aioros to do what it has to, Seiya and company must be tested at the Sagittarius House, or the cycle will not be properly completed and the legitimacy of Saori's claim may come into question. The staff glows, creating a coresponding fire in the Sagittarius armor. In sympathy, the Cloth of the other Gold Saints also lights up, and all recognize it as the "call" of the Sagittarius Cloth. Even Seiya and Shiryu feel its power. Shaina, at Cassios' grave, feels it, and it also wakens a dazed Marin. Arles feels it too, and responds angrily. He begins to have a series of nightmarish hallucinations, first, Seiya and the other Bronze Saints arrive en mass to attack him. When the Master summons the Gold Saints to stand between him and the Bronze Saints (both the Sagittarius and Gemini Cloths among them!) the Gold Saints turn around and advance menacingly upon him. When that vision fades, it is replaced by one of Saori/Athena and Aioros coming through the door, Athena raising her staff and sending an energy bolt toward him. Shaken, Arles awakes from that vision... and far below, the Sagittarius Cloth ascends to the Sagittarius House to await the Bronze Saints. Seiya and Shiryu are shocked as they enter the House and see the Cloth. As Seiya starts to walk around it, sure that the Cloth that has protected him several times in the past won't harm him, the Cloth pivots, its deadly weapon aimed at him. Then... the Cloth looses its arrow at him!!!

Episode 64. "Young men! You are worthy of Athena" This Episode opens with the Sagittarius Cloth, sitting in the middle of its House with no wearer, shooting a golden arrow at Seiya. It lands between his arm and body in the wall he is backed up against. As Shiryu and Seiya look at it in alarm, Shun, on the floor, wakes up and wants to know what's going on. The arrow glows, and blows a hold in the wall, revealing a cave beyond. In order to go on to the next House, they will have to go through the cave... Shun wants to know where Hyoga is. Shiryu and Seiya look at each other helplessly, and Shun regards them in alarm. Then Hyoga's voice greets them, and a battered Swan enters the House. The four enter the cave, and behind them the wall reappears. The cavern ceiling over them begins to collapse, and all push against it. Shiryu tells them he is the strongest; he will try and hold it up long enough for them to get out. They don't like it, but have no choice. As the three escape, Shiryu punches the rock ceiling with his "Rozan Ascending Dragon". The rock crumbles, burying Dragon under the rubble. Seiya, Shun, and Hyoga turn and see the dragon form of Shiryu's soul-self ascending skyward before it fades from view. Seiya wants to go back, but Hyoga stops him. They must go forward, or Shiryu's sacrifice will have been in vain. Ahead, they see a light. But it turns out to be coming from the floor, not open sky. They approach it warily. The floor of the cave looks like it's been made of mist. Seiya walks across it, and tells the others it seems to be solid, despite its appearance. They join him... and the mist-floor disappears. They fall through a glowing hole into a lower cavern, the "hole" disapppearing once they've gone through it. Shun attempts to knock a hole in what he thinks is a thin section of the cavern roof; a waterfall pours out instead. Hyoga tells Seiya and Shun to get out, then freezes the water. The pressure, however, is too great. The ice breaks up, and Hyoga is swept away in the resulting deluge, but Seiya and Shun have successfully escaped. The two remaining Bronze Saints come to a wide crevasse. Shun uses his chains to "rope" a stalagtite, and swings both of them across. When the stalagtite crumbles under their weight, Shun throws Seiya across the chasm to the far side as he himself falls into the depths. Seiya, hurt, slides down the cliff to a ledge, then valiently struggles to climb up despite his injuries. Somewhere above, the Sagittarius Cloth glows. Its light envelopes each of the Bronze Saints in turn, and they are all, sound and whole, back in the Sagittarius House. They have passed its test. An arrow strikes the wall again, this time revealing a message written in Greek by Aioros. In tears at his words: "Young Men, You are worthy of Athena", the four watch the wall crumble, this time revealing the starry sky and the stairs behind the House. It's time to continue, and the next Saint they will face is Capricorn.

Episode 65. "Growling Excalibur! Shura Vs. Dragon" Open to Tatsumi and Jabu discussing the current situation as they guard Saori. They notice anxiously that the sun is going down. Time is running out for Athena. After leaving the Sagittarius House, our intrepid four head up the stairs toward their next opponent, Capricorn. Yet no one opposes them as they enter this House. Inside, they see a statue of Athena presenting a sword to a young man. Shiryu identifies the sword as the legendary Excalibur, the magically endowed weapon given to King Arthur. As they leave the chamber, we glimpse the Gold Saint walking along a balconey above the statue. As they leave the House, Capricorn strikes, the energy of his harnessed cosmo cutting a deep trench intended to keep them from reaching the steps behind his house. Sensing this, Shiryu pushes his friends across the boundary before it can be completed. Shun falls into the crevasse, but his chains save him. The three look back around the rift to Shiryu, who is still standing on the other side... and watch as the Gold Saint approaches, introducing himself as Capricorn Shura. Across the crevasse, Hyoga tells the others that they must continue, even though it leaves Dragon to face Shura on his own. Shura demonstrates the power of his "Excalibur", cutting up Dragon considerably. Shura then tells of his own encounter with Aioros during the former Aioros' escape from Sanctuary with the infant Athena. Aioros was badly torn up as a result, and Shura believed him dead after his final attack. Shura could not quite bring himself to kill the infant, however, so left her to the elements. "Therefore I know Saori is an imposter," he says. Shiryu counters that Aioros was not dead, and that he was able to pull himself out of the crevasse Shura's power had thrown him into, rescue the young Athena/Saori, and continue his journey, if much the worse for wear. Shiryu notes grimly that Aioros indeed died shortly after passing the infant on to her new guardian. Shura refuses to believe him, and strikes at Shiryu. Shiryu blocks the blow with his shield, and counterattacks. Shura's defense throws Shiryu against the roof of his House, and Shiryu falls, much damaged. Shura strikes again. This time the Dragon shield splits in half. Another blow, and Dragon's Cloth is destroyed, crumbled at his feet, only his helmet and belt intact. Shura comes at Shiryu again, aiming for the helmet, and Dragon's head. But Shiryu is able to catch the hand in his, like martial arts legends have their experts catching and stopping the blades of swords with their bare hands. Then Shiryu, still imprisoning Shura's hands, delivers a snap-kick to Shura's jaw, sending the Gold Saint flying. But Shiryu now has no armor to protect him as he faces the Gold Saint.

Episode 66. Ah, Shiryu! Rise to the stars" The confrontation between Shiryu and Shura continues. Shiryu powers up and attacks Shura, who goes flying once more, his helmet knocked off in the process. Shura admits that Shiryu certainly has Gold Saint potential, his ability to control his 7th. Sense developing nicely. But as yet Shiryu's stongest blows do little harm to the Gold Saint. Shura strikes at Shiryu, aiming his cutting-hand for Shiryu's unprotected chest just above the heart, the "weak point" that Seiya hit and as a result nearly killed Shiryu in their first battle so long ago. But while Shiryu is badly damaged... momentarily collapsing... he isn't dead. He proves this by jumping out of the way of the killing blow Shura next aims at him. Shiryu begins to call on the full power of his cosmo, remembering the last time he used this much energy in this fashion, Roshi stopped him in alarm. The power backlash that time threw Shiryu across the valley back home, and Roshi told him using his cosmo in that manner could result in death, it could lead to his going flying out into space uncontrollably. Shura strikes again, once more connecting with Shiryu's chest. This time he can't take his hand out! Then Shiryu cuts Shura's arm, and the Gold Cloth, off. Before Capricorn has a chance to recover, Shiryu has him in a hammerlock, and Shiryu's expanding cosmo sends both of them flying skyward, the huge, comet-like dragon shape of Shiryu's soul-self visible to all as Shiryu tells his friends to continue, and serve Athena well. Even Roshi and Shunrei see the apparition, as do Jabu and the others. Higher and higher the two rise, like a falling star in reverse, as Shura admits he seems to have made a mistake in both underestimating Shiryu and the validity of Saori's claim to be Athena. Higher and higher they shoot, until their light winks out above, and Shiryu's friends can no longer feel the power of Shiryu's cosmo. It seems yet another of Athena's Bronze Saints has fallen, taking out Shura in the process. Everyone mourns, but the battle must continue despite their losses. The next Gold Saint they must fact is Camus...

Episode 67. "So then! My teacher, my friend..." Still in shock over the apparent loss of Shiryu, the three Bronze Saints are interrupted in their mourning by the sound of a cape flapping in the wind. It is Camus, awaiting their arrival, or, to be more accurate, the arrival of Hyoga. Camus has no interest in either Seiya or Shun; they walk right on past him, and Camus ignores them. Then Camus walks back into his house, turning his back on Hyoga, who follows him. Hyoga tells him that this time he's ready for battle. Camus replies that he hopes Cygnus is right; this time the Crystal Saint's student can expect no mercy. Camus will do his best to kill him! Hyoga responds with a "Diamond Dust" attack; Camus returns it redoubled. He scoffs that he taught the "Diamond Dust" attack to Crystal; did Hyoga really think he wouldn't know how to counter it? Hyoga remembers a lesson Crystal gave him, the ability to create ice from the moisture in the air, and destroy it at well. But as he remembers, Camus takes advantage of his distraction to attack him. Camus tells him he cannot afford such weaknesses if he wants to become a Gold Saint. Then Camus clasps his hands over his head to use the full Camus power and blows Hyoga across the temple. Hyoga falls, but struggles back to his feet, gathering power for an "Aurora Thunder Attack". Again, Camus blocks and returns the attack. Hyoga has not yet mastered the use of his 7th. sense. Aquarius Camus freezes Hyoga again, this time while he's still awake, encasing the half-Russian Saint in a block of ice. But Hyoga has not given up this time, much to Camus' surprise Hyoga breaks free of the ice on his own. He cannot let his friends down again, he thinks, especially after the sacrifices Shiryu and Ikki have made. His ability to break the ice means that not only is Hyoga "taming" his 7th. sense. They strike at each other with cold blasts but Hyoga repels Camus' blasts with his own, hearing the voices of his friends and his mother encouraging him. Then Hyoga draws all the power to him in a ball of freezing energy and sends Camus flying with it; knocking off Camus' helmet and partially freezing his Cloth. Camus prepares his "Aurora Execution" attack, only to see Hyoga doing the same. Seiya and Shun, on the steps, turn as snow starts to fall around them. In the Aquarius House, the two combatants have succeeded in freezing each other... (some absolutely gorgeous work with colors here, with both Camus and Hyoga depicted in shades of white and blue...). Camus sees Athena rising momentarily above Hyoga before the Gold Saint collapses; Hyoga silently thanks Camus for teaching him some important lessons before he, too, falls to the floor of the House.

Episode 68. Beautiful warrior! Aphrodite" As the Episode opens we get a look at the final moments of the battle between Camus and Hyoga. Both of them fire cold blasts at each other, turning the very air around them to ice. They stand for a moment, facing each other, then Camus collapses, followed shortly by Hyoga. Below, a few snowflakes fall on the Bronze Saints guarding Saori as the fire in the Aquarius section of the fireclock goes out. The others, lead by Tatsumi, want to start taking the steps themselves, but Jabu stops them. How can they, who have been defeated by Seiya and the others now climbing the steps, hope to defeat the Gold Saints who are wreaking so much havok against their stronger companions? It is their duty, he says, to guard Athena, for her enemies might send more guards to try and kill her. It is Seiya's duty to continue the fight against the Gold Saints, not theirs. At the final House, Arles curses Camus for failing. His alter-ego speaks up as Arles stares at his own image in the huge mirror hanging in the throne room. These Bronze Saints are all displaying 7th. Sense, even if he is successful in defeating Athena and her champions, he now has the rest of the Gold Saints to deal with. Those who fully supported him, Cancer Death Mask, Virgo Shaka, and Capricorn Shiera, are gone. Those who remain now at least suspect the truth, and he may find it difficult to handle all of them. Arles laughs. There is still Pisces left, he says, and without Athena to lead them, her Gold Saints will never be able to organize any meaningful opposition to him. Back on the stairs, Shun and Seiya are still racing up the steps toward the Pisces House when Shun becomes dizzy for a moment and trips on the stairs. He still hasn't recovered from the effort he made to save Hyoga's life. He tells Seiya that he is currently the strongest of the two, so it is to be his duty to go on and take out the Master of Sanctuary. Shun will fight Pisces, distracting the Gold Saint so Seiya can pass through the House and head up toward their final goal. As they continue upward, Seiya is thinking how brave and self-sacrificing Shun is. Andromeda is considering how many times he's used his nebula chains unsuccessfully against Gold Saints, and wonders if it is the power of the Gold Saints that is responsible, or a failure of his own will. Both duck as glowing red balls of light lance toward them. They solidify into blood-red roses, their points hard and sharp enough to bury themselves in the stone steps. Above stands the final Gold Saint they must face. With a rose clenched in his teeth, he introduces himself as Pisces Aphrodite. Seiya jumps past him, knocking aside a rose Aphrodite throws at him. Aphrodite's next blow is stopped by one of Shun's chains. Aphrodite laughs and says it won't matter; there is a trap of another sort waiting for Seiya on the stairs behind his House. As Seiya exits the House, he sees the stairs are filled with roses, like a blood-red river. He goes up regardless. Shortly, the poisonous aroma of the roses has its effect, overcoming him, and Seiya falls face first into them. Shun stares at Aphrodite, aghast, as he laughs nastily, his trap successful...

Episode 69. "Demon roses! Sweet smell (fragrance) of death" Aphrodite triumphantly tells Shun that not only will his roses, blanketing the steps leading up to Athena's palace, put Seiya to sleep, their poison will eventually kill Seiya if he remains there too long, the petals actually leeching the life force out of the Bronze Saint. But Shun cannot help, he is now drawn into battle with Aphrodite. Further, Pisces tells Shun that he was as much responsible for Albireo's death as Milo. Albireo was actually doing fairly well against Milo when Aphrodite hit the Silver Saint with one of his roses. The poison it contained paralyzed Albireo, so he had no chance to block Milo's final blow (Evidentally Miro wasn't aware of Aphrodite's interference...). Enraged, Shun throws both his chains against Aphrodite, who catches them, and then directs an energy discharge that knocks Shun down. Thousands of roses appear at Aphrodite's direction, and begin to leech away Shun's lifeforce as Sun remembers how he won his Cloth... instead of fighting an opponent, Albireo pitted him against nature. Shun was fastened to a rock with the chains of the Andromeda Cloth, and as the tide came in the rock began to disappear under water. Shun had to learn to control the chains, or drown. As the rock submerged, an astonishing light display erupted as Shun found his cosmo and control of the Nebula Chains. His flashback over, Shun climbs to his feet, throwing off the effect of the roses. Meanwhile, the five Bronze Saints at the base of the stairs feel Seiya's cosmo weakening. Aphrodite sends energy bolts against Shun this time, but Shun is unhurt, despite the damage Aphrodite does to his own House. Shun calls his "Rolling Defense". Aphrodite sends more roses at them, but this time the chains deflect the Gold Saint's weapons and send them back against their master! Shun attacks, but Aphrodite teleports before the chains can reach him. Shun releases his "Thunder Wave", which connects with the invisible Gold Saint, knocking his helmet off. Another "Thunder Wave" shoots out, but Pisces stops it with a black rose...

Episode 70. "Peace! Shun's last smile (laugh)" Shun is shocked to see his chain stopped by the black rose, while Aphrodite gloats, then sends his own "chain" of black roses, encircling the nebula chain and destroying it. Shun uses his remaining chain in an attempt to defend himself, but it too is crumbled by the black roses. Pisces' next move is to shatter Andromeda's Cloth and badly damage the Bronze Saint. Shun still manages to climb to his feet, his cosmo groiwng, it seems Aphrodite has made a tactical error. In addition to protecting him, Shun's Cloth actually helps contain the enormous amounts of energy he is capable of generating. He has a flashback, when it was time for Shun, now Andromeda Saint, to return to the Graude Foundation, Albereo wanted Shun to stay, saying that his student still had much to learn. Shun refused, directing a powerful energy burst that grazed Albireo's arm guard and struck the cliff behind him. His sensei then told Shun that as Andromeda Saint he could eventually learn to draw not only on the power of his own constellation, but also that of the Andromeda Nebula (an entire galaxy in its own right), which lies within the constellation of Andromeda. June arrived to declare that the boat had arrived to take Shun home. As the two ran off, behind them, and unnoticed by them, Albireo's arm guard and the cliffside behind him crumbled into dust. With his armor gone, there is nothing holding back Shun's full strength. Aphrodite cannot believe the power Shun's cosmo is now generating. Shun sends a "Nebula Storm" attack against Aphrodite, knocking the Gold Saint off balance, but Shun faints before he can complete the attack. Aphrodite is momentarily pleased, but Shun recovers, is back on his feet and resuming the battle before Aphrodite hits ground. In desperation, Aphrodite unveils his deadliest weapon, a white rose which will quickly absorb the lifeforce of anyone it touches. The two attack simultaneously. They exchange words, and their mutual attacks are increased in strength. The white rose strikes Shun over his heart, but Aphrodite is mortally wounded by the final "Nebula Storm". Roses appear to cover the Gold Saint, and Shun falls, the white rose imbedded in his chest slowly turning red as it absorbs his life-force. He mentally apologizes to Seiya for not being able to help him more, and hopes he will soon join his brother and other friends, wherever they are. Above, Arles is still confident, as Seiya seems to be well emeshed in Aphrodite's trap. Below, Marin is enroute, but Phaeton, Arles' aide de camp, and his guards have caught up with her. Marin, exhausted and outnumbered, finds herself at a disadvantage. Phaeton is about to kill her when his blow is blocked by Shaina, who then stands between Marin and their enemies. Shaina says that with Cassios' death she realized she was fighting for the wrong side. Phaeton laughs and says Aphrodite's roses will end Seiya and Athena's hopes. Alarmed, the two women together decimate the guards. Shaina takes out Phaeton. As more guards arrive Shaina tells Marin to go on and help Seiya; she will protect Marin's rear. "Go!" she tells Marin before racing at the newest contingent of leather-clad guards. Above, on the clock, only the flame of the Pisces quadrant remains lit, as Seiya still lies unconscious among the roses.

Episode 71. "Fire in the clock extinguished! True character of the Master" Marin finally reaches Seiya. She realizes that it is the poison in the air that has downed him. Taking off her mask (no, we don't get a good glimpse of her face, her bangs are long enough to keep her eyes covered) she places it over Seiya's face. Its protection will filter the deadly perfume out of the air he breaths. And without Aphrodite to energize them, the roses are slowly losing their lethal power. Marin places Seiya's arm over her shoulder and proceeds to drag him up the steps a far distance, at which point he begins to wake up. Marin speaks to him briefly, then collapses. Seiya, recovering, replaces Marin's mask, being careful not to look at her face, and then proceeds to blow the roses off the steps with a "Pegasus Meteor Fist". He bends over Marin, then is startled by the arrival of Shaina. Instead of challengeing him, Shaina tells Seiya she'll take care of Marin, the Bronze Saint has a job to do. Seiya, surprised, nods, and then goes on up the steps to face the Master of Sanctuary. He blows away the doors to the palace, and finds the Master waiting for him. Taking off his mask, the Master reveals a handsome visage, one Seiya does not recognize. Seiya demands the Master remove the arrow from Saori; he refuses. Seiya attacks, but his blows have no effect. The Master is in tears now, and tells Seiya that only a Saint pledged to Athena in her current reincarnation can save her life. Seiya must go to the statue of Athena outside, take the gold shield it holds, and use that shield to reflect the remaining sunlight onto Saori's comatose body far below. "Hurry!" the Master urges. Seiya starts off, but is distracted as the Master collapses to his knees, crying out in pain. Then his dark blue hair turns to light purple, and when he opens his eyes the whites have turned dark violet. "Stop, Seiya!" he commands, voice deeper and darker than it was before and attacks Seiya. Below, Marin and Shaina feel Seiya's pain. "How could this have happened?" Shaina asks. Marin replies that she had climbed Star Hill, a place in the center of Sanctuary forbidden to all, and discovered a body there, preserved in a stasis field, it's the real Master of Sanctuary! They wonder who is strong enough to kill the person who is the most powerful of the saints as they see the image of Gold Saint Gemini. Above, Seiya is fighting Arles and not doing so well; he manages to shred the Master's robe, but Arles responds by calling the Gemini Cloth to him and proceeds to go at Seiya again. Arles gloats that once he has Athena's staff in his possession as well as the Shield, no one, none of the Gods, especially, will be able to stop him. Arles then uses the "Another Dimension" blow against Seiya, but the good part of him interferes, breaking Arles' control long enough to prevent Seiya from being lost. Seiya falls to the floor of the palace as Arles reasserts control and renews his attack on the Bronze Saint.

Episode 72. "Go Seiya! Beyond the death of friends" Arles is beating the tar out of Seiya as the Episode opens. Below, Kiki is talking to Mu, but Mu isn't listening, he is hearing Shaka's voice, asking him to act as an "anchor" in the real world for Shaka to use so he can return both himself and Ikki to the "real world". Mu obliges, and at the Virgo House the Gold Cloth flies apart and then comes into place around Shaka as he rematerializes, Ikki in his arms. Then Shaka repairs Ikki's Cloth and sends him on his way. Shaka has decided that Saori is Athena, and her new Saints have proven themselves worthy to serve her, plus, Shaka is now fairly sure she'll win the current conflict, and far be it for him to support the losing side! Above, Seiya is still getting the crap beaten out of him, but Seiya keeps on getting back on his feet and fighting back, by now his eyes glowing as Athena and his brother Bronze Saints transfer power to support him. He attacks and knocks Arles. Seiya is drawn to the Athena statue, ignoring his foe. Arles awakens and attacks. Seiya tries the "Pegasus Rolling Crush", grabbing Gemini and rocketing both of them skyward and then back through the roof of the palace, but is himself hurt worse than Arles, who is protected by the Gold Cloth. Arles prepares to kill the dazed Seiya, only to be distracted by the sight of the faces on either side of the Gemini helmet crying. The Cloth itself is objecting to its' wearer's purpose. Arles turns his attention back to Seiya and blows him across the room. Before he can strike the final blow, it is intercepted by "feathers" from Ikki's Cloth, which imbed themselves in Arles' hand. Ikki and Arles exchange words, Ikki recalling the sacrifices the other Bronze Saints have made. Then the two go at each other... in the background, Seiya rises and heads for the statue. Arles tries to stop him. Ikki realizes that if Arles is that concerned about what Seiya is doing, he needs to buy Seiya the time to complete whatever task his fellow Bronze Saint is trying to complete, and stops Arles. Seiya collapses on the stairs as the battle below him continues. Ikki is surprised at how easily Arles deflects his blows. Arles uses the "Another Dimension" attack, but Ikki "turns Phoenix" and emerges from the vortex to carry the attack to Arles. Above, Seiya hears the voices of the other three Bronze Saints encouraging to go onward and finish the mission they started so many hours ago. Seiya proceeds to crawl up the steps toward the statue. Below, Arles finishes blowing Ikki away, and goes to stop Seiya. Seiya now has the shield and is holding it up to the sun when Arles gut-punches him. The refected light darts about as Seiya stumbles, flashes across Saori. Seiya falls. Arles sees the last light on the clock go out, and laughs at his seeming triumph. Below, Saori starts to glow, and a rainbow-colored pillar of light shoots skyward. The arrow dissolves into nothingless, and Saori's fingers twitch and move, her eyes opening. Believing the light is the sign of Athena's death, Arles turns his attention back to Seiya...

Episode 73. "Gather, friends! Athena's palace" Athena is glowing, and wakes up as Jabu helps her upright. Bells ring in the distance. In China, Roshi feels her full awakening as Athena regains her full power and memories. The Libra Saint contacts the remaining Gold Saints and tells them that Saori is Athena! He confirms the story of Sagittarius Aioros saving the infant Athena's life. He also tells them that he discovered that Gold Saint Gemini, whose name is Saga, has two personalities. One is extremly good, and the other is emtremly bad. And that his evil side killed the Master and took his place and tried to kill Athena to control the Sanctuary and the world. Roshi could not prove his suspicions, however, so had said nothing. Libra urges his fellow Gold Saints to acknowledge Saori as Athena and support her claim to Sanctuary. At the base of the stairs, Athena, Tatsumi, and the other Bronze Saints start upward. At the top, Saga is using Seiya as a punching bag, the Bronze Saint being too exhausted to fight back, then Ikki arrives to rejoin his earlier battle him. Elsewhere, each of the Gold Saints in turn bend knee to Athena, and follow her up the stairs to the place that rightfully belongs to her. As they come to the last three Houses, they discover her badly wounded Bronze Saints. Athena heals them. None of the three are at full strength even with her help, and must be half-carried the rest of the way upward. Above, Ikki is getting the worse of the battle, his Cloth once more disintegrating, and Ikki himself makes a rather large hole in the pavement (our boys tend to leave lasting impressions behind them wherever they go!). Before Saga can kill either Ikki or Seiya, Athena arrives. Saga looks shocked; he had thought his opponent dead. Shiryu, Hyoga and Shun approach, calling upon the full strength of their cosmos. The other Saints hold back; it is the Bronze Saints' right to go first, and until Athena is properly enthroned and taken their oaths, technically the Gold Saints still owe alliegence to the Master. Still exhausted, the three fail, but Seiya has recovered. Aldeberan wants to go to him, but Aioria hold his fellow Gold Saint back. Athena and her Bronze Saints must face Saga on their own. The other four, including Ikki, climb back to their feet, and all five Bronze Saints call upon the macrocosm. They generate enough power to surprise and even shock the remaining Gold Saints. Combining their force into one, guided by Seiya, they blow Saga skyward. Then all five collapse, utterly spent. Shaina and Marin arrive. It is too early to rejoice, however, as Saga reappears. The Gold Cloth and his own power protected him. The Gold Saints advance menacingly, but it is Athena herself who pushes between them to face him. Enraged, Saga prepares to attack her, but the Gemini Cloth will have none of it, abandoning its wearer. Then Saori tells Saga that Seiya's blow caused a fatal wound to his evil side. Saga is still determined, and renews the attack. Athena lowers her staff and Saga almost impales himself on it. For a moment both evil and good side try to talk at the same time, then Saga collapses, his hair returning to its normal color, and when he opens his eyes they are once more normal. He asks for Athena's forgivness and he dies in her arms. Bells ring once more as Saori goes to Seiya, and the Gold Saints pick up the wounded Bronze Saints. Above, a star in the Big Dipper glows menacingly, a foreshadow of the dangers to be faced in the next Saint Seiya series!