This was the world after Major Labyrinth. After the final, silent fall of the Bad End Kingdom. They had won. Cure Happy, Cure Sunny, Cure Peace, Cure March, and Cure Beauty had done the impossible. They had laughed in the face of despair, transforming the ultimate sorrow into a supernova of light. The world was saved.
Then, from the clock tower's shadow, a soft glow emerged. It was faint, almost pathetic, a flicker of pale gold. A tiny, translucent form materialized—a fragment of Candy, no larger than a marble.
Joker (Rascal) confronts Wolfrun, Akaoni, and Majorina. He reveals that the "Black Noses" they use have been draining their life force. He gives them one final chance to defeat the Cures or be returned to their "original forms" — a fate they evidently fear.
Up until this point, Smile Precure had been defined by its vibrant colors, goofy villains, and an unshakeable theme of happiness. But this episode strips all of that away to reveal the terrifying stakes lurking underneath the rainbow aesthetic. smile precure 45
"That it's today. The anniversary. They're all meeting at the old clock tower."
Episode 45 is frequently cited as one of the strongest in the franchise due to its high stakes and subversion of typical "hero vs. villain" tropes. The decision to redeem the generals rather than simply defeat them solidified the season's core theme of finding happiness even in dark stories. The episode ends on a massive cliffhanger as Emperor Pierrot’s egg begins to hatch, setting the stage for the ultimate battle. prettycure.fandom.comhttps://prettycure.fandom.com
Akane slammed her fist against the tower wall. "Then we fake it! We always faked it at first!" This was the world after Major Labyrinth
The rain fell in seamless sheets over the city, blurring the neon glow of the late-night arcades and convenience stores. Inside a small, cramped apartment, Yume Hoshino clutched a worn, pink compact mirror. Her reflection stared back, but it wasn't just her face she saw. It was the ghost of a smile.
Nao was the first to crack. Tears streamed down her face. "I can't! I don't even remember what my real smile felt like!"
The three generals use the Black Noses to enter their ultimate "Hyper Forms" and overwhelm the Cures. They reveal their tragic motive: they were once outcasts in Märchenland and were treated as villains simply because of their appearance in fairy tales. Cure Happy, Cure Sunny, Cure Peace, Cure March,
The rain began to slow. The golden light swelled, wrapping around the five of them. It wasn't a transformation into Cures. It was something quieter, something truer. They glowed with the simple, profound warmth of shared sorrow turned inside out.
The defining moment of this episode—and arguably the entire series—is the surrender of the fairies, Candy and Pop.
Miyuki stood apart, her hair longer, her smile smaller. She looked less like a heroine and more like a ghost.
"Smile…" it whispered. "Please… one more time…"
