So Sailor Pluto is one of my favorite characters, but also one of the most confusing one. She died in R, then was transmigrated by Neo Queen Serenity to be a civilian and end up being re-awakened during the Death Busters arc. So does that mean that for a while at least, she was in both places at once? The Time Gate and Earth? And who was guarding the gate from S on? Surely after all they went through in R, they wouldn't just leave it abandoned. My theory is that, since the gates of Time exist outside of our concept of time, Pluto essentially is able to be in both places - her future self at the gates, her present self with the rest of the group.

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there is one thing to think about...in some respect, it seemed that with NQS allowing Sailor Pluto to be reborn in the past was also so that she could fight alongside Sailor Moon, thus officially relieving her of her duty as protector of the Space-Time door. Perhaps, they figured out a (off scene unexplained) way to have the door guarded/protected WITHOUT Pluto from that point on ward.

The only thing is how does that explain that there is a Pluto guarding the gate while Setsuna is reborn in the past timeline. I think that goes more along with what you're saying. Pluto can be both. As far as we know, the first time we meet Pluto, she has no civilian identity. That Pluto exists at the same time as Setsuna does until Pluto dies with her time stop. So there would essentially be two beings with the title Sailor Pluto. One is a reborn human, Setsuna, and the other is the original Sailor Pluto from the Silver Millennium.

Personally, I would rather think of multi verse theory working for time travel (like how it does in Dragon ball Z) because there are things in SM that sort of mess the continuity up and that would help explain it better buuuuuut there are also instances of things in the past affecting the future (like in Stars).

Soooo....we're basically left with a bit of a paradoxal mess no thanks to Naoko who hadn't initially really planned past the Black Moon Clan. XD

I hope that adds to your theory or gives more food for thought?? It's so hard to try to explain because of the lack of information from the source material and a few plot holes from the story. As much as I prefer Pluto's role better in the manga, you do have to give the original anime props for not making it AS confusing by reducing her role in R and not having her die then. But then they kill her off and don't explain how she gets reborn for Stars so we're left with plot holes yet again. Thanks Toei. -_-