This episode of Spy x Family was the darkest the series ever got, but did a great job in going in depth into the effects of War, and the impact it has on people, like Loid, a victim of war.
Loid really had it rough. After witnessing his town getting bombed, he gets to know his friends have probably died, and needs to run away with his mom, all this when he was only a child. In that first attack, it's also implicit that his father was killed. When he finally was getting used to all that happened, and trying to live a "normal" childhood, the town he and his mom were staying in gets bombed, and this time around his mother was also a victim (but also his grandparents), leaving Loid all alone now.
It's only natural he would seek revenge by enlisting in the military (while only being a teen) and actively participate in the war, killing a lot of Ostanians in the mean time... If this wasn't enough, he gets to reunite with his childhood friends one more time, just for them to be sent to a suicide mission basically... He blamed himself not once but twice for the death of his friends, that's just cruel... When he started to cry when he rediscovered them... You could really tell he wanted that confort of still having someone to rely on, from his childhood times, but that dream is now over :(
We then see Loid getting recruited to the intelligence department of the military, where he works as a spy now, and having nightmares with the training he went through.
I believe they already stated that in the first season, but we also get to see that Loid is working actively to preserve peace, since he doesn't want any other kid to go through what he went.
This whole backstory was dark and hard to watch, but it portrays the reality of many children that lost everything to war... By the end of the episode I just wanted to give Loid a hug :(
By the end of the episode, Loid wakes up, and sees he is in "Loid"'s house (interesting he doesn't even address Loid has himself, but rather as his character), and still recovering from remembering these hard memories, Anya just pets him. This is a great contrast to what was shown throughout the episode. Until then he was all alone, unsure of what to do with his life and what was making him kill all those people, but now he has a home, a "daughter" and a "wife", his own family, where he feels safe. In the end, he was able to pull through and start a family (even if it was for the "sake of the mission").
I don't know, the last moments of the episode of just seeing Loid spending time with his family made me emotional and tear up a bit.
This anime never got so dark and go in depth of such complicated and serious topics, but it knew how to do it, and this last scene showed it.
I also found interesting Franky and Loid knew eachother long before Loid turned into a spy, and showed that Franky was against the war way back in time.
Since the 1st season if I'm not mistaken they have been hinting for Loid's backstory to be quite tragic, and they always showed that Loid was a war orphan, but still, knowing what really happened just hits different. I was always curious to know this backstory, and the wait was worth it, they did an incredible job portraying Loid's life, that lead to him having the motivations and attitudes he has now.
If I'm being honest, I wasn't expecting for this backstory reveal to be so early on in the season, especially considering how both the opening and ending are focused in this part of the story. But it sure was an amazing way to start the 3rd season. I don't know if they are going to dwelve more into this later in the season, since I haven't read the manga, but I'm expecting more of the "usual" episodes for the next couple of episodes.
With Loid's backstory, I think the only backstory to be revealed really is Anya's, considering they really never gave us much info to what happened to her, and like Loid, only hinted for her to have lost both parents, and after that becoming some kind of "lab rat" for cientists to try making her a psychic, but for some reason she was later discarted by them. Let's not forget how attached she became to Loid back in episode 1, when she finally received some love and affection...
So, I'm not sure if the anime will have the opportunity to get this dark again (since I don't remember Yor's backstory to be portrayed so darkly either, although it's quite tragic too), but I would definetly love it. When Spy X Family develops more its plot it really is when it becomes a 10/10 anime, not that I don't like the more slice of life episodes, but the storytelling in this anime is amazing, and the setting is incredibly unique, and they know how to tell a good story, which just adds a lot to the anime!
The new opening and ending hit way harder now too. The ending showing Loid with his friends... And the opening showing child Loid and Yor just being able to have a normal childhood...
To end this gigantic post, just wanted to bring back one of the last scenes, when Loid asks Anya if she befriended Damian, and she confirms it, and Loid smiles, not because of the Strix operation, like Anya thinks, but because he's happy that his daughter is being able to make friends and have a normal childhood, something that was taken from him.
Edit: Needed to add this screenshot, since it shows the difference in tone from the usual Spy X Family episodes
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