Toaru Majutsu no Index III Episode 09

"Divine Mother Worship" (聖母崇拝) is the ninth episode of the third season of the Toaru Majutsu no Index anime series. It was broadcast on December 1st 2018, and was directed by Satou Kazuma, was storyboarded by Oohata Kiyotaka, Ochi Kojin, and Hashimoto Toshikazu, and the script written by Sugihara Kenji.

Synopsis
''A shot exerted by the chosen one dashes dignity to bits. After all the despair, will the Priestess's cries get through?''

Adapted From

 * Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 16 Chapter 3, Chapter 4 & Epilogue

Major Events

 * The battle between Kanzaki Kaori and Acqua of the Back continues as the Amakusas look on, feeling helpless.
 * Misaka Mikoto encounters the injured Kamijou Touma and reveals that she knows he has lost his memories. Despite her efforts to dissuade him from putting himself in harm's way, Touma carries on towards the battlefield, with Mikoto unable to stop him, having realized a certain feeling.
 * Kanzaki realizes her mistakes and calls to her comrades for aid. With an opportunity created by Touma's sudden arrival and negation of Acqua's attack, they succeed in hitting Acqua with the Saint Destroyer, causing him to self-destruct.
 * Fiamma of the Right emerges and appears before Pope Matthai Reese. On learning his intentions, the Pope tries to stop him but is easily defeated by Fiamma's Holy Right, with St. Peter's Basilica sustaining heavy damage in the process.

Characters
By order of appearance:
 * Kanzaki Kaori
 * Acqua of the Back
 * Misha Kreutzev (flashback)
 * Itsuwa
 * Tatemiya Saiji
 * Ushibuka
 * Kouyagi
 * Nomozaki
 * Isahaya
 * Misaka Mikoto
 * Kamijou Touma
 * Index Librorum Prohibitorum
 * Tsuchimikado Motoharu
 * Matthai Reese
 * Vento of the Front
 * Laura Stuart
 * Aleister Crowley

New Characters

 * Knight Leader (flashback)
 * Villian (flashback)
 * Fiamma of the Right (actual)

Abilities

 * Imagine Breaker - Kamijou Touma
 * Amakusa-Style Remix of Church
 * Saint Destroyer - Itsuwa

New Abilities

 * Holy Right - Fiamma of the Right
 * Apostle-based restraining spell - Pope Matthai Reese

Locations

 * Academy City
 * School District 7
 * Heaven Canceller's Hospital
 * Windowless Building
 * School District 22
 * Vatican
 * St. Peter's Basilica

New Locations

 * United Kingdom
 * London
 * Little Venice

Trivia

 * While the flashback concerning the aftermath of Acqua (then William Orwell) rescuing Princess Villian from the Spanish Astrological Sect and his departure from the United Kingdom is shown, the flashback of the events beforehand is excluded from the anime adaptation.

Referbacks

 * Kanzaki thinks back to her earlier battle with Misha Kreutzev (aka Archangel Gabriel) and scenes from that battle are shown.

Animation Trivia

 * Two scenes in the episode are near exact recreations of the novel illustrations from volume 16: Acqua of the Back standing on top of debris, and the Amakusa Christians gathering around Kanzaki Kaori.
 * Scenes of Kanzaki fighting Misha Kreutzev from episode 17 of Toaru Majutsu no Index are used during Kanzaki's fight with Acqua of the Back.
 * The animated sequence of a close-up Acqua of the Back slowly walking towards Kanzaki during their fight is repeated four times in under a minute, with a fifth one showing Acqua's reaction to Kanzaki grabbing her sword.
 * The episode has an abundance of panning to close-up quick cuts, most notably after Acqua stands on a mound of a debris as Kanzaki calls out for the Amakusas.
 * Both OP and ED were skipped during this episode.