Toaru Majutsu no Index III Episode 22

Gabriel is the twenty-second episode of the third season of the Toaru Majutsu no Index anime series. It was broadcast on March 8th 2019, and was directed by Onoda Yusuke, was storyboarded by Yuuki Shingo and Nishikiori Hiroshi, and the script written by Tamai☆Tsuyoshi.

Synopsis
''Wings of ice spread across the night sky. A giant aerial fortress. Divine punishment meted out. What tidings do the angels and stars bid?''

Adapted From

 * Chapter 7 & Chapter 8 Parts 1-3

Major Events

 * Fiamma of the Right unleashes Archangel Gabriel, in the form of Misha Kreutzev, and has the archangel seek out the documents containing the remaining knowledge needed to complete his plan.
 * Kamijou Touma encounters Sasha Kreutzev on the Star of Bethlehem and tries to find out how to stop the archangel that was summoned using her.
 * After witnessing Takitsubo Rikou's recovery, Hamazura Shiage learns that Digurv's village is under threat from the Kremlin Report's bacteriological weapon and resolves to save them. Meanwhile, Accelerator learns that the angel is after the parchments he holds and prepares to head out from the Elizalina Alliance, and Acqua of the Back makes his way towards the fortress.


 * While attacking the forces on the battlefield, Misha faces both Carissa and the Maiden of Versailles. Despite fighting together with powerful swords, the two are overwhelmed by the archangel's power. Carissa loses one of the Curtana shards but reveals more in reserve before ordering a missile strike against the fortress to make the archangel to break off from the fight. After intercepting the missiles, Misha notices and moves towards Touma before being kicked by the arriving Fuse Kazakiri.
 * After Fiamma discards his Russian ally Nikolai Tolstoy and dismantles the disassembly spells his subordinates had tried to put into the Star of Bethlehem, a nuclear attack is planned against the fortress, which Misaka 10777 and Misaka Mikoto learn about.

Characters
By order of appearance:
 * Index Librorum Prohibitorum
 * Stiyl Magnus
 * Laura Stuart
 * Kamijou Touma
 * Fiamma of the Right
 * Archangel Gabriel
 * Sasha Kreutzev
 * Takitsubo Rikou
 * Elizalina
 * Hamazura Shiage
 * Accelerator
 * Aiwass
 * Misaka Worst
 * Acqua of the Back
 * Matthai Reese
 * Carissa
 * Maiden of Versailles
 * Knight Leader
 * Kanzaki Kaori
 * Itsuwa
 * Kazakiri Hyouka
 * Misaka Mikoto
 * Misaka 10777

New Characters

 * Pietro Yogdis
 * Nikolai Tolstoy

Abilities

 * Imagine Breaker - Kamijou Touma
 * John's Pen Mode - Index Librorum Prohibitorum
 * Curtana Second shard - Carissa
 * Durandal - Maiden of Versailles

Locations

 * Russia
 * Star of Bethlehem
 * Elizalina Alliance of Independent Nations
 * Vatican

Trivia

 * The voice actor of unnamed Roman Catholic cardinal is Wakabayashi Yū.
 * The voice actor of unnamed Pontifical Swiss Guard is Hamano Daiki.

Referbacks

 * Accelerator recalls the previous times he had come across the term Index Librorum Prohibitorum, during his encounter with Aiwass and after his battle with Kamijou Touma, after he hears the term again from Elizalina.
 * When Sasha mentions the spiritual item connected to the staff, Touma recalls the John's Pen Remote Control and Fiamma's use of it to control Index at the end of the British Halloween.

Cultural References

 * Sasha refers to the original, the namesake and basis of Fiamma's Star of Bethlehem, the star which signified the imminent birth of the Son of God.

Differences in Adaptation

 * In the novels, when Touma uses the Imagine Breaker on part of the Star of Bethlehem, it makes a hole with a 1m radius in a wall but the fragments float instead of falling and are soon pulled back in to repair the hole.
 * In the novels, Touma and Sasha travel along the railway in a single open carriage as opposed to a monorail train.