Toaru Majutsu no Index II Episode 12

Astronomical Observatory(Belvedere) (天文台 (ベルヴェデーレ))is the twelfth episode of the second season of the Toaru Majutsu no Index anime series. This episode was first broadcasted on December 24, 2010.

Synopsis
They soon make their advance.

As they find themselves faced with a high steel fence, Touma warns Motoharu of one of Oriana's Shorthand pages. It fails to reach Motoharu on time, and he gets hit by an electric wave. Soon, Oriana appears on the other side, awaiting their next move. Touma is forced to leave behind Motoharu, and dispels the magic in the fence before crossing it.

As they reach the other side, Stiyl and Touma fend off Oriana's attacks. She proves superior even to the combined efforts of the two, managing to disable Stiyl and Touma with a mixture of fighting skill and magic.

Touma manages to get up and rejects Oriana's ideas of making a world of happiness by destroying the barrier between science and magic. Touma then declares that he will destroy her illusion if it would cause the disruption of the Daihasei Festival.

Adapted From
Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 10

Major events

 * Lidvia Lorenzetti and Oriana Thomson begin their final preparations for the activation of St. Peter's Cross.
 * Kamijou Touma, Tsuchimikado Motoharu and Stiyl Magnus discover how St. Peter's Cross is activated, and continues their pursuit of Oriana Thomson, with Motoharu getting injured by Oriana in the process.
 * Kamijou Touma and Stiyl Magnus engage in combat against Oriana Thomson.
 * Shirai Kuroko Meets Misaka Misuzu.

Characters
By order of appearance
 * Kamijou Touma
 * Tsuchimikado Motoharu
 * Misha Kruezhev (flashback-only)
 * Kanzaki Kaori (flashback-only)
 * Kamijou Touya
 * Index
 * Oriana Thomson
 * Lidvia Lorenzetti
 * Himegami Aisa (mentioned-only)
 * Last Order (voice-only)
 * Stiyl Magnus
 * Tsukuyomi Komoe
 * Seiri Fukiyose
 * Orsola Aquinas
 * Sherry Cromwell (mentioned-only)
 * Misaka Mikoto
 * Misaka Misuzu
 * Shirai Kuroko
 * Kamijou Shiina

New Characters
No new characters were introduced during this episode.

Abilities

 * The Sweep - Misha Kreutzev (flashback-only)
 * Shorthand - Oriana Thomson
 * Communication Spell
 * Several unnamed spells


 * Imagine Breaker - Kamijou Touma
 * Fire magic - Stiyl Magnus

New Abilities
No new abilities were introduced during this episode.

Locations

 * Academy City
 * Oowarai Beach (flashback only)
 * The hospital the Heaven Canceler works in
 * British Library

New Locations

 * School District 23

Trivia

 * In the Novels, Tsuchimikado Motoharu was taken out of the fight against Oriana by his hands and legs being burned by the fence, not being blasted by electricity. Other differences include the mention of the 'Kami-yan disease', and Misuzu making fun of Mikoto's relationship with Touma being omitted.
 * Motoharu called General Superintendent Aleister on his cellphone to help them infiltrate School District 23, but this episode did not mention Aleister's involvement when it was mentioned in the novels.

Referbacks

 * Misha Kruezhev is referenced by Touma in a flashback when she used her power to create a magical array in the night sky.
 * Touma references both incidents that occurred to Seiri and Aisa because of Oriana.

Cultural References
No notable cultural references were featured during this episode.

Animation Trivia

 * When Touma takes out the brochure to tell Motoharu that the bus Oriana took moves around district 7, right after the scene uses another bus to cut to a close up of Touma, the brochure disappears completely as well as Touma's posture changes.
 * The scenery that was shown in the ending song, Magic∞World where Touma, Index and Mikoto cross paths after walking is featured in this episode.
 * The large aeroplane featured during this episode seemed to dive down towards the ground, however, a scene immediately after shows that the aeroplane is ascending upwards.

Unanswered Questions

 * Where is Aisa now?
 * Where exactly is Lidvia?

Quotes

 * Lidvia:"We bared fangs to people who are unrelated to magic. And this isn't the first time. Those people are lost sinners seeking salvation whom we should protect. We cannot make any more mistakes from now onwards. Also for her sake we must use the Croce di Pietro and take over Academy City."
 * Stiyl:"There's no turning back once we board this train. Only a bloodbath awaits us, nothing more. Kamijou Touma, are you prepared?"
 * Touma:"Yeah.I'm going to bring an end to this. One more thing...Remember this. I have no intention of letting this end in a bloodbath."
 * Touya:"There's something I'd like to ask. Touma is acting on his own initiative, isn't he? He's not being forced to. So that means it's something more meaningful to him than attending events. I see no reason to stop him, I guess?"
 * Touma:"I'm going to stop you here. I won't let you use Croce di Pietro. You're going to destroy the Academy City and mess up the Daihasaisei, right? I'll definitely stop you!"
 * Touma:"Happiness? That sure sounds nice. I know that's a nice word, but...What bothers me the most is that you're going to use the Croce di Pietro to put an end to the Daihasaisei. IDo you know how any people treasure the Dahasaisei? Regardless of what great religion you use as an excuse,you have no right to rob people of their enjoyment."