Toaru Majutsu no Index Episode 17

"Power of God" (大天使(かみのちから)) is the 17th episode of the Toaru Majutsu no Index anime series. It was first broadcast on January 28, 2009, and was directed by Hashimoto Toshikazu, storyboarded by Nihei Yuuichi, and the script written by Minikami Seishi. The opening theme PSI-Missing is replaced by masterpiece in the original television broadcast.

To stop the large scale magic Angel Fall, one must either destroy the ritual location or defeat the caster. Touma and Motoharu become suspicious of Misha due to her strange actions. However, she later runs away from Touma's house after finding each other, immediately after discovering that the appearance of Kamijou Touya and a photograph from the past remains the same. Only the caster is unaffected by the magic. Kamijou rushes back to the hotel and confronts his father. He questions him on why he had to dabble into magic and the occult, to which Touya begins talking of events in the past in Touma's life that made him miserable and that he wanted to free him from it. Misha appears before them, prepared to kill the "target". However, Kaori appears to stop her and tells of very interesting facts.

Adapted From
Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 04

Major events

 * Archangel Gabriel appears for the first time in the series.
 * Angel Fall is cancelled.

Characters
By order of appearance
 * Kamijou Touma
 * Kamijou Touya
 * Kanzaki Kaori
 * Tsuchimikado Motoharu
 * Tatsugami Otohime in the form of Misaka Mikoto
 * Index
 * Kamijou Shiina

New Character

 * Archangel Gabriel

Other Apperances

 * Aogami Pierce (form used by Index)

Abilities

 * Angel Fall - Kamijou Touya

New Abilities

 * Water Wing - Archangel Gabriel
 * Astral in Hand - Archangel Gabriel
 * The Sweep/God's Purge (not applied/unfinished) - Archangel Gabriel
 * Yuisen - Kanzaki Kaori
 * Shikigami Pistol - Tsuchimikado Motoharu
 * Auto Rebirth - Tsuchimikado Motoharu

Locations

 * Oowarai Beach
 * Kamijou Family's 2nd Residence (destroyed)
 * Academy City
 * The hospital Heaven Canceler works in

New Locations
No new locations were introduced during this episode.

Trivia

 * Kaori remarks that angel's name denotes the purpose God has given to them, for example Archangel Gabriel represents the Power of God, as such it is something that cannot be switched by the angels. However, Gabriel uses the name of Misha Kruezhev. Misha is derived from the Russian equivalent of Michael, Mikhail. Here, it is indicated for the first time how there is a distortion that has happened that allows the angels to bypass God's naming of them.
 * This marks the second time Touma is defeated in battle (against Kaori), and the first time Touma is defeated in hand-to-hand combat (against Motoharu).
 * This episode gives a slight glimpse to Touma's childhood, which references Touma's misfortune and the reason why Touma is in Academy City.
 * Motoharu references his multi-organizational affiliation for the first time.

Referbacks

 * Kaori references Touma saving Index back in episode 6.
 * Index references the several unfortunate situations she got into during the two previous episodes of the arc.

Cultural References

 * This episode features an archangel an angel of higher rank. The aformentioned angel is Gabriel and is oftened portrayed as both male and female, or androgynous looking.
 * The civilization destroyed by fire and brimstone due to it's wickedness is a likely reference to Sodom and Gomorrah.
 * Motoharu uses origami – the Japanese art of paper folding – figures in his spell.
 * The Four Symbols, Suzaku, Seiryu, Genbu and Byakko are referenced during this episode, and represents the origami figures Motoharu used in his spell.

Animation Trivia
Insert animation trivia in this section.

Unanswered Questions

 * How many organizations does Motoharu work for and why?

Quotes

 * Touma: "Yes, I was misfortunate! But did I ever say I regretted it? That's garbage! No matter what misfortunes await me, my road is for me to walk!" -said to his father, Touya.
 * Kaori: "I never said I was going to sacrifice my life here. Like how you saved her life before me previously, I would be grateful if you could save mine this time." -said to Touma.
 * Touma: "I won't accpet this. If there was such a harsh rule that said someone had to be sacrificed, then I'm going to destroy that illusion first!" -said to Motoharu.
 * Touya: "I don't. If you're going to hurt Touma again, I won't forgive you! You want to know why? Because I'm Kamijou Touma's father!" -said to Motoharu.
 * Motoharu: "Kami-yan, you're really like Kanzaki. If she knew I was going to use this method, she would stop at nothing to keep me from doing it. Right? There would be no point in protecting you if this weren't the case. Sorry for beating you up like that." -said to Touma.
 * Motoharu: "Kami-yan, I'm actually a liar." -said to Touma, just before his spell activates.