Toaru Majutsu no Index II Episode 05

"Lotus Wand" (蓮の杖 (ロータスワンド) ) is the fifth episode of the second season of the Toaru Majutsu no Index anime adaption, and the twenty-ninth episode overall. It was first broadcasted on November 5, 2010.

Synopsis
Index realizes that Sheol Fear would no longer work with Lucia's forces now that they have pierced their eardrums, and is left open for an attack. Alarmed by the sudden turn of events, Stiyl and Saiji rush to cover Index, who was close to being cornered. Fortunately, Touma and Orsola have arrived and they offer them a viable exit from the onslaught outside.

With the nuns cleaving their way through the wooden doors, Touma checks up on Orsola's condition; Orsola remarks that Touma worries too much and she is fine nonetheless. Index feels hopeless now that her best weapon against multiple opponents has been rendered useless, while Saiji is left alone while the rest of Amakusa are fighting.

However, Orsola proposes a suggestion: to use The Book of the Law. Stiyl agrees that threatening to open the seals of The Book of the Law would be useful in negotiation in their favor; however, Saiji presents the fact that The Book of the Law is never a variable, as it was used merely as a ruse for everyone. Index soon realizes that they do have The Book of the Law among the thousands of grimoires inside her head, although she is not able to decipher it, and Touma deducts that Index being able to attempt to decipher The Book of the Law means that not having that book is an impossibility.

Stiyl strongly refuses against the suggestion; with Index memorizing the deciphered text of The Book of the Law, more magicians would see her as a target. He then approaches Touma and makes him take responsibility for what happens to Index.

With everyone agreeing to Orsola's suggestion, Orsola decides to explain how they will attempt to decipher The Book of the Law. According to her, she will use Temurah, or letter replacement method, with considerations to line numbers. Index announces that she can understand it... and declares that it was a fake method to decipher The Book of the Law.

Index explains that The Book of the Law is a frightening text because of the numerous ways on how to decipher it, with each method producing a dummy result. Saiji considers Index and Orsola saved, but Stiyl reminds him that they have seen the dark side of their enemy for them to hold back. Soon, they are faced with the same dilemma they ran from a few moments ago; the nuns who have abandoned their self-preservation.

Meanwhile. Touma arrives where Agnese is, and the leader of 250 nuns teases him on his decision to leave his allies to complete a certain plan. Agnese reminds him of what Orsola has told her before, and his current position as bait. Touma tells her that he believes in them, and he is bent on defeating her alone; this infuriates Agnese, and unraveling the wings of the Lotus Wand on her hands, she unleashes an unseen attack at Touma.

Touma receives a few attacks from the Lotus Wand's magic, and at first is unable to determine how her magic works. Agnese simply tells him that it links a target with the surroundings, enabling her to attack from a distance. Touma takes a massive beating from Agnese after a few attacks, and finds himself with gashes on his back, a broken shoulder and bruises on his body.

Touma remembers the speech Agnese gave to them regarding people who abuse the power of Christianity and bitterly realizes that the same person is also doing the same wrongful act. Agnese laughs at his remark and wonders if he is angry to be hit by something which is designed for its purpose. (Agnese's staff is a crosier, and is patterned after the war hammer, which is used to pierce through enemy armor.) She also explains that modern Western magic is, by nature, inherent in Christianity, and teachings not part of Christianity are not teachings at all.

Agnese continues on her assault, and Touma decides to rush towards his enemy. Agnese attacks the area in front of Touma, and he narrowly evades it before letting his Imagine Breaker touch the barrier created by the Lotus Wand. The fight becomes constrained to a tight space, and despite Agnese managing to hit Touma, she still receives a strong right hook and is knocked away by his punch.

For a few moments, Agnese remembers her tragic life in the past and gathers strength to stand up because of it, rejecting the possibility of going back to what she was before. There, Agnese notices that it has gotten quiet outside the room where they are. Agnese gloats that his plan has failed and is now alone in his fight.

However, Agnese appears to have made the wrong assumption.

Behind Touma, an inferno broke, and the Amakusa, Stiyl, Index and Orsola appear behind him, with a towering Innocentius standing behind Touma's companions. Stiyl announced that he has placed 4,300 rune cardsaround the Church of Orsola with the help of Amakusa, forming a large magic circle occupying the entire space of the church. Touma then tells Agnese that everything has been according to plan. Agnese is still confident that her nuns will defeat them, but she notices that all of the remaining nuns in her forces have frozen in their tracks. She remembers what Orsola told her, that "they {Touma and the others} act through believing", and finds herself helpless for the first time since the assault. Touma declares that it is all over for Agnese, and as Stiyl throws away his cigarette, Touma rushes to Agnese, and with a powerful punch, knocks her unconscious; at the same time, all the nuns under her command drop their weapons. After that ordeal, Touma's body becomes unbearable, and he faints from the injuries he had.

Touma wakes up at a hospital room, where he is accompanied by Kanzaki Kaori. She prepared a letter beforehand, but she decides to snatch it back before he could read it. Kanzaki tells him that she is there to report on what happened to Orsola, and after hearing his interest to hear about it, proceeds.

Orsola and the Amakusa are currently being integrated into the Anglican Church, which acts as a preventive measure against any vendetta from the Roman Catholics. The announcement of Orsola's mistranslation of The Book of the Law also has dispelled Touma's worries of having her targeted by many magical organizations.

Kanzaki apologizes for whatever has happened to him, much to Touma's surprise, and before she could explain further, Tsuchimikado Motoharu barges in, bringing him food presents. He then notices Kanzaki and teases her about repaying for the trouble Touma has encountered, much to Kanzaki's embarrassment. After having told by Kanzaki to leave, Motoharu walks out and decides to leave them alone for a while. Touma wonders if what Motoharu told Kanzaki about repaying for what happened is true, and Kanzaki did not deny it, as it was the only way to give back after solving the problem with the Amakusa. He then tells her that it is alright, since their problem is now resolved. Kanzaki is surprised with the use of "our" in his remark, and Touma explains that he is not siding with them because they belong to some organization. In fact, it is the opposite; he is siding with the organization because his friends belong to them. He even considers helping Agnese, although she ended up being the bad guy in the situation.

Meanwhile, on the rainy streets of London, Stiyl discusses with Laura Stuart about the conclusion of what happened involving Agnese Sanctis.

According to Stiyl, the Roman Catholic Church closes the case with Agnese Sanctis's forces to be a military faction gone amok and states that there have been no intents by the Church to assassinate Orsola. Stiyl then notices that Laura has known about the intentions of the Roman Catholic Church but did not directly order him to save Orsola. Laura admits that she does not know that Orsola's cipher is wrong, but does not mind it anyway.

She then asks Stiyl a what-if scenario: what happens if Orsola was not saved at that time? Laura says that nothing would change, and even if she was executed, The Book of the Law will stay undeciphered. Stiyl then asks the purpose for the cross that she gave him earlier and assumes that she is intent on saving Orsola anyway. Laura rejects Stiyl's assumption and tells him that she did what she thinks is beneficial for the Anglican Church. She actually plans on forcing Kanzaki Kaori, a powerful asset with the tendency to act based on her own will and not on orders, to stay loyal to the organization by promising to defend her loved ones, the Amakusa.

As Laura disappears into the crowd. Stiyl stops and bitterly remarks, "That bitch."

Adapted From
Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 07

Major events

 * With the help of Stiyl Magnus, Index, Tatemiya Saiji and the Amakusa Christians, Touma is able to defeat Agnese Sanctis and end the battle at the Church of Orsola.
 * Orsola Aquinas method in deciphering The Book of the Law is found incorrect.
 * Orsola Aquinas defects to Anglican Church, while the Amakusa Christians join the church as well.

Characters
By order of appearance
 * Lucia
 * Agnese Forces
 * Index Librorum Prohibitorum
 * Stiyl Magnus
 * Tatemiya Saiji
 * Kamijou Touma
 * Orsola Aquinas
 * Agnese Sanctis
 * Amakusa Christians
 * Itsuwa
 * Uragami
 * Kanzaki Kaori
 * Tsuchimikado Motoharu
 * Laura Stuart

New Characters
No new characters were introduced during this episode

Abilities

 * Sheol Fear - Index Librorum Prohibitorum
 * Rune magic - Stiyl Magnus
 * Imagine Breaker - Kamijou Touma, level 0

New Abilities

 * Lotus Wand - Agnese Sanctis
 * Innocentius (upgraded) - Stiyl Magnus
 * Communication Amulet - Laura Stuart

Locations

 * Church of Orsola
 * Academy City
 * The hospital Heaven Canceller works in.
 * London

New Locations
No new locations were introduced during this episode.

Trivia

 * This episode marks the return of the recap sections that occur just before the start of an episode.
 * Agnese Sanctis would be the 2nd woman to be punched by Touma, the first being Sherry Cromwell.
 * Though Uragami's is present during this episode, her face is never seen.

Referbacks

 * Touma recalls Agnese's speech from episode 3, when she declared that the power of Christianity is not supposed to be used for violence but to help people, during his battle with Agnese.
 * Agnese recalls Orsola's statement regarding the difference between the Amakusa Christians and the Roman Catholic Church, during her final stand against Touma.
 * Laura references the defeat of the English Knights in the hands of Kanzaki back in episode 1.

Cultural References

 * Orsola's method to decrypt the Book of the Law is to use Temurah, an ancient method used by Kabbalist to rearrange words in the Bible.
 * The figure on top of Agnese's Lotus Wand is a Seraph, a six-winged being said to be attending God and is ranked the highest in the Christian Angelic Hierarchy.
 * The fifth element Agnese refers to is aether, one of the classical elements.
 * An inverted pentagram inside a magic circle is used.
 * During the scene where Stiyl and Laura walk in the streets of London, they pass a building that is called A Hard Day's Night, a famous film, album and song, by the British rock band The Beatles. The building also has a sign known as Let It Be, a famous album, film and song by the band.

Animation Trivia

 * The episode reuses the ear stabbing scene from the previous episode. This also includes the error of having Index's hood lacking its golden linings.
 * A section of Laura's hair is missing during her walk with Stiyl near the end of the episode.

Unanswered Questions

 * How did Touma and Orsola escape the nuns on the roof?
 * What exactly the true way to interpret The Book of the Law?
 * What happened to Lucia and Angelene?

Quotes

 * Index: "Are you worried about me?" -said to Stiyl, after he protested on allowing Index to use Orsola's method to decipher The Book of the Law.
 * Stiyl: "Become even stronger! If this incident damages her in any way, I will burn your body and soul, until not even the ashes remain!" -said to Touma.
 * Touma: "I trust them. It'd be nice if they would trust me too, that I can finish my part of the job." -said to Agnese.
 * Agnese: "I'll crush your illusions as a parting gift." -said to Touma.
 * Touma: "This illusion is over for you, Agnese Sanctis." -said to Agnese.