Spy x Family is a comedic adventure featuring the Forger family, complete with a spy father, his assassin wife, their telepathic daughter and a future-seeing dog, as they try to hide their double lives from each other. Although Twilight initially adopts Anya and marries Yor to fulfill a long-term mission undercover as Loid Forger, the trio develops real bonds over time. However, the intensifying cold war between Westalis and Ostania threatens the unlikely family's future together.
Popular characters and clever humor are a large part of Spy x Family's appeal, but the anime's slow-burn political plot quietly darkens the entire series. When Twilight and Yor are not performing as Anya's parents, they work on opposite sides of the cold war to maintain peace — Twilight as a Westalian intelligence agent, and Yor as part of the Garden Assassin Syndicate of Ostania. Although the trio struggles with the tension between their hidden identities and their roles in Twilight's mission, their shared experience growing up as orphans in the post-war era makes the hope for their future as a family even more meaningful.
10 Anya Begs Twilight Not to Return Her to the Orphanage
Season 1, Episode 1: "Operation Strix"
The Westalian Intelligence Services' Eastern-Focused Division (WISE) sends Twilight on a mission to enroll a child in the exclusive Eden Academy to investigate the potential crimes of Donovan Desmond whose child attends the school. Twilight goes undercover as psychiatrist Loid Forger and adopts Anya from an orphanage, unaware that the 6-year-old is a telepath. Despite Twilight's hopes that he could get close to the closed-off Donovan by having Anya befriend his son or become an Imperial Scholar, he is disappointed when he realizes she has average intelligence and contemplates her return. When Anya overhears his thoughts using her telepathy, she immediately begs him to keep her.
Anya fears Twilight will send her away when she mistakenly communicates with a villain using his hidden equipment, and her memories reveal that her past as the subject of human experimentation fuels her fear of abandonment. When he sees Anya's tears after the events that followed her accidental use of the communication equipment, Twilight recalls his past as an orphaned child which drives his desire to fight for a peaceful world where children don't have to cry. The tragic parallel between the two characters demonstrates the indiscriminate impact of war across generations and reinforces hope for a better future.
9 Twilight Proposes to Yor With a Grenade Pin as a Ring
Season 1, Episode 2: "Secure a Wife"
Yor Briar asks Twilight to accompany her to a coworker's social gathering to ease suspicion about her status as a single woman. However, a WISE mission delays his arrival until the last moment. After Twilight and Yor make their successful debut as a fictitious couple, the enemies Twilight secretly faced before his tardy arrival launch an attack as they drive away. While defending against the attack, Yor suggests that she and Twilight marry to extend the mutual benefit of their arrangement.
With no engagement ring available, Twilight improvises his proposal with a grenade pin instead. The weapon explodes behind the duo as they exchange ominous vows, promising to help each other in sickness and sorrow. The couple's dark promises to each other during the violent encounter may foreshadow a tragic journey for their relationship, especially considering that they routinely risk their lives to maintain peace between Westalis and Ostania. Although Twilight and Yor may claim to have given up on pursuing love because of their dangerous work, their marriage of convenience sparks hope for a real bond between them.
8 Yor Saves Anya From Being Kidnapped in Broad Daylight
Season 1, Episode 6: "The Friendship Scheme"
During an outing to the tailor to purchase a fresh school uniform for growing Anya, the shopkeeper warns the Forger family of a frightening increase in kidnappings. To their dismay, she says that the criminals target Eden Academy students because the prestigious school's attendees are often part of affluent families. Anya and Yor return a few days later to pick up the new uniform, and Anya can't resist sporting it during the rest of their outing. After briefly losing Anya while buying groceries, Yor is horrified to find Anya on the brink of kidnap outside the store.
Yor skillfully defeats the men who attempted to steal Anya's new uniform. However, the encounter makes Yor question her abilities as a mother, which are far outmatched by her skills as an assassin. The large presence of kidnappers and other criminals indicates a dark trend of increasing crime in Ostania as a result of the cold war. Anya's attempted kidnap illustrates the sobering reality that the effects of war are indiscriminate, putting everyone at risk. Yor overcomes her self-doubt and moves forward from the incident with a fortified commitment to her roles as an assassin and a mother.
7 Yuri Threatens to Annul the Forgers' Marriage
Season 1, Episode 8: "The Counter-Secret Police Cover Operation"
Yor's younger brother, Yuri Briar, secretly works as an agent for the State Security Service (SSS). The organization is hunting Twilight, but Yuri fails to recognize his target when he meets him as Loid Forger, Yor's new husband. Yuri and Twilight quietly assess each other throughout a seemingly innocuous conversation at the Forger residence, but Twilight picks up on information that implicates Yuri's involvement with the Ostanian government.
Primed by his jealousy and suspicion of Twilight, Yuri makes an unusual demand to see the couple kiss him to prove their relationship is legitimate. Despite his abundant love for Yor, Yuri threatens to use his city hall connections to annul her marriage if they don't comply. Twilight recognizes that the tight-knit relationship between Yor and Yuri could jeopardize Operation Strix. However, the skilled spy remains confident in his ability to evade the SSS despite the challenging new dynamic of Yuri's presence.
6 Twilight Spies on Yor With a Listening Device
Season 1, Episode 9: "Show Off How in Love You Are"
After Yuri's uncomfortable introduction at the Forger home, Twilight struggles to trust Yor because of her brother's association with the SSS. Twilight decides to place a listening device on Yor's clothes the next day, and he's relieved to overhear her expressing insecurities about being a good wife at work. However, he goes a step further by recruiting his colleague, Franky, to put her loyalty to a greater test.
Twilight and Franky disguise themselves as SSS agents and confront Yor with fake evidence to test whether she knows her brother is part of the organization. Although Yor passes their interrogation, demonstrating incredible resolve in her belief that Yuri and Twilight are trustworthy men, she leaves worrying that she is bringing unwanted attention to herself that could endanger her family. Twilight becomes more endeared to Yor after hearing how much she cares about her performance as his wife, furthering their bond in a small way. Twilight moves forward with confidence that he will not need to betray Yor's privacy again, but he knows he must remain wary of Yuri.
5 Anya's Telepathy Saves a Child From Drowning
Season 1, Episode 11: "Stella"
Anya's telepathic powers, which sometimes cause unpleasant side effects like nausea and nosebleeds, can be a difficult burden for the 6-year-old to manage. One of the difficulties of the special ability is being forced to hide it out of fear, which almost prevents Anya from saving another child's life. While doing volunteer community service with Twilight at a hospital, Anya hears the panicked thoughts of a child her age pleading for help after falling into a pool.
Because she fears what might happen if Twilight discovers her powers, Anya decides not to tell him she needs his help and runs straight for the pool. Despite attempts to stop her, Anya miraculously leads Twilight to the drowning child in time to rescue him. Her actions saved the boy's life, but the consequences of Anya's reluctance to ask for help could've been fatal. As Anya continues refining her telepathy throughout the series, she must develop clever strategies to help others without revealing her secret talent.
4 The Forgers' Clairvoyant Dog Predicts Twilight's Death
Season 1, Episode 14: "Disarm the Time Bomb"
Twilight helps WISE uncover a plan to assassinate Westalian Minister Brantz using bomb dogs with special abilities as a result of scientific experimentation. Anya rescues one of the dogs and learns that it can see the future. While reading the dog's mind, she sees a horrifying vision of Twilight dying in an explosion inside a clock tower, resulting in the terrorists' successful assassination of the foreign minister. Anya escapes Yor to investigate the nearby clock tower despite the danger, hoping she can do something to change Twilight's fate.
Anya lacks the experience to disarm the bomb when she locates it, but she leaves a clever message to warn Twilight of the danger beyond the door that triggers the explosive. Twilight heeds Anya's warning and does not enter the room with the explosive, altering his course to pursue the leader of the assassination plot in a different location. Anya knows Twilight is safe when she sees another vision in the dog's mind with a new fate. Anya's partnership with the clairvoyant dog enhances her telepathic abilities and makes it possible to save Twilight's life. With the dog's help, Anya has more power than ever to influence the fate of her family.
3 Twilight's Handler Subjects Captive Ostanian Radicals to the Horrors of War
Season 1, Episode 14: "Disarm the Time Bomb"
Sylvia Sherwood, known by WISE agents as the Handler, directs missions like Twilight's Operation Strix. The Handler is at the heart of Twilight's mission despite her absence from Eden Academy, the focal setting of the political investigation. She deploys agents to prevent a radical group of Berlint University students from carrying out their plan to assassinate Westalian Minister Brantz using the mutated bomb dogs. When one of the captive radicals boasts their plan in support of Ostanian supremacy, Sylvia swiftly kicks the student in the face.
Sylvia stuns the captives into silence by asking a series of increasingly dark questions that illustrate gruesome examples of the terrible violence that happens during war. Sylvia's words shock the students, and she dismisses them as children who fail to understand the devastating impact of the conflict they want to incite. The group of radicals represents the undercurrent of frustration among the people of Ostania, but Sylvia's wisdom challenges their beliefs with a powerful reminder of the devastating consequences of war. Sylvia's speech to the terrorists remains one of the series' darkest moments and a critical boiling point in the intense political narrative.
2 Secret Documents Threaten World Peace at the Underground Tennis Tournament
Season 1, Episode 23: "The Unwavering Path"
The Underground Tennis Tournament takes the series' intensity to new heights as Twilight works alongside WISE agent Nightfall on a mission to collect a painting with secret intelligence value. Westalian intelligence indicates that the painting contains a cipher related to documents known as the Zacharis Dossier. Twilight and Nightfall, competing as the Foneys, must win the tournament to prevent the documents from leaking because they contain information that implicates both Westalis and Ostania in horrible actions that would further stoke the embers of war.
In a flashy showcase of their skills, Twilight and Nightfall overcome shifting court tiles, rubber bullets and more to win the tournament. Upon the disappointing notice that the painting they want to acquire is suddenly unavailable, Twilight replaces the painting with a fake before it can be removed from the location. After analyzing the painting's hidden cipher, WISE is relieved that the rumors of the Zacharis Dossier were false. Despite the relief that the documents seem not to exist after all, it's terrifying to acknowledge that other threats will continue to rattle the stability of Westalis and Ostania until the cold war is put to rest.
1 Yor Holds Her Client's Baby With Blood-Soaked Hands
Season 2, Episode 9: "The Hand That Connects to the Future"
During the Forger's cruise vacation, Yor is secretly tasked with a Garden mission to protect a woman and child whose family was assassinated. Olka, Yor's client, shares that she wants to escape Ostania simply to live a quiet life with her son, Gram, and Yor seems to resonate with that desire. Over a few days, Yor defends Olka and baby Gram against dozens of attackers on the cruise ship up until the last moment of their escape. As Olka departs, she asks Yor for a hug to express her appreciation for Yor's help, Yor declines because of the blood covering her body and hands.
Olka insists on the embrace, saying she has Yor's hands to thank for saving her life. Throughout the peak of her battle on the cruise ship deck, Yor thinks of how much she cares for Twilight and Aya. When Yor needs to be her hardest during the fight, she draws on the softness of her love for others. The contrast between Yor's blood-soaked gown and the peaceful baby she holds mimics the duality of her character. After her struggle on the cruise ship, Yor is empowered by the realization that she will continue her work as an assassin, not despite her chosen family, but in pursuit of a better future for them.
