Episode 34

THE HAND THAT CONNECTS TO THE FUTURE (MISSION: 34 未来を繋ぐ手) is the thirty-fourth episode of the SPY x FAMILY TV anime series and the ninth episode of the second season.

Synopsis
Due to the movements the State Security Service members were making, Loid finds out that there was a bomb on the ship. Loid leaves Anya at the daycare in a hurry then disguises himself as a State Security Service member to take care of the bomb.

Summary
While Yor continues her battle with the Swordsman, Loid and Anya return inside the ship after watching the fireworks show. Loid is glad that Anya enjoyed the show but apologizes for not being able to find Yor, reminding Anya of her goal to find Yor and help her. Loid notices the undercover SSS agents in turmoil, and after reading their lips, he learns of a bomb in the ship's bilge, which Anya also hears. Unable to dismiss the possibility of something terrible happening if he stands by, Loid decides to intervene but first wonders how to get Anya out of the way. Anya reads his mind and shows him a drop-in daycare, saying she wants to play there. After dropping off Anya, Loid makes haste to gather intel. Talking with the daycare worker, Anya ditches the daycare after distracting her.

In the bilge, a crewman tries to handle the bomb with SSS agents breathing down his neck. Loid enters the room as another crewman, claiming to have served as a bomb disposal technician in the Marines, and offers his assistance. Loid asks if the bomb can be moved, but the crewman replies that it is set to detonate if removed. Upon closer inspection, Loid sees that the bomb is a model favored by Western extremists and wonders if the target is an Eastern VIP or the ship itself. Knowing that WISE would be aware of any operations like this, he suspects it was arranged to look like a Western operation. The crewman asks Loid if there is anything he can do, and Loid assures him that he has this covered.

Anya runs around the ship looking for Yor until she hears the thoughts of the informant, who is making his exit. The informant mentions where Yor is fighting with the other assassins, the roof deck. After she loses the man's thoughts, she rushes to Yor's location. There, Anya finds Yor's stiletto, which she had dropped earlier. As Anya removes it from the floorboards, she hears Yor's thoughts from above. Yor has the upper hand against the Swordsman but lacks the reach to finish him off, along with the Assassin Leader keeping her at a distance by shooting at her. After hearing this and with no way to reach Yor, Anya decides to help Yor by throwing the stiletto up to the deck. Anya successfully gets it on the deck, but it does not go too far and lands at a lone spot far from the fight.

While disappointed, Anya overhears two assassins nearby planning to kill the Gretchers and escape from Yor. As the men make their way to the hatch, one of them trips on Yor's stiletto. The man falls back on a pipe and is knocked out, but not before firing his gun and hitting the leg of his partner, who falls over and knocks himself out against the crate covering the hatch. After, Yor's stiletto bounces and pierces the man's rear. Anya hears this and claims it was just as she planned.

Yor hears the commotion and turns around to see her weapon. After retrieving it, she prepares to charge at the Swordsman for one final strike. Seeing this, the Swordsman sheaths his blade, also preparing for the attack. Yor charges in and the Assassin Leader tries to shoot her, but he is shot by a reawakened Matthew and falls. Yor and the Swordsman quickly swipe at each other while passing and fall to the floor at the same time, but the Swordsman collapses with blood seeping from his chest. Anya is worried by the silence, but after hearing Yor think about how exhausted she is, Anya happily confirms that Yor won.

In the bilge, Loid successfully disarms the bomb. Everyone celebrates except Loid, who is more nervous about being around the SSS agents, but more importantly, begins to suspect that there are more bombs on the ship. Elsewhere, the informant sadistically bids farewell to Princess Lorelei and its passengers while another time bomb ticks inside the boat.

On the roof deck, Yor wonders how she found her weapon the way she did and if someone was behind it. Below, Anya hears her thoughts and retreats, not wanting to be spotted. Yor brushes it off and supposes that it was the wind, then checks on Matthew. However, she fails to notice the blood tracks of the Assassin Leader, who has vanished. Returning to the bilge, Loid shares his suspicions with the crew, explaining that if their enemy’s goal is to sink the ship, the bomb he disarmed would not be enough. He suggests evacuating the passengers as a precaution, which the SSS agents refuse, saying they cannot afford to cause a panic, which Loid sees as them trying to save face. The agents make an order to have every free officer and crewman search the ship, and to ensure that none of their VIP passengers notice.

At the ship atrium, Anya rushes back to the daycare and encounters the injured Assassin Leader, who tries thinking of a new strategy to kill Olka. However, he smells explosives inside a clock in the area and realizes it is the doing of the informant. After he leaves, Anya thinks about telling this to Loid but does not know where he is and wants to avoid revealing her secret. Instead, she tells a nearby crewman that she saw a strange man wiping a booger on the clock. While initially skeptical, the crewman decides to have it checked out.

Outside Princess Lorelei, the informant listens to his bugs on a raft tied to the ship. As he hears that all the assassins have been wiped he is confronted by the Assassin Leader, who asks what he was thinking by planting the bombs. answers that he did so to send Olka and her guards sinking with the boat. The Leader points out that their employer, Leonardo Hapoon, has friends on the ship, and the informant replies that he made the bombs look like they were from the West, which could spark another war, something he believes Hapoon would like. The Leader tells the informant to get moving, but they quickly turn on each other when the informant says he only brought enough supplies for one person on the raft.

Back inside the ship, Loid leads the covert operation in defusing the bombs and is told that a bomb was found on the upper deck. After seeing the bomb hidden inside the clock, Loid wonders if the true goal of the enemy is to sink the ship. He realizes there will not be enough time to disarm it and instead unscrews the clock from its post and removes it, settling on throwing it into the sea. Meanwhile, the Leader tries to stab the informant, who catches his arm and points his gun at his head, then explains his master plan of setting off the "real" fireworks show. Despite the crewman's pleas, Loid throws the clock off the ship, which detonates just above the assassins and launches them off the raft. With the bomb dealt with, Loid tells the crewman to announce something over the intercom to calm everyone down.

Watching from afar, Anya sees that the bomb was stopped and credits herself for it. Suddenly, the daycare worker appears behind Anya, upset at her for running off. Anya says she had to use the bathroom, and as she gets dragged back to the daycare, she says that it might not have been the last bomb, which the lady interprets as Anya needing to go the bathroom again. As Loid orders the crew to search the ship and to ask the SSS agents to stay on high alert for the rest of the voyage, sharks circle the assassins.

Inside the storage area, Yor and Matthew prepare the inflatable boat for Olka and the others' rendezvous. While Matthew gives Zeb instructions, Yor wishes Olka a great life on the other side. Olka thanks Yor with a grateful hug, despite Yor's protests because of her soiled hands. Olka has her hug Gram as well, saying that those hands are the reason the boy has a future. Yor appreciates the gesture and embraces the child, remarking how warm he is. Before leaving, Olka says she will pray for Yor and her family to find peace and happiness.

After Olka and the others leave, Matthew and Yor watch for the signal from the retrieval ship. Matthew sees Yor getting sentimental and snaps her out of her daze, reminding her that they are foot soldiers. Despite that, he relays to Yor that Loid and Anya requested to meet her the next day. Assuring her that he will be on the lookout for any more killers, Matthew tells her to do as her family asks and to consider it a reward for completing her mission. He then tosses Yor a handkerchief, telling her to put some ice on her face so her family will not notice the swelling. He also tells her to make sure they do not see her chest wound, which an embarrassed Yor says they will not.

After ensuring everything is secure, Twilight returns to the daycare as Loid to get Anya, who has fallen asleep. Picking her up, he thinks about how he had to abandon his family again despite resolving the crisis. Realizing what he just said, he reminds himself that his "family" is part of his mission and starts overthinking things all over again. As the third and final day of the cruise trip arrives, Loid, Anya, and Yor prepare for their day at the resort island.

Anime Notes

 * Anime-exclusive content:
 * The episode shows how Anya ran away from the daycare. In the manga, Anya simply leaves right away after Loid leaves her there. Meanwhile, the anime shows Anya playing with a ball for a moment before telling the lady at the daycare that she is bored and wants to draw - which Anya uses as a distraction to leave.
 * When Matthew allows Yor to return to her family and leaves, she is additionally shown running after him across the deck.
 * At the end of this episode, the Forgers wake up in their cabins the morning after the events of Chapter 55, and watch the ship approach the resort island.