As the best spy that the powerful country of Westalis has to offer, Twilight is tasked with the biggest mission in his life, Operation Strix. This crucial operation could decide the fate of the two warring nations, so the importance of Twilight’s success could not be overstated. Furthermore, the entire Spy x Family series is actually Operation Strix in progress.

As we enjoy the funny antics and the exciting action sequences, however, we tend to forget the details pertaining to this massive mission. So let’s use this chance to talk about the objectives of Operation Strix and the different phases that Twilight has to take in order to achieve those objectives.

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The Objective of Operation Strix

The country of Westalis has been at war with The People’s Republic of Ostania for a long time. Things have devolved into a war of attrition for the past couple of years, a cold war so to speak, but the threat of going back to a full-blown war has always been there. One of the proponents of the war is the chairman of the National Unity Party of Ostania, a man named Donovan Desmond.

The main objective of Operation Strix is for Twilight to get close to Desmond. Since Desmond is an extremely reclusive and paranoid man, the only time he ever appears in a public event is during the informal social gathering at his sons’ elite school. So the only way for Twilight to be in the near vicinity of Desmond is to be invited to that event. After all, infiltration has proved to be impossible. This means Twilight has to find a wife and a child and then admit said child into the school.

Phase 1: Fake Family

The first phase of Operation Strix is for Twilight to find, or rather make, a new family. For this purpose, he assumed the name of Loid Forger, a psychiatrist at the prestigious Berlint General Hospital. There are two things that he needs for a fake family, a wife and a child.

Finding a Child

Interestingly enough, finding a child is easier for Loid than finding a wife. All he needs to do is go to a shady orphanage where they don’t bother to check his credentials and for some additional fee, they are even willing to forget about him and the child that he just adopted. But as the old adage says, love comes from the most unexpected place.

As fate would have it, Loid meets Anya in one of those dingy orphanages, a girl who will mean the world to him in the future, he just hasn’t realized it yet. And with that, Loid Forger has found a daughter, Anya Forger.

Finding a Wife

After finding Anya, the next step for Loid is looking for a wife. Fortunately for Loid, he meets a kind and beautiful young woman named Yor Briar. As it turns out, Yor is in search of a fake boyfriend that she can introduce to her friends. Loid quickly ran a background check on Yor and everything seemed fine. Besides, Anya also seems to like Yor. What started as a temporary fake relationship to get out of a troublesome situation eventually becomes a long-term fake relationship. With Yor Forger on board, the Forger family is now completed.

Phase 2: Eden Academy

To join the prestigious Eden Academy, every applicant has to go through two selection phases. The first one is the written exam. The second one is the family interview. Failed any one of them and the child won’t be able to study at this elite academy.

Entrance Exam

Just like any other school, Eden Academy also holds a written exam for every child who wishes to learn in the finest educational institution in Ostania. The exam itself is pretty straightforward. Just like any other exam, every applicant has to come and answer as many questions as they can during the allocated time. Those who have scored above a certain threshold can move on to the second phase.

Mind you, the Eden Academy is famous for having the most difficult entrance exam in the country, so the overwhelming majority of the applicants will fail at this stage. Thankfully for Anya, her hard work paid off and she can move on to the Family Interview.

Family Interview

The entrance exam is all about letting the school know about the academic ability of the potential students. The interview, on the other hand, is all about the academy judging the applicants and their families. From what they wear to how they behave in certain situations to how they answer difficult questions, the school will judge everything.

Some teachers might even go as far as probing for personal matters that might be sensitive to talk about. For example, one teacher asked Loid about the reason why he decided to remarry. He even goes as far as asking Anya about whether or not she liked Yor as her new mother.

It’s worth noting that these are not standard interview questions but rather that particular teacher’s questionable judgment at full display. That being said, those distasteful and insensitive questions still need to be answered properly. Anyway, things got quite messy at the time, but thankfully everything worked out quite well for Anya in the end.

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Phase 3: Imperial Scholars

Anya getting into the best school in the country is certainly a cause for celebration, but that is merely the second phase of Twilight’s Operation Strix. The true goal is to get close to Donovan Desmond and in order to do that, Anya Forger needs to be one of the Imperial Scholars.

Best in the School

As mentioned earlier, the reclusive Donovan Desmond only comes out of his cage to attend the annual social gathering at Eden Academy. This gathering is held to celebrate the best students in the entire school, a group of elite boys and girls called the Imperial Scholars.

Since Donovan’s eldest son, Demetrius Desmond, is one of the Imperial Scholars, Donovan always makes sure to attend this gathering, albeit with a platoon of bodyguards at his side. So if Loid wants to meet Donovan, his best chance is for Anya to also become an Imperial Scholar. But just like everything else in life, it’s easier said than done.

Stars and Bolts

In order for a student to become one of the Imperial Scholars, they need to earn 8 Stella Stars. A Stella star is something that is given by the school to students who achieve remarkable results in academics or provide an exceptional contribution to society.

Conversely, the Tonitrus Bolt is something that is given by the school to students who perform unbelievably badly in their academic studies or showcase terrible misconduct that would tarnish the school’s reputation. Those who have accumulated 8 Tonitrus Bolt will be expelled. Currently, Anya has earned 3 Stellar Stars and received 3 Tonitrus Bolts. So the situation is pretty good and also quite bad at the same time.

Phase 4: Intelligence Gathering

Assuming Anya will eventually earn her 8th Stella Star and become an Imperial Scholar, Loid will be invited to the annual gathering and get the chance to meet Donovan Desmond. Once he meets the target, there are numerous ways for Twilight to get the information that he needs.

Twilight can use a long-term method such as trying to slowly earn Donovan’s trust and possibly move to his inner circle. He can also use a brute force method such as blackmail, hypnotize, or even downright violence to get information out of Donovan. No matter what method Twilight ends up using, as long as he can get closer to the target then he will surely find a way to extract information from Donovan. At that point, Operation Strix will be complete and can be considered a success.

Spy x Family is available to stream on Crunchyroll

Spy x Family

Comedy

Action

Release Date

April 9, 2022

Seasons

2

Based On

Manga

Creator

Tatsuya Endou

Number of Episodes

25 (Season 1); 12 (Season 2)