The following contains spoilers for Spy x Family, available to stream on Crunchyroll.Spy x Family gained immense popularity when it premiered in early April of this year. The show was originally a manga by Tatsuya Endo that first made its appearance in 2019 on Shonen Jump. Its vast success expanded when it was adapted into an anime. Spy x Family follows Twilight, a spy for Westalis, a country that borders its rival, Ostania. Twilight adopts the alias Loid Forger during his mission to spy on the National Unity Party’s leader Donovan Desmond. In addition, he adopts an orphan named Anya and marries Yor Briar. Unbeknownst to him, Anya is a mind-reader, while Yor (also known as Thorn Princess) is an assassin for ‘Garden.’
Yor's employer, Garden, remains secretive to both the franchise's audience and characters. Very little is revealed about Garden; therefore, it may seem somewhat confusing. To clear things up, here are five essential things to know about Garden.
5 It’s a secret government assassination group in Ostania
Unlike Twilight, who is employed by Westalis, Yor works for Ostania’s covert government assassination group. Garden is an extremely hidden underground operation—even more so than Twilight’s employers—that employs skillful individuals to take out threats who must be eliminated for various reasons. In most cases, these threats are traitors to Ostania. For example, the Shopkeeper calls Yor in the second episode of the anime. Following the phone call, Yor breaks into a hotel room to complete her mission and calls one of the targets a "traitorous scumbag." This provides viewers who have not read the manga a somewhat understanding of the purpose of Garden, or at least Yor’s objective as an assassin.
The primary goal of this group is to eliminate people; therefore, it comes as a shock to Yor when her boss assigns her the mission to protect a citizen (in the manga), as opposed to assassinating one. This implies the kind of organization that Yor works for and the severity of such an organization. In other words, Garden’s missions rarely include protecting citizens. However, this case was clearly a special one if Yor reacted the way she did.
In addition, at another point in the manga, Twilight acknowledges Garden's existence but doesn't appear to take it very seriously. This fact illustrates that even a highly skilled spy like himself doesn’t know much about Garden, indicating that it is an exceptionally underground operation.
4 It is run by the ‘Shopkeeper’
The Shopkeeper remains almost as secretive as his organization. He is called the Shopkeeper because, along with Garden, he runs The Shop. The Shopkeeper’s real name is a mystery, but this does not affect his role as the leader of Garden. His ambiguity allows him to carry out his job in a relatively secure manner, which is immensely valuable because he has affiliations with the criminal world.
The Shopkeeper is an older man who tends to wear a slight smile and a pair of gloves and carries hedge shears. Though he has only made a brief appearance in the manga, he has appeared in the anime while on the phone with Yor.
3 The Director of Policy at Berlint City Hall is closely associated with it
Yor’s job at Berlint City Hall allows her to remain close to Garden. This is especially because the Director of Policy at her undercover job is the Manager of Garden. The Director, or Matthew McMahon, provides her additional help and a form of communication if the Shopkeeper is unable to communicate with her through other means. He is especially accommodating in assisting Yor during her mission to protect Olka Gretcher on the Princess Lorelei ship.
Matthew is anything but delicate despite his age and seemingly frail stature. He is a skilled and robust fighter with exceptionally quick reflexes. Matthew is also composed and maintains his composure even in the face of adversary. It is likely he ranks above Yor, taking into account his position as Manager. Like the Shopkeeper, Matthew has not appeared in the anime yet.
2 Yor is one of Garden’s top assassins
The Thorn Princess is an infamous assassin who has seemingly been working primarily alone. She, along with the Shopkeeper and Manager, is most recognized by the audience as a representation of what Garden may be.
The anime reveals a glimpse of Yor’s skill, agility, and intelligence in several scenes, suggesting that if an assassin, such as herself, is employed by Garden, then there must be many others as skillful as the Thorn Princess. However, they remain a mystery. Regardless, fans continue to share their speculations and theories about Yor's mysterious and unidentified colleagues.
1 Along with Yor, there are three other main assassins
It’s quite clear that Yor is not the only assassin employed by Garden. However, not much is known about exactly how many employees work for the secret group. Regardless, the manga has revealed that Yor is one of four primary assassins of the organization.
These individuals have not been revealed yet, but many fans are looking forward to learning about the additional characters who are no doubt as skillful as Yor. Hopefully, Spy x Family will soon reveal the inner workings of this organization and how well it impacts the Forgers story.