Spy x Family Part 2 Episode 17

Operation Dog

Spy x Family Part 2 Episode 17 includes the end of Operation Dog. This operation was in the works for a while — since back in Part 1. But, it seems we can finally consider the operation to be dead in the water.

To help facilitate Operation Dog, Anya asked her father if they could take a new family photo with Bond. She then planned to show this picture to Damian, which would cause him to invite her over. It was a flawless plan. But, Anya’s execution left a lot to be desired.

On the way to school, Anya happened to drop the photo on the ground in Damian’s path. But, instead of looking at it, he and his friends walked right past. She shouldn’t have left it up to chance. She needed to be more aggressive in showing him the picture.

What really sealed Operation Dog’s fate, though, is Becky. After Damian ignored the photo, Becky picked it up off the ground. And she instantly fell in love with Anya’s father. Unfortunately for Becky, Loid Forger is already married. But, she might be able to snag the role of mistress if she plays her cards right.

Anyway, Becky refused to give the photo back to Anya, so she could no longer show Bond to Damian. At least, she couldn’t show him an actual photo of what Bond looks like. She could still show him an artistic representation of Bond.

However, it should come as no surprise that Anya has no artistic ability whatsoever. When she showed Damian her sculpture of Bond, he asked why she was so proud of a piece of garbage. A tough, yet fair assessment. Now, it’s time to move on to Operation Griffin.

Operation Griffin

Operation Griffin is quite a bit simpler than Operation Dog. It doesn’t involve getting a pet and then bragging about said pet to Damian. Instead, it’s all about being helpful so that Damian appreciates Anya. It’s that easy.

During the arts & crafts class, the students have to create animal-themed sculptures. But, the twist is that each group of students has limited resources to share between them. To get a high grade, the students must show that they’re able to share with one another.

Damian decided that he wants to make a griffin for his piece. But, it’s going to require more resources than he can get his hands on. So, he tells the other members of his group that they need to give their paper to him. That doesn’t sound very much like sharing to me.

However, Anya’s Bond sculpture didn’t use up many resources. It was basically a crumpled piece of paper with some tape and a few strings attached. So, she has plenty of leftover paper to contribute to Damian’s Griffin. But, she goes one step further and offers to help him make his sculpture to save time.

The thing is, I’m not sure Anya actually knows what a griffin is. So, instead of making the pieces that Damian asks for, she makes things like jet engines. Though, in her defense, a griffin with jet engines is way cooler than a griffin without.

There were a few good parts in this episode. Anya dropping the picture of bond is a classic. I’ve seen many meme edits of that panel from the manga. But, my favorite part was the picture above, when Anya had the rainbow halo around her while offering to help. I’d trust her.

Handler Sylvia Sherwood

In the Episode 16 review, I referred to Loid’s handler simply as Handler. But, we now have a name for her, Sylvia Sherwood. It’s unclear if this is her real name or a false name like Loid Forger. But, it doesn’t matter. Sylvia is her name as far as we’re concerned.

When meeting up with Loid in public Sylvia has to put on a disguise and lose anyone tailing her. That’s because she doesn’t only serve as a handler for WISE. Officially, she works as some sort of secretary in the Westalis embassy in the East.

Now, when I saw Sylvia’s disguise, my first thought was that she’s the unknown woman we see in the ED. But, her disguise actually doesn’t look all that similar to that woman. Her hair color and eye color are both different. And the woman in the ED doesn’t have a mole on the left side of her face.

Once I determined that the woman in the ED wasn’t Sylvia — at least not in that same disguise — I had another idea. Could Sylvia be the true identity of Monica McBride from the previous episode? That would explain why Monica shot down Franky’s request for a date.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be the case either. Sylvia’s disguise has a different hairstyle than Monica’s. They also have different eye colors. And while they both have moles near their mouths, they’re on opposite sides. So, I don’t think Monica is actually Sylvia.

At this point, I’m thinking Sylvia, Monica, and the woman from the ED are different characters. In most other anime, that would have been the obvious conclusion from the start. But, this is a series about spies. I figured this was another case of a character in disguise.

Conclusion

What do you think about Spy x Family Part 2 Episode 17? What could Anya have done to increase the odds of Operation Dog succeeding? Do you think she knows what a griffin is? And, how old do you think Sylvia Sherwood is? Whatever her age, she won’t be single for long if I have anything to say about it.

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My review of Episode 18 is available now.