It took three seasons, but after finally learning about Yor, Anya, and even Bond’s backstories, there was only one major character that we’d yet to know everything about. We’ve known Loid has been a spy ever since the beginning, but nothing about him outside of when the story started except his codename. Season 3 finally let us dive into Loid’s past, so now we know how he grew up, what pushed him into joining the military, how he was recruited to be a spy, and how all of that shaped him into the person he is today. This also represented a dramatic shift in tone for the series to showcase a darker side of its overall world and story. Over the course of the first two seasons, we’ve seen how SPY x FAMILY showcases the lingering tension between the two rival countries at the heart of its story. Despite being in a time of peace, it’s at a point where anything could shatter that peace and bring the two countries back to war. In the meantime, we also get goofy moments with Anya and Yor who allow the series to have a brevity of comedic relief to offset the tense nature of the political intrigue and spy drama of the story. Learning Loid’s backstory lets the series lean into why Loid especially wants to work to keep the peace between these two nations for as long as possible. He’s seen the danger and tragedy of what happens when these two countries are facing off against one another. Having an adolescence filled with death and propaganda will do a lot to shape a person mentally. Given how calculating and cautious Loid is as an adult and as a spy, seeing him as a child where he’s wide-eyed and wanting to learn about as much as he can makes these two versions of him seem like completely different characters. RELATED: Lilas Ikuta Releases SPY x FAMILY Season 3 Anime Ending Song Music Video It’s easy to see how the sudden war between Westalis and Ostania changed Loid in such a short amount of time. He immediately thinks his friends have been killed since an explosion happens in the general direction they’d been playing, the croquette lady dies right after he talks to her, and he himself is caught in an explosion. His entire world is flipped upside down in a single instance. The childlike wonder of his youth is gone completely. One of the more intriguing aspects of this mini-arc is when Loid has fully enlisted and is fighting. We’d seen how he’d learned various kinds of strange rumors and propaganda about Ostania, but that’s put to the test when he’s actually out in the field. When he meets his future ally Franky, Loid learns essentially how similar people from both countries are. From their will to fight, the amount of propaganda that they’ve heard is also similar, and the fact that they’re just young guys doing what they think is right. After that, his entire worldview has been shattered, because what do you even think when everything you thought was real might not be what it seems? Learning all of that along with the fact that he finds out that his friends were actually alive and gets a short reunion with them before they actually die pushes him to a breaking point. It’s those reasons that get him recruited by WISE. His younger self would not have been able to handle the responsibilities of being a spy since he wouldn’t have wanted to keep both sides united after what he’d seen. Giving a character a tragic backstory can sometimes work negatively, but in this case, it allows us to truly see why Loid is the way he is and the reason Operation Strix is so important to him. Beginning the season with this kind of arc also allows us to see the overall breadth and scope of the story as a whole and how it can fit in not only all of the goofy shenanigans that the Forgers get up to, but to have a darker and serious storyline. We’re not only able to see how the writing and storytelling has evolved over the course of the past few seasons, but it’s also a level of trust that the audience isn’t going to immediately dismiss this series going in a darker direction than we’ve previously seen. Having that kind of emotional range will also allow the writing to flourish more in the future. RELATED: All SPY x FAMILY Arcs In Order (So Far) We’re already seeing a bit of this new direction moving forward with the bus hijacking storyline and it allows the show to go in new ways than we’ve seen previously. Waiting until now to tell Loid’s backstory is a smart decision since it’s allowed the mystery to linger for a while and now we can fully appreciate what happened and how it changed him overall. It also allows us to see how much his new found family of Yor, Anya, and Bond have also changed him. He’s softened somewhat since the beginning of the series and it’s given him a new perspective that he previously wouldn’t have had. The question that remains is how much will the Forger family continue to change him as SPY x FAMILY continues moving forward?
