Celestial Spirit King (Episode)

is the 32nd episode of Fairy Tail anime. It first aired on 31 May 2010.

Loke tells Lucy Heartfilia about his past with Karen Lilica and why he was banished from the Celestial Spirit World. But as Loke starts disappearing, Lucy argues for his innocence which makes the Celestial Spirit King appear before them.

Synopsis
Back at the water fall, Lucy asks again, now shocked “You killed Karen?” Loke doesn’t deny it, but continues to say that a spirit who has killed his master is forbidden from returning to the Celestial Spirit World. Loke’s story unfolds...

Three years ago, in the Blue Pegasus guild, Karen Lilica was being asked out by a group of men. She told them she can’t go, so she summoned Aries the Ram, a Celestial Spirit. When Aries said she is not meant to entertain men, but Karen ordered her to do it and she quickly apologized. When they leave, Karen and Bob started talking, and Karen said that spirits shouldn’t talk back to their masters. Bob told her not to use spirits as bad as she does, but she brushed it of, saying that spirits don’t have feelings, they’re just tools. Bob’s face thundered, and he tells her that spirits are living things, and if she makes them suffer, she will be the one suffering next.

Back at her room, Karen was beating Aries for making her look bad in front of Bob. She said that her punishment will be staying in the human’s world for one week, and when Aries said she didn't have that kind of magical power, she brought out a chain, but Leo, the Lion switched places with her, forcibly summoning himself. He threatened Karen that while Leo can accept mistreatment, Aries cannot, so if she mistreats her, Leo will not forgive Karen. Karen, shaking, asks for what options she had, and Leo tells her to release them from their contracts.

Karen tries to force him back, but since she doesn’t have enough Magical power, this fails. Leo then decided to stay in Earth Land for as long as she doesn’t release them. Since Karen did not have enough Magical power, she wouldn’t be able to summon other spirits, and therefore would not be able to go on missions. There’s another detail. Since Leo came to the Human’s world by himself, it’s his power that would be used, not Karen’s, so Karen is completely powerless to him. He retreated to the ruins and asks for Karen to look for him, when she decided to let them go free.

In the ruins, Leo was getting for exhausted by the minute. Karen came to the ruins a couple times and tried to negotiate her way out of this situation. When she couldn’t, she tried to beat her way out, but Leo didn’t back down. Some time later, he noticed that while he couldn’t stop his life-force from eroding, he isn’t suffering and exhausted like before. He decides to return to the city and forgive Karen, but Bob showed up and informed him of Karen’s passing. Apparently, she took a job without Bob’s permission, and since she couldn’t summon any other spirits, she was killed. She grew impatient, and gambled on the fact the a Celestial Mage can actually summon two spirits at once, if enough magical power would be released, but in the end, her body couldn’t take it. Leo started to cry, and explains that this recklessness resulted in a way he wanted to least, as he just wanted Karen to understand that spirits are not tools. Grief-stricken, he cried her name…

Back to the present, Loke begins to fade away. Lucy becomes frightened, and Loke tells her that he hasn’t been in the Spirit World in three years, so his magic is almost gone. He tried various things to forget about Karen (one of them being his promiscuity) but he never could. He had simply been enduring it, as he knew his time would come, the time when he dies in front of Karen’s grave. He thanks Lucy tor being able to meet a Wonderful Celestial Mage, and asks of her to give his regards to everyone at Fairy Tail.

Lucy doesn’t let him go, and tries to open forcibly open his gate. She says she can’t stand the loss of a friend, and uses all of her magic power to open the gate. Loke tries to stop her, but she persists. Loke keeps trying to make her give up, but to not avail. Her power starts surging out like never before. She says she doesn’t see the point of magic if it can’t be used to save her friends. Lucy says that she is hell-bent on changing the rules, and after she shouts this, time stops, and the Celestial Spirit King arrives.

The King refers to Loke as old friend, and voices his crime. He says it doesn’t matter is the fault is direct or indirect, he cannot return to their kingdom. Lucy then interferes and says that the punishment is going too far. She says that Loke has been suffering for three years, for his friend’s sake. The King says that he is pained by his old friend's fate, and Lucy says that he isn’t “old” he is right there, before his very eyes. She tells to the "Mustache Man" that Loke did nothing wrong and that she won’t accept anything but his innocence. At this point, Loke shouts that he wants to repent, but Lucy yells that he can’t since his death would bring more sadness, not Karen back. Using all of her strength, she summons all her spirits at once, an action which would have killed a Celestial Mage.

However, she could not hold them for long, and then says that her friends (i.e. the spirits who stood by him and the members of Fairy Tail) want him there. Loke tells her not to do this, as he doesn’t want her to follow in Karen’s footsteps. At this moment, the Spirit King concords that maybe the law is in error. After all, Leo did what he did to protect Aries, and Lucy did the same thing to protect Loke. The king doesn’t want this bond to be broken, so he makes an exception for this time. He grants Loke permission to return to the Spirit world. If Leo wants to repent, he should live on and protect Lucy, as he believes her to be a friend of such worth. Time than restarts and a both forgiving and apologetic Karen appears to Loke.

He then picks himself up, and gives Lucy his key, and then, at long last, returns to his home. Back at the guild, Natsu learns of Loke’s true nature. He learns that he is the Lion, a spirit, a “grown up cat” which makes Happy drool all over him. Before going home, he gives them tickets to a resort, and he promises Lucy that he will show up every time she needs him. He leaves, and Lucy tells her friends that when in trouble, they must have each other. They then leave, and Lucy foreshadows an evil event, one which would remove Erza’s smile from her face.

Battles & Events

 * Death of Karen Lilica (flashback)

Magic used

 * Summoned the Water Bearer, Aquarius
 * Summoned the Golden Bull, Taurus
 * Summoned the Giant Crab, Cancer
 * Summoned the Maiden, Virgo
 * Summoned the Archer, Sagittarius
 * Summoned the Canis Minor, Nikora
 * Summoned the Clock, Horologium
 * Summoned the Lyre, Lyra
 * Summoned the Southern Cross, Crux
 * Phasing Magic
 * Phasing Magic

Spells used

 * Mud Web

Abilities used

 * Multiple Summon

Items used

 * Gate of the Water Bearer Key
 * Gate of the Golden Bull Key
 * Gate of the Giant Crab Key
 * Gate of the Maiden Key
 * Gate of the Archer Key
 * Gate of the Canis Minor Key
 * Gate of the Clock Key
 * Gate of the Lyre Key
 * Gate of the Southern Cross Key

Manga and Anime Differences

 * In the anime, Leo was told of Karen's demise by Bob but in the manga, he discovered it by himself when he went to the city.
 * In the manga Lucy only Summoned her gold key spirits and Plue but in the anime she summoned all of her celestial spirits