23. His Butler, Up in Flames

His Butler, Up in Flames (その執事、炎上, Sono Shitsuji, Enjō) is the twenty-third episode of season one of the Kuroshitsuji anime.
==Summary==
Tanaka writes a record of the happenings in a journal in the burnt ruins of the mansion.
On the ocean, Ciel Phantomhive stowed away on a boat headed back to London, where Undertaker finds him. Undertaker shares his bone-shaped biscuits and reveals that a large number of souls will be reaped that night in London, and when the men begin crying out on the deck, Undertaker comments that it has begun. On deck, Ciel sees that London is being consumed by a great fire.
Undertaker begins to leave, but Ciel asks why he came. Undertaker states that Ciel is on the death lists as well, much to his surprise. Before he can question him further, Undertaker disappears.
In London, Grelle Sutcliff finds an injured child and asks if they are suffering. Then Grell laments about being unable to take the child and end their pain.
Ash Landers is seen speaking to Queen Victoria, who complains that her husband's rotting flesh that is attached to her hurts. When he offers to purify it, she refuses, but this angers him, calling it smelly and filthy.
On the boat, Ciel notices that they are diverting away from London. When he pressures the boatman to help him get there, he suddenly wonders why he is bothering to return at all. He then thinks that if he does not have his hatred, he has nothing and is nothing. He offers up his beloved family ring in return for the ship to lower a small boat to allow him to travel on to London alone.
When he gets to London, he learns that the queen is pinning the blame for the fire on the French, saying they want to start a war. In town, he's shocked by the extent of the damage, comparing the fire to hell.
Entranced by the fire, he almost lets a large beam fall on him, but Mey-Rin saves him. She tells him Pluto is at fault for the fire. Baldroy and Finnian try to take down Pluto without killing him when they are approached by Ciel and Mey-Rin. Ciel orders them to kill Pluto, stating that he is no longer the pet they knew. They move to do so, while Ciel takes off elsewhere.
Above them, on a building, Ash Landers asks what Sebastian Michaelis thinks of the fire, but Sebastian appears unimpressed. Sebastian comments that he does not have a current master, which Ash finds amusing. Ash asks Sebastian if he would like them to join together afterward, which Sebastian questions. Ash then shows that he is also Angela Blanc, and comments that Ciel is a soul who cannot be saved. However, Sebastian takes off, seemingly pleased that Ciel has regained a sense of determination.
Ciel arrives at Windsor Castle to see the queen but finds her dead. When a maid enters the scene, he is framed and charged with murder. Bodyguards corner him and shoot him once through the side, and his blood pours out in the sign of his contract; Sebastian to come to his aid thereafter. Before the guardsmen fires at Ciel one last time, Sebastian comes to the rescue and redirects all bullets at every guardsman except one. He apologizes for abandoning his post as "It's for the last dinner" and talks about the finding the best soul, thus the best dinner.
Ciel orders him to take him to the angel on a massacre, and he carries Ciel out of the palace.
==Characters in Order of Appearance==
*Tanaka
*Ciel Phantomhive
*Undertaker
*Grelle Sutcliff
*Ash Landers
*Queen Victoria
*Rachel Phantomhive
*Vincent Phantomhive
*Mey-Rin
*Sebastian Michaelis
*Pluto
*Baldroy
*Finnian
*Angela Blanc
==Gallery==
123 Baldroy prepares to shoot Pluto.png
123 Mey-Rin cries.png
123 Ciel's wound.png
123 Tanaka and the journal.png
==Navigation==
Category:Episodes
Category:Kuroshitsuji