EP01 (Slayers TRY)

'''Majestic? Hoist Sails for the Journey! (Japanese: ? のをあげろ!', lit. Ifūdōdō? Tabidachi no Ho wo Agero!'') is the first episode of Slayers TRY. It was first broadcast in Japan on April 4, 1997. In this episode, Lina Inverse and friends attempt to stop an attack from a strange woman.

Synopsis
It's morning, and Lina Inverse wakes up in her hotel room in a seaport city. She sees that an envelope has slid under her door, and she begins reading the letter inside. It's from someone named "Filia," but Lina doesn't know who that is.

Meanwhile, a giant pillar of light reaches up to the sky in the distance. In the foreground, a parliamentary hall stands, and Saillune's Crown Prince Philionel El Di Saillune speaks to a group of leaders and representatives from different nations. He explains that since the mazoku barrier has been destroyed, the nations within it are free to travel to the outside world. He says that the only evidence of the barrier's destruction is the pillar of light, and no one knows its source.

Meanwhile, Zelgadiss Graywords stands in the city, looking at the pillar of light.

Back in the parliamentary hall, the delegates begin to panic. They suspect that the nations outside the former barrier are getting ready to launch an attack. Phil interrupts and asks for the cooperation of every nation in sending a peace delegation to the outside world. His daughter, Princess Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune, explains the delegation plan to the delegates.

Later, Lina and Gourry Gabriev eat at a seaside table, and Gourry asks Lina what the "outer world" is. She explains that it's the area of the world outside of the area where they live, and it's just now available to them. He asks why no one had gone there before, and she explains the story of the mazoku barrier erected by Ruby Eye Shabranigdu's subordinates and how it prevented movement outside the area. She tells him that a "beautiful sorcery genius" defeated Hellmaster Phibrizzo, and thus, the barrier was destroyed. He remarks that the sorceress must have been "something," and Lina gets angry and yells at him that she was the sorceress. She then explains that the pillar of light has been visible ever since the barrier's destruction.

Lina and Gourry turn around as Zelgadiss approaches them. They enthusiastically greet him. Later, the three stand on top of a building and catch up on life. Zelgadiss tells Lina and Gourry that he could never imagine them being unhappy together, and Lina, embarrassed, threatens to fight him. Gourry, also embarrassed, changes the subject and asks Zelgadiss why he came to the delegation. Lina correctly guesses that he hopes the outside world will have a cure for his chimera body. Lina suggests that he stow away with the peace delegation; he sees this as an option, but he doesn't rule out taking his own boat. Meanwhile, Gourry has fallen asleep. Zel asks what they are doing there on top of the building, and Lina tells him she wants to find out what the letter she received is about.

Suddenly, a bell on the roof rings, and Zel hurries to cover his head and face. A woman with long blond hair and flowing white robes emerges, startling Gourry. She says she sent the letter to Lina, and she is Filia Ul Copt. She already knows who Gourry and Zel are, too. She explains that she knows how they defeated Hellmaster. Lina asks what Filia's offer is, and she says she wants to confirm their power. Before she can elaborate, she freaks out because Gourry is lifting up her dress to find a tail that he saw. Lina panics and asks him what he's doing, and he tells her that it's not what it looks like. Filia reaches under her dress and pulls out a huge mace, slamming Gourry in the face and sending him flying backward to ricochet off the tower walls and into the sea. She runs off, embarrassed, and leaves her mace behind.

Later, Lina, Gourry, and Zel sit inside, Gourry frantically trying to explain that Filia had a tail. Zel, holding the mace, jokes that he assumed Gourry had "finally given up on Lina for not being sexy at all," and this angers Lina. He throws the mace at her, and she finds it too heavy to hold. She drops it, breaking part of the tile floor. Zel uses that as an example that because Filia could hold it up with no problem and because she is very attractive, she's special in some way. The trio worries that they're about to be involved in big trouble, and Lina wonders if Filia will give her the money she promised in exchange for the meeting.

Later, Phil presides over the setting-off of the peace delegation. Amelia and another delegate stand below him on a platform. He places his hand on a globe and stresses the importance of such a journey. Amelia unfurls a big map of the route that the delegation will take. She explains that it will sail along the cost to avoid the Desert of Destruction, and that Saillune's ship, Ceifeed, will be the leader. In the crowd, Lina spots Amelia and excitedly tells Zel before jumping up and down and yelling to Amelia, much to the dismay of everyone around her. Amelia suddenly shivers and thinks she hears Lina, but declares that she's "hearing things." Zel reminds Lina about Filia, and just as he does, she appears. She apologizes for the previous day. Lina looks and doesn't see a tail and tells Gourry, but he insists he saw one. Filia interrupts and embarrassingly asks for her mace, which Zel hands over. She wants to continue the talks from the previous day. She again explains that she will test their power. Suddenly, she teleports away, surprising Lina's group.

Fireworks go up, sails unfurl, and the peace delegation sets off. Back on the rooftop from the previous day, Filia appears and begins to transform.

Meanwhile, Lina finds Amelia, and Amelia puts a mask over her face and tries to pretend she doesn't know her, but this fails when Phil approaches and greets Lina.

Back on the rooftop, Filia transforms into a golden dragon.

Back on the platform, Amelia asks Lina if they can talk later, because she's busy, and Lina wonders why she's being so unfriendly. Suddenly, Filia (as a dragon) flies off the tower and over the delegation, sending up waves that rock the ships. Lina asks if this is the "test of powers," and Amelia asks if the hassle is Lina's fault. Zel answers in the affirmative.

Filia flies down, nearly crashing into people and buildings. Zel says that Lina's group is the target. The group runs up the ropes onto a ship, with Amelia tagging behind, anxiously wondering why she gets caught up in such messes. Gourry and Zel use their swords to cut the ropes holding the ship down, and when Lina tells Gourry to take the wheel, the ship's captain approaches and tells them they can't take the boat. Suddenly, Filia flies over, sending a giant blast over the ship. Lina's group looks down in the water to see the captain and his crew moving away in lifeboats. He says the ship is theirs. Amelia exclaims that she'll take command of the ship, since it is Saillune's. She begins shouting orders. Gourry ends up as one of the rowers.

Filia flies overhead, and the ship speeds up to get away from the port. A team of sorcerers shoots Fireballs at Filia, but she evades by shooting laser breath at the boat. Amelia and Zel counterattack with a dual Burst Flare. The two attacks collide, sending the ship flying back in a shock wave. Everyone on board but Lina's group flies overboard.

Gourry draws his Sword of Light and sends a beam straight at Filia. She dodges, and the beam hits and destroys a ship in the distance. Filia fires another Laser Breath, which hits the ship and severely damages it. Lina runs up to the front of the ship and shoots Rune Flare at Filia, who is hit. But she shakes it off and fires another Laser Breath. Lina tells Gourry to steer the ship hard to port, but he goes the wrong way, and Lina almost ends up in the water. She puts her hand on the sea surface and uses Sea Blast to stop the Laser Breath. Filia appears to fly away, but Gourry follows. Lina shoots a Dragon Slave, but Filia teleports away at the last second and the spell's explosion hits water, causing a tsunami which engulfs the ships.

Later, Lina's group is stuck on the Saillune ship, which is wrecked and stranded in the ocean. Amelia and Lina look through a telescope and see that the tsunami wiped out the port city. Not wanting to get in trouble, Lina decides to take the ship and run to the outer world, much to Amelia's dismay. However, Lina convinces the group to go by appealing to their weaknesses (justice for Amelia and a cure for Zel), while Gourry by default follows Lina anywhere. The group vows to set off on a new journey.

Major events

 * Lina Inverse and friends set off to the world outside the fomer mazoku barrier.

Debuts

 * Filia Ul Copt
 * pillar of light

Characters

 * Lina Inverse
 * Gourry Gabriev
 * Zelgadiss Graywords
 * Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune
 * Filia Ul Copt
 * Philionel El Di Saillune
 * Delegates (Voice actors: 麻生智久 Tomohisa Asō, 宝亀克寿 Katsutoshi Hōki, 長嶝高士 Takashi Nagasako)
 * Captain (Voice actor: 星野充昭 Michiaki Hoshino)
 * Sorcerers
 * Bystanders

Spells

 * Fireball (Saillune sorcerers)
 * Laser Breath (Filia)
 * Burst Flare (Amelia, Zelgadiss)
 * Rune Flare (Lina)
 * Sea Blast (Lina)
 * Dragon Slave (Lina)

Trivia

 * This is the only appearance of Phil in the 3rd series.
 * This is the first appearance of Filia Ul Copt.
 * This episode is one of the few occasions in canon that Zelgadiss' last name (Graywords) is ever mentioned.