Spy x Family Unpacks Mr. Henderson’s Sweet Backstory

Spy x Family‘s manga has shared a new look into Henry Henderson’s backstory, and the newest chapter of the series has revealed that he actually had a failed potential romance with Martha Mariott! Spy x Family has been setting the stage following the end of Anya’s first term at Eden Academy as the latest updates of the manga have been revealing more about each of the characters in the meantime. This even includes some of the popular side characters, such as Anya’s teacher Mr. Henderson. Although he’s very “elegant” now, it turns out that the word wasn’t always his catchphrase. 

Much like many of the times Spy x Family’s manga has looked into the past for many of the characters, the newest chapter of the series reveals a look into Henderson’s past that gives fans a whole new angle of the character overall. It’s revealed that he once attended Eden Academy as a youth, and it was here that he ran into a young Martha as the two of them formed a connection that eventually built into a romance that never quite flourished for either of them due to a tragic misunderstanding. 

Spy x Family: Henderson and Martha’s Failed Romance

Spy x Family Chapter 97 goes back in time to reveal that Henderson first met Martha when he was just starting out the high school phase of Eden Academy. Seeing her perform ballet (which she ended up getting a scholarship to school for) is what caused him to say “Elegant!” out loud for the very first time. Henderson himself ended up being ostracized because of the “elegant outburst,” but Martha was different. She started reaching out to him during his tea time, and the two spent quite a lot of time together. 

The final year of his time at school, Henderson decides to pursue education as he’s dissatisfied at the upcoming war lingering over him and he leaves school while denying Martha’s request to go to the end of the term dance. It was something he didn’t even realize back then that she had some feelings for him, and years later it’s something Martha notes that she didn’t quite know she had feelings either until he had long gone. But as the end of the chapter reveals, it’s not long before they reunite in the school as Henderson returns as a teacher during Martha’s final year. Now all these years later, this lingering romance between them likely still burns unfulfilled.