Black Butler

10 Best Episodes of Black Butler - Season 1

In Victorian-era London, on the night of Ciel Phantomhive's tenth birthday a fire destroyed his manor and killed both of his parents. In a moment of death Ceil strikes a deal with a demon, his soul in exchange for revenge. This demon becomes his butler and calls himself by name of Sebastian Michaelis, to protect and serve Ciel until the deal has been completed. One month after the fire Ciel returns from being missing, with his new butler Sebastian. Ceil is now the head of the Phantomhive corporation, handling all business affairs as well as the work as the Queen of England’s guard dog and looking for his parents murders.

Written by Sophie and last updated on nov 14, 2022.

PS: The following content contains spoilers!

PPS: I will admit that parts of this page was written with the help of AI - it makes my work so much easier to not start from a blank page!

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Black Butler - S1E13

#15 - His Butler, Freeloader (Season 1 - Episode 13)

Ciel begrudgingly lets Prince Soma and his butler, Agni, who arrived from India in search of someone, take up temporary residence at the Phantomhive Estate.

The episode was rated 8.22 from 65 votes.

Black Butler - S1E4

#14 - His Butler, Capricious (Season 1 - Episode 4)

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The news of Jack the Ripper terrorizes the city of London. Sebastian narrows the suspects down to a single man, a Viscount. Madame Red creates a plan for Sebastian, Ciel and Lau to attend a ball to catch the culprit, which involves Ciel wearing a dress and Sebastian pretending to be his tutor. They realise that Elizabeth is attending the ball and dance across the ballroom to avoid her because she would then blow there cover and then they would get caught.As Ciel says that Elizabeth has too much energy. The Viscount takes a liking to Ciel, who attempts to seduce him, while Sebastian distracts Elizabeth and the other guests by pretending to be a magician and gets trapped in a box with all these knifes and chains with using only magic as he says(which is true). Alone in a room with the Viscount, which turns out has a smell that Ciel thinks its just a smell,then Ciel loses consciousness, later awaking to find himself being sold in a large underground auction, tied and blindfolded. When the Viscount removes the blindfold in order to display Ciel's eyes, the latter keeps them closed. After a moment, he opens them and calls for Sebastian. The lights go out, and the cries of many people are heard and the candles are suddenly relit to reveal Sebastian, who takes Ciel home as the police arrive at the scene.

The episode was rated 8.26 from 77 votes.

Black Butler - S1E15

#13 - His Butler, Competing (Season 1 - Episode 15)

Queen Victoria attends the Curry Festival competition. Sebastian creates his curry with chocolate, Agni uses blue lobster, and another chef uses a mysterious spice that was given to him by Angela. Sebastian ends up winning with his curry bread, but the people who ate the curry with the mysterious spice become possessed and start attacking others. Sebastian and Agni fight them off and they are cured after a taste of Sebastian's curry bread. With the competition over, Prince Soma and Agni bid farewell to Ciel and Sebastian and return to their homeland.

The episode was rated 8.28 from 60 votes.

Black Butler - S1E12

#12 - His Butler, Forlorn (Season 1 - Episode 12)

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Ciel finds Elizabeth in a tower and rescues her after a brief battle against Drocell. Sebastian does not pursue a strange puppet that seems to have controlled Drocell as its master is far away. Later, Elizabeth celebrates Ciel's 13th birthday with a party at the Phantomhive Estate.

The episode was rated 8.31 from 62 votes.

Black Butler - S1E19

#11 - His Butler, Imprisoned (Season 1 - Episode 19)

The body of John Stanley, a man who worked under the Queen, is found murdered in the River Thames. The Queen orders Ciel to retrieve an item from Stanley's body. Ciel goes to Lau, who controls the area where Stanley's body was discovered, for information. Lau does not recognize the name, but mentions a new drug, Lady Blanc, the name of which reminds Ciel of Angela. A large amount of the illicit drug is later found in one of Ciel's warehouses. Lau and Ciel are charged with drug trafficking, but Lau escapes. Ciel is separated from Sebastian, who is taken to the Tower. It is revealed that orders for the arrest were given by the Queen through her butler, Ash, with the drugs planted as a pretext.

The episode was rated 8.31 from 54 votes.

Black Butler - S1E14

#10 - His Butler, Supremely Talented (Season 1 - Episode 14)

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Agni is revealed to be working for someone and Prince Soma plans to find out why. Along the way, a new goal is set to compete in the Curry Festival against Agni. At the end, Queen Victoria appears.

The episode was rated 8.39 from 56 votes.

Black Butler - S1E6

#9 - His Butler, at the Funeral (Season 1 - Episode 6)

Sebastian ends Jack the Ripper's reign of terror. Later, Ciel and Sebastian attend Madam Red's funeral and visit the grave of Jack the Ripper's last victim.

The episode was rated 8.39 from 76 votes.

Black Butler - S1E23

#8 - His Butler, Up in Flames (Season 1 - Episode 23)

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The Phantomhive mansion is burnt to the ground and Tanaka is seen writing in his diary alone in the debris. Ciel stows away in the cargo hold of a London-bound steamship, where he meets the Undertaker, who informs Ciel that he is about to die. The great fire in London has taken many lives yet it remains unabated, turning the once-beautiful city into Hell on Earth. Ciel wanders through the streets and eventually finds his servants trying to tranquilize a rampaging Pluto. He comes to a decision about his existence and gives the servants the order to kill Pluto. Ciel then makes his way to Windsor Castle, where he discovers Queen Victoria dead. The palace guards believe that Ciel murdered the Queen and shoot him. When the guards try to shoot him again, Sebastian appears and saves Ciel. The pair takes off toward the heart of London.

The episode was rated 8.41 from 49 votes.

Black Butler - S1E21

#7 - His Butler, Engaging Servants (Season 1 - Episode 21)

Ciel's servants show off their hidden talents in an effort to cheer up their master and protect the Phantomhive Estate. Within the mansion, Ciel teaches Elizabeth about chess until sundown. The backgrounds of Maylene, Bard, and Finian are revealed in a series of flashbacks.

The episode was rated 8.48 from 46 votes.

Black Butler - S1E24

#6 - His Butler, Fluent (Season 1 - Episode 24)

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Ciel heads to the Tower Bridge that is still in mid-construction with Sebastian, where he finds the angel Ash. Ciel commands Sebastian to kill the angel. Ciel's servants have taken down Pluto, the Shinigami cut off the supply of souls that fuel Ash's strength, and Sebastian reverts to his true demonic form to defeat Ash. In the aftermath, a fake Queen Victoria emerges and urges London to begin rebuilding. Ciel wakes up being ferried by Sebastian on an ominous river to an unknown location. Sebastian hands Ciel Tanaka's diary, in which Tanaka details the former Lord Phantomhive's knowledge of his impending death. Sebastian and Ciel land at the rubble of a mansion, where Ciel calmly waits for Sebastian to take his soul. Ciel's final order to Sebastian is to make the process as painful as possible, so as to carve the pain of his life into his soul, to which Sebastian agrees. It is not known what happens to Ciel.

The episode was rated 8.53 from 47 votes.

Black Butler - S1E5

#5 - His Butler, Chance Encounter (Season 1 - Episode 5)

Ciel and Sebastian continue to pursue Jack the Ripper and come to a confrontation at the house of the latest victim, Mary Kelly. They discover that the murderer is a combination of Madam Red and Grell Sutcliff, her seemingly bumbling butler, who is actually a Reaper. While Sebastian is busy fighting Grell, Madam Red attempts to kill Ciel, but she sees her sister's face in his and is unable to do so. Grell kills Madam Red because of this and her life is played back before his eyes, as Reapers can see a person's memories as they die. It is revealed that she loved Ciel's father, but he chose Rachel, her sister, over her. Eventually, she found someone she loved and married him, and was to have a child, but an accident killed her husband and caused the doctors to have to abort her baby and take out her womb to save her life, rendering her infertile. When one of her patients came to her and asked for an abortion, claiming children were a nuisance, something in her snapped and she followed the patient later that night and killed her. It was then that she met Grell, and the two of them murdered people as Jack the Ripper since then. Sebastian is ordered by Ciel to kill Grell.

The episode was rated 8.57 from 76 votes.

Black Butler - S1E18

#4 - His Butler, Transmitted (Season 1 - Episode 18)

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Angela uses Cinematic Record to force Ciel recall his painful past, including the events surrounding his parents' murder, but Ciel eventually rejects her attempt to rewrite his past. She then attempts to purify the members of the cult, but Sebastian, Grell, and William incapacitate her. Angela destroys the monastery and escapes.

The episode was rated 8.60 from 50 votes.

Black Butler - S1E17

#3 - His Butler, Offering (Season 1 - Episode 17)

Queen Victoria's butler informs Ciel that an abandoned monastery in rural Preston has been taken over by a cult that is possibly planning to overthrow the government, so Ciel and Sebastian head there to investigate with the Undertaker and Grell. They find that the cult uses a strange book known as the Doomsday Book to recruit new members and expose their pasts. Ciel is summoned one night and gets taken away by Angela, who reveals herself to be an angel.

The episode was rated 8.61 from 54 votes.

Black Butler - S1E11

#2 - His Butler, However You Please (Season 1 - Episode 11)

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Elizabeth becomes distraught and goes missing and Ciel and Sebastian head into the heart of London to search for her.

The episode was rated 8.63 from 62 votes.

Black Butler - S1E20

#1 - His Butler, Escaping (Season 1 - Episode 20)

Sebastian is tortured in the Tower of London by guardsmen and Angela. Ciel continues to pursue Stanley's case on his own, though Abberline declares his allegiance with Ciel. Ciel frees Sebastian by summoning him through their contract, and together they manage to get onto Lau's junk. Sebastian duels against Ranmao as Ciel confronts Lau, who turns his dao on Ciel. Abberline intercepts in time to take a fatal blow for Ciel and subsequently dies from the wound before Ciel's eyes. Sebastian strikes a blow at Lau to prevent him from continuing to fight, and escapes from the sinking junk with his master.

The episode was rated 8.65 from 51 votes.

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