©Kanehito Yamada, Tsukasa Abe/Shogakukan/’Frieren’ Project
Oh, what? You thought that the fight with the Frieren clone was over last episode when Fern hit it with a cheap shot? Not even close! Perhaps it was Frieren’s smile that gave the clone enough time to put up a shield or perhaps the clone, knowing its own weakness, baited the attack. Either way, the fight continues with Frieren trying to create openings in the clone’s defenses while Fern tries to exploit them.
Through this half of the episode, we get to see Frieren as we never have before going all out. Rather than an endless stream of zoltraak magic, we see spells unlike anything we have seen before—multiple elemental forces compounding in ways that boggle the imagination.
Yet, as with all the fights in this anime, the true battle is a psychological one. It’s been clear from early on that Fern underestimates herself—after all, the only mage she has to compare herself to is one of the strongest alive. Frieren has to tell her more than once throughout the series that she is more than capable of overcoming whatever she’s facing. However, what we learn from this episode is that Frieren, despite all she knows of Fern and magic, has constantly underestimated the young human woman—even with her already high expectations.
This is the true flaw that the pair are working to exploit in the clone—not Frieren’s bad habit of dropping mana detection when she casts big spells. The Frieren clone thinks she knows the limits of what Fern is capable of—and she’s wrong. By making the clone fight more recklessly, Fern can get in hits that the clone doesn’t expect—and once it turns its full attention on Fern, Frieren can land the death blow. It’s a fantastic bit of mid-fight character development that serves to solid look into Fern’s growth as a person and the continuing development of her self-esteem.
The other half of the episode follows the other mages as they attempt to buy time for Frieren and Fern. Most of their success comes from their ability to do something the clones cannot: communicate and plan. Through this, they can make teams and exploit each other’s clone’s weaknesses.
While this allows us several good action scenes of the extended cast working together, the most important bit is a deeper look into Ubel and what makes her tick. Ubel views the world in a way the others do not. Her sense of what’s possible and what is not—i.e., what she can imagine—allows her to do things with magic no other mage can. In her mind, it’s common sense that “hair can be cut”—so it doesn’t matter if the hair is magically infused with wards and spells. Hair is hair and that’s all there is to it.
This added to her ability to “empathize” with others to the point of using their magic and her hobby of casual murder, makes her the most unnerving character in Frieren so far. She’s dangerous in a way none of the other characters are—and her lack of clear goals only emphasizes the feeling. There’s no doubt that she is, as Sense calls her, a genius—but whether that’s ultimately a good thing for the world at large is something else altogether.
Rating:
Random Thoughts:
• This episode’s magical battles were amazing—especially with the use of lighting and color. This might honestly be the best the series has looked—and that’s saying something.
• I’m sad we didn’t get to the fight between Methode and the Fern clone. Sure, we can see the results but I really would have enjoyed the play-by-play.
• Is… is psyonics “The Height of Magic”? (I know some D&D players who would agree.)
• The last time Frieren used “The Height of Magic” was 80 years ago—i.e., likely during the final fight with the Demon King. As using it leaves her completely defenseless, this explains why she has never used it since—she needs a party to support her when casting it.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is currently streaming on
Crunchyroll.
