The ‘useless’ magic saved the world.
©Kanehito Yamada, Tsukasa Abe/Shogakukan/’Frieren’Project
We are at the true peak of the season. There was no fighting—no magic—just some conversation. But make no mistake, while this is a war of words, it is a battle nonetheless—and Fern is the battlefield.
Despite their connections to Flamme, Serie, and Frieren, they couldn’t be more different in how they view magic and its place in the world. For Serie, the mage of an endless war, magic is just a tool and nothing more. For Frieren, a magician of an age of peace, magic is something wonderful—not just to have but to achieve.
On the surface, Serie fails Friren because she is not the kind of magician Serie believes Friren should be. However, there is something deeper here: insecurity. Serie’s ego couldn’t accept that Frieren had done what she couldn’t—that is, defeat the Demon King. Objectively speaking, she was superior to Frieren in every aspect—even mastering her mana suppression ability better than Frieren. However, even after thousands of years, Serie has never been able to defeat the Demon King. She simply sits forever alone on her stone throne.
Meanwhile, Frieren, whether by fate or the simple coincidence of approaching a lost boy and showing him his love of magic, has gained a group of loyal friends. Together, they did the impossible.
This caused the Serie world to fall apart. This elf who could not imagine a world without the constant threat of the Demon King was forced to accept that reality. What is her method? Trying to imitate what Frieren did-but in her own (arguably superior) way. The Magic Association is creating a group of magicians who can defeat the Demon King.
However, her team failed. Missing was the key aspect that led to Frieren and Himmel’s victory: the trust, friendship and cooperation that made them a perfect team. Serie had many followers who followed her orders, but she had no companions—no friends.
Nowhere is the flaw in Serie’s philosophy more apparent than in her conversation with Fern. Fern is a once-in-a-lifetime magical talent. She has the promise to become the next Flamme and change the magical world forever. Serie offers Fern everything she has as her apprentice—infinite knowledge and power. And Fern’s immediate reaction: “What? ARE NOT.”
The power that promised unimaginable power was simply not enough to break the bond between a socially awkward elf and the human girl she raised. After all, as the first half of the episode shows, Frieren cares deeply for Fern—even if her immortal nature makes it difficult for her to understand the mortal girl. Can you imagine Serie spending a day repairing his apprentice’s broken stick? Of course not. Like magic itself, staffs and even the apprentices who wield them are simply tools of the Serie—superior and easily replaced.
Therefore, when faced with the choice between Serie’s philosophy and Freiren’s philosophy, Fern chose the latter. While Serie’s overly pragmatic use of magic may have been necessary in an age of endless war, in this new age of humanity, it is Frieren’s more lackadaisical take on magic that speaks volumes. the heart of humanity. And in a thousand years, maybe Freiren will be the godmother of magic in Serie’s place—either because Fern passed down her teachings or Frieren herself taught generation after generation of humans about the joy of magic and the power of friendship.
Rating:
Random thoughts:
With the magic association, Serie is also doing what Flamme asked her to do in teaching magic to humanity—perhaps in addition to admitting that everything Flamme predicted has come true.
It is understandable that Frieren is weaker than other elves of the same age. After all, she trained herself for a thousand years to become a weapon with a single purpose—and she was very good at her job.
Between what Frieren and Serie said in this episode and the previous episode, it seems like her mana suppression trick didn’t work on the Demon King, so she had to use “Peak of Magic” in when others protect her.
→ Fern stuffed with food is the best Fern.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is now streaming on Crunchyroll.