Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

Episode 24

Overall, this is one of the more action-focused episodes of Frieren so far. We have no less than three mage battles this episode—four if you count Denken's team's speedy retreat. However, as usual in Frieren, there are multiple layers to everything—especially the action scenes.

At its most basic level, this episode is all about defining the nature of the threat. The mages taking the exam are all facing off against gray-scale clones of themselves or the other mages in the dungeon. But what exactly are these clones and how much do they copy? They obviously can copy the same magic spells as the original but what about the original's overall knowledge or thought process? Do they have the same amount of mana as the originals? Do they have any differences when compared to the originals—i.e., potential weaknesses that can be exploited? Each fight we see addresses one of these concerns or another.

Edel, Blei, and Dunste's battle against the Sense clone is designed to show us that, while the clones have all the power and knowledge of the originals, they don't truly have a brain. That in turn means any mind-effecting magic will have no effect. This is a major issue as one of the most common ways to defeat a mage is with mental attacks. Luckily, while the clones may have a strength the originals don't, they also have a weakness—one that the various other teams can exploit.

Simply put, the clones cannot talk. This means they can't communicate with one another—making teamwork impossible. They can't make plans or adjust strategy on the fly. This is something both Wirbel's team and Ubel's exploit to defeat their clones.

However, it's important to note that the clones have one more weakness—i.e., whatever the weaknesses the originals have. This looks to be the most important factor in beating the Frieren clone going forward. Sure, Frieren is unspeakably powerful compared to the other mages in the exam but she is far from unbeatable. After all, she has admitted to being defeated more than once in the past. And if anyone knows Frieren's weaknesses, it would be the girl who has spent half her life traveling with the immortal elf: Fern.

If you think about it, we already know Frieren's biggest weakness—the one way she is inferior to Fern. We learned about it back in the early episodes after all. It's casting speed. Sure, Frieren may be able to throw out spells that would crush any other mage present but what does that matter if she doesn't have time to cast those spells? Of course, this alone won't be enough to take the Frieren clone down. It's just the start of a cohesive battle plan. So we'll just have to tune in next week to see how everything comes together.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• Just as Fern was happy watching Frieren fawn over magical items (that looked like junk to Fern) last episode, Frieren is happy to see Fern's reaction to the mural in the burial chamber (even though it's boring to Frieren personally).

• I wonder if the reason Frieren had no interest in the mural is because she was alive at that time and still remembers it clearly.

• Fern getting jealous of Methode hugging Frieren is a fun little character moment. Frieren not only enjoyed the hug but hugged back as well.

• I love how seemingly throwaway lines in Frieren become major plot points dozens or even hundreds of chapters down the line.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.