Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (Episode 13) - Aversion to One's Own Kind

Frieren comes across a priest in the forest who wanted to be an adventurer. However, he’s stuck in a bog and sinking fast. She’s not sure whether to help him or not because he’s dirty. Luckily, Fern finds them!

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (Episode 13) – Aversion to One’s Own Kind

What happened?

Sein wanted to be an adventurer when he was younger. However, he didn’t end up going when his best friend invited him. Instead, he stayed in the village he grew up in. Frieren was unsure as to why he was telling her all this. It may have had something to do with the fact that he was slowly sinking into a bottomless bog and desperately wanted some help. Frieren tried to remember the spell for pulling someone out of a bog, but while she was thinking Ferm showed up and pulled him free. He asked them to stay in his village, but they were keen to get to a major city. So, he bid them farewell and warned them about the poisonous animals that lived in the woods. Within minutes of going their own ways, Stark was bitten by a snake and began to bleed from his nose.

They rushed back to the village and sought out the priest. He told them it was too late and that Stark would bleed his brain out his nose. Luckily, his brother, Sein is a far better healer. After he healed Stark instantly, he left to take care of some other matters. Frieren was impressed. Sein had to be some sort of genius. His brother confirmed it and asked if they would consider taking Sein with them since he had always wanted to be an adventurer. Frieren wasn’t sure. Having too many geniuses was never a good thing, but Stark went and asked him to join them anyhow. Sein told him if he could beat him at gambling he would join them. However, both Sein and Stark lost everything to the village chief. Fern was able to get it back on the condition that they stayed for the harvest festival. That would give them some time to convince Sein to join them.

Frieren Beyond Journeys End Episode 13 Frieren finds Sein in a bog

Frieren Beyond Journeys End Episode 13 Stark is bitten by a snake

What did you think?

This one didn’t hit as hard as previous episodes, but there were still plenty of things to talk about. I loved that the message for this episode seemed to focus on the idea that it’s never too late and that we shouldn’t be bound by our past. Sure, Sein chose not to become an adventurer, but that was then. In the present, he hadn’t made a decision. Too often, we can get blocked by things that happened before. We make a choice and think that we are bound by that decision. Sometimes it’s hard to go against yourself, but that was then and this is now. We should treat every opportunity as the new chance that it is.

Frieren Beyond Journeys End Episode 13 Sein and Frieren

What was your favourite moment?

I mean there can be only one moment that anyone is thinking about. I’m talking about when Frieren decided that enough was enough and that she would use her super secret seduction technique that Flamme taught her to persuade Sein to join them. Honestly, it’s a mystery that this wasn’t the most censored moment in the history of TV. People could have died it was so powerful. Like Fern and Stark, we were lucky that Frieren wasn’t directing her unstoppable attack at us.

We also got to see the sort of information that Heiter had given to Fern that shapes who she is and also that it’s not that she’s mad a Stark. She’s just mad at everyone. With the occasional exception for Frieren, however, she too can feel the scorn of Fern.

Frieren Beyond Journeys End Episode 13 Frieren seduction technique step 1

Frieren Beyond Journeys End Episode 13 Frieren seduction technique step 2

Who was the most impactful character?

It has to be Frieren, and not just for the kiss. I love how this series takes moments from the past and uses them to show parallels and teach Frieren a lesson. We saw how she believed it was too late for her to join the hero’s party and fight the Demon King, but Himmel told her that this is the present and anything she has done in the past is in the past. She used that experience to convince Sein to join them. Being able to see the moments that shape her as she uses her experiences to help others is one of my favourite things about this series.

Frieren Beyond Journeys End Episode 13 Stark lost everything gambling

Frieren Beyond Journeys End Episode 13 Sein lost everything gambling

What have you learned?

This series is empowering. It takes loads of ideas about the passing of time and making the most of the time you have and blends them into the story. There have been sad moments and uplifting moments, but the overall message has been incredibly positive. It can be quite easy to get bogged down in the darker side of the flow of time and how we can miss so much. It’s certainly something that I think about a lot, so having a series that constantly delivers these wonderful messages is a welcome change.