Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (Episode 26) - The Height of Magic

Frieren and Fern are locked in combat with Frieren’s copy while the others attempt to stop the other copies from attacking from behind. That means that they will need to take down the copies of Sense, Fern, and Denken to survive!

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (Episode 26) – The Height of Magic

What happened?

Fern’s initial attack on Frieren’s copy had been unsuccessful. It did force the copy to attack with even more powerful spells, however, that gave the real Frieren the materials to create a giant stone golem to attack with. They had anticipated that the copy would survive an initial attack, so this was well within their plan. However, the longer it went on, the more likely they were to be caught from behind by the other copies wandering the dungeon.

Luckily, Methode had been able to locate all of the copies except for three. Sense, Fern, and Denken passed the biggest risks and their ability to hide their mana was also available to their copies. The group divided into groups and went out to fight against their ideal opponent. Lawine and Richter took out the copies of Lawine and Kanne. They won easily thanks to their preparation, but then they were attacked by Sense’s copy, handing them both near-fatal wounds. Without their stone golems, they would have surely died. Denken got there just as they were being carried away, however, he wasn’t sure if he could defeat Sense even if he had made it.

Frieren Beyond Journeys End Episode 26 Frieren under attack

Frieren Beyond Journeys End Episode 26 Frozen copies of Lawine and Kanne

That was when Ubel and Land found Denken. Ubel spotted Sense’s copy and asked if they needed to defeat it to get to the bottom. Both Land and Denken thought she was crazy to suggest that she could beat it, but Denken eventually said that they did need to defeat Sense. Ubel wandered out and headed towards Sense. Outside the final room, Sense was able to see that Ubel had engaged her copy and remembered the time Ubel had been disqualified from another test. The mage administering the test asked the applicants to all attempt to knock him back, but such was the strength of his defence, he had never been hurt since becoming a First-class Mage. Ubel stepped up and sliced him in half…

Meanwhile, Fern and Frieren continued to attack the copy, but it wasn’t giving them an inch to work with. Finally, Frieren set a trap, forcing it to create a window for Fern. Then, after Fern had attacked with a barrage of Zoltraak, the copy was still standing despite missing both arms. Then, it hit Fern with something she’d never experienced before. It was down to Frieren to finish off her copy which she did with style. Then, they killed the Speigel and conquered the dungeon. A total of twelve mages passed the second exam, which meant six were eliminated.

Frieren Beyond Journeys End Episode 26 Ubel and Denken

Frieren Beyond Journeys End Episode 26 Ubel killed a proctor years ago

What did you think?

I love the way that Ubel is able to break the rules effectively because she’s able to view things in such simple ways. The cloak was layered with defensive magic, but to her, she saw it as a cloak made of fabric and was able to easily slice it in two. The same happened with Sense’s hair. Because magic is based on what you can perceive, her ability to see something for what she believes it to be makes her unstoppable. The idea that we were introduced to the rules of magic and how to cast it you must be able to imagine it and then shown how those rules can be broken is fascinating. Ubel is fascinating… and incredibly dangerous.

I didn’t think Fern had finished the copy off at the end of the last episode and I’m kind of glad that she wasn’t able to deliver the final blow. That means Frieren is still on a different level than anyone, especially as she was able to defeat it. I liked how the copy used a spell that she hadn’t used in eighty years, no doubt when she defeated the Demon King. So, what now? Is there a third stage or do they all get to become First-class mages? I’m going to have to check my notes…

And once again, this series has shown us that mage fights can be thoroughly entertaining and dynamic. So, if any more anime try to pass off a bunch of wizards standing around waving sticks and calling it a fight, you are going to suffer my ire. This is what I want to see.