Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (Episode 6) – The Hero of the Village
Fern checked on Stark and discovered that he was continuing to train to fight the dragon even though he was scared and could run at any time. She told him about her first fight against a monster and how he just needed to find some resolve!
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (Episode 6) – The Hero of the Village
What did you watch?
Well, I’ve just discovered something wonderful. When they released four episodes at once and it ended up feeling like the story was just beginning at the end of episode four, I was worried about how much more story they might be able to squeeze into a twelve-episode season. Those worries have now been put firmly to bed as it’s been confirmed that this will be a twenty-eight-episode season. That means, the first four episodes can be viewed as the set up and the remaining twenty-four are the quest. Honestly, I’m just pumped that I get to watch this show for the next six months. Let’s get into the episode.
What happened?
Stark revealed to Fern that the scar he has on his forehead wasn’t from a monster. He’s never actually fought a monster. That scar was from Eisen who punched him. They parted moments later and Stark can’t help but worry about what he did to upset Eisen. Maybe, it’s because he’s so scared. He couldn’t imagine Eisen being scared of anything. Fern told him about her first fight with a monster and how she ran. Frieren refused to help her so she just kept running. However, once she was cornered, her body acted on her training without hesitation. She believes he will do the same. They will find out tomorrow for sure when they face the dragon.
The next morning, Frieren and Fern came to his spot to find that he had gone. Had he run? Thankfully not. He met them at the cliff above the dragon’s den and took a deep breath. His hands shook with fear. Frieren laughed, but not because he was scared. His hands shook exactly like Eisen’s did. Eisen believed that being afraid isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it’s his fear that brought him that far. Stark mustered up all of his courage and went to face the dragon. The dragon hesitated just as Frieren expected. It could tell how strong Stark was and didn’t want to face a powerful foe without reason. He attacked, hoping to buy Frieren the time needed to cast a spell powerful enough to take it down. When the time was up, Stark looked at them for help, but it never came…
What did you think?
I can’t get over how good this episode was and also how amazing this series is. Its ability to tug at your emotions with every step of the adventure is incredible. I look at how this series handled Stark’s fear and compare that to how Demon Slayer dealt with Zenitsu and it’s not even in the same ballpark. This was wonderful, especially when you consider the way that Eisen and Stark parted ways. Eisen hit him, but not because he was angry or disappointed. He hit him because he was scared. It was an involuntary response to the sheer power that Stark wields. Of course, he never got a chance to tell him that because Stark ran off thinking he had disappointed Eisen. I feel like I could go on and on about this episode… and I will…
What was your favourite moment?
Firstly, there was the fight with the dragon, which was incredible. Stark looked to Frieren and Fern for help but it didn’t come. It didn’t come because the dragon was already dead. Stark killed it on his own, just as Frieren thought he would. That’s what Eisen feared. Start was strong but he had no way to tell just how strong he was. He was used to training with Eisen but once he grew bigger and more powerful, not to mention Eisen getting older, the difference in their abilities no doubt became obvious to Eisen.
I also loved the part where we saw Himmel and Eisen talking about the fun and ridiculous quest they were on because of Frieren and her spell for shaved ice. Himmel laughed and asked if Eisen would have preferred a hard and dangerous quest. It’s a no-brainer it’s put like that. Then, we have Stark talking about how Eisen was too old to go on adventures so he needed to go on a fun and ridiculous adventure so that he could go home and tell his master about them. This series is too good!
Who was the most impactful character?
Fern is the driving force behind this quest. If it was up to Frieren a ten-year quest could very easily become a fifty-year quest. Stark is on Fern’s side in this department, but he doesn’t have the belief to question her. He hasn’t experienced Freiren as much as Fern has so he probably doesn’t know how to deal with her yet. She is a very peculiar person but in a wonderful way. I had to laugh at Fern so many times. She’s also fairly savage which we saw when Stark asked her if she wanted to get something to eat and not least, when they finally got their hands on the grimoire with the spell to see through clothes. Her comments when she used the spell was that Frieren had nothing interesting under her clothes to which she apologised for having an uninteresting body. Stark’s treatment was far more brutal as she looked at him and simply said, “Small.”
What have you learned?
I’m continually impressed by the way this show achieves balance. I’ve talked about how the flashbacks fit perfectly into the story. Short glimpses of the hero’s party as it goes through the gates, shown against their own party doing the same thing. However, there’s much more when you consider how well his side can drop in a funny moment alongside a heartfelt moment. I think the reason it works so well in this series is because it’s all quite understated. It can be a short comment or an awkward look. There’s no screaming and ridiculously overexaggerated faces. Like I said, the balance is perfect. They don’t go too far in either direction so as to make the experience feel like whiplash. We can laugh one second and cry the next, and this series knows it!
Other posts in the series
- Season One
- Episode 1 – The Journey’s End
- Episode 2 – It Didn’t Have to Be Magic…
- Episode 3 – Killing Magic
- Episode 4 – The Land Where Souls Rest
- Episode 5 – Phantoms of the Dead
- Episode 6 – The Hero of the Village
- Episode 7 – Like a Fairy Tale
- Episode 8 – Frieren the Slayer
- Episode 9 – Aura the Guillotine
- Episode 10 – A Powerful Mage
- Episode 11 – Winter in the Northern Lands
- Episode 12 – A Real Hero
- Episode 13 – Aversion to One’s Own Kind
- Episode 14 – Privilege of the Young
- Episode 15 – Smells Like Trouble
- Episode 16 – Long-Lived Friends
- Episode 17 – Take Care
- Episode 18 – First-Class Mage Exam
- Episode 19 – Well-Laid Plans
- Episode 20 – Necessary Killing
- Episode 21 – The World of Magic
- Episode 22 – Future Enemies
- Episode 23 – Conquering the Labyrinth
- Episode 24 – Perfect Replicas
- Episode 25 – A Fatal Vulnerability
- Episode 26 – The Height of Magic
- Episode 27 – An Era of Humans
- Episode 28 – It Would Be Embarrassing When We Met Again
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I haven’t seen Demon Slayer yet, but you *really* dislike Zenitsu, eh? 😉
I love how they had Fern and Stark connect as they opened up and shared. Fern listened to Stark and supported him, and he was able to face a dragon. She was relieved to have someone else with a normal, human perspective of time, and they worked together to find a way through the checkpoint, which led organically to Stark sharing what his goal is now.
It was also hilarious how Stark killed a dragon, solo, within thirty seconds, without even realizing it!
And then there’s how Frieren’s reputation opened the checkpoint for them, to great fanfare, much to her own disappointment at not lingering to collect more magic spells! That was somewhere between cute and funny. 🙂
He is a bit of an easy target, however, it’s more how they portrayed him than his personality. We saw that Stark was scared without him screaming and crying every couple of seconds. I prefer it this way, for sure.
Yeah, they are going to have an interesting friendship. I can see Fern turning to Stark to moan about Frieren fairly regularly. The scenes where it was just them were nice too.
I think that’s what got Eisen so worried that he automatically defended himself. Stark is strong, but he doesn’t realise how strong. That must make it hard to pull your punches when you’re training.
I think Frieren’s disappointment that they couldn’t stay and look for spells was my favourite part of that segment. I’m looking forward to seeing what life is like now that they are into the battle zone!