Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Season 2

Episode 3

The first half of this episode is about the nostalgia of misadventures. When you think back on your life, how many of your stories were tragic in the moment but are hilarious in retrospect? Stark, in his continuing efforts to better understand Eisen, decides he wants to recreate one of his master's embarrassing stories—the tale of when they went days out of the way to a remote, mountain hot spring, only for it to be nothing but a foot bath.

Interestingly, it is Frieren who understands what Stark wants to do—even without him explaining it. She is, after all, in the process of realizing just how precious her memories of her misadventures with Himmel and the rest were—and how they changed her on a fundamental level without her even realizing it.

The joke is, despite knowing what they were getting into from the start, nothing changes the fact that, in the moment, it's a genuinely terrible experience. Sure, in time, they will only remember seeing nature's beauty with those they care about, but they're still having to do things like fight a hydra and stumble down a torturous mountain path at night.

The back half (and much stronger half) of the episode gives us a deeper look into the family unit the three have formed. At the center of events is Fern. While she's unquestionably the straight man of Frieren's group, it's easy to forget that, underneath her stoic facade, is a normal teenage girl. The death of her parents stunted her emotionally and caused her to push it all down. It's how she managed to survive. However, she absolutely feels things and feels them deeply. She treasures items like her staff, hair accessory, and bracelet because of the emotional weight they carry.

The issue is not with her having feelings but not knowing how to express them. Frustration comes out in sullen pouting; anger in impotent punches. In heartwarming moments, she lets out a soft, genuine smile. But absolute joy? She has no idea how to handle that emotion.

In this episode, she is clearly hinting to Stark that she wants to spend the next day together with him. She obviously expects she'll browbeat him into asking eventually. What she doesn't expect him to do is flat-out ask her on a date. Deep down, this is what she's been hoping for but never thought it'd come true—especially not so suddenly. Thus, her only thought is to accept the offer, then run away in panic (while trying to maintain her composure).

Much of how Fern acts is likely thanks to Frieren. For all intents and purposes, Frieren is her mother, who has raised her from childhood to adulthood. Of course, attempting to emulate an immortal elf—especially one detached from the world around her due to her way of perceiving time—comes with its own issues. However, Frieren, despite often seeming like the child in her and Fern's relationship, hasn't been a bad mom.

While living constantly in the moment is unnatural to Frieren, she has been trying desperately to connect with humans—Fern most of all. It's still hard for her to pick up context clues (even over the span of years), but when people tell her something important directly, she remembers. Heiter spent his final days spelling things out to Frieren—and she, to her credit, has put that information about Fern to good use. There are many criticisms you can make about Frieren's parenting, but I'm sure Fern feels loved.

That is what the back half of this episode is meant to show. Just as Heiter taught her about Fern, Frieren passes on that same information to the equally dense Stark. In a way, she is serving as a maternal figure to him as well, teaching him the proper way to go on a date—even if the instructions are specific to one single girl.

And in the end, things are set up well for Fern to get a date to remember—put together by the two people who care for her most in the world. Will we get to see the date next episode? Maybe, maybe not. But at this point, it's not as important as the preparation—the care that those closest to her have shown for her feelings.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• Frieren absolutely went on a date with Himmel—and I am depressed we didn't get to see it.

• Honestly, Stark is a frontliner. It's his job to be bait and tank attacks. I'm not sure why anyone is upset with how the hydra fight unfolds.

• I feel for Frieren. After not seeing my hometown for over a decade, I was shocked by how many places I knew were gone—left as nothing but empty, deserted buildings.

• There is a clear drop in animation quality in this episode. We have tons of wide shots where all character details disappear, and many moments when our heroes appear as silly (and much more simply designed) caricatures of themselves. I hope this is just a one-off thing.

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Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.