Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Episode 15 Review

The Three Types of Magic

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Episode 15 does a great job at giving us more world-building via lore. Specifically, Frieren explains the lore surrounding the magic system in this world. And, it’s more interesting than I expected it to be.

To start, there are three distinct types of magic. There’s the magic of humans, the magic of the Goddess, and the magic of demons/monsters. Remember, demons are just a subset of monsters. So, while their magic is often referred to as the magic of demons, other monsters can use it, too.

Starting with the magic of humans, this is the magic used by mages. They might be human mages like Fern. Or, they can be of other races, like how Frieren is an elven mage. The distinguishing factor of the magic of humans is that it’s a science.

The magic of humans advances with new discoveries. How it works can be understood and built upon. And, it’s mages who are building upon it. This is different than with the magic of the Goddess or the demons. Those are static forms of magic because they’re not understood.

We already know about demon magic. Some demon magic has been co-opted by humans and incorporated into their magic system. The resulting, new spell is no longer demon magic. But, not every spell can be co-opted in this way. Many aren’t understood enough. And, it’s from there that we get curses.

Curses are a specific type of unknown demon magic that puts people to sleep or petrifies them. Priests, who use the Goddess’s magic, have a higher tolerance against curses and can undo them. This seems to be because the Goddess’s magic is the opposite of the demon’s. But, it’s just as indecipherable to mages.

Trusting Your Comrades

Thanks to his use of the magic of the Goddess, Sein figures out the source of the curse affecting the village. It’s a Chaos Flower (a type of monster) that’s living in the nearby forest. This monster puts its victims to sleep and then drains their mana.

Unfortunately, before the party can slay the monster, they begin to feel the effects of its curse. Stark is the first to fall asleep as he has no experience with magic of any kind. We can assume that he lasted as long as your average person would.

Fern stayed awake for quite a bit longer thanks to her familiarity with magic and mana. Though, she still fell asleep before the party reached their destination. Next to go was Frieren, whom we can assume lasted longer than Fern because of her higher mana capacity. She almost made it to the monster.

That left Sein as the last party member standing by the time he reached the Chaos Flower. This makes sense since, as a priest, he has a natural resistance to curses in the form of the Blessing of the Goddess. But, can he defeat the monster on his own?

At first, he thinks he can. After all, despite being a priest, he has some offensive spells under his belt. And, even if he were to wake up Frieren, he can only do so for five seconds. Surely, that won’t be enough time for him to explain the situation to her.

But, as he figures out that his magic won’t be enough to win the fight, he remembers something Heiter once told him. Trusting your comrades goes beyond understanding each other. Before falling asleep, Frieren vowed to defeat the monster. So, Sein believes in her and wakes her up.

Stark and Fern at the Soirée

The second half of the episode is very different than the first. Though, that’s often the case in this series. In this half, a local lord hires Stark to stand in for his deceased son at a soirée.

Stark looks almost exactly like the lord’s late son. And, that’s not a coincidence. They come from the same village of warriors. So, this lord is a distant relative of Stark’s, not that their distant relation matters. It’s not like Stark took the job because of that. He took it because their party needs money.

This part of the episode tied back to Episode 12, when we learned about Stark’s backstory. Stark’s older brother was the favorite son. This is something Stark struggled with as a child. And now, Stark’s seeing a similar dynamic with the lord and his younger son.

Anyway, the soirée is the important thing from this half of the episode. Over the course of three months, Stark learns proper etiquette. And, with a single month remaining, the lord reveals that Fern also needs to learn. After all, Stark can’t go to the soirée alone; he needs a date.

In case you haven’t figured it out, Fern being Stark’s date is why this is the important part. The Fern x Stark shippers are eating good today. It’s only a matter of time before their relationship becomes official.

What about Frieren and Sein? Are they going to become a couple, too? No. Frieren isn’t the kind of woman Sein’s interested in. She also shot down his dance proposal in favor of eating cake. And, Frieren already has someone she loves, Himmel. But, even if she wanted someone alive, she’d pick me over Sein any day.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Episode 15? Did Frieren’s explanation of curses and the different types of magic make sense? Do you think Heiter had a point about trusting your comrades even if you don’t know them well? And, were you expecting Fern and Stark to kiss after their dance? I was hoping for it.

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My review of Episode 15 is available now.