Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Episode 17 Review

Sein the Mediator

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Episode 17 is the first episode of the second cour. This season of the series is 28 episodes long. So, this cour is going to be the standard 12. The first cour was special since the first four episodes aired at the same time.

Anyway, in the first part of the episode, Frieren has Sein mediate a fight between Fern and Stark. These two are often fighting over trivial things, so that’s not very surprising. But, this time around, the problem wasn’t Stark being inconsiderate and Fern being mad at him for that.

Stark thinks that’s what happened yet again. And, when Sein talks to him about it, he says as much. He thinks Fern is mad because he touched her face with his cold hands. However, when Sein talks to Fern, he finds out that’s not what the issue is.

The issue stems from Stark putting one of his hands on Fern’s shoulder while he touched her face with the other. He did this so that she couldn’t get away from his cold touch. But, Stark doesn’t realize how strong he is. And the strength with which he gripped Fern’s shoulder scared her.

This is actually something that’s come up before. When Frieren was recruiting Stark, he didn’t realize how overwhelmingly strong he was. He didn’t realize that the dragon wasn’t attacking the village because it didn’t want to fight him. And, he didn’t realize that he was strong enough to defeat it in one attack.

Another example that may be more relevant is the fight Stark and Eisen had before Stark left. Stark thought Eisen hit him because he had done something wrong. But, that wasn’t the case. Eisen hit Stark as a reflex because Stark’s power scared him.

Take Care

Well, five episodes after his introduction, Sein is out of the party. I suspected that’s what was going to happen in this episode based on the title. But, I didn’t actually think it would be as permanent as it appears to be.

Of course, there’s still the very real possibility that Sein is going to rejoin Frieren’s party. For now, though, he’s off on his own Journey to find his friend. And, the most surprising thing about that is that Frieren didn’t offer to go with him.

I know she had her sights set on going to Äußerst. It’s on the route they planned to take toward Heaven. And, it’s a magic city, which means there will be plenty of unique spells for her to pick up there. It’s actually a bit surprising that Frieren wasn’t already living there full-time.

But, Frieren’s trip to Äußerst could have waited. She sees a 10-year journey as “merely 10 years.” And she often makes comments about staying in one town for a decade. So, it’s not like Sein’s journey to find his friend is going to be very long, to her.

Sure, the tip he got about his friend’s whereabouts means Sein is going in the opposite direction. But, I doubt Fern or Stark would have objected to going with him. It’s not like either of them is in any rush. Fern is just tagging along with Frieren and Stark is happy with any adventure.

In, fact, I expected one or both of them to veto Frieren and say that they wanted to join Sein. They have a good reason to go. Sein is their friend and comrade. But, Frieren saw him more as someone who just needed a little push from her.

Frieren the Priestess

I didn’t think it was a coincidence that Fern came down with an illness right after Sein left the party. After all, we know that priests specialize in Magic of the Goddess. And, Magic of the Goddess is the kind of magic that deals with curses and disease.

At first, my assumption wasn’t that Fern was sick, though. Since neither Fern nor Frieren were waking up, I thought some kind of curse got them. You know, some kind that’s effective against mages, so it doesn’t work on Stark.

And, with that assumption, I thought Stark would have to backtrack and find Sein. Sein would save Frieren and Fern. Then, the party would realize that having a priest along for the journey is a pretty good idea. And, finally, they’d decide not to split up and go their separate ways, after all.

Well, as you saw if you watched the episode, my assumptions were wrong. Frieren finally gets up to help Stark check on Fern. And, when she does, she determines that Fern only has a common cold. But, how did Frieren determine this? Does she have a special spell for that?

Much to my surprise, Frieren can use some Magic of the Goddess. She’s not as good at it as an actual priest/priestess. But, because she has a scripture, she can technically use it. And, I have to assume she acquired that copy of the scripture from Heiter.

That, combined with some notes Sein left behind about common illnesses, helped Frieren treat Fern. So, does this mean that Sein’s really out of the party? Is he no longer needed? I have my doubts. It makes more sense, to me, for him to return. A party of four just feels right.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Episode 17? When do you think Stark is going to figure out that his strength scares people? Did you expect the others to join Sein on his offshoot journey? And, do you think he’ll come back? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 18 is available now.