Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Episode 20 Review
Wirbel of the Northern Magic Corps
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Episode 20 didn’t quite cover the content that I wanted it to. I was looking forward to Frieren getting into a fight. That didn’t happen. But, it might happen next week. At least, I hope it does.
But, that doesn’t mean this wasn’t a good episode with some interesting content. My favorite part of the episode came at the beginning when we got to see the conclusion of Wirbel and Übel’s fight. In a one-on-one fight, Wirbel wins. However, it didn’t turn out to be one-on-one.
You see, Übel’s spell of choice is a powerful slicing spell. We could have assumed that based on what Kraft previously said about the bodies he found in the forest. But, this spell only has a range of about five meters. So, Übel needs to get close to her opponent to use it.
Wirbel’s spell of choice is the opposite. It only works when he’s able to see the entirety of his opponent. So, he can’t be too close. He needs some distance between himself and them. But, if he’s able to maintain that distance, he can use a powerful binding spell.
As long as Wirbel keeps his eyes on his opponent, they can’t move or use mana. But, Übel notices something about Wirbel’s use of this spell. It’s not a spell for killing. And, she accurately assesses that despite being capable of it, Wirbel doesn’t like to kill. He’ll do it if he needs to, though.
At the same time, Wirbel also notices something about Übel’s fighting style. When Übel had an opportunity to slice Wirbel’s neck, she instead went for his eyes. Wirbel comments that only the perverse who love killing would do that. And, he was spot on about her nature.
Serie, the Living Grimoire
In Episode 20, we finally got a name for the other elf we saw back in the first OP for the series. Her name is Serie, and she’s not related to the demon lord in any way — as far as we know.
Instead, she seems to be the most powerful mage in the world. And, she’s the reason why many people want to become first-class mages. Rumor has it that Serie will give anyone who becomes a first-class mage any spell of their choosing. That’s kind of a big deal.
Now, Serie doesn’t know every spell out there. But, according to Richter, she knows the vast majority of humanity’s spells. So, based on that information, I’m assuming she’s far older than Frieren. She may even be older than Kraft. And, because of that, she still might be an antagonist in some way.
Do first-class mages really get to learn any spell of their choosing from Serie, though? Why would she agree to that? What does she get out of it? And, does that mean every first-class mage has some insanely powerful spell at their disposal?
Furthermore, Frieren didn’t know about this privilege. It’s understandable that Frieren wouldn’t know about another elf and mage. She had no idea who Kraft (a hero) was, after all. But, her hobby is collecting spells. So, Serie’s offer seems like something Frieren ought to know about, right? However, I’m also not sure if Frieren would be interested.
Collecting spells is Frieren’s hobby. And, she doesn’t exactly seem to be in it for the adventure. She has no problem staying in one town for decades. But, I can’t see her being too interested in Serie’s offer — even if there was a spell that could revive Himmel.
Finally, Someone Who Knows Frieren
A surprisingly large number of people don’t know who Frieren is. They know about the Hero’s party and that there was an elf mage in it. And some of them even seem to know that the elf mage in the Hero’s party was named Frieren.
But, there aren’t many people who connect the dots. From what I remember, even the first-class mage exam proctors don’t realize who Frieren is. I think one of them commented that she had the same name as a member of the Hero’s party. So, it’s possible they have some idea.
However, Denken definitely knows who Frieren is. And, as he says, there aren’t many mages from his generation who don’t know of her. After all, she must have been one of the most famous mages in the world 80 years ago.
And yet, despite knowing who Frieren is, Denken believes he can defeat her. He doesn’t mean to kill her — that much is obvious. But, he’s confident that he can best her in battle and stop her from retrieving the stille from Laufen. One of the exam proctors also believes there’s no way Denken will fail this test.
Can Denken actually beat Frieren, though? It’s possible that he knows a lot about her. He seems like the kind of guy to have done his research on all the greatest mages. And I’m sure he has a plan for how he means to fight her.
But, I still don’t see it happening. My prediction is that Frieren will defeat Denken and eliminate his party from the exam. And, this might be fine with Denken. We still don’t know why he’s taking the exam. To him, just getting to meet and fight Frieren might make the whole ordeal worthwhile.
Final Thoughts
What do you think of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Episode 20? Do you think Wirbel has ever actually killed anyone? Are you expecting Frieren to want to learn a spell from Serie? And, who do you think will win between Frieren and Denken? Let me know in the comments.
If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.
Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. And, I’d like to thank Key Mochi for supporting at the Senpai tier. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out DoubleSama.com/support.
My review of Episode 21 is available now.
Discover more from DoubleSama
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.
ダブル様 // Daily anime and manga reviews, rankings, and recommendations since 2017. Join our community.
4 Replies to “Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Episode 20 Review”
I am sticking with my prediction that Denken’s party will successfully complete their stealing of Frieren’s Stille and get away with it. I had my suspicions about the groupings being rigged given Frieren was paired with two kids who have been together since childhood, one of which is mostly useless in battle away from water, and this episode confirms it for me with Wirbel and Ehre having previously met. Maybe Frieren still has a chance if she can catch another Stille or steal one from another group, but I do believe Denken’s group will be successful given he’s been introduced as a sympathetic guy who doesn’t needlessly kill. I thought for sure that he was a cold-hearted killer, but it seems he’s more like a Frieren or Fern than a Ubel.
As for Serie having a spell to revive Himmel, I think Heiter said it best in one of this series’s earliest episodes if that such a spell existed, pretty damn near everybody would know it. I don’t think Serie has such a spell, but I believe it’s possible that the spell will be invented one day. I really like paying attention to small details, which is why Re:zero is right down my alley, so Frieren saying that humanity only recently learned how to fly by adapting the demonic spell for flying piqued my interest a lot. Where I’m going with this is that Aura could control the dead. What if a demon were to go one step further and resurrect the dead? We know that people can speak with the dead at Aureole at the Demon King’s castle. Given that possibility, maybe it’s possible for a demon to learn how to resurrect the dead.
I consider a demon eventually creating a spell that resurrects the dead a possibility mainly because Himmel was unable to draw out the Hero’s Sword, which means there is still some monstrous evil to be unleashed onto the world in the future. If a demon that could resurrect the dead existed, it would be a huge threat since it could bring back all the most dangerous demons from antiquity, including the previous Demon King. Frieren could learn to understand the principles behind the resurrecting of the dead and adapt the spell for humanity’s magic, allowing herself to live happily ever after with Himmel.
Even if Frieren learned a skill to revive the dead, I doubt she’d use it. Especially on Himmel. I can’t see Himmel wanting to be revived and I think she’d understand that.
The comment about the Hero’s Sword is interesting because, much to my surprise, Stark didn’t even attempt to pull it out. I feel like he’s going to be the true hero at the end of the story. It might not be during the main story. But, I could see there being an epilogue about him pulling the sword and defeating some great evil alongside Fern and whoever else happens to be in their party at the time. This would be after Frieren goes her own way. Maybe she decides to stay in Aureole.
On the contrary, I believe if there were anybody she would use the spell on, it would be Himmel. Imagine if Himmel tells her at Aureole that he loved her and wanted to live a life with her. Are you seriously telling me if Himmel told Frieren that she wouldn’t use the spell if she knew it?
Um, it’s exceedingly obvious that Wirbel HAS killed people before. They weren’t going to have him say it outright, but of course he’s killed people. He literally said when they’re not sent to fight demons mages like him are deployed in regular battles. He also then said that seeing child soldiers wasn’t uncommon, as it’s well known what typically makes humans falter. The implication there when he says that after Übel asks him if he’s killed women or children is that yes, he has. It couldn’t be more obvious without him outright saying “yeah I’ve killed child soldiers”. Come on now.