Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Episode 6 Review

Just Like Eisen

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Episode 6 focused on Stark and Eisen. In this episode, we learned a bit more about their similarities and relationship. And, now that we have, I like Stark more as a character. When he was introduced, I wasn’t convinced.

In Episode 5, we got a flashback of Eisen telling Frieren that Stark was a coward. And Frieren’s response to that was to say that Stark must be a great warrior like Eisen. Both Eisen and Stark are cowards, according to Eisen. But, we didn’t know how Eisen was a coward until now.

There was the implication that Eisen fled whatever killed his parents. And we saw that Stark was a coward for not wanting to fight the solar dragon. However, now we got to see that they both react to fear in the same way.

When faced with a powerful enemy, Eisen was shaking with fear. And not only that, but he wasn’t ashamed to admit that he was afraid. Stark is the same way. He shakes with fear when going up against a powerful enemy and he’s not afraid to admit it.

But, there seems to be a bit of a difference between the two situations we saw. In the scene of Eisen being afraid, he and the Hero’s party were going up against what they called a powerful foe. This monster looks like a final boss. But, that’s not quite how it is in Stark’s situation.

Yes, Stark is going up against a Solar Dragon effectively solo. But, what he doesn’t realize is that the Solar Dragon is the one more afraid of him. That’s why it hasn’t attacked the village in the past 3 years. It recognizes that Stark is stronger than it is.

The Hero of the Village

Stark seems to be on a different level than anyone from the Hero’s party. Eisen is a strong warrior who helped defeat the Demon Lord. And yet, he was afraid of his apprentice, Stark. That’s why Eisen hit him. It was a reflex from being afraid.

As I mentioned, this is also why the dragon didn’t attack the village. And, I suspected this was the case from the very first time we saw Stark confront the dragon last week. But, what is this power differential going to mean going forward?

Stark basically one-shot the Solar Dragon and even scared Eisen of the Hero’s party. So, is he ever going to run into an enemy that actually poses a challenge? Surely, the answer is yes. But, what form will that enemy take? The Demon Lord has been defeated. Are we to believe one of his remaining minions is strong enough?

My assumption at this point is that there won’t be a single enemy strong enough to pose a challenge. Instead, what will make fights involving Stark interesting is Frieren and Fern. They’ve been able to hold their own for now. But, what about against the Demon Lord’s minions?

As far as I know, this isn’t an action series. So, I’m expecting a lot more of the fights in this series to revolve around Frieren using the pieces at her disposal. Those pieces now include Stark, who’s going to have to cover Frieren and Fern.

Remember, the main reason for recruiting Stark was their need for a frontline fighter. Right now, Frieren and Fern can use hit-and-run tactics. That’s what they were planning to do against the dragon if Stark didn’t decide to help. But now, they can fight a wider variety of enemies.

A New Journey Begins

In case you aren’t aware, Episode 6 marked the end of the opening arc of the series. Starting with the next episode, we’re going to be getting into the first “real” arc of the series. The point of this first arc was to set up the world and characters.

But, why is this the point at which the “new journey” begins? Why didn’t the Journey start when Frieren took on Fern as her apprentice? The simple answer is that, until now, they haven’t left the region ruled by the kingdom (or its allies).

I forget what the name of the village they made it to in this episode was. But, this is the village that the Hero’s party set out on their journey from. Now that Frieren’s passed through the gate heading north, her new journey begins. From here on out, she’ll be following the same path she traveled 80 years earlier.

Aside from the cool fight against the dragon, there was one other part of Episode 6 I really liked. That was when Stark told Fern his reason for wanting to join her and Frieren on their Journey. And it’s not just because Eisen wanted him to.

Stark mentioned that Eisen never talked about himself much. But, he loved talking about his adventure with the Hero’s party. Those 10 years were the most important years of his life. Adventuring with a party meant a lot to Eisen. But now, he’s too old for it.

So, Stark wants to be able to return from this adventure and tell stories about it to Eisen. And, since Eisen’s getting up there in age, Stark doesn’t want there to be any delays on their journey. But, what he doesn’t yet realize is that the delays make it fun.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Episode 6? Were you expecting Stark to be that much stronger than the Solar Dragon? Do you think he’ll run into an enemy that’s an even match for him? And do you think he’ll return from the journey before Eisen dies? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 7 is available now.