Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End 2 episode 2

Rating: B+

This episode firmly falls into the “events while traveling” part of the series, which many fans of the franchise would argue is where the series is at its strongest. Indeed, even though this isn’t one of the series’ more exciting and impactful episodes, there’s still a lot to like and a lot of meaning to be found in the two vignettes which compose this episode.

The first of the two returns to a theme brought up at least once before in season 1: that while Himmel may be the hero who ultimately defeated the Demon King, he was hardly the land’s only hero. Kraft’s heroism was so far back that even a statue of him still remaining isn’t enough to prevent his deeds from being lost to the passage of time, but that isn’t the case with the Hero of the South. He was a contemporary of Himmel (or perhaps slightly before), but although he was the strongest of all the human heroes, he wouldn’t be the one to defeat the Demon King, and he knew it because of his foresight. He did, however, play a critical role in Himmel’s ultimate success by clearing a path through his defeat of three of the Seven Sages of Destruction in the battle that ended his life. Granted, you could claim that his knowledge that his deeds would help the ultimate hero bolstered him by letting him know that even his failed effort wouldn’t be in vain, but he still went into that battle knowing that his end was pre-ordained. That’s a pretty powerful bit of heroism in itself.

Frieren’s flashbacks on this provide a set of powerful scenes. One is the broken, bloodied sword in the snow symbolizing the dead of the Hero of the South, and a second is the shot of the strike the killed Schlacht the Omniscient; that he and a fellow precognitive would wind up killing each other somehow seems fitting. And the third is Himmel’s reaction to Frieren telling him the Hero of the South’s words: that he would clear a path for Himmel. This is meaningful because it’s just about the only time in the many flashback where Himmel responds with a frown instead of a smile. He, better, than anyone, understands the weight behind the Hero of the South’s message. Much credit goes to the musical score through these scenes for how effectively it delivers the sentiment of these moments.

Those flashbacks also bring up one other point: as strong as the Hero of the South was, he was just one man, and he is shown fighting alone. Frieren mentioned in episode 27 that the Demon King wouldn’t have been defeated if any of her, Himmel, Heiter, or Eisen hadn’t been there. This scene with the Hero of the South suggests that this wasn’t just because of strength in numbers. No matter how strong the individual, there’s only so much a single person can do.

That idea also pops up – though much more briefly – in the second vignette, the one concerning the sword demon. The battle against the demon towards the end of this part provides the episode’s one flashy bit of animation, but it also is just about the only scene in the series showing the central trio all fighting together in a fully-complementary battle. Otherwise this part is much less remarkable, as it just reinforces some things we’ve already known: about how demons are so deceit-driven and don’t operate within a human moral framework and how Frieren feels obligated to follow up on tasks that Himmel once completed. Somewhat like with the Sword of the Hero back in episode 12 of the first season, what’s so special about that sword that it attracts demons is actually beside the point.

The journey across the north continues. Return next week for the next stage!