As Frieren sits by the fire, her party-mates fast asleep, she recalls another fire long ago when Heiter told Himmel to be himself, rather than pretend he’s not afraid. Eisen’s hands would shake and he never denied his fear, something his student Stark inherited.
Fern, who was partnered with fellow third-class Ubel and second-class Land, have already successfully captured a Stille. Fern is relieved they’ll pass the test, but the other two mages warn that the true fight has just begun: now that they have a bird, others will try to steal it.
Those others don’t include Frieren’s party. She intends to nab one fair and square, but all previous attempts failed miserably. With a thousand years of strategies to draw from, Frieren comes up with a clever plan that utilizes Lawine and Kanne’s specific magical talents.
The episode presents their plan in action, in parts from the POV of other parties, before explaining it verbally, a move I really liked because it puts us in the same shoes as the other parties. The plan starts out big and loud, with Lawine freezing the entire central lake, ensuring no Stille will ever come near it.
That means the Stilles will seek out other, smaller bodies of water to drink from. Kanne has most of them covered by placing a small amount of her mana (typically only enough for a Still to detect). This narrows the sources of the birds’ water, but also the opportunities for other parties to catch birds.
Fern, Ubel, and Land are ambushed by a party composed of Wirbel (the war veteran), Ehre, a fellow second-class, and Scharf, a third-class. Magical attacks crackle and pop as they fly furiously through the air, and at no point does Fern panic, despite her opponent Ehre being a class above her. Nor does Ubel, who relishes fighting, care that she got Wirbel. If we’re honest both of them should be ranked higher than third.
Speaking of under-ranked mages, Denken seems a lot more powerful than second-class would suggest, and his younger party-mates Laufen (third) and Richter (second), no slouches themselves, defer to his considerable judgment. Like Frieren, he’s patient. Unlike Frieren, he’s cold. No actions will be taken—even taking down a party of dead mages from the trees—that aren’t necessary to the success of their mission.
Denken and Frieren represent mages who’ve reached an age and level of experience where they understand that it’s just as important to know how to go small than to go big. Frieren sits beside a pond with no mana in it, suppressing her mana to the point it’s visualized as an aura shrinking into her body.
The young ladies think her mana is gone, but just as Denken sensed the miniscule amount of mana in the ponds, Frieren can sense even more miniscule amounts. To her, it’s a lot of mana! At the same time, she suppresses it enough that a Stille perches on her shoulder, allowing her to cast a miniature version of the binding spell she used to save Kanne.
Frieren was sure to use as little mana as possible, but it was still enough for Denken to detect. That’s when he goes into field general mode. Laufen vanishes like ninja, and reappears right behind Frieren, Lawine, and Kanne. The latter two might have trouble with Laufen, but I have full confidence in Frieren’s ability to protect them.
As Ehre continues her fight with Fern, she’s tickled by Fern’s use of basic-as-hell attack and defense spells. It feels to Ehre like she’s fighting her grandfather. It’s the first time I really considered that Fern’s style is not only old-fashioned, but downright ancient. It’s also cool that the newer mages have branched out with their own individual styles.
It also reminds me that Fern is a fuckin’ badass. I remember earlier in her training when her hands trembled and she hesitated. This Fern, trained by the mage that helped bring down the Demon King, is someone special, but also bit of a relic to some, nay most other mages in the larger world.
And God bless Fern flexing in the most deadpan matter-of-fact way imaginable: by saying her master taught her that basic spells were “enough to defeat mages of this era.” If anyone knows about mages of many eras, it’s Frieren, who is walking talking history.
Fern can sense that Ehre is actually stronger than Wirbel, but Ehre warns her mana isn’t the only measure of a mage. Just as Denken mentioned how no amount of mana will serve a mage who cannot win hearts. Wirbel’s no doubt won a few in his many battles.
That experience and charisma makes him that much more dangerous, but I’m putting my rhetorical coin on the retro-af Frieren and Fern both holding their own in the trials to come, proving that old spells are the best spells.
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