Privilege of the Young ｢
Synopsis
The party arrives in a large and lively town with a bustling shopping district that Frieren once visited with Himmel, but something seems to have come up between Fern and Stark.[1]
Plot
Twenty-nine years after Himmel's passing, Frieren's Party arrives at the Raad Region in the Northern Lands, where they visit a lively town filled with shops. Frieren recognizes the town as one the Hero Party had visited before, and she briefly recalls their experience, which includes Heiter delight towards the abundance of bars and Himmel's invitation to go shopping with Frieren. In the present, she looks at a clock tower in the distance. Stark calls out to her, and she goes to catch up with the rest of her party.
In an inn, Stark tearfully exclaims that Fern is too critical to him. He tells Frieren and Fern that he has had enough and loudly proclaims that he is returning to his master, slamming the door on his way out. In the hallway, Sein watches him angrily leave while complaining about Fern. Frieren follows Stark out the door and encounters Sein, who has only witnessed the aftermath of the argument and asks if Stark and Fern are having a lovers' quarrel. Frieren sits with a sulking Fern on the bed and explains that today is Fern's birthday, but Stark failed to prepare a present for her. Frieren believes that Fern went overboard, as she refused to listen to anything Stark said. Sein inputs that he too has no gift for Fern, as men typically do not make a big deal out of anniversaries like birthdays. Fern's anger erupts and she stands up to kick Sein's shins, causing Sein to say he will go buy Fern a gift. As he lights a cigarette, Sein expresses that he feels sorry for Stark and tells Fern that for a boy of Stark's age, dealing with girls is hard and can affect him emotionally. When Sein heads out, he advises Fern that she should pursue Stark. Fern is further urged to do so by Frieren, and after she contemplates the idea, Fern heads out.
Stark sits despondently at the base of a statue of Himmel and looks at his bracelet. Fern finds him and watches him from behind a building, uncertain about what to do. Meanwhile, Sein searches for a present for Fern and sets his eyes on a pouch with a butterfly design from a vendor, noting that Fern also has a butterfly hair ornament. Fern approaches him and comments that she finds the pouch cute. Sein wonders if the pouch is not to Fern's taste, but Fern refutes him and claims that she finds the pouch unpleasant as it gives the impression that Sein is experienced with women.
Sein then asks Fern if she managed to find Stark. Fern states that she saw him at the plaza, but she does not finish her statement, leading Sein to deduce that Fern was unable to talk to him. He notes that her youth makes her incapable of handling boys the same age as her, but he can see that she does not actually hate Stark. He requests that Fern pick whichever item she wants for her gift or choose a different store. Fern smiles and tells him it is alright, prompting him to say that he will choose something then. As he continues looking, Sein advises Fern that even if Stark failed to prepare her a gift, he still thinks she was too hard on him, as Stark is not the most aware guy and probably does not even remember his own birthday. Fern explains that she gave Stark a present on his birthday, but Sein calls her out on the fact that he picked something out with her together for him. Fern is surprised that Sein was able to figure that out, but Sein tells her that it is rare for people to reject an offer to pick whatever present they would like. After this, he grabs the pouch with the butterfly motif and buys it from the shop owner. He hands the gift to Fern and encourages her to make up with Stark by vocalizing her thoughts and properly express them to him.
Fern approaches Stark, who is still at the plaza, and Stark apologizes to Fern before she can voice her words. He explains that he wanted to find something together, but he was unsure if she would like the idea. Fern tells him she would not be upset with him for proposing the idea and apologizes in return for treating him harshly. They reconcile and walk down the street to explore the town.
Frieren watches Fern and Stark from a rooftop, and she is soon joined by Sein. He tells her that she should not be spying on Fern and Stark, but Frieren reminds him that he is doing the same. Sein comments that the two have managed to make up, and he expresses that Fern and Stark being able to argue is a privilege only young individuals can experience, as adults would have learned to avoid conflicts of this nature. He tells Frieren that she has it rough dealing with the two kids, but Frieren struggles to comprehend what he means about understanding relationships, which causes Sein retort that Frieren must also be a kid. Sein tells Frieren that Fern came to him to ask for advice, and he wonders who she is comparing him to. Frieren explains that Heiter was the one who raised Fern, and Sein is uncertain about being compared to a man he holds in such high regard. Frieren cites Heiter's unpleasant sides and points out that Heiter was a corrupt priest, but Sein views him as the ideal adult.
Frieren thinks back to Heiter's last years, when she was with him and Fern. She said to Heiter that he had matured, and he acknowledged that he had grown old. However, Heiter felt that his mind had barely changed since he was a child and that instead of him being an actual adult, he just pretended to be one, and he had to do so to provide emotional support to Fern as a good role model. After Heiter said that children need praise, Frieren asked who would praise Heiter for his efforts. He mentioned that the Goddess would do so when he gets to Heaven, but Frieren remarked that she will praise him now and started patting him on the head. Heiter expressed the pleasantness of her action, and he told her that when he sees the Goddess, he will ask her to also praise Frieren.
Back in the present, Frieren starts patting Sein's head. He asks her what her intention is, and she tells him that he is doing a good job as an adult. Sein voices his disappointment, as he would have appreciated an older women comforting him instead. Meanwhile, Stark and Fern browse the streets of the town as Stark tries to find a present for Fern.
After leaving the Rohr Road town, Frieren's party catches a ride on a horse-drawn carriage that moves through the Bande Woods in the Northern Lands. Frieren thanks the driver for taking them along, as wagons are not common in the area. The driver reveals that he is a merchant who runs an accessories shop, and he asks if the party would be interested in checking out his goods. Frieren responds that he is a good salesman, but she is not interested. As she asks if Fern would be interested, Frieren notices Fern wearing a new bracelet. Frieren compliments the design and mentions that she had once been gifted a ring from Himmel that has the same design.
Frieren begins digging through her suitcase in search of the ring, but she is unable to find it due to the unkempt state of her luggage, which Fern chastises her for. She finally finds the ring, however, immediately after, the wagon is lifted into the air by an enormous aerial monster.
Frieren apologizes for letting down her guard and not detecting the monster earlier, and she comments on the ability of bird monsters to cunningly mask their mana. Stark suggests that they fight the bird and use flying magic to land the wagon, but Frieren asks if he has ever seen a flying carriage before and points out that humans have only recently been able to fly in the last forty years by copying flying magic from demons. Thus, mankind's version of flying magic cannot be used freely, as its principles are still unknown, and objects larger than humans can only be made to fly for a short period of time, which is not enough for them to safely land. With their options limited, Frieren proposes they simply escape by flying. Fern is asked to take Sein while she herself takes the merchant.
Stark asks what he is supposed to do, and Frieren tells him to jump down, but Stark reminds her that he will fall to his death. Frieren comments that he, as a warrior, would not die from falling from that height, with which Stark vehemently disagrees. Frieren recalls how Eisen could fall from any height without sustaining any injuries, shocking Heiter, but Fern reminds Frieren that this only shows how far from normal Eisen was. Fern suggests making the wagon float right before it hits the ground. Frieren calculates if they can cancel out their fall, as they must break the momentum or the wagon would be crushed, much to Stark's dismay.
Sein points out that they should make their decision soon, as the bird monster hunts its prey by slamming it into the ground. Frieren agrees and immediately heads out to cast an offensive spell at the monster, decapitating it. Subsequently, the wagon begins falling freely, and Stark screams at Frieren to not make them suddenly drop. They crash into the ground, but everyone, including the horse, manages to survive the fall without any prominent injuries. Sein uses Goddess's magic to heal the horse, and Frieren apologizes to the merchant for getting them into the situation. However, he tells her not to worry and instead thanks her, as he would have died if he had been traveling alone.
The next day, the group begins repairs on the carriage. As Frieren goes through her luggage, she realizes her ring from Himmel is missing. Meanwhile, Fern, Stark and Sein gather supplies. They talk about the warmer weather, during which Sein notices Fern's bracelet, which Fern reveals is a birthday gift from Stark. Stark laments how it took him three hours to choose. Sein confirms that Stark personally picked out the bracelet and comforts him about how difficult of a situation he must have been in. Stark agrees and complains about how he had to try and read Fern's face for three hours as he picked out her present. Nevertheless, he expresses relief that she ended up happily accepting the gift.
Sein compliments Stark's nature, as he had expected him to be much less charming. With Sein's knowledge about the language of flowers, he reveals to Stark that the mirrored-lotus flower on the bracelet's design means "eternal love," and in this region, such a gift is given by people to their lovers. Fern overhears this and Stark asserts to her that he was not aware of its meaning. He exclaims that he has no knowledge of the language of flowers and that everything was a misunderstanding, causing Fern to bitterly call him an idiot. He points out that Fern was unaware of the meaning too and asks if she would like a different gift instead. Fern rejects the idea, given the amount of effort Stark had put into finding the gift, and she tells him never to bring up such a suggestion again. As Stark apologizes, Sein is amused, and the three of them head back to the camp.
The group camp out over the next few days as they fix the wagon. Every night, Frieren leaves the campsite to search for something, which Fern picks up on. On their last night, Fern follows Frieren. She asks what Frieren is looking for, and the elf mentions the ring that Himmel gave her was missing. Fern offers to aid in the search and tells her that they can delay their departure. Frieren explains that she is used to losing things and Himmel has given her other gifts, so she will give up on searching if she cannot find it that night. Fern points out that if the ring has the same design as her bracelet, it must also mean "eternal love" in the language of flowers. Frieren discloses that she was not aware, and she doubts was Himmel was aware as well. However, Fern expresses that it must be important to her.
After learning about Frieren's missing ring, the merchant says that they should have told him and explains that a few people lost accessories over the years, so he has a spell that finds lost accessories. He mentions that he intended to gift Frieren the spell as a reward for her assistance, and Frieren gladly accepts it. Frieren then flies into the night sky and casts the spell. While doing so, she thinks back to when Himmel rewarded her for her hard work in one of their side quests by letting her pick out something from an accessory stand. She promptly picked out a ring without much thought, and upon seeing her choice, Himmel longingly smiled and thanked the vendor.
Back in the present, Frieren is able to detect the ring after using the spell, which causes the ring to emit a column of light from within the forest. As she goes to retrieve it, Frieren is reminded of another memory, where she walked alongside Himmel towards the clock tower in the Raad Region's town after they purchased the ring. Himmel called out to Frieren and gave her the ring by kneeling down and sliding it onto her ring finger. The flashback ends with him smiling blissfully as Frieren stands, confused.
With the carriage fixed, the group continues their journey through the forest. Fern mentions that Frieren must be glad to have her lost ring back, and Frieren happily reflects on her memories. She then turns the interest to Fern and asks why she wears a bracelet with a mirrored-lotus motif. This prompts Fern to call Stark an idiot, which causes Stark to mope.
Characters in Order of Appearance
Locations in Order of Appearance
- Raad Region
- Outskirts of the Holy city of Strahl (flashback)
- Bande Woods
- Turk Region (flashback)
- Voll Basin (flashback)
Episode Notes
- At the start of the episode, Frieren's Party is shown going through town. While doing so, Frieren recalls the Hero Party's previous visit to the same town, and she looks at a clocktower in the distance. This scene is original to the anime, and it relates to the end of the episode, where Frieren has a memory of Himmel kneeling and sliding the ring with the mirrored-lotus flower motif onto her finger in front of the clocktower.
- In the anime, when Frieren and Sein end their talk on the roof, a scene of Stark gauging Fern's reactions to potential birthday presents follows. In the manga, this scene occurs as a flashback instead in Chapter 31.
- When Frieren explains that flying magic is relatively new to humans, she pictures a demon flying in the air in both the manga and the anime. However, the anime also includes the scenes of Frieren flying to the top of the tower with the blue-moon weed in Episode 3 and Fern carrying Frieren while flying in Episode 4 to illustrate this.
- In the manga, the memory Frieren has when describing Eisen's sturdiness simply depicts the dwarf in an impact crater. The anime extends this scene and includes Eisen diving head first off a cliff and forming the crater upon hitting the ground.
- In the anime, after Frieren kills the aerial monster and the wagon subsequently crash-lands, she states that she considers their plan a success, which evokes comments from Stark and Sein that are not included in the manga.
- In Crunchyroll's English subtitled release of this episode of the anime, the scene in which Himmel gifts Frieren the ring mistakenly has Himmel say that the ring is a reward for Frieren's hard work towards defeating the now-deceased Demon King.[2] This would imply that the scene occurs after the defeat of the Demon King. The original Japanese voice line has no mention of the Demon King, and the English subtitles were later fixed to reflect the correct line. The subtitles now correctly state that Himmel wanted to reward Frieren for a good job on a side quest, which is the same line used in the manga.[3]
References
- ↑ Crunchyroll: Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Episode 14.
- ↑ r/Frieren on Reddit: Episode 14 mistranslation by u/enginesofdemise. Archived on December 16, 2023.
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 30 (p. 17).
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