Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End – Season 1 Episode 12 Recap & Review

A Real Hero

Episode 12 of Frieren: Beyond’s Journey’s End begins with Freren, Fern, and Stark walking up the Schwer Mountains. Frieren falls asleep and Fern tells Stark she’d like to carry her up the mountains. Frieren remembers the time when she, Himmel, Heiter, and Aizen received minuscule payment from a king. After departing his kingdom, they discuss Himmel’s replica Hero Blade, how he obtained it, and how it led to him meeting Heiter. Himmel says he’d like to get his hands on the real deal before they fight the Demon King. 

They arrive at the Village of the Sword and meet its village chief. Stark tells Fern he knows this village harbored the Hero’s Blade at some point while the village chief alludes to the Lord of the Mountain’s being a threat to the village. Stark explains the Hero’s Blade’s origins to Fern and says 80 years ago Himmel pulled it out of its sanctuary. The trio takes shelter somewhere to warm up. The village chieftain asks Frieren if she and her friends can take care of a few monsters that have been wandering around the village. 

Frieren and her friends comply as we see them using their weapons and techniques to defeat several wolf-like creatures. Suddenly, the Lord of the Mountains reveals itself and our heroes fight it. After defeating it, Stark asks Frieren to explain why the Hero’s Blade remains in the sanctuary. Frieren says Himmel failed to pull the sword from the stone. In a flashback, Himmel tells the others he doesn’t mind if he’s not acknowledged as a real hero. He says he’ll defeat the Demon King without the sword. 

Fern asks why people made up the narrative of him pulling the sword. Frieren claims people wanted others to know of Himmel as a hero and wanted to avoid having any embarrassing tales told about him. Frieren and the others leave the village and head for another village nearby. They visit an inn and Frieren tells Fern she’d like to relax here and read some grimoires. She reminds Fern that Stark’s birthday is coming up and Fern wishes Frieren reminded her about it sooner. 

Frieren shows Fern a clothes-dissolving potion she planned to give Stark for his birthday. Fern pours the potion on Frieren and leaves to talk with Stark. Fern realizes he’s not in his room and goes around asking people for his whereabouts. She finds Stark gazing at clouds and the two traverse through town. Fern asks Stark if he wants anything for his birthday and Stark wonders why Fern would do something like that for him. He reveals whether he received a gift on his birthday from his deceased family or Eizen before. 

Stark shares info about his past with Fern. He reveals he lived in a village of warriors that had no tolerance for weakness. In a flashback, we see a man belittling warriors from Stark’s village. He tells them to be more like Stark’s older brother Stoltz. Stoltz tells the man he plans to train Stark for a bit despite the man telling him it’s a waste of time. Stark tells Fern that a pack of monsters attacked his village, enticing him to abandon everyone. He compares himself to Himmel, saying he wouldn’t have done what he did in that situation. 

Fern says he shouldn’t let his past get to him since she knows the current him isn’t like that. Even if he resorts to these acts in the future, Fern promises to prevent him from doing so. Fern and Stark visit a shop and she purchases an item for him. They return to the inn and notice Frieren’s cooked large hamburg steaks for Stark. Stark reveals that Eizen used to make these steaks for him on his birthday. Frieren reveals that having hamburg steaks on one’s birthday is a part of Eizen’s region’s customs. 

He says it’s given to warriors who work hard. We get a flashback of Stoltz secretly cooking hamburg steak for Stark and transition to another scenario that reveals Stoltz influenced Stark to flee the village when it got attacked by monsters. Stark tells Frieren he likes the dish and she reveals that she still has some clothes-removal potion left. Fern warns Frieren that she’ll pour it on her again, and the episode closes with Stark wondering what it does. 

The Episode Review

After the previous episode’s wholesome encounter with Kraft, this chapter has our heroes visiting a village that’s said to harbor the powerful Hero Sword. Instead of offering a tale about how Himmel pulled the sword from the stone, this episode subverts viewers’ expectations by revealing that Himmel failed to pull the sword from the stone. 

This was an interesting twist many will appreciate as it plays a huge part in Stark and Fern’s discussion about strength and heroism. Furthermore, it’ll motivate viewers to achieve their goals in life, no matter if someone tells them they’re unattainable. Himmel aside, it was nice getting to peer into Stark’s village life for a bit. 

While many would’ve enjoyed receiving a bit more intel about Stoltz and his village’s reasons for disregarding any signs of weakness, we’ll receive more bits of Stark’s past life as the series progresses. On top of giving fans a wholesome birthday dinner scene between Frieren, Fern, and Stark, this was a pleasant episode to sit through. I’m excited to see where our heroes will end up next.