Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End – Season 1 Episode 20 Recap & Review

Necessary Killing

Episode 20 of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End begins with Ubel and Wirbel fighting. Meanwhile, Fern overwhelms Wirbel’s female comrade, Ehre, with her magic and defeats her. Wirbel uses a binding spell on Ubel. He demands her to give him her group’s Stille. He removes the spell and Ubel asks him why he chose not to take the Stille from her when she couldn’t move. 

Wirbel doesn’t respond. Ubel throws the Stille’s cage into the air and attacks Wirbel. Wirbel initiates the spell again but receives a slight wound. Ubel learns about Wirbel’s spell’s range and Wirbel tells Ubel she should’ve aimed for his neck instead of his eyes. Before Wirbel kills her, Ubel asks him about his experiences with murder and death.

Wirbel briefly touches upon the Northern Magic Corps’s goals and duties with Ubel. Before Wirbel kills Ubel, Fern arrives and stops him. Wirbel is surprised Fern defeated Ehre and assumes Fern helped Ubel catch the Stille. Ubel shares details on how they accomplished the task and Fern confirms she killed Ehre. 

Realizing he’s failed the test, Wirbel spares Ubel and flees. Once he leaves, Ubel realizes Fern fabricated the truth and didn’t kill Ehre. Fern suggests they help Land, but Ubel says he’ll be okay. We shift to Land and his fight with Wirbel’s ally, Scharf. Scharf is confident he’ll prevail over Land, but Land uses his illusion magic to defeat him. 

Wirbel finds Ehre unconscious and can’t believe he fell for Fern’s tricks. Wirbel wakes Ehre up and confronts her about her loss of Fern. He suggests they find Scharf. With Ehre on his back, they find Scharf lying on the ground. Scharf tells Wirbel he can’t move, so Wirbel uses his magic to lift him into the sky, similar to what Fern did for Stark in a previous chapter.

During their stroll, Wirbel fears they’re going to fail the test. Ehre interrogates Wirbel about his kindness and mentions that he once saved her village. Wirbel says he didn’t save her or people from demons for kindness’s sake. He did it because he had ulterior motives. He informs Ehre that he made a promise to a girl he loved in his hometown that he’d kill as many demons as possible. 

Suddenly, Ehre notices a Stille in the tree and informs Wirbel about it. Wirbel uses his binding magic spell to capture it. We return to the battle between Lawine, Frieren, Kanne, and Laufen. Denken observes from afar and fears Laufen’s magic won’t work against Frieren’s group now that they’ve seen it. 

Laufen steals the Stille from Frieren. Meanwhile, we cut to Genau and the second test’s proctor, Sense, discussing the competition’s intensity and its remaining participants. Denken approaches Frieren and Frieren asks him several questions regarding Laufen’s magic, his Stille plans, and how he knows about her legacy. 

Richter plans to kill Lawine or Kanne to prevent Frieren’s party from achieving victory. Denken orders him not to, surprising Richter because he thought Denken was a merciless mage due to his past. Denken says he is, but killing someone over the “first-class mage” title is ridiculous in his eyes, and Frieren agrees. 

Richter explains the value the first-class mage title grants someone. He shares details about the Magic Association’s great mage and founder, Serie, her goals, and what she plans to reward those who attain this title. He states Serie is a living grimoire who knows every spell in human history and is the closest mage to achieving the level of a Goddess. 

After sharing this tale, Richter uses a spell to prevent Lawine and Kanne from assisting Frieren. The episode closes with both groups getting ready to clash next week. 

The Episode Review

This episode does an exceptional job of getting fans excited about current and future developments. From the interesting tidbits we received of Wirbel’s past and goals to the lore regarding Serie’s wish-granting abilities, I’m thrilled to see where the story takes off after the first-class mage exam arc closes.

However, it was jarring to see Wirbel fall for Fern’s trickery. You’d think with all the build-up and praise he received from Ehre’s character last week, he’d be a more competent leader and warrior. Moreover, it was a bit disappointing that his comrades couldn’t put up much of a fight against Fern’s party. Fortunately, Wirbel and his team won’t be out of the running for the first-class mage title yet. 

This means Ehre, Wirbel, and Scharf could receive more screen time and development in forthcoming chapters, which is great to know. Here’s hoping Denken, Richter, and Lauren will receive more depth during their battle with Frieren, Lawine, and Kanne. Besides that, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End continues to impress and intrigue viewers with its mythos and tension. I’m curious to see how this battle unfolds next week.