With the knowledge of every character’s clones being exact replicas, all the characters must find a way to defeat themselves.

Recap & Reaction

Opener

The opener is just a recap of what happened at the cliffhanger in the previous episode. Wirbel, Ehre and Scharf come across their 3 exact replicas, whom Wirbel confidently pointed out who each one of them will fight against. Denken, Laude, Richter & Methode just wrapped up their battle an exact replica of Laufen, in which Methode concludes that a monster or demon is likely the entity behind it. As they reach the end of their destination to enter the very last gate, it is none other than the clone of Frieren, waiting for their arrival.

How many people still watch recaps and the opening credit these days? The opening credits legitimately has spoilers in it, which I always find to be funny. I’ve always preferred a more dramatic hook for episodes, but I guess having to fight the strongest mage would suffice as something incredibly major.

Water-Mirror Demon

Genau has some tea with another fellow mage as he discusses everything about the dungeon the participants are in. Right away, he mentions that this dungeon monster is called, “Spiegel the Water-Mirror Fiend.” It appears that the monster that roams that dungeon is from a “mythical era in Ewig the Sage’s heroic tales,” which can create clones of those of whoever enters the dungeon. This particular monster using the their memories, can create “perfect clones that replicate everything from the body to all of their abilities.” This monster is similar to the monster that Fern & Frieren encountered that created ghosts of their memories. The other mage asks Genau, “why did Sense choose that particular dungeon for an exam?” It is a safer way to prevent death, figure out how to defeat their mirror selves, and have everyone work together.

It’s nice to know a little bit of the context behind the dungeon and monsters, but it doesn’t really move the needle much in making the story that much more interesting.

Clone Frieren Attacks!

The scene momentarily shifts back to the clone Frieren making her attack. As she releases an explosive beam at Denken, Laufen, Richter & Methode, they all hastily get behind the previous gate. Denken can’t help but feel stumped as to what they will do next as Richter calls for him to decide their next course of action.

This is what we all want to see. If Frieren is the strongest mage alive, then this might be how it will look if she ever had an evil clone. Imagine all the typical anime tropes of clones & evil versions of characters. It gives another way for the main characters to fight against strong characters, which would be against Frieren’s clone.

Ubel & Land

Unfortunately for Land, he is having a rough time with a trail of blood coming from a dungeon door where Ubel’s mirror stands. The real Ubel tells ‘megane’ that they are trapped and asks him how exact is that mirror version of her is compared to the real her. Land can’t help but feel annoyed at her calling him four-eyes and speaking nonchalantly. Ubel concludes that that clone didn’t copy her memories or personalities, but Land quickly corrects her that it likely just can’t speak. Looking back, Land explains that when the Ubel clone attacked him, it purposefully stole the escape golem. In which, Ubel confirms that that would be her exact tactic as well.

Land thinks that it likely hasn’t continued attacking because it fears her “Sorganeil spell.” This prompts Ubel to respond deviously that it “might just enjoy tormenting them.” Ubel notices how much blood Land has lost and questions if this is even the real megane? She offers her golem bottle to him, but Land refuses. Ubel gets back up and tells Land that he should just chill until she gets back the bottle golem for him.

Suddenly, a fight breaks out between the real Ubel vs the clone Ubel. Both fight on as Ubel analyzes how she would defeat herself. It would just be a game of controlling the distance, which will ultimately just come down to luck as they are evenly matched. The mirror Ubel ends up using Sorganeil onto the real Ubel and as it seems like she’d be out of luck, Land comes right in to surprise the Ubel clone. As the clone had to break it’s spell on the real Ubel, Ubel took out the clone in one big swipe of her staff. Ubel’s hunch was right that that Land was a clone, which means the golem bottle was a clone as well. Land asks why she would take such a risk? Ubel just had a hunch that Land would save her in the end. The fact that he didn’t take her golem bottle, gives her the assumption that Land isn’t the type to want to be responsible for someone else’s death. Ubel thanks Land in the end, as Land asks if she’s “able to ’empathize’ with him yet?” Ubel answers that, “it’ll take a little longer.”

Uh oh! Ubel is beginning to ’empathize.’ This scene between Land & Ubel was very predictable as it displayed all the typical tropes. We know that Land can easily clone himself and Ubel can easily sense the ‘fishiness’ in land’s actions. What is interesting is the dynamic between these two, who both seem very cold and calculated. Ubel’s ability to copy abilities by ’empathizing’ is what is keeping her human and Land seems like he’s more than just a brick wall that Ubel will eventually figure out.

Frieren, Fern & Sense Come Across..

What we have here folks, is a nice filler scene. As Frieren, Fern & Sense make their to the end of the dungeon, Frieren couldn’t help but come across a wall with a hidden room that “feels like” there is a super duper rare grimoire. Frieren deduced that based on how the walls and statues were placed, she’s fairly certain that there’s a secret room. Frieren turns a knob and it opens up a pathway where they get to walk upstairs into a super secret room where they find a historical mural. Sense explains that this big mural displayed the achievements of one of the kings of this Unified Dynasty era. Frieren couldn’t help but smile at Fern marveling at this big mural.

This scene would be the perfect example of what the definition of an anime filler would be. It has no bearing on the plot, besides having some fun moments where Frieren gets to show the fun side of her personality. However, as they inch closer to the Frieren clone, that little smile from Frieren to Fern will act as kind of a foreshadowing.. or possibly, “the passing of the torch” moment. This is likely what the creators wanted to add to continue building that suspense up until they end up fighting Frieren’s clone.

Frieren, Fern & Sense at the Inner Most Depths

Frieren, Fern & Sense make it to where she questions why Denken and the others are just sitting around behind the dungeon door leading to the inner most depths. Denken explains that half a day has already passed since the mirror Frieren appeared. Frieren couldn’t help but be excited at this development as she says that “this is how dungeon raids should be.” After Denken updates Frieren about the replica being the exact same, Frieren hints that it should have the same weaknesses as the real her. Richter points out that the best strategies for defeating stronger opponents is to use “hypnosis or restraint magic.” Unfortunately for everyone, Frieren is resistant to both kinds of magic. Even if it’s a slight edge, Denken points out that it would be enough for the real Frieren to beat the clone.

Denken has Methode try her resistant magic on Frieren, but as Methode hugs Frieren to use her magic, she states that Frieren is completely immune to it. Comedically, Frieren can’t help but point out how wonderfully Methode smells as her face is pushed against her chest. Like a disappointed mother, Fern puts on her face of disgust. Next up, Methode tries some hypnosis spells and asks Frieren to “look into her eyes.” Just like Frieren said earlier, she is resistant. Fern annoyingly pulls Frieren back from the hourglass Methode. Methode explains that Frieren’s “mental defenses is complex and old” and that only someone that specializes in hypnosis magic can get past it. This brings up the capabilities of the other participants, dwindling down to someone named, “Edel.” She explains further that she has “no combat abilities” and is skeptical about her abilities to even make it this far. Still, they are not even sure if hypnotic spells would work on the replicas, since it’s not guaranteed that they would have minds to control.

This episode has been highlighting all the characters we really haven’t gotten to see. Beyond basic magic, Methode is able to show a diverse amount of magical spells. She’s also able to deliver a ton of insight, in which it displays what Sense wanted out of this test from the participants.

Edel, Blei & Dunste’s Big Problem..

Edel, Blei and Dunste have found themselves in quite the predicament. All three are temporarily concealing themselves from another powerful clone, Sense. Blei insists that they would have to defeat the clone Sense with the assumption that it is just as powerful as the real Sense. However, Edel knows that they do not have the ability to do so. Dunste mentions how “modern magic isn’t suited for dungeon combat.”

To make matters more bleak, Edel says that using “powerful defensive spells takes up too much of their resources.” Attack spells are more efficient with objects already in present, than creating one from scratch. Sense’s clone’s abilities are amazing at it all by using “multiple layers of magic” that is in her hair. Since Sense is able to use each and every strand of her hair, it makes her that much more of a threat. Once again, the theme of magic being more powerful as more imaginative you are is a big lesson behind this arc. Edel insists that they have already lost. Blei asks how her hypnosis magic would do against Sense and to her reply, she can “only create an opening by making it kneel.” Furthermore, she would have to “make eye contact and speak to it.” Like with Methode worried about earlier, the clone would still have to actually have a mind to control. Dunste gets interested and asks how long she would be able to hold the clone Sense off? 15 seconds is what she can give.

All of the sudden, the replica Sense attacks! Edel tells Blei and Dunst to fully use their defensive magic. In the middle of the fight, Edel explains that the two ways to defeat modern defensive magic is to “hit it hard enough with mass or somehow slip through it.” Unfortunately, Sense’s clone achieved both. As Edel makes eye contact with the cloned Sense, she says how much strong mages like to keep focus on their opponent’s eyes, she announces her command with “Kneel!” In that very instant, Edel gets impaled by the replica Sense. Everyone’s worst fears came true, the clones do not have minds. Edel tells the others to escape to the other mages and rely on them as she uses her escape golem. When the replica Sense tries to take Edel again, the escape golem tanks the attack and shields her away to take her to safety.

Dunste and Blei make their swift escape and question if anyone can even make it to the bottom of the dungeon. Blei’s fears from the beginning of the 2nd exam is enhanced as he thinks Sense just wants them to die. This starts another class Frieren montage with the loner Ton, getting the worst of it.

As little as Edet, Blei and Dunste has done and said this entire arc, they served their purpose for this exciting scene. Even though these three are not really “battle mages,” it’s cool to see another aspect of magic being used. Everything that Genau mentioned from the beginning of the episode from what Sense wanted out of this test is coming to fruition. Everyone must force themselves to work together and correctly analyze their own strengths & weaknesses. Then, they have to come up with a sound strategy. Wirbel seemed to figure it out right away when they were forced to fight their replicas. Ubel had an easy strategy to defeat her replica with the forceful aid of Land. Denken and the others are still trying to strategize. Now, Edel is the latest example of “knowing your own strength” and correctly calling it quits. Meanwhile, Blei & Dunste show how they are the least perceptive and worthy at acknowledging the reality of their situation.

Wirbel, Ehre & Scharf Finish Themselves

As Wirbel, Ehre and Scharf are fighting against their replicas, Wirbel is confident in how they can beat the replicas of themselves. He deduces that Ehre’s mana would outmatch Scharf and his. The replica Ehre starts raining down shots from the ceiling with Wirbel matching its attacks. He reveals that he is fully confident in being able to defeat the replicas “no matter the opponent or situation,” as he blasts a big hole in the ceiling.

I don’t think the montages or this scene was in the manga. With this scene and the one with the secret room, it gave the episode 2-3 extra minutes. I guess you can’t go wrong with added a few more scenes with “pew pews” in it.

There’s Only One Way..

As Frieren sits down with the others, she tells them that they should just prepare to fight with “brute force,” as it is safest to assume that the replicas don’t have minds that they can use hypnosis spells on. Denken questions if brute force is even a reality when all of the sudden, Fern puts her hand up and suggests that “I might be able to kill Frieren.” Frieren puts a smile on her face and says that they should “come up with a strategy.”

There is a bit of a nuanced flair from the anime to the manga with this exact scene. In the English translation of the manga and how the manga panel was drawn with Fern, it seemed a lot less dramatic. In the anime, with the close up of Fern’s eyes “suggesting” that she could kill Frieren, it seemed a lot more cold and brutal. Given that I’m very pro ‘hooks’ and ‘cliffhangers,’ I loved the slight differences and fillers the anime chose to add. This would be the beginning of what Fern’s climatic character development would be in this arc. This is a necessary and emphatic moment for Fern’s character.

Last Thoughts

A Test of Lessons

This episode is all about what Sense truly wanted out of all the test takers. Everyone must work together, analyze everyone’s strength & weaknesses and make the necessary decision to essentially, beat themselves. Every team shown so far has been forced to face the same adversity, which delivered their own success and failures.

The Great Storytelling of This Arc and How it Relates to Fern

From the very beginning of this arc, Fern felt very unsure about her strength and abilities as a mage. One of the biggest themes of this arc is Fern’s growth and it has been subtly hinted throughout. From Fern’s ‘chest’ coming into its own, defeating Ehre with ease and Frieren smiling at Fern’s behavior, the climatic moment is here with Fern getting ready to defeat her sensei’s replica.

Serie being somewhat of the “main antagonist” of this arc draws parallels to Fern & Frieren’s relationship has master and student—just as Frieren was the student to Flamme and Flamme being the student to Serie. This truly is setting up the “passing of the torch” moment from Frieren to Fern.

If anyone is watching Frieren up to this point, it is hard not to be pleased with what the adaptation has to offer. While filler can cause the pacing to slow down, it had little to no effect on the quality of the episode—even giving us more insight on Wirbel, Ehre and Scharf’s fight against their own replicas. With such a large cast of characters in this arc, it’s hard not to enjoy the fresh feeling of what all the other characters have to offer. The story feels cohesive and purposeful, which is all looking like it will culminate into Fern advancing into her next big development as a character.

Manga

This episode covers manga chapters 50-51. The adaptation seemed very accurate with the awesome abilities of Madhouse adding in great fighting animation. There were a couple of filler moments like the secret room and an actual scene where Wirbel, Scharf and Ehre are fighting their replicas.