Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today the northern road beckons, as we settle down with our trusted traveling companions for an episode of Frieren: Beyond Journey\u2019s End. What dangers lie ahead are unknown to us, but that\u2019s really the beauty of long journeys; the ever-shifting scenery reminds us of both the vastness and inconstancy of the world around us, its capacity for transition, transformation, and renewal. And perhaps, by letting the road carry us forward and embracing the surprises it brings, we might hope to be transformed as well.<\/span><\/p>\n Our last episode offered some fine opportunities for personal reassessment, as Sein took a rare leadership role within the party, and Stark learned the finer points of courtly etiquette. Stark\u2019s assignment saw him pantomiming the past to protect the future, offering the people a false assurance of their prince\u2019s vitality, and through doing so acquiring a key memory of his own: himself and Fern on the dance floor, turning their torturous practice into a celebration of their bond. We cannot know what treasures might lie in store, and that is precisely why we must be open to experience, with eyes scanning the horizon rather than lodged in a grimoire. You hear that, Frieren? That one was pretty pointed, I\u2019m sure you know I\u2019m talking about you.<\/span><\/p>\n Alright, let\u2019s get to the show.<\/span><\/p>\n Episode 16<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cLong-Lived Friends.\u201d A persistent preoccupation with Frieren, of course. The extended lifespans of elves make a convenient way of emphasizing a universal human experience \u2013 the gradual transition in mindset from \u201cwhat will I do with my life\u201d to \u201cwhat have I done with my life,\u201d as your own faculties and opportunities shift, and the things you once saw as stable points reveal themselves to simply have life spans longer than your prior lived experience. It\u2019s an inevitable mindset shift that can only really be challenged by remaining present and active, by reframing your life as \u201cwhat\u2019s ahead of you\u201d regardless of the time behind you, and by genuinely seizing new opportunities, rather than seeing them as intended for someone younger (as Sein originally did). Frieren\u2019s regret comes from failing to do this \u2013 from simply hiding her nose in a book, rather than admiring and engaging with the ever-shifting world around her<\/span><\/p>\n Incidental shots lead us into a man fishing at a river\u2019s edge, first introduced by his sleeve, then his lure, then finally an establishing shot from far behind him. The overall effect prioritizes the scene\u2019s tone over its subject; the man is not the priority here, the priority is establishing this practiced routine, this clear stream, this bright and quiet day<\/span><\/p>\n The man is a young Sein, who is soon interrupted by his adventurer friend. His friend is animated with exuberant fluidity, drawing an immediate contrast between his energy and Sein\u2019s passivity as he explains that some mage will be taking a photograph of them<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThis is the start of our legend!\u201d The partial body shots, soft focus, slow motion, and hymnal music all align to give this scene a mythic visual significance, emphasizing how Sein being dragged into motion by his friend is the essence of their relationship, and really Sein\u2019s life in microcosm<\/span><\/p>\n That photo carries us into the present, where Sein sits examining it by the fire. Accurate color photographs are wildly out of step with the rest of this world\u2019s technology, but to be honest, if you were looking to Frieren for consistency or richness of worldbuilding, you\u2019d probably have dropped it before now<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019re now in the Klar region, marked by low rolling plains and plentiful farmland, all brought luxuriously to life in quasi-watercolor backgrounds. There\u2019s sort of a natural tension there, which crops up in a variety of aspects of this production; the anime is filling in and elevating things which weren\u2019t actually strengths of the original manga, from the worldbuilding to the character writing to the pacing, a practice which can occasionally rub against inarguable choices of the source text like that photograph. Frieren\u2019s focus on aging, nostalgia, and being present in your life is the vital, compelling throughline of the original text \u2013 for everything else, the adaptors are clearly elevating the material, and occasionally running into friction with the original text\u2019s more questionable choices<\/span><\/p>\n Apparently they\u2019re meeting an old dwarf friend of Frieren\u2019s, \u201cOld Man Voll,\u201d who has protected the upcoming village for four hundred years in spite of the average dwarf life expectancy only being three hundred years or so<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI want to chat with him before he dies.\u201d An excellent line by Frieren, demonstrating both her changing values and her unchanging bluntness. She values meeting old friends, but she\u2019s not going to be sentimental about death<\/span><\/p>\n God, all these long shots as they cross the fields are such an inherent pleasure. Frieren\u2019s combination of lush, natural background art and inviting traditional music effectively conjures that feeling of a cozy, rambling renaissance journey, the same tone that Spice & Wolf employs so well<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDoesn\u2019t he seem cool, like an old, seasoned warrior?\u201d I do appreciate Frieren\u2019s off-kilter sensibilities; she feels convincingly long-lived in that her impression of what is \u201ccool\u201d or \u201cexciting\u201d or \u201cobvious\u201d are all fragments scrapped from hundreds of years of vaguely engaging with the wider world, picking up scraps of alleged common sense that are indecipherable to her young companions<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYour strategies are as underhanded as ever.\u201d He has lived this long as a warrior by presenting himself as non-threatening and always taking advantage of his opponents\u2019 carelessness. In spite of his strength, Stark\u2019s assumptions regarding this old man weakness and intentions get him knocked flat in a moment<\/span><\/p>\n Frieren\u2019s \u201cI\u2019d like to stay here for a decade\u201d running gag actually feels very enticing to me. I\u2019m a person who likes to live slow, to admire the scenery, to just sort of exist in a place and embrace the tenor of life there. It sounds delightful to just settle into various ways of life like this for long stretches of time, but our modern human lives are short and goal-oriented, with modest contentment frequently condemned as unambitious passivity. I don\u2019t want to rule the world, I just want to be happy and share some happiness within it<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI had no idea Old Man Voll had friends. I\u2019ve never seen him converse so happily before.\u201d That said, Voll does offer an interesting counterpoint to that philosophy. He is <\/span>so<\/span><\/i> long-lived that he actually can\u2019t closely relate to the village he protects; the key points of his life are stretched too far apart for these human villagers to construct a meaningfully conclusive portrait of his overall nature. He is closer to Frieren than to them, yet has still found peace and purpose here; this village is a good place, and protecting it is a noble cause<\/span><\/p>\n It seems he actually is largely senile, but reuniting with Frieren and training Stark is reviving him a bit<\/span><\/p>\n And as ever, the essence of life is life in montage, the moments we remember from a seemingly endless procession of days<\/span><\/p>\n Frieren tells Voll that he\u2019s the reason she got close to Himmel and the others<\/span><\/p>\n Back during their earlier adventure, Voll revealed that his motivation is \u201cdefending the village my wife loved\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n His wife was human. During a brief flashback, the show combines soft focus, overwhelming bloom lighting, and variations in animation tempo to create the impression of a memory fading with time, a woman whose face he can\u2019t quite recall<\/span><\/p>\n Himmel states that even though she\u2019s dead, he\u2019s sure Voll\u2019s wife is happy that he\u2019s keeping his promise. An unintended pledge to Frieren as well, attesting he\u2019ll be happy she venerates his memory even when he\u2019s gone<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t insult me. I remember everything. Himmel is the reason I decided I\u2019d get to know people.\u201d In this, Voll clearly has more experience than Frieren \u2013 he\u2019s lived long enough that even his most treasured memories are no more than intellectual touchstones, not experiences he can close his eyes and relive fresh. Frieren believes Voll\u2019s insulting her dedication to Himmel\u2019s memory, but the truth is, no matter how treasured a memory, it will inevitably lose color and texture over time<\/span><\/p>\n It seems like Frieren just can\u2019t grapple with that eventuality, and so instead assumes Voll is joking<\/span><\/p>\n Frieren tells Voll her destination, and he replies \u201cso you\u2019re finally off to defeat the Demon King.\u201d A reply that both emphasizes his clear senility and also calls into question what Frieren\u2019s quest actually accomplished<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll carry your memory into the future, too.\u201d Even long-lived friends pass in time. She can\u2019t bring back her old friend, but she can honor his memory<\/span><\/p>\n A willow in autumn foliage stands at the town\u2019s edge, a clear visual parallel for Voll<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFrieren, I dreamed of my wife.\u201d By celebrating the past, we can truly keep it alive. These rituals aren\u2019t just for the dead \u2013 they are crucial for us as well, to rekindle our precious memories<\/span><\/p>\n Sein continues to enquire about his absent friend as they journey further north<\/span><\/p>\n Apparently some folks remember seeing him, which Sein attributes to his memorable title of \u201cGorilla Warrior\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAre we still talking about this?\u201d Thank you, Fern<\/span><\/p>\n Frieren states they are about a week from the city of Aubern<\/span><\/p>\n They stop by a village first, where incidental cuts reveal they dye cloth with inks<\/span><\/p>\n Sein is directed to a self-described \u201cstubborn old woman,\u201d who presents them with several tasks in order to learn more about Gorilla Warrior<\/span><\/p>\n They receive a letter to deliver to the neighboring village\u2019s blacksmith. What fools they are, completing one task at a time rather than stacking every available quest and doing them all in one laborious sweep<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur party only has socially awkward members.\u201d The perils of lacking a charisma main in your adventuring group<\/span><\/p>\n Their last task is to polish the statues of a pair of old forgotten heroes. Though they quite resemble Sein and his friend, one of them is actually Kraft, the elf they met while holding up for the winter near that mountain range. A reminder that even in this world of legends and long-lived races, the particular longevity of elves leaves them fundamentally isolated in a certain way<\/span><\/p>\n Sein reflects back on finding a similar statue as a boy with his friend, who vowed to not be forgotten like Kraft and his companion. And yet, even with their names forgotten, simply existing as tokens of former heroism, they are still capable of inspiring new generations of seekers. A consolation that resonates with Old Man Voll\u2019s story; he did not have to remember his wife\u2019s particular features to maintain her significance in his life. The markers we erect to be remembered by do not tell the full stories of our lives, but they hold meaning all the same<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to become an unforgettable hero like Himmel.\u201d The confidence of youth and inexperience \u2013 first that you think you could be remembered like that, and second that you believe Himmel is actually an ageless hero, as opposed to simply a more <\/span>recent<\/span><\/i> hero whose name exists in living memory. Himmel will be like these statues eventually, a marker signifying something no one can recall<\/span><\/p>\n It was precisely these forgotten heroes that inspired his friend\u2019s unforgettable title<\/span><\/p>\n Ultimately, Sein learns his friend went in the opposite direction from their own journey. What will he choose to do?<\/span><\/p>\n And Done<\/b><\/p>\n Now that was a hearty serving of Frieren goodness! Though the episode\u2019s title referred to long-lived friends, its true priority was long-lived <\/span>memories<\/span><\/i>, which proved a topic perfectly suited to Frieren\u2019s gentle musings and character studies. For Voll, the significance of his wife\u2019s memory endured far after all the details had passed on, giving his life a sense of unalterable purpose, and imbuing his every action with an affirmation of his love. But while individuals can attempt to hold tight to their precious memories, societies at large are not so attentive \u2013 and yet, even a monument whose original meaning has been lost can acquire meaning anew, as with the statue of Kraft and his companion. Though we raise graves and statues to venerate the dead, what purpose they serve for the living is variable and complex; our legacies are uncertain, but we must tend to them all the same.<\/span><\/p>\n This\u00a0article\u00a0was\u00a0mad<\/a><\/em>e possible by reader support<\/a>. Thank you all for\u00a0all that you do.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wrongeverytime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/April28110511.jpg?resize=584%2C329&ssl=1\")
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<\/p>\nLike this:<\/h3>\n