Sousou no Frieren - Ch. 139 - Blacksmith Kreis

[doomskull]

What plan? She's just bored and wants a fight.

Yes, that one.

 

[theroachoftime]

If their goal is actually to eliminate magic from the world i can get down with that. As fun as it is to read about, to actually live in a world with that kind of constant threat and built in caste system would be a nightmare for regular people. Getting rid of it would be the real world equivalent of eliminating nuclear weapons and making a significant advancement for equality at the same time. (Okay, maybe not that significant since we're still talking about an empire with secret police and rogue death squads, but... you know... it's something.)

 

[freeman]

I get how living in an authoritarian surveillance state with magic-wielding secret police would result in disdain, but trying to rid the human races of their most essential tool in preventing genocide via demons (and other monsters) seems a lil short sighted lmfao

Even if he means just a more deliberate dismantling of the magic institutions that exist in the world, the main reason the remaining demons still aren't running over humanity is the rapid development in magic systems (which I'd assumed happened all over the continent), and the newfound spread of (semi) elite mages developed in the CMA and within the Empire. So what, they kill Serie and Frieren, topple the magic status quo of the empire, effectively dismantle the CMA, and then what? All magic training and development is centered solely within the new Empire? The whole of the southern continent is mostly free for assault by demons and other monsters with the new absence of organized, competent mages? Maybe a deliberate weakening of the south so it can be invaded and controlled by the new Empire? I don't know, its hard to say so early with little context to their philosophy, but it seems like a terrible idea lmfao

Not to say that I think the Shadow Warriors are poorly written or it's completely nonsensical what they're doing. Living in the empire seems like a potential nightmare at times, and a treasonous government shadow organization with it's own vision isn't new to life or unrealistic. Really good arc.

 

[Aureliano]

No Serie. Bad chapter.

 

[Kireato]

When Frieren mentioned before that someone envisioned Serie's death, there was an outline of Phrase and Lowe. We've also been informed multiple times by different characters that these people are quite sly and that there were some political goals regarding the actions being taken. As such, I find it hard to trust the words they have imparted to their subordinates that their actions are to "rid this world of magic" or "for the empire's eternal prosperity with magic". It might still be true, but I won't be surprised if they have different intentions.

To be honest, there's too much we don't understand about the background of these characters and the empire to understand their goals. I'm still confused that the mage association spy in the empire uncovered information about shadow warriors and their civilian identities, even though the empire had officially dissolved the shadow warriors. The spy also didn't retrieve any information about the empire's special forces unit. The empire is very obviously aware of the shadow warriors goal to assassinate Serie, is monitoring them closely enough to have detailed profile information yet hasn't taken any measures against them themselves, and the only information gathered by the mage association is apparently about the shadow warriors? They're obviously being set up to fight against each other, which has been made obvious to Kanone, the vice-commander of the special forces, and yet she has no clue why this is happening and Phrase is just vaguely stating that it is for the empire. Are they trying to get rid of the shadow warriors? When considering that the profile of the top shadow warrior was not disclosed, it seems that the shadow warriors are protecting their heads, which means they migh regrow their bodies.

Lowe is stating that he himself is a pawn so who knows how much higher up we need to go to start understanding what the scheme is here.

I wonder if Serie will die. On one hand, she is presented as being invincible for mages, on the other some clearly believe that it is possible to harm her and maybe even kill her. Frieren firmly believes that Serie is a warmonger who apparently couldn't find a way to kill the demon king herself despite holding absurdly large knowledge on magic, and yet Frieren and a ragtag group of humans priest and swordsman and a dwarf warrior were able to achieve that feat (and there were innovations to magic attacks and shields during those times). So why does Frieren believe that Serie won't lose when the empire has special forces who specifically hunt mages and there are shadow warriors with a variety of skills (goddess magic, swordsmanship, etc.)? Meanwhile, Serie appears to be extra fond of Flamme's flower magic.

There's going to be fighting and I'm not sure that at the end we'll even catch a glimpse of the strings being pulled.

 

[thelakeman]

I think a group of shadow warriors could 100% take down Serie if she had no back up. Remember that just one Shadow Warrior could've killed Frieren, and that guy saw no combat for the last few decades and he was really old.
Warriors are scissors and Mages are paper.

My problem with that reasoning is that Serie clearly has abilities to even casually put the entire capital of the Empire as her detection range, she can destroy her enemies before they ever have a chance to sneak upon her, so she likely thinks that there's no chance of them managing to mortally wound her even in a closer range. We see glimpses of this during the magic exam arc, where iirc she shows no caution even at a close range against Ubel despite seeing through her intention.

 

[NotSomeone]

My problem with that reasoning is that Serie clearly has abilities to even casually put the entire capital of the Empire as her detection range, she can destroy her enemies before they ever have a chance to sneak upon her, so she likely thinks that there's no chance of them managing to mortally wound her even in a closer range. We see glimpses of this during the magic exam arc, where iirc she shows no caution even at a close range against Ubel despite seeing through her intention.

They are a group of mage killers made for mage killing. We only saw one of them in action, it was an old ass dude who saw no combat in years and he subdued Stark and Frieren in a split second.
What do you think a group of young and active Shadow Warriors can do? Plus we don't know how powerful Löwe is, and they have Wehrlos, the guy who conquered 1/3 of the north from demons.

People seem to think that Serie is untouchable and that the Shadow Warriors are grossly unprepared, I think that is obviously not true.

 

[trieuvuhoang]

The goals and motivations of all three parties have been laid out in a sinlge chapter, there still seem to be some unkowns like Serie's infiltrator in the empire and that drunk sword person (I think that's a setup for a Stark fight).
Also we never truly saw what Serie's truly capable of, given how casually she spread her mana across the entire capital, listened in on conversations and even manipulated the surroundings (like creating sparks), she may not even be under threat of dying but might be doing this just for the thrill of battle (since I don't see why if she can do that, why she can't just home in on their base and destroy it). She and her organisations have existed through the peak of demon rule, and we see no signs on even them trying to mess with her, so this whole plan might be an act of supreme arrogance unless they've some secret tricks or Serie's got some weakness beyond the standard one for mages.

Her association only founded after the death of the demon king, tho.

 

[trieuvuhoang]

I get how living in an authoritarian surveillance state with magic-wielding secret police would result in disdain, but trying to rid the human races of their most essential tool in preventing genocide via demons (and other monsters) seems a lil short sighted lmfao

Even if he means just a more deliberate dismantling of the magic institutions that exist in the world, the main reason the remaining demons still aren't running over humanity is the rapid development in magic systems (which I'd assumed happened all over the continent), and the newfound spread of (semi) elite mages developed in the CMA and within the Empire. So what, they kill Serie and Frieren, topple the magic status quo of the empire, effectively dismantle the CMA, and then what? All magic training and development is centered solely within the new Empire? The whole of the southern continent is mostly free for assault by demons and other monsters with the new absence of organized, competent mages? Maybe a deliberate weakening of the south so it can be invaded and controlled by the new Empire? I don't know, its hard to say so early with little context to their philosophy, but it seems like a terrible idea lmfao

Not to say that I think the Shadow Warriors are poorly written or it's completely nonsensical what they're doing. Living in the empire seems like a potential nightmare at times, and a treasonous government shadow organization with it's own vision isn't new to life or unrealistic. Really good arc.

The CMA isn't that needed for protection against demon. They are founded only 60 years ago, 20 years after the death of the demon king. Fact of the matter is that throughout history, humanity have been fighting against demon's invasion without any big mage organization and without strong magic. That's why we have powerful warriors like himmel. So even if CMA get disbanded. Chances are high that humanity would still continue fighting against demons normally. It's not gonna change much if at all.

 

[thelakeman]

They are a group of mage killers made for mage killing. We only saw one of them in action, it was an old ass dude who saw no combat in years and he subdued Stark and Frieren in a split second.
What do you think a group of young and active Shadow Warriors can do? Plus we don't know how powerful Löwe is, and they have Wehrlos, the guy who conquered 1/3 of the north from demons.

People seem to think that Serie is untouchable and that the Shadow Warriors are grossly unprepared, I think that is obviously not true.

Maybe. Also I wouldn't say they're unprepared, they certainly are very prepared, it's more whether they truly understand the enemy or their capabilities, like are they underestimating the target or overestimating themselves.

Her association only founded after the death of the demon king, tho.

The current one, she has had apprentices for way longer and was a well known mage likely involved in some manner with the other organisations preceeding it. The point is the demons never seem to have bothered disturbing her/their interference affected her in no way, even though she'd probably feature high in their threat list.

 

[TheWisestofWolfies]

what if the twist is that Serie really is too powerful for the shadow warriors and Imperial mages to deal with, and Frieren and Co. have to kill her to stop her from torching the city.

 

[GlaciusRogna]

I need hag (affectionate) injected into my vein. Captain Phrase! Please! One chance!

 

[krkj]

I need hag (affectionate) injected into my vein. Captain Phrase! Please! One chance!

Phrase killed Land's grandmother in front of little Land. She evil af too. I would guess Land's reluctance to go out of his village was that PTSD

 

[krkj]

Klematis is so..demonic. That makes me wonder, if demons are Goddess' creation could some have Goddess magic?

 

[Beregorn]

Basically, the Shadow Warriors and Special Forces are fighting each other, and Serie is fanning the flames for her own entertainment...

 

[Princessmaker]

what if the twist is that Serie really is too powerful for the shadow warriors and Imperial mages to deal with, and Frieren and Co. have to kill her to stop her from torching the city.

Maybe not kill, but stop her somehow.

 

[GlaciusRogna]

Phrase killed Land's grandmother in front of little Land. She evil af too. I would guess Land's reluctance to go out of his village was that PTSD

Pal, I do not care about that twink, I simply love hag. And if she is bad, even better.

 

[thtgiang]

If their goal is actually to eliminate magic from the world i can get down with that. As fun as it is to read about, to actually live in a world with that kind of constant threat and built in caste system would be a nightmare for regular people. Getting rid of it would be the real world equivalent of eliminating nuclear weapons and making a significant advancement for equality at the same time. (Okay, maybe not that significant since we're still talking about an empire with secret police and rogue death squads, but... you know... it's something.)

I'm not sure about the caste system. Actually I think the world would be more realistic if it had a caste system based on magic ability.

The thing that irks me the most in Frieren is the scene where Stark immediately kneeled when he found out the other guy was a noble.

How can nobility still be a thing when you have powerful people that can wipe out every noble if they feel like it.

High rank magicians don't even have that high position in the society. The empire magic force are just government officials, they follow orders, not give them.

 

[freeman]

The CMA isn't that needed for protection against demon. They are founded only 60 years ago, 20 years after the death of the demon king. Fact of the matter is that throughout history, humanity have been fighting against demon's invasion without any big mage organization and without strong magic. That's why we have powerful warriors like himmel. So even if CMA get disbanded. Chances are high that humanity would still continue fighting against demons normally. It's not gonna change much if at all.

Yeah, but what helped humanity deal with the demons is their fast development of magic systems to handle what the demons were throwing at them, which in itself gets accelerated by proper organization. Obviously that happened before the development of the modern organizations, but we've been shown that the CMA isn't the first to exist, Frieren has stated that lots come and go.

This is all based on my assumption though, of whatever they intend when they say they want to "rid the world of magic". Either way, demons like Tot and Solitar will keep existing while most, if not all, of humanity is deprived of essential tools to deal with them.

 

[Njin]

If killing Serie would "lead to the disapperance of magic", then the empire is most likely undermined by the demons. With enough support, the shadow warriors could probably take on the special forces of magic, or even let them be disbanded by imperial decree, but the magic association would likely recruit any survivors or exiles and remain as an institution to preserve and spread magical knowledge.

The magic association is centered around Serie and her pupils. Without her around, they become infinitely easier to deal with.