Awesome episode once again. This show does flashbacks in a way that no other show does. I don’t mind at all that we had a break or two in the action to get a flashback, because the stories that they tell are always great. The flashback showing Himmel’s party fighting that other dungeon boss was great (loved that Heiter was just having an off day).

However, the flashback with Frieren and Serie is the one I found most interesting. I remember reading the manga and coming away with the impression that Serie was…if not evil…at least didn’t have virtuous intentions. She always had a menacing aura about her, both in the way she was drawn and the way she acted. An example is that the sequence animated here, where a young Flamme holds hands with and travels alongside Serie feels like it is a mother reminiscing about her child that has long since left the home and accomplished great things. However, in the manga, it feels colder, like Serie is more detached from Flamme, driving home the point that she must have trained Flamme on a whim because she doesn’t seem to feel anything at her passing (chapter 53 if you want to read this sequence yourself). At least that is the impression I had when reading it.

Finally, the OST this episode was great. It was able to transition so smoothly between these gentle flashback scenes to suddenly driving up the intensity in the Frieren battle. The animation is of course great, but I just wanted to call out the OST as well since I think it adds a lot to both halves of this episode.