#that frieren is the only one who remembers what the real party was like while the rest of the world has constructed an image of them to love

[anodymalion]

The hero's sword arc of Frieren is only a single chapter but it's probably the chapter I think about the most... You have the classic sword in the stone that can only be pulled by the hero who is destined to save the world. So of course Himmel, the legendary hero, is the one who freed it.

Except: he didn't. He failed. He couldn't pull the sword from the stone. He wasn't the prophesied hero who would save the world.

And he went, okay, well, people really need a hero right now. So I'll just pretend to be one anyway. It doesn't really matter if I'm a fake or not if either way we're helping people.

And he did. He was a pretend hero. And they saved the world.

And now eighty years later there is no one left to remember that he never pulled the sword from the stone at all. It's easier to believe that he did, because he saved the world, so he must have been the destined hero. But he wasn't. The sword saw him and rejected him, and he simply went on anyway, because he wanted to help people, and that's what it takes in the end to be a hero, really. The four of them saved the world, and the true hero's sword sits quietly in a cave somewhere, rusting away, forever, unneeded.

#it's the final frieren friday how are we feeling gang #can you tell I'm being really normal about it #that line 'future generations always romanticize heroes to the point that their original nature eventually disappears' DUDE it kills me #that frieren is the only one who remembers what the real party was like while the rest of the world has constructed an image of them to love #there's a youtube video called 'himmel was a real hero' by DeusExMakina it's only 2 minutes long and every time it makes me tear up #sousou no frieren #frieren analysis