I’ve written before about how my German friends think it’s rather cringe to name anime characters after random German words. I normally agree, but there are a few instances in which this naming convention is interesting and says something important about the character in question. For me, the best example is Serie, the ancient, immortal Elf.
According to my good friend, “Serie” is the German word for series. It often refers to television series. But the nature of the word is more like “that which continues.” This more abstract meaning fits with Serie the Elf perfectly. As an immortal being who has probably lived for multiple millennia, her existence is continuous.
Another way to think of it is that Serie has lived through a series of long, historical eras. The visuals in the opening song of Frieren show Serie walking through several changing backgrounds. She remains unchanged as she passes through the stages of history. With that in mind, let’s take a look at Frieren episode 27, in which Serie plays a critical role.
Episode 27: An Era of Humans
As most of us noticed, Fern’s treasured staff broke during the second exam in the Tomb of the Ancient King. This staff was given to her by Heiter when she was a small child. Fern got angry at Frieren after the Elf stated that it would be better to get a new staff than to try repairing the old one. Fern storms away to go be with Stark.
Unbeknownst to Fern, however, Frieren takes the pieces of her staff to Richter’s magic shop and asks him to repair it. On the night before the third exam, the staff is fully fixed and waiting for Fern on her bed. As Fern tucks in the sleeping Frieren, she’s grateful that she has such a caring master. This was so wholesome and heartwarming.
The third test will be a peaceful interview with Serie. She decided this was the best option because a typical third-level test would result in the deaths of nearly all the mage candidates. Before the exam, though, there were a few interesting interactions between the supporting characters. For example, Lawine was in a gloomy mood because Kanne managed to pass the second exam while she got unlucky and failed. Poor Lawine.
The interaction I liked best was between Denken and Richter. The younger man was in a foul mood since he failed the second test. Denken and Laufen came to the shop to see them. Denken basically tries to encourage Richter in a roundabout way. He says Richter has some bad qualities, but that he’s likely to improve and become more powerful. Denken has sympathy for Richter because, as he says, “I was once an insolent youngster, too.”
The interviews with Serie began the next day. We saw several mage candidates in a row fail. That includes Laufen and Kanne. When it was time for Frieren’s interview, she was already aware that Serie intended to fail her. Frieren has never been a good enough mage in Serie’s eyes, as she lacks both ambition and practicality. However, Serie gave Frieren one chance by asking which spell is her favorite.
Frieren’s answer is the same as that of her master, Flamme: the spell to create a field of flowers. Serie is disappointed and calls that spell “utterly useless.” She officially announces that Frieren has failed the exam. However, Frieren is unbothered. For one thing, she feels confident that Fern will pass. For another, she knows it was the flower spell which brought together the party that defeated the Demon King. She remembers how it happened.
During their travels together, Himmel told Frieren that they had actually met once before, long ago. When Himmel was a small child, he was lost in the woods. Frieren happened to find him in passing and direct him toward the village. Seeing how scared the child was, Frieren used the spell to create a field of flowers. Himmel thought it was absolutely beautiful, and he treasured the memory for the rest of his life. If not for that random event, Himmel never would have gone to search for Frieren to recruit her into the adventurer’s party.
The time finally came for Fern’s Interview with Serie. At first, it appeared that Fern was stunned by Serie’s immense mana. She just stood there, staring at it. But when Serie asked what she was seeing, Fern revealed that she was studying the subtle fluctuations of the Elf’s mana. This answer was exactly what Serie wanted to hear from a mage candidate. Apparently, no other mage had noticed the fluctuations.
Impressed, Serie asked Fern to be her disciple in the ways of magic. Fern refused, staying loyal to Frieren. Though this must have disappointed Serie, she allowed Fern to pass the exam. We don’t know yet if anyone else passed the exam. But one thing is certain: the world has indeed entered an era in which humans are the most promising new mages.
I haven’t offered much commentary on this episode because my mind isn’t coming up with very many interesting thoughts. But I do have at least one thing to mention: there is definitely some kind of meaning behind the fluctuations of Serie’s mana. It could mean that, like Frieren, she has actually been suppressing her mana all this time. It’s even more vast that it already appears to be. Alternatively, it could mean she’s projecting more mana than she can effectively use, in order to appear stronger.
Whatever the answer may be, I suspect this element will be important later. For now, that’s all I have to say. Thanks a ton for reading my work. Have a wonderful day today.
~Thank you for reading~
Anime Rants 
For my two cents, Frieren mentions Serie’s intuition always being right, but for having good instincts, she certainly has her head up her butt. She’s like academia on legs in some ways, very self-important, arrogant, dismissive, etc. She openly voices her disappointment in her students as if she’s talking to herself, meaning they’re not even worth acknowledging their presence. She casually judges and dismisses Frieren and Flamme’s favorite spell as “useless,” when the use of it has already altered the course of history simply by lightening the heart of a distressed child. Frieren might not be what Serie wanted her to be, but what demands does she have any right to make? She knows darn well that Frieren is a great mage, but lets her personal feelings cloud her view. And when she realizes Fern can see the fluctuation in her mana, she reacts like a greedy little child that has found a shiny, new toy. I do believe her when she says she could take Fern – whom Frieren’s tutelage brought this far – and elevate her magic higher than any mage has ever gone, but that would be according to her view. No thanks.
The question of that fluctuation is indeed important. We know it’s possible to suppress, but we don’t know if it’s possible to project something greater than one has. At first thought, it sounds like it ought to simply drain one’s mana dry in short order, but who knows? And it would make sense, in the way of foreshadowing, for Serie’s immense mana to actually be even greater than one thinks it is, to establish her as a truly great threat. But it doesn’t quite fit her character, does it? Why would she even bother with that? Hmmm.
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I quite the rather unusual relationship Denken, Laufen and Richter have with each other.
Denken and Richter feel like uncle and nephew, Denken and Laufen feel like grandfather and granddaughter and Laufen and Richter feel like uncle and niece.
It’s a nice deviation from the usual nuclear family dynamics some anime friend groups have.
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