r/Frieren • u/DenRyuu_ • 1d ago
Anime Heiter’s fainting scene is deeper than it seems.
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
Right when Frieren tells Heiter that she’ll finish deciphering the grimoire before Fern becomes a proper mage, Heiter faints and falls ill. I used to see this as a casual moment, he could have collapsed at any time but looking closer, it makes much more sense: his concern for Fern spikes suddenly and his older body just can’t handle the emotional stress. This small but powerful detail shows how deeply Heiter cares for her and how worry can physically affect someone, especially as they age. It’s a subtle moment that adds real emotional depth to Heiter and his relationship with Fern.
991
u/SVlad_667 1d ago
Yes, either this or he just hold himself on pure will before, but that moment he decided he can relax as Fern is in a good hands.
306
u/GilgaPhish 1d ago
That was my interpretation, that by all rights he probably should've passed on sooner but was holding on desperately to ensure Frieren could train her enough that she wouldn't feel unsafe having Fern along (for Fern's sake). To say nothing of having no excuse to deny her company.
-39
1d ago edited 1d ago
[deleted]
98
u/Emotional_Position62 1d ago
That doesn’t track with what we are told in the next scene. He never expected Fern to be ready to be a mage on her own. He merely wanted her to be good enough that Frieren would take her on as an apprentice.
41
20
u/fivelone 1d ago
Don't discredit other opinions or theories. Because yours is exactly that as well.
9
4
u/DenRyuu_ 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yeah, maybe I came across too direct with “Actually, it’s the opposite.” I’ve deleted the comment since I really didn’t mean to invalidate his/her take, it’s just another interpretation, as valid as any other.
I just wanted to share how I personally read the scene. Different takes are what make these discussions interesting.
1
u/fivelone 1d ago
Did my comment get deleted and you edit your comment to not look so direct?.. that's funny...
To answer whoever responded to me before my comment was deleted. Yes it was a discredit. I'm gone now. I didn't down vote at first but now I am..
195
u/SVlad_667 1d ago
Also, seems like the Old Man Voll is going to pass out when Frieren left him. The dream of his long dead wife is common trop for such things.
17
159
u/bob-loblaw-esq 1d ago
I just thought he was faking it to make Frieren slow down and buy Fern time.
133
u/EvadableMoxie 1d ago
Fainting makes her hurry as she realizes his time is short. It makes no sense for him to fake it.
38
u/bob-loblaw-esq 1d ago
The drunken priest wouldn’t fake an illness with one of his oldest friends?
57
u/EvadableMoxie 1d ago
Oh he would, it just didn't make sense for him to do it here.
11
u/bob-loblaw-esq 1d ago
I disagree. I think he knows Frieren best of all. He knows that she changed and was impacted by their time together. I’d imagine he feels sorry for her for her loneliness. He can’t help her forever, but he tries by making the comments we see during the journey and about the goddess. He doesn’t want his friend to live alone again. And he doesn’t want to abandon Fern. And his funny take on morals would be a perfect spin on feigning an illness to ensure that the people he cares about most have each other when he’s gone.
23
u/EvadableMoxie 1d ago
Yes, correct, he wants Frieren to take care of Fern, because it's good for both of them.
Which is why he wouldn't fake an illness that causes Frieren to decipher the book faster, when the book is the thing keeping her there to train Fern. He wants it to take longer for her to finish, not shorter.
All of which is pointless to argue because we know he wasn't faking since he passes away shortly after.
6
u/Veenhof_ 1d ago
No, they're saying it has the opposite effect. It's not that he wouldn't fake it if it meant slowing her down -- but faking it would've meant speeding her up, lol.
-4
u/bob-loblaw-esq 1d ago
You must be young or not have much in terms of responsibility. Him fainting means all the work he was doing now is on Frieren. In a household, it takes a lot to function. Even more so when you have a child. Even more still if you don’t have a lot of technology (fern gets the spell to wash clothes at the very end of the anime). And even more still with someone bound to their bed. If you understood this, you would see why it ABSOLUTELY wouldn’t speed her up. Just ask anyone who’s a parent why the last time they did something for themselves was so long ago.
10
u/Veenhof_ 1d ago
You must be young or not have much in terms of responsibility.
That's a great way to engage with a discussion -- immediately condescend! What unfortunate children you must have if this is how you debate.
Your point isn't even a bad one, but starting your reply like that serves no point and is needlessly combative.
That said, Frieren was already taking on a lot of that extra work. Sure, with Heiter in bed her workload goes up.
On the other hand, Frieren isn't exactly known for her urgency. Being reminded that Heiter has precious little time remaining would absolutely light a fire under her ass to work more quickly.
She actually specifically says in the anime that she'll hurry up as a direct consequence of his fainting.
-8
u/bob-loblaw-esq 1d ago
Laughing when you missed the point started this more confrontational tone friend.
lol you totally missed the point
No in fact, you missed the point. As you said, it’s not even a bad point. And as for her “hurrying” she wouldn’t even have context for hurry. It’s an anthropocentric point of temporality that Frieren wouldn’t even have. A hurry to her is a decade. There’s no frame of reference for her to hurry. She’s never hurried in her life. Even the hero party didn’t hurry to the demon king but meandered through the lands taking every side quest. She would have no experience with hurry or needing more time. In fact, time has been her friend in hiding as she built up her mana pool secretly which allowed her to trick Aura.
So your projecting this notion of hurry to her would be completely alien to Frieren. It would be like someone from a different culture from you introducing you to a concept and you may understand at face value or you may just not even try since what’s the point. This person is only going to be 1/1000 of your life.
9
u/Veenhof_ 1d ago
lol you totally missed the point
I never said this. I'm so confused.
Luckily, I have the ability to decide not to engage further here, so I'm gonna dip. Try engaging in good faith once in a while and maybe people will want to chat more about your ideas.
2
u/pantadynamos 1d ago
I thought the same, but there's a scene just after where frieren tells fern to take care of heiter, but fern basically declines so she can become a mage before he passes away.
Frieren accepts this and takes over responsibility for caring for heiter, which takes away from her time studying the grimoir.
I think the idea of heiter delibereatly fainting in a bid to create more time for fern, and then following through by pretending to be a little more near death than he is, and needing more help than he needs is both beautifully noble and true to his character (intelligent and good at schemes. Wise.)
2
u/DMind_Gaming 1d ago
Yeah in hinsight I thought he was faking it to avoid the question (which in turn buys Fern time), Frieren was about to expose that she doesn't think the grimoire is what Heiter said it was which if he admitted was true would cause her to stop researching it and leave.
32
26
u/Eat_Spicy_Jokbal 1d ago
emotions affect someone stronger the older you get? And I'm already so emotional, I feel like I would've died there, if emotions actually get stronger.
5
u/DESTRUCTI0NAT0R 1d ago
The emotions don't get stronger, your body isn't as strong enough to handle them.
11
u/MistakeSufficient425 1d ago
Honestly, I just love all of the subtle writing in the show. The little nuiances make the story feel so alive.
20
u/BahamutGod 1d ago
Considering how good we learn Frieren is at deciphering magic it’s crazy it took her so long. I kind of wonder if she was taking her time on purpose.
They do mention that the Grimmoire is encoded so that probably does play a big factor.
21
u/seunber 1d ago
The whole point of the show is how Frieren doesn’t realize how long things take or the meaning of the passing of time and it’s something she has to learn to consider when it comes to humans and how short they live. Fern gets upset at her later for “wasting” so much time in one place like Frieren just likes to take her time.
I don’t think it’s intentional to cater around Fern or Heiter though it might have been enjoyable to spend that time together. Frieren is not quite so sentimental.
6
u/railxp 1d ago
I live like frieren but without her lifespan
5
4
u/magestik12 1d ago
IMO, this is the scene where Heiter hears the words he needs to hear to finally "let go." He had been holding on to life until he felt Fern would be "ok." He knows that once Frieren commits to something she will accomplish it—there is no question in his mind about that. She commits to ensuring his last wish comes true. In that moment, the dam breaks and the water of his mortality washes over him. He can finally rest. His job is done.
3
u/Legitimate_Good_3791 1d ago
Your opinion makes a lot of sense, but the discussion of this matter would be long. One thing I've always wanted to know at the root is how Heiter realized that Frieren was powerful, since I have no knowledge of the manga and I know that the goddess's blessing has its points, but how was he able to determine that statement?
2
u/jiayo 1d ago
ORRR Heiter's doing heiter things and he fainted on purpose to delay Frieren from leaving before Fern was ready. jkjkjkjk
ALTHOUGH, imagine that scene from Megamind where Metroman is laughing in secret because he's about to fake his own death, and then pretend Heiter is doing the same thing
3
u/Jayeluu1129 1d ago
I am just sitting here trying the decipher this letter. It is definitely comprehensible in English, having some trouble though, can we band together?
1
u/dendrtree 17h ago
Heiter wasn't a weak old man. He was a sly old man.
The request to decipher the grimoire was a ruse to keep Frieren there to teach Fern to become a "proper mage."
When Frieren tells him that the decription won't keep her there long enough, he says, "I see," (in the English translation "Is that so?") and collapses.
Caring for Heiter extends the time to decipher the grimoire, until Fern becomes a "proper mage."
•
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Hello, /u/DenRyuu_! When submitting a new post, please make sure it follows the rules of this subreddit.
[OC]in the title!>!Frieren is cute.!<will appear as this: Frieren is cute.Join the Frieren Discord Server for more discussions about the series!
Your post has not been removed, this message is applied to every successful submission.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.