After triumphing over the demon lord, the Hero's Party consisting of the human hero Himmel, the dwarven warrior Eisen, the priest Heiter and the elven mage Frieren return to the royal capital. While Heiter, Himmel and Eisen discuss their plans to settle down and find work, Frieren herself wishes to travel the world and collect more spells. After reminiscing about their adventure, the party witnesses a meteor shower. Frieren remarks that she knows of a better place to watch the event from and the adventurers agree to meet up again in fifty years, when the meteor shower will happen again. The next morning, Frieren departs.
Fifty years later, Frieren returns to the royal capital to make good on her promise, finding both Himmel and Heiter old men. The group sets out for one last journey together to watch the meteor shower. Shortly after, Himmel passes away. Frieren, realizing she never truly got to know Himmel in life, breaks into tears at Himmel's funeral and vows to get to know humanity as a whole better.
Twenty years later, Frieren visits Heiter after finishing some errands in the royal capital. Heiter has taken in a young war orphan called Fern, who shows great magic potential. He asks Frieren to take Fern with her on her journeys and to train her as a mage but Frieren refuses as she believes Fern would only put both of them at risk. Heiter changes his request to asking Frieren to decipher an old grimoire of his that he believes holds the secret to immortality, claiming he has become scared of death and isn't ready to move on yet. Frieren agrees.
Some time later, Frieren finds Fern at the edge of a cliff, where Fern attempts to master a challenge Heiter set her: To hit a rock on the other side of the chasm with a magic beam. After witnessing Fern's spellcasting, Frieren asks the girl whether she loves magic. Fern answers that she likes it somewhat to which Frieren smiles and says that it's the same for her.
Contains examples of:
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Heiter likes to pat Frieren's head, much to the mage's indignation.
- Foreshadowing: During the journey to watch the meteor shower, Frieren and Eisen take care of a gigantic black hound, with Eisen giving it a good blow with a stick. After Himmel's passing, Frieren asks Eisen to accompany her on her journey, but the dwarf declines, stating old age as the reason and pointing out he hasn't wielded an axe in years.
- The Hero Dies: Himmel passes away shortly after the Hero Party reunites for the meteor shower. Frieren regrets that she never really got to know him before it happened.
- Noodle Incident: The party recalls a bunch of those during the festivities held in their honor. They include Himmel and Eisen almost getting executed due to disrespecting the king, Heiter suffering from a hangover so bad the party genuinely believed he might die and Frieren falling for a mimic treasure chest.
- Really 700 Years Old: Though Frieren might look like a young adult next to the rest of her party she is in truth far older than them and ages much slower. After fifty years Frieren still looks the same while Himmel and Heiter have become old men.
- Retired Badass: Eisen might not be strong enough to raise an ax after fifty years, but he's still able to deal a devastating blow to a giant black hound and make it easy pickings for Frieren.
- Running Gag:
- Frieren falling for obvious mimic treasure chests and almost getting eaten, much to the chagrin of her companions, occurs twice in this episode and many more times in the episodes to follow.
- Heiter saying or doing something not befitting a man of the cloth and the others in the party calling him some variant of "corrupt priest".
- So What Do We Do Now?: Averted. The episode starts with the Hero Party already making plans for how to live their lives from now on on the way to the royal capital, now that the demon lord is dead. With Himmel, Heiter and Eisen resolving to find work while Frieren decides to travel the land in search of new spells and magic to master.
- The Stoic: Deconstructed. Frieren doesn't emote much and unlike Eisen doesn't have a face-obscuring feature that would excuse this trait. During Himmel's funeral, some of the attending citizens become disgusted with Frieren's apparent indifference toward the death of her friend and leader, mistaking Frieren's stoic nature for general coldheartedness. Frieren actually subverts this when she watches Himmel's coffin get buried and breaks into tears, realizing how little she really knew about him.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Even a famous adventuring party like the Hero Party would have to find something to do after the Big Bad is slain and the world at large is no longer in need of their services. Heiter, Himmel and Eisen talk about finding work as soon as they're able, since being the saviors of the land doesn't exactly pay well on its own.
- After fifty years of hard drinking and partying, Heiter's body is starting to give out on him to the point that he has to decline Frieren's offer of a fine beverage when she comes to visit him for health reasons.
- While Eisen is longlived as a dwarf, by dwarven standards he's still an old man. When he reunites with Frieren after fifty years he can no longer effortlessly wield an ax like he used to and has to use a far lighter stick instead.
- Time Dissonance: As her party muses on, Frieren's long lifespan means that a period of fifty years, easily half of most humans' lifespans, barely registers in her mind as much time.
- Walking the Earth: Frieren spends her time after the defeat of the demon lord traveling the lands and searching for new spells to master.
