With the 2nd exam starting, the goal is dungeon crawling. Which, in a sense, is more practical than catching Stilles in the first portion of the exam. Giving the examinees an opportunity to flee if their life is in danger is nice to have. Though the way she says she is a pacifist is a bit odd.
Of course we see the mages going about in their predetermined groups. While in theory Denken’s point of them working together should be the ideal approach. The problem is that humans can be complicated. Can you trust your fellow mages? And those with trust issues no doubt would have issues working with unfamiliar people. Wirbel’s point is how can you trust someone you barely know or interacted with? It’s a case of everyone not being wrong for the approach they chose.
Speaking of dungeon crawling, it’s cool to learn what Himmel’s approach would be. It’s essentially a completionist mindset. For Himmel it was simply about enjoying the adventure in its purest form. Tackling the dungeon is essentially an adventure, and what is the rush in getting to the end? Of course Himmel knows how to incentivize Frieren to follow that approach.
It’s funny that Sense says she can’t understand Fern because she is so talented at such a young age, but she has no passion. In a sense it makes sense because this adventure is more so Frieren’s adventure to reunite and talk to Himmel. For Fern, though, she gets great joy in seeing the passion that Frieren displays, like with the various treasures, and that is enough for her.
So this dungeon can copy the examinees, and it is very detailed to the bone. The only difference is the outward experience, and they don’t seem to talk. This is the proof that it was a good idea to not go solo because if you are facing a perfect clone, it will cause trouble. Also, these clones most likely won’t have doubt, unlike humans, so if you go up against your clone alone, you will most likely lose.
While it shouldn’t be a surprise that Frieren has her own clone too. But the fact that the final boss of this dungeon, in a way, is Frieren makes this exam much more daunting than the first because no one had to fight Frieren herself in the first stage of the exam.
This episode adapted chapters 48 & 49. Animation looks to be back on track after it was a bit shaky in a few episodes in the 1st stage exam. Also, note the whole fight sequence in Denken’s group when Laufen’s clone appears is anime original.