Episode 332

Walter

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Title: 幌馬車 - Covered wagon​




Story transitions to the main continent. What do you get when you cross Rickert and Erica with the new Band of the Falcon?

As expected, the Falcons seem to be serving as magical creature exterminators. I wonder if they were sent specifically to find Rickert, or this is just a coincidence.

No date was given for next episode.
 
I'm going with coincidence also. As much as I was looking forward to seeing Skellig on the horizon, it's great to catch up with Rickert and Erica, I've been wondering what they've been up to for quite some time now.
 
As much as I've been wanting to see Skellig, I'm actually pretty happy that the story has switched back over to the mainland. For some reason I've been reading volume 34 over and over and over. So recently I've been really wanting to see what has been going on when it comes to Falconia and Irvine (who I have a new appreciation for).

I really like that cockatrice, by the way. It looks like the group's eating chicken tonight.
 

Aazealh

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Great to see Rickert and Erica again after so long. As expected they're used to show us how the "average people" manage their life in this new world. I wonder what's going on with them these days other than that though. Also not surprising to see the Band of the Falcon playing keepers of the peace against astral "pests". Irvine looks totally badass with his hair out. It's interesting that he doesn't mind transforming in front of humans anymore, too. Truly a different era. And a fucking Cockatrice on the double page! Awesome!
 
Wow. Great twist. I think I'm happier for this.

I wonder what the true purpose is though. Why would Griffith need to rally the support of humans? Or have his army of apostles defend humans? It's not like he's really needed them to accomplish what he has so far, even if he's made them believe they've had a role to play, so something is still culminating here. As others have said, it'll be interesting to see what role Rickert has to play in it, or if it's just a coincidence.
 

BiQ_

" ... "
Maybe Griffith thinks it's just more fun to be the loved and trusted kind of emperor instead of the feared tyrant kind? Mind you, it's all about what it looks like...
 

Aazealh

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BerserkMJM said:
I wonder what the true purpose is though. Why would Griffith need to rally the support of humans?

Well the God Hand, the apostles, and the Idea of Evil itself are all about mankind. Those are powers born from, made of, and centering around humans. So obviously we don't know their end goal in detail (apart from the fact it's sinister), but this development isn't surprising at all.

One thing I'm wondering about is the natural opposition that is happening of humans (and human-based powers, like apostles) versus astral creatures in general. Is that the natural order of things? Or is it something that's being manufactured before our very eyes? We know that trolls for example are beasts at the core, creatures that are dangerous in the same way that a pack of starving wild dogs can be. But there are benevolent astral beings as well, like elves. Are people in Midland (and the world in general) going to be able to make the difference, to see that they could ally themselves with benevolent astral beings (like the Lady of the Depths) to fight off harmful ones? Or are they, under the influence of Griffith (and the rest of the God Hand?) going to see all non-humans as threatening and start a campaign to exterminate them all? That could be one of the ulterior goals of the powers that be.

BerserkMJM said:
As others have said, it'll be interesting to see what role Rickert has to play in it, or if it's just a coincidence.

I think we're seeing one scene out of the global situation, which is that the Band of the Falcon (or is it Falconia's Army now?) is scouring the land, protecting the people from the astral threat. I don't believe Rickert was being sought out specifically. That being said, protecting the people might not be this group of soldiers' main or original goal, who knows.

On another note, this isn't really the "demon army" at play here. We see Irvine leading human soldiers, which isn't the same thing. It hints at the new order of things within Falconia, since the advent of Fantasia.
 

Gobolatula

praise be to grail!
I absolutely love Irvine. He is my favorite in the new Band of the Falcon. Looks like Rickert's gonna see Griffith again soon. That will be an amazing moment. It really is nice to see Rickert again.
 

Aazealh

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Nice, the cockatrice is a match for Irvine, just like other astral beings were a match for Guts back in the day! He has to use his TRUE POWEEEEERRR :daiba:. Awesome ending. Great to see him transform.
 

Dar_Klink

Last Guardian when? - CyberKlink 20XX before dying
Aazealh said:
Nice, the cockatrice is a match for Irvine, just like other astral beings were a match for Guts back in the day! He has to use his TRUE POWEEEEERRR :daiba:. Awesome ending. Great to see him transform.

I love the "hold my hat" panel :ganishka:
 

Johnstantine

Skibbidy Boo Bop
Aazealh said:
Nice, the cockatrice is a match for Irvine, just like other astral beings were a match for Guts back in the day! He has to use his TRUE POWEEEEERRR :daiba:. Awesome ending. Great to see him transform.

My thoughts exactly.
 
Oh wow really I like the new episode! I saw that there was a thread for 332 at the start of my morning class but had to resist until getting home just now. All I teased myself with was that Irvine was in it (kinda scrolled slow squinting...saw his name and closed the page :serpico:).

At first I was unsure how I felt about it going back to the mainland but it was definitely a possibility after the last episode. After seeing the spoilers I really like it! It's awesome seeing ordinary people fighting since the shift. That giant repeating bow was pretty freaking awesome and Erica's scene with the bombs was cute. I'm really worried about people who aren't quite as fortunate as to have unique custom weapon like that repeating bow or those handy-dany bombs that will also probably be facing even more frightening creatures than trolls. Surely everyone is quite fucked haha.

I'm very happy to see Rickerts reunion with Griffith being kicked into motion, just one step closer to him discovering the truth :femto:.

The cockatrice looks awesome and it's great to see another mythological creature drawn by Miura.I really liked the panel of it's silhouette in the forest....very creepy. One more off the checklist, can't wait for a wicked manticore!

Great to see more Irvine also! It's cool to see him actually think and worry about the cockatrice's attack. Even wild animals now have powers that could easilly harm a captain. Really cool looking transformation scene too, can't wait for that cockatrice to go down next episode! After his spotlight in volume 34, I'm happy to see he is remaining in the forefront. Other than the fireside scene with Sonia I don't really remember him getting much attention, but I always liked the fact he was a badass archer. 34 really humanized him for me and now I'm excited to see where else Miura will take his character! :guts:
 

Aazealh

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Side note: when Irvine dodges the Cockatrice's breath he does the same characteristic back jump he did in Wyndham when Ganishka zapped the roof he was on. Funny. :guts:

Draculoid said:
I'm very happy to see Rickerts reunion with Griffith being kicked into motion, just one step closer to him discovering the truth :femto:.

Uhh... Rickert already met Griffith in volume 22, and he was told the whole truth by Guts shortly afterwards...
 
Aazealh said:
Uhh... Rickert already met Griffith in volume 22, and he was told the whole truth by Guts shortly afterwards...

Oh crap...how could I forget that.... Well let me say then that I'm excited to see what Rickert will do or if he'll want to go back to talk to Griffith himself. I wonder if, even knowing the truth, he will be able to resist him, a scary thought :magni:.
 

Aazealh

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Draculoid said:
Well let me say then that I'm excited to see what Rickert will do or if he'll want to go back to talk to Griffith himself. I wonder if, even knowing the truth, he will be able to resist him, a scary thought :magni:.

Hmmm. I don't think he'd want to "faithfully" go to Griffith, no. And I think that having apostles being part of the Band of the Falcon might not sit right with him either. That being said I'm sure he'll be very curious about it all. I know I would be, in his place.
 
Curious definitely, so you don't think he will want to speak to Griffith? If he does make it back to Falconia I wonder what Griffith will think/do with him. I have a feeling Griffith would want to treat him well, have him to remember the old times fondly and want to grant him a high position in his army or kingdom. With his otherworldly charisma I wonder if it will be easy enough for Rickert to resist him outright if he chooses to based on what Guts has told him. He also has no idea Griffith combined the worlds. If Griffith can spin things a way that really points him to being the savior of this new world, Rickert may succumb to his tricks. If he does reject him, I wonder what Griffith would have in store :femto:.
 

Lithrael

Remember, always hold your apple tight
Aazealh said:
Are people in Midland (and the world in general) going to be able to make the difference, to see that they could ally themselves with benevolent astral beings (like the Lady of the Depths) to fight off harmful ones? Or are they, under the influence of Griffith (and the rest of the God Hand?) going to see all non-humans as threatening and start a campaign to exterminate them all? That could be one of the ulterior goals of the powers that be.

I like the idea that it's something like.. The Idea of Evil and/or other human zeitgeist type things, wanting to in some sense conquer older powers from before the age of men. Those deeper powers that have been around since microbes, since earth, since time. The Idea of Evil, if it essentially arises from conscious minds wanting to know why they must suffer, must be a very, very new arrival on the scene of astral powers. Unless Berserk Universe is secretly a sci-fi epic and there are Alien Ideas out there older than anything we've seen.

I wonder if there are any more primal Ideas that arose with earlier animals? I wonder how complex a mind must be to wonder about things like why things happen to it, and what other Ideas it would come up with. I bet the Idea of Cuckoldry is an old one. :troll:

ETA: Maybe that's what some of the elemental forces really are? Animals' Idea of Where Water Comes From, the Idea of Why there is Wind, etc?

Anyhows, gorgeous episode.
 

jackson_hurley

even the horses are cut in half!
Very cool episode indeed. And perhaps the band of the falcon are not just protecting people but maybe they are, as it was mentioned a long time ago in another thread (i think), just regrouping people to bring them to Falconia. As in, Falconia being the "safe" city in Midland... Just a small thought I'm throwing like that since I remembered reading something of the like when Falconia appeared.

Episode wise, I very liked the part with the cockatrice! Poor thing is gonna get killed fast with Irvine transformed! :isidro:
 

Aazealh

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At the beginning of the episode the wagon's driver asks Rickert to take care of the trolls, so as they're in the rear I imagine it's not the first time Rickert has defended it. When his equipment breaks, and because the wagons couldn't go any faster, Erica takes drastic action, which has Rickert tell her to be careful, and that she's reckless. He of course recognizes the flag as soon as he sees it. The soldiers are ordered to spread left and right and to attack the trolls, then when they flee, to not follow them and instead protect the refugees. Rickert warns them to be wary as there's still one thing left. Another guy in the wagon comment on how it's Midland's chivalry, but is corrected by his buddy who tells him that the sword with wings is the flag of the Band of the Falcon, led by Griffith the White Falcon. As Irvine transforms, he tells the Cockatrice that it's his prey and that it can't escape.

Draculoid said:
Curious definitely, so you don't think he will want to speak to Griffith? If he does make it back to Falconia I wonder what Griffith will think/do with him. I have a feeling Griffith would want to treat him well, have him to remember the old times fondly and want to grant him a high position in his army or kingdom.

Griffith has already told him that he could come along if he wanted to. But after learning the truth, Rickert obviously didn't feel like it. He even told Guts he wanted to accompany him. It's Guts who refused, and Rickert had to stay for Erica anyway. So while I'm sure Rickert would be curious to know what Griffith is up to, I don't think he'd be eager to join the ranks of his sycophants. Especially after seeing what he's seeing in this very episode: Irvine transforming. Don't forget that Rickert's seen apostles butcher his friends as well, even though he wasn't present during the Occultation ceremony.

Lithrael said:
Unless Berserk Universe is secretly a sci-fi epic and there are Alien Ideas out there older than anything we've seen.

I'm going to go ahead and say "nah" on that one.

Lithrael said:
I wonder how complex a mind must be to wonder about things like why things happen to it, and what other Ideas it would come up with.

I don't believe animals have what it takes (a higher consciousness). But there's merit to the comparison of the elemental kings to the Idea of Evil. However, the word "Idea" here is associated to a meaning of source, origin. The origin of evil, the source where evil flows from. And it's evil in the sense of "evil power", too. The elemental kings aren't the source of the element they represent as far as we know, but they apparently have dominion over it. Maybe one could say they are their avatars, in a way? Anyway, I believe that in the end the processes involved are different.
 

Lithrael

Remember, always hold your apple tight
Aazealh said:
However, the word "Idea" here is associated to a meaning of source, origin. The origin of evil, the source where evil flows from. And it's evil in the sense of "evil power", too. The elemental kings aren't the source of the element they represent as far as we know, but they apparently have dominion over it.

I was under the impression that the Idea of Evil was not the original source of evil but rather an emergent property of the desire of humans to have a reason why there is so much human suffering in the world. Is that not true? Unless it's a semantic thing, that evil per se did not exist before the Idea of Evil, but rather only suffering due to misfortune, and whatever human cruelty that took place before the Idea of Evil was around wasn't technically evil? I think I must be confused. Did one not really come before the other? I mean, sometimes apes get mad and beat the shit out of one another just to be dicks, not even over resources, I'd call that evil in the same way humans doing the same thing is evil. But if the Idea of Evil is the source of evil then how does it get created by the desire of beings to know why it's already happening?

In the same way, an Elemental King might not be the original source of its element, but could be an emergent property of primitive life's desire to have a reason why water is sometimes too scarce and other times too plentiful, or something like that.

ETA more stuffs. Also: Caltrops, surely?
 
From the preview I thought Erica was unleashing a box of Guts'/Isidoro's explosives on the trolls, but I guess they were just sharp jacks.
 

Aazealh

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Lithrael said:
I was under the impression that the Idea of Evil was not the original source of evil but rather an emergent property of the desire of humans to have a reason why there is so much human suffering in the world. Is that not true?

It's true, but that's still what its name is. :slan: And it's not necessarily contradictory either, as human suffering and the "evil power" in question aren't the same thing.

Lithrael said:
In the same way, an Elemental King might not be the original source of its element, but could be an emergent property of primitive life's desire to have a reason why water is sometimes too scarce and other times too plentiful, or something like that.

Doesn't seem to be the case to me. They're presented to us as both the masters and the embodiments of their respective elements, not the same characterization that the Idea of Evil received in episode 83. And they're just not called like that either, which is a stronger indication to me than it might seem (I don't believe Miura would have missed the opportunity if he had meant it to be).

Jaze1618 said:
From the preview I thought Erica was unleashing a box of Guts'/Isidro's explosives on the trolls, but I guess they were just sharp jacks.

Yup, seems so. Guess black powder isn't easy to get one's hands on.
 
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