Episode 315

Aazealh

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I was thinking back to what Proj said about Farnese trying to help Guts out of the armor's control and it occurred to me that while she couldn't do it by herself, she might be able to help Schierke pull it off. Not sure how, but some astral teamwork could be enjoyable.
 
At first I had the impression that Guts just lost his mind and willingly gave into the armor, leaving me to think that maybe they resorted to using the armor a bit too quickly. But as mention before, if Schierke is aiding his mind in containing it, then it is indeed a step further with mastering the armor with team work. Perhaps, that's the true way to use the armor, maybe like Guts/Schierke, Skullknight/Flora were a body-and-mind sort of team.

-Side thought-

If they were indeed to master the armor with Guts/Schierke, if Guts were going against Griffith I still think there is little doubt such rage could be contained. But maybe that's might be way too obvious. But no one really know till it happens.
 
Wow! Incredible! Just looking at that two page shot of the slugs gives me a feeling of hopelessness. If Guts and crew weren't the main characters, I'd say there's no chance of surviving.

Earlier today, I almost mused that the eyes belonged to a Nudibranch sea slug. And that the sea cucumbers, themselves, were tentacles of the/a sea slug. But I thought that idea was too crazy or far-fetched to post. :ganishka:

I'm very interested in what the Boss has to say, especially in the panel with the full moon in the background.
 

Truder

"I frown at Griffith's nipples" -Aazealh
Looks like we won't see the Sea God's main body this episode either. :sad:
I wish the Sea God would just fling Guts and crew to Elfhelm already. :puck:
 

Aazealh

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Death May Die said:
At first I had the impression that Guts just lost his mind and willingly gave into the armor, leaving me to think that maybe they resorted to using the armor a bit too quickly. But as mention before, if Schierke is aiding his mind in containing it, then it is indeed a step further with mastering the armor with team work.

It doesn't look like Schierke's doing anything for now. Guts just gave in because they're surrounded by a dozen gigantic slugs and a ton of sea cucumbers and their tentacles.

Death May Die said:
If they were indeed to master the armor with Guts/Schierke, if Guts were going against Griffith I still think there is little doubt such rage could be contained. But maybe that's might be way too obvious.

Haha yeah man, it's a little too early to be speculating about that if you want my advice. :slan:
 
I am both happy and sad to see the Beast come out. I guess we'll see what effects if any the world's transformation will have on it...so far, it looks like it's the same. But, not like Guts will really make much of a dent in the horde of monsters around them...again, either Schierke must cast an extremely powerful spell, Isma does something, or some other deus ex machina has to happen...

The sea god still hasn't shown itself (the thing in the ship looks like it's just another slug, and I doubt a 'sea god' would tolerate a pirate on its back talking smack) which kind of sucks.

Really not sure where this is headed...
 
I <3 Miura. I know by now that you can always expect him to surprise and impress you, and catch you off guard. It's always so much fun when he does it.
 
Fourth panel from the bottom: That Slug is having a bad day. Sliiiiiiice. :beast:

I'm with most everyone. Seeing Guts give in (use?) the armor is very unexpected. His body's finally healed from his run in with Ganishka and Zodd. Tsk.

I wonder if he voluntarily gave in this time. The first 3 times it seems to me that he slipped and lost control. Can't really say until we read the ep in it's entirety but it'd be something if Guts called out to the Beast (that dark part of himself). I know Prof. Aaz will correct my choice of wording. :slan: :casca:

I mean, it is the Beast that is waiting on the side lines to take advantage of the armor to project itself and manifest. It'd be scary if Guts came to realize that there'll be times he needs the Beast in order to survive. I mean, even before he donned armor, he utilized that part of himself to pull through the hardest of hard times. I doubt we'll ever be rid of The Beast. Honestly, do you really want to see him go. I don't.

cwc-wolf-pup.jpg
 
That's the one thing we need at this point; Guts killing some "comrades" while he's lost himself to the armor, and Roderick's men would work out nicely for this. This way we can see the result of how he copes with the aftermath of his actions.

And as has been mentioned about pulling Guts back to his senses throughout this thread, I wonder if Schierke and Isma will handle it. More on that, at some point I wonder if Skull Knight himself will ever step in on one occasion and beat Guts back to his senses. Stranger things have happened (Zodd and Guts teaming up :guts: )
 
I would not complain in the slightest if that clown ended up cleaved in half :carcus: The story development with a strain placed on the group due to how Farnese feels about the loss of her brother at the hands of Guts, regardless of his "condition" at the time would be interesting.
 
No way Magnifico is gonna bite the dust at the hands of the Dragon Slayer. No way. If anything he'll be comic relief until one day he pulls his own weight and really does something super meaningful for the group.

But yeah, if he did die, the mourning period wouldn't be that long.

The idea of a lot of Roderick's getting diced and Guts having to deal with the fallout would be interesting. Like the crew loves him now, but imagine the cold shoulder he'd get when they find out he offed a bunch of their mates.

Sidenote: Where's the big guy? :azan: As much as I love Beast Drama, I do want to see more of Azan. All in good time I suppose.
*Edit* Azan will beat the Beast out of Guts this time. Har. :troll: Good old fashioned tough love.
 

Aazealh

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Mage said:
I am both happy and sad to see the Beast come out. I guess we'll see what effects if any the world's transformation will have on it...so far, it looks like it's the same. But, not like Guts will really make much of a dent in the horde of monsters around them...again, either Schierke must cast an extremely powerful spell, Isma does something, or some other deus ex machina has to happen...

The sea god still hasn't shown itself (the thing in the ship looks like it's just another slug, and I doubt a 'sea god' would tolerate a pirate on its back talking smack) which kind of sucks.

Yeah, it turns out the slugs were behind everything so far, and the one within the ship wasn't anything special. On one hand, it's fitting for something called a Sea God to have so many minions at its disposal, but on the other hand the situation looks pretty bad for the group now. It'll all depend on whether Guts can dispatch all the monsters or not. From what we've seen so far the slugs themselves don't look very dangerous, but without having seen the whole episode that doesn't mean anything. And there are quite a few of them, too.

The group could have rushed to the cave to confront the master directly, cutting themselves a way through the minions, but with Guts going literally berserk they can't retreat or they'll have to leave him behind. And I don't think the 3 kids are up to the task if they try it by themselves. I guess they'll have to battle it out one way or another. The deus ex machina you mention could be the merrows returning, but it'd feel rather odd if they appeared all of a sudden. I'm also wondering what Schierke could possibly do, since a water summon seems unlikely (was already out of the question against the Kundalini) and they don't have the Flame Wheel at hand this time around. Could she call the merrows somehow, with Isma's aid?

Proj2501 said:
I wonder if he voluntarily gave in this time. The first 3 times it seems to me that he slipped and lost control. Can't really say until we read the ep in it's entirety but it'd be something if Guts called out to the Beast (that dark part of himself). I know Prof. Aaz will correct my choice of wording. :slan: :casca:

Professor Aaz reporting in. What are you talking about? He voluntarily gave in on the beach and in Vritannis. The only time he was overwhelmed without realizing it was at Flora's mansion. And it looks like he gave in voluntarily this time as well as far as we can tell.

Also, like I just told you in my previous post, you should stop equating the Beast of Darkness with the Berserk's armor as if they were the same thing. Guts does not "call out to the Beast" when he uses the armor. He just lets the armor take over (we were never told what it feels like or how he activates it, maybe all it takes is for him to stop resisting/focusing his mind). And because of the way the armor works, the more combative, ferocious part of its wearer's psyche is given precedence over the rest. For Guts that part is personified by the Beast of Darkness.

Proj2501 said:
I mean, it is the Beast that is waiting on the side lines to take advantage of the armor to project itself and manifest.

Is it really? Or is it the armor that dulls everything else in Guts' mind and puts this part of him forward? Its Od fostering all of his negative feelings to make him into an unstoppable killing machine. Think about that for a while. The Beast of Darkness is just a part of Guts' mind. A part of him. Not a special magic monster who can give him super powers.

Remember what we were shown in episode 242. That is what Guts sees when the armor is activated. He's still the one swinging the sword, but his perception of the world is distorted.

Proj2501 said:
It'd be scary if Guts came to realize that there'll be times he needs the Beast in order to survive. I mean, even before he donned armor, he utilized that part of himself to pull through the hardest of hard times.

Not really. Guts never "utilized" the Beast of Darkness for anything. On the contrary, it's something that was born from his hardships. Like a trauma or a mental disease. The more he pushed himself, the more atrocities he put himself through, the stronger that side of him became. The whole point of the Beast of Darkness is that it's an internal struggle, it's Guts fighting against himself. Trying not to become a monster. Keeping his bloodthirst in check so that he doesn't lose sight of what really matters to him.

dwarfkicker said:
More on that, at some point I wonder if Skull Knight himself will ever step in on one occasion and beat Guts back to his senses.

Regardless of how likely to happen it is, this would be quite the sight. The perfect excuse for the two of them to have a go at it, too.

Proj2501 said:
No way Magnifico is gonna bite the dust at the hands of the Dragon Slayer. No way. If anything he'll be comic relief until one day he pulls his own weight and really does something super meaningful for the group.

I think I'd rather see him die than become a "super valuable asset" to the group. :iva:
 
It could also be that this outbreak of the beast is not that serious a threat to Guts or the rest of the crew. It is part of Guts and it does need him for survival and as such it might just be a case of it taking over a bit, directing all its rage at the monsters and then subsiding again for now to keep in line with the "biding its time" and lulling Guts into a false sense of controll. While the astral aware people like Schierke and Isma notice something new or disturbing about it for a future plot point with this just being more of a foreshadowing since the focus atm still seems to be about the Sea God. Throwing in some huge beast related dilemma now might make things to convoluted from a storytelling point of view. You never know with Miura, he keeps you interested, that's for sure.
 

Aazealh

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Shadax said:
It could also be that this outbreak of the beast is not that serious a threat to Guts or the rest of the crew. It is part of Guts and it does need him for survival and as such it might just be a case of it taking over a bit, directing all its rage at the monsters and then subsiding again for now to keep in line with the "biding its time" and lulling Guts into a false sense of controll.

I don't think that's a good interpretation of the Beast of Darkness and its intentions. It's a part of him, sure, but not like an independent being just sharing his body. It represents certain aspects of his psyche (the more violent and negative ones), and as such I don't think it has much of a sense of self-preservation (not to mention that it clearly wishes for the death of everyone he cares about). I guess you could relate it to the Freudian "death drive" in that regard.

Which brings me back to the way the armor works. It's not like the Beast as a character just takes control of Guts' body through a trick, no, it's the Berserk's armor that clouds his mind and boosts his negative side (like I told Proj, think back to episode 242). That side is represented by the Beast of Darkness in Guts, but it's still him going crazy because of the armor. So regardless of what the Beast told Guts in that dream, when the armor is activated he's going to go berserk.

However, assuming that the Beast does keep quiet (meaning that Guts keeps those feelings buried deep), maybe his mind won't be as clouded as it was before, allowing him to discern ally from enemy and/or making it easier for Schierke to bring him back. But will he really be able to deactivate the armor by himself at this point (which is what you're saying implies)? It would be quite a feat. Remember that the only reason he can even get back to normal is because Flora's seal protects his ego, and that without it his mind would have been destroyed the first time he used it. To me, for him to have any kind of control on the process would likely require something similar: a direct intervention on the armor itself, a tampering in the way it works (that's if it's possible at all while retaining its benefits, which isn't very likely), and until they reach Elfhelm that's just not happening.
 

Dar_Klink

Last Guardian when? - CyberKlink 20XX before dying
Aazealh said:
until they reach Elfhelm that's just not happening.
Unless Elfhelm brings themselves to him first. :iva: I wonder how far it really is from the island and if there'd be any real chance of somebody or something from there investigating the nearby revival of the Sea God or just the merging effects on nearby islands.
 

Aazealh

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Dar Klink said:
I wonder how far it really is from the island and if there'd be any real chance of somebody or something from there investigating the nearby revival of the Sea God or just the merging effects on nearby islands.

If so the merrows who originally imprisoned the Sea God (or their descendants) would be the best candidates I think. We're never told what became of them so it's possible they just retired around that area.

Anyways, from the looks of it Skellig is still a ways off.
 
I just hope we don't have to wait until about volume 50 for the group to finally reach Skellig. And, this is just me being greedy, but I hope the story focuses on Guts for a good while. With all of Miura's breaks making it feel longer, his tale seemed to focused on Griffith for a long time. I think that Guts needs a lot of time in the spotlight to make up for lost time.

Back to the topic at hand. As awesome as it is to see Guts tearing it up as the beast again, I feel that this happened to quickly. With the beast saying he was going to lie in wait until the time was right, I expected that when Guts needed the power of the armor he'd don the batman look up until the point when shit really hits the fan and the beats makes violently dramatic return. All the same I'm still enjoying this...just slightly bummed because it feels somewhat rushed with him unleashing the beast again.
 

Truder

"I frown at Griffith's nipples" -Aazealh
dwarfkicker said:
I just hope we don't have to wait until about volume 50 for the group to finally reach Skellig. And, this is just me being greedy, but I hope the story focuses on Guts for a good while. With all of Miura's breaks making it feel longer, his tale seemed to focused on Griffith for a long time. I think that Guts needs a lot of time in the spotlight to make up for lost time.

Although as much as I would LOVE to see Guts and Co. reach Skellig.. I get the feeling that after finishing off the Sea God, Miura will most assuredly throw the ball over to Griffith and his new kingdom to explain things over there. Which is nice too.. but I'm more interested in seeing Casca back to normal (and Guts and Co. reaction), than the events happening in Midland. So Elfhelm seems like a very long ways away :(
 
Truder said:
Although as much as I would LOVE to see Guts and Co. reach Skellig.. I get the feeling that after finishing off the Sea God, Miura will most assuredly throw the ball over to Griffith and his new kingdom to explain things over there. Which is nice too.. but I'm more interested in seeing Casca back to normal (and Guts and Co. reaction), than the events happening in Midland. So Elfhelm seems like a very long ways away :(

We are in the chapter of Elfhelm though. So i do think we will see it before long (in terms of episodes, it might still be a year, who knows).
The question is how they will reach it, and by now i think "killing the monsters and set sail" is not going to happen.
 

Walter

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Gaahl said:
We are in the chapter of Elfhelm though.
It's the "Chapter of the Elf Island." And yeah, I agree with Gaahl here. I don't think we'll be seeing Griffith for a while, myself.
 

Truder

"I frown at Griffith's nipples" -Aazealh
Walter said:
It's the "Chapter of the Elf Island." And yeah, I agree with Gaahl here. I don't think we'll be seeing Griffith for a while, myself.
That's true, but i think they will near the island and it will say something like..
"What lies in store for Guts and crew on Elfhelm?" / "See you next time! (aka Break :troll:)" as they see Skellig island at a distance.
Then it will go over Griffith the very next episode. Or I might be wrong, (which would be great, because I want to see Elfhelm already :puck:)
 
The world of Berserk has been turned on its head. Strange creatures straight out of Man's fantasies and nightmares now walk the earth. Guts and crew have sailed into a brand new oceanic world that we could never even dream of only a short time ago. A world of naval battles and pirates. A world of merrows. A world where an army of gargantuan, evil sea monsters, potentially dwarfing anything we’ve seen to date, are trying to kill Guts and crew while the threat of an imprisoned, evil GOD, the likes of which we’ve never seen before, being unleashed upon the world looms overhead. At the same time, Guts may or may not be lost to his armor as the forest of monsters converge upon him. . . And how do people respond to these earthshaking events? “Yeah yeah yeah, whatever, when are they getting to Elfhelm again?” :ganishka:
 
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