Griffith
With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
One of the questions during the final showdown with Ganishka was what Rakshas was doing there. It still hasn't been answered, but this is one idea. It's not a new idea, but it deserves further exploration. The hypothesis of this thread is that during their brief encounter on top of Ganishka, Rakshas, as per Griffith's plan, jumped from Zodd onto Skull Knight, whom he stayed with thereafter. Griffith/Femto said he knew Skully was coming, was expecting him in fact, and even used him in his plans already. The most likely and knowable motive behind this move, beyond tracking Skull Knight's movements, would be to pinpoint the location of Skellig and Elfhelm itself, which all encompass the largest known threats to Griffith's rule.
So, lets establish the plausibility of Rakshas being able to make such a move and blend in with Skully undetected, as well as iron out some other wrinkles. First, examine Rakshas' appearance, abilities, and freedom of movement below:
Now, let's recreate the scene on top of Ganishka, focusing on Zodd, Rakshas, and Skull Knight:
While there's certainly no conclusive evidence of Rakshas making his way onto Skully (you have no idea how long I stared at these images zoomed to the max looking for a "Zodd on the rocky knoll"-type smoking gun shot of Rakshas =), it's quite easy to imagine him making the transition. Hell, with it mind, it's hard not to imagine it in those pictures. You could literally be looking at Rakshas in all three of those images but not be able to discern him from Skull Knight's cape. That coincidence both adds to the plausibility of him hiding on Skully while making it impossible to confirm or deny without a positive ID. Of course, I'm not saying Miura actually drew him in those shots, he didn't, but he didn't have to in order to maintain the plausibility of Rakshas having jumped on and hid there later (the point is he's supposed to be hiding after all). Rakshas remaining undetected is another matter, and where this idea becomes most theoretical. Rakshas would need to be able to hide his presence, albeit a specialty of his, from Skull Knight for the duration. A prohibitive notion, only our combined ignorance of the extent of Rakshas' and Skull Knight's abilities makes this inconclusive as well. On that note, since we've established there's little conclusive evidence, let's examine the circumstantial evidence next.
Back to the original question, after Rakshas was revealed to be on Zodd's wing, we naturally tried to guess what role he would play in the events to follow; what was he doing there? Well, unless you guessed "nothing we'll see," you were wrong. After his initial reveal, Rakshas wasn't just seemingly inconsequential, he was conspicuously absent; no further involvement, no reaction shots, not even another token appearance under Zodd's wing. Rakshas' complete silence in all this is pretty damn loud when you think about it. For instance, it's been established that he and Zodd are Griffith's personal bodyguards, so he could have been there merely in that capacity, except he sure did a piss poor job of it. When Skully attacked, Zodd reacted immediately and lunged at him, conveniently getting Rakshas extremely close, yet Rakshas didn't attack, or appear at all. If he was there as a bodyguard, shouldn't he have attacked Skully then as well, or at least had a reaction to the situation?
Speaking of reactions, considering that Griffith turned into Femto, Skull Knight attacked him, Zodd attacked Skull Knight, Ganishka died, the world was remade, and Falconia appeared as from nowhere, that's a lot to ignore. Every character of significance there, and even Guts' party at sea, had a reaction at some point:
Except Rakshas.
Why didn't we see Rakshas' reaction to any of this? He was at the epicenter of it, so why didn't we see his eyes lighting up along with Femto, Zodd, and Skull Knight? Why wasn't he included among the other Apostle lieutenants and everyone else when Falconia appeared? Well, if he was still hiding under Zodd's wing at the time, I guess we wouldn't see his reaction with the other... wait a minute, was he still on Zodd's wing at the time?
Enhance:
Back, and to the left.
Do you see Rakshas there? I don't. There's some dark splotches or shadows, but they still look consistent with the texture of the rest of Zodd's wings. Now, again, this is inconclusive at best, I even checked Zodd's wings in episode 302, as he's flying toward Ganishka, and you can't see Rakshas there either. Still, that was before his presence was established, this was after. At the very least, it means his whereabouts after the encounter with Skull Knight on top of Ganishka are inconclusive at best as well. Taken altogether, it doesn't just seem like coincidence, but design.
As a matter of fact, going back to the original question about Rakshas' purpose there, about the only thing you can say for sure that he was doing there was hiding. Now that might sound obtuse, but don't overlook it or think of it as passive happenstance and a non-action, because it certainly didn't go down that way. Extremes were taken for him to remain hidden, literally, and figuratively from the audience, like there was purpose behind it. So, if he was actively hidden, there was really only one person there for him to hide from, and at least one good reason I can think of...
So, lets establish the plausibility of Rakshas being able to make such a move and blend in with Skully undetected, as well as iron out some other wrinkles. First, examine Rakshas' appearance, abilities, and freedom of movement below:
Now, let's recreate the scene on top of Ganishka, focusing on Zodd, Rakshas, and Skull Knight:
While there's certainly no conclusive evidence of Rakshas making his way onto Skully (you have no idea how long I stared at these images zoomed to the max looking for a "Zodd on the rocky knoll"-type smoking gun shot of Rakshas =), it's quite easy to imagine him making the transition. Hell, with it mind, it's hard not to imagine it in those pictures. You could literally be looking at Rakshas in all three of those images but not be able to discern him from Skull Knight's cape. That coincidence both adds to the plausibility of him hiding on Skully while making it impossible to confirm or deny without a positive ID. Of course, I'm not saying Miura actually drew him in those shots, he didn't, but he didn't have to in order to maintain the plausibility of Rakshas having jumped on and hid there later (the point is he's supposed to be hiding after all). Rakshas remaining undetected is another matter, and where this idea becomes most theoretical. Rakshas would need to be able to hide his presence, albeit a specialty of his, from Skull Knight for the duration. A prohibitive notion, only our combined ignorance of the extent of Rakshas' and Skull Knight's abilities makes this inconclusive as well. On that note, since we've established there's little conclusive evidence, let's examine the circumstantial evidence next.
Back to the original question, after Rakshas was revealed to be on Zodd's wing, we naturally tried to guess what role he would play in the events to follow; what was he doing there? Well, unless you guessed "nothing we'll see," you were wrong. After his initial reveal, Rakshas wasn't just seemingly inconsequential, he was conspicuously absent; no further involvement, no reaction shots, not even another token appearance under Zodd's wing. Rakshas' complete silence in all this is pretty damn loud when you think about it. For instance, it's been established that he and Zodd are Griffith's personal bodyguards, so he could have been there merely in that capacity, except he sure did a piss poor job of it. When Skully attacked, Zodd reacted immediately and lunged at him, conveniently getting Rakshas extremely close, yet Rakshas didn't attack, or appear at all. If he was there as a bodyguard, shouldn't he have attacked Skully then as well, or at least had a reaction to the situation?
Speaking of reactions, considering that Griffith turned into Femto, Skull Knight attacked him, Zodd attacked Skull Knight, Ganishka died, the world was remade, and Falconia appeared as from nowhere, that's a lot to ignore. Every character of significance there, and even Guts' party at sea, had a reaction at some point:
Except Rakshas.
Why didn't we see Rakshas' reaction to any of this? He was at the epicenter of it, so why didn't we see his eyes lighting up along with Femto, Zodd, and Skull Knight? Why wasn't he included among the other Apostle lieutenants and everyone else when Falconia appeared? Well, if he was still hiding under Zodd's wing at the time, I guess we wouldn't see his reaction with the other... wait a minute, was he still on Zodd's wing at the time?
Enhance:
Back, and to the left.
Do you see Rakshas there? I don't. There's some dark splotches or shadows, but they still look consistent with the texture of the rest of Zodd's wings. Now, again, this is inconclusive at best, I even checked Zodd's wings in episode 302, as he's flying toward Ganishka, and you can't see Rakshas there either. Still, that was before his presence was established, this was after. At the very least, it means his whereabouts after the encounter with Skull Knight on top of Ganishka are inconclusive at best as well. Taken altogether, it doesn't just seem like coincidence, but design.
As a matter of fact, going back to the original question about Rakshas' purpose there, about the only thing you can say for sure that he was doing there was hiding. Now that might sound obtuse, but don't overlook it or think of it as passive happenstance and a non-action, because it certainly didn't go down that way. Extremes were taken for him to remain hidden, literally, and figuratively from the audience, like there was purpose behind it. So, if he was actively hidden, there was really only one person there for him to hide from, and at least one good reason I can think of...