DarkDragoon
Kuro no mahoutsukai
I've been re-reading the Golden Age arc and just finished volume 8, right where Guts and Griffith dueled for Guts' freedom. I'd forgotten how hard it is to truly wrap my head around what's going on in Griffith's mind.
Guts was a powerful tool to Griffith's success on the battlefield, but the war was over. At least for the foreseeable future, they were done battling. The rest of Griffith's path was mostly meddling in political mumbo-jumbo and eventually marrying the princess. So what logical reason was there for Griffith to be so upset about Guts leaving?
I suppose for in-castle affairs Guts could come in handy, like he had when he killed the drink-poisoner and the guys who kidnapped Foss' daughter, but that couldn't be all. I don't think Guts leaving at that point really threatened Griffith's dream, not really. And of course, when Guts left, Griffith went into self-destruct mode and carelessly had sex with Charlotte(rebound sex?) and really screwed up his dream, as it was.
So Griffith obviously cared for Guts as much more than a comrade on the battlefield and a tool to obtaining his dream. But by Griffith's own words, he could never call a man his friend unless he was his equal, had his own dream. He was very clear and sincere when he spoke of that. So by seeing Guts as his underling so much that he refused to let him live his life outside of Griffith's all-consuming flame, how could he really consider Guts a friend? He would have rather killed him than let him leave. For a man so composed and level-headed, he is completely contradicting himself.
So really, what the hell was Griffith thinking? Was he actually in love with Guts or something? I suppose being in love with someone is different from friendship, in that you wouldn't want them to be seeking their own dream, but rather be part of your own. But I don't know, that doesn't seem right. But as Casca said in volume 9, "a person's heart can't be sustained by dreams and ideals alone. You made Griffith weak. Griffith's no good without you."
It's just kind of sad. All Guts really wanted was to be Griffith's friend. True friend. Equal. And that destroyed everything and turned them into mortal(ish)enemies.
Thoughts?
Guts was a powerful tool to Griffith's success on the battlefield, but the war was over. At least for the foreseeable future, they were done battling. The rest of Griffith's path was mostly meddling in political mumbo-jumbo and eventually marrying the princess. So what logical reason was there for Griffith to be so upset about Guts leaving?
I suppose for in-castle affairs Guts could come in handy, like he had when he killed the drink-poisoner and the guys who kidnapped Foss' daughter, but that couldn't be all. I don't think Guts leaving at that point really threatened Griffith's dream, not really. And of course, when Guts left, Griffith went into self-destruct mode and carelessly had sex with Charlotte(rebound sex?) and really screwed up his dream, as it was.
So Griffith obviously cared for Guts as much more than a comrade on the battlefield and a tool to obtaining his dream. But by Griffith's own words, he could never call a man his friend unless he was his equal, had his own dream. He was very clear and sincere when he spoke of that. So by seeing Guts as his underling so much that he refused to let him live his life outside of Griffith's all-consuming flame, how could he really consider Guts a friend? He would have rather killed him than let him leave. For a man so composed and level-headed, he is completely contradicting himself.
So really, what the hell was Griffith thinking? Was he actually in love with Guts or something? I suppose being in love with someone is different from friendship, in that you wouldn't want them to be seeking their own dream, but rather be part of your own. But I don't know, that doesn't seem right. But as Casca said in volume 9, "a person's heart can't be sustained by dreams and ideals alone. You made Griffith weak. Griffith's no good without you."
It's just kind of sad. All Guts really wanted was to be Griffith's friend. True friend. Equal. And that destroyed everything and turned them into mortal(ish)enemies.
Thoughts?