Hm, looks like the scene from the guidebook with Guts and company at the banquet is being saved for down the road. If it hasn't been cut anyway.
Nah, it's probably from the next episode.
What would happen to Casca if the little sprite were to be removed from the doll?
Casca would be mentally dead. She would not even be in her current state, where she's child-like, but completely catatonic.
Looks like you were right. No Casca shrinkage involved! 
They just found the sprite in the casket like that. It'll be interesting to see what part she'll play in Casca's healing.
Yeah, it's funny because I had a feeling the preview was out of order and that the sprite was already in there (and she was putting it back), and it was. This is very interesting and already tells us what's going to happen next. Basically, that small hyperactive Casca is all that's left of the original Casca. It's the only spark of life left in the dead husk, the broken doll. And it has a direct impact on Casca's personality in the real world. Because it's all that's left, it IS effectively her personality right now, instead of being one minor part of it.
To fix her, Schierke and Farnese will have to find her other sparks, more of those little fragments of her self, and put them back into the husk. Until they fix it. Until she's whole again. So I think we'll see Casca as a mom (with the boy), Casca as a warrior (with the Band of the Falcon), Casca as a lover (with Guts), and so on, and of course we'll see Casca dealing with Griffith/Femto, maybe both as an adoring follower and as a rape victim. All of these little scenes, these little parts, will contribute to them understanding her better (setting the shifting group mechanics that will emerge after she returns), and to her recovery. And obviously the climax of this journey will take place near the "spiky mountain" as Farnese calls it. Whatever that will be is the big question... probably not something nice.
After the brisk pace we saw in the last few episodes, it rather surprised me how much slower this one was, acting as more of a general setup than anything. A lot of questions are being raised without any answers in sight. What is the ominous mountain looming in the distance? How can they even begin to piece her back together? And just what else awaits us down the line?
There's nothing surprising about it. Miura always goes quickly through the elements he doesn't deem important and then slows down for the momentous stuff. And I didn't even find the pace all that brisk. We had a fight upon the group arriving to Skellig, we saw them travel to the witches' village and then to Elfhelm... It's just a matter of perspective.
I also have to disagree with what you're saying. This episode contains a LOT of information and events (as I've been talking about in the thread), and I'm really quite certain that all questions being raised right now will be answered in the coming episodes (and I've already answered some above).
Didn't expect Farnese to be immediately taken in by the little sprite. It gives me hope that she won't have a hostile relationship with Casca.
No reason for them to have a hostile relationship, especially in these circumstances. It'll be hard for Farnese to let go of Guts, but really, the writing's always been on the wall. She's always known, she just hasn't accepted it yet. But she will eventually.
it's become something of a tick to comment on the state of the artwork every episode even when there's nothing new to say
Indeed...
