Thanks Archer. There's a bunch of things in your post I would like to address, but I don't want to drag this into another long discussion so I've kept it to a minimum.
I like that Zodd was fighting on the front lines with the rest of the Apostles. I think the point of it is that he isn't acting like a "warrior," but just another one of Griffith's War Demons.
Hmm, but the "war demons" are warriors... And Zodd is a leader among them.
Based on the prophecy given to him by Sonia, I think the major conflict of his story is meant to be that of "beast vs warrior," and it will be interesting to see how Miura explores that conflict in the future.
The prophecy from episode 277 refers to Zodd and Guts teaming up to take on Ganishka in Vritannis... That's why it's shown as a flashback in the same episode where it actually happens.
As for Irvine's supposed absence, couldn't he have just been leading the company of archers which saved Mule?
The giants who were throwing rocks at Mule were killed by cannon fire, not by arrows.
And as for Rakshas, maybe he was given a temporary prison sentence
Honestly I have a hard time seeing that happen.
