Hmm. I just took a look at the Berserk encyclopedia the other day and noticed that Gaiseric is placed at -1000, whereas Void is placed -864...
If a Godhand is born every 216 years, and Griffith is the fifth Godhand, then the first Godhand would have been born -1080, not -864 (using the year of Charlotte's story/Griffith's ascension as 0, which the timeline does not do. But it doesn't change the fact that the first Godhand must have ascended around the same time as Gaiseric's rule, not ~136 years after when he was already "dead").
That wasn't really my main point though. When Charlotte is telling the story of Gaiseric, she says that his kingdom was destroyed by 4/5 angels. I have always taken this to mean the Godhand. Is there any other way to take it, after all? I can't think of anything that a group of four or maybe five really powerful servants of God would refer to in the Berserk universe than the Godhand.
When I began to think about the timeline, though, I realized this was impossible-- If the Godhand had anything to do with Gaiseric, there sure as hell weren't 4 of them around at the time of his rule. Void alone? Yeah, maybe. But the rest simply hadn't ascended yet.
So, speculation:
In my opinion, IDEA and the Godhand go back a lot further than 1000 years in the Berserk universe. Looking at the technology level in the Berserk universe and comparing it to our own, we can gather that there's probably a good 1-1500 years of history and maybe around 5-6000 years of pre-history civilization. Since IDEA is supposed to be manifest out of humans' desire for meaning in a world full of suffering, it probably is at least as old as civilization and perhaps older. We don't know how old the institution of the Godhand is, but I am, generally, highly skeptical that it is a "recent," meaning, extant only for 1000 years, convention. Why, after all, if IDEA were floating along nebulously in the web of fate, would it finally decide that it needed to start promoting humans so that it could do its job? Did it suddenly get tired of seeding death, destruction, and despair and decide to start outsourcing so it could go on vacation?
There are some other assumptions we are working under which I don't necessarily think are correct.
Assumption #1, Every 216 years a new Godhand is born. I, for one, do not think this is necessarily the case. While the eclipse might happen every 216 years, I don't think it's necessary that an ascension to Godhand occur. What if there are no suitable human candidates, or if the candidate refuses to make a sacrifice?
Assumption #2, There is no turnover in Godhand-hood. Drawing on my belief that the institution of the Godhand is older than 1000 years, I think there have probably been members of the Godhand other than the current 4/5. I'm not entirely certain on what could cause such turnover, perhaps the will of IDEA or (unlikely) destruction by some other powerful beings-- if certain members of the Godhand plotted against another for some unfathomable reason it is possible that they might eject or destroy one of their own. Another option, which I think is most likely, is that members of the Godhand, if they choose to become manifest in the human world, are no longer considered active members of the Godhand, even if they do retain some of their extraordinary power.
For example, Femto as we knew him no longer exists, and, in my opinion, in 216 years it is possible that another could take the 5th post of the Godhand that has been left empty by Femto returning to become Griffith again. This is just out and out speculation, but Griffith will eventually attain his dream of becoming king. And what then? Griffith's dream should be (and is, though he is taking his time) child's play for him to attain. Once he is king there will be nothing left for him, and I suspect he will lose a great deal of his power.
Now, it's been a few months since I've read some of this stuff, so... doesn't the secondary eclipse-- the one Griffith used to return into human form-- happen approximately every 1000 years?
If that's the case, then I think it may have been the case that Gaiseric/Skull Knight was once a member of the Godhand. Like Griffith, his dream was foiled and in a time of desperation his behelit was activated. He became a Godhand, but subsequently manifested himself back into the real world to establish his dream and create his empire. Once his dream was satisfied, though, the other four Godhand swooped down and destroyed it all, as he had fulfilled his goal in returning to earth, but the persistence of his empire was something they had no desire in, as it would mean a long period of relative peace and prosperity in the world. Gaiseric was obviously ticked at this, and though he is not as powerful as he once was, he still retains some of his power (hence immortality, etc). Now his purpose is to exact revenge on Void (who may be the only member of the Godhand who is still around from then, or he may be the mastermind of some sort of treachery against Skull Knight that caused him to be ejected from the Godhand).
Feel free to punch holes in my theory.
If a Godhand is born every 216 years, and Griffith is the fifth Godhand, then the first Godhand would have been born -1080, not -864 (using the year of Charlotte's story/Griffith's ascension as 0, which the timeline does not do. But it doesn't change the fact that the first Godhand must have ascended around the same time as Gaiseric's rule, not ~136 years after when he was already "dead").
That wasn't really my main point though. When Charlotte is telling the story of Gaiseric, she says that his kingdom was destroyed by 4/5 angels. I have always taken this to mean the Godhand. Is there any other way to take it, after all? I can't think of anything that a group of four or maybe five really powerful servants of God would refer to in the Berserk universe than the Godhand.
When I began to think about the timeline, though, I realized this was impossible-- If the Godhand had anything to do with Gaiseric, there sure as hell weren't 4 of them around at the time of his rule. Void alone? Yeah, maybe. But the rest simply hadn't ascended yet.
So, speculation:
In my opinion, IDEA and the Godhand go back a lot further than 1000 years in the Berserk universe. Looking at the technology level in the Berserk universe and comparing it to our own, we can gather that there's probably a good 1-1500 years of history and maybe around 5-6000 years of pre-history civilization. Since IDEA is supposed to be manifest out of humans' desire for meaning in a world full of suffering, it probably is at least as old as civilization and perhaps older. We don't know how old the institution of the Godhand is, but I am, generally, highly skeptical that it is a "recent," meaning, extant only for 1000 years, convention. Why, after all, if IDEA were floating along nebulously in the web of fate, would it finally decide that it needed to start promoting humans so that it could do its job? Did it suddenly get tired of seeding death, destruction, and despair and decide to start outsourcing so it could go on vacation?
There are some other assumptions we are working under which I don't necessarily think are correct.
Assumption #1, Every 216 years a new Godhand is born. I, for one, do not think this is necessarily the case. While the eclipse might happen every 216 years, I don't think it's necessary that an ascension to Godhand occur. What if there are no suitable human candidates, or if the candidate refuses to make a sacrifice?
Assumption #2, There is no turnover in Godhand-hood. Drawing on my belief that the institution of the Godhand is older than 1000 years, I think there have probably been members of the Godhand other than the current 4/5. I'm not entirely certain on what could cause such turnover, perhaps the will of IDEA or (unlikely) destruction by some other powerful beings-- if certain members of the Godhand plotted against another for some unfathomable reason it is possible that they might eject or destroy one of their own. Another option, which I think is most likely, is that members of the Godhand, if they choose to become manifest in the human world, are no longer considered active members of the Godhand, even if they do retain some of their extraordinary power.
For example, Femto as we knew him no longer exists, and, in my opinion, in 216 years it is possible that another could take the 5th post of the Godhand that has been left empty by Femto returning to become Griffith again. This is just out and out speculation, but Griffith will eventually attain his dream of becoming king. And what then? Griffith's dream should be (and is, though he is taking his time) child's play for him to attain. Once he is king there will be nothing left for him, and I suspect he will lose a great deal of his power.
Now, it's been a few months since I've read some of this stuff, so... doesn't the secondary eclipse-- the one Griffith used to return into human form-- happen approximately every 1000 years?
If that's the case, then I think it may have been the case that Gaiseric/Skull Knight was once a member of the Godhand. Like Griffith, his dream was foiled and in a time of desperation his behelit was activated. He became a Godhand, but subsequently manifested himself back into the real world to establish his dream and create his empire. Once his dream was satisfied, though, the other four Godhand swooped down and destroyed it all, as he had fulfilled his goal in returning to earth, but the persistence of his empire was something they had no desire in, as it would mean a long period of relative peace and prosperity in the world. Gaiseric was obviously ticked at this, and though he is not as powerful as he once was, he still retains some of his power (hence immortality, etc). Now his purpose is to exact revenge on Void (who may be the only member of the Godhand who is still around from then, or he may be the mastermind of some sort of treachery against Skull Knight that caused him to be ejected from the Godhand).
Feel free to punch holes in my theory.