SkullKast: Episode 99 - When will Berserk end?

I think a more interested aspect is that Thereisa is one of the rare people who have seen Griffith in his Femto form. And now the creepy raven man who dragged her father to hell has now returned as a messiah figure. It's a shame if she were not intergral in exposing him, especially since she would have inhereted the Counts territory, it gives her a plausible reason to return, other than say Jill popling out of nowhere, as awesome as that would be too.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
1. Bechi: Any compelling speculation regarding who it might be meant for? Or is it more likely that it will go entirely unused, with the God Hand's plans possibly being unraveled before it ever reaches its destined user?

It's "Becchi" if you want to be correct. Anyways, I'm quite certain it will be used before the end of the series. It would make no sense for it to just never play any important role. However we also shouldn't assume it can only be used by someone to become an apostle. There might be another, unforeseen use for it.


It's spelled Elfhelm, with an L. :puck:

2. Theresia: Will she come back around? The Black Swordsman arc ends with her swearing to someday kill Guts. Will she return and make an attempt at avenging her father?

I can't think of any situation in which Theresia would be a serious, compelling enemy for Guts.
 
All this talk about the big picture has me wondering what will propel our heroes into the final conflict. Now that Guts has healed Casca, wouldn't he want to at least try to live life with her in Elfhelm and leave the past behind? It's hard for me to imagine a scenario where the lovers are reunited and immediately reach the conclusion that taking on the forces of evil will be a great way to enjoy their new lives. I think there's a huge shakeup coming that will force our heroes to continue fighting. Revenge isn't the right ingredient to get the entire crew to the fight.

It's easy to imagine an attack on Elfhelm might change things but I'm hoping we get a big revelation for why Guts and Co. must continue to fight.
 
All this talk about the big picture has me wondering what will propel our heroes into the final conflict. Now that Guts has healed Casca, wouldn't he want to at least try to live life with her in Elfhelm and leave the past behind? It's hard for me to imagine a scenario where the lovers are reunited and immediately reach the conclusion that taking on the forces of evil will be a great way to enjoy their new lives. I think there's a huge shakeup coming that will force our heroes to continue fighting. Revenge isn't the right ingredient to get the entire crew to the fight.

It's easy to imagine an attack on Elfhelm might change things but I'm hoping we get a big revelation for why Guts and Co. must continue to fight.

If nothing else, I don't think the people on Elfhelm are going to want a couple of freeloaders loafing around on their island, and I have a hard time imagining just what Guts and Casca could contribute to their cause if they did nothing but stick around. The Gurus aren't treating Griffith and the Blast of the Astral World as some foreigners' problem; those are things that have them very concerned, and I imagine they're going to want to do something about it very soon. And they likely expect Guts and company to assist them. They're definitely expecting something big to happen with their appearance.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
All this talk about the big picture has me wondering what will propel our heroes into the final conflict. Now that Guts has healed Casca, wouldn't he want to at least try to live life with her in Elfhelm and leave the past behind? It's hard for me to imagine a scenario where the lovers are reunited and immediately reach the conclusion that taking on the forces of evil will be a great way to enjoy their new lives. I think there's a huge shakeup coming that will force our heroes to continue fighting. Revenge isn't the right ingredient to get the entire crew to the fight.

They'll do it to save their son. And also maybe save the world.
 
If nothing else, I don't think the people on Elfhelm are going to want a couple of freeloaders loafing around on their island, and I have a hard time imagining just what Guts and Casca could contribute to their cause if they did nothing but stick around.

I said Elfhelm because that's where they are and it's the safest place, but I just meant they could try and go live in seclusion. The brands wouldn't make that very easy for them but I hope those will be dealt with while they are in Elfhelm.

They'll do it to save their son.

Yeah, that's a great reason but it is a suicide mission. Is their son's fate compelling enough to get everyone on board with charging into the gates of hell? I think a part of Guts wants to leave the wars behind and would seize the opportunity to live a normal life with Casca. Saving the boy is nobler than revenge but I think there will be something else that forces everyone into the fight.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Is their son's fate compelling enough to get everyone on board with charging into the gates of hell?

Haha, I see you don't have children. There's absolutely no way Casca would be OK with abandoning her son to his fate, and I don't think it would sit right with Guts either.

I think there will be something else that forces everyone into the fight.

Well it's like I said: they'll need to save the world from the God Hand.

To expound a bit, it's going to be a mix of motivations that will vary from character to character. But it will revolve around Guts & Casca and will brilliantly weave three threads together. The backdrop will be a desperate attempt to save the world. Underlying that will be the remnant of a bitter desire for personal revenge. And at the core of it will be a heart-wrenching gamble to rescue their son.

So yeah, it'll be a suicide mission to save the world from an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, but one they're also intimately familiar with and in a unique position to defeat. Just like Rickert could slap Griffith, Guts and Casca are better positioned than anyone else to actually defeat him. That's because they knew him before he was Femto, but also more importantly because he inhabits their son's body.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Two things I'm wondering about that I don't believe were touched on:

Cool to speculate about all the odds and ends for the series ahead of its conclusion, but just wanted to say that wasn't really what we were going for in the podcast. We were just trying to quantify the length of some of the bigger overarching milestones to come.

2. Theresia: Will she come back around? The Black Swordsman arc ends with her swearing to someday kill Guts. Will she return and make an attempt at avenging her father? Or will she end up having just been a means of helping to set up who Guts is near the beginning of the story?

No, if we see Theresia again, I can't imagine she'd still be thirsty for Guts blood. The emotions she had in that moment weren't the kind to fuel a lifelong feud. She lashed out at Guts for the first thing to blame it all on, but the truth about her father's demise was laid at her feet. And from a storytelling perspective, her emotions were a way of demonstrating the "revenge" aspect of that story arc, and the overall corruption of people that happens in the wake of an apostle's intervention — also of course evident in Guts, Zondark, and Vargas. The fact that the encounter also changed this sweet young girl by the end accomplishes the message.

. Now that Guts has healed Casca, wouldn't he want to at least try to live life with her in Elfhelm and leave the past behind? It's hard for me to imagine a scenario where the lovers are reunited and immediately reach the conclusion that taking on the forces of evil will be a great way to enjoy their new lives. I think there's a huge shakeup coming that will force our heroes to continue fighting. Revenge isn't the right ingredient to get the entire crew to the fight.

In hindsight, a possible indication of what will spur them to action may come from the way in which Ged was steering conversation with Guts and the group back in Ep 345:

Gedflynn: So the World Tree has become more powerful. We're going back to the Chaos of the ancient times where this world was mixed with the astral world...
Gedflynn: At this point, I want to ask some questions to sir Black Swordsman, who is strongly tied to that man.
Gedflynn: What kind of person is the "Falcon of Light"? What was he longing for that led him to be reborn into the "Chief Guardian Angel of Desire"? 2 What does he want to get, at the cost of changing the world like this? ...Can you let us know?

He conveyed the global danger posed by Griffith and singled Guts out as someone closely tied to him. It doesn't take a genius to guess how that conversation might be picked up in the near future. But what's lacking is that Guts and Casca need to be provided the personal motivation as a couple to make that confrontation. And that's likely coming.
 
Cool to speculate about all the odds and ends for the series ahead of its conclusion, but just wanted to say that wasn't really what we were going for in the podcast. We were just trying to quantify the length of some of the bigger overarching milestones to come.
Fair point! I guess the discussion just got my brain onto those threads.

To me Theresia's threat to Guts was done to show that even if one does an objectively good thing, killing a literal monster, potentially saving so many people from torture and death, this could still seem as evil for some. It could hurt their person one way or another. In Theresia's case his father was brutally killed in front of her and she was left completely alone and helpless. I think you can make parallels, on a more massive scale, with the finial Guts vs Griffith battle. When Guts defeats Griffith, he isn't just gonna defeat a monster, but the savior of Midland and the rest of the world. He's gonna kill people's desired being. Even though we, as readers, know that Griffith is not the savior that the people see him as, but it's all the same for them. You could also find parallels with Guts vs Mozgus fight. There is no absolute good and evil, and every deed could be viewed differently depending on the perspective of the viewer.
No, if we see Theresia again, I can't imagine she'd still be thirsty for Guts blood. The emotions she had in that moment weren't the kind to fuel a lifelong feud. She lashed out at Guts for the first thing to blame it all on, but the truth about her father's demise was laid at her feet. And from a storytelling perspective, her emotions were a way of demonstrating the "revenge" aspect of that story arc, and the overall corruption of people that happens in the wake of an apostle's intervention — also of course evident in Guts, Zondark, and Vargas. The fact that the encounter also changed this sweet young girl by the end accomplishes the message.
I hadn't considered these points. So Theresia's role in the story is to effectively set up how thoroughly destructive the apostles are, and also how much of a largely-thankless quest Guts is on. Thinking about her in that way, I agree that she does her narrative job, and does it well.

It's "Becchi" if you want to be correct.
It's spelled Elfhelm, with an L. :puck:
Ah, my mistake. I appreciate the corrections.
 
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