Episode 361 (July 22)

Aazealh

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Hey guys, sorry if this has been mentioned in the thread already but it just occurred to me. Now that we know Skull Knights armor was forged by the dwarven blacksmith Hanarr who resides on Elfhelm, is that finally an explanation as to why when Puck first encounters Skull Knight, he mentions something about him having an elvish aura about him or something about him feeling like home? I forget the exact dialogue but the point is he was alluding to Skull Knight giving off an energy that felt like it had elf-like origins.

The line is that he has an elfin aura, yes (literally that he's got an elf smell about him). And like Walter said, we came to the conclusion that his current condition was related to elves long ago. The introduction of the Berserk's armor was a big clue, as was before that the reveal about Elfhelm's existence from Puck. But beyond all that, I feel like the line itself implies it. Do also note that the connection to elves might not stop at the armor's creation. It's still possible that Danan had a hand in preserving his soul for example.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the witch who specializes in the manipulation of souls was involved but I would also think that Flora was almost certainly involved in the process too.

There are a number of possibilities. Maybe Flora did it; maybe the Volvaba did it. Maybe Flora did it with the Volvaba's help; maybe the Volvaba did it with Flora's help. Maybe Flora did it against the Volvaba's recommendation; maybe the Volvaba did it because Flora compelled her to. And of course maybe Hanarr just did it by himself without help. Or maybe Danan helped. Or maybe she and Flora. And so on. No matter what it was, we'll know soon enough.

I'm curious to know what kind of missions/adventures Skull Knight and Flora went on together, and if she witnessed him dying in the armor. If she did advocate for his life to be preserved it certainly couldn't have been for no good reason ie. them just being friends. I wonder what the long term plan was there, even if she wasn't the one who advocated for it why did Hanarr and whoever else find Skull Knight to be so vital that he must go on living, albeit for a thousand + years?

If you look at the way people interact with the Skull Knight, they all have great respect for him. He wasn't just any man. As for the long term plan, it seems pretty simple to me. The Skull Knight opposes the God Hand. If we assume that Void's rebirth coincided with the fall of the empire and the death of Gaiseric, that's kind of a big fucking deal. In those circumstances, allowing mankind's greatest hero to keep fighting seems like a good idea.
 
If you look at the way people interact with the Skull Knight, they all have great respect for him. He wasn't just any man. As for the long term plan, it seems pretty simple to me. The Skull Knight opposes the God Hand. If we assume that Void's rebirth coincided with the fall of the empire and the death of Gaiseric, that's kind of a big fucking deal. In those circumstances, allowing mankind's greatest hero to keep fighting seems like a good idea.

That's a very good point. Even his enemies seem to have great respect for him. I can't wait to find out more about his past, it's been one of my most anticipated reveals of the story so far.

I get that the long term plan is that he opposes the God Hand, I guess I'm just more interested in the details/discussions that were had around that plan that led them to actually preserve his spirit and enable him to go on living. Like is there more of a plan than just "God Hand bad, Kill God Hand"? I think the sword of actuation was part of Skull Knights long term over arching plan since who knows how long he had been collecting Behelits for. I also think whatever ritual was performed to enable his spirit to go on living encased in the SK armor has probably increased his strength and allowed him to perform some of the feats we've seen up to this point in the story. Probably pretty obvious but just kind of cool to think of since there's no way he could have done some of the things we've seen him do as a mortal.

When you reference Voids rebirth, are you saying his rebirth as a God Hand member? Or are you implying Void has been reborn into the physical realm like Griffith at some point in the past?
 

Aazealh

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When you reference Voids rebirth, are you saying his rebirth as a God Hand member? Or are you implying Void has been reborn into the physical realm like Griffith at some point in the past?

During the Eclipse, Griffith was reborn as a new being called Femto. During the incarnation ceremony that took place at the end of the Conviction arc, Femto was incarnated into a new body of flesh that took on Griffith's likeness.
Two different terms for two different things.
 
During the Eclipse, Griffith was reborn as a new being called Femto. During the incarnation ceremony that took place at the end of the Conviction arc, Femto was incarnated into a new body of flesh that took on Griffith's likeness.
Two different terms for two different things.

Gotcha, thanks for the explanation. Was just wondering if I missed some info about Void but this makes sense.
 
Since skull knight’s last visit to Elfhelm has been some time, can we assume he “fused” the behelits with his sword by himself?
There’s of course also the option someone else from somewhere else did it but I doubt we’ll get to meet another blacksmith as Hanarr who’s not living on Elfhelm. Not that we have to get to know how SK did it but it’d be interesting to see if SK learned some magic himself.

Not sure if you discussed that during the newest podcast episode, I’m still catching up and currently on episode 61. Really enjoy listening to it.

And since it’s my first post/comment here: Hi everyone! I’ve been lurking around for at least a year but I’ll try to be more active now.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Since skull knight’s last visit to Elfhelm has been some time, can we assume he “fused” the behelits with his sword by himself?

Personally that has always been my assumption. It's never been implied that he had help in creating the beherit sword. The beherits he's swallowed seem to have basically melted inside him, and his technique appears to just involve coating his sword with that beherit goo. Crude but effective.

And since it’s my first post/comment here: Hi everyone! I’ve been lurking around for at least a year but I’ll try to be more active now.

Hello and welcome!
 
The beherits he's swallowed seem to have basically melted inside him, and his technique appears to just involve coating his sword with that beherit goo.
I thought the behelit only made a metallic (?) sound when he swallowed it, if they melted inside of him I would’ve imagined a hissing sound, too.

Since we don’t know yet how SK seems to know important time and place points I figured he got the sword enhancement done at the place where he got those information.
With the mentioning of the volvaba that SK’s prophecies finally become true, it’s probably indicated that SK does his information gathering by himself and is more profound in magic (if that’s the way to see or anticipate causality) then I thought.
 

Walter

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I thought the behelit only made a metallic (?) sound when he swallowed it, if they melted inside of him I would’ve imagined a hissing sound, too.

I don't think we can know what sound a melted beherit would make. Anyway, we heard the "ka-rang" sound only in Vol 16, if I recall correctly. Not after he first used the sword technique in Vol 26, when he described how he "refined" the beherits within himself.

With the mentioning of the volvaba that SK’s prophecies finally become true,

That isn't what the Volvaba says, though. She mentions prophecies of old men, plural. And I don't think there's any reason to connect SK's uncanny timing to the gurus just yet.
 

Aazealh

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Staff member
I thought the behelit only made a metallic (?) sound when he swallowed it, if they melted inside of him I would’ve imagined a hissing sound, too.

Your reasoning is flawed. We know the beherits melted inside him because we've seen it. They've clearly become a goo that he covers his sword with. And he comments on it directly, like Walter said. Furthermore, there's no reason to assume they melted instantly or that it would produce a specific sound that would be audible, nor that Miura necessarily had to show it on the page.

With the mentioning of the volvaba that SK’s prophecies finally become true, it’s probably indicated that SK does his information gathering by himself and is more profound in magic (if that’s the way to see or anticipate causality) then I thought.

To add to what Walter said (she definitely wasn't referring to the Skull Knight), she doesn't explicitly mention prophecies, she just says that what the old men have been sleep-talking about will finally become reality. Could it refer to a prophecy or knowledge obtained from one? Maybe, and I've speculated as much. But nothing's sure.
 
after he first used the sword technique in Vol 26, when he described how he "refined" the beherits within himself.
I might have to start a reread I guess :)


She mentions prophecies of old men, plural.
To add to what Walter said (she definitely wasn't referring to the Skull Knight), she doesn't explicitly mention prophecies, she just says that what the old men have been sleep-talking about will finally become reality.
361’s summary, too, I guess :farnese:

edit: I reread the passage, he indeed says he refined them himself. Gonna start my reread next week :void:
 
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... long time to see you guys ...
.. finally a new episode in this year ... I hope 2020 finish with awesome episodes ..
... Well, very nice comments about this eps, many speculations about Gaiseric / SK ( I love that) ..
.. My hope ... for me, we know that SK use his horse (animal or spirit) to fly ... can we suggest Guts need his own "familiar" to fly ... we see I the fight against Ganishka, was hard to win without wings ... and I think we'll never see again the golden combi Zodd/Guts ... That should mean, to fight against Griffith/Femto, you need to fly ( except Rickert, who can slap anyone :) ) ... The time as come .. isn't it ? ... it will be nice to onboard a new companion ...
 
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