Episode 344

Have been out of the loop for a while, but was reading the thread and re-reading some episodes in the last two days.
Was pretty excited about this episode as I was reading it, and now psyched about the next one which should be coming out soon. Indeed some exciting times to be a Berserk fan. I feel I'm very late to the party, there was some interesting discussion and speculation I wished to reply to, but for now I will settle with what concerns Morda. I think she can be a great addition.

Feeblecursedone said:
Maybe she develops a thing for Serpico, or you know, Guts scores another fangirl.

Yeah, that's also what I thought and would hope for if Morda is to join the party. Guts has more than enough "fangirls" as it stands right now. Morda also reminds me of old Farnese in the sense that she seems to have some rather deviant tendencies and maybe one could even say that Skellig, as wonderful as it looks, currently feels like Morda's birdcage as was the Vandimion mansion once to young Farnese.

Another funny thing about entertaining such a pairing is how uneasy Serpico seems to feel about the magic subject sometimes (or at least when it concerns Farnese's practice), classic example right in this episode, the face he makes after Farnese enthusiastically hops on his observation about the scholar or academic nature of the village. From Serpico's stance Morda may seem like a bit of a scary girl: a witch (and probably the epitome of witch imagery thus far), owning a bit of an assertive attitude (also a trait that reminds of old Farnese) and possibly some slight alignment to the fire element... or wind, if broomstick gliding/flying is a magic exercise that heavily involves the use of Sylphs, which should be plentiful in the island. So possibly both, which could make her look terrifying given Serpico's fear of fire, but also symphatizing looking at the elemental affinities.

Continuing on that tangent, Morda does seem talented, given the ease she not only glides in her broomstick but how she's able to maneuver upside down effortlessly, whereas the other apprentices have to climb a tree to get started and some even lose balance. I'm curious to see how Schierke fares at the broomstick too given the chance, whether she's able to get it going without much trouble or if she struggles. For her sake I hope she's able to get on smoothly, or we know someone who will have a field day otherwise haha. :isidro:

Cyrus Jong said:
Now, now, I don't think we should dismiss Molda entirely. I mean, sure Schierke has more worldly experience, has been in more terrifying situations, has had to use her magic to fight and kill, has been teaching another the ways of magic, and so on. But Molda's awesome power has our favorite witch beat in one particular area.

She can defy even the unstoppable force of gravity to keep her hat on!

Slsq7Fu.png


Can Schierke keep her hat on? No! It takes only a slight breeze, a pesky elf, or an insolent monkey for her headware to start rolling away.

Anyway, if Molda is to join the crew, I wonder what effect that would have on Farnese, if any? I've always thought that her training to be a witch was so that she would continue to have a purpose in the team dynamic (and narrative) once Casca no longer required her babying, and learning magic has indeed been helping the girl feel better about herself. But would the presence of another witch (or two, or three) wreck her confidence again since she would possibly feel even more redundant than ever before? Farnese already has enough mixed feelings wherever Guts and Casca are concerned.

I can understand the concern here. But I'd probably trust Miura on that. I don't think Morda's addition would change much the path of progress Farnese has been and is still undergoing right now (as well as the presence of all witches and apprentices in the island). Like her reaction to Serpico's comments, she seemed to have embraced the place. And as far as Morda joining the party is concerned, I could actually see her introduction contributing further to Farnese's progress. Morda seems to be a quite contrasting character when put together with Schierke, so her presence could add a slightly different but complementing approach to her learning of magic. In addition, it could be just me, but as I was saying earlier, in some senses Morda reminds me abit the Farnese of old. The assertive, overconfident Farnese. I think regaining some of that confidence back could do her good, and maybe looking at Morda and having her presence influence her a bit could have a positive effect on her in that regard. Only this time said confidence would be much better founded and backed by something much more substantial (her magic knowledge) while also tempered by all the character lessons she already went through.

That said, it could be a very tough ordeal for Farnese. Having to conciliate different approaches and advices could leave her even more confused in her lessons. But if she's able to take the best out of Schierke's methodic and conservative teachings, as well as some of Morda's own unique qualities that can help her grow, I think the result could be quite amazing.

It could also be a wealth of interesting and potentially humorous scenes/interactions. I could envision a scene with Schierke giving Farnese her daily lesson at some corner in the fields, telling her to mentalize things like this and that, only for some figure to suddenly butt in, popping again from some upside down diagonal angle and floating with her broomstick, seemingly out of nowhere and giving both a good scare, while saying "Oh, but you can also try in such and such". :slan: By the end of it, it would leave a very confused Farnese torn between one way or another. :farnese:

Haha, anyway, all more speculation about how things could go, but the potential is there I believe. I hope Morda does indeed join for the rest of the journey and I can't wait to see more of her personality in the coming episodes. And again, here's hoping Serpico may have finally found his proper mistress. :serpico:
 
Arvin said:
I can understand the concern here. But I'd probably trust Miura on that. I don't think Morda's addition would change much the path of progress Farnese has been and is still undergoing right now (as well as the presence of all witches and apprentices in the island). Like her reaction to Serpico's comments, she seemed to have embraced the place. And as far as Morda joining the party is concerned, I could actually see her introduction contributing further to Farnese's progress. Morda seems to be a quite contrasting character when put together with Schierke, so her presence could add a slightly different but complementing approach to her learning of magic. In addition, it could be just me, but as I was saying earlier, in some senses Morda reminds me abit the Farnese of old. The assertive, overconfident Farnese. I think regaining some of that confidence back could do her good, and maybe looking at Morda and having her presence influence her a bit could have a positive effect on her in that regard. Only this time said confidence would be much better founded and backed by something much more substantial (her magic knowledge) while also tempered by all the character lessons she already went through.

That said, it could be a very tough ordeal for Farnese. Having to conciliate different approaches and advices could leave her even more confused in her lessons. But if she's able to take the best out of Schierke's methodic and conservative teachings, as well as some of Morda's own unique qualities that can help her grow, I think the result could be quite amazing.

It could also be a wealth of interesting and potentially humorous scenes/interactions. I could envision a scene with Schierke giving Farnese her daily lesson at some corner in the fields, telling her to mentalize things like this and that, only for some figure to suddenly butt in, popping again from some upside down diagonal angle and floating with her broomstick, seemingly out of nowhere and giving both a good scare, while saying "Oh, but you can also try in such and such". :slan: By the end of it, it would leave a very confused Farnese torn between one way or another. :farnese:

Haha, anyway, all more speculation about how things could go, but the potential is there I believe. I hope Morda does indeed join for the rest of the journey and I can't wait to see more of her personality in the coming episodes. And again, here's hoping Serpico may have finally found his proper mistress. :serpico:
Oh, I have full confidence that whatever Miura will do concerning Molda's place in the story and Farnese's continuing development (and...everything else for that matter), it will be interesting. It's just...in a lot of these kind of stories involving team dynamics, there's oftentimes at least one character who doesn't seem like they have anything to contribute, and more often than not, it's because the writer fails to actually think of something for them to do. Farnese was a rare instance where not only was this intentionally invoked, but it was explored. Way back in Volume 23, the poor girl couldn't do anything right. She couldn't fight, hunt, cook, wash clothes, and she even botched her job watching over Casca for one night. But realizing how useless she was did show growth in her character, and ever since then, she's been getting progressively better and more useful to the group, with every improvement always eliciting some happiness and even a surge of confidence. But those feelings of insecurity are still there, and they make themselves known whenever Farnese feels she can't quite do enough, such as be the person who can soothe Guts' pain as we saw during the gang's time on the Sea Horse. So I can't help but wonder what awaits her, because the dynamics in Guts' group are about to make a tremendous shift. There could be good things, and there could be bad, and the possibilities are just...heh, I don't even know where to begin.

Don't know if I would say Molda is comparable to the Farnese of old though. Farnese was mentally volatile, always lashing out and abusing her authority to hide her own feelings of inadequacy while using religious zeal to justify it. So far, Molda just comes across as a bratty teenager. She's brash, rebellious, immature and full of herself, but pretty normal all things considered. I do hope Farnese and Molda get along, if they do indeed interact with one another.
 
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