Berserk Volume 12: Griffith has Made his Choice

We start off by Casca having to tell the Band of the Hawk that Griffith is not able to lead the crew. And you can actually feel the pain of Corkus since it’s painful how things have spiraled so fast. Yet nothing needs to be said after it’s been addressed. The Band of the Hawk is finished.

And you can see Casca and Guts leaning on each other, with even Griffith finally noticing. As I see it, Griffith sees in that moment the reason he lost his dream. Love. I think Griffith, without recognizing, kept those two apart like a leash and realizes in that moment where he failed. He lost the control he had and their love is a mockery of it. A mockery of all he fought for. A representation of freedom over following the leader.

Even further, I think Griffith then sees Casca as the prize to him he long forgot about, but one that never was a prize. She always loved him, but because she wasn’t a challenge she was unforgettable. Now, she’s worth further attention. Whereas Guts and Casca proved their love as natural and that they can work together while in love, Griffith I believe recognizes his lack of that. And the jealously starts. Jealously of being unable to do things, and all the things he felt were taken from him being played with by those who don’t recognize all they hold.

We see this strike him when he tries to make advances to Casca, to which she can only hold him like a child. In his view, he is not even considered human by those he viewed lesser than. He sees evil in the kind gestures he welcomed once before cause he lacks the control. This is all so fascinating but Miura matches it up with Judeau and Guts revisiting leaving the band. Judeau has one of my favorite moments in the manga as he tells Guts to bring her with him. He loves Casca, possibly more than Guts, but puts her happiness first. We then see the rest of the band ask Guts to go with him. In this way, the Band of the Hawk won’t end, it will just grow with whatever is thrown at it.

When we cut to Casca she is visibly shaken, likely from Griffith’s advances and the fact she is pregnant. From Griffith, it is a man she has loved so long and right when she has moved on, it feels she is letting him down, and more, letting him die the way he is. In her view, the sword she was supposed to be broke of it’s own accord and left him to be attacked by the world she tried to protect him from. On top of that, she is pregnant which seals her love in another direction, and if Griffith put that together, that could account for this pain that is consuming her. It’s immeasurable grief trying to be processed.

We see her break down with Guts, realizing she can’t be with the man she now loves as his journey and hers will thrive in two different directions. She can’t the man she has desired since a child, and he can’t be beside him as he would be letting him down. Griffith feels forgotten but in reality, as he probably realizes he is the focal point of everyone’s lives. And the fact he realizes this all started from that possible ramble he made to Princess Charlotte probably contributes to him snapping. And you realize the moment you’re watching isn’t choices, as much as Guts and Casca hate to say it, these decisions they’re making were official before they even found each other again.

We see Griffith, likely as a reaction to what he just heard, notice his past self. Likely ashamed of how human he has become, realizes he must reach for his goal. In a way, he is doing what Guts is doing. But now to be Guts friend he must put his dream over everyone. Griffith was his biggest hypocrite. His connection to everyone destroyed his dream, and made Guts a friend of Griffith all along but not the other way. Griffith now must make the hard decision. All these moments I am referring to happen in the matter of a couple dozen panels, and the dialogue is so small. What Miura relies on is the audience’s maturity to handle all he’s throwing and grasp it. It’s hard not to be profoundly moved by the astounding success Miura accomplished here.

And the Eclipse starts. It’s a bit indescribable it’s pure unflinching horror. From seeing the God Hand the first time, you know everything has built to this. You realize pretty quickly, though, how it’s gonna end. The moment Griffith heard Guts and Casca I think he realized what he had to do. Step on everyone so he never fails again. While Guts was able to become Griffith’s equal, Griffith needs to be Gut’s equal. And Casca was the ultimate test of that. Someone who always sat gazing at him, now gazes above him. To achieve his goal, Griffith makes the ultimate decision for his own needs, but you could say he is doing what everyone else is doing. Going his own way.  It wasn’t just that Guts made him forget his dream, it’s that he made him who Griffith always portrayed himself as. That happy-go-lucky charismatic saint, to be that, he must kill his past and move forward. Otherwise, he was another failed leader.