Oh boy, it’s time for a winter journey! I’m sure it will be fun in the snow, a right barrel of laughs! There will definitely not be anything here that will do permanent damage to anyone’s mental state!
Ha ha ha… *Sobs uncontrollably*
Today, we’re covering the following chapters:
- Winter Journey 1 – 2
- Scattered Time
- Fangs of Ego
- Wilderness Reunion
We rejoin Guts, Casca, and Puck in the midst of a blizzard. Evil spirits possess the snow, attacking the trio in waves. Just as Guts reaches his limits, the sun rises and the storm clears. But now he’s got a whole new problem: Casca pissed herself.
Caring for her has proven a far greater challenge than Guts anticipated. Taking care of a fully grown woman with a two-year-old’s mind is exhausting in its own right. Worse still, every moment he shares with her is a painful reminder of their lost golden days. Remembering the woman Casca used to be and treating her as the broken shell she’s become is tearing him apart.
Puck, ever the loyal and caring companion, is shocked to see Guts playing the part of a hero. An understandable reaction; up to now, he’s mostly seen Guts abusing children and slaughtering demons. Even so, he can tell that the Black Swordsman is stretching himself too thin. So he tries to cheer him up by telling him all about Elfhelm and how incredible it is.
But the elf isn’t the only companion on Guts’ shoulder. For that night, as Guts drifts off to sleep, it appears once again.
The Beast of Darkness is back, and this time, it speaks. Guts’ own inner demon, the embodiment of his insanity and deepest, darkest desires. Its his vengeance made manifest, and it urges Guts to do horrible things to Casca in order to get closer to its prey.
Jolting awake, Guts finds the group is under attack by some Incubi, which he fends off relatively easily. Going to Casca’s side, Guts denies those feelings, rejecting the Beast and its twisted desires. It was just a nightmare; that couldn’t have been how he really feels.
Some time later, Guts is again defending Casca from the relentless spirits. Casca wanders into danger, and Guts is momentarily possessed by evil while trying to protect her. Consumed by his inner rage, he tries to strangle her, grinning with mad pleasure. The sun comes up just in time, releasing Guts from his mania, but the damage is already done. Casca is terrified of Guts, now refusing to stay anywhere near him.
Puck tries to comfort him, putting blame on the spirits, but Guts has his doubts. The memory of the Beast still haunts him. Now, he’s just as afraid of himself as Casca is.
Even so, given the Brand, they can’t just have Casca running around on her own. So Guts does the only thing he can: he ties her up and drags her along. She screams and wails and tries to bite her way to freedom. It’s so horrible that even Puck wants to stop, but they all know the alternative is worse. Right now, Guts can’t care about her happiness or even if she hates him; his sole focus is keeping her safe.
The next few pages are downright painful to read. As their journey continues, Guts is almost constantly fighting to keep Casca safe. At the same time, she’s constantly fighting him in order to try and escape. It’s miserable and painful for both of them, and it drags Guts to his absolute limits. With every page, their relationship gets worse. He swore to keep her close, and now she’s pushing him away. He can’t even remember the last time she smiled.
One day, while Guts is sleeping, Casca manages to break free and escape. She wanders into a trio of thieves and steals their food. So they do just about exactly what you’d expect from ugly thugs in Berserk and try to rape her. Consumed by her PTSD of the Eclipse, she screams.
Guts comes running to her rescue, but there’s no need. She stands over their bodies, naked, covered in blood, a sword clenched in her hands. When Guts approaches, she raises the blade, warding him off.
What follows is one of the darkest scenes in all of Berserk.
As Casca tries to kill Guts, something inside him snaps. Pinning her to the ground, he forces himself on her, kissing her, biting hard enough on her breast to draw blood. She kicks and screams, but she’s utterly helpless beneath him. The Beast of Darkness utterly consumed Guts. Casca is a sacrifice, his sacrifice, to become the monster that could kill Griffith. It imagines ripping her head off, tearing her body to pieces for his own pleasure.
Then Guts snaps out of it. Casca lays on the ground, dispondent, quietly weeping. Horrified at his own actions, Guts sinks to his knees, staring at her in regret.
No matter how many times I read this scene, it never gets any easier. Back in the Golden Age, their relationship was just about the only example of genuine consensual love we’ve ever gotten in this series. Now, after all the horror Griffith has put them through, after all the nightmares Guts put himself through, that once gentle and loving relationship has devolved into this. Guts can’t protect her; he’s the biggest threat to her safety, not thieves or evil spirits. It’s his lowest point in the entire FotME saga, and one of his lowest points in all of Berserk.
Which makes what happens next all the more uplifting.
While all this was happening, Puck was out looking for Casca. But it wasn’t her he found, but a familiar food thief: Isidro! Who robbed none other than our friends Serpico and Farnese! It seems that everyone who was looking for the Black Swordsman had a remarkable stroke of luck at the exact same time.
Or maybe destiny is finally throwing Guts a god damn bone.
With nothing else to do, Puck brings Isidro, Farnese, and Serpico to talk to Guts. All three of them want to accompany him, each for their own reasons. Isidro wants Guts to train him in swordsmanship, Farnese thinks following him will help her find her own enlightenment, and Serpico is there to keep an eye on his secret half-sister.
Isidro is readily accepted, at least by Puck. However, given their… complex history, suspicions are high regarding Farnese and Serpico. They need to prove their trustworthy first. So Farnese does the anime thing and cuts her own hair, promising to make amends.
But Guts doesn’t give a shit. He tells them to come along if that’s what they want, but he’s not gonna teach them anything. If anyone wants to learn, they’ll do it themselves. Though he does give them fair warning: in his company, none of them will ever know a restful night again.
This is one of the biggest steps Guts takes in his character arc. Before, he would never have accepted help from anyone for any reason. But right now, he knows full well he can’t trust himself. If he’s going to keep Casca safe, if he ever wants to see her smile again, he has to open up to others and accept help.
So now Guts has got his party of eccentric weirdos. The psychotic aristocrat, her elegant manservant, the rambunctious rascal, the elf, the mentally broken woman, and the berserker. Now all they need is a spellcaster and they’ll fit into any grim dark RPG.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
In Southern Midland, in the plains of the Fiefdom of Lumias, a young noble named Lord Mule gathers his meager forces to ambush a Kushan force. He’s eager to attack, but his right hand urges caution. Apparently there are stories going around that Griffith, the legendary hero of the Hundred-Year War, has returned to fight the Kushans. But that’s just a rumor. Right now, the Kushans are attacking Midland subjects. So, outnumbered and outarmed, Mule leads his forces in a desperate charge.
A charge observed by an all-too familiar silhouette.
This is yet another fantastic Griffith scene. It makes the Hawk of Light feel omnipresent and downright frightening! From a distance, he’s this divine, resplendent figure. But then you get close, and the man beneath the armor is just a shadow. An afterimage. A fake. Only his armor gives even the faintest hint of his true self as Femto. It’s a fantastic page that makes for an equally phenomenal cliffhanger.
Which is why I’m gonna use it for the same purpose and wrap it up here.
This section of FotME is among the heaviest in the arc. Seeing the utter degradation of Guts’ relationship with Casca as well as his own mental state makes for some incredibly powerful storytelling! Now, the stage is set for the next major event of the saga to commence!
Get ready, folks. We’re finally starting to see the light at the end of the darkness.
At least for Guts. Everyone else in the world is stuck with Griffith.
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