Well, last week was depressing. Guts’ relationship with Casca is falling apart, as is his mental state. Luckily, now he’s got friends to help him out. Boy, I can’t wait to finally talk about the party dynamics and-
Oh. It’s all Griffith chapters.
Sorry, joy and relief. It’s only rage, hatred, and horror.
Today, we’re covering the following chapters:
- The War Demons
- Banner of the Flying Sword
- Wings of Light and Darkness
- The Night of Falling Stars
We return to Mule’s assault on the Kushan forces. As his forces bear down on the invaders, they respond by sending their own troops forward. By which I mean they send enslaved Midlanders forward to fight their countrymen as expendable war fodder.
That is equal parts brilliant and fucked up. They even cap it off by shooting the slaves in the back. Demons and monsters are horrifying, but so too is war, and Miura never shied away from that.
Just as it seems Mule’s goose is cooked, reinforcements appear to save the day. Surprise! It’s Griffith. This time with a new cool archer Apostle. As well as a horde of other demons. Some badass action panels and massacring later, and Griffith himself appears to lead the final charge.
With… the Band of the Hawk. The motherfucker fed the last army to demons, then replaced said army with those very demons. The cherry on top: he gets to play the hero while doing it.
Amazing how every single decision Griffith makes, no matter how small, makes me hate him so much more. I get legitimately angry every time this bastard shows up. Yet another testament to Miura’s incredible writing.
Oh yeah, remember that girl who predicted Griffith’s appearance back in ‘War Cry of the Wind?’ Well, now she’s an official member of the new Hawks. She’s got psychic powers, so she oversees the battlefield and telepathically communicates to organize the army. With her guidance and Griffith’s leadership, the Kushan forces are quickly routed and fed to the demons.
Her name is Sonia, by the way. She welcomes Mule to the camp and gives him the grand tour. Here, we get a good look at Griffith’s new military machine. Turns out, he does the same thing the Kushans do, taking defeated soldiers and adding them to his forces. Just without as much brutality.
We also get to know one of the new Apostles: Locus, the Moonlight Knight. And he’s… kinda awesome? He’s this massive, intimidating presence, but he’s actually fairly smart, chill, and friendly.
Completely unlike the rest of the Apostles. They all hang out in the dark, eating corpses. They even try to eat Sonia (who doesn’t so much as break a sweat) and Mule (who is understandably shitting himself after an Apostle picks him up by his head with one hand). They’re clearly loyal to Griffith, but that loyalty does not extend to everyone else.
Luckily, Grunbeld (badass dragon knight) and Irvine (badass archer dude) are there to keep the monsters in line. Irvine gets no dialogue, but Grunbeld basically takes the role of the strict father. A terrifying prospect in it of itself, considering he’s fathering an army of man-eating monsters.
Sonia’s role in this group is equal parts interesting and creepy. On the surface, she’s all naïve innocence and witty remarks. She even makes jokes with the Apostles. Jokes about… bringing them corpses to eat. Her disposition is unsettling, especially given what we know about Griffith and the Apostles, yet it also lends a sense of comradery to the new Hawks.
Getting back to the plot: after getting vibe-checked by Zodd, Mule is taken to meet Griffith. He sits before a crowd of camp followers, conjuring the spirits of those that died in the earlier battle so they can have their last farewell. The bastard is really going all-in on the divine savior performance; he literally has a divine aura!
Almost immediately after meeting him, Mule begins to act like a man possessed. He bursts into tears and offers the Hawk his sword without even understanding why. Destiny itself seems to twist him into what Griffith wants him to be. Scarier still: Mule is made to believe that he wants this.
It’s a chilling inversion of how we met Griffith back in the Golden Age arc. Back then, he managed to win Guts over by sheer force of charisma and strength. Now, that charisma has evolved into what can best be described as heavenly brainwashing.
Which is contrasted beautifully by the last few pages of the chapters. While Griffith is off playing the world for fools, Guts and the gang are getting ready to fight some swamp zombies. After four chapters of theatrics and manipulation, Miura managed to sell the genuine trust Guts’ crew has in each other with only three short pages. It’s a brilliant note to end this batch of chapters on.
These chapters did a phenomenal job of establishing the new threat Griffith poses. Yes, the army of demons is absolutely terrifying. But far more frightening is his ability to lie and manipulate the people around him. It’s just like he told Guts; Griffith hasn’t changed. He’s only gotten worse.
But don’t worry about that for now. Next week, we get to enjoy actually fun Berserk! Nothing bad or horrifying will happen at all! It’ll be great!
Just ignore the noises in the trees. Don’t worry about that.
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