Berserk - Vol. 41 Ch. 358 - Dawn of an Empire

[Boomburst]

@Gambio The problem is that there seem to be a lot of connections between his empire and the one that came before it... they are calling it the Second Empire, and the first fell(at least implicated) was because Void managed to screw over Skull Knight and sacrifice his entire Kingdom to become a God Hand.

As for Griffith... what is a kingdom to him? As of now, he is still under the whims of one more thing... God himself. Wonder if he is satisfied with his current situation, knowing that.

 

[egi321]

@Gambio

You're completely overlooking that the current predictment of the world was caused by Griffith.

He made what was a shit hole of a world into crap-saccharine just so that he could rule over it.

That does not make him a saviour.

That makes him a sociopath manipulator, which is just what he had always been all along.

The question is if thing would go back to the way they were before if he dies. Fearing that humanity would be screwed if he dies, is akin to saying that he has the world hostage.

And if there's a moral in berserk somewhere, is that, no matter how fucking flawed humans might be, it would take more than fantastical beasts to destroy humanity.

The mentality that Griffith is the only thing keeping mankind alive just further reinforces his true nature as a false saviour.

 

[Gambio]

@egi321

Not at all. Its just a "well, we are in this Situation better deal with it" kind of Thing. Oh and he absolutely has the World Hostage. Griffith is a Narcissist and i don't doubt at all that he sets Things up in a way that everything falls apart once he Dies. To keep with the Analogy, would you send the SWAT Team in to kill the Terrorists, even if that means forfeiting the Lives of the Hostages?

@Boomburst

That is a great Point Was all Griffith did just to create an even greater Sacrifice to become even more powerful? Is that even how it works? You are correct this Possibility cannot be discarded.

 

[sav7775]

@no168_92 God Hand called Griffith "King of Longing".

 

[Qelix]

Tell me, if this is wrong, but isn't God's Hand a plane swallowing evil entity, that has been in battle over Beserk's world for generations?

I thought the main goal of God's Hand would be the assimilation of every plane/world into their darkness/chaotic hell like domain. I can't see Griffith see doing anything else, but to complete that task. To round up mankind, destroy any resistance against his state's religion and then sacrificing the rest in a ginormous face-heel turn betrayal. So a Face-heel-face-heel turn.

I also can see that "Should we really kill Griffith?" dilemma coming up, but only to be solved by that thing above.

Another theory of mine is, that that Griffith isn't Griffith, but the corrupted Gut/Casca-fetus child and is actually trying to do good, but is going to be slaughtered by Guts in a arranged misunderstanding.

 

[egi321]

@Gambio

That's the thing. He can set it so it all falls apart along with him, the whole empire crumbling down, but the moral core of the story so far is that mankind would survive. It might go back to being that shit hole it was before without the bastion of civilization that Falconia (or whatever it's called) is, but it would survive.

The proper question is a philosophical one, as most things in this manga tend to be when scrutinized.

Is a good ruler beyond moral reproach?

Is someone who's an unquestionably good leader allowed to rule without any regards to the matters that lead them there? Can they be held accountable if they create a calamity that allows them to take command and improve everyone's lifes from before that point? Is it ok for their subjects to be blinded over such knowledge, lest they themselves start questioning these matters?

And as with any philosophical question, there's no right answer.

But being the hopeless romantic with a small little punk living in my heart, I pledge towards public awareness, the tearing down of despots, and the accountability of everyone regardless of circunstances.

But that's just lil' ol' me.

 

[Hachi015]

So this chapter reflects what gayfith wants




Still a meh meh chapter we all know what he would do after this

 

[egi321]

@Qelix

Remember how one of the first things that Griffith did when he came back was to go to the graveyard of everyone that he sacrificed, meet Guts there and went "Yup, it's me, just passing by to make sure I really don't few any remorse for any of these fuckers. And I really don't! Fuck them, and fuck you too Guts. I'm fucking off to have my castle and be a king, buh-bye".

So, personally, I'm putting a soft no on that theory.

And on God Hand objective. Well, you do remember the Idea of Evil right? The gestalt manifestation of mankind's necessity in understanding WHY bad things happen? And that the whole thing just exists to answer that with a "because of me".

And how the Idea of Evil claims to have activelly manipulated Griffith's whole existence and set a path into destiny for him, because him becoming what he became was ultimately "desired for"?

Well, that there opens a LOOOOOT of shit I could delve into, but which probably wouldn't fit into this box. (For my take on what the idea of evil is, read up on Demiurge and the role he fills on gnosticism)

But I digress, God hand exist because the Idea of Evil wants them to, and Idea of Evil claims to do so because people at large want them to.

That what we know so far, any further than that is speculation territory.

 

[Siquall]

Griffith playing Civ 6 here, 300IQ.

Well, it was a very interesting chapter...But still no Guts/Caska

 

[gmkgoat]

Griffith is setting this up in such a way that Guts is going to have to cross an empire to kill him. I really don't see a way for Berserk to end with Guts not being considered a villain by the rest of humanity. He really is cursed.

 

[SunSun]

@Gambio @Moreira_X

It's not a utopia. The earlier chapters spelled it outright; he wants a sandbox. The Midgard is just his toycastle in the sandbox, he doesn't see humans as "human", he sees them as toys for the castle. Like how we do what we want in a sandbox game vidya game, Griffith now has the Kingdom of Midgard. It's like killing everyone in Whiterun but the rest of the NPCs still love you so who gives a fuck? Actually that's better; the people in the world are NPCs as far as Griffith is concerned and Midgard is his sandbox simulation.

The end of this chapter foreshadows it, but this so called "utopia" is going to have a heavy cost in lives. This "human" form of his has a cost. Keeping the Apostles/Demon Soldiers fed has a cost.

A removed chapter basically spoils the whole thing, but essentially Griffith isn't doing these things in Midgard out of some idea of altruism.

Edit: fuck I forgot that while the God hand don't force people to choose to sacrifice, there's nothing that suggests that Griffith isn't painting "happy smiles" on the people's souls. It's like rewritting an NPC's record to be "friendly" or "adore" you. You think it's a paradise because that's what you're allowed to believe.

 

[exxp]

I just wanna see the consequences of sane Casca's return

 

[daazs]

Griffith will become the Emperor of Mankind

 

[CheerTheDead]

I truly miss the boy who was scheming, laughing, playing and talking with Gut many arcs ago. He lived his life as a mortal but being mortal, give him more human than anything else. His friendship with Gut is among the most beautiful wonders of this manga. It’s so sad, it’s gone now. When Gut departed to find himself a way to stand equal to Griffith, Griffith was full of jealous, he stroke, he spoke, he acted as if his life was threatened and when Gut is gone, he lost. He has intercourse with the Princess not because he was too sad, he didn’t realized or he was in need of a touch of flesh. What he did was committed suicide. It’s so sad. Yet he was not killed for all those years but kept alive in that dungeon. He hated Gut and he blamed Gut for all the misfortune that he caused to himself. He spoke of a country but even if he would be the King of a country, deep inside he craved to have Gut as his trusted friend beside him. Someone who commits to do the dirty world for him, someone who is as strong as him, someone he found so intriguing that he wants that person to be with him in paradise. Now Griffith is in his Paradise but Gut is not there and it is no paradise the Griffith of old wanted but a twisted utopia. Griffith seems to have not change at all since the beginning, he saw all humans as tools except Gut himself but he lost Gut and without the guiding of a human friend like Gut, he lost his way.

 

[Patsuan_Buttchin]

There you go, another chapter next decade hopefully

 

[orangelemur]

With how this ended *hopefully* we get back to casca next chapter

 

[kazaddum]

@CHeerTheDead: He also saw Guts as a tool. That's was the reason for his breakdown, a tool went its own way and he could not stop it.

 

[BigBossSam]

did anybody even notice that Griffith is the moonlight boy?

 

[Doomroar]

@BigBossSam my guess is that that's what most people are talking about, we are pass 50 comments after all.

 

[lupus_in_fabula]

Well, Miura, good job turning the uplifting self-insert hero tropes in something horrorful.
No sarcasm, I'm really happy he did it.