After leaving us on a small cliffhanger last episode, this chapter of Berserk picks up three years into the future after Guts successfully disobeyed Griffith’s orders and fought as a one man army. Casca, the second in command for the Band of the Hawk, gives Guts a verbal lashing before Griffith concedes that he anticipated Guts fortitude.
The Hawk is Knighted
We get a better image of the politics of Midland during the first knighting ceremony by the king. While Griffith schmoozes up to the highbrow culture of the royal family, Guts swings that giant sword alone. The Band of the Hawk are now officially a governmental weapon and Casca makes sure to keep all in line. The royal family of Midland aren’t quite as appreciative of their hard work, with vile words thrown at any passerby that they can see.
An Express of Frustration
Griffith enacts yet another perfectly planned battle tactic on their next raid and this time Guts sticks to the plan, for the most part. Guts doesn’t disobey orders until he rushes in to protect Griffith, and out of anger Casca lashes out at him. This is the first chink in Casca’s armor that we see: after the battle she even apologizes and fights her feelings for Griffith in an attempt to finally welcome Guts into the fold.
Back to Business
The episode ends with a mysterious conference held by the king himself as he praises the Band of the Hawk to his underlings dismay. What is Casca hiding? Are the Band of the Hawk going to change now that Griffith is a knight? Find out that and more in the coming synopsis and review of Berserk!
Weeb Rankings
- Narrative: 3/5 – We are given a lot of subtext here throughout the episode. Casca’s strained relationship with Guts, Griffith’s goal of becoming royalty, and the inner workings of Midland’s political scene. Make sure to earmark this one because it will come in handy later.
- Animation: 3.5/5 – The knighting scene has an amazing color palette that really immerses you into the situation and contrasts well with one of the final scenes: the royals scheming under the king’s nose. No iconic scenes however mean that this ranking will be limited.
- Level of Intensity: 2/5 – If Berserk has filler, this is one of them. We pick up 3 years later and set the tone for the next episode where things go from historical to fantastic. Watch out Guts and Griffith.
- Overall – 2.5/5 – A solid episode where we see the inner politics of Midland start to spin. Griffith being knighted while Guts continues to train is a great representation of their characters and the paths that they walk. Since there’s no obvious foreshadowing for next episode, I’ll leave you with this. Everything you think you know about this show will forever change after we meet our next foe. Enter in: Nosferatu Zodd.