#The Battle for Doldrey

[demifiendrsa]

Berserk: The Golden Age Arc - Memorial Edition Christmas illustration

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＜Article＞ 【Berserk】Brand New Cutscenes Added to the Film Trilogy! Let’s Review Berserk, Reintroduced as Anime Series since October 2022!

[shagrathmovies]

Berserk: The Golden Age Arc II - The Battle for Doldrey - 2012 - Toshiyuki Kubboka

[epraim1992]

Gut's Daimon

The Beast of Darkness is offering Guts powers in exchange for yielding himself. Which begs the question to what it is.

It seems like it's more then a figment of Guts imagination since Griffith noticed its presence which is significant.

I have a theory that it is a daimon. Daimons are high class spirits that exist in deep domain of the Astral World. With some of them being humans.

It has been suggested a couple of times that Guts will use the Beherit. But I think there will be a twist and that Guts is already a reincarnation. I think the Beast was a daimon that reincarnated into Guts.

I think the Beast's offer is to tell Guts his true name so he can transform and gain power.

There is an evil opposite of a daimon called a kaikodaimon I think that is what the Beast is. The Astral World is split into light and darkness. And I think Flora hinted at it when she said demons and angels in the deeper layer of the Astral World which is where the Daimons reside.

The Beast of Darkness takes the form of a canine and I think there is a link to the Black Dog Knights.

Also Guts was called a mad dog by Casca.

And appeared as a dog in Casca's dream world.

It's odd that Wyald named his unit the Black Dog Knights even though he looks like a monkey. Not only is he called one by others but acknowledges it himself.

During his fight with Guts Wyald states that he hadn't been hurt that bad in a hundred years.

Which is when the Midland-Tudor War started, I don't think this is a coincidence.

I think the Beast was the original of commander/lord of Doldrey who dressed in dog shape armor. I think Wyald helped Tudor capture Doldrey and the Beast inflicted that would on him. I think Wyald adopted his moniker in homage/mockery. I think after dying he became a daimon.

I think he was mentioned by Guts as the noble who roasted women, children and entire town. I don't think this tidbit was random I think it's important.

I think he got the info from Griffith who studied history. Or Guts read about it himself to learn the history of Doldrey in preparation for that battle.

Guts depicts this noble as a zealot which I think is one reason why the Beast reincarnated and wants to kill Griffith. Griffith is an enemy to the church, their scripture warns about Griffith's coming.

Also I think he wants revenge for the fall of Doldrey. I think the God Hand manipulated those events in their grand plan which is why Wyald was there.

There is precedent Zodd intervened in Guts' battle to ensure the Eclipse happened.

Skull Knight mentioned that Guts might have some ties to the elves. I think the Beast went to them to reincarnate.

The Peekaf story showed that elves can grant wishes similar to the God Hand. And most of the things in that story ended up being true, an example being time dilation.

A hole in my theory is Schierke not noticing this but a person's Od can be hidden. Danann could not sense Griffith within the Moonlight Boy.

Along with the witches they couldn't figure out what the Moonlight Boy was.

Another headcanon I have is that Gambino's and Shisu's biological son was meant to become Griffith's other half. I thought Guts might have been a replacement used to mess up the God Hand's plans. He is reminiscent of a changeling and Guts has a potential link to the elves.

And he was called a devil's child by Gambino which is one of the definitions of a changeling.

I think it will be massive callback to the King's statement about how would be fitting for Griffith to be killed by the black hounds of Hell.

I think the Beast is also inspired by the tiangou a mythological black dog that is capable of eating the moon. The moon is uses to represent the power of causality/the God Hand.

[zero-witch]

the berserk manga is so good im getting chills!! the art is amazinngggg. the battle for Doldrey is too awesome. is this where Griffith...? I sense a finality of sorts here.

[bthump]

So there’s this like…very common reading of Griffith’s character that’s popular even among people who supposedly like him and see him more than just a villain, and its that he is manipulative…which I cant for the life of me figure out where it came from? It makes me feel like maybe I’m biased and blind to his wrongs just bc I love him. But then again, where? I cant pinpoint one instance or panel (specifically from GA but could apply to post GA) where Miura obv intends for us to read manipulation as a trait. Even the Queen assassination and the Foss thing, he didn’t manipulate the man he threatened him with his daughter, that’s two different things. And when compared to other characters where the author very obv intends for us to read them as such (say, Johan from Monster) Griffith’s case becomes even more ridiculous to me. It’s like people have this fixated idea that a smart, charismatic character (especially if antagonist) has to also be manipulative, which I think is a huge disservice to Griffith’s writing bc he didn’t even need to be that to be an interesting and well written antagonist. What do you think?

You're not alone Anon, I also don't really see it, certainly not as a significant character trait. I think he's capable of manipulation, as we see to an extent in his courtship of Charlotte, or arguably, say, the way he handled the Battle of Doldrey by predicting what Gennon would do based on his obsession with him, but yk, when most of fandom calls Griffith manipulative I definitely get the impression that they think he's somehow Hannibal Lectering Guts and Cacsa into being loyal or w/e lol, which couldn't be more ridiculous.

He's definitely not manipulative in the way people usually use it to describe fictional characters, particuarly villainous ones. Like you said, he's no Johan. Griffith is tactical, and he's capable of reading people and acting appropriately. But yk, again like you said, he didn't really manipulate eg Foss. He read him, recognized that he was an enemy, and took steps to neutralize him as a threat by kidnapping his daughter and killing all his powerful allies.

Most of his success comes from being charismatic and being better at stuff than other people. And while he utilizes manipulation at times, he does so because he has no other choices, it's not his go-to first resort for getting his way or anything like that.

He's also notably quite adament that his followers follow him of their own free will (and even Guts proposed the duel and the stakes himself, remember, Griffith just went along with it) because he doesn't actually like the idea of having control over the lives of other people. Part of the way he keeps his guilt buried is by reminding himself that people follow him, or presumably fight him, of their own free will. Or like, he doesn't manipulate Guts into being his perfect soldier, Guts acts out and Griffith just plans around his idiocy lol. A lot of Griffith's character is about specifically not being controlling and letting people do what they want, moreso than most military leaders.

Anyway yeah, basically ia. Thanks for the ask!

[vixvaporub]

Berserk by Kentarou Miura – The Battle for Doldrey ◉ Chapter 6

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It's unlikely but possible that Griffith didn't notice Guts and Casca growing closer; it happened while he was busy with the Battle of Doldrey and then with the assassination. Even at their swordfight, he was so obsessed with winning by any means necessary that he acted completely different for the duration.

(Now, Mr. Cold and Calculating, Always Noticing Things missing such an important thing? Well, consider: the behelit could've manipulated him not to notice so that the Eclipse could happen, and he's stated to lose his cool whenever Guts is involved.)

So it's possible that when they rescued him, seeing the small but sure signs that they were together came as a shock. Here he thought they still hated each other, and they've been boning! How long has this been going on? How much have they been living out their lives while he was rotting in prison? How could they do this to him?

[achillvs]

ok berserk golden age arc memorial edition (the show, i havent watched the movies) kind of surprised me. i stopped watching way back, around ep 6 and the battle of doldrey, bc thus far, it seemed mostly just another rendition of the same thing and i really loved 1997 so i got bored

but i picked it up again and right then is where the show takes a much darker turn to how it approaches the grim parts of the story. they seriously don't pull any punches. if it was bad, it's gonna be Much Worse in this version. ifykyk. the assaults are unbearable and Right There, the gore is surreal and griffith's psyche has never been this unhinged.

from other things, i appreciate giving the arc a proper ending and explaining a few lore things, rather than cutting it right at the eclipse itself. eeeh 7.5/10 overall i'd say. if someone only saw 1997 and didnt read the manga, i think it rounds up the experience

[demifiendrsa]

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Berserk: The Golden Age Arc - Memorial Edition ED

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Berserk

Chapter 26 The Battle for Doldrey (4)

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BERSERK: THE GOLDEN AGE ARC II - THE BATTLE FOR DOLDREY (2012)

9/10

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Berserk Golden Age Arc II: The Battle for Doldrey - Official Trailer [Up...

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Death and defeat of Adon Coborlwitz in Berserk: The Golden Age Arc II - The Battle for Doldrey

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Currently watching

[bthump]

this might be a bit of an odd question, but do you think guts has any, like, tactical ability? ofc griffith would be there managing and planning out the military operations on a large scale, and guts isn't the most cerebral person out there, but i find it hard to believe the band would have become as successful as they were if one of their higher ups, esp someone like guts who consistently takes part in battles, didn't have decent competency on a strategic field

Ennnnh idk, depends I think.

The first thing we see him do after the 3 year flash-forward is rush into battle without thinking, while he himself believes that it's risking his comrades' lives (since he apologizes for it afterwards and didn't know Griffith plans around his impulses lol). So that makes me think the answer is no, the way you're discussing, in terms of directing large groups of people on a battlefield.

He's in charge of the group that like, rushes in and smashes shit, which is kind of his forte, and probably doesn't require a lot of quick tactical thinking, so that probably helps. Like, look at Guts vs Casca's assignments during the Battle of Doldrey - Guts got the rush in and kill the general assignment, and Casca got the sneaky tactical assignment that required quick thinking.

But still, at the very least he's not like incompetent at what he does, because the Raiders love him. So yk, he's probably not getting them killed unnecessarily.

(He has a few anime scenes where he does something smart in the context of big picture strategy, but those are anime-only. They don't feel super ooc to me, but they do feel like an unnecessary way to make Guts seem extra awesome lol, and I def don't consider them canon in any way.)

Also I don't thiiiink he really directs the RPG group when they fight? iirc they all pretty much just go and do their own thing.

But on a small scale he can be quite strategic. When he fights individuals he uses his brain a lot - like he defeats Silat by quickly identifying the weaknesses of weapons he's never seen before and neutralizing them. When he fights apostles he's always maneuvering himself into a position to kill them by surprise, usually by subjecting himself to massive amounts of punishment, but sometimes by fucking them lmao, or holding their loved ones hostage, etc.

So basically I think as a strategic leader he's probably not super great, but he's good enough to get the job done, and Griffith probably doesn't give him strategy-heavy assigments, so it's fine. And as a tactical fighter he's great.

Anyway yeah, that's my impression. Thanks for the ask!