- #50
That old fart was alive! I have to say I didn't dislike him.
I'm always suprised that most people seem to consider that the logic continuation for this manga is simply for Guts to kill Griffith and everything would be ok again.
But Griffith brought peace, not only between humans but between creatures and humans. That's why I consider Berserk to be a great story, not because Guts will take revenge but because there is this question is it the best choice to take revenge? There is a strong dilemma here.
The whole thing is interesting. The reason i like Berserk so much, is because of the very interesting moral ambiguity and interesting thought processes of the characters.
For example, i think the golden age arc was really really interesting. To realize his dream, Griffith sacrifices all of his men/followers. This seems incredibly evil, but the interesting part is that every single one of them says that they believe in Griffith's dream, and would give their life up to help him achieve that goal. The Band of the Hawk would fight actual demons and willingly lay down their lives in suicidal situations for Griffith.
Then Griffith gets the opportunity to achieve his goal by sacrificing these same people who said that they were willing to die for him. No long plans that may or man not bear fruit, no risks, no anything. Just a guaranteed method to heal himself and get what he wants.
Those same people who would have died for him anyway, do so to get him what he wants.
I find that way of looking at it pretty interesting. I am willing to bet that Griffith's rational on the issue was somewhat similar. Like, how much more evil is it really to sacrifice the men when compared to putting them on a suicidal mission where they would have died anyway and there is no guarantee he would have even achieved his goal by completing that mission in the first place?
(Then he got all crazy alpha male on Guts and Casca, cinching his evilness and "i dont give a fuck (haha) about you and i take whatever i want" mentality....)
Now Griffith has his goal accomplished, and like you said, he has achieved peace between monsters, humans and demons. Saving more lives by far than he sacrificed. So was the ultimate goal worth the sacrifices? Can the people who died view their death as worth it for the greater good? Will Guts getting his revenge ultimately make the sacrifice of the Band of the Hawk mean nothing?? Would they want that revenge carried out at this point?
Though......... was all the death that lead up to Falconia ultimately caused by Griffith's plan in the first place?
