PS When I watched Berserk for the first time I just instantly assumed that Griffith planned on Adonis dying. I honestly had no idea this wasn’t a more accepted thing
Let's also not forget that he asked Guts if he wanted to do it or not. He has never given any of his subordinates a choice at any other point in time. He commands Casca to stop Guts from killing Corkus. He commands her to sleep with Guts to keep him from bleeding out, both against her wishes. He makes sure that his men had no choice but to fight by burning the boats before the battle for Doldrey. After having Guts tie up loose ends by killing those kidnappers, he asks Guts if he thinks he is a bad person. He never asks that of anyone else, and thanks him when Guts affirms his beliefs. He has never thanked anybody for anything before or since. He knew that Guts would kill Adonis, and also knew that it would have a terrible effect on him, so he asked him because he knew that he could command anyone else to kill Julius and none of them would kill Adonis, even if he commanded them to. I think he legitimately cares about him, even now. He keeps Guts alive during the eclipse. He never sends an army of apostles after him when he was disembodied in the astral world for two years to tie up loose ends, and even when he was face-to-face with him in the astral world for a second time, he could've easily killed him as he was 1 foot in the grave, but he doesn't. And now that he shares a body with the soul of Guts's unborn child, I don't think he will lay a finger on him. He would never admit to this, even to himself, when he was human, and now, as a God hand, and Berserk makes a point of this numerous times. I think that will be instrumental in his downfall.
I always wondered if Guts and Casca being alive means that Griffiths ascension isnt fully complete, and if thats the case, how that could be used against Griffith.
I could see Griffith planning on killing Adonis too, but likely at a later date rather than both at the same time. Guts doing it when he did was probably just a happy accident.
Practically that was the point, in due time Griffith would most likely poison Adonis in a staged political or a Tudor assassination plot or have Adonis have an accident. As Adonis has a strong claim to the throne just as much as his father, seens the King has no sons its only logical it would go to Julius and Adonis. Considering Charlotte ain't married yet, and Griffith intends to Marry her and automatically get his Kingdom in the process, Julius and his son are rivals to the Throne so getting rid of them is a priority.
I don’t know man it’s just things like this that make me feel like Golden Age arc really is the best arc of berserk and imo of all manga. it’s just so brilliant. fantastic video
It is "THE" best arc its got everything game of thrones political intrigue, war, monsters and demons, complex characters. An the best charecter development on just about everyone involve.
Well stated. I came to the same conclusion. I would argue that there is an additional even subtler reason why Griffith chose Guts for the assasination. That being that Griffith always wants the victim to know that he is behind it. Guts is the only one of his men that Count Yurius has seen before and he even mentions that he knew Guts worked for Griffith. When Griffith assasasinated the queen, he stood outside in the open and talked smack to them, and during the eclipse, he makes sure Guts is watching when he violated Casca. He always wants the victim to know that he is the cause of their suffering.
I have seen the 1997 anime so many times and something always seemed odd to me about this exact episode where Guts kills Julius and Adonis. It is probably my favorite one, though I could never put my finger on what seemed strange about it. The Griffith sends Guts on an assassination mission. Is that because Guts is the person he trusts the most or did Miura simply use it as an excuse for Guts' character development? The "Behelit theme" plays throughout the whole assassination scene. But that's Griffith's theme right? Did they just use it here because it's a tragic moment? And the fact that the episode ends with Griffith smiling ominously. We the audience already sympathized with his decision to have Julius killed, so why would they show us smiling like that when Adonis just was an unfortunate casualty? This video really helped me puzzle all of this together. Thank you for making it!
It's probably the catalyst for Griffith's downfall. Griffith only fell because Guts beat him and left the hawks. Guts beat Griffith and left the hawks to become Griffith's equal only after hearing Griffith talk about Dreams. Guts only heard Griffith talking about Dreams because he went to report to him about the death of Julius. And Julius wouldn't have been executed by Guts without Griffith's order.
I think it's worth mentioning that Adonis was considered to be a potential candidate for betrothal to Charlotte (even though they were cousins), so he could potentially block Griffith's path to the throne by marrying her and robbing him of the opportunity to do so. As someone of royal blood, Adonis probably would've been considered a more legitimate candidate for Charlotte's hand than Griffith.
Currently at 7:30. I think it’s worth noting that Guts’ destruction and killing of witnesses rather than remaining undetected entirely lends more to a potential enemy (Tudor/Chudder) being the assassin. It makes it look like they are unfamiliar with the rounds of guards, the presence of Adonis, and have a negative alignment that would lend to committing such heinous violence. These things would likely have been accounted for by an “inside job.” The fact that it was so violent and Adonis was killed makes the people and nobility of Midland WANT to believe it was their enemies as well. Perhaps the chaos Guts’ would cause didn’t need to be point for point calculated(though it seems likely), just the element of chaos itself lends to the deception.
Griffith was gonna take the son out eventually. It was only a matter of time and this way he's not connected to the incident leaving way to become king if he could have held his hateboner down for a few more years
It was just an unplanned collateral advantage for him to get someone out of the way who would’ve hindered his goals down the road. It wasn’t calculated. In all honesty Griffith is kind of an idiot who is more impulsive and vulnerable than people give them credit for.
Dude, reread where Griffith takes down the Queen, Guts’ first battle with the Hawks and the Battle of Doldrey. Griffith is honestly the golden example for how to write a smart character when a story isn’t about drama/espionage.
Amazing theory damn ! I could easily see this being canon tbh, doubt Miura even thought of it this way but I heard this one guy on reddit say "we should judge art not artists intention". So yeah, great work man.
I know you didn't mean only, but authors intent and statements alongside how the themes are conveyd also matter. Context as a example may lead to different interpretations to something obvious If you weren't reading the story 10+ years after publication but times changed.
One thing to consider: Griffith just really likes guts and irrationally trusts him with a mission he really shouldn't. (if some kid dies on the way, what's one more to the pile?)
I think fans can all agree that.one way or another adonis wouldve been killed eventually. Griffith had no real way of making sure both father and son would be present in the castle before guts had to escape. Plus an statement that goes agaisnt your theory of:griffith wanted guts to go cause hes unpredictable". is when griffith tells guts: i dont want others to know this ugly truth" he relied on guts for the most vital and ugly missions. Even tho judeau wouldve been able to handle it as well like you stated.
i've been trying to toss this theory in the trash the whole time i watched but....i got NOTHING. I think you nailed this one and the fandom is about 30 years late for a pretty obvious piece of canon once you make ur case. impressive!
Happy New Year! I think it was pretty clear as to why it was setup this way. Though I don't think he intended on having Guts hearing the conversation between himself and the Princess. Griffith's smile shows his true character being a nasty bastard for intents and purposes. Even if Guts failed to kill Adonis for whatever reason, he'd have another means as a backup if things went south with exception to Guts botching the assassination somehow. These things went according to plan which is quite a consistent theme with Griffith as this unwinnable force to be reckon with.
Griffith is a Lelouch-level genius strategist in his machinations against the court in Golden Age (at least until Guts leaves and he gets caught with the princess...and I don't need to describe how horribly things fall apart after that...) Also, his knowing smile after finding out it played out in the best possible scenario plays to Griffith's "sin" being "Pride." (He embodies Pride so well that he could cosplay Kevin Spacey in "Seven." 😜😈) So to answer your question at the end of your video I honestly think you might just be right about all of this...
Great video! In fact, I do think Guts was stealthy until Adonis showed up which he never could have anticipated (neither could Griffith) and he lost his focus. Sending someone to do this kind of job because of his clumsyness could have turned out reaally bad for Griffith: Imagine they caught Guts.. Griffith would have had to explain THAT to the King (Guts is his most important commander and just kills of his brother and his son). ^^'
Being cunning and predicting the future are different things, Griffith had no way of knowing for certain that Adonis would be there at the perfect moment to witness the murder happening, it does serve him well and he definitely was happy about the outcome but he didn't predicted it
Civilians die all the time through accidents in battle. And Julias keeping his son close to him makes sense; the fact that Griffith chose Guts and not Judeau or Casca, shows how he wanted this incident to go guns blazing.
@MichealFelk the incident happened well into the night so the chances of Adonis being up let alone wondering about is very low, especially since he was raised in a strict manner so I don't see it as a predicted plan but a happy accident. In the eclipse after skull knight's interference, the members of the gh were admittedly surprised with even one of them saying "we aren't god, we can't predict everything" Now these are the most powerful and knowledgeable group in the berserk world and they couldn't predict that their biggest enemy wasn't going to spoil an event they waited hundreds of years for yet human griffith could predict a small that would cause a chain that would lead to his and his groups downfall? Come on
@ Yes Adonis would have probably been asleep, as far as Griffith knows, but that’s why he picked Guts. Being the opposite of stealth Guts would have inevitably been caught and the ensuing chaos, combined with Griffith wanting no witnesses, would have significantly increased the possibility of Adonis getting killed in the chaos.
@MichealFelk I don't think the reason griffith chose guts because of the chaos he brings, I think he was chosen simply because he's the strongest and the most loyal soldier amongst the hawks... Not only is he capable of killing anyone but he's also willing to do so and it was shown in the zodd introduction, how guts was the only one ready to go in alone to check on his crew and by that logic I think he's the perfect fit for the job, he wouldn't be scared and he wouldn't stop until the job was done. Maybe one of the others would've been the best for this job on paper but I just think griffith wouldn't have trusted anyone else but guts, not by just completing the task but also by keeping it a secret no matter what
This makes a lot of sense, I also thought that collateral damage was always intended in the assassination of Count Julius, the only argument I can think of why Griffith wouldn't send anyone besides Guts is a matter of trust. We see Judeau multiple times talk about Griffith like he doesn't know what he truly thinks or feels, the only one Griffith is genuine with is Guts, so I'm not sure if Griffith on the other hand would trust anyone besides Guts with a hugely cirtical mission like killing the second in command of the kingdom they are currently occupying. At the very least it would introduce some additional vulnerability since Griffith could never be sure Judeau wouldn't use that knowledge to sell him out one day or maybe pass on that knowledge to someone Judeau trusts like Rickert or Casca which could start a chain of unwanted listeners and rumors. Sending Guts was just the best course of action in this case, I believe.
Fair point but Griffith could have threatened Casca’s safety if Judeau doesn’t play along. If Judeau talked he could have put Casca on the frontlines without proper support, battle after battle, Casca’s desire to please Griffith would mean she would be glad to fight for Griffith in such a way. He would effectively be holding Casca hostage and if Judeau betrayed him, he would get Casca killed. And if Judeau was still a risk, use Casca herself. She would gladly kill Julias if Griffith explained the assassination and she would have been much more quiet; especially compared to Mr I have a sword bigger than my own body and my silhouette is a hulking mass of muscle.
@MichealFelk True, Casca would have been another good choice, she'd always trip over backwards to please Griffith. Not saying Judeau would have talked, because he probably wouldn't have, I was just taking into account hypotheticals as Griffith might have done, and from that point of view it might have made more sense to send either Guts or Casca even though Judeau would have had the best skillset for a quiet assassination.
What background music is playing in this video? It doesn't appear to be what you included in the description. I recognize the Death Note music. I'm referring to the other songs.
While this could have been a plausible part of the plot, I don't see it because it isn't really supported by any hard evidence. He would have smiled anyway as long as Julius died. Adonis jist was the icing on the cake. By no means coild he have foreseen that Guts would kill Adonis as well. He goes to Guts because he has become heavily dependent on him in more was than he himself realizes. That's also why he asks him about his opinion a few times. It's a nice theory, and you might even be right, but I as I said, I don't see much convincing evidence.
If he didn’t hope for Adonis dying through collateral damage, why not send Judeau or Casca, that would have been far more sneaky. Griffith wanted the assassination to go guns blazing.
@MichealFelk because there is nothing in the story to support this. Nothing. Nobody is talking about what he might have hoped or would be pleased by as a byproduct. Just because it might fit his plans does not mean that he planned it.
@@malafakka8530 However the same applies to the battle of Doldrey, yet it’s clear Griffith planned on the governor wanting Griffith back (Despite the characters not directly acknowledging it) also minister Foss was definitely testing Griffith’s responsibility when he talked about Adonis.
@MichealFelk Doldrey is different because it is acknowledged by the story later on and the scenes with Gennon make it even more likely. I would have to check what Minister Foss says, but I don't have access to the manga for a few days.
13 isn't much of a child. Pretty much grown by that point. However if he survived Guts, Griffith would have found another way to solve the problem of his existence.
Why wouldn’t Griffith know about the King’s nephew? Knowing everything about a family you’re planning to marry into, not to mention getting to know military/feudal politics, is super important for someone like Griffith. My man was reading about cooking after nearly being assassinated he could definitely learn about a member of the royal family. Also the fact that Guts doesn’t know actually proves the theory more, why didn’t Griffith warn Guts there was a child in the area? Because Griffith wanted that child gone.
@MichealFelk And how exactly did he find out about Adonis? Moreover, in which chapter of the manga did he display explicit knowledge of the fact that the King had a nephew?
@ In which chapter did Guts learn how to throw knives? How did the Band of the Hawks defend that castle for a month? What path did Guts use to make his way to the tower of conviction? When did Midland lords and nobles leave the kingdom to pursue safety in other countries? Since when was it established that the Holy See had a pointiff?
@MichealFelk How do your examples prove that Griffith knew about Adonis? Guts could have learned how to throw knives from Judeau, but how could Griffith have found out that Julius had a son?
@ My friend, it shows that we don’t need to know all the details about a story, we don’t need to see Griffith going to the bathroom anymore than we need to see him boringly read through a history book about the royal bloodline. Especially because doing so would spoil the twist of Griffith’s devilish smile.
Nah man,Adonis's death was a bonus. How would Griffith know that Adonis would check in on his dad? Just a happy accident/bonus. If anything this speaks to how Griffith has plot armor/is favored by the idea of evil/fate
Just as??? It's entirely guts fault. Griffith didn't explicitly tell him to take him out. And if he intended it or not is a theory that cannot be proven. So its 100% guts fault. For Griffith its just an happy accident
Eh. I think this is overthinking. Griffith knew it couldn’t be him to kill Julius so why not send your most trusted person? If he wanted Adonis killed I have no doubt Griffith would’ve told Guts that initially.
How could he possibly know that? Not watching the vid cuz I already know it's bad However Griffith was clearly intended to be a good person so I doubt it
BAHH, weither you agree or not is okay but going against what he said without hearing him out and then commenting about it is immature. And the fact that you said "Griffith was clearly intended to be a good person" is the dumbest opinion I have heard about Berserk have you even read or watched it?. Where do I even begin to disclose what horrible things he has done from second one we meet him. He sacrifices his own soldiers to recruit guts when you meet him, he sacrifices even child soldiers, hes ideology is about stacking so many corpses that he reaches hes dream, you know who else thought like this? If you know history from WW2 I think you know these people. If that alone is "clearly intended to be a good person" then I understand why you named your channel after such a edgy character. By the way you are unclear about when Griffith was intended to be a good person so its hard to pin point at what point you mean because he clearly is not if you consider after the eclipse, so when was I supposed to assume he was "supposed to be a good person", one scene? One mini arc? You have no direction, Griffith was clearly a bad person after the eclipse so do you mean he had no set up for how evil he would be in the eclipse? You have no clue what you are talking about. Would a good person smile if they heard the news of a 13 year old child dying, would a good person kill countless people due to schemes directly and indirectly? And finally would a good person have one rape a teenage princess and caska (in the carriage he tried and he succeded in the eclipse)because he was so traumatized like a bitch that he wanted to feel powerful and exploit others sexually? If you have decent morals I think you would get the answer by now. Plus by the way about your last comment, he could not 100% know but he could plan his best to allow him self to be lucky enough to kill him. How weird are you to not even watch the video but argue in comments instead. All your questions are answered in the video.
@TheMadManofEurope Wdym "sacrificed"? With Guts he just let them do what they wanted, if they wanted to do something to Guts for no reason like that then they deserved to die anyway In the second example, proof that he sacrificed him? Everyone is ready to die on the battlefield, that's just how it goes And he shows a lot of regret for that later His dream is connected to the issues that he sees in society which he describes in the first flashback in the Black Swordsman arc including him. He basically wants to fix issues such as people being bounded by economy and social status. So if his goal is selfless, he's not selfish when he sacrifices people for the greater good Griffith prior to the eclipse can't be held responsible for his actions after the eclipse because Femto is canonically different than Griffith via his empathy being taken away from him which Griffith didn't consent for I could easily see the possibility of that smile reaction simply being a cope mechanism from Griffith, just as the one we see in Black Swordsman chapter 1 from Guts in the similar situation or example from AoT when Eren learned about Sasha's death. That's because we know that Griffith is empathetic towards children from the Casca flashback and reacting like that to something that hurts you is realistic as well. You're simply choosing a simple explanation when Berserk isn't about being simple at all Charlotte was clearly into that so that's a lie Nothing proves that Griffith wanted to do that in the wagon, simply grabbing someone /=/ SA. He was just being desperate there to feel in control around her like he did in the past, regardless of what he wanted to do. When she told him to stop he did and why would he even attempt to do that when he logically couldn't and Guts was near them? Femto is Griffith without empathy so that doesn't count + she enjoyed it according to Miura I mean I'm sure he thought about the possibility of that but that's all just speculation and it's irrelevant since at the end of the day he didn't tell him to do so and that would be very hard to predict since it would hypothetically be entirely accidental. I'm not watching a vid like that especially cuz the author probably doesn't like Griffith so I'm not giving him attention when the vid probably isn't even good
Dude, joking but also kinda serious, his sword if likethe same length as a small room plus guts loaes himself to blood lust. Sending guts to assassinate someone is the first red flag. No one can see me if their all dead, hehe stealth.
Sending Guts on a stealth mission is like sending a SWAT team to collect parking tickets, Griffith knew exactly what would happen
Yeah, send the big tanky dude with the biggest sword, if guts was pippin sized I guess he would send him any way because he “trusted him”
PS When I watched Berserk for the first time I just instantly assumed that Griffith planned on Adonis dying. I honestly had no idea this wasn’t a more accepted thing
yeah, thinking about it there are other band members more suited to a stealth mission.
😂
Let's also not forget that he asked Guts if he wanted to do it or not. He has never given any of his subordinates a choice at any other point in time. He commands Casca to stop Guts from killing Corkus. He commands her to sleep with Guts to keep him from bleeding out, both against her wishes. He makes sure that his men had no choice but to fight by burning the boats before the battle for Doldrey. After having Guts tie up loose ends by killing those kidnappers, he asks Guts if he thinks he is a bad person. He never asks that of anyone else, and thanks him when Guts affirms his beliefs. He has never thanked anybody for anything before or since. He knew that Guts would kill Adonis, and also knew that it would have a terrible effect on him, so he asked him because he knew that he could command anyone else to kill Julius and none of them would kill Adonis, even if he commanded them to. I think he legitimately cares about him, even now. He keeps Guts alive during the eclipse. He never sends an army of apostles after him when he was disembodied in the astral world for two years to tie up loose ends, and even when he was face-to-face with him in the astral world for a second time, he could've easily killed him as he was 1 foot in the grave, but he doesn't. And now that he shares a body with the soul of Guts's unborn child, I don't think he will lay a finger on him. He would never admit to this, even to himself, when he was human, and now, as a God hand, and Berserk makes a point of this numerous times. I think that will be instrumental in his downfall.
How does sleeping with someone keep from bleeding out.
The Moonlight Child isn't unborn at all, just a premature birth
@@jacobitewiseman3696 oh, right. He told her to keep him warm because it was her duty as a woman. My mistake.
Not reading all that but facts
I always wondered if Guts and Casca being alive means that Griffiths ascension isnt fully complete, and if thats the case, how that could be used against Griffith.
Killing Adonis is actually more beneficial to Griffith, because that eliminates a potential heir. Damn, that's evil.
I could see Griffith planning on killing Adonis too, but likely at a later date rather than both at the same time. Guts doing it when he did was probably just a happy accident.
Practically that was the point, in due time Griffith would most likely poison Adonis in a staged political or a Tudor assassination plot or have Adonis have an accident. As Adonis has a strong claim to the throne just as much as his father, seens the King has no sons its only logical it would go to Julius and Adonis. Considering Charlotte ain't married yet, and Griffith intends to Marry her and automatically get his Kingdom in the process, Julius and his son are rivals to the Throne so getting rid of them is a priority.
His smile says the whole thing while saying nothing at all.
Berserk is a perfect example of show not tell. It’s unfortunately uncommon in anime.
@@Reed5016 It's uncommon in Shonen, but then again, this isn't Shonen.
No wonder I didn't figure it out before, I'm slow as f*ck
I don’t know man it’s just things like this that make me feel like Golden Age arc really is the best arc of berserk and imo of all manga. it’s just so brilliant. fantastic video
It is "THE" best arc its got everything game of thrones political intrigue, war, monsters and demons, complex characters. An the best charecter development on just about everyone involve.
Well stated. I came to the same conclusion. I would argue that there is an additional even subtler reason why Griffith chose Guts for the assasination.
That being that Griffith always wants the victim to know that he is behind it. Guts is the only one of his men that Count Yurius has seen before and he even mentions that he knew Guts worked for Griffith. When Griffith assasasinated the queen, he stood outside in the open and talked smack to them, and during the eclipse, he makes sure Guts is watching when he violated Casca. He always wants the victim to know that he is the cause of their suffering.
I have seen the 1997 anime so many times and something always seemed odd to me about this exact episode where Guts kills Julius and Adonis. It is probably my favorite one, though I could never put my finger on what seemed strange about it.
The Griffith sends Guts on an assassination mission. Is that because Guts is the person he trusts the most or did Miura simply use it as an excuse for Guts' character development?
The "Behelit theme" plays throughout the whole assassination scene. But that's Griffith's theme right? Did they just use it here because it's a tragic moment?
And the fact that the episode ends with Griffith smiling ominously. We the audience already sympathized with his decision to have Julius killed, so why would they show us smiling like that when Adonis just was an unfortunate casualty?
This video really helped me puzzle all of this together. Thank you for making it!
It's probably the catalyst for Griffith's downfall. Griffith only fell because Guts beat him and left the hawks. Guts beat Griffith and left the hawks to become Griffith's equal only after hearing Griffith talk about Dreams. Guts only heard Griffith talking about Dreams because he went to report to him about the death of Julius. And Julius wouldn't have been executed by Guts without Griffith's order.
I think it's worth mentioning that Adonis was considered to be a potential candidate for betrothal to Charlotte (even though they were cousins), so he could potentially block Griffith's path to the throne by marrying her and robbing him of the opportunity to do so. As someone of royal blood, Adonis probably would've been considered a more legitimate candidate for Charlotte's hand than Griffith.
Currently at 7:30. I think it’s worth noting that Guts’ destruction and killing of witnesses rather than remaining undetected entirely lends more to a potential enemy (Tudor/Chudder) being the assassin. It makes it look like they are unfamiliar with the rounds of guards, the presence of Adonis, and have a negative alignment that would lend to committing such heinous violence. These things would likely have been accounted for by an “inside job.” The fact that it was so violent and Adonis was killed makes the people and nobility of Midland WANT to believe it was their enemies as well. Perhaps the chaos Guts’ would cause didn’t need to be point for point calculated(though it seems likely), just the element of chaos itself lends to the deception.
The most underrated berserk account out there, keep making amazing videos bro!
Thanks brother, I try my best 🙏🏻
"I drew up those plans with your ""propensities"" in mind."
Griffith was gonna take the son out eventually. It was only a matter of time and this way he's not connected to the incident leaving way to become king if he could have held his hateboner down for a few more years
It was just an unplanned collateral advantage for him to get someone out of the way who would’ve hindered his goals down the road. It wasn’t calculated. In all honesty Griffith is kind of an idiot who is more impulsive and vulnerable than people give them credit for.
Dude, reread where Griffith takes down the Queen, Guts’ first battle with the Hawks and the Battle of Doldrey. Griffith is honestly the golden example for how to write a smart character when a story isn’t about drama/espionage.
Deffinetly an happy accident. I do not think he actually planned this.
This is the best channel covering berserk
Amazing theory damn ! I could easily see this being canon tbh, doubt Miura even thought of it this way but I heard this one guy on reddit say "we should judge art not artists intention". So yeah, great work man.
I know you didn't mean only, but authors intent and statements alongside how the themes are conveyd also matter.
Context as a example may lead to different interpretations to something obvious If you weren't reading the story 10+ years after publication but times changed.
I must say, Griffith’s joker grin says everything
Why does this have the same energy as “Diddy set it all up from the beginning”
One thing to consider: Griffith just really likes guts and irrationally trusts him with a mission he really shouldn't.
(if some kid dies on the way, what's one more to the pile?)
Mythos video went hard. Good content
You are correct. Griffith definitely planned on Adonis' demise.
I think fans can all agree that.one way or another adonis wouldve been killed eventually. Griffith had no real way of making sure both father and son would be present in the castle before guts had to escape. Plus an statement that goes agaisnt your theory of:griffith wanted guts to go cause hes unpredictable". is when griffith tells guts: i dont want others to know this ugly truth" he relied on guts for the most vital and ugly missions. Even tho judeau wouldve been able to handle it as well like you stated.
Adonis death is so sad, man. Damn, I started to hate Guts from that moment. Great video, Shane man and happy new year (2025) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Not his fault
I also hated guts when I saw that but then I realized in the manga it seemed more of an accident than the anime portrayed
@@lemon163 Yes, the anime messed up show him all clean instead of just a shade, a shadow that could be confuse with anyone else.
@@igodreamer7096 👍🏻💯
How does this make you hate guts? It was an accident and he was crushed from killing a kid are you people stupid?
Yeah I like this a lot, hadn't really thought about how much of a threat Adonis would be to Griffith.
happy new year
you are on to something with this one
Yo this is such a banger😮💨such swag
i've been trying to toss this theory in the trash the whole time i watched but....i got NOTHING. I think you nailed this one and the fandom is about 30 years late for a pretty obvious piece of canon once you make ur case. impressive!
Your right. I've always laughed at guts sneaking around with a giant long sword. Like a bull in a china shop
Happy New Year! I think it was pretty clear as to why it was setup this way. Though I don't think he intended on having Guts hearing the conversation between himself and the Princess. Griffith's smile shows his true character being a nasty bastard for intents and purposes. Even if Guts failed to kill Adonis for whatever reason, he'd have another means as a backup if things went south with exception to Guts botching the assassination somehow. These things went according to plan which is quite a consistent theme with Griffith as this unwinnable force to be reckon with.
Cool Klein Moretti warmups.
Griffith is Nicolo Machiavelli’s ‘Prince’. Brilliant take on an understated event! More videos of dissecting Griffith’s mindset would be great!
This is so genius, I never considered this before! Definitely a Griffith move 😂 thanks for the video!
Its a good idea because it makes sense for Griffith's intelligence and motives.
Griffith is a Lelouch-level genius strategist in his machinations against the court in Golden Age (at least until Guts leaves and he gets caught with the princess...and I don't need to describe how horribly things fall apart after that...)
Also, his knowing smile after finding out it played out in the best possible scenario plays to Griffith's "sin" being "Pride." (He embodies Pride so well that he could cosplay Kevin Spacey in "Seven." 😜😈)
So to answer your question at the end of your video I honestly think you might just be right about all of this...
Great video!
In fact, I do think Guts was stealthy until Adonis showed up which he never could have anticipated (neither could Griffith) and he lost his focus.
Sending someone to do this kind of job because of his clumsyness could have turned out reaally bad for Griffith: Imagine they caught Guts.. Griffith would have had to explain THAT to the King (Guts is his most important commander and just kills of his brother and his son). ^^'
Being cunning and predicting the future are different things, Griffith had no way of knowing for certain that Adonis would be there at the perfect moment to witness the murder happening, it does serve him well and he definitely was happy about the outcome but he didn't predicted it
Civilians die all the time through accidents in battle. And Julias keeping his son close to him makes sense; the fact that Griffith chose Guts and not Judeau or Casca, shows how he wanted this incident to go guns blazing.
@MichealFelk the incident happened well into the night so the chances of Adonis being up let alone wondering about is very low, especially since he was raised in a strict manner so I don't see it as a predicted plan but a happy accident.
In the eclipse after skull knight's interference, the members of the gh were admittedly surprised with even one of them saying "we aren't god, we can't predict everything" Now these are the most powerful and knowledgeable group in the berserk world and they couldn't predict that their biggest enemy wasn't going to spoil an event they waited hundreds of years for yet human griffith could predict a small that would cause a chain that would lead to his and his groups downfall? Come on
@ Yes Adonis would have probably been asleep, as far as Griffith knows, but that’s why he picked Guts. Being the opposite of stealth Guts would have inevitably been caught and the ensuing chaos, combined with Griffith wanting no witnesses, would have significantly increased the possibility of Adonis getting killed in the chaos.
@MichealFelk I don't think the reason griffith chose guts because of the chaos he brings, I think he was chosen simply because he's the strongest and the most loyal soldier amongst the hawks... Not only is he capable of killing anyone but he's also willing to do so and it was shown in the zodd introduction, how guts was the only one ready to go in alone to check on his crew and by that logic I think he's the perfect fit for the job, he wouldn't be scared and he wouldn't stop until the job was done.
Maybe one of the others would've been the best for this job on paper but I just think griffith wouldn't have trusted anyone else but guts, not by just completing the task but also by keeping it a secret no matter what
This makes a lot of sense, I also thought that collateral damage was always intended in the assassination of Count Julius, the only argument I can think of why Griffith wouldn't send anyone besides Guts is a matter of trust. We see Judeau multiple times talk about Griffith like he doesn't know what he truly thinks or feels, the only one Griffith is genuine with is Guts, so I'm not sure if Griffith on the other hand would trust anyone besides Guts with a hugely cirtical mission like killing the second in command of the kingdom they are currently occupying.
At the very least it would introduce some additional vulnerability since Griffith could never be sure Judeau wouldn't use that knowledge to sell him out one day or maybe pass on that knowledge to someone Judeau trusts like Rickert or Casca which could start a chain of unwanted listeners and rumors.
Sending Guts was just the best course of action in this case, I believe.
Fair point but Griffith could have threatened Casca’s safety if Judeau doesn’t play along. If Judeau talked he could have put Casca on the frontlines without proper support, battle after battle, Casca’s desire to please Griffith would mean she would be glad to fight for Griffith in such a way. He would effectively be holding Casca hostage and if Judeau betrayed him, he would get Casca killed.
And if Judeau was still a risk, use Casca herself. She would gladly kill Julias if Griffith explained the assassination and she would have been much more quiet; especially compared to Mr I have a sword bigger than my own body and my silhouette is a hulking mass of muscle.
@MichealFelk True, Casca would have been another good choice, she'd always trip over backwards to please Griffith.
Not saying Judeau would have talked, because he probably wouldn't have, I was just taking into account hypotheticals as Griffith might have done, and from that point of view it might have made more sense to send either Guts or Casca even though Judeau would have had the best skillset for a quiet assassination.
What background music is playing in this video?
It doesn't appear to be what you included in the description.
I recognize the Death Note music. I'm referring to the other songs.
While this could have been a plausible part of the plot, I don't see it because it isn't really supported by any hard evidence. He would have smiled anyway as long as Julius died. Adonis jist was the icing on the cake. By no means coild he have foreseen that Guts would kill Adonis as well. He goes to Guts because he has become heavily dependent on him in more was than he himself realizes. That's also why he asks him about his opinion a few times. It's a nice theory, and you might even be right, but I as I said, I don't see much convincing evidence.
If he didn’t hope for Adonis dying through collateral damage, why not send Judeau or Casca, that would have been far more sneaky. Griffith wanted the assassination to go guns blazing.
@MichealFelk because there is nothing in the story to support this. Nothing. Nobody is talking about what he might have hoped or would be pleased by as a byproduct. Just because it might fit his plans does not mean that he planned it.
@@malafakka8530 However the same applies to the battle of Doldrey, yet it’s clear Griffith planned on the governor wanting Griffith back (Despite the characters not directly acknowledging it) also minister Foss was definitely testing Griffith’s responsibility when he talked about Adonis.
@MichealFelk Doldrey is different because it is acknowledged by the story later on and the scenes with Gennon make it even more likely. I would have to check what Minister Foss says, but I don't have access to the manga for a few days.
13 isn't much of a child. Pretty much grown by that point.
However if he survived Guts, Griffith would have found another way to solve the problem of his existence.
“13 isn’t much of a child. Pretty much grown by that point” Um excuse me what?
Guts and Griffith didn't even know that Julius had a son.
Why wouldn’t Griffith know about the King’s nephew? Knowing everything about a family you’re planning to marry into, not to mention getting to know military/feudal politics, is super important for someone like Griffith.
My man was reading about cooking after nearly being assassinated he could definitely learn about a member of the royal family. Also the fact that Guts doesn’t know actually proves the theory more, why didn’t Griffith warn Guts there was a child in the area? Because Griffith wanted that child gone.
@MichealFelk And how exactly did he find out about Adonis? Moreover, in which chapter of the manga did he display explicit knowledge of the fact that the King had a nephew?
@ In which chapter did Guts learn how to throw knives?
How did the Band of the Hawks defend that castle for a month?
What path did Guts use to make his way to the tower of conviction?
When did Midland lords and nobles leave the kingdom to pursue safety in other countries?
Since when was it established that the Holy See had a pointiff?
@MichealFelk How do your examples prove that Griffith knew about Adonis? Guts could have learned how to throw knives from Judeau, but how could Griffith have found out that Julius had a son?
@ My friend, it shows that we don’t need to know all the details about a story, we don’t need to see Griffith going to the bathroom anymore than we need to see him boringly read through a history book about the royal bloodline. Especially because doing so would spoil the twist of Griffith’s devilish smile.
Imagine Artoria from Fate Stay Night confronting Griffith from Berserk.
poor lad...
Honey, wake up. Shane D just dropped another banger
lol thanks bro, I do my best
Nah man,Adonis's death was a bonus. How would Griffith know that Adonis would check in on his dad? Just a happy accident/bonus. If anything this speaks to how Griffith has plot armor/is favored by the idea of evil/fate
Guts was just as evil and guilty as Griffith for killing that kid. You could say Guts paid for it with his arm and eye in the end.
Just as??? It's entirely guts fault. Griffith didn't explicitly tell him to take him out.
And if he intended it or not is a theory that cannot be proven.
So its 100% guts fault.
For Griffith its just an happy accident
@@kingpotato7183 your right how the heck would he even know the kid would be there.
Eh. I think this is overthinking. Griffith knew it couldn’t be him to kill Julius so why not send your most trusted person? If he wanted Adonis killed I have no doubt Griffith would’ve told Guts that initially.
I disagree with this theory. But I love your stuff regardless! Entertaining even when I disagree lol
Didn’t Julius mention that Adonis would (or could) marry Princess Charlotte? So this already makes sense. Good video anyways
You think so
How could he possibly know that? Not watching the vid cuz I already know it's bad
However Griffith was clearly intended to be a good person so I doubt it
@@ryomen____yagami Out of all the languages you could speak, you chose the truth
Its in character for him to use any means necessary to achieve his goals.
@CKER-cl8in He couldn't possibly know that it will accidentally happen like that
BAHH, weither you agree or not is okay but going against what he said without hearing him out and then commenting about it is immature. And the fact that you said "Griffith was clearly intended to be a good person" is the dumbest opinion I have heard about Berserk have you even read or watched it?. Where do I even begin to disclose what horrible things he has done from second one we meet him. He sacrifices his own soldiers to recruit guts when you meet him, he sacrifices even child soldiers, hes ideology is about stacking so many corpses that he reaches hes dream, you know who else thought like this? If you know history from WW2 I think you know these people. If that alone is "clearly intended to be a good person" then I understand why you named your channel after such a edgy character. By the way you are unclear about when Griffith was intended to be a good person so its hard to pin point at what point you mean because he clearly is not if you consider after the eclipse, so when was I supposed to assume he was "supposed to be a good person", one scene? One mini arc? You have no direction, Griffith was clearly a bad person after the eclipse so do you mean he had no set up for how evil he would be in the eclipse? You have no clue what you are talking about. Would a good person smile if they heard the news of a 13 year old child dying, would a good person kill countless people due to schemes directly and indirectly? And finally would a good person have one rape a teenage princess and caska (in the carriage he tried and he succeded in the eclipse)because he was so traumatized like a bitch that he wanted to feel powerful and exploit others sexually? If you have decent morals I think you would get the answer by now.
Plus by the way about your last comment, he could not 100% know but he could plan his best to allow him self to be lucky enough to kill him. How weird are you to not even watch the video but argue in comments instead. All your questions are answered in the video.
@TheMadManofEurope Wdym "sacrificed"? With Guts he just let them do what they wanted, if they wanted to do something to Guts for no reason like that then they deserved to die anyway
In the second example, proof that he sacrificed him? Everyone is ready to die on the battlefield, that's just how it goes
And he shows a lot of regret for that later
His dream is connected to the issues that he sees in society which he describes in the first flashback in the Black Swordsman arc including him. He basically wants to fix issues such as people being bounded by economy and social status. So if his goal is selfless, he's not selfish when he sacrifices people for the greater good
Griffith prior to the eclipse can't be held responsible for his actions after the eclipse because Femto is canonically different than Griffith via his empathy being taken away from him which Griffith didn't consent for
I could easily see the possibility of that smile reaction simply being a cope mechanism from Griffith, just as the one we see in Black Swordsman chapter 1 from Guts in the similar situation or example from AoT when Eren learned about Sasha's death. That's because we know that Griffith is empathetic towards children from the Casca flashback and reacting like that to something that hurts you is realistic as well. You're simply choosing a simple explanation when Berserk isn't about being simple at all
Charlotte was clearly into that so that's a lie
Nothing proves that Griffith wanted to do that in the wagon, simply grabbing someone /=/ SA. He was just being desperate there to feel in control around her like he did in the past, regardless of what he wanted to do. When she told him to stop he did and why would he even attempt to do that when he logically couldn't and Guts was near them?
Femto is Griffith without empathy so that doesn't count + she enjoyed it according to Miura
I mean I'm sure he thought about the possibility of that but that's all just speculation and it's irrelevant since at the end of the day he didn't tell him to do so and that would be very hard to predict since it would hypothetically be entirely accidental. I'm not watching a vid like that especially cuz the author probably doesn't like Griffith so I'm not giving him attention when the vid probably isn't even good
Dude, joking but also kinda serious, his sword if likethe same length as a small room plus guts loaes himself to blood lust. Sending guts to assassinate someone is the first red flag.
No one can see me if their all dead, hehe stealth.