In this article, I will dig into Casca’s mind and intentions and make a couple of observations from there. We can find out a few things about the direction Berserk will take from this point onward.
- What does Casca know about her current situation?
- The Eclipse – What does Casca remember so far?
- What exactly about Guts is triggering Casca?
- Does Casca want to get back together with Guts?
- Why is the next memory unveiled to her Judeau dying for her?
What does Casca know about her current situation?
Casca knows about the approximate circumstances when she woke up, but does not remember the details. She remembers to have been on a journey and eventually to arrive at Elfhelm.
She hazily remembers the events from the Tower of Conviction. That tells us that the way Casca is going to be exposed to her eclipse-trauma being Casca and her memory being Elaine is going to be slow and incremental. It will unfold as the story progresses. That has a couple of consequences;
- Casca’s conviction/goal/dream/hopes may change drastically over time, depending on the nature of the memories she is currently exposed with.
- This also means processing all the events she does not remember fully may turn out to be quite the roller coaster of emotions.
- Casca is in a much better position to heal. One of the ways to cure PTSD involves slowly exposing the patient with their experiences and memories, allowing them to process it bit by bit and reprogram their thinking patterns (see Exposure Therapy). It appears this is very likely to happen, given that both Schierke and Farnese possess enough knowledge to know about what is going inside of Casca (think of the Passage of Dreams).
- Additionally, whether Casca wishes to be exposed to her memories will be mostly her own decision, as Dannan has already implied in episode 359 (“mostly” because she cannot control or know about all her triggers yet).
The Eclipse – What does Casca remember so far?
In chapter 355, she was reminded of Griffith being mutilated. Her memory of tortured Griffith has not been brought up in chapter 359 at all.
In chapter 359, she remembered that Judeau died for her sake during the eclipse. What she also remembered is the eerie image of Guts surrounded by apostles (which implies she sees him as one, as well).
It generally appears like she is not yet capable to rationally process her memories at all. Her reaction is panic and terror. It also appears like she is suppressing some of these memories based on the fact mutilated Griffith was not brought up at all (at least, not yet).
What is also noteworthy is that she has not been exposed to the very same trigger twice. She remembered two separate pieces of information, once caused by Guts’ appearance directly, the other time she triggered herself by bringing up Judeau – and Guts made it worse by appearing before her.
What exactly about Guts is triggering Casca?
We also get to see more of the reason why Guts is triggering her so hard: She unconsciously associates him with apostles in general, which may be reminiscent of the time he actually choked and sexually assaulted her (See my analysis post for Episode 359 for a detailed explanation). That means they will have to unpack this as well in order to find back together.
What is also possible is that due to the brand, Casca may sense that Guts has started to lose his humanity in the Berserker Armor, or that the Berserker Armor’s od itself is responsible for her seeing Guts as monster or apostle.
Edit:
Actually if you look at volume 23 and compare the imagery used, the reason why she screams seeing him becomes very very clear:
More of this topic here: Why did Casca scream seeing Guts in chapter 359?
Does Casca want to get back together with Guts?
As it currently stands: Maybe.
Her desire to see Guts was so strong it was one of the first things that appeared in her mind in the process of restoring her sense of self. Now that doesn’t mean she still is romantically interested in him – but it means she at least is willed to interact with him in a meaningful way (which may pave the way for a romantic reunion much later). This desire will be put into the test, but knowing Casca, she is not going to give up on it easily.
In retrospect – both Farnese and Schierke in the Corridor of Dreams assume that Casca wants to speak to Guts. Their assumption could still be wrong. But it is entirely possible that Casca actually wants to see her son, given how the last fragment was the demon infant.
At the same time, we have Casca waking up, with her thoughts shifting to how she wishes to see Guts and walks up to him in chapter 355. Then in chapter 359, Casca would also decide to see him after Farnese tells him he’s waiting for her, fully knowing that he would trigger her.
Who knows. Maybe Casca wishes to see both her son and her man.
Why is the next memory unveiled to her Judeau dying for her?
Consider that Casca remembered how Judeau died during the eclipse to save her.
Consider that Casca was just given battle equipment.
Both of these things happen in the same episode. The logical conclusion of that is that Casca will want to protect those she loves – which may or not may include Guts as well. This is something that I predicted would happen in one of my prediction posts. It also fits with the “her wish may not be your wish”-warning Skull Knight issued to Guts.
And she is more than willed to accumulate scars for those she loves, too:
The final question is:
Berserk Analysis 