Berserk Episode 364: The Last Ride of the Day

I had to rush this article a little bit but I will make sure to post more about the recent chapter and predictions that can be made based on it.

Despite of Miura’s tragic passing, we are blessed with the release of what will likely be the last Berserk chapter. I have cherished it dearly, because it might be the last time I can experience the exciting wait and interesting conversations after a new release of Berserk. I hope you people did the same as I.

This chapter turns out to be incredibly wholesome and hilarious while also revealing some important information. There are a few theories I have discussed in the past that appear to be in line with the content of this chapter. This article will take a look at that!

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Before I start, I have important news regarding my Berserk Analysis book: It’s been on hiatus (and on my mind) for a long time. However, I have obtained a clear vision which allows me to continue it with determination. The plan is to self-publish it entirely as physical copy that will be sold on my Etsy shop. Because I’ve been getting into book-binding as of now, there also will be rare, unique copies that will be printed and entirely hand-bound by me. Currently, I am doing heavy editing work and a partial rewrite which is progressing at an incredible pace.

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The chapter starts out with Guts interacting with the Moonboy, asking him what he is doing here. Instead of answering he promptly walks behind Guts to climb onto his cape and rest on his shoulders. With a grumpy face and a baby foot on his cheek, Guts enters the cottage where his companions are.

This chapter is off to a good start already.

His companions greet him and Schierke brings up how the boy might be Dannan protecting them, as speculated by her before their arrival to Elfhelm in chapter 328. However, it turns out that Schierke was wrong when Dannan actually enters the cottage and asks her who the Moonboy is. Given us readers have witnessed what happened to the Demon Infant during the Birth Ceremony many of us must have known that from the start.

Guts carefully (well, as careful as he can get) grabs the boy and kindly asks his companions to take the boy to Casca. It’s a little gesture of him but it is very meaningful, because it shows how much he actually relies on them. He really does trust them completely at this point. He probably also realizes that Casca being together with the Moonboy will make her happy.

By the way Guts interacted with the Moonboy so far you can tell that he is not as suspicious of him anymore and seems to have a huge tolerance to him shoving his foot into his face (and mouth, in fact). A sign that he has accepted him in his group. He seems already used to the boy trying to get on his shoulders.

Meeting the Moonboy the first time, Casca seems happy and surprised, struck with a sense of familiarity. She subconsciously seems to know he is something very close to her, but seems painfully unaware that he is actually her own flesh and blood. The boy of course knows that she is his mother and clings onto her as usual.

Then Dannan and Schierke have a very fascinating conversation. Schierke confronts her with the nature of the Moonboy only appearing at full moon nights, which made her think the floer storm king must protect them. Dannan is understanding of Schierke’s position and states that she was aware of their journey, but it was not her protecting them. Dannan was informed of this by Flora in a dream oracle, which presumably is the same kind of oracle Guts and Zodd had during the Revelation chapters in Conviction arc, chapters 127 and 128, one of those dreams the Demon Infant instilled into Guts himself. Dannan also says that the Moonboy’s Od resembles more that of a fairy than that of man; Puck in chapter 142 also notes how Skull Knight’s od reminds him of an elf… At this point I want to highlight that I noticed similarities between Skull Knight and Moonboy before, and now they have become more evident.

Dannan goes on to say that only creatures with good intention can set foot on this island in the first place and that their fate has guided them here. That means that the Moonboy himself is a pure and completely innocent being. With Farnese being given Dannan’s old wizard robes and Casca her forest guard apparel they have become Elfhelm’s inhabitants. Schierke being a mage is inherently included here. They have accepted them into their ranks. But what about the others, Guts, Serpico, or Isidro…?

Also… wait a minute. Isn’t the Idea of Evil, the swelling ocean of humanity’s negativity, supposedly in full control over someone’s fate? But how does the Idea of Evil even control someone if they harbor good intentions? Is this a hint that Ideas inside of the World of Idea (see chapter 201) that may affect someone’s fate do not necessarily have to be evil?

So glad the Idea of Evil is not technically canon anymore.

However, an “idea” is indeed what brought them there, namely the idea to protect what is dear to them. Only the “evil” modifier has been removed from said idea. Related articles for this topic are Manifestations of Desire, The Lost Chapter and an article outlining a possible way to resist the Godhand.

The next morning the companions are surprised to find the Moonboy still here, as he normally vanishes the next morning. This is due to the fact time flows differently in Elfhelm. Dannan gives us an idea about the difference: while a few hours in the real world pass, on Elfhelm only a few days have passed. This gives us an idea of how large the timeskip will be: namely just a few days until a few months at most, at least as of right now. But that depends on how large their stay is going to turn out. However, this is very important too because Casca and her son now have enough time to bond together.

The least I expected from this chapter is to see Casca actually be a mom to her boy. A precious gift from Miura from the afterlife.

Guts’ companions note how peaceful it is here, and out of everyone Serpico states how they become literally a family. However Schierke shows herself concerned, and with what, we see on the next page where the perspective is switched to Guts practicing at the foot of a waterfall. He has taken off his armor and appears to perform a general health check: unfortunately it appears he cannot swing his sword, losing his grasp on the handle. His sight and dexterity are also negatively affected as shown to us by him missing an apple with a throwing knife. He evaluates that he is still no good without the armor; all while using has brought him here in the first place. Overall, I would say his situation actually has become worse: Before in volume 27, only his taste and sight appear to be affected; and now he can’t hold his sword properly anymore.

After he settles down, he finds the Moonlight Boy peeking out from the Berserker Armor, trying to run away with it. Is this the boy trying to imitate his dad protecting his family, or is he trying to get away the armor because he knows its no good for him? In either case, Guts gets to interact with his boy in peace while he is vulnerable, meaning without wearing his armor. The swordsman actually ends up briefly playing knight with his little son, who appears to be a lot like his dad already. I think Guts did notice that as well here.

When Casca and the others call the boy for lunch time, Guts encourages him with a smile to be together with them. The perspective switches to Casca who notes how naturally it feels to her to take care of the Moonboy like this and it makes her wonder where this feeling is coming from. As she started to dig into her subconsciousness, she finds an image in her head from the chapter “The Spider’s Thread”, volume 20, where the Demon Infant has saved Casca from the hands of Mozgus. The imagery we see here in the smaller panels are references to volume 28, where she meets her boy the first time, feeds him and catches him from falling.

At this point she suddenly snaps out of her bed, noticing the Moonboy is gone. This is where she rushes outside to find him sitting in the grass, with Guts standing before him. But suddenly, the boy actually starts talking… he was having a nostalgic and warm dream as a boy every full moon, which then disappeared with a tear like morning dew. As the boy says this, his hair transforms white and suddenly, a crying Griffith faces back to Guts.

What happened here?

It seems like a twist but isn’t if you paid attention. It has been hinted many times that Griffith and Moonboy share a body and it was also conveyed through visuals during the Birth Ceremony. The feelings and tears Griffith experiences here are likely the Moonboy’s, who is saddened to depart from his beloved parents. Griffith only tells them out loud for us. It is a beautiful way to depict how even Griffith, a demi-god who attempted to strip off all of his humanity, is still chained to it by causality. The Moonboy is the human inside of the beast (Femto/Griffith), while The Beast of Darkness is the beast inside of the human (Guts). A beautiful parallelism that I’ve pointed out two years ago in this article.

The Moonboy feeling lonely is also the reason why Griffith agreed to build the orphanage in episode 358. I hinted to this right after it came out, but there is some more evidence for that now. Did Griffith agree on building an orphanage out of Moonboy’s sympathy for orphaned kids? Or was it that Griffith was exposed to the Moonboy’s feelings towards his parents, that Griffith realized in a rational way it’s important to take care of orphaned kids? If true, this means that the Moonboy has started to affect Griffith’s actions while he is under control of the body and may meddle with his plans. There are other fascinating things that can deduced going from here but I will cover that in another article.

Overall this was a very wholesome and incredible chapter and also a setup for Casca to find a motivation to save her son eventually. The bond they have might save him in an end that we unfortunately and probably will never see.

Thank you for reading. Let me know what you think about this topic in the comments section below!

If you enjoyed this article, consider getting the book for more!