I don't know about all that, seems like standard interpersonal relations. Especially since characters are reaching the same conclusion on it one after the other, its likely going somewhere. Not to mention Puck's had that role more or less since the beginning.
The characters aren't reaching any conclusion, though. Silat's just acting irrationally; he's angry for no logical reason. He had Guts chained in a dungeon cell because the conceit was that he's "very dangerous", even though it's obviously untrue. And so what did he expect him to do? Strain against the chain? Why does he even care? It's all meaningless. Nothing is learned from it either. Silat has to be dragged away while practically frothing at the mouth. It'd be comical if it weren't so pathetic. The scene isn't faithful at all to his character, and needless to say it's not faithful to Guts' character either.
As I said earlier in
my episode review, humiliating Guts seems to be the only goal here, and that's been going on for over 10 episodes at this point. There has been no development whatsoever on that front. Comparing this to Puck and Guts' interactions over the course of the series is offensive to me, they're nothing alike.
The deviations the continuation are taking seem to be putting us on the fast track for a finale. Zodd being in Elfhelm to transport Griffith and Casca, writing out the the Kushan hidden mountain village, writing out background characters from Elfhelm, Falconia suddenly having a port, etc... These are deliberate short cuts in my opinion, details being left out because the details don't exist.
But... None of these changes accelerate the pace of the story, nor could they make up for a lack of information. Griffith could have left Skellig without Zodd, the group could have gotten to Falconia quickly without it being a seaside city, the way magic works in the world of Berserk didn't need to change, the Kushan empire didn't need to be revived, etc.
I think you're conflating two things that are happening at the same time. The first is that yes, they are going straight for the ending, but that's not surprising. What
is surprising is how much they're dragging things out as they do it. The second is that they are significantly altering the world and characters so they fit the bastardized version of the story they've cooked up. And that is not just unnecessary but also unjustifiable as far as I'm concerned.
They started this project by saying they would stay faithful to Miura's vision. That was their big promise.
"We will write the manga so as not to deviate from Mr. Miura’s own words." Well this ain't it.
Whereas this whole Rakshas situation does not get us to the end, it does the opposite - it complicates things.
So do all these other changes.
Let me quote you something I wrote earlier in the thread. I feel like it summarizes things perfectly.
This episode feels like it concludes this little Kushan saga that’s been going on since episode 373. Amazingly, nothing has really changed in all that time. Guts is still useless, Schierke is still on her way to find Casca, Silat is still somehow commanding the Kushan nation.
I find this enlightening because I think it reveals how very little the Continuation team knows of Miura’s plans for the story. Why show all of that stuff if it amounts to nothing? Well, because showing it was the point. They knew Guts’ group was supposed to meet with Rickert and the Bakiraka eventually. They also knew Rakshas was going to attack the Bakiraka’s stronghold. And… that seems to be it.
Both things were already obvious a decade ago, when volume 38 came out. They don’t require any insider knowledge. What we don’t know is how it would have happened exactly, and clearly neither do they. That’s why every single episode they’ve produced has been filled to the brim with errors and inconsistencies ranging from how the world works to how characters act and speak.
