SkullKast: Episode 101 - Dawn of the Empire

Walter

Walter

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Episode 101: Dawn of the Empire (Ep 358) (1h 54m)
Griffith lays out the foundation for his "second empire," and then vanishes. What happens next could be a m-e-g-a-t-o-n. He sure seems do be doing great things for humanity now that he's obtained his kingdom, so what does that spell for where Miura is taking us, and what does that say for the thesis of Berserk? Also, a short history of how we arrived at the Moonlight Boy = Griffith theory from more than a decade ago.

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Wow, awesome podcast episode. So thorough. You guys touched on every thought I had regarding Episode 358, Moonlight Boy, and Gaiseric.
Thanks for your hard work. Always a pleasure listening to these podcasts
 
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Walt: "Were gonna build a wall!"
Grail: "And the Jotunns are going to pay for it!"
:ganishka:

You guys really went through a ton of interesting topics. the entire history of the demon child, the Mana idea or true name thing is a very interesting possibility, and the whole comparison about real world humanity vs humanity in the world of Berserk, phew it was all very interesting i could hardly work on other things. very good skullkast!
 
Thanks for having me on! It certainly feels like the first new episode discussion in months opened up the theorycrafting floodgates. It was very cool having the chance to chat about all the possibilities! :daiba:

Also wanted to give a MAJOR props to Puella for providing some insight into what was being said, so that we'd enough details to interpret for this discussion. This SkullKast would have been pretty short without her. :slan:
 
Thanks everyone! This one felt special to me, because 358 armed us with so much material to talk about the future with. And there's surely even more just ahead, if things go according to our talk.
 
Great stuff per usual skullknight crew! I was particularly fond of Aaz's bit, "falcon chair, in the falcon room, down the falcon hall, in the falcon kingdom", I was laughing a little too hard in my car this morning.
 
Well, glad to see my streaking joke was such a hit. Enjoyable podcast in any case. Except for that bit where you reminded us all that it's been nearly ten years since Skull Knight last showed up and the astral world went to absolute hell. Way to make everyone listening in feel old! :puck:
Walter said:
Thanks everyone! This one felt special to me, because 358 armed us with so much material to talk about the future with. And there's surely even more just ahead, if things go according to our talk.
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I'll say. Twenty-one pages of material inspired almost two hours of discussion!
 
Great stuff as usual. I expected this podcast to be a long one, but holy cow it's almost 2 hours. Took me 2 sittings to finish it. Not that I'm complaining, of course :guts:

Some words about some of your points in this podcast:
The idea of creating pseudo apostles en mass seems almost certain to me at this point as well. Having to defend such a big empire would spread the demon army too thin, meaning they'll need to be supplemented somehow.
And I like the idea of Sonia going to Elfhelm. Maybe she'll notice the boy going through the branches, get curious and decide to follow him.

Your discussion about Griffith and the moonlight boy has left me with several questions, though:

I'm curious about what you said about exorcising Griffith. If Griffith were to be banished from the body,do you think the boy would become a human and be able to live a normal life? After all, he wasn't even properly born. Casca miscarried him after at most two weeks of pregnancy. Makes it hard to believe he will become a normal boy when this is all over.

As for the coming fight between Guts and Griffith: How is Guts going to hurt him? As far as we know, the only feasible way Guts could win is with his son's help, but at the same time if Guts attacks Griffith it will hurt his son too. So how could Guts attack Griffith without endangering his son? Perhaps he will leave his body and make a temporary vessel like Slan did in Qliphoth, but then the boy might not be able to help.

And about the full moon: why is it that the moonlight boy becomes stronger with the full moon, but Griffith doesn't also become stronger to counteract it? He's also an astral being after all, so shouldn't the moon affect him too? This always confused me.

And lastly, do you think Guts will let him sit on his shoulders this time? :ganishka:
 
Khalamir said:
I'm curious about what you said about exorcising Griffith. If Griffith were to be banished from the body,do you think the boy would become a human and be able to live a normal life? After all, he wasn't even properly born. Casca miscarried him after at most two weeks of pregnancy. Makes it hard to believe he will become a normal boy when this is all over.
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Not sure it would be "exorcizing" Femto, but anyway, the boy was fundamentally transformed inside the Beherit Apostle. I don't see any way that he could go back to how he was.

Khalamir said:
As for the coming fight between Guts and Griffith: How is Guts going to hurt him? As far as we know, the only feasible way Guts could win is with his son's help, but at the same time if Guts attacks Griffith it will hurt his son too. So how could Guts attack Griffith without endangering his son?
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You're literally asking how the hero will defeat the villain in the final fight. I haven't found out yet but I'll let you know when I do. :ganishka:

Khalamir said:
And about the full moon: why is it that the moonlight boy becomes stronger with the full moon, but Griffith doesn't also become stronger to counteract it? He's also an astral being after all, so shouldn't the moon affect him too? This always confused me.
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Who said it's about getting stronger? All we know is he's transforming. And we don't know how the moon affects members of the God Hand. Not all astral beings are the same.
 
razorkid said:
What is the music at the end of the podcast? And great podcast guys!
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Thanks! At the end it's the instrumental version of Aria, specifically the awesome ending to the song. The opening is something Nomad (user here) made for us back in 2012, tuned to be Susumu-esque.
 
Really loved the discussion in the episode. Although the editing of it made it hard to listen at times. I understand it was recorded as one file right from skype or discord, so the problems with synchronization are understandable, but maybe next time each member of podcast can record their voice separately? It's not hard to manage, really.

Also, by the sound of the mute button, that Walter keeps on pushing throughout the episode, i assume it's Blue's Yeti microphone?) I use it myself, so its really familiar to me.
 
NeonTiger said:
Really loved the discussion in the episode. Although the editing of it made it hard to listen at times. I understand it was recorded as one file right from skype or discord, so the problems with synchronization are understandable, but maybe next time each member of podcast can record their voice separately? It's not hard to manage, really.
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There weren't sync problems, and it is edited on different tracks, but what you may be referring to is that we often just steamroll over each other so we can get a word in. Griff's the most obvious about it :griffnotevil:

But yeah I spent less time editing this one, cleaning up the background stuff on each track, muting anyone who gets cut off after a second person begins talking. Just takes time that I didn't have that night. It's au naturale!

Also, by the sound of the mute button, that Walter keeps on pushing throughout the episode, i assume it's Blue's Yeti microphone?) I use it myself, so its really familiar to me.
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Yep.
 
I got a chance to finally listen to this today. Really great discussion. So much to look forward to. Like you guys I'm really excited about the direction Falconia is taking. So much more interesting than the generic fan theories of mass sacrifices and so on.
 
Kinyobee said:
I got a chance to finally listen to this today. Really great discussion. So much to look forward to. Like you guys I'm really excited about the direction Falconia is taking. So much more interesting than the generic fan theories of mass sacrifices and so on.
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Thanks! It was a better-than-average podcast for us, for sure. I'm both excited and anxious about what's ahead. Really though, I just want Guts and Casca to have a real fucking conversation without the riff-raff.
 
I just love this podcast. The dude in the French accent had me laughing because every time he kept saying "Falcon" I thought he was dropping an f-bomb.

Also! Really glad one of you guys pointed out how Griffith, who is basically a god at this point, is chilling down, maxing, relaxing all cool with the same nobles who were plotting his death a few volumes back and telling them to "put your grasses on, nOtHinG WiLL bE wRoNg" despite the fact that he could just as easily end their whole careers in a span of a second.

Not to mention that he's basically telling these guys "hey guys! Child murder will DEFINITELY help our problems!" While they eat it up like starved dogs.
 
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The Hawk Of Light said:
The dude in the French accent had me laughing because every time he kept saying "Falcon" I thought he was dropping an f-bomb.
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Not really cool to crack a joke at someone's accent.

The Hawk Of Light said:
Griffith, who is basically a god at this point, is chilling down, maxing, relaxing all cool with the same nobles who were plotting his death a few volumes back
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He torched the conspirators. What am I missing here? If you mean back in Vritannis, they weren't trying to kill him, they just didn't immediately want to recognize his rule. And that is pretty funny.

The Hawk Of Light said:
Child murder will DEFINITELY help our problems!
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Nah, that's not what he's advocating. He's saying survival and prosperity among the children should come only through the state.
 
My apologies. Didn't realize how rude I was being.

I meant the bald aristocrat man (can't remember his name) but now he's liking Griffith now, how interesting. Then again, as you said, it was more on the lines of lack of acknowledgment I suppose...

Quick question! Did you ever address the World Tree Sacrifice Theory?

I never got around to finishing the podcast but I downloaded it so I could listen to it at work.

I also wanted to clap my hands when you guys brought up "Charolette's tea time". Wonder if he actually got her pregnant and how the baby would turn out?

One last thing and I'll stop my incessant rambling!

When Griffith with his merry little band of rapey murmurous monsters eventually pull up to Elfheim do you think Rickert will be there? Or at least play a part somehow?
 
The Hawk Of Light said:
I meant the bald aristocrat man (can't remember his name) but now he's liking Griffith now, how interesting.
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Oh, you meant Foss... Sorry, I ignored him because he's already been pro-Griffith ever since that encounter back in the Golden Age, and we've seen him a number of times ever since then. So it's not curious at all that he's one of Griffith's biggest supporters.

The Hawk Of Light said:
Elfheim
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Elfhelm. And no, Rickert is not in Elfhelm. He's with the Bakiraka in their village by now. That's where they said they were headed after Falconia.
 
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