Episode 3 (2016 Anime)

"Night of Miracles" is the third episode in the Berserk 2016 anime adaptation. It covers manga episodes 123 through parts of 126 and 127.

Overview[]

Escaping with Farnese as his hostage, Guts (along with Puck) arrives at a mysterious abandoned mansion. With Guts hoping to find sanctuary for the night, Farnese's world is turned upside down as they find the mansion plagued with demon-possessed hounds and their Apostle kennel master.

Summary[]

Having taken Farnese hostage, Guts makes his escape from the Holy Iron Chain Knights with Serpico trailing after them. Seprico was about to fire on Guts when he is suddenly surrounded by spirits that have appeared from behind him and spooked his horse into bucking him off. Meanwhile, Guts learns from Puck that close-minded people like Farnese cannot see elves. From her perspective, Guts is talking to himself.

Suddenly, the three find themselves attacked by the spirits that passed through Serpico. Guts starts hacking at them with his sword while a frightened Farnese freaks out over something touching her face. Guts tells Farnese that the spirits attacking are “miracles” sent to them by her god, miracles she can’t see because she worships an idol. Serpico, having got back on his house, deduces Guts' destination to be the abandoned manor of Count Lansdown, who governed Midland’s western territory before he died in a fire five years prior.

Once at the estate, bucked off by the horse, Guts and Farnese find themselves surrounded by a pack of hounds possessed by the spirits.. As Guts fights them off, he taunts Farnese by saying that the monster hounds are what true "miracles" are, and he tells her to stick with him if she doesn’t want to be eaten as he gets her, Puck, and the horse into the mansion and barricades them in by breaking the stone doorway. But as Puck notices a realistic human sculpture at the top of the stairs, the hounds break in and Guts holds them off while a frightened Farnese runs into a wrinkled, creepy-looking old man. Guts shows up moments later with the old man vowing to punish Guts for harming his hounds. Guts asks this creepy man if he killed the Count, and the squat little man says no, he ate the Count. Guts reveals the man to be one of the Apostles he is hunting.

While Guts fights the Apostle, Puck realizes that the portrait is actually the remains of a young girl who was kind to the hound keeper and ended up being his sacrificial offer to the God Hand. The Apostle felt guilty for being forced to kill the girl and made what remained of her into a portrait. Puck’s act distracts the Apostle long enough for Guts to defeat the Apostle and attempts to torture him for information about the God Hand. But Guts ends up killing the hound keeper as he had no information and follows after Farnese after she ran off during the interrogation.

Farnese finds the horse Guts rode and attempts to mount it before turns its face toward her to reveal itself to be possessed. Farnese falls on her back from fright while the horse stands menacingly over her, expressing its depraved intent to mount her. When Guts arrives to see the horse about to sexually assault Farnese, the scene reminding him strongly of the hell Casca went through at Femto's hands during the Eclipse, Guts loses all self-control as he beheads the horse in one swing, his blade angled to be a mere number of inches from Farnese's neck. Guts reminds her again not to run around if she wants to live, and this time she listens.

As she and Guts slowly explore what’s left of the manor, Farnese feels weak that she was more focused on escaping rather than praying for God's help. But Farnese is unaware that a spirit entered her body, taunting her with one of her darkest secrets: being a sadomasochist. Farnese denies the accusations, but the spirit continues on and claims that God will not help her because she is such a warped pervert. Farnese soon loses control over her body as the spirit wills her to give into her lustful desires for Guts, resulting in Farnese pinning Guts down and starting to choke him with a rope while telling Guts to "tear her apart slowly". When the possession ends, Farnese has full memory of her actions and breaks down as her crying and screaming attracts Serpico's attention. Serpico gives his coat to Farnese and attempts to get her to calm down, reminding her of their mission when she orders him to kill Guts to preserve her womanly honor.

Left behind, Serpico tells Guts that he is a free man for now, right before they both simultaneously draw their swords and swing at each other. Guts’ cheek is cut, and the bottom of Serpico’s shoe is sliced open. Just as abruptly as the fight started, Serpico ends it by sheathing his sword and bids Guts farewell. He also flashes Puck a small wave of the hand, confirming that he can see the elf. Puck reveals to Guts that he feels a deep sadness radiating from Farnese, as though she is trapped in an invisible prison.

In Wyndham, his kingdom having been plunged into chaos since Griffith's escape from the Tower of Rebirth, the dying King of Midland asks for his daughter Charlotte. General Laban attempts to convince Charlotte to leave her tower, only for her to refuse to see the man she no longer sees as her father. But all across Midland, the people are having dreams of a savior known as the Falcon of Light from the tribulations to come. The king, seeing the vision of the Falcon of Light as the last thing he would ever see, dies with the bell tolling to announce his passing. On the distant hills overlooking Wyndham, one of the tribulations seen in the dream comes to pass as a foreign army makes its way toward the city.

Next Episode Preview[]

Word of Casca's survival reaches Guts as he vows to never lose her again. Speaking to a young, blond-haired boy, Guts smiles and remarks there's something he must do. Meanwhile, a Chief Inquisitor of the Holy See claims of divine punishment.

Characters in Order of Appearance[]

Manga/Anime Differences[]

• The entirety of the Count's mansion and all subplots involved with it are added.
• The majority of Farnese's nudity is censored throughout the episode.
• Having originally appeared as a minor character in the Golden Age Arc, not appearing in either anime adaptation of that arc, the Keeper of the Hounds is given an expanded backstory and personality.
• The possessed horse rape attempt scene is toned down and the erection is removed.
• The dream of the Falcon of Light by the people of Midland is included at the end rather than the next episode.

Notes[]

• The episode is a rewrite of Chapters 123 through 125 written by Kentarou Miura himself. He felt looking back that the original chapters lacked a distinct setting and would have preferred it taking place in a more memorable location, which he created as one of the Count's former mansions.

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