After Casca had been hailed as a witch for supposedly banishing the evil spirits from the cultists’ body last episode, people keep bringing her items at Luca’s tent to show their gratitude and worship for Casca. Nina wants to leave Casca behind because she thinks the people worshiping her will take care of her, but after the last episode I have my doubts. Luca firmly states that she will not be leaving Casca or Nina behind, end of story.
Suddenly someone bursts into Luca’s tent and announces that Pepe has been taken by the heretic hunters. Luca runs off to investigate, leaving Nina alone with Casca. I’m not sure who Pepe is or why she’s being singled out, whether it’s because she’s a prostitute as well or simply another refugee, but there’s a pretty good chance she’ll be killed regardless.
Sure enough, Luca finds Pepe in manacles being dragged along by one of the Holy Iron Chain Knights. Luca intervenes and just when it looks like she’s going to take another lashing, The Black Swordsman shows up and puts a stop to the spectacle. When the leader of the heretic hunt can’t answer whether or not he captured Casca as well, Guts slashes several knights and their mounts in half in front of a large crowd of onlookers. Whew!
But Luca hears Guts’s conversation with the leader of the witch hunt, and tells him Casca is with her. Guts immediately takes off for Luca’s tent while Luca, Pepe, Isidro and the others are running alongside him. But little do they know that Nina, overwhelmed with what might happen to her if the heretic hunters come for her, has panicked and taken Casca with her. So when Guts and Luca finally make it back to the tent, Casca and Nina are nowhere to be found.
Out in the barren hills, Nina and Casca run into a group of Casca’s followers, who I think are also made up of some of the cultists. The group kidnaps Casca and Nina and carries them back to the cultists’ cave.
Meanwhile Isidro and Puck have teamed up to help look for Casca. Isidro’s mainly helping because he wants Guts to be indebted to him – if Isidro can find Casca, he figures Guts will repay the favor by training him. Puck knows what Casca looks like because he was able to see some of Guts’ thoughts earlier when he thought of Casca, so he’s using these mental thoughts to guide Isidro to Puck. On the outskirts of the refugee camp, Isidro and Puck witness Casca and Nina’s kidnapping and, figuring they will lose the group if they rush back to tell Guts, decide to follow them.
Near the Tower of Conviction, Farnese, Serpico and the other Holy Iron Chain Knights have gotten word that Guts is still alive and has shown up at the refugee camp. Their informant? Joachim, Nina’s customer, who is very much alive and well.
At the cave, Isidro and Puck are spying on the cultists from up in the shadows. The leader has proclaimed Casca to be their priestess, The Black Witch. He wants to cut out Nina’s heart as an offering to Casca, and then have Casca mate with the Great Goat. Isidro tells Puck to fly to Guts as fast as he can, while he picks off the cultists with rocks before they can kill Nina. As the enraged followers start to climb up the side of the cave to get to Isidro, the young thief picks them off with rocks one by one. Down below, Casca clutches at her brand…
Outside the cave the Holy Iron Chain Knights have finally arrived at the cave. Farnese orders their troop inside, and to take down anyone who tries to escape. 
However they’re unprepared for the wave of nude cultists who are trying to escape the deranged, possessed people monsters running up behind them. Further inside the cave the cult leader, the goat man and a couple of others are trying to escape when the being with the amber eyes finds them. What looks like a vine with a needle on the end slithers out from the darkness and stabs the goat man in his heart, transforming him into a real life monster. Isidro, Casca and Nina had been following the goat man’s exit path, but upon the monster’s transformation the three hightail it out past all the Holy Iron Chain Knights fighting with the possessed monsters on the cave floor.
In the mad stampede that ensues, Isidoro loses his grip on Casca’s hand and she falls to the floor. Outside the cave, a blue streak zooms past the knights waiting outside. Guts is right behind Puck, moving amazingly fast for someone in heavy, full-body armor. But then again this is his love we’re talking about, so all I have to say is go Guts!
The goat man approaches Casca and positions himself in front of her, preparing to rape her. Casca remains unaware until the goat’s “snake” slides up her body under her tunic, and then she starts to scream because she’s flashing back yet again to the Eclipse. Moments later Guts flies in, slicing the goat’s “snake” in half with his monstrous sword.
Guts is clearly relieved to see Casca unharmed, and on some level Casca appears to recognize Guts too. It’s been two years since Guts has seen Casca, and they’ve both changed some. What will their reunion bring?
My thoughts: Ha, Isidro’s subtitles in this episode were pretty hilarious. Never did I think a character in Berserk would actually say “Shit’s getting real!” That’s a line reserved for me when I’m watching, ha! Also, the shot with Isidro covering himself while he gives his tunic to Nina so she can cover herself was pretty funny too. The joys of being male. #puberty
Also so. much. censored. nudity. It’s still an odd look to me. I wonder if there will be an uncensored version when it’s released on Blu-Ray.
While this episode showed the reunion of Guts and Casca, it was also very much Isidro’s episode in a way. We got a glimpse at his backstory and the hardships he’s had to endure alone, and as bratty as he can be, he knows how to get what he wants. I think he genuinely wants to help Guts, but he’s also not above trying to get something out of it for himself too. It’s both slightly sleazy yet also a little admirable too. I’d probably resort to doing something similar if I were in his shoes too. He definitely was the main reason why Nina and Casca were not eaten by the possessed cultists.
I finally caved and watched a couple of videos on Youtube that were criticizing Berserk (2016) for a few things, primarily the animation, and while I don’t agree with everything that I saw I will agree with them on the clunky animation. I definitely prefer even the animation from the movies over this almost-entirely-CG rendition. That being said, it’s Berserk and it’s new material, which means I will always support the show regardless of how it looks. I’ll touch on this again in my final impression.
Aside from that, fuck yeah my ship is back together! (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ
* Susumu Hirasawa song of the week: “Sign“, which is the opening theme from the 2004 Japan-only PS2 game Berserk Millennium Falcon Arc: Chapter of the Holy Demon War.