Excellent recovery from the terrible former volume. Again, weirdly, a return to court, and to stakes that actually have some weight. I wouldn’t have expected a series like this to excel away from fights, but here we are.

With the Casca absolute mess of an attempt at character building centering pretty much solely around her having no agency or ability—despite us being told constantly she’s second to Griffith, no less—the band return to the kingdom victorious. A plot is hatched and thwarted against Griffith, and there’s a lot more internal dialogue and character building, as each member reflect on how far they’ve come and their respective relationships to one another.

Just so, as a nice continuation from the previous intrigue segment, Guts decides to strike out. But can he really follow through? The decision is a catalyst from my favourite scene of the series so far, where Griffith, atop a fountain, thinking he’s alone except for the princess (maybe?), talks about who he considers a friend and equal. Which shatters Guts idea about how he thought he was perceived by Griffith. It’s very well done and I’m glad something came from it.

The best ending to any of the volumes, by far and away, too. And the detailing has improved quite a bit. Again. Weird to see in a section that has nothing to do with battle. But it really is much improved from even the previous volume to this one.