In this world...
Is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcendental entity or law?
Is it like the hand of God hovering above?
At least it is true...
...that man has no control, even over his own will.
H-Hey!
Guts!
Feel no shame about shape.
Weather changes their phrase.
Even mother will show you another way.
So put your glasses on.
Nothing will be wrong.
There's no blame. There's no fame.
It's up to you.
The first words should be found.
Whatever holds you back.
I...
...can...
I can get it off.
Tell me what...
Tell me what you want.
I don't know why...
Don't know why...
Don't know why you're afraid.
Tell me what...
Tell me what you'd say.
I don't know why...
Don't know why...
Too late...
It's too late.
Together
It's up to you whether to follow me or not.
You've learned what it means to fight, haven't you?
Hey.
Where am I?
You are in a cave by the river.
Luckily, we fell into the river and survived.
A river?
Come on, don't you remember anything?
Funny you can be so nonchalant. We nearly drowned to death!
Damn it!
Don't get up yet. Your fever hasn't completely gone down.
You can't blame me. You were freezing and completely drenched.
What are you looking at?
That hurt! What's the meaning of this?
I'm the one who saved your life!
Shit, stop it!
Oh, lay off!
Enough of this crap!
You're hysterical!
I don't want to make a big deal out of it...
But I risked my life dragging you out of that river in your damned armor!
You could show a little gratitude, at least!
But instead you hurl a knife at me?
I'd beat you and dislocate your jaw if you weren't a woman!
I do not like it, a mere woman such as you acting like a knight.
You're easily driven into a frenzy.
That's why a woman like you isn't cut out for war.
Hey...
Not my choice...
I was not...
I was not born as a woman by choice!
Well, I'm sorry.
Damn you!
You crazy broad!
Why don't you try to calm down?
Hands off!
Let go...
...of me...
I told you so.
Hey, put this on.
It dried out while I was wearing it.
What?
Are you still crying?
Shut up!
Turn around now!
How pathetic...
You are the last person I would ever want to be rescued by!
Great, she really hates me.
Hey, why did you enlist in the Band of the Hawk anyway?
Isn't it tough to be a woman in this business?
No matter the circumstances...
Well, it's not my business, I guess.
Griffith...
It's because of Griffith.
I'm from a small farming village deep in the mountains.
The crops were meager, and the soil was sterile...
Nevertheless, we had been bled dry by heavy taxes for the war effort.
Frequently, we would eat nothing for three days at a time.
Many people died of hunger each winter...
Our village was along the border, so it often was involved in skirmishes.
Each time it happened...
We were forced to quietly watch our houses and fields be trampled.
There were similar stories from all the nearby villages.
Everyone was used to being looted and having their lives crushed...
And I thought it was just a matter of course.
One day...
A nobleman was passing by our village...
...and I caught his eye.
The nobleman offered to take me as his waiting maid.
After hesitating for a while, my father ended up accepting his offer.
I knew why my father would give his youngest daughter to the noble...
I was not much help to the family.
My parents had to reduce the number of mouths to feed.
However...
It's no wonder that it turned out the way it did...
It couldn't be true...
...that a noble would, on a whim...
...save the daughter of some poor man purely out of kindness.
There's nothing I can do...
This is just how things are...
Those were the only thoughts that kept me chained to reality.
Just because you were born a noble, do you believe you're chosen by God?
He looked divine, and the moment was unreal.
God mercifully sent an angel to this pathetic, powerless girl.
I really believed that for a moment.
But what the angel gave me was not the helping hand I expected.
If there is something you wish to protect, take up that sword!
I was frightened.
Did I stab him with the sword...
...or did he accidentally impale himself?
Either way, I had killed a man.
The stranger just nodded slowly and knowingly.
It was then I realized that he had extended to me a true helping hand.
Griffith, we've cleared everything out.
Hey, wait...
What am I supposed to do?
Do whatever you like.
I want...
Please bring me with you!
No way, don't be silly.
We are not just petty thieves!
We are collecting war funds in order to raise an army!
It'd be a joke if we went off to war accompanied by kids and women!
Please, I will learn how to wield a sword if that's what it takes!
So please...
Oh boy, she's serious.
What if you wind up dead?
I told you...
Do whatever you like.
It's up to you whether to follow me or not.
You've learned what it means to fight, haven't you?
Yes, but...
It's because this sword and blanket were given to me from you.
Everything has changed since the day I met him.
From a life of enduring and waiting for things to happen...
...to a life where I would fight for my aspirations.
Of course, I worshipped Griffith.
I think...
...I'm still lost in a dream.
A group of outcasts and commoners became invincible on the battlefield.
It's like a miracle the way we have fought.
Above everything, our leader is a youth, seemingly still so innocent.
His origin is even common, just like ours.
A miracle!
For me, Griffith is the embodiment of a miracle!
While I somehow managed to thrive as a soldier...
...we became involved in a territorial dispute led by a local nobleman.
The nobleman was well-known and very wealthy.
But he had a bad reputation that didn't reflect his wealth...
...but rather his unsavory tastes.
Officially, he hired young kids from villages as his valets.
In reality, they were imprisoned to serve his taste for pederasty.
Their eyes looked vacant and numbly frightened.
I felt a chill go down my spine.
Fear and hatred welled up inside me. I was totally horrified at the sight.
It reminded me that such a thing could have happened to me.
It was the same hand that saved me...
...that he put on my shoulder then.
Somehow, that was all he had to do to stop my shivering.
Later, after we had been through several skirmishes...
The boy was an apprentice soldier who had joined us half a year before.
Griffith.
What's that?
The boy's belongings...
Griffith?
He must have really wanted to be a knight.
I remember this boy well.
He always gazed at me as one might admire the hero of a story.
I wonder if he was happy.
Did he die as if in a dream, one close to being fulfilled?
I think my dream must have murdered this boy.
Before then, I had never seen Griffith so depressed.
A man like Griffith let his shoulders droop.
And since that moment, Griffith gradually began to look different.
A few nights after our return from that battle...
Griffith!
No way, you've got to be kidding!
A proud guy like him was...
Casca...
It feels so nice. Won't you join me?
Well, I, uh...
You think I'm disgusting?
No...
Why...
Why were you there last night?
Wait a minute. I was mistaken, right?
Last night... you were there for a war council or something...
No...
What?
You weren't mistaken.
How could you? With a man like that?
For money.
To maintain an army costs lots of money.
Soldiers, horses, equipment, provisions. Nothing is free.
Moreover, the Band of the Hawk will continue to expand...
And I must lead my army to prosperity.
That's why I need such immense war funds.
That old man is interested in me, while I am interested in his fortune...
Our interests have come to an agreement. That's all.
No... even so. No way...
Why can't things stay as they are?
If can keep on winning, we could earn all the money you need eventually.
That would take a tremendous amount of time, and...
The more we fight in battles, the more we lose soldiers.
You mean like that boy, don't you?
No, I don't.
I came to this conclusion rationally.
Which brings less risk, losing hundreds of soldiers in ten battles...
...or snaring a rich, old man?
Listen, Casca.
I feel no responsibility to comrades who've lost lives under my command.
Because they chose to fight in each battle...
Griffith?
Just as I chose this...
But if there is something that...
...I can do for them...
Something I can do for the dead...
Then it is to win!
I must keep winning to attain my dream, the same one they clung to...
...and risked their lives for!
Griffith, stop it!
To realize my dream, I will perch on top of their corpses.
It is a blood-smeared dream, after all.
I don't regret or feel guilty about it.
But to risk thousands of lives while never getting myself dirty...
It's not a dream that can be so easily realized!
Stop it.
Don't talk like that anymore.
It's all right.
It's nothing.
Griffith had already recovered by the time he put his hand on my shoulder.
And it made me very sad.
Most people have abandoned their dreams long ago...
...but Griffith is still trying to realize his.
But because the dream he chose...
...is so pure and monumental in scale...
...the burden he has to carry is unimaginably heavy.
One who plans to achieve great things inevitably endures terrible things.
He is not innately strong.
But now he has to be stronger than ever.
I want to stand by him.
If he dedicates himself entirely to his dream...
If he has to fight to create his dream...
I want to be a sword for him.
I want to stand by him.
I want to be something important that will help him fulfill his dream.
Once, I believed that my wish would be granted.
But then came the time when you appeared before us.
Do you remember what Griffith said to you on the hill that day?
I want you to join us, Guts!
Those words...
He had never said such kind words to anyone.
I was very irritated by it.
You made him say that about you without any effort at all...
...and I was very envious.
I tried to convince myself...
...Griffith only needed you as a soldier, one who would strengthen us.
But a man like Griffith acts impulsively when something happens to you.
It is as if...
As if...
Griffith has faith in you... and yet you...
You never think about the consequences!
What I can't forgive is how your selfishness nearly got Griffith killed!
I don't care if you drop dead somewhere in battle!
But I'll never forgive you if you ruin the Band of the Hawk, Griffith's dream!
And I can't forgive you for making Griffith change like he has...
Why?
Why did he choose you?
Why you?
W-What are you doing?
Shush!
Hey, listen, I think they're probably dead by now.
Think about how they fell from the cliff...
It doesn't matter whether they are alive or not.
Sir Adon promised us the reward nevertheless...
Because it's their raider leader and that female commander.
Why don't we look around downstream from here?
The bodies may have drifted because of the current.
Listen.
Take this medicine to lower your fever.
We have no time to rest anymore.
We're going as soon as it gets dark.
Looking back, the morning comes.
Don't find your face in your glass.
Take the moonlight by the tail.
It's a rainy sight. You're shading.
What is that?
It's just the same.
What is trying your crown?
I'm spending my glass, walking back.
So wear my glass. You're fading.
I'm waiting so long.
I'm waiting...
Next Episode
To wield a sword is proof that one is alive.
Dreams are woven, ambitions are amassed...
But nothing can alter this pure truth.
One who wields a sword for another...
One who wields a sword only for oneself...
In the end, what awaits them?
Can it truly be such a thing as joy?
Prepared for Death