Continuation discrepancy: Why does Schierke need all the others to help cast a spell to find Casca?
Added 2024-03-10 14:32:56 +0000 UTCPart 5 of this series from Walter about various major discrepancies in the Continuation compared to Miura's Berserk.
[373] Why does Schierke need all the others to help cast a spell to find Casca?
In episode 373, Schierke uses a special ritual intended to locate Casca’s whereabouts. She says that she requires the concentration of everyone present aboard the Sea Horse to make her spell more effective.
From Puella’s translation:
Schierke: In this ritual, it’s important to bring everyone's consciousness in one place. Even people who don’t learn magic can contribute to magic.
Farnese: The consciousness of my teacher is… Extending more and more toward the astral world, no, a deeper territory (than that).
This idea of having non-magic users focus their concentration on a medium’s spell is common in things like seances in other works. But it’s never been addressed in Berserk. Furthermore, what Schierke actually does isn’t uncommon or new. She uses her body of light to explore the ethereal world, just as she always has. And once she does that, she realizes how omnipresent the world tree’s branches are. If that’s the case, why did she require help in detecting them…?
The answer is that she didn’t need help. It was a storytelling diversion for the characters so they can be easily overtaken by the Kushans without a fight.
Also worth noting: the giant symbol drawn on the floor under Schierke is the one Flora carved on the berserk's armor to protect Guts' ego from its Od. Its presence here doesn't make sense. It was just added to provide atmosphere to the scene, like the melted candles and incense burners.
