One Perfect Moment
Griffith is quite possibly the greatest villain of all time, and also the most misunderstood.
This is not to say he's done nothing wrong. He's done Everything wrong. He's done it so wrong that the wrongness is visible from space, and he did much of the Wrong well before he joined the God Hand. But somehow the common fandom view has become that he's a cold calculating monster well before the Eclipse, who doesn't care who or what he sacrifices in pursuit of his dream.
In actuality, everything the man does is driven by his emotions and especially his affection. He loves Guts too much to let him leave without a fight, he can't handle his sorrow on his own so he goes to Princess Charlotte, and when he's caught with the princess he can't get away because his sword is broken from the stupid impulsive fight he had rather than just telling Guts his feelings. Even the suicide attempt that started the Eclipse was a result of him having an emotional breakdown from overhearing Guts and Casca.
But this? This right here, when we see Griffith tearing his skin off in shame and self-loathing after he prostituted himself to a child predator because he personally felt responsible for a little boy's death? This is everything.
All you need to know to figure out what will happen to Griffith and the Band of the Hawk is this scene. It neatly lays out everything to come.
There is no war without death. There is no throne without blood spilled. And that may be logical, but contrary to popular interpretation, Griffith only acts like he's driven by logic. He's not. He's debased himself to the point that self-mutilation is the only way he can stand his own skin, all for the purpose of staving off the inevitable as long as possible.
And then he reaches a point where he's literally unable to debase himself further.
After losing the ability to walk, to hold anything, to speak, after losing skin and half his face and having his body violated in every imaginable way, including the most obvious ("like we were husband and wife"), there's nothing left for him give of himself, and his dream is still out of reach.
and then a bunch of demons show up when the man is out of his mind from a year of torture and isolation, and tell him he's a spoiled child playing with his friends' corpses and their suffering is for nothing if he doesn't kill everyone else and take the throne:
[Shredding his skin]: "I have neither regret nor remorse about that."
[Sacrificing everyone]: "I can't apologize. No, I won't apologize!"
if it helps you sleep at night, Griffith
They're both acts motivated by guilt from the pain he caused those who placed their faith in him, and the second one wouldn't hit so hard if not for the first. It's SO good and yes, he's a bastard, but he's not the heartless conniving bastard he's painted to be.
Perfect moment, no notes.
[as an aside I just realized when getting these images that directly before the Eclipse begins Griffith is mentally begging Guts not to touch him because he can't make stupid self-destructive choices when Guts is there and then he doesn't make the decision to join the God Hand until he can't hold onto Guts so they aren't touching anymore, amazing work]
