Before his passing, Berserk creator Kentaro Miura was hinting that Guts might one day be free of his hatred for Griffith in chapter 345.

Warning: contains spoilers for Berserk Chapter 360

Since the very first issue of Berserk, the late creator and manga legend Kentaro Miura made it abundantly clear that his main character, Guts, would forever be damned by his burning desire to seek revenge against his former friend Griffith. It certainly felt that way for more than 300 chapters, but before his untimely passing, Miura began hinting that Guts could one day be free of his hatred.

The intensity of Guts' vengeance comes from how much he respected and loved Griffith during the Golden Age arc. This intense sense of unfettered loyalty had ironically grown from contempt to begin with. As a lone mercenary, Guts learned to distrust all others and to rely only on his sword. So when a leader of a small troupe of mercenaries named Griffith began speaking to Guts as though they were friends while expressing a desire for Guts to join his Band of the Hawk, Guts became enraged. Despite this though, Guts inevitably fell victim to the same charisma which made Griffith such a powerful leader.

Like most men, Guts had been awed by Griffith's dream and belief that he would one day have his own kingdom, speaking as though it were his right, even though Griffith wasn't of noble birth. But trouble soon struck when Griffith began to depend too much on Guts while Guts' deep respect for Griffith compelled him to find his own dream or "spark." So when Guts left, Griffith fell into a downward spiral, for the first time risking his dream that had attracted hundreds of men to his side. The only chance Griffith felt he had was to accept an incredible offer from a group of demon sovereigns called the God Hand to sacrifice Guts and everyone in the Band of the Hawk in return for power. The resulting chaos led to most of Guts' friends and colleagues being devoured and the love of his life, Casca, getting brutally assaulted, a horrific fate that left her comatose.

The Band of the Hawk was Guts' first family, and they were all slaughtered by the one man whom he admired most. This left such a mark on Guts that he devoted the rest of his life to seeking vengeance against Griffith. Despite all this buildup though, a recent chapter revealed that Guts thinks he is almost free of his obsession with Griffith, having found greater purpose in protecting his new group of friends and family.

More incredibly, the mysterious yet highly intimidating Skull Knight, a godly being that had been aiding Guts in his ongoing quest at various intervals, tells Guts that he is reaching the end of his journey in chapter 360. This is telling, as Casca had just regained her sanity while Griffith's power and influence had just grown exponentially to such an extent that it is implied that defeating him would take quite some time, meaning Guts could not possibly be close to ending his journey. At least, he couldn't be if his journey is the same as it always has been.

Although Guts admits that he is not totally free of Griffith just yet, the fact that he actually has the capability of hoping or even entertaining the possibility is extraordinary. It just proves that revenge, no matter how fiery can always be extinguished by love. It's a journey, as Skull Knight says, not of bloodshed, but of hope and redemption. Even though Kentaro Miura never had the chance to finish Berserk before his untimely passing, at least, he had the chance to begin freeing Guts from the shackles that bore him down, so he could finally find the spark he had been trying to find for all his life.

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