#gaiseric

And I was green, greener than the hill Where flowers grow and the sun shone still Now I'm darker than the deepest sea Just hand me down, give me a place to be

And I was strong, strong in the sun I thought I'd see when day was done Now I'm weaker than the palest blue Oh,

so weak in this need for you

Karl Bryullov (Russian, 1799-1852) Genseric's invasion of Rome, ca.1833-36 State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

After the Great Roar of the Astral World one notable astral creature that appeared was a headless horseman. I think he is a portmanteau of the Green Knight due to his knightly armor and the dullhan a demonic fairy both headless riders.

I think he might be the one to kill Locus. In Arthurian literature the Green Knight is a tester of knights. Locus told Rickert about the divine right of kings and we see a sword in the stone a nod to Excalibur.

Locus is a knight of renown who probably broke the code of chivalry since he became an Apostle. He also carries a lance similar to the headless horseman which to me indicates a future match.

I think the headless horseman's armor was built by Hanarr. He has already built knightly armor. I also think that the headless horseman might be how Skull Knight met Hanarr.

Guts drew a connection between Hanarr and Godot which makes me think he used to live in the mountains near Godot's home.

We know elves lived in the area and what's more Skull Knight knew where it was.

I think Skull Knight was the one who beheaded the headless horseman and in the fight experienced first hand Hanarr's craftsmanship so sought him out. Skull Knight if he is indeed Gaiseric has always carried shield. His first one being an aegis which in Greek mythology was affixed with the head of a gorgon.

So far we haven't seen Skull Knight with a shield when he donned the Berserker Armor but I believe he did. I think his shield was affixed with the head of the headless horseman.

The funny thing is this is actually what happened:

What if Ganishka STILL is deep inside of the Astral world... just like Void is currently being a god hand member?

Spoilers for the manga up to the latest chapter

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

Ok so Berserk has finally, COMPLETELY confirmed that Skull Knight IS King Gaiseric. Basically. Everyone old is calling him King and Your Majesty.

What we know of him, according to the Holy See (which was definitely propaganda that the God Hand seeded) is that he was an evil and reckless king, who imprisoned a “noble sage” until God’s Hand (get it) destroyed the city in a single night.

Here’s the series of events as I believe they happened, that I think the story has all but confirmed finally.

King Gaiseric unites ancient Midland into one kingdom. He sets up his large and stunning capitol. Now this “sage” was either someone from the outside, or, I think, one of Gaiseric’s advisors (I can’t remember but I think one of the retellings mentioned some vizier or advisor). Whether or not they were locked up is irrelevant, though it is possible they first tried to usurp the throne and failed. This hitherto unknown individual performed the very first eclipse sacrifice (as evidenced by the sacrifice branded corpses beneath the Tower of Rebirth) and became Void, the first God Hand. For whatever reason Gaiseric escaped his fate, like Guts and Casca later would, and he has been fighting against the God Hand ever since, later becoming the Skull Knight. And in the interim, the propagandist version of events is cemented in the new Church of the Holy See. 

One interesting bit I’ve seen theorized is; Gedfring’s father’s name was Vido, and he tells the Skull Knight he and his father had audiences with him when he was king, and that since Vido is an anagram of Void they are one and the same.