Template:Manga Episode Infobox Golden Age (2) (黄金時代(2) Ōgon jidai (2)?) is the 10th non-numerical episode of the Berserk manga series, written and illustrated by Kentarou Miura. This episode is also the tenth of sixteen episodes that do not go by conventional episode labeling.
Summary
Guts manages to hold Donovan at bay for a short while, but the older, larger soldier quickly gains the upper hand. Guts' spirit is broken upon learning that Donovan paid Gambino to let him violate Guts, which Donovan proceeds to do.
The morning after the incident with Donovan.
The next morning, Guts leaves his tent to confront Gambino, but the latter's choice of casual topics of conversation and seeming obliviousness to what happened between Guts and Donovan convinces Guts of his innocence. Guts angrily smashes a water barrel when he cannot bring himself to ask Gambino whether or not he really was sold to Donovan.
Some time passes, and Gambino leads the mercenaries into battle in a forest. Guts observes Donovan as he chases down and kills stragglers from the opposing force. After he kills them, Donovan is struck with a crossbow bolt through his back, fired by Guts. Guts fires another bolt into Donovan's open mouth and shoves his sword down Donovan's throat. Guts demands to know who really sold him out, but Donovan dies before he can answer.
Guts kills Gambino out of self-defense.
Guts returns to the fight but is knocked back by the shock wave of an explosion. He notices Gambino laying on the ground, one leg blown off. The battle ends in favor of the mercenaries, and Gambino is cared for by medics in the mercenary group, but there is a doubt that Gambino will ever be able to fight again, and some mercenaries begin to think of new potential leaders for their group. Guts stays by Gambino's side, who dreams and calls out to Shisu.
Two years pass, and Guts has reached a point where he can hold his own in battle against people many times his size and age. After killing an enemy general in battle, Guts meets Gambino, who has since befriended a dog, on a hill to tell him of the reward he earned. Gambino's reaction ordering Guts to fetch meat for the dog. After Guts leaves, Gambino kicks the dog when he senses the disapproval it feels towards his words to Guts.
Guts angrily enters his tent and destroys its support, saddened that Gambino won't acknowledge him. Later in the evening, Gambino enters Guts' tent and, in a drunken rage, tries to kill Guts. He exclaims that he blames Guts for Shisu's death and the loss of his leg, then admits that he was the one whom Donovan paid to rape Guts. Devastated by these revelations and having no choice but to defend himself against his foster father's onslaught, Guts thrusts his sword through Gambino's neck just as the latter is about to kill him.
Characters in Order of Appearance
| Golden Age Arc | |
|---|---|
| Manga Episodes |
|
| Volumes |
|
| 1997 Episodes | |
| Other Media | |