Looking back, those 100 or so chapters were truly something. Guts joins a group he doesn't care for, and only does it because he lost a fight to a man greater than him, eventually learns to accept the people around his as family even if Caska dislikes him. Eventually through a lot of struggles and battles, Caska grows to love Guts, as opposed to who she really loved just because to Griffith, she was a special solider and nothing more, while she loved him the death until she grew to love guts. Griffith would rather go for royalty.
Eventually Guts quits the hawks after defeating Griffith in a duel, and doesn't come back in two years. In those two years Caska has been leading a the hawks and they were very weak. Griffith has been tortured for a year up to a point where he can longer move and speak. Guts and Caska make love and both love each other. Bring themselves to save Griffith, and then bam.
Griffith fucking betrays them for his own personal dream, and in doing kills all but three of them, brands them with a mark so they can never be safe again, blinds and amputates Guts, rapes Caska because...well honestly I'm not sure myself. I imagine it's because he was jealous of the love they had when he preferred Caska loving him.
It's actually really brutal. Guts is in this situation because of Griffith. That fucker made him love the Band of the Hawks, and made him fight for them. He betrays them all just for power and his dream and leaves Guts and Caska at irreversible points in their life.
It still makes me wonder, who was truly in the wrong here.
Because honestly, that point is where everything went wrong, and I still wonder who was truly the bad guy here.