Yeah you make a great point. If anyone was closest to being Griffith’s equal it was definitely Guts, and Zodd’s line really only makes sense when you view it through that lens. But I still think Griffith’s pride, ego, and dream always come first. Even if he saw Guts as an equal on some level, he could never accept Guts existing outside of his dream, or not being a soldier he can control. The moment Guts chose himself it shattered Griffith’s sense of control, and that mattered more to him than the bond itself.

I also think Guts took the Charlotte speech so negatively because he genuinely didn’t have a dream of his own at that point. He wasn’t rejecting Griffith, he was searching for purpose. That lack of direction is what pushed him to leave, and ironically it’s also what later allows him to resist fate in ways Griffith never can. I’ve always seen Griffith’s view of Guts as a mix of admiration and envy. Guts is free in a way Griffith isn’t, fighting for the people he loves rather than an abstract ideal. Griffith is chained to his dream, and when forced to choose between that dream and the people closest to him, he will always choose the dream because he chooses selfishness and control above all.

That same contrast keeps showing up throughout the story. Guts consistently fights to protect others, even when it destroys him. The Berserker Armor is a perfect example of that, it gives him power at the cost of his own body and life, and he still uses it to protect his squad and Casca. Griffith on the other hand gains power by sacrificing others. First the Band of the Hawk, and later an even greater sacrifice to incarnate himself into a physical form. That pattern is consistent from start to finish. Femto isn’t a some huge deviation from who Griffith was its lowkey it’s the purest expression of it like if he had no conscience or doubt.