Tag: Vinland Saga S2

Welcome all, to another week of Vinland Saga! This week marks the beginning of the war, as Canute lands on the farm and battle is joined. Who will come out on top? Who will survive? Let’s jump in and find out!

So, the war. Thing aren’t looking good for Ketil. They are horribly outmatched, in both skill and equipment, and everyone worth their salt knows it. Snake, Thorgil, Thorfinn, Canute. Everyone who has actually seen battle knows that these farmers don’t stand a chance. Everyone that is, except for the farmers themselves. All idiots driven into a frenzy. Having their heritage and pride played off of, being convinced that their superior numbers will be able to overcome Canute’s battle-hardened elite. It’s sad really. These people are being led to their deaths for the glory of another. They have nothing to gain in all of this, they could probably sit back, let Canute take over and continue living their lives under new management. But as is often the case, the greed and ambition of greater men drive them to their slaughter.

Continue reading “Vinland Saga S2 – 19 [War at Ketil’s Farm]” →

Welcome all, to a (late) episode of Vinland Saga! This one was actually rather hard to write, for a variety of reasons. The episode was great but the contents… Well if you’ve seen it you know, and if you don’t then buck up because it’s about to get brutal. Without further ado, lets dive into the episode.

Like I said, this was a particularly brutal episode of Vinland Saga. Not because of some great big battle, or because a lot of people died. Rather it’s because of just how little Vinland Saga held back on something we’ve seen multiple times before in watered down ways: The beating of a slave. It’s happened a lot up until now, particularly with Gardar. And we’ve been largely disconnected from it, with it happening in the past, or just seeing the after-effects of it. But this episode… We not only watch it happen, it happens to a character we have become close to and come to care for, and in a particularly brutal way. There’s no remorse here, no trussing it up to look nice. It’s just a man beating a woman with a stick because of his own insecurities. And it hurts. And it should hurt. Because it’s not ok.

Continue reading “Vinland Saga S2 – 18 [The First Method]” →

Welcome everyone, to another episode of Vinland Saga! This episode is all about Arnheid, Gardar, and how they ended up here. Not much Thorfinn or Einar, but it’s still important for them to. So lets dive right into it!

The main thrust of this episode is Arnheid’s backstory and how Vinland Saga uses it to condemn violence. Not just “aggressive” violence, ala raiders and vikings, Vinland Saga has already made it very clear how it feels about those. Rather it’s condemning “defensive” violence, this idea of “proactive defense”, of going out and fighting unnecessary fighting fights. Of course this sounds a bit odd to us. Should we not defend ourselves against others? We also see in Sverkel’s story that simply waiting out the storm, the violence, isn’t necessarily the best option either. So what’s the proper response? What are you supposed to do when someone comes at you with the intent to kill, to steal? This is a question Vinland Saga is going to have to tackle, and one it probably will soon when Canute’s army shows up.

Continue reading “Vinland Saga S2 – 14 [Freedom]” →