Another week, another episode of Vinland Saga! This week sees a timeskip, the return of Canute, and the first signs of conflict for the farm. Lets jump right into it!
Starting off, time skip! That’s right, 3 years have passed. 3 years on the farm, 3 years of cutting down the forest, 3 years for Thorfinn to figure his shit out. Does this skip over a lot of stuff, is it an excuse for Thorfinn to progress off screen? Yes, a little bit. But do I think it will enable a greater story because we can see these changes through Thorfinn’s actions to future events? Also yes. This sort of time skip, where a character truly comes into their own and changes substantially, are only a problem when a series fails to show us how said character has changed. And I don’t think that Vinland Saga will have that problem. Not with how much focus it’s already given to Thorfinn. What I’m saying is, to anime-onlies watching Farmland Saga for the first time, don’t worry. The time skip is good.
What changes do I speak of? Simply that Thorfinn appears so much… happier. He smiles, he laughs, his eyes shine and he’s able to appreciate life. With freedom finally within his grasp, he actually has an answer for what he would like to do: Eradicate slavery. Of course this is pretty idealistic and not really possible, but the evolution of this dream should be interesting to watch. At the very least it seems like Thorfinn has a purpose now, where he didn’t before the time skip. Meanwhile Einar is over here looking to start a new life. Maybe try and buy Arnheid’s freedom, take that deal to become a retainer, continue taking care of the farm. For him, this is probably the closest thing to paradise he’ll ever see. Why leave it, you know?
Well the answer there comes from another character: Canute. While Thorfinn and Einar had their moments, this episode was really Canute’s first and foremost. We get to see how this war in England has affected him, and what kind of man he has become. How this young man who hated violence has become the sort of person who would poison the only member of his family who was truly kind to him. That, for all his efforts, he has become more like his father than he would ever dare to admit. It’s tragic in a lot of ways. Canute thinks he’s sacrificing the few, sacrificing his own happiness and family, for the sake of future peace and prosperity. Yet as Sweyn says, he’s also falling further and further under the curse of the crown. Fearing poison that he himself uses, separating himself from others, hurting his family. It’s sad.
But how does this effect Thorfinn and Einar? Well the answer to that is simple. Kettil sends tribute to Harald each year for his protection and fealty. Canute has taken over as King of Denmark in Harald’s stead, so he is now the one Kettil must swear to. Canute is a war monger who might, just maybe, have designs for either Kettil’s farm or his slaves. And if something happens to Kettil while in Jelling, who is left to take over the farm? Why his warlike son, Thorgil of course. Suffice to say, Thorfinn and Canute are starting to close in on each other. And while we don’t know what kind of conflict that will cause, well I do but you might not, what we can be certain of is that there will be conflict. They have 2 competing ideas of peace, that can’t coexist with each other.
So yeah, all in all this was another good episode of Vinland Saga for me. I know some people aren’t a huge fan of Canute, and others wish the series had a bit more action. But personally, the action was never what set Vinland Saga apart for me. It was the way it handled it’s characters, their stories, their problems, and how no one was really free from consequence or tragedy. The action was just a vehicle for all of that. But now, or at least for a little bit, violence is their problem. And they are actively trying to avoid it. They struggle with it every day, both the desire to do it now and the consequences of doing it previously. For me, that’s pretty damn compelling.
