Vinland Saga S2 – 23 [Two Paths]

Welcome all, to the penultimate episode of Vinland Saga Season 2! Vinland Saga continues riding high this week with another heart wrenching episode. I’m going to do my best to avoid repeating myself this week, there are only so many times you can call something the “Best Anime of the Season” before it starts to get old. But it’s true. It is. Now lets jump into it.

The core of this weeks episode was the climax of Vinland Saga’s thematic arc as well as Thorfinn and Canute’s meeting. Personally? I absolutely loved everything about this. Yeah, it ends without conflict and they sort of just walk away from each other. On a purely physical level, you might see it as anticlimactic or unsatisfactory. But thematically? Narratively? This is the conclusion for both of them. As Canute puts it, Thorfinn came to him with nothing but a request. No manipulation, no ulterior motive, no plot or plan to trick him into something. Just a genuine, heartfelt, honest request. This is probably one of the few truly honest interactions Canute has had since becoming King. He can simply…open up to without fear of being taken advantage of or judged. And it’s because of that, this proof that the Vikings can produce someone like Thorfinn, that he chooses another road.

Simply put, Thorfinn showed Canute that people can change. That even the most brutal of warriors, raised in a culture like the Vikings, can become honest and peaceful men. That violence does not necessarily have to lead to more violence, that if he approaches them honestly then blood might not be shed. Canute takes that advice to heart and gives it an honest shot, for Thorfinn. He withdraws his armies from England, disbands most of them and cancels his invasions of other farms. He stars acting more like a King and less like a Conquerer. And the result? England… doesn’t rebel like he feared. They see the trust he is placing in them, his offering of peace, and they accept it. They welcome him as their true King rather then a foreign conqueror and for the first time in years, people like Einar can live in peace.

Meanwhile for Thorfinn, he gets proof that his actions, however small, can affect change. Even if he doesn’t hear about Canutes disbanding of the army, his interaction with the soldiers prove that much. These are men that just hours ago were gleefully butchering these farmers. Yet here one is asking him to stand down. Saying that he doesn’t want to hurt him. It’s a small change, yes. But it’s a meaningful one. It shows that his conviction came through, that Thorfinn was able to touch these men in some way. Vinland Saga is showing how change has to begin somewhere and that a single man swearing off violence can, through is actions, begin to affect change in others. Yes it’s a small step. But it’s still progress.

And Vinland Saga has made it clear that Thorfinn’s journey is one of small, incremental improvement. Of slowly figuring things out. But where before he had no idea what to do, here he finally commits to this idea of Vinland. To running away and doing everything in his power to avoid violence. I imagine to many this isn’t satisfying. Why should our lead character keep running away? How is that cool? But that’s the point. It isn’t “cool”, it isn’t “manly”. It’s what is necessary. This is Thorfinn sacrificing everything, his pride, his home, the land he built up, to go and rebuild it again somewhere else. All to avoid violence. It’s a matter of conviction. And it’s one I think is pretty damn cool.

For those that still aren’t appeased though I think I have a scene that might turn you around on it. Up until now, Thorfinn and Einar’s desire to build Vinland has been purely a personal one. A way to get away from the war and violence that surrounds them in Europe. But this episode sees the “why” for that goal evolve to a much grander one. No longer do they want to simply escape trials and suffering. Now they want to build a land where people actually want to live, truly live. A land where living on is preferable to a peaceful death. Where Thorfinn can honestly tell people that things will get better, that live is worth living. A land for Arnheid, someone who never got to escape the brutality and suffering of medieval Europe.

To me, this is beautiful. Staggeringly so. All the stuff with Canute, the bet, Thorfinn proclaiming his goals, all of that was epic in a “Fuck yeah” sort of way. It was watching Thorfinn fully realize his best self, and it was awesome. But this? This was somber and touching. We’ve watched Anrheid’s journey throughout the season, we’ve seen her suffering first hand. And at the end? It was hard to argue with her when she wished for death. We were in the same boat as Thorfinn. This land did suck. So by tying their quest for Vinland into Arnheid’s story, into this idea of a land where death is not preferable to life, it gives it a much clearer end goal. Something we can actually measure, in a direct and profound way that will make us remember Arnheid every time it comes up. It’s just… fucking awesome.

So yeah, once again Vinland Saga proves it’s the best thing airing right now. Not only is the content phenomenal, the way it communicates its contents is so clear and powerful that I generally feel like these posts are unnecessary. They always devolve into me gushing about how beautifully written and directed Vinland Saga is. I almost feel bad, because I’m going to end up writing a review that’s basically “I love this show, it’s absolutely incredible, I don’t understand how MAPPA of all studios made it happen”. Of course I’ll use a few more words then that, but that’s basically going to be the gist of it. Knowing that… I should probably get started on it.