From Helheim with Love

Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 20 was exactly what I expected it to be — another phenomenal episode. Just like Episode 19, Episode 20 had a bit of everything that makes Vinland Saga such a good series. And this week, I want to start off by discussing the action.

Action hasn’t been that big of a part of Season 2, so far. At least, not when compared to all the action in Season 1. But, that’s kind of the point. Season 1 was all about building up Thorfinn’s war experience, which he now regrets.

Season 2 is more about how Thorfinn comes to terms with the horrors he committed in the past. And, it’s also about Thorfinn learning just how weak of a person he actually is. He may have been fearsome on the battlefield. But, he can’t change the world and save people on his own.

Anyway, all that’s to say we’re back to some action. And the action starts off with Thorgil attacking Canute and his guards. Surprisingly, Thorgil almost assassinated Canute right here. He cut down both of the guards and broke Canute’s sword. But, in the end, he had to flee without finishing the job.

Now, Thorgil’s actions in this episode appear to line up with what we see of him in the OP. The main difference is that he’s actually wearing armor in battle in the OP. But, the actions of Snake and his men are very different in the OP and the series.

In the OP, we see Snake and his men moving as a unit as Snake cuts down enemies at the front. In the series, we don’t see that. Snake still cuts down some enemies. But, it’s so he can protect his men who are losing.

The Dead and the Wounded

Speaking of Snake’s men, Badger is among the wounded at the end of the battle. He lost a hand. But, that’s actually not that bad when you consider he was up against a member of the King’s Guard.

It’s also two of the King’s Guard Snake kills to save Badger. I would have liked to see Snake go up against a member of the Jomsvikings. But, I’ll take what I can get. And, these are the only two “guests” we see engaged in actual combat.

The other one of Snake’s men we have a name for is Fox. He doesn’t engage in the fighting because he’s too afraid. And that’s not because he’s weak. He’s killed 13 men and considers himself proficiently strong. The thing is, he knows he stands no chance against these opponents. I don’t blame him for that.

After saving Badger, Snake calls for his men to retreat — and Ketil’s rag-tag soldiers follow suit. At this point, Ketil is injured by one of the King’s Guard and left to die on the battlefield by the enemy. But, Snake comes to his aid after the King’s Guard are called back to defend Canute from Thorgil.

Not all the dead and wounded are on the battlefield, though. Away from the fighting, Arnheid finally succumbs to the wounds Ketil inflicted on her. This is something I expected to happen (as of Episode 19). Before last week, I thought Arnheid and Einar would end up together.

However, as I explained in a comment on last week’s episode review, Arnheid’s death makes sense. Her death is yet another blow to Thorfinn. How can he save hundreds, thousands, or millions from war if he can’t even save a single woman?

A Land Free From War

The part of the episode I would say was the best is the very end. Thorfinn deciding to speak to Canute and attempt to put an end to the battle was the best part. This is Thorfinn’s character growth in action.

Right now, Thorfinn has a chance to prevent more bloodshed. If he didn’t take this chance, he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself. How could he say his goal is to eradicate war if he didn’t even try to stop this battle? This is a battle that’s realistic for him to stop.

Is Thorfinn actually going to succeed here? It’s tough to say. Canute lost some men and he also really wants Ketil’s land. So, it’s unlikely that he’d leave without getting something from this expedition. And Ketil isn’t going to hand over either himself or his land.

However, I do see one possible way for the battle to conclude in a way that appeases both sides. And Thorgil is the key. You see, Canute said something interesting after Thorgil’s assassination attempt. Despite this betrayal, Canute wants Thorgil to serve under him once again. He sees the value in a man like Thorgil.

So, it’s possible that Canute would agree to leave Ketil’s farm alone in exchange for Thorgil. And while Ketil may not want to take that deal, I think Thorgil would. Once he has assurances that Ketil’s farm will be left alone, Thorgil has no reason not to rejoin the King’s Guard.

I also feel like Thorgil would want to rejoin Canute’s forces. He mentioned that Canute has gotten stronger and is a commander worthy of cutting down. I’d imagine this also makes Canute a commander worthy of being followed. Thorgil respects strength. That’s something Canute has.

Conclusion

What do you think of Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 20? Were you expecting more from Snake and his men in the battle? Did you think Arnheid was going to survive? And will Thorfinn be able to talk Canute into retreating from the farm? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 21 is available now.

The Battle of Ketil’s Farm

Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 19 is what the kids in my Discord server call “peak.” Now, I don’t think it’s actually the best episode of the series. However, it does showcase a lot of what makes the series so good.

There’s action, drama, character development — everything. And to start this review, we’re going to look at the character development. Specifically, we’re going to look at the development of Snake and his men. Since the battle of Ketil’s farm is about to begin, it’s time for these soldiers to prove their worth.

So, one of the first things we learn is that Snake is the only “real” soldier among his men. The others have combat experience, for sure. But, when Fox and Snake are scouting out the King’s forces, Fox doesn’t realize how much trouble they’re in.

Yes, Fox knows that Thorgil is strong, so the Royal Guard are going to be strong, as well. And he knows they stand no chance against the Jomsvikings. But, he didn’t even recognize that’s who the soldiers in white cloaks were. He just doesn’t have the same level of experience as Snake does.

And yet, after learning that there’s no way they’ll win the battle, Snake’s men stand with him. They’re afraid, yes. But, Snake gave them the chance to flee and they chose not to. At the end of the day, they have their honor. And, if you pay attention, you can actually see this group on the battlefield in the OP.

Now, where Snake’s development comes in is when he reveals his relation to Ketil. Iron Fist Ketil actually trained Snake. He’s a real person. But, he’s not the same Ketil that owns the farm. And yet, Snake is going to fight by Ketil’s side.

350 vs. 100

Ketil Managed to muster 350 men. But, with the exception of Snake’s small group, they’re mostly farmers. Thorgil is the only other one with real combat experience. And Thorgil is likely the strongest man on Ketil’s side. I have a feeling he could defeat Snake.

On Canute’s side, there are only 100 men. But, the catch is that these men are Royal Guards and Jomsvikings. That means they’re the strongest warriors in northern Europe. So, even with a numbers advantage, Ketil’s forces stand no chance. And Thorgil is counting on that.

Even though Ketil’s men are going to get slaughtered, Thorgil still plans on winning. As he explains to Olmar, his strategy is to use the other men as a distraction. While Canute’s men are focused on them, Thorgil and Olmar are going to launch a sneak attack.

I never expected Thorgil to be the kind of man to use sneak attacks. He seems like someone who would want to be on the frontlines of any battlefield. But, he’s actually a far better strategist than I (and Snake) thought. Maybe I should have expected that from a former Royal Guard, though.

Anyway, Thorgil and Olmar were going to get in the ocean and swim around behind Canute. Then, they can launch their surprise attack and take out the King, thus ending the battle. But, there are two problems with Thorgil’s plan. And the first of those problems is Olmar’s inability to swim with a sword on his back.

The second problem is that I don’t think killing Canute would end the battle. It might cause the Royal Guard to break rank. But, the Jomsvikings wouldn’t stop. And then instead of being banished for 10 years, Ketil’s family would get executed. Not the smartest strategy.

Crossing the Boundary

I know a lot of people are going to think the best part of Episode 19 was the action. But, I’m here to tell you that’s not the case. The best part of Episode 19 was the scene of Arnheid, Gardar, and her children in the wagon.

In this scene, we see Arnheid crossing over into the afterlife. Gardar and Hjalti are there because they’ve already crossed over before her. This was meant to show that she’s joining them now. But, what about the other child? Gardar and Arnheid only had one child that we know of.

That other child is Arnheid’s unborn baby. Obviously, if Arnheid dies, so too will that child. She’s not far enough along for the baby to be born alive even if she dies. And, that’s confirmed by something Gardar says a bit later.

But, before we discuss dead babies further, the part of this scene that really made it great was when we saw the deer. Arnheid starts talking about how even in this forest of death, life is clinging on. And we got a very scenic shot of the dear accompanied by some amazing music.

Alright, so back to the dead baby. After Arnheid’s little speech, Gardar tells her she needs to go back and thank those who helped her. But, importantly, he says that he and the children will be waiting for her on the other side. The implication here is that Arnheid lost her unborn baby due to the beating.

This ruins my theory that Einar was going to raise the baby with her. But, at least Arnheid is alive. So, Einar could still end up marrying her. Well, that is if Arnheid actually survives. Based on the next episode preview, I’m not expecting her to last.

Conclusion

What do you think of Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 19? Were you surprised that Snake knew the truth about Ketil? Do you think Olmar is going to flee the farm with Thorfinn’s group? And, are you expecting Arnheid to survive? Let me know in the comments.

If you liked this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 20 is available now.

The First Method

Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 18 was pretty slow for the first half. But, the second half of the episode was very good. Still, there’s some important stuff for us to go over from the first half. Primarily, there’s Thorfinn’s speech about “the first method.”

Basically, Thorfinn’s point here is that violence should be the last resort. And not only that, but the first thing you should do when there’s a conflict is attempt to appease everyone. If you can come up with a solution that both parties are happy with, that’s ideal.

Of course, he knows that it’s unrealistic to expect to achieve that in every situation. But, that’s where you should begin. After all, if you can achieve this perfect solution in even a handful of cases, that makes it worthwhile. And the reason Thorfinn is thinking about this is due to how the situation with Gardar ended.

Thorfinn wanted to save Gardar from Snake. And that’s the mindset he had when he confronted Snake. But, he now sees that was a potential mistake. During the confrontation, he never considered Snake’s side. Snake felt that he needed to avenge his men.

If Thorfinn had considered that from the start, things may have worked out for everyone. As he says to Einar, he likes Snake and believes Snake is a just man. That implies Thorfinn believes he may have been able to reason with Snake if he tried harder.

The thing is, I don’t see how Thorfinn could have pulled that off in this situation. Unless Gardar escaped, he was going to die. If not by Snake’s hand, then by the hand of a member of the family he killed and fled from. And Snake wasn’t going to let Gardar escape without punishment.

In the Market for Some Slaves

Season 2 Episode 18 is the episode in which we get the emotional reunification of Thorfinn and Leif. Or, at least, that’s what I expected it would be. It’s true that Thorfinn and Leif are finally together again. But, their meeting happened off-screen.

I’m really not sure why this was done. Shouldn’t this have been a bigger deal? Leif has been looking for Thorfinn for years — over a decade. And, yet, we didn’t get to see their first interaction after all that time.

In fact, we didn’t get to see Thorfinn and Leif interact at all in this episode. The only time we saw the two of them together was when they went to visit Arnheid. They were standing together in the background as Einar cried at Arnheid’s bedside. That’s it.

Did Thorfinn and Leif discuss going to Vinland together to start a new life? Or, was everyone too preoccupied with what happened to Arnheid? And was their meeting emotional? I’d imagine so. But, maybe after all this time, they greeted each other like 10 years haven’t passed. Either way, I wanted to see it.

Something we did see, and that I didn’t expect, was Leif offering to buy Einar and Arnheid. Ketil already promised Leif could take Thorfinn for free. But, Leif also wanted to take Einar and Arnheid because they’re Thorfinn’s friends. He likely would have asked for Einar anyway. However, I don’t know about Arnheid if Pater hadn’t stepped in.

As we know, Ketil refused to sell Arnheid to Leif. Though, he did say Leif could take Einar, presumably for free. And that makes sense. Einar was going to be a free man anyway. Remember, Ketil promised to free Einar when he returned from his trip.

Preparing for Battle

Since Einar was going to be free, does it really matter that Leif didn’t want to leave him behind? Yes. Leif knows it’s only a matter of time before Canute’s forces make it to Ketil’s farm. So, if he doesn’t get Thorfinn, Einar, and Arnheid out now, they may die.

It’s for that reason that I believe they’re going to smuggle Arnheid out. And, I’m predicting Snake is going to help them do it. This is the perfect opportunity for Thorfinn to put his “first method” to the test.

It shouldn’t be all that difficult for him to convince Snake to let them take Arnheid and flee. Snake already got his revenge by killing Gardar. He also knows the horrors of war. And, as we’ve already established, he’s interested in Christianity. Thorfinn can use all three of these things to convince him.

At the end of the episode, after beating Arnheid, Ketil loses it completely. He’s now determined to make a stand against Canute’s forces — which include the Jomsvikings. Sure, he has Thorgil and Snake on his side. But, I can’t see this ending well for Ketil.

I hope Olmar makes it out alive. But, I have a feeling he’s not going to. Olmar dying in the coming battle would make the conclusion of Ketil’s arc more impactful. His decision not to submit to the King will have led to the deaths of his entire family.

Also, I wonder if Thorfinn and the gang will get out before Canute arrives. If not, could we see Thorfinn attempt (and fail) to stop the battle? Remember, Thorfinn and Canute actually know each other. But, even if Canute is willing to listen to Thorfinn, Ketil seems to have already made up his mind.

Conclusion

What do you think of Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 18? How long do you think it will be until Thorfinn’s “first method” succeeds? Will it be next week? Do you think Leif will successfully smuggle Arnhied out? And, will Olmar survive the battle of Ketil’s farm? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 19 is available now.

Warrior of Miklagard

We finally learned where Snake is from in Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 17. While fighting Thorfinn, he referred to himself as a warrior of Miklagard. Miklagard is the Viking’s name for Constantinople and it means “The Great City.” So, Snake is from Constantinople.

But, there are still some pieces of his background that are unclear. For example, was he born in Constantinople? Or, did he travel there and become a warrior of Miklagard? Snake doesn’t particularly look like he’s from the north. So, it’s possible he’s actually from the city.

However, there’s also evidence pointing toward that not being the case. For example, he refers to the city as Miklagard. If he was from the city, would he call it that? That’s an outsider’s name for it, which implies he’s not originally from there. But, there’s actually a third option, which might be the truth of Snake’s past.

Based on his appearance and his use of the name Miklagard, I’m going to predict Snake is of mixed descent. By this, I mean his father was a Viking who fought for Miklagard and his mother was a native of the city.

His mother being from Constantinople could explain Snake’s dark hair and tanner skin. But, since he refers to the city as Miklagard, he was likely raised by a Viking. And being half northerner, he would have joined a Viking legion of the city when he came of age.

Now, we’re not done with Snake. There’s still a lot about him we need to learn. What crimes did he commit that he’s running from? Was he introduced to Christianity in Constantinople, possibly by his mother? And, how did he come to be a warrior of Miklagard? Was he born into it, or did he travel there?

Arnheid Chooses Death

After Thorfinn and Arnheid get Gardar to let go of Snake, Arnheid makes a choice. She’s going to leave the farm with Gardar, despite his fatal wounds. Thorfinn protests against this, but in the end, she chooses to go through with it.

Why did she make this choice, though? Everyone could see that Gardar wasn’t going to survive the trip home. And, despite what Arnheid told Gardar, they were never going to live as a family with Hjalti again. We still don’t have confirmation of what happened to Hjalti. But, it’s been heavily implied multiple times that he’s dead.

There appear to be two reasons why Arnheid made the choice she did. The first is that she wanted Gardar to be able to die in peace. He thought he was going to pick up his son from his older brother’s care. This is how Arnheid wanted him to believe in his final moments.

The other reason Arnheid chose this outcome is a bit less clear. But, from my understanding of the situation, she’s on a suicide mission. She knows that for freeing Gardar and helping him escape, she’ll likely be put to death.

We know she didn’t particularly want to die before this episode. She has a new baby on the way and she wants to raise it. But, I think this is also her way of getting to be with Hjalti and Gardar again. If she dies, she can at least be with them in the afterlife.

I don’t see Arnheid dying, though. Ketil won’t have her put to death because he loves her. And considering she has his child, I can’t see any of Ketil’s underlings pushing for her death. She’ll probably receive some sort of physical punishment — like lashes.

The Road Home

Now that we have the conclusion of Gardar’s arc, we can clearly see what his story was all about. From what we saw earlier in the season, we knew it was about him losing his family by going off to war. But, there’s more to it than that.

Yes, that was a huge part of Gardar’s arc. However, the conclusion of his arc also sets him apart from other characters. Despite being a warrior, we don’t see him ending up in a version of Hell as Askeladd did. Gardar appears to have found peace.

One of the morals of Vinland Saga is that everyone who chooses to partake in war will receive punishment. For some, the punishment is eternal. But, that’s not the case for everyone. Gardar’s punishment was everything that happened to him since leaving for war.

Think of everything Gardar lost. His son died as a result of Gardar not being there to protect him. His wife was also taken as a slave. And even Gardar himself became a slave to a cruel and abusive master. Then, he died shortly after believing he had regained his freedom.

He suffered every day since he left for war — even if he didn’t realize it that whole time. But, he became a changed man once he realized his mistake. He says he’ll never leave Hjalti and Arnheid again. And he even says that he won’t let his son leave the way he did.

It’s clear from the things Gardar says in his final moments that he’s learned from his past actions. He doesn’t just regret going to war because of the things he lost. He realizes that going off to war doesn’t benefit anyone and only causes pain. That’s why he gets a good afterlife.

Conclusion

What do you think of Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 17? Before Snake revealed he’s from Miklagard, where did you think he was from? Do you think Arnheid is going to die for her crimes? And were you expecting Gardar to end up in the same Hell as Askeladd? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 18 is available now.

Arnheid and Gardar’s Second Chance

Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 16 was a great episode. It had a bit of everything. There was drama, development, and action all in one. Now, that doesn’t mean I think it was the best episode of the series. But, you can’t ask for much more.

So, at the start of the episode, we focus on Arnheid. Apparently, she did cut the ropes binding Gardar in Episode 15. I didn’t think that was the case. I assumed Arnheid froze in fear and didn’t help him. But, it turns out that she did help him.

This is important for 2 reasons. First, it means that she still cares about him and isn’t necessarily afraid of him. And she tells Einar and Thorfinn as much later on. While she admits that he’s not the same person who left for war, she says she wishes they could have a new life together.

The second reason this is important is that it means Arnheid is partly to blame for a few deaths. After releasing Gardar, he proceeded to kill multiple of Snake’s men. And it seemed pretty clear that Arnheid blames herself for that. She doesn’t want anyone to die.

But, as she explained, the reason she released Gardar was that she feared for their lives. She feared Snake’s men would kill both of them. So, with that in mind, I wouldn’t say Arnheid is at fault here. Gardar is the one who chose to kill those men, not her.

Now, will we see Arnheid’s dream come true? Will she be able to raise her baby with Gardar? Even considering the next episode preview, I’m betting the answer is no. I still think Gardar is going to die. And when he does, Einar is going to raise that child.

Snake Is Running from War

As I’ve been saying for a few weeks now, Snake is in the process of converting to Christianity. With Episode 16, we now know why that is. He’s in a similar situation to Thorfinn. Both men are coming to terms with their violent pasts.

But, there are still some major differences between the two of them. For starters, Snake hasn’t completely given up violence as Thorfinn has. He still works as a bodyguard and carries a sword. However, we’ve now seen that Snake’s future could be much closer to Thorfinn’s.

Sverkel is very observant. He’s been around the block a few times. He’s seen things. And he knows when a man is running from his past. That’s exactly what he believes Snake is doing — and he calls Snake out on this. Sverkel points out Snake’s sword isn’t from the area.

So, why does where Snake’s sword come from matter? The implication here is that Snake was originally a soldier from a different country. And if that’s the case, why is he now working as a bodyguard on a peaceful farm? Because he wanted to get away from war.

Picking up on this, Sverkel offers Snake a deal. In exchange for Snake laying down his sword, Sverkel will give Snake his farm. He can’t work the farm anymore and he’s going to die soon anyway. So, he’s choosing to give Snake the farm, and with it an opportunity for a peaceful life.

Of course, Snake doesn’t take Sverkel up on this offer. But, we saw that he actually thought about it for a moment. He was taken aback when Sverkel told him to lay down his sword. And although he reacted negatively, it’s clear he considered Sverkel’s proposition.

Thorfinn’s Great Purpose

At the end of the episode, Thorfinn seems to have found his titular “Great Purpose.” Yes, Thorfinn already vowed to be a pacifist from now on. But, he’s now realizing that there are times when you need to fight. And one of those times is when you’re protecting someone else.

However, just to be clear, that doesn’t mean Thorfinn is ever going to kill someone again. Fighting doesn’t equate to killing. Sure, he’s going to fight Snake in the next episode. But, he has no intention of killing Snake. All he wants to do is stop Snake from killing Gardar.

How is this going to affect Snake, though? Will Thorfinn be able to stop him? Will he be able to save Snake from the burden of taking another life? I don’t have the answers. And I’m curious to find out how this is all going to go down.

One of the things I’ve said I like about Vinland Saga is how each character has a unique story. They’ve all been affected by war in different ways. But, do the similarities between Thorfinn’s and Snake’s situations go against that? Hasn’t war affected them in the same way?

Not quite. They’re already different because of their current situations. Snake appears to have fled from war while Thorfinn became indifferent — which is why he’s now a slave. Additionally, we need to think about where their character arcs are going to go from here.

We know Thorfinn wants to devote his life to saving people and promoting peace. Snake is going to take a different path. He might take over Sverkel’s farm or he might kill Gardar and lose himself in despair. I could see either happening. But, even if he becomes a farmer, Canute is coming.

Conclusion

What do you think of Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 16? Did you expect that Arnheid freed Gardar? Where do you think Snake is originally from? And, how do you see his character arc ending? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 17 is available now.