Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 2

Play-to-Earn Farming

Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 2 revealed that Thorfinn and Einar have a path out of slavery. Their master gives them a forested plot of his land and tells them to clear it. Then, they can work the land and he’ll pay them for their work.

If they work hard, they should be able to buy their freedom from their master. And, it sounds like even after they buy their freedom, they can still work the land he gave them. All things considered, this seems like a pretty good deal. They’re still slaves. But they have a lot more than most slaves.

Of course, you can argue that they’re not really getting paid for their work. After all, that money goes back to their master when they buy their freedom from him. And you can argue that they won’t actually be free. They’d still work on land their master owns.

But, let’s look at their situations and their alternatives. Neither of them has anything to go back to. They also both want to live peaceful lives free of war. And, working on this farm gives them exactly that. If they weren’t here, they’d be slaves elsewhere or fighting in wars.

Well, that’s not entirely true for Thorfinn. Leif Erikson is looking for him. So, Thorfinn does have somewhere to return to. But, we don’t know that’s what Thorfinn would want even if he knew about it. At the moment, it doesn’t seem like Thorfinn is interested in much.

If we can take their master at his word, Thorfinn and Einar could be free men soon. And if they save up more money, they could move off their master’s land and seek out work elsewhere. In an age where slavery until death is common, they have an out.

Women Hate Snitches

While Thorfinn and Einar’s master may be a “nice” guy, not everyone who works for him is. I get it, how nice can a guy who owns slaves be? But, considering the time and place, it’s not an uncommon practice. And he seems to just want workers regardless of their freedom status.

He buys slaves as a hiring process and then hopes they’ll stick around after they pay him back. But, I’m not here to be a slaveowner apologist — and that’s not what you should take away from this. The takeaway is that there are far worse people around than the farm owner.

The free men who work directly under him seem to be the worst offenders. They don’t have land of their own and work on the master’s land. But, they don’t actually do much of the work. Instead, they bully the slaves into doing their work for them.

At first, Einar wants to report these men to the master. Even with Thorfinn telling him he should leave it alone, he’s determined. But, that all changes when he sees a beautiful woman with the master. I’m not sure why, but this made him decide against making the report.

I guess he thinks he has a chance with this woman. And I guess he also thinks reporting the slackers would harm that chance. Now, if I was in his situation, I wouldn’t think I had a chance with her. He’s a slave, after all. But, something tells me he’ll end up with her.

Although the next section is going to be all about him, I also want to mention Olmar here. Olmar is the master’s son and he really doesn’t want to take over his father’s farm when he’s older. He’s also a bit of a jerk.

Olmar the Warrior

I’m sure there aren’t many people who like Olmar right now. But, I’m predicting that he’s going to develop into a pretty good character. Right now, he’s the worst of the worst. So, he can only go up from here.

Why is Olmar insufferable at the moment? He has everything anyone could ask for. He has money, land, freedom, a cute girl — the works. And yet, that’s not good enough for him. What Olmar wants is battlefield glory. He wants to prove that he’s a brave and powerful soldier. But, while he talks big, he doesn’t have any skill or experience.

We see this right when he’s introduced. He’s wearing his scabbard on his back and fails to draw his sword from it. This is exactly why scabbards weren’t worn like this — at least not into battle. It’s physically impossible to draw a sword from this position, despite what games tell you.

I did really like the scene of Olmar failing to draw his sword, though. It tells us everything we need to know about him. He’s a 17-year-old who wants to look cool but doesn’t understand the first thing about fighting.

Also, like any rebellious teen, Olmar doesn’t want anyone telling him what to do. This is especially true when it comes to his father. But, he also doesn’t listen when his girlfriend says she wants him to stay at the farm. I would literally do anything that girl told me to.

So, how is Olmar going to develop into a better character? My prediction is that Thorfinn is going to teach him what being a man is actually about. He’ll see Thorfinn fight and want Thorfinn to train him. But, I’m betting Thorfinn will teach him there’s more to life than fighting.

Conclusion

What do you think of Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 2? How long do you think it will take Thorfinn to earn his freedom? Do you think Einar has a chance with the beautiful woman? And, are you expecting Olmar to develop into a good character? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 3 is available now.