i was hearin so much hate for this season so i was goin in with kinda low expectations. But after finishing it I was FLABBERGASTED this season was so good. Watchin Thorfinn's development was intense and CANUTE WAS CRAZY
The people who complained about season 2 are mostly simple-minded chuds that wanted nonstop action. And usually, these chuds are a small loud minority.
@@lucashall8761alright dummy first pf all people arent mad that he isnt killing every 2 seconds but if he will never kill no matter what l, then thats trash. First of all thors not killing askellad caused his son to go on a hunt for revenge killing many people along the way. Season 2 I thought was great but if he is going to stay on that extreme pacifist path then screw the show. Most (not all) understood exactly what the message was.
You didnt particularly mention it but Olmar's progression as a character had to be one of my favorite things about this season, Watching him go from an arrogant snobby rich kid with no sense of what consequences and death means, to a humble and strong minded man who looks up to Thorfinn as a role model and someone to aspire to be. Olmar definitely was a top 3 character this season imo
The only thing I didn’t like how he kept crying SPOILERS after the battle on the farm. I feel like it would’ve shown his maturity more if he was able to say he was scared with showing any more tears and that he was willing to surrender while making eye contact with his brother
The level of beauty in the parallelism when Thorfinn truly became like his father is unmatched. He cradles a dying slave and gives them peace by explaining the beauty of Vinland, just like his Dad in episode 1, sheer poetry.
@@Weyland_Punani Bro you're so cringe, if Vinland Saga isn't that good for you, then tell us why, give us some arguments to prove your opinion instead of just acting like a child.
@@Weyland_Punani If you think I'm here to harass you, then see it as harassment. If you don't like Vinland Saga, that's your opinion, the same way it's my opinion to like it. But for now, I didn't see a single constructive comment about your opinion, you're just saying "midland saga" (while it seems that the answers aren't much more constructive, I agree).
I don’t think Bleach will be better than Vinland Saga, but JJK season 2 will likely be on par with or better than Bleach season 2. I haven’t read the Bleach manga, but JJK’s next season is absolutely insane and it’s still the best arc in the manga. Whatever, I don’t really care which season will be better, all I know is this summer is going to be GAS with these two airing.
@@yawsanevruh1116leach tybw is way better then Shibuya incident ( its Also a great arc ), bleach has some arcs better the it and tybw is one of it its best war arc in big 3 and u are saying this 😂 Bleach and op are going to dominate 2023
@@yashmehta4087that’s bc they were more popular to begin with. Vinland Saga is peak boy. Bleach lowkey fell off a lil bit and one piece fandom is full of stans
i lowkey felt sum diff watching the end of season 2. I feel like it was built more around how Thorfinn was figuring out who he truly is and what is dream is, learning about what his father truly meant and learning the meaning of life. he really embodied his dad. It brought me to a place of peace and i could relate a little bit. It was a good break from all the killing. other than that what did anyone else think about it? he was def one of the most self aware and speaks the most heat.
@@nowabugale5951Thorfinn has already far surpassed his father, for Thors a true warrior is the one who can stop conflicts without a sword, and Thorfinn has succeeded.
Thorfinns dedication to peace is beautiful. I think his philosophy goes very deep and will be expanded upon a lot on the next couple seasons. His strategy is to be very proactive with his speech in order to solve problems before violence ever becomes an option
@@BigJC777no bro Thorfinn has already surpassed his father, by stopping Canute he stopped the war without using a weapon, and I'm not talking about strength, Thors is even stronger than Thorfinn, but that has nothing to do with it...
I grew up in Miami in the late 80s & 90s during the cocaine cowboys era moved ,to Texas in the codine era , saw one of my good friends get deleted at 14, saw another friend get deleted on my 16th birthday, and my father passed in my arms. I was in so many fights, lost 3 full ride football scholarships, and was blessed with 2 children while I battled depression. I was screwed over in a business deal and lost over $150,000 and I wanted blood. I had to learn to let go of that rage and anger and that’s what this anime reminded me. I went back to school finished my undergrad and masters started my own business and I mentor young men who’ve experienced traumatic things. I’m 46 and I’ve been watching anime since 85 and this is one of my top 5 seasons ever. It speaks to the soul of manhood, growth, strength, resolve, and true masculinity. The next arc has some surprises in it so I won’t ruin it but people will not be disappointed. Excellent video sir!!
Season 2 was the most beautiful, meaningful, character building season of Vinland so far (idk if it has a 3rd one comin) and the changes of thorfinn from a bloodthirsty revengeful demon to a pacifist is so eye opening...the journey is just so beautiful
@@radityapoerwanto7018Fettered Tern, Hunter and Hunted, and War in the Baltic are more than enough content for a Season 3 IMHO. So it's probably like they need to wait five years for more manga, but they may not want to continue right away.
Idk why people are disappointed.. at the beginning on season 1 thorfinns dad said “a true warrior doesn’t fight with a sword” or something alone those lines so you have to know that thorfinns path would be to follow his fathers footsteps and become a warrior of words and peace, putting down his sword to create a better life where people are living in peace together
I feel like those of us that went through traumatic shit, dealt with death, anger and crippling emotions truly can appreciate this anime on a transcendental level. Not that other people can’t understand it, but if you lived it, man it just hits so hard. No gonna delve into personal history but Thorfinn waking up with those night terrors, man… Man. It’s not something I would wish on another person.
Well said, I think that's one of the main reason why some people are hating on it. If I watched this show a few years ago when I haven't gone through stuff, I don't think I would have fully appreciated it.
No Its for emo teenagers Who are protected at their home This philosophy is shit for actual smart people who have seen the world And PTSD is also a very common thing Nothing mind blowing about it Watch your second series I guess
@@aniverse_574 well actually there are 2 types of people, people who r ego driven and get mad for absolute no reason like the vikings in the show. And people who realise its waste of their time to even bother giving energy to people who don't benefit . 🤷♀️
@@aniverse_574 First of all, learn how to structure a proper paragraph holy shit. Second, I’m a marine veteran and even before that I grew up in a place that at best is a 2nd world country. I don’t need to justify my experiences to you but stop trying to be some wannabe Ricky recon try hard in my comments because I promise, to me, you ain’t shit. Also, no one said that PTSD isn’t common, it’s common enough. The point was that people that have it can relate to Thorfinn on some level better than someone who hasn’t. Doesn’t mean they’d make the same choices.
I'll admit it, I wanted action at first...but the farming, thorfinn's development, the bro code and Canute's position was immense hype. Even got to see my boy Askeladd still rinsing in the afterlife. It was beautiful.
Vinland Saga season 2 weeds out the action only junkies and the ones who remain are the ones here for one of the best ongoing stories being told Period. It only gets better.
Does it really tho yall speak so highly on a mf tht willingly became a slave knowing he got family at home tht misses him ain't no damn way yall still tryna protect this anime its ass deal with it its worst than naruto chasing Sasuke around his whole damn life
@@ogdon7829Did you even watching the anime? You are the "junkie" he's talking about, he didn't willingly become a slave he was made a slave by the king and he's not invincible so he can't just go berserk and solo a country's army
okay, I'm posting a separate comment as like... a quarantine for my thoughts on Ketil because he's friggin fascinating to me. I think Ketil might be one of the most interesting characters of the season, because of what he does in relation to every other character here. like, he starts out seeming really nice, right? he's got this comforting affectation, he smiles and speaks kindly to people, he offers folks like Einar and Thorfinn the ability to earn their freedom when he really doesn't have to do that, he even works in the fields on his own farm, and he just gives off harmless uncle energy. but then you start to pay attention to what he's saying, and the type of person he actually is. I think the most dangerous thing about Ketil is that he's a coward. so almost every nice thing he does is really a way for him to avoid something that he's afraid of. like, for example, he could just pay for slaves and then free them immediately with no strings attached. if he made them into retainers on his farm right away, and offered to employ them fairly, they'd probably still stick around and work. but pragmatically, what Ketil gains is workers who will clear the land for free, and then he only has to pay them once the land can start yielding product. it's a business decision. but on top of that... if Ketil doesn't want to end up like the guy who owned Gardar, then he'd better make sure his slaves don't hate him that much. Ketil benefits from coming off like a nice guy, but really, he still wants to own people. so throughout everything, it's good to remember that Ketil is the highest authority on this piece of land, and any time something messed up happens, Ketil has the most ability to stop it out of anyone. to me, the first sign of trouble is when Thorgil is visiting, and Snake brings out these two kids who were stealing from Ketil, so that Ketil can do something about it. and at first you watch Ketil get all emotional over these kids and their story, and how sad it is... but he's also nervous, because he has all these eyes on him. everybody expects him to punish these kids, and he feels like he doesn't have a choice. he basically gets peer pressured. but like... why? Ketil could just be like "I don't want to punish them. I own this farm. do you have the authority to _make_ me punish them? no. sit down." and that could've been it. no worrying, no agonizing, just purely using the authority that he absolutely has. I mean, who is he worried about... Pater? nah, Pater is a former slave... he's probably sympathetic to these kids deep down. what about Snake? nah, Snake works for him... Snake does whatever Ketil wants because Ketil is literally paying him for that. he's not worried about Olmar... Olmar hates this too. what about his wife? nah, she doesn't even have the power to stop him from sleeping with Arnheid, even though she clearly doesn't like it. Thorgil? still no. look at what Thorgil did when Olmar was named as the head of the family, and said that they weren't gonna fight Canute anymore. he left. and yeah, he was planning to go back and attack Canute on his own, sure... but he couldn't rally the troops. that wasn't within his authority. and on top of that, you were 100% right in the video. Thorgil is ride or die for his family, that is extremely true... and it applies to stuff like this, just as much as it applied to the start of this conflict with Canute in the first place. so when Thorgil gets all insistent about punishing these kids, Ketil absolutely could've told him no, and Thorgil would've listened, if only because this issue isn't even that big of a deal to Thorgil in the first place. so why did Ketil actually beat that kid to a bloody pulp? I think it's because he actually agrees that beating those kids was the expectation for the leader of the farm, and he doesn't want to rock the boat with anybody. he'll do whatever he knows they expect him to do... especially if he feels obligated to show that he still warrants his level of authority. he's already lying about being Iron Fist Ketil, so he's probably paranoid that people will realize he isn't ruthless enough to have been that guy. in truth, he's afraid of having everything taken away from him. and that same fear is why he started coming apart at the seams when he knew Canute planned to take the farm for himself. and then, after he beats that kid to a bloody pulp, he goes back to Arnheid to cry about it. he tells her everything. and Arnheid probably isn't sympathetic to this at all... she knows that Ketil has all the authority here, especially compared to how helpless she's actually felt all her life. whenever the men around her have made decisions with their authority, she has suffered. she knows how much power Ketil actually has to change these things, but he's too cowardly to decide to use his power in a way that would actually matter... even when he genuinely feels sympathy and wants to do something different. like, the true worst thing about cowardice is that it _always_ leaves you in the role of a victim, no matter how much power you actually have. Ketil is always flinching away from the things that scare him, to the point where he never gets to pursue anything he wants, and that leaves him building up anger and frustration, even when he holds the keys to his own little kingdom. and besides that, Arnheid was a mom, for however briefly that lasted. her son was killed by people who probably justified it in the exact same way... pre-emptively killing a kid who could grow up to be an enemy of theirs, or showing their authority by displaying all the things they could rob from these people and get away with it... who knows what was going through the heads of those men. but Arnheid has to hear what's going through Ketil's. Arnheid had to sit there and comfort this man when he was sad about this thing that he chose to do all on his own... and it only makes Ketil seem even more pathetic later, when you see how far Arnheid was willing to go to try and free Gardar. Arnheid knows Ketil is dangerous. and that means that trying to free Gardar is an incredibly dangerous thing for her to do. but it also means that, if she doesn't do this, then Ketil will be a danger to Gardar as well. if Arnheid does nothing, Gardar is absolutely going to die, and Arnheid knew this all along. but for as powerless as Arnheid has been all this time, she still tries to pursue what she wants. nobody ever gave her the authority... she knows that nobody will ever grant her any power of her own. if she wants something to happen, she's going to have to put everything on the line... her standing with Ketil, her health and safety, the life of an unborn child... none of it was safe anyway, nothing will ever be easy, but she wants this one thing badly enough. she used to be able to want normal things, like a happy home and a healthy kid. she already lost all of that, and being enslaved means that she can't get it back. nobody is ever going to willingly hand her the ability to have those things, but she still does the best she can. she chose the road she wanted and got as far along it as she could. and then Ketil goes into battle, and tries to make his men keep fighting, even when they're losing, and finally this one guy turns to him and lays it all out. Ketil is commanding peasants to go fight and die, just so he won't end up exactly like them. Ketil thinks he has a right to more authority, more security, more power, more safety, and more resources than anyone else. and he's willing to throw anyone under the bus to keep it. that's what Ketil really is... he's just a selfish, scared man, who values his own comfort above all else. and that's why, when Einar is about to kill him, Thorfinn has to stop it. Ketil is a fearful man, and every threat against him has only created huge and destructive amounts of backlash. fear is the excuse that Ketil has used to justify all the worst things he's done. Ketil shouldn't be allowed to have any more excuses... he should have nothing to fear. and Einar should have nothing to regret. if Einar killed Ketil, he'd immediately become a villain to both of Ketil's sons. and whether you picture Olmar grieving, or Thorgil seeking revenge... it'd be hell. Einar is a good person, beloved by many for his integrity and high standard of decency. he doesn't deserve to be the subject of their sadness and rage. Thorfinn wants to protect Einar... and Einar is already hurting from the loss of Arnheid. nothing else should be allowed to hurt him worse. Ketil is a perfect example of someone who causes a lot of harm through intentions that seem very innocent. nobody wants to lose things, or get hurt, or feel powerless... and Ketil is insecure enough about those things that he can't feel comfortable, even when he has more power than anyone. you can understand the emotions on a basic level, but when you look at Thorfinn and Einar, who were given no assurances that they'd have the power to do anything, and then consider how much they were able to accomplish this season... that's the power of pursuing what you want, rather than avoiding what you fear.
I'm gonna be honest this season blew me out of the water! Younger me would not liked this season mainly because I only cared about fighting. But I like to think that as I have gotten older I've come to appreciate and love the way story's like this are told, this season was so beautiful! One of the besst parts was whenever Thorfinn just said "I have no enemies" I think it was a huge moment it was so well done! Also this was a 10/10 video!
god, I love Einar's character so much, it's so underrated what he does for Thorfinn and for this story... the part where you were clowning on him for expecting food in the beginning was really funny, but also really accurate in the sense that you can tell he's used to decency. he's used to treating people well, and being treated well in return. he knows the worth of a favor, and to thank people when they've done something good for you. Thorfinn barely thinks that anything good is left in the world for him at all, but Einar knows better. and while that can seem naive sometimes, because bad things are bound to occur, and Einar isn't a free or respected person anymore... Einar knowing that better things exist is what drives him, and eventually Thorfinn too. Einar keeps decency alive, even when other people are trying to kill it for him. but the flip side of that, is that Einar finds his circumstances hugely frustrating. like... anger is something that all good people feel, sometimes more than a bad person ever could. because when you see something unfair and wrong happening, _you know better._ you know that people can do better, and they're choosing not to, and it's awful. and that's where Einar needs Thorfinn too. Thorfinn has been through immense amounts of frustration and anger in his life already. and he's seen what happens when you give in to the path of least resistance with that emotion, or when you make bad choices with that feeling at the helm. Thorfinn has actively made those mistakes, over a long period of time, and he's suffered for it. and Einar is a good person... he doesn't deserve to suffer too. and he won't, if Thorfinn has anything to say about it. as a good person, with anger in his heart, Einar's job is to figure out what to do with it. to make a conscientious choice about how that feeling should move him into action. what is the method by which he will address this... if violence is the last resort, what should be tried first? it's this monumentally important question that both Einar and Thorfinn are in the perfect place to think about, right where they are. and that's not even mentioning how Arnheid, (as a mother whose husband went to war and was presumed dead, leaving her to care for her kid all on her own), has a story that sounds so similar to Einar's mother. her husband went off to fight, died on the battlefield, she tried to raise her kids, but then men attacked the village, and she and her daughter died there, leaving Einar as the only one left. and sometimes when Einar talks to Thorfinn, you kind of feel like these are things that his mom probably said to him when he was a kid. it's basic stuff, but you do have to be taught before you can know it. and Einar feels for Arnheid especially much after she explains her backstory, because he and Arnheid are similarly vulnerable. I think after hearing that, he'd do just about anything to help her. but only if she asked, because she's been robbed of her ability to choose all too often. also, to me, Gardar seems like a twisted version of Thors as well. he went into battle, by choice, but where Thors realized he should leave and got to go home and raise a family for like 15 years, Gardar never got a second chance. his kid was killed and he doesn't even know it, he gets sold into slavery under someone who clearly heavily abused him, his wife got taken to god knows where... he probably never expected to see her again. and it really emphasizes that he and Arnheid were just a couple of very normal people for this location and era. Arnheid was a normal woman who wanted normal things out of life, which became impossible as soon as she started being owned by Ketil. like... the crazy thing is that Ketil could relate to her, you know? Ketil lost a romantic partner to a situation that was out of his control too. but Ketil considers her so far beneath him that he won't even sympathize. she literally saw a person that she loved, who she thought was completely dead... a person she probably grieved along with their son, and he's alive. it's like a whole miracle, and a curse at the same time, because she has no option to do something about it. she's being asked to watch him die all over again when she just got him back. if you've ever lost a friend, relative, or partner before... the idea of seeing them again, and not being able to save them as they die for real, is just about the worst thing I can imagine. but back to Einar... he just functions in so many essential roles in this story. I think it was such a good call to introduce him as a way to contrast Thorfinn, especially because the death of Askeladd has left Thorfinn so empty, and Einar is such a good example of how you turn out if you were raised right... and what you can accomplish if you share that. it's not just violence that exists in a cycle... you can do that with kindness too. and passing along the kindness you were shown is the best way to honor the memory of the people you've loved and lost, and to continue being the person that they were grateful to have known when they were here. EDIT: also I agree about the farming scenes being some of my favorites in the season too... I couldn't handle it when Thorfinn finally smiled as the two of them were planting their field, like, that's probably the first genuine smile he's had since he was six years old, I can't keep it together for that. and besides... when Thorfinn was with Askeladd, they got basically everything they ever ate from either pillaging, or robbing people of their money and buying things, and all that time, Thorfinn never had to consider how any of those resources got there. farming as a process was literally developed in response to the need to support large populations of people. the act of farming is literally a small group of folks producing more resources than they could ever consume on their own because they're part of a communal system of living. and Thorfinn is finally being invited to participate in that. he's finally being asked to join other people's lives as part of something bigger than himself. it's a perfect metaphor for the lesson Thorfinn needs to learn. passing on violence and hatred is all too easy in a world like this... passing on peace and kindness is the harder fight, but it's worth choosing because of everything that gets accomplished in the process. Thorfinn's violence left him with nothing... but the collective kindness of the people he's with in this season gave him everything back.
8:03 btw that wasn’t Canute’s brother Harold that died 7 months after Ethelred, but Ethelred’s son Edmond. Then Canute officially became king of England and was crowned in 1018 (the year in which episodes 10-24 of the season take places in, plus that last scene of episode 5). And shortly after he was crowned he poisoned his brother who was then king of Denmark and became king of both England and Denmark as we know. So not only did Canute poison 2 kings, but 3. Plus he plotted for and was partially responsible for his father’s death obviously. That makes 4 kings. He was on absolute demon time 😭
So far the season is just deadass beautiful and i watched it right after season 1 shit was so beautiful i deadass could have just watched them farm the whole ep and i wouldn't be mad i'd appreciate every second
This season was absolutely beautiful. Every plot was wrapped up nicely, every piece of dialogue, every conversation, every tone of every FRAME of this show was tuned to exactly match the emotions the creators wanted us to feel! The violence is shown as disturbing, despicable, gruesome. Even as there are characters thriving in that bloodshed it is never framed in a good light. The strongest characters in the show are the ones who refuse violence. Olmar in that scene in his home when he says “I was a coward, I couldn’t swallow my pride when they mocked me. But now I can and we’re surrendering.” BROOOOOOO!!!! Even fucking Ketil man! Seeing him alive at the end didn’t bother me because it was clear that he was broken and lost everything he thought was his. Reduced to a slave on his own farm with calluses ripping into his hands. He is forced to live with what he did, and the fact that he is framed as the only real coward in this show is poetic. Even Olmar the “cowardly son” becomes more of a man than his father ever was.
Y’all in for some fun shit. I’ve been reading the manga and the story is absolutely beautiful. I LOVED season and season 2 and so forth is also an absolute gem can’t wait to see it animated
Vinland season 2 is most definitely a 10/10. It was absolutely beautiful. I'm very sparing with my high ratings I give anime, but Vinland knocked it out of the park. And it is so sad to me that not everyone can see that and appreciate how deep and meaningful it actually is.
@@Nandomo00 well I stopped at episode 12 anyway, because someone thought it was a bright idea to release only half of the season dubbed. Anyway it was absolutely trash all the way up to that 12th episode doubt it gets any better when they already wasted 12 episodes on the main character just being depressed and pathetic. There is absolutely nothing intricate about the season make no mistake I understand exactly what is happening in the season, but it is painfully boring to watch I dont find it interesting at all.
I love Gardar Side story, it's literally a char that shows up for like 3 eps and has such a emocional and good development vinland is just great at that ngl
12:15 Just to clarify, Askeladd later confirms that the place they're in is actually "the real world" or reality, symbolizing that the world they live in is much more hellish and any afterlife fantasy.
i hate that so many people dropped it because theres hardly any action. im not gonna lie but i was almost one of those people till after the scene where einer tried to kill thorfinn. seeing the pair grow and seeing thorfinn grow as a person was honestly really awesome to see.
Actually, the scene with Thorfinn in that place, that place wasn’t Vallaha, it’s neither hell either, it was just a dream version of the real world that Thorfinn was in.
This series genuinely heal me more than any therapy I have ever been in , thanks Vinland saga for curing my PTSD and made me become a better person and most importantly help me let go of my rage and hatred
One thing about the manga as opposed to the anime is they start off with Einar enslaved, they don’t even go in depth about what happened to Einar until later through a flashback while talking to thorfinn and it’s very brief. I appreciated the anime showing us the exact events leading to Einar’s enslavement.
You kind of misunderstood the details of Canute's rise to power, and the distinction between England and Denmark as two different countries. First he has Ethelred poisoned, then Ethelred's son Edmund poisoned as well, securing his position as the king of _England._ Neither of those two were related to Canute in any way. Meanwhile, his brother Harald had been ruling as the king of _Denmark_ and even helped Canute's campaign in England. Canute has him killed anyway so that he can be the king of _both_ countries simultaneously.
People got to understand is that Vinland Saga is a seinen anime or manga, and seinen is meant for an older more mature audience that can enjoy the show. It’s not a shonen where the characters have supernatural powers and amazing abilities or that they are super skilled and must defeat evil. Vinland saga is about how war and fighting are the things that can ruin and majorly affect your life. It’s about how people can grow from their mistakes, how people can learn to be a better version of themselves in a cruel world, and sticking to your ideals. While other shonen is about who can be the strongest at strength or superpowers or skills, Vinland Saga is about suffering and how you can rise above that suffering to learn to become a better, kinder, and more resilient person who keep running towards their goals and sticking to their ideology. The message “You have no enemies” goes to the idea that no one should ever be hurt and no one deserves to be hurt. To fight when it is unavoidable and when it is necessary. The learn self control. Because a True Warrior doesn’t need a sword
Are you for real? Thorfinn as a teen has supernatural abilities. I could swear he was doing the "Naruto run" in one of the episodes. The whole Viking army has like "heroes" on their side. Thors was leaping from ship to ship in episode 1. That shit is so over the top.
@@Wlof25 of course there are a lot of exaggerate points in the story that was somewhat uhh supernatural but over all it’s not like superpower or anything crazy like that.
@@MasterCobble If it's not like superpower, then it's even worse. Somehow you have people having superhuman abilities and that is not a super power. Then what is it?
The kettle and arnheid scene actually made me look away. Idk what it was about the scene but I had to close my eyes and take off my headphones her screams of agony going into silence while being beaten as she’s pregnant with his child and he’s aware. I just couldn’t that was almost as bad as the eclipse for me
Man when she was trying so hard to protect her baby with her weak and fragile body doing anything she could to not let the baby get hit that shit was nasty and the worst thing is we got twisted people doing that kind of thing in the real world right now 😢
Listen it's not that people who watched it for the action are wrong to not like it, but, like, you knew. The first season had action but it was always shown as senseless killing, idiots wasting their lives and a child being traumatized. It was condemned except for a few times like Thors fighting barehand to save his friends in the boat. Obviously it was going to move away from action at some point. So I'm not saying people are wrong, but what were they watching? How did they miss that?
it's simple, these people watched the first season thinking only about the fights, already from the first episode from the first season you could understand where the story was going, with Thors telling Thorfinn that he has no enemies...
Canute's an absolute menace because his bro already had a wife and kids so it can be assumed that after his brother died Canute took over his kingdom AND everything he owned, including his family lmao
Valhalla isn't Norse hell it's their "heaven" that all warriors want to go to when they die in combat and its supposed to be a grand hall where they drink and party. Knowing that makes the scene so much more powerful
and when you think about it this depiction of valhalla is probably the ideal place for a bloodthursty warrior like thorkel like this is his dream to battle and kill for eternity
Ahhh, Leif/Thorfinn meet up also didn’t really happen in the manga either so uh. Yeah I mean for them it’s been 4 years after Thorfinn tried to kill Canute so compared to the first time which was I believe 12 years separated. And because someone was at the point of death, the mood didn’t exactly fit for them to be joyful of meeting once again.
38:07 I think the message was the same throughout both seasons. Everything in season 1 was simply necessary for the conclusion isle season 2 to truly have weight and meaning behind it
I think a lot of people that complain about season 2 are unaware just how different in approach to story telling shounen and seinen can be. Unfortunately, shounen has more viewers than any other kind of anime, sure shounen happens to be a type of demographic rather than a specific genre, but anime adapted from shounen manga typically follow a specific kind of story telling that most anime viewers have become accustomed to. BECAUSE these popular anime are adapting a Shounen series, they are thus limited in scope in their approach to how the story is written, in other words, a ceiling. Shounen Jump magazine dictates that ceiling; they won't publish ANY kind of manga, they publish a specific kind of manga that tells a story in a specific way that happens to sell well to shounen manga fans, therefore this ceiling separates Shounen writing style from Seinen writing style. It includes character development, themes, plot, profanity, emotions, approach to classic storytelling styles like tragedy/drama/comedy, etc. Unfortunately, you don't have to watch that many shounen anime to start to notice these themes/tropes before they start to become apparent and therefore predictable. As a side note and just to throw in my small opinion, I believe shounen anime spoils its viewers with fight scenes, they are an important aspect to shounen which is apparent because they often display great animation and highly detailed manga illustrations, so fights are an important identity of shounen. But what happens when you spoil these viewers with too many fights and subsequently take them away? They become bored. These viewers would never make it through an anime like the monogatari series which is 99% dialogue. That brings us to Vinland Saga's second season. Back when I read the manga about a year ago, I knew that the next season was going to disappoint a ton of viewers due to the shift in tone. Unfortunately, Vinland Saga's first season had elements that would make a ton of shounen fans feel right at home while at the same time the viewer would have no idea that what they are watching is in fact not shounen but an entirely different demographic subject to vastly different approaches to story telling. Vinland Saga will not feel anything like MHA, Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer, etc... and because of this, a lot of viewers accustomed to the writing style from those anime entered unfamiliar territory upon watching season 2 which unfortunately drove them towards forming negative opinions of the series.
these people are not used to following a story, they want fights in every episode, in their head it's like this, no fights = bad anime, it's not even their fault, the anime industry is only battle shonen or isekai harem, or romcom .
People aren’t going to like the show anymore bc they story is moving away from violence and is more about Thorfinn growing as a person. Their loss tho it’s still goated manga is fire
this video sets it off for me, i’ve been watching you for probably a month or 2 now but this right here is the reason im subscribing. W insight, W mindset, W commentary, W taste, and W jokes for real. brodie got my respect 🤝🏼
A lot of these videos are being made and I love it. They know there are haters for this beautiful story and create a long video that is clickbait for the haters to agree with them but then explain how it’s such a beautiful story
Years ago I heard that the arc after the prologue was just gonna be on a farm, with way less action, but a good story. So I came in with the right expectations, and they were pretty low tbh, but yeah this is the best season of Vinland, I feel like the second half of the show looked a bit better as the story was picking up. I give it a 9/10.
the second season was freaking amazing. It really goes into how harsh life was for people back then also gives you a glimpse of Thorfinn's own character development. Dude goes full MLK Jr.
Subbed. U sold me when you said you took Philosophy class, that you shouldn't be studying Socrates and whoever, but Thorfinn.. 😂 bro this video, out of all the reviews of VS2, is the best. I was looking for someone who had the zeal and fire to bring the feels of the season into words/reality
The title definitely moved this video like crazy but S2 of Peakland Saga was amazing and adapted so damn well plus I cried so many tears probably more than when I read the manga but can't wait for S3 and anime onlys hopefully like that a lot when we get there but really good video regardless
First time stumbling across your channel. With the title of this video I was ready to start defending one of my favorite pieces of fiction in the comments. But you covered everything very well and made me laugh several times. Great work, instant sub from me. Thanks for covering this story.
I genuinely question what people who didn't like season 2 though the story was. did they not pay attention to Thors' message? You know, the "you have no enemies", "there's no one you need to hurt" and "a true warrior doesn't need a sword".
my personal highlight of this season was the last scenes with Olmar (then again his whole arc was so good) but the last images of him on the field with his girl, looking built, was so nice to see
I already knew going in that this season wasn't action oriented but the dialogue was TOP TIER I was deadass hyped every Monday to watch episodes before going to my college classes. Easy 10/10
Vinland Saga had a 180 turn but it was a 180 turn for the good... I had really mixed feelings about season 1 since it had literally 24 episodes with not even a shimmer of character development, literally 1 dimensional characters. the fighting and killing was cool tho
the fact that people were complaining about how it had like no action shows how attention deprived most anime fans are and cant just enjoy a good story
Lmao you had me howling. You’re great at narrating/breaking down this 😭🤣 Vinland Saga is such an indisputable masterpiece, this season was by far the best anime this year. I’m so excited (and desperate) for season 3! It shouldn’t take so long this time since it’s probably not changing studios again in the future, probably 2025 or 2026. But man that still feels too long, I need it so bad lol (essay incoming rip… but I hope it’s insightful to some at least? 😅) Also a few minor corrections/background information! :) 5:18 the people that attacked Einar’s village had no connection to Thorfinn or Askeladd’s band besides being vikings/maybe part of the danish army. In fact by the time the attack happened they may have no longer even been active/alive since Askeladd dies about a year and a half before Einar arrives on the farm (and most of the crew earlier). Though Einar does mention it was King Sweyn’s army that carried out the attack and he does seem visibly a bit younger when it happens, so it might have been before that. Plus we see him already on the slave ship in the last scene of season 1 (but it’s unclear whether that was actually meant to be present time). Still, it can’t have happened that long before the S1 finale (maybe late summer/autumn of 1013 since they were talking about winter coming). And Einar’s village was in north England, probably near the Scottish border and I don’t believe we ever saw Askeladd’s band go that far north (inland anyway). So Einar’s village was basically just a casualty of the Viking army in general, but not specifically Thorfinn or Askeladd’s band. And that was only the second attack that killed his mother and sister and made him a slave. The first attack when he was a kid that killed his father was carried out by King Ethelred’s army, the english (which is why Einar hates warriors as a whole and not just the danes/vikings like Askeladd did). Since Einar’s village was of Nordic (and probably Viking) descent and very prominently spoke both english and nordic, I suspect they may have been victims of the attacks by the english on viking settlements (like the one we saw in episode 6 of S1) that started the war between the Danes and the English which most of S1 took place in. 8:47 episodes 6-9 take place in late 1015-maybe early 1016 (Episode 5 kinda confuses it by jumping ahead in the timeline with the narration of Canute’s journey to become king of England). Arnheid gets pregnant in 1018 about 3 years after this scene. 12:15 so this depiction of ‘Valhalla’ is actually really interesting, because Valhalla’s typically basically the heaven of Norse mythology and Viking culture rather than a hellscape like we see here, specifically for warriors. But at the same time a depiction like this also makes a lot of sense when you think about it; generally the vikings enjoy fighting and battle for glory and are pretty bloodthirsty. So an afterlife where they constantly battle and kill each other without end for eternity may actually be desirable for many, especially the very worst of them. But at the same time it’s also implied here that this “Valhalla” may not really be the true thing, that it’s basically hell and that the real Valhalla people should be striving for is the place above, the golden fields where Thorfinn fell from and we’ve seen Thor (aka a “true warrior”). It’s all really clever, especially when you consider it also has a lot of elements of Christianity mixed in too with the “heaven and hell” like imagery (and we even see the what appears to represent the Lamb of Sacrifice, which I believe is a big symbol in Christianity) so it’s technically accurate to both main religions being depicted in the series. But there’s also the added layer of “is this real? Is it really happening or is it just in Thorfinn’s head?” which is basically left up for interpretation for both Thorfinn and the viewers. That’s really cool and it makes this otherworldly, pretty much supernatural scene fit into the pretty grounded non-fantasy setting and story pretty organically. And it’s just kinda realistic too, because we as living beings have no way of knowing whether this kinda stuff and any visions we have like this are real or just in our minds. Some people would dismiss something like this as a silly dream or nightmare but others may take as a sign from God/the gods or generally something more and live the rest of their life by it or be driven to certain actions. Others may be unsure or somewhere in the middle. They also kinda do something similar with Canute and Sweyn’s talking head. Truly an incredible episode! 21:10 it’s been about 5 years since they were sold into slavery or have seen each other I believe. When they’re “escaping” together on the cart, Arnheid mentions to Gardar that Hjalti (their son) would be 6 years old by now. He was only 1 when when he died (and when Gardar left for war before that) so it’s been 5 years
Im convinced most anime fans want brain dead fight and gore without any challlenging and thought provoling storytelling. Vinland saga season 2 is the epitome of everything wrong with edgy anime fans.
for me it was kind of Eren Yeager's antithesis in terms of character development. It was good in a way that Thorfinn made me think a different persective not choosing violence over AOTs nothing to do but kill all the enemies. Both are great series
Man you're not ready for the things coming up. It's like a mix of so many deep moments like in season 2 but also more cool fights like in season 1. It's just gonna be something else.
Before anyone tries throwing essays at me in this thread, I already understand why Thorfinn adopted the whole "I have no enemies" mindset. I get it, you don't have to soyjack about it. I still just think it's extremely fucking lame and wimpy, especially given the kind of world and time period this saga is set in.
Man Arnheid proved to me she was the one bro....like everybody blows past that this lady went to set her Husband free, in the middle of Guards and chances of not escaping. That's commitment you can't get from everywhere
Not to mention, she still left with him when she knew he was gonna die and they were gonna get caught so he could die in peace and she could say goodbye. That definitely takes some dedication
it is one of the best anime of this season... i didn't watch it on realease, i just waited for it to be done and binged watched it when all the episodes are released... awesome development arc... awesome story and great characters...
Nice review My friend, I think it's impossible for Thorfinn and Liv to meet after the horrible event that happened before that , I mean, Arinhide was fatally beaten.
The way they slipped in a slice of life feel amonst all the darkness created beatiful contrast. And the relationships and rebearth brought out of pain and suffering really embodied the feeling of hope that is out there no matter how many times you get knocked down. Also the call to a higher being that can help make sence of all that happens in this world. Alot of anime calls to the lower passion of seeing death and suffering. But we also enjoy a heros triumph. Some may have wnted violence and mayhem, but Im glad there was a cathartic message that may have suppressed our dark desires and consider the pain we may cause others when we are selfish and driven by desire. Regret is a vile burden. Dont chase riches, serve others be a force for good even if you dont get anything in return.
The facial animation in every single scene sold the anime 100% I tend to love series that have wild facial expressions and people losing their minds to the madness, but VS S2 had so much story guven through facial animation and body language alone. Go watch it without subtitles and in absolute silence snd you can still thread together the story and that speaks VOLUMES of how good Mappa did VS well. They elevated an already amazing story.
The title had me trippin I was like flabbergasted. 😭😭
AHILE I WAS READY TO BOX YOU ICL
Ong
Thats why it had the quotation marks around it.
Me to nigga
Why did you add like when your sentence was complete without it?
"I coulda watched Thorfinn and Einar farm for the whole 24 episodes" FACTS BRO, MAN IS SPITTING TRUTH ON GOD.
For me it's Einar being aggressive about praying 😂😂. I love that guy so much
Actually bro farmland saga was actually fun to watch and I wouldn't mind watching them farm for more
i was hearin so much hate for this season so i was goin in with kinda low expectations. But after finishing it I was FLABBERGASTED this season was so good. Watchin Thorfinn's development was intense and CANUTE WAS CRAZY
The people who complained about season 2 are mostly simple-minded chuds that wanted nonstop action. And usually, these chuds are a small loud minority.
nahh people only said it was ass bc he wasnt killing someone every 2 seconds
🥜🍗🥨🥯
@@aerotropic6982 People who hate this season have completely missed the point of the series. They need to start back from Season 1 Episode 1.
@@lucashall8761alright dummy first pf all people arent mad that he isnt killing every 2 seconds but if he will never kill no matter what l, then thats trash. First of all thors not killing askellad caused his son to go on a hunt for revenge killing many people along the way. Season 2 I thought was great but if he is going to stay on that extreme pacifist path then screw the show. Most (not all) understood exactly what the message was.
"I have no enemies" hits so hard when you realize thats what Thors told him when he wanted to go to war.
You didnt particularly mention it but Olmar's progression as a character had to be one of my favorite things about this season, Watching him go from an arrogant snobby rich kid with no sense of what consequences and death means, to a humble and strong minded man who looks up to Thorfinn as a role model and someone to aspire to be. Olmar definitely was a top 3 character this season imo
And he wasn't even the main focus which just goes to show how fantastic the writing is
He became a man faster than thorfinn!
@francoGomez111 seeing Thorfinn acknowledge him for that too was like icing on the cake
Agreed. Legit teared up when he said he wanted to be strong and kind like my man Thorfinn
The only thing I didn’t like how he kept crying
SPOILERS
after the battle on the farm. I feel like it would’ve shown his maturity more if he was able to say he was scared with showing any more tears and that he was willing to surrender while making eye contact with his brother
The level of beauty in the parallelism when Thorfinn truly became like his father is unmatched. He cradles a dying slave and gives them peace by explaining the beauty of Vinland, just like his Dad in episode 1, sheer poetry.
Not even Throfinn became a true warrior something his father failed, but it was that failure that led to his son’s success
@@Weyland_Punanithis is why your parents change the subject when people ask about you
@@Weyland_Punani Bro you're so cringe, if Vinland Saga isn't that good for you, then tell us why, give us some arguments to prove your opinion instead of just acting like a child.
@@Weyland_Punani If you think I'm here to harass you, then see it as harassment. If you don't like Vinland Saga, that's your opinion, the same way it's my opinion to like it. But for now, I didn't see a single constructive comment about your opinion, you're just saying "midland saga" (while it seems that the answers aren't much more constructive, I agree).
YES FINALLY SOME APPRICATION FOR THE BEST ANIME OF THE YEAR!
unless bleach blows it out the water
I don’t think Bleach will be better than Vinland Saga, but JJK season 2 will likely be on par with or better than Bleach season 2. I haven’t read the Bleach manga, but JJK’s next season is absolutely insane and it’s still the best arc in the manga. Whatever, I don’t really care which season will be better, all I know is this summer is going to be GAS with these two airing.
@@cerebrus6957bleach tybw cour 2 , 3 and op wano solos they are beasts and dominating 2023
@@yawsanevruh1116leach tybw is way better then Shibuya incident ( its Also a great arc ), bleach has some arcs better the it and tybw is one of it its best war arc in big 3 and u are saying this 😂
Bleach and op are going to dominate 2023
@@yashmehta4087that’s bc they were more popular to begin with. Vinland Saga is peak boy. Bleach lowkey fell off a lil bit and one piece fandom is full of stans
i lowkey felt sum diff watching the end of season 2. I feel like it was built more around how Thorfinn was figuring out who he truly is and what is dream is, learning about what his father truly meant and learning the meaning of life. he really embodied his dad. It brought me to a place of peace and i could relate a little bit. It was a good break from all the killing. other than that what did anyone else think about it? he was def one of the most self aware and speaks the most heat.
Yeah and with that he was able to do a little more than what his dad had achieved after wanting to live with no enemies
@@nowabugale5951Thorfinn has already far surpassed his father, for Thors a true warrior is the one who can stop conflicts without a sword, and Thorfinn has succeeded.
@@Nandomo00if you mean manga thorfinn, yes, but anime hes close to his faters level but not higher yet
Thorfinns dedication to peace is beautiful. I think his philosophy goes very deep and will be expanded upon a lot on the next couple seasons.
His strategy is to be very proactive with his speech in order to solve problems before violence ever becomes an option
@@BigJC777no bro Thorfinn has already surpassed his father, by stopping Canute he stopped the war without using a weapon, and I'm not talking about strength, Thors is even stronger than Thorfinn, but that has nothing to do with it...
I grew up in Miami in the late 80s & 90s during the cocaine cowboys era moved ,to Texas in the codine era , saw one of my good friends get deleted at 14, saw another friend get deleted on my 16th birthday, and my father passed in my arms. I was in so many fights, lost 3 full ride football scholarships, and was blessed with 2 children while I battled depression. I was screwed over in a business deal and lost over $150,000 and I wanted blood. I had to learn to let go of that rage and anger and that’s what this anime reminded me. I went back to school finished my undergrad and masters started my own business and I mentor young men who’ve experienced traumatic things. I’m 46 and I’ve been watching anime since 85 and this is one of my top 5 seasons ever. It speaks to the soul of manhood, growth, strength, resolve, and true masculinity. The next arc has some surprises in it so I won’t ruin it but people will not be disappointed. Excellent video sir!!
You inspire me.
You could probably make a show or anime about your own life, that’s insane
I'm also from Texas and as a 26 year old. I respect your story immensely sir. I'm trying to be better everyday too
I am proud of you, Sir. I cannot even begin to comprehend that kind of loss. I think it would break me.
Godspeed🫡
Real talk you are an inspiration.
Season 2 was the most beautiful, meaningful, character building season of Vinland so far (idk if it has a 3rd one comin) and the changes of thorfinn from a bloodthirsty revengeful demon to a pacifist is so eye opening...the journey is just so beautiful
I've read the manga and there's definitely gonna be a third season unless they extend season 2 by 50 more episodes
It's gonna be years before season 3.
Manga is monthly.
It was basically confirmed on Twitter that s3 is coming
I’ve never watched a show so thought provoking. Deadass sat in my living room just thinking for like 30 minutes after I finished season 2
@@radityapoerwanto7018Fettered Tern, Hunter and Hunted, and War in the Baltic are more than enough content for a Season 3 IMHO. So it's probably like they need to wait five years for more manga, but they may not want to continue right away.
“the lightskin lounge” joke sent me over the edge with laughter
Idk why people are disappointed.. at the beginning on season 1 thorfinns dad said “a true warrior doesn’t fight with a sword” or something alone those lines so you have to know that thorfinns path would be to follow his fathers footsteps and become a warrior of words and peace, putting down his sword to create a better life where people are living in peace together
I feel like those of us that went through traumatic shit, dealt with death, anger and crippling emotions truly can appreciate this anime on a transcendental level. Not that other people can’t understand it, but if you lived it, man it just hits so hard. No gonna delve into personal history but Thorfinn waking up with those night terrors, man… Man. It’s not something I would wish on another person.
Well said, I think that's one of the main reason why some people are hating on it. If I watched this show a few years ago when I haven't gone through stuff, I don't think I would have fully appreciated it.
Yea this is a very mature show, a lot of people think it's a shounen, same people who come from watching sword art online or something lmao
No
Its for emo teenagers
Who are protected at their home
This philosophy is shit for actual smart people who have seen the world
And PTSD is also a very common thing
Nothing mind blowing about it
Watch your second series I guess
@@aniverse_574 well actually there are 2 types of people, people who r ego driven and get mad for absolute no reason like the vikings in the show. And people who realise its waste of their time to even bother giving energy to people who don't benefit . 🤷♀️
@@aniverse_574 First of all, learn how to structure a proper paragraph holy shit. Second, I’m a marine veteran and even before that I grew up in a place that at best is a 2nd world country. I don’t need to justify my experiences to you but stop trying to be some wannabe Ricky recon try hard in my comments because I promise, to me, you ain’t shit.
Also, no one said that PTSD isn’t common, it’s common enough. The point was that people that have it can relate to Thorfinn on some level better than someone who hasn’t. Doesn’t mean they’d make the same choices.
I don't know why people these days can't appreciate a slow burn.
Instant gratification rarely pops off even a thousandth as well as this.
I'll admit it, I wanted action at first...but the farming, thorfinn's development, the bro code and Canute's position was immense hype.
Even got to see my boy Askeladd still rinsing in the afterlife. It was beautiful.
Vinland Saga season 2 weeds out the action only junkies and the ones who remain are the ones here for one of the best ongoing stories being told Period. It only gets better.
I've been saying it for years!😂 All the action-tards were gonna bitch and mone when S2 releases
Does it really tho yall speak so highly on a mf tht willingly became a slave knowing he got family at home tht misses him ain't no damn way yall still tryna protect this anime its ass deal with it its worst than naruto chasing Sasuke around his whole damn life
@@ogdon7829ok don’t watch it
@@ogdon7829Did you even watching the anime? You are the "junkie" he's talking about, he didn't willingly become a slave he was made a slave by the king and he's not invincible so he can't just go berserk and solo a country's army
@@ogdon7829blah blah blah
The clickbait is crazy😂
Dude for reals broooo.
He was testing the mf's with no enemies
It has quotations yo
@@trevpilled true
Season 2 was a literal test for humanity and a lot of people are failing 😂
I swearrrrr😂😂😂💀💀💀
okay, I'm posting a separate comment as like... a quarantine for my thoughts on Ketil because he's friggin fascinating to me.
I think Ketil might be one of the most interesting characters of the season, because of what he does in relation to every other character here. like, he starts out seeming really nice, right? he's got this comforting affectation, he smiles and speaks kindly to people, he offers folks like Einar and Thorfinn the ability to earn their freedom when he really doesn't have to do that, he even works in the fields on his own farm, and he just gives off harmless uncle energy. but then you start to pay attention to what he's saying, and the type of person he actually is.
I think the most dangerous thing about Ketil is that he's a coward. so almost every nice thing he does is really a way for him to avoid something that he's afraid of. like, for example, he could just pay for slaves and then free them immediately with no strings attached. if he made them into retainers on his farm right away, and offered to employ them fairly, they'd probably still stick around and work. but pragmatically, what Ketil gains is workers who will clear the land for free, and then he only has to pay them once the land can start yielding product. it's a business decision. but on top of that... if Ketil doesn't want to end up like the guy who owned Gardar, then he'd better make sure his slaves don't hate him that much. Ketil benefits from coming off like a nice guy, but really, he still wants to own people. so throughout everything, it's good to remember that Ketil is the highest authority on this piece of land, and any time something messed up happens, Ketil has the most ability to stop it out of anyone.
to me, the first sign of trouble is when Thorgil is visiting, and Snake brings out these two kids who were stealing from Ketil, so that Ketil can do something about it. and at first you watch Ketil get all emotional over these kids and their story, and how sad it is... but he's also nervous, because he has all these eyes on him. everybody expects him to punish these kids, and he feels like he doesn't have a choice. he basically gets peer pressured. but like... why? Ketil could just be like "I don't want to punish them. I own this farm. do you have the authority to _make_ me punish them? no. sit down." and that could've been it. no worrying, no agonizing, just purely using the authority that he absolutely has.
I mean, who is he worried about... Pater? nah, Pater is a former slave... he's probably sympathetic to these kids deep down. what about Snake? nah, Snake works for him... Snake does whatever Ketil wants because Ketil is literally paying him for that. he's not worried about Olmar... Olmar hates this too. what about his wife? nah, she doesn't even have the power to stop him from sleeping with Arnheid, even though she clearly doesn't like it. Thorgil? still no. look at what Thorgil did when Olmar was named as the head of the family, and said that they weren't gonna fight Canute anymore. he left. and yeah, he was planning to go back and attack Canute on his own, sure... but he couldn't rally the troops. that wasn't within his authority. and on top of that, you were 100% right in the video. Thorgil is ride or die for his family, that is extremely true... and it applies to stuff like this, just as much as it applied to the start of this conflict with Canute in the first place. so when Thorgil gets all insistent about punishing these kids, Ketil absolutely could've told him no, and Thorgil would've listened, if only because this issue isn't even that big of a deal to Thorgil in the first place.
so why did Ketil actually beat that kid to a bloody pulp? I think it's because he actually agrees that beating those kids was the expectation for the leader of the farm, and he doesn't want to rock the boat with anybody. he'll do whatever he knows they expect him to do... especially if he feels obligated to show that he still warrants his level of authority. he's already lying about being Iron Fist Ketil, so he's probably paranoid that people will realize he isn't ruthless enough to have been that guy. in truth, he's afraid of having everything taken away from him. and that same fear is why he started coming apart at the seams when he knew Canute planned to take the farm for himself.
and then, after he beats that kid to a bloody pulp, he goes back to Arnheid to cry about it. he tells her everything. and Arnheid probably isn't sympathetic to this at all... she knows that Ketil has all the authority here, especially compared to how helpless she's actually felt all her life. whenever the men around her have made decisions with their authority, she has suffered. she knows how much power Ketil actually has to change these things, but he's too cowardly to decide to use his power in a way that would actually matter... even when he genuinely feels sympathy and wants to do something different. like, the true worst thing about cowardice is that it _always_ leaves you in the role of a victim, no matter how much power you actually have. Ketil is always flinching away from the things that scare him, to the point where he never gets to pursue anything he wants, and that leaves him building up anger and frustration, even when he holds the keys to his own little kingdom.
and besides that, Arnheid was a mom, for however briefly that lasted. her son was killed by people who probably justified it in the exact same way... pre-emptively killing a kid who could grow up to be an enemy of theirs, or showing their authority by displaying all the things they could rob from these people and get away with it... who knows what was going through the heads of those men. but Arnheid has to hear what's going through Ketil's. Arnheid had to sit there and comfort this man when he was sad about this thing that he chose to do all on his own... and it only makes Ketil seem even more pathetic later, when you see how far Arnheid was willing to go to try and free Gardar.
Arnheid knows Ketil is dangerous. and that means that trying to free Gardar is an incredibly dangerous thing for her to do. but it also means that, if she doesn't do this, then Ketil will be a danger to Gardar as well. if Arnheid does nothing, Gardar is absolutely going to die, and Arnheid knew this all along. but for as powerless as Arnheid has been all this time, she still tries to pursue what she wants. nobody ever gave her the authority... she knows that nobody will ever grant her any power of her own. if she wants something to happen, she's going to have to put everything on the line... her standing with Ketil, her health and safety, the life of an unborn child... none of it was safe anyway, nothing will ever be easy, but she wants this one thing badly enough. she used to be able to want normal things, like a happy home and a healthy kid. she already lost all of that, and being enslaved means that she can't get it back. nobody is ever going to willingly hand her the ability to have those things, but she still does the best she can. she chose the road she wanted and got as far along it as she could.
and then Ketil goes into battle, and tries to make his men keep fighting, even when they're losing, and finally this one guy turns to him and lays it all out. Ketil is commanding peasants to go fight and die, just so he won't end up exactly like them. Ketil thinks he has a right to more authority, more security, more power, more safety, and more resources than anyone else. and he's willing to throw anyone under the bus to keep it. that's what Ketil really is... he's just a selfish, scared man, who values his own comfort above all else.
and that's why, when Einar is about to kill him, Thorfinn has to stop it. Ketil is a fearful man, and every threat against him has only created huge and destructive amounts of backlash. fear is the excuse that Ketil has used to justify all the worst things he's done. Ketil shouldn't be allowed to have any more excuses... he should have nothing to fear. and Einar should have nothing to regret. if Einar killed Ketil, he'd immediately become a villain to both of Ketil's sons. and whether you picture Olmar grieving, or Thorgil seeking revenge... it'd be hell. Einar is a good person, beloved by many for his integrity and high standard of decency. he doesn't deserve to be the subject of their sadness and rage. Thorfinn wants to protect Einar... and Einar is already hurting from the loss of Arnheid. nothing else should be allowed to hurt him worse.
Ketil is a perfect example of someone who causes a lot of harm through intentions that seem very innocent. nobody wants to lose things, or get hurt, or feel powerless... and Ketil is insecure enough about those things that he can't feel comfortable, even when he has more power than anyone. you can understand the emotions on a basic level, but when you look at Thorfinn and Einar, who were given no assurances that they'd have the power to do anything, and then consider how much they were able to accomplish this season... that's the power of pursuing what you want, rather than avoiding what you fear.
Dawg typin out harry potter in a comment section😭
@@sir_shah3262 yeah, I warned up top that I was quarantining my thoughts there because like... I do have too much to say really.😓
I had similar thoughts but never took my thoughts this deeply. Good job, very insightful.
@@johnnymullen5884 thank you! I'm glad I was able to say things that were similar to your line of thinking. ^_^
This was very well structured and written. I can honestly say that I enjoyed reading your thoughts on Ketil
Ep. 17 broke me. When Arnheid told gardar welcome home as he died in her arms, the tears did not stop
I'm gonna be honest this season blew me out of the water! Younger me would not liked this season mainly because I only cared about fighting. But I like to think that as I have gotten older I've come to appreciate and love the way story's like this are told, this season was so beautiful! One of the besst parts was whenever Thorfinn just said "I have no enemies" I think it was a huge moment it was so well done! Also this was a 10/10 video!
god, I love Einar's character so much, it's so underrated what he does for Thorfinn and for this story... the part where you were clowning on him for expecting food in the beginning was really funny, but also really accurate in the sense that you can tell he's used to decency. he's used to treating people well, and being treated well in return. he knows the worth of a favor, and to thank people when they've done something good for you. Thorfinn barely thinks that anything good is left in the world for him at all, but Einar knows better. and while that can seem naive sometimes, because bad things are bound to occur, and Einar isn't a free or respected person anymore... Einar knowing that better things exist is what drives him, and eventually Thorfinn too. Einar keeps decency alive, even when other people are trying to kill it for him.
but the flip side of that, is that Einar finds his circumstances hugely frustrating. like... anger is something that all good people feel, sometimes more than a bad person ever could. because when you see something unfair and wrong happening, _you know better._ you know that people can do better, and they're choosing not to, and it's awful. and that's where Einar needs Thorfinn too. Thorfinn has been through immense amounts of frustration and anger in his life already. and he's seen what happens when you give in to the path of least resistance with that emotion, or when you make bad choices with that feeling at the helm. Thorfinn has actively made those mistakes, over a long period of time, and he's suffered for it. and Einar is a good person... he doesn't deserve to suffer too. and he won't, if Thorfinn has anything to say about it.
as a good person, with anger in his heart, Einar's job is to figure out what to do with it. to make a conscientious choice about how that feeling should move him into action. what is the method by which he will address this... if violence is the last resort, what should be tried first? it's this monumentally important question that both Einar and Thorfinn are in the perfect place to think about, right where they are.
and that's not even mentioning how Arnheid, (as a mother whose husband went to war and was presumed dead, leaving her to care for her kid all on her own), has a story that sounds so similar to Einar's mother. her husband went off to fight, died on the battlefield, she tried to raise her kids, but then men attacked the village, and she and her daughter died there, leaving Einar as the only one left. and sometimes when Einar talks to Thorfinn, you kind of feel like these are things that his mom probably said to him when he was a kid. it's basic stuff, but you do have to be taught before you can know it. and Einar feels for Arnheid especially much after she explains her backstory, because he and Arnheid are similarly vulnerable. I think after hearing that, he'd do just about anything to help her. but only if she asked, because she's been robbed of her ability to choose all too often.
also, to me, Gardar seems like a twisted version of Thors as well. he went into battle, by choice, but where Thors realized he should leave and got to go home and raise a family for like 15 years, Gardar never got a second chance. his kid was killed and he doesn't even know it, he gets sold into slavery under someone who clearly heavily abused him, his wife got taken to god knows where... he probably never expected to see her again. and it really emphasizes that he and Arnheid were just a couple of very normal people for this location and era. Arnheid was a normal woman who wanted normal things out of life, which became impossible as soon as she started being owned by Ketil. like... the crazy thing is that Ketil could relate to her, you know? Ketil lost a romantic partner to a situation that was out of his control too. but Ketil considers her so far beneath him that he won't even sympathize. she literally saw a person that she loved, who she thought was completely dead... a person she probably grieved along with their son, and he's alive. it's like a whole miracle, and a curse at the same time, because she has no option to do something about it. she's being asked to watch him die all over again when she just got him back. if you've ever lost a friend, relative, or partner before... the idea of seeing them again, and not being able to save them as they die for real, is just about the worst thing I can imagine.
but back to Einar... he just functions in so many essential roles in this story. I think it was such a good call to introduce him as a way to contrast Thorfinn, especially because the death of Askeladd has left Thorfinn so empty, and Einar is such a good example of how you turn out if you were raised right... and what you can accomplish if you share that. it's not just violence that exists in a cycle... you can do that with kindness too. and passing along the kindness you were shown is the best way to honor the memory of the people you've loved and lost, and to continue being the person that they were grateful to have known when they were here.
EDIT: also I agree about the farming scenes being some of my favorites in the season too... I couldn't handle it when Thorfinn finally smiled as the two of them were planting their field, like, that's probably the first genuine smile he's had since he was six years old, I can't keep it together for that.
and besides... when Thorfinn was with Askeladd, they got basically everything they ever ate from either pillaging, or robbing people of their money and buying things, and all that time, Thorfinn never had to consider how any of those resources got there. farming as a process was literally developed in response to the need to support large populations of people. the act of farming is literally a small group of folks producing more resources than they could ever consume on their own because they're part of a communal system of living. and Thorfinn is finally being invited to participate in that. he's finally being asked to join other people's lives as part of something bigger than himself. it's a perfect metaphor for the lesson Thorfinn needs to learn. passing on violence and hatred is all too easy in a world like this... passing on peace and kindness is the harder fight, but it's worth choosing because of everything that gets accomplished in the process. Thorfinn's violence left him with nothing... but the collective kindness of the people he's with in this season gave him everything back.
bro thinks i'm gonna read all that 💀 (i did in fact read all that and it was an amazing analysis of the characters)
@@fkitsp33d thank you... I know I write way too much, but I appreciate the folks who read it anyway.😅
Thank you for the read!
@@angeloelimelech6346 you're welcome, and thank you for reading! ^_^
You think I wouldn't read your comment? Well think again you clot. I read it.
8:03 btw that wasn’t Canute’s brother Harold that died 7 months after Ethelred, but Ethelred’s son Edmond. Then Canute officially became king of England and was crowned in 1018 (the year in which episodes 10-24 of the season take places in, plus that last scene of episode 5). And shortly after he was crowned he poisoned his brother who was then king of Denmark and became king of both England and Denmark as we know. So not only did Canute poison 2 kings, but 3. Plus he plotted for and was partially responsible for his father’s death obviously. That makes 4 kings. He was on absolute demon time 😭
So far the season is just deadass beautiful and i watched it right after season 1 shit was so beautiful i deadass could have just watched them farm the whole ep and i wouldn't be mad i'd appreciate every second
This season was absolutely beautiful. Every plot was wrapped up nicely, every piece of dialogue, every conversation, every tone of every FRAME of this show was tuned to exactly match the emotions the creators wanted us to feel! The violence is shown as disturbing, despicable, gruesome. Even as there are characters thriving in that bloodshed it is never framed in a good light.
The strongest characters in the show are the ones who refuse violence. Olmar in that scene in his home when he says “I was a coward, I couldn’t swallow my pride when they mocked me. But now I can and we’re surrendering.” BROOOOOOO!!!!
Even fucking Ketil man! Seeing him alive at the end didn’t bother me because it was clear that he was broken and lost everything he thought was his. Reduced to a slave on his own farm with calluses ripping into his hands. He is forced to live with what he did, and the fact that he is framed as the only real coward in this show is poetic. Even Olmar the “cowardly son” becomes more of a man than his father ever was.
You did your thing with this video bro. The whole 39:36 minutes of it! YES, this season of VS was pure GAS
This anime had me rethinking life bro. Also side note, the lightskin lounge better make a return cuz that idea kinda clean.
Y’all in for some fun shit. I’ve been reading the manga and the story is absolutely beautiful. I LOVED season and season 2 and so forth is also an absolute gem can’t wait to see it animated
Vinland season 2 is most definitely a 10/10. It was absolutely beautiful. I'm very sparing with my high ratings I give anime, but Vinland knocked it out of the park. And it is so sad to me that not everyone can see that and appreciate how deep and meaningful it actually is.
Season 1 was great Season 2 was way too slow paced extremely boring stuff
@@MV-ri7zuwhen you are at least 10 years old you will understand that this season was a masterpiece
@@Nandomo00 well I stopped at episode 12 anyway, because someone thought it was a bright idea to release only half of the season dubbed. Anyway it was absolutely trash all the way up to that 12th episode doubt it gets any better when they already wasted 12 episodes on the main character just being depressed and pathetic. There is absolutely nothing intricate about the season make no mistake I understand exactly what is happening in the season, but it is painfully boring to watch I dont find it interesting at all.
@@MV-ri7zu go back to dragon ball kid
@@rationxlity go back to "battling" your depression weirdo
I love Gardar Side story, it's literally a char that shows up for like 3 eps and has such a emocional and good development vinland is just great at that ngl
12:15
Just to clarify, Askeladd later confirms that the place they're in is actually "the real world" or reality, symbolizing that the world they live in is much more hellish and any afterlife fantasy.
i hate that so many people dropped it because theres hardly any action. im not gonna lie but i was almost one of those people till after the scene where einer tried to kill thorfinn. seeing the pair grow and seeing thorfinn grow as a person was honestly really awesome to see.
The vallaha scene is easily my favorite moment of the series other than Thorfinn taking his stance again for the first time
Actually, the scene with Thorfinn in that place, that place wasn’t Vallaha, it’s neither hell either, it was just a dream version of the real world that Thorfinn was in.
@@nishchayjain1121 Literally, thorfinn asked askeladd and he literally said it's not Valhalla, and that Valhalla is a much better place lol.
This series genuinely heal me more than any therapy I have ever been in , thanks Vinland saga for curing my PTSD and made me become a better person and most importantly help me let go of my rage and hatred
One thing about the manga as opposed to the anime is they start off with Einar enslaved, they don’t even go in depth about what happened to Einar until later through a flashback while talking to thorfinn and it’s very brief. I appreciated the anime showing us the exact events leading to Einar’s enslavement.
"The soundtrack had me wanting to go outside and just run and keep runnin" has to be the most accurate description I've heard yet
You kind of misunderstood the details of Canute's rise to power, and the distinction between England and Denmark as two different countries. First he has Ethelred poisoned, then Ethelred's son Edmund poisoned as well, securing his position as the king of _England._ Neither of those two were related to Canute in any way. Meanwhile, his brother Harald had been ruling as the king of _Denmark_ and even helped Canute's campaign in England. Canute has him killed anyway so that he can be the king of _both_ countries simultaneously.
People got to understand is that Vinland Saga is a seinen anime or manga, and seinen is meant for an older more mature audience that can enjoy the show. It’s not a shonen where the characters have supernatural powers and amazing abilities or that they are super skilled and must defeat evil. Vinland saga is about how war and fighting are the things that can ruin and majorly affect your life. It’s about how people can grow from their mistakes, how people can learn to be a better version of themselves in a cruel world, and sticking to your ideals. While other shonen is about who can be the strongest at strength or superpowers or skills, Vinland Saga is about suffering and how you can rise above that suffering to learn to become a better, kinder, and more resilient person who keep running towards their goals and sticking to their ideology.
The message “You have no enemies” goes to the idea that no one should ever be hurt and no one deserves to be hurt. To fight when it is unavoidable and when it is necessary. The learn self control.
Because a True Warrior doesn’t need a sword
Are you for real? Thorfinn as a teen has supernatural abilities. I could swear he was doing the "Naruto run" in one of the episodes. The whole Viking army has like "heroes" on their side. Thors was leaping from ship to ship in episode 1. That shit is so over the top.
@@Wlof25 I don’t think you understand what I was trying to say 😅
@@MasterCobble I understand. But seemingly you don't understand that I just contradicted a point you made.
@@Wlof25 of course there are a lot of exaggerate points in the story that was somewhat uhh supernatural but over all it’s not like superpower or anything crazy like that.
@@MasterCobble
If it's not like superpower, then it's even worse. Somehow you have people having superhuman abilities and that is not a super power. Then what is it?
Vinland Saga should be seen in theaters for EVERYONE . We all need to witness Thorfinns journey and learn from him.
Ngl, I saw the lightskin lounge and thought "Ok, so where's Gojo?"
The kettle and arnheid scene actually made me look away. Idk what it was about the scene but I had to close my eyes and take off my headphones her screams of agony going into silence while being beaten as she’s pregnant with his child and he’s aware. I just couldn’t that was almost as bad as the eclipse for me
Man when she was trying so hard to protect her baby with her weak and fragile body doing anything she could to not let the baby get hit that shit was nasty and the worst thing is we got twisted people doing that kind of thing in the real world right now 😢
I think part of the reason why it was painful to watch is because that stuff is real and still happening
Listen it's not that people who watched it for the action are wrong to not like it, but, like, you knew. The first season had action but it was always shown as senseless killing, idiots wasting their lives and a child being traumatized. It was condemned except for a few times like Thors fighting barehand to save his friends in the boat. Obviously it was going to move away from action at some point. So I'm not saying people are wrong, but what were they watching? How did they miss that?
it's simple, these people watched the first season thinking only about the fights, already from the first episode from the first season you could understand where the story was going, with Thors telling Thorfinn that he has no enemies...
if you think season 2 was shit you just don't realize what is getting laid out rn but when season 3 or 4 come people finna switch up real quick
Exactly. Season 3 picks up QUICK
Did u watch the video?
@@Timmy-mi2ef i mean in general no hate to the guy but i hear too many people going shit show no fighting why
@@mysticmajin3769 mb then
@@mysticmajin3769the title was a clickbait and he actually loved season 2
Canute's an absolute menace because his bro already had a wife and kids so it can be assumed that after his brother died Canute took over his kingdom AND everything he owned, including his family lmao
Women were probably the last resort back then ngl
Harald didn't have kids. They said he had no heirs
Valhalla isn't Norse hell it's their "heaven" that all warriors want to go to when they die in combat and its supposed to be a grand hall where they drink and party. Knowing that makes the scene so much more powerful
And they fight and don't die...
and when you think about it this depiction of valhalla is probably the ideal place for a bloodthursty warrior like thorkel like this is his dream to battle and kill for eternity
Ahhh, Leif/Thorfinn meet up also didn’t really happen in the manga either so uh. Yeah I mean for them it’s been 4 years after Thorfinn tried to kill Canute so compared to the first time which was I believe 12 years separated. And because someone was at the point of death, the mood didn’t exactly fit for them to be joyful of meeting once again.
“The punnett square didn’t work out properly”😭😂😂 did Olmar dirty
38:07 I think the message was the same throughout both seasons. Everything in season 1 was simply necessary for the conclusion isle season 2 to truly have weight and meaning behind it
I think a lot of people that complain about season 2 are unaware just how different in approach to story telling shounen and seinen can be. Unfortunately, shounen has more viewers than any other kind of anime, sure shounen happens to be a type of demographic rather than a specific genre, but anime adapted from shounen manga typically follow a specific kind of story telling that most anime viewers have become accustomed to. BECAUSE these popular anime are adapting a Shounen series, they are thus limited in scope in their approach to how the story is written, in other words, a ceiling. Shounen Jump magazine dictates that ceiling; they won't publish ANY kind of manga, they publish a specific kind of manga that tells a story in a specific way that happens to sell well to shounen manga fans, therefore this ceiling separates Shounen writing style from Seinen writing style. It includes character development, themes, plot, profanity, emotions, approach to classic storytelling styles like tragedy/drama/comedy, etc. Unfortunately, you don't have to watch that many shounen anime to start to notice these themes/tropes before they start to become apparent and therefore predictable. As a side note and just to throw in my small opinion, I believe shounen anime spoils its viewers with fight scenes, they are an important aspect to shounen which is apparent because they often display great animation and highly detailed manga illustrations, so fights are an important identity of shounen. But what happens when you spoil these viewers with too many fights and subsequently take them away? They become bored. These viewers would never make it through an anime like the monogatari series which is 99% dialogue. That brings us to Vinland Saga's second season. Back when I read the manga about a year ago, I knew that the next season was going to disappoint a ton of viewers due to the shift in tone. Unfortunately, Vinland Saga's first season had elements that would make a ton of shounen fans feel right at home while at the same time the viewer would have no idea that what they are watching is in fact not shounen but an entirely different demographic subject to vastly different approaches to story telling. Vinland Saga will not feel anything like MHA, Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer, etc... and because of this, a lot of viewers accustomed to the writing style from those anime entered unfamiliar territory upon watching season 2 which unfortunately drove them towards forming negative opinions of the series.
You can always compliment Vinland Saga. I cant understand how people cant like this.
these people are not used to following a story, they want fights in every episode, in their head it's like this, no fights = bad anime, it's not even their fault, the anime industry is only battle shonen or isekai harem, or romcom .
@@Nandomo00 it is sad, because so many masterpieces of stories, were people just wont be able to see the greatness behind it
You don't understand how people can't like something you like?
People aren’t going to like the show anymore bc they story is moving away from violence and is more about Thorfinn growing as a person. Their loss tho it’s still goated manga is fire
Anyone with 2 brain cells dislikes this anime cause there isn’t any random blasts out of ppls hands or power ups
Its not just thorfinn growing as a person tbh. Its the philosophy and message of the story
THE LIGHTSKIN LOOOUNGE LOOOLLLLLLL
this video sets it off for me, i’ve been watching you for probably a month or 2 now but this right here is the reason im subscribing. W insight, W mindset, W commentary, W taste, and W jokes for real. brodie got my respect 🤝🏼
A lot of these videos are being made and I love it. They know there are haters for this beautiful story and create a long video that is clickbait for the haters to agree with them but then explain how it’s such a beautiful story
Thorfinn really won that battle without moving huh
As a manga reader i knew it was gonna happen but it still made me sad
BRO I WAS READY TO MAKE YOU MY ENEMY FOR THAT TITLE
Years ago I heard that the arc after the prologue was just gonna be on a farm, with way less action, but a good story. So I came in with the right expectations, and they were pretty low tbh, but yeah this is the best season of Vinland, I feel like the second half of the show looked a bit better as the story was picking up. I give it a 9/10.
The Lightskin Lounge 😂
You got me dead my guy
"he could be one of us, the lightskins" best description of him yet😂
the second season was freaking amazing. It really goes into how harsh life was for people back then also gives you a glimpse of Thorfinn's own character development. Dude goes full MLK Jr.
Subbed. U sold me when you said you took Philosophy class, that you shouldn't be studying Socrates and whoever, but Thorfinn.. 😂 bro this video, out of all the reviews of VS2, is the best. I was looking for someone who had the zeal and fire to bring the feels of the season into words/reality
The title definitely moved this video like crazy but S2 of Peakland Saga was amazing and adapted so damn well plus I cried so many tears probably more than when I read the manga but can't wait for S3 and anime onlys hopefully like that a lot when we get there but really good video regardless
First time stumbling across your channel. With the title of this video I was ready to start defending one of my favorite pieces of fiction in the comments. But you covered everything very well and made me laugh several times. Great work, instant sub from me. Thanks for covering this story.
Thorfinn came with that talk nojutsu 💀
Bro Canute really had a whole ass glow up
Gardar vs. Snake with playboy carti r.i.p background goes hard
I genuinely question what people who didn't like season 2 though the story was. did they not pay attention to Thors' message? You know, the "you have no enemies", "there's no one you need to hurt" and "a true warrior doesn't need a sword".
My Anime of the Year so far idc what anybody says. Oshi no ko or Hell's Paradise ain't coming close.
It was a great season. It was like a super realistic slice of life viking anime
my personal highlight of this season was the last scenes with Olmar (then again his whole arc was so good)
but the last images of him on the field with his girl, looking built, was so nice to see
I already knew going in that this season wasn't action oriented but the dialogue was TOP TIER I was deadass hyped every Monday to watch episodes before going to my college classes. Easy 10/10
Thorgil is awesome. He's like a one man army. can't wait to see more of him in season 3.
Who’s gonna tell him?
@@dzzyungcan't disrupt the canon event
about that...
@@dzzyungyo chill😂
nah, classic character who loves to fight, nothing spectacular, in fact he will never come back...
Your commentary and editing had me geeking the entire time. Loved this shit. Take my sub bro
we got bleach n jjk coming this month as well as a g5 opening for op when the episode drops so hopefully we get some banger ones
"I was happy for everyone! Except for Kettle"
Vinland Saga had a 180 turn but it was a 180 turn for the good...
I had really mixed feelings about season 1 since it had literally 24 episodes with not even a shimmer of character development, literally 1 dimensional characters. the fighting and killing was cool tho
i really am interested in story writing and character progression so season 2 had me hooked
the fact that people were complaining about how it had like no action shows how attention deprived most anime fans are and cant just enjoy a good story
Have you watched beserk yet if so can you make a reveiw for it ?
The people who hated this season are defo shonen-meatriders and slice of life haters.
Lmao you had me howling. You’re great at narrating/breaking down this 😭🤣
Vinland Saga is such an indisputable masterpiece, this season was by far the best anime this year. I’m so excited (and desperate) for season 3! It shouldn’t take so long this time since it’s probably not changing studios again in the future, probably 2025 or 2026. But man that still feels too long, I need it so bad lol
(essay incoming rip… but I hope it’s insightful to some at least? 😅)
Also a few minor corrections/background information! :)
5:18 the people that attacked Einar’s village had no connection to Thorfinn or Askeladd’s band besides being vikings/maybe part of the danish army. In fact by the time the attack happened they may have no longer even been active/alive since Askeladd dies about a year and a half before Einar arrives on the farm (and most of the crew earlier). Though Einar does mention it was King Sweyn’s army that carried out the attack and he does seem visibly a bit younger when it happens, so it might have been before that. Plus we see him already on the slave ship in the last scene of season 1 (but it’s unclear whether that was actually meant to be present time). Still, it can’t have happened that long before the S1 finale (maybe late summer/autumn of 1013 since they were talking about winter coming). And Einar’s village was in north England, probably near the Scottish border and I don’t believe we ever saw Askeladd’s band go that far north (inland anyway). So Einar’s village was basically just a casualty of the Viking army in general, but not specifically Thorfinn or Askeladd’s band.
And that was only the second attack that killed his mother and sister and made him a slave. The first attack when he was a kid that killed his father was carried out by King Ethelred’s army, the english (which is why Einar hates warriors as a whole and not just the danes/vikings like Askeladd did). Since Einar’s village was of Nordic (and probably Viking) descent and very prominently spoke both english and nordic, I suspect they may have been victims of the attacks by the english on viking settlements (like the one we saw in episode 6 of S1) that started the war between the Danes and the English which most of S1 took place in.
8:47 episodes 6-9 take place in late 1015-maybe early 1016 (Episode 5 kinda confuses it by jumping ahead in the timeline with the narration of Canute’s journey to become king of England). Arnheid gets pregnant in 1018 about 3 years after this scene.
12:15 so this depiction of ‘Valhalla’ is actually really interesting, because Valhalla’s typically basically the heaven of Norse mythology and Viking culture rather than a hellscape like we see here, specifically for warriors. But at the same time a depiction like this also makes a lot of sense when you think about it; generally the vikings enjoy fighting and battle for glory and are pretty bloodthirsty. So an afterlife where they constantly battle and kill each other without end for eternity may actually be desirable for many, especially the very worst of them. But at the same time it’s also implied here that this “Valhalla” may not really be the true thing, that it’s basically hell and that the real Valhalla people should be striving for is the place above, the golden fields where Thorfinn fell from and we’ve seen Thor (aka a “true warrior”). It’s all really clever, especially when you consider it also has a lot of elements of Christianity mixed in too with the “heaven and hell” like imagery (and we even see the what appears to represent the Lamb of Sacrifice, which I believe is a big symbol in Christianity) so it’s technically accurate to both main religions being depicted in the series.
But there’s also the added layer of “is this real? Is it really happening or is it just in Thorfinn’s head?” which is basically left up for interpretation for both Thorfinn and the viewers. That’s really cool and it makes this otherworldly, pretty much supernatural scene fit into the pretty grounded non-fantasy setting and story pretty organically. And it’s just kinda realistic too, because we as living beings have no way of knowing whether this kinda stuff and any visions we have like this are real or just in our minds. Some people would dismiss something like this as a silly dream or nightmare but others may take as a sign from God/the gods or generally something more and live the rest of their life by it or be driven to certain actions. Others may be unsure or somewhere in the middle. They also kinda do something similar with Canute and Sweyn’s talking head.
Truly an incredible episode!
21:10 it’s been about 5 years since they were sold into slavery or have seen each other I believe. When they’re “escaping” together on the cart, Arnheid mentions to Gardar that Hjalti (their son) would be 6 years old by now. He was only 1 when when he died (and when Gardar left for war before that) so it’s been 5 years
That title had me tweaking for a second
That man Thorfinn cured his own PTSD.
Im convinced most anime fans want brain dead fight and gore without any challlenging and thought provoling storytelling. Vinland saga season 2 is the epitome of everything wrong with edgy anime fans.
for me it was kind of Eren Yeager's antithesis in terms of character development. It was good in a way that Thorfinn made me think a different persective not choosing violence over AOTs nothing to do but kill all the enemies. Both are great series
Man you're not ready for the things coming up. It's like a mix of so many deep moments like in season 2 but also more cool fights like in season 1. It's just gonna be something else.
Before anyone tries throwing essays at me in this thread, I already understand why Thorfinn adopted the whole "I have no enemies" mindset. I get it, you don't have to soyjack about it.
I still just think it's extremely fucking lame and wimpy, especially given the kind of world and time period this saga is set in.
28:22 Nah not the controller disconnection🤣💀💀💀💀💀
Man Arnheid proved to me she was the one bro....like everybody blows past that this lady went to set her Husband free, in the middle of Guards and chances of not escaping. That's commitment you can't get from everywhere
Not to mention, she still left with him when she knew he was gonna die and they were gonna get caught so he could die in peace and she could say goodbye. That definitely takes some dedication
She truly deserved better than what happened to her
Ayo first time watching your content, rejoice friend can't wait to see your channel reaching a million.
That's foreshadowing
bro you actually fucking scared me with the title and thumbnail. season 2 is just phenomenal
This season made me cry for 90% of the episodes. I was an emotional wreck when it ended lol.
it is one of the best anime of this season...
i didn't watch it on realease, i just waited for it to be done and binged watched it when all the episodes are released...
awesome development arc... awesome story and great characters...
New here..... Nice to meet'cha. The way you talked about everything going on was absolutely beautiful.
Nice review
My friend, I think it's impossible for Thorfinn and Liv to meet after the horrible event that happened before that , I mean, Arinhide was fatally beaten.
The way they slipped in a slice of life feel amonst all the darkness created beatiful contrast. And the relationships and rebearth brought out of pain and suffering really embodied the feeling of hope that is out there no matter how many times you get knocked down. Also the call to a higher being that can help make sence of all that happens in this world. Alot of anime calls to the lower passion of seeing death and suffering. But we also enjoy a heros triumph. Some may have wnted violence and mayhem, but Im glad there was a cathartic message that may have suppressed our dark desires and consider the pain we may cause others when we are selfish and driven by desire. Regret is a vile burden. Dont chase riches, serve others be a force for good even if you dont get anything in return.
The facial animation in every single scene sold the anime 100% I tend to love series that have wild facial expressions and people losing their minds to the madness, but VS S2 had so much story guven through facial animation and body language alone. Go watch it without subtitles and in absolute silence snd you can still thread together the story and that speaks VOLUMES of how good Mappa did VS well.
They elevated an already amazing story.
I’m lucky enough to witness the first inductee into the light skin lounge. I just finished Vinland and you nailed this. 40 mins flew by.
I ain’t gonna lie I watched your whole video and you had me laughing at some parts man. I wanna make some reviews like this helluva job