Not many anime these days can make me cry
at the end of a 24 episode season where we see the exploits of brutal vikings killing
and killing a lot while also showing off their gluttony and whatever their version of manners
are. But yet, Vinland Saga did it, and in this
video I want to talk about the last episode, maybe the last couple episodes of Vinland
Saga and its perfect ending. Of course, I am a little late now, but I am
just coming back from a break so I’m making videos on anime that I’m now just finishing
up a month or so after they originally finished airing. So sorry for the wait, but I just wanted to
sit down today and talk about Vinland Saga, at least one more time. More on that later, but for now let’s get
into the video. Spoilers of course, you have been warned. So how about that last episode, Askeladd beheads
King Sweyn in an act of feigned madness to save his beloved Wales and as well to not
compromise Prince Canute and his mission. It was the only option he had, after all,
he wasn’t able to convince Sweyn to not conquer Wales, and when Sweyn made him choose
between Wales and Canute, the lines were forcefully drawn. He knew there was no other option than the
one we saw play out. And this was a long time coming for Askeladd
as well, you could see his arc coming to an end when pretty much every one of his men
either turned against him, or died. His attachment to this world was dying off,
and it only made sense for Askeladd to perish in hindsight. Askeladd was a bastard, a man who lived for
no one and with no law to tie him down. Truly a free man, never tamed. But oh boy was he a treat to watch, to see
his character develop. I know I’ve already gushed enough about
Askeladd, but his importance to this story cannot be understated. It’s like never mentioning Griffith in a
Berserk video or never mentioning Vegeta in a Dargon Ball video. And we see his impact on this story once Thorfinn
makes his way into the fray, and Askeladd tells him to stay away. There we see he’s been stabbed by Canute
himself and for a moment, for one moment they had me fooled. Askeladd almost convinces us Canute’s stab
was weak with a, “is that all you’ve got, kid” sort of line, then he ends it with,
“well it was a good one”. Such a beautiful moment, the way it lead up,
the way it played out, and the way it ended, it was just so beautiful. And thanks to Askeladd’s clothing he has
over him, we aren’t sure just the damage this attack caused which added to this scene
and the shock of it all. But nonetheless, it was a mortal wound to
old Askeladd, and Thorfinn is in complete and utter shock at this happening. So, as he falls, he catches Askeladd before
he is able to hit the ground and questions him on why he got himself in this situation. Thorfinn knows Askeladd well enough at this
point to know this whole scene isn’t like him at all. So as Thorfinn is yelling at him, Askeladd
tells him to shut up, to let him rest, which signals, hey, this is for real, he’s actually
going to die right now. And by this point, I’d the water works were
in full effect. I had the whole chin thing going on, my eyes
where squinting and the tears were rolling. I was hideous. But one of my favorite lines (really it’s
all of this speech honestly, but you get the point), is he tells Thorfinn he’ll give
him his life, that he can kill him now. But he also says “We’re enemies after
all, right?” Man that is just, that’s packed full of
so much meaning, so much emotion and that one line reflects on practically the whole
series. But the way he says it, questioning as if
it's a matter of fact made my mind race. Well, this is really just a theory of course,
but in my head I see many different ways this could play out, but this is my favorite way. Upon hearing this from Askeladd, Thorfinn
questions this and then asks “Are you going to die?”. And his actions attacking Canute later on
suggest that he’s made he won’t get to kill him, I think there is more to this. Thorfinn needs Askeladd, like a son needs
a father. For eleven years, he’s been Askeladd’s
go-to guy to get in and do his dirty work. But there’s more to it, there always is. Thorfinn has essentially replaced Thors with
Askeladd and has created this twisted father-son relationship. I won’t go too much into this, I talked
about this in great length in my last Vinland Saga video for the 12 Days of Anime. So go check that out if you want to hear more
of my thoughts on that specific theory I have. But establishing this is important as Askeladds
next words are bombshells, and will have an everlasting impact on Thorfinn’s character,
mark my words. He tells Thorfinn to hurry up, to get it done
quick because he doesn’t have much left. And how does Thorfinn reply? How he’s always replied, “Are you making
a fool out of me Askeladd? This is the final straw” and then he screeches
like a pterodactyl and for some reason I’m attracted to Canute, ignore that last part. Screaming, he tells him it wasn’t supposed
to be like this, he was supposed to fill his dark soul with light!!! (Devil May Cry… you get it? Alright I’ll stop for now). And as well that he will never forgive Askeladd
if he dies on him now, right before he was supposed to get his revenge. And Askeladd asks, how Thorfinn plans to live
his life. I took this as both a question to Thorfinn,
but also himself, maybe more thinking out loud in a way. Askeladd has spent 11 years with him, and
now that he’s finally gone, he wonders how this little boy now a teenager will live without
him. It’s a question that Thorfinn himself hasn’t
asked, because maybe he just always expected Askeladd to be around to always get back up
and to always be there for another duel. He then tells Thorfinn to move forward, that
there is so much more to the world than this boring place, and that he’s the son of Thors
after all, he should be able to do it and achieve even more than Thors did. This isn’t Thorfinn’s place, he’s destined
for so much more and Askeladd sees that in him, and wants him to realize it now. And with his last words, he tells Thorfinn
to become a true warrior, and then passes on. In my head, I believe that Thorfinn at this
point has a couple of paths he can go down. He can blame all of this on Canute, and continue
the hatred and the anger he’s felt for 11 years and essentially replace Askeladd for
Canute and in turn (in his head) create a murderer of his father by proxy. And it would make sense too, for 11 years
he’s wanted to end Askeladd’s life and everyone, even Canute knows that Askeladd’s
life was to be taken by Thorfinn. Making Canute’s decision the ever more difficult
in hindsight. One of the obvious paths is just for him to
project everything Askeladd did onto Canute and then try to bring him down. With Thorkell being in play as well as Viking
James Hetfield, it wouldn’t be the greatest surprise. Another path for Thorfinn to head down is
to simply reflect on what Askeladd said, because Askeladd was 100% right about Thorfinn. He’s been tunnel visioned on killing Askeladd
to the point where when Lief Errickson brings up home, Helga and Ylva, Thorfinn tells him
to not bring that up now. So what better way than for Thorfinn to head
back to Lief’s ship and they go back home to to Ylva and Helga. I personally would love to see him reunite
with his family, as I love the dynamic and relationship between Lief and Thorfinn. But seeing Helga again too as we know her
to be frail and to see how she’s gotten along over the years and how much she likely
misses her son. Plus you have Ylva, who’s especially charming
and her also being the daughter of Thors is something that has made her incredibly strong
and also an expert on life advice. In all honesty, it’s something I hope happens
regardless, I love Helga and Ylva. But not only was the show’s ending perfect
in writing and pacing, but also the last episode’s animation was spectacular. As Thorfinn is dragged away from King Canute
and Askeladd’s lifeless body, he loses grasp of his fathers dagger, something he’s had
since the very beginning of this show. As the dagger falls, we see in its reflection
everything that has happened up until this point in the story. I think this also probably plays on Thorfinn
letting go of his past, and his childhood, and that his fight (at least for now) is over
since Askeladd has died. This scene itself was so powerful because
the animation was basically at its climax here. These last two episodes has some of the best
animation of the Fall 2019 and of the year 2019, not because it had amazing fights, but
because it’s nuanced and it played perfectly to the story. I mean, going back to Lief’s talk with Thorfinn
as an example. Lief’s facial expressions are on point and
so perfectly crafted that there is almost a sense of an uncanny valley. I’ve never experienced that before in an
anime. The
way Lief expresses his grief, sadness and regret over everything that’s happened to
Thorfinn. Him being torn away from his family due to
Askeladd. Traveling with these brutal vikings for 11
years with his only reason for living to kill the man which killed his father, leading him
down a cold hard life of revenge. I think it was important we experience these
scenes, especially through Lief, because he is one of our only remaining connections to
the Thorfinn of old, and his life before. This man obviously regrets everything that’s
happened to him and genuinely feels hurt for Thorfinn and can see that Thorfinn himself
is still hurting from losing Thors all of these years later. And in a way that’s a crying shame, and
a tragedy for Thorfinn and his family. To be honest, there’s so much more I could
say, but I’ve said practically everything I can at this moment without this video becoming
a 60 minute video diving into everything I possibly can. And while I’d love to do that, that’s
simply not feasible for me right now. But I really just wanted to say that Vinland
Saga Season 1 was spectacular, one of the best anime I’ll probably ever see and it
left us with such an impactful ending that I won’t forget for a long time to come. This series made me cry over the antagonist
dying for christ sake, it was awesome. And on top of that, it connected me with so
many different kinds of characters and stories. From the story of Anne and her whole village
being murdered by Askeladd, Canute’s eventual maturation into a King, Bjorn’s death and
Askeladd’s fight and all that meant to him. And of course the fall of Thorfinn which saw
him go from an innocent boy to a brutal viking and left him with nothing but hatred in his
heart. But that’s a good ending no, we’ve wrapped
up pretty much every character from this season and now all of our focus can be on Thorfinn,
with multiple avenues for his character to head down. We weren’t told what they would be, we’ve
been left to our own imaginations to decide for ourselves what could be next for Thorfinn’s
journey. Will it be total self destruction, or will
it lead to Thorfinn becoming the man even Thors wasn’t able to become, only time will
tell with a rumored Season 2 already on the way from Wit Studio. But there is still more to tackle yet and,
hell why not let’s give this a 10 on MAL, which I usually never score anime on MAL anymore
so take that as you will. And if you enjoyed this video, then for sure
help me out by dropping a like and commenting. This is sorta my first real video back so
I know for a fact the writing wasn’t as good as it could be. But I plan to start working longer and harder
(heh) on these videos in general since I’ve moved to a 1 video a week schedule with extra
videos coming out on a somewhat regular basis. Plus my second channel will have at least
one video a week as well, so if you aren’t subscribe to my second channel called Bento,
then you can find that in the description to get some extra content. Actually, there was a whole live stream I
did recently where I talked about all of the updates and changes I’ve made to the channel. So really if you haven’t, I’ll link in
the top comment with a timestamp to that section of the stream. So, with that being said.
