Vinland Saga Season 2 – 22

「叛逆の帝王」 (Hangyaku no TeiouThe King of Rebellion)
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I have to say, on balance, Truffaut did it better. This whole Drott/100 punches angle never really worked for me. I feel like I can see where Yukimura is going with it, and it would have worked better in the anime if it – like the manga – had made it clear Thorfinn was thinking mainly of Sverkel and Pater and not Ketil. But it still lacks the poetry and profundity most of this season has packed in my view. It’s not how I would have chosen to see the denouement of this epic arc play itself out. But I realize I’m setting some incredibly high bars there,

The larger question Vinland is getting at here is indeed profound, no question – it’s the delivery that doesn’t quite click in my view. Is this really what Thorfinn’s new way amounts to – is “endure” the only recourse available to those who want to opt out of this world of slavery and war and oppression? The reason this is all so powerful – and painful – is that Yukimura has chosen to ask questions for which there are no easy answers. I still believe the answer is to leave the world behind altogether and try to build a new one. A hellishly difficult exercise that faces harrowing odds against success, but still better than the alternative we see playing out here.

So yes, Thorfinn is symbolically taking a hundred blows for mankind here. It’s a powerful analogy but reeks a bit of torture porn, and frankly I think Thorfinn’s journey is more interesting if he doesn’t become too much of a martyr figure. But it certainly can’t be denied that he’s committed to the cause. He is indeed a very different man than the one Canute left behind (and apparently sold into slavery, based on their conversation later in the episode).

Thorfinn’s goals are different from Olmar’s – which is why he can’t stand down when Ketil’s younger son arrives with Snake (if it’s even an option). All Snake’s horrified intervention does is throw off Thorrfinn’s concentration long enough for Drott to land a real blow on him. I’m not sure it’s realistic that even an expert fighter like Thorfinn could walk away from 100 punches by a man like Drott – or however many he can manage before he effectively collapses from exhaustion (punching people is hard work). But Thorfinn isn’t here to surrender on Ketil’s behalf – he’s here to get Canute to do the right thing. It’s a noble notion – a real peace, the only possible one – but come on, it never had a chance.

Wulf is no fool, but it’s obvious he and Thorfinn are not speaking the same language. Thorfinn has won the respect of Drott and the others, and he’ll get his audience, but Canute is not going to be a receptive one. It’s hard to imagine Thorfinn ever thought he was, but in his defense Canute has changed just as much in four years as Thorfinn has. Thoerfinn takes Einar along too, and he seems little awed by being in the presence of a king. And it’s Einar who immediately calls out Canute’s motives for what they are. Einar’s speech about what it means to take a farm away from a man who’s worked hard to make it thrive is the most emotionally honest part of the episode.

Ideals are the luxury of the powerful in the world depicted here. They mean nothing to Einar’s dead family, to Arnheid. Canute represents one of manga’s great hypocrites to me. He’s forever preaching high ideas he’s all too happy to abandon when his ambition demands it. He can talk of his rebellion against God all he wants, talk about saving the Vikings – all he’s done as king is kill and steal. He’s smart, he’s formidable, he’s ruthless – all qualities than help a king gather power unto himself. But I see no evidence he has any ambition to create a world that’s any better for the ones being systematically oppressed by this one.

There is an apocryphal story of King Canute and the tide, often misinterpreted as depicting Canute as believing he has magical powers when in fact, the purpose is to display his humility. Yukimura’s Canute definitely has a curious mix of humility and hubris, and this display seems very much in character. He’s trying to show Thorfinn just how badly the odds are stacked against him, to justify why he does the things he does. I don’t think he’ll find a receptive audience in Thorfinn (never mind Einar) any more than the converse. I don’t see a middle ground here, and as such it’s hard to predict the endgame – Canute will let Thorfinn walk away, but he’s not letting the farm out of his grasp. Thorfinn’s options are narrowing all the time, and soon there really will only be that very radical one left.

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