User Reviews

These last two episodes of Vinland Saga have been an extreme turning point that might influence the trajectory of the rest of the series. Considering Canute's reign of Terror that consisted of poisoning his enemies, manipulating Olmar and planning to take Ketil's wealth for his project, I thought it was a forgone conclusion that he was going to decline Thorfinn's wish of leaving the farm alone. But it turns out he decided to push away his fathers voice and go a different route.

In a beautiful scene as the sun was setting on the ocean, Thorfinn told Canute that he would refuse to fight and run away from all the violence that came his way. This side of Thorfinn had Canute completely shook, considering this wasn't the man he knew in the prologue. I'm assuming that's why he didn't want to initially speak with him, because he thought it wasn't worth the potential trouble. But Canute ended up finding himself pleading to Thorfinn as he was walking away as he refused to fight, leaving him flabbergasted and laughing as he never dealt with a peace treaty like this before. But in a shocking twist he decided to leave the farm be, and begin his redemption arc.

Thorfinn's influence couldn't have been stronger. He not only convinced the king to spare Ketil's farm, but simultaneously made the people there so grateful that they will likely take on his lifestyle of running away from violence. The former "warriors" are now working as farmers and focusing on creating instead of killing. Olmar took the steps of becoming a true man, and it's safe to say Thorfinn only made him more confident in that decision. Earlier in the season I mentioned that Olmar's character had a soft side to it that should be focused on more and I'm glad that soft side turned into the man he is now.

To focus on one of the final, and in my opinion best scenes of the episode, Thorfinn and Einar standing at Arnheid's grave discussing their goal. That being going far away from violence and war for the sake of freeing others and reaching a land that those who wish to harm can't reach, that being Vinland. In an emotionally beautiful moment, Thorfinn and Einar call each other brothers and are prepared to head on their journey.

The storm has passed in Vinland Saga and there seems to be many great waves to come, but the tide could turn at any moment so I'm honestly not ready to let my guard down. But considering how much Thorfinn has changed the atmosphere of this show it's hard to see that momentum being thrown out so quickly. Every word this man says has so much weight to it and means so much that I just genuinely hope the best for him. And while the road won't be perfect, I hope he, Einar, Old Man Leif, and anyone who joins them can complete their mission of reaching Vinland.

Nah nah nah what. What? Seriously, what? I've only ever written two individual episode reviews before but this episode moved me in ways I could have never imagined so here we are. Just to acknowledge the animation real quick- almost every single frame of this episode looked like a wallpaper. Seriously breathtaking direction, coloring, etc. Pretty much the entire season so far has been phenomenal visually but this episode and the last have just felt like wow man. The animation alone leaves me at a loss for words but as for the actual plot developments and character interactions ...

Of course, there's the conclusion of Thorfinn and Canute's conversation about peace and the prospects of creating a future utopia for the world to live in. Canute acknowledging Thorfinn's beauty. Thorfinn acknowledging that the wisest choice would be not to escape but to run away. To Vinland. Thorfinn and Einar's moment in front of Arnheid's grave. Thorfinn's voice acting. Their handshake as brothers. The sky changing colors and the birds soaring and ships sailing. It's so good. Olmar's confession of admiration to Thorfinn. Snake finally telling them his real name out of respect as they depart from Ketil's farm. And finally, the little montage that ensues is so fitting. The farmhands continue farming, Pater visits the late Arnheid, and the short "carve" speech plays in between as a wonderful way to conclude the Farmland Saga.

Two Paths is beautiful on all accounts. Thank you Yukimura and thank you Mappa.

Thors would be proud.

So... We have finally made it to the beautiful, yet bittersweet conclusion to the Farmland Arc and I must say... What an amazing, but emotional journey it has been. So many incredible and amazing moments that have happened to lead up to this fantastic conclusion. Oh... And the iconic Handshake scene... I must say. After hearing that they would reorder the scene... I was a bit worried it wouldn't still have the emotional weight I felt from it in the Manga, but thankfully I was wrong and man! What an amazing adaptation of the scene! I mean from the visuals.. To the voice.. To the soundtrack.. And to the emotions I felt from the scene... It literally couldn't have been more PERFECT. Mappa absolutely nailed that scene and went above and beyond. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect adaptation. Mappa and your staff and crew... You guys killed it!

Overall this is as good as it will get when it comes to a perfect conclusion and overall satisfaction. Like legitimately (Even though I definitely want a Season 3) I wouldn't even be mad If this is where the series ends. It's beautiful, inspiring, and would make to a very hopeful end If this is where Vinland Saga ended. Overall very satisfied and this was a damn good episode.

10/10.

Peak television

Wow just wow. This show hardly ever disappoints and this is no exception. We continue with thorfinn and Canutes discussion and the Vikings begin to threaten thorfinn to leave. We then get this really amazing scene in canutes mind with thorfinn covered in a glowing light surrounded by sheep and Canute by himself in the dark only being talked to by his dead father telling him to kill thorfinn since he's dangerous to his ideals. It really shows the progression of each character and it's great symbolism all around. The sheep representing the common people and the light representing hope in thorfinn.

Thorfinn responds to Canute by saying he'll run away because he refuses to kill or fight anyone. He doesn't know whether Canute is right wrong so his option is to run. He and einar leave and this breaks Canute with his honesty and refusal to fight or have something up his sleeve. Canute laughs at this in disbelief and shock.

He looks at thorfinn and says to himself impressed that the Vikings are capable of producing someone like you when he looks at thorfinn. Thorfinn says he'll run to a place with no war and no fighting. He wants to create a place beyond reach of the Vikings. He wants to fill the hole that Canute can't. He says if you keep oppressing people eventually no one will save him.

Canute leaves the farm with all of his men and he's actually seen happy for the first time season early season one.

Canute disbands most of his armies and will no longer raid farms and the English people become more trusting of him after he stops pressuring them for resources. He feels like he gained new allies in thorfinn and einar and leaves happy.

Thorfinn finds purpose with einar wanting to create a world where he can tell people to live in peace, where he can make a place more appealing than death. A world everyone wants to live in. As they are about to leave ketils farm with Leif we see that Pater is still alive, olmar thanks them for everything and he wants to be like thorfinn. Thorfinn tells him that he's proud and that they should protect the farm at all costs. They thank the old master for his help too. They depart on ship and as they drift away Snake reveals his real name as roald son of grim to them.

Everyone came out of this episode happy except for thorgil who was all geared up and ready to fight Canute, he mad he couldn't fight and kill Canute before he left. He was the only one who was truly disappointed at this outcome

What a powerful and great written episode and season. It feels like the conclusion of the first part of this story (season one and two) a lot of the stories have concluded and wrapped up perfectly and I think they nailed it in every single aspect

Great soundtrack, great storytelling, great character development, great animation. Everything in this show is fantastic so I'm excited for the next and final episode of the season and to see where season three takes us next.

I don't really know where to begin. This episode was a masterpiece on so many levels, that I truly don't regret saying: This is the single best anime episode that I have ever seen. It spoke to my heart in a way that was nothing short of magical.

We accompanied these characters over 23 episodes, 23 weekly releases, and they have guided us in 23 small steps to think about violence, war and hatred in a new light. The amount of philosophy that is engraved in this episode and these characters is astonishing. It feels like every one of the characters we have come to love has completed a journey to become a better person, it all coming full circle in this episode.

What began as a dubious and for some uninteresting farming story, has become the most cathartic and beautiful story about compassion and forgiveness for me. Canute saying that Thorfinn has learned to speak from a certain person, with the latter just chuckling, perfectly shows how Thorfinn has come to terms with his past and accepts that he is a product not just of one father but also of a second father in the form of Askeladd.

The musical score perfectly underlines the beauty and depth of this episode. Orchestral themes play when great things happen, just one instrument when a person is thinking and going deep within themselves. It's all a huge buildup ending in a callback to the title of episode one.

I really thank the producers of the anime and the writer of vinland saga for creating such a beautiful piece of fiction with truly tremendous impact. In the words of Olmar: I think we should all strive to be just a little more like Thorfinn, creating somewhere not here.

Absolutely stunning from start to finish. The first episode I have left a review on (to my knowledge).

What Vinland Saga does best is its exploration of philosophical matters. The message of the episode is beautiful and the fact it is only conveyed in 20 minutes makes it that much more impressive. L

We see Two Paths. One of Canute and Thorfinn after their encounter. The paths carved out are the reflection and ultimate exaltation of their independent character development throughout the season. It is clear: words have the power to change the world. This is shown in the beauty of the environment; as sunset becomes twilight Canute makes a decision that acts as his own awakening. Thorfinn's words changed King Canute and transformed his mission from one of violent conquest into peaceful reconciliation.

Meanwhile, Thorfinn endeavours to find Vinland with Einar and the emotional impact of their interaction at Arnheid's grave is so raw, delivered perfectly in the voice acting and musical score. Snake revealing his name, too, is an excellent way to wrap up his character and the interaction with Thorfinn and Einar.

Nothing but praise and admiration for this episode, this season and this show.

You can't just turn everything super-wholesome in one episode. It doesn't make logical sense, it doesn't make tonal sense, it doesn't make thematic sense, it doesn't make character sense.

First of all Canute just... changing his mind after the discussion with Thorfinn. I simply don't buy it. Nothing Thorfinn said was that groundbreaking. And we barely see Canute struggle with the decision. He just starts laughing and he's all happy and chill and then decides to leave off-screen. Even if this discussion did make him completely change his mind about his entire plan (which I do not get at all)... does he feel 0 guilt about the 100+ people whose deaths he just caused for absolutely nothing? Nope! He just laughs and is apparently good now. Let's ignore the buildup to him as the opposite of Thorfinn. No, I guess they are together in this fight or something, Canute just changed all his beliefs and ideals and plans he's been working on for years because... Thorfinn decided to run away from war? Huh??

And then the exposition dump about him disbanding his armies etc... so naive. Achieving peace is not this easy. And more importantly: it's uninteresting to watch in a show. I want to see characters struggle to achieve what they want. And having peace in the world depicted in Vinland Saga? It's not as easy as just deciding to disband your armies with happy piano music playing in the background! Where do you think all those Vikings are gonna go? Half of them will just become pirates and start raiding anyway, it's not like you have an army to stop them. And you really want me to believe the English lords will just accept your rule now that you don't have the power to back it up? Nonsense.

This whole tonal shift REALLY does not work for me. The way this season concluded felt insanely naive at best and poorly written at worst. Which sucks because I was loving it so far and super interested to see how it turned out. Anyway, I know I'll get unhelpful-ed to oblivion by fans but I just had to get my thoughts out there. Gootbye.

By far the best episode of the series in my eyes. A perfect conclusion for many characters and a start of something new for Vinland Saga. Some of the best dialogue of the entire show all added together to create such an emotional impact. Canute's character development from Season 1 is truly amazing and this series has done the manga justice. I was skeptical about the decision to move the handshake between Einar and Thorfinn but damn did they deliver on that moment perfectly. The final sequence showing how all the harsh, war-torn characters have truly changed because of Thorfinn's actions perfectly summed up the theme of this season. Thank you so much Vinland Saga for creating this masterpiece of an episode.

Thank you Shuhei Yabuta and the rest of the staff for this amazing season. You have turnt Yukimuras masterpiece into an even greater masterpiece. The voice acting, Ost choice and direction gave this arc a whole new level of enjoyment.

So many loveable characters we met this arc. Snake, Sverkel, Pater and eventually Olmar came around. And we cannot forget Arnheid, her being the driving force for Thorfinn and Einars dream makes her scenes more impactful and lets us know her suffering wasn't in vain.

The way the intro to the first episode "carve it" tied back in was masterfully done. This was an all timer episode. On the level of the season 1 finale. Maybe even better. All credit goes to the team working on this along side Shuhei Yabuta.

Lastly i want to let anyone know that if you didn't like the fact that canute just gave up then you are disagreeing with history! King Cnut the great actually released his forces from England leading the English to gain a level of trust and respect for the king. The way Makoto Yukimura ties in real historical accounts baffles me. It was the same with Canutes speech about the tide. That also happened in real life. I wish i could experience this story fresh again because its been a spectacle. A one of a kind story that can never be replaced or topped!!!!

I love the symbolism and complexity of this episode, specifically the conversation between Thorfinn and Canute.

Canute saw in Thorfinn exactly what he so despised and dreamed of eradicating. For the king, Thorfinn was his introduction to world world of warriors, a profound example of human cruelty, the ultimate Viking. Canute believed that humanity is lost and simply does not learn from their mistakes, unless you threaten them with violence and harm. That is the easiest way to achieve your goal.

And now he sees that even a man like Thorfinn was capable of changing. The boy gave up cruelty in the name of prosperity. He chose the hard way, stating that violence should be the last resort. A truly peaceful community cannot be built on corpses and people always being afraid of their leader hurting them.

This gave Canute hope that there's another way. He doesn't have to be like his father, whom he strongly despises. Of course for a king some violence is always inevitable, but why not try a more risky, but peaceful approach? After all, back in season 1 Canute learned that love can only be gratuitous. If he strives to achieve that form of love during his rule, then he should take risks in hope of bettering his kingdom, by ending the constant wars and concentrating on improving the lands he now had. This also gave Canute hope that he could do a better job as a ruler, without sacrificing so many people that he once dreamt of "leading to heaven."

He also appreciated that Thorfinn was honest with him during the negotiations, like no one else, because the everyone else around him always pursue their own goals and weave intrigues. He lived in a gilded cage all his life and it was very pleasant for him to have at least one honest heart-to-heart conversation after so many years.

It's partially because of people like Thorfinn, humanity has developed socially. After all, for humanity to move forward, it must always find solutions that go beyond what is considered unattainable or inevitable. And there must also be unique individuals who will lead people to find these solutions - to look for alternative paths or set a good example for others.

Thanks to many people like Thorfinn throughout human history, many of us now live in a developed society, where it's not always about the principle of "might makes right". It's far from perfect, but the progress is still there.

If we consider first season x, season two has been a big bad Y. Is the genre changed? Is it drama now? I just kept waiting for the time to see how things shuffle it's episode 23 and the some old boring, farm boy, be kind garbage. Instead of betting against his win, he bets against how much hits he can endure. It was a total wast of time this season. The season one had nailed me by the screen, season 2 is like finding an excuse to run aways and finish the show as soos as possible.

As an anime fan, i wouldn't recommend season 2 anyone, it's somehow like season finale of game of thrones. Some seasons are meant to be to show how good the old ones were.

I really enjoyed this episode, especially the contrast between the season 1 finale and the ending of this arc. First season ended with a bloodbath, while the second season ends with a conversation. And both times the outcome managed to save more lives in the long run. Both methods worked.

I like the fact that this anime understands that both paths of conflict resolution are valid. Therefore, it doesn't condemn Canute for his methods, but also rewards him for finally acknowledging the alternative. It's a very mature idea that there is no ultimate worldview on violence and peace, no matter what the writer's opinion on this topic are. Everyone are right in their own way.

A powerful message and an amazing episode overall.