Vinland Saga Season 2

Episode 13

“Dark Clouds” kicks off the second half of this glorious second season of Vinland Saga with one hell of a hook: Soaked in the blood of his former masters and cloaked in flame, a slave pays back all of the suffering and insults he's endured with the righteous fury of a newly free man. The former slave gladly accepts the offer to take ownership of his old master, who we learn is named Kjallakr, but only because it means that he will have the dominion over life and death that his former master and his sons once wielded so proudly. He lets Kjallakr's wife and young child live, though, because now that he is free, he has to go get her. Eventually, we discover that the “her” that this man, Gardar, is going to find is none other than Arnheid, which means that there are now several different varieties of hell descending swiftly upon Ketil's farm.

Vinland Saga has done such a good job, lately, of illustrating the inhumanity and pointlessness of the violence that plagues its societies that it might even be difficult—though not impossible—to find the cathartic pleasure of watching a slave rise up out of bondage with such violent force. Once again, it is a sign of this show's genius that it can so delicately walk the line of paradox that comes with that tension that pulls us in two directions; in one, we desire peace and an end to all of the senseless killing that the characters in Vinland Saga have been forced to endure; in the other, we are driven by the instinctual empathy that (most of us, at least) have for anyone that has been dehumanized and forced into servitude by the unfeeling mechanisms of evil that their world still allows.

(True Story: I wrote the above paragraphs before I even got to the excellent new opening theme for this cour, which is set to a song that is literally titled “Paradox” and contains lyrics that directly correspond to the inner conflicts of characters like Thorfinn. Is there any better sign of thematic synergy than that?)

The rest of “Dark Clouds” is content to live up to the expectations set by its title and allow the approaching storm that Gardar is bringing along with him to brew in the distance. This is perfectly fine by me, as it allows us to reunite with Thorfinn and Einar after the weeks we spent with the Canute side of the story. Their lives offer an excellent contrast to the hell that Gardar just escaped from because even though the pair find themselves helping Snake and Arnheid care for a suddenly ill and bedridden Sverkel, there is a warmth and humanity to their lives on Ketil's farm that Gardar almost certainly never experienced (even Snake thinks that Kjallakr got what he deserved, based on the way he treated his slaves). The show makes sure to never let us or the characters forget that our heroes are still in bondage — Arnheid says that the laughter and merrymaking they all shared almost allowed her to forget their lives as slaves — but the atmosphere still reinforces the manner in which these good and honest people have been able to help each other heal and find whatever scraps of happiness they can afford to share together.

One of the most interesting developments is Thorfinn's growing interest in the Christian Gospel, as evidenced by his eavesdropping on Snake while Sverkel gets his daily dose of the Scripture. I'm about as far away from being a religious person as you can get, but I have a lot of appreciation for the Abrahamic Scriptures and the New Testament as historical and philosophical texts, and I'm always fascinated when such titanic cultural forces are filtered and interpreted through the pop-culture of cultures like Japan. It's no secret that Christian imagery and mythology have long been a source of…interesting reinterpretation in anime throughout the decades, which has certainly been fun in its own right, but I'm very eager to see when a story like Vinland Saga actually takes the historical and religious context of things like the Bible seriously. Given everything that Thorfinn has gone through, it makes perfect sense that he would gravitate towards the message of “loving your enemy” and working towards a paradise of peace and prosperity for all.

The peace that Thorfinn and Einar have been reveling in cannot possibly last, though, not in this world that they've been chained to, especially when so many storm clouds are converging over their heads. Some of these thunderous shifts in the status quo may end up being for the better since Arnheid certainly doesn't seem upset that her terrifyingly strong and imposing husband has returned after all these years. It is difficult to see figures like Canute and his army as anything other than a catastrophe in the making, though. We can only pray that our heroes will make it out of the inevitable tempest with as few scars to show for it as possible. Until Thorfinn and Einar are free from their chains at last, that's about the best we can hope for.

Rating:

Vinland Saga Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop culture, which can also be found on Twitter, his blog, and his podcast.