Thorkell - Blog Posts

oneforblu

1 month ago

i just finished watching vinland saga s1 and all i can say is WOW. for starters, this season was so well done; i was hooked from the first episode. the overall theme of war and violence was so well written. as it was stated by askeladd, before it was the danes causing destruction, it was the saxons and others before them. violence is a vicious cycle that, unfortunately, causes its victims, thorfinn in this case, to become just as violent or even more so than their perpetrators.

askeladd's last words perfectly emphasize how lost in revenge thorfinn was. while all the characters in the story move forward to achieve their goals (canute, askeladd, and thorkell), thorfinn is always stuck in his revenge plan. he goes along with whatever askeladd says to have the chance to duel and kill him, but that's all there is. thorfinn has been fixated on revenge for 10 years. everything he has done has been for the sake of killing askeladd. compared to canute who was much like the 6 year old naive, innocent thorfinn, he didn't stay in one place emotionally. after ragnar died, it didn't take long for canute to grow from his loss and search for a purpose in his life. however, thorfinn can not seem to let go. so when canute kills askeladd, all thorfinn can do is scream, beg, cry, and yell. his entire life's purpose is dying in front of him, and there's nothing he can do about it.

the look of despair on his face makes my heart break. despite his hatred for askeladd, the two had a genuine fondness. after all, throughout these 10 years, thorfinn had decided to stick beside askeladd in hopes of completing his revenge. thorfinn's one reason for living, his reason for never going back home, was to kill the man that murdered his father. now he's lost his one true purpose. thorfinn never thought beyond his revenge, almost like he had planned to live that way to the end. who could blame him? he was a child when he started seeking vengeance, and he's still a child now. being able to kill people doesn't change that fact. everything thorfinn has known for the past decade is now gone in the blink of an eye. what else does thorfinn have to live for?

"be a true warrior…son of thors”

this line, in particular, made me so emotional. out of all the last words to have for thorfinn, he chose these ones in particular. it shows the amount of respect he has for thors as a warrior and how he believes in thorfinn's capabilities. under different circumstances, i'm positive that thorfinn could have looked up to askeladd and developed a proper bond.

there's so much room for thorfinn's character to grow. with no sense of direction or purpose, it leaves room for many opportunities to develop his character so much more. although i'm sure there will be many challenges for him, i'm very excited to see where he ends up at the end of next season.