r/VinlandSaga

I know it's because the lad was malnourished, but still.

Thorfinn with a full belly could be like 6'7"-6'9" or even taller lol.

My daughter and I traveled from Wales to Italy to meet master Makoto Yukimura. Even though we didn't manage to gain access to the book signing, the master was kind enough to accommodate my daughter anyway, making her the happiest little girl in the world!

🎉🥳🎂🎊¡Hoy el creador de Vinland Saga cumple 50 años! ¡Feliz cumpleaños Makoto Yukimura!🎉🥳🎂🎊

To get into what makes Vinland Saga truly great, we must look at the supporting cast. The sheer amount of compelling characterization is at the top tier of animanga. In this analysis I will be examining Vinland Saga Season 2, as I believe that it is the embodiment of phenomenal character writing

Yukimura doesn't use the side characters as pointers towards Thorfinn's ideal of Vinland, he writes them as psychologically intricate people trapped within the cruel Norse culture - they have their own internal complexities, goals, and desires

Ketil:

It is difficult to not instantly label Ketil as a despicable hypocrite, especially considering the actions that he takes later in the story. However, he isn't inherently evil. He wants to be a righteous and kindhearted man, but his actualized morality is entirely conditional - it only exists when it comes at a low cost and feeds his ego

At first glance, like when Ketil takes pity on the boy that stole to feed his family and spares him from having his hands cut off, we see that he is different from the other masters. Him allowing slaves to earn their freedom and treating them with a basic level of respect suggests that he is perhaps even a "good slave owner" that is making every effort to be a better person within the constraints of society at the time

The audience is initially led to believe that he is acting with measured compassion without sacrificing his image of strength, bolstered by his stolen moniker of "Iron Fist Ketil" and his thought process when sparing the hungry child from absolute punishment. In reality, Ketil does not act out of empathy or inherent benevolence. He is not a strong but sensible man acting out of compassion, he is a weak man that is driven by his underlying desire of wanting to be perceived as a virtuous and principled savior figure

The nature of his half-hearted kindness is entirely revealed after Arnheid makes her escape attempt. Ketil is not only bound by society's expectations, but at the core of his character he has unknowingly accepted them

He believed that because he treated Arnheid with relative kindness despite being in a position of supreme power over her, she actually fell in love with him - or at least developed a strong sense of loyalty towards him. When this illusion is demolished by her attempting to escape with Gardar, he is able to recognize the genuine essence of their relationship

Instead of reflecting on this and coming to the realization that slavery might be inherently wrong regardless of how the slaves are treated, Ketil actually embraces his newfound understanding of the system and loses his mask of good will. He just had his land, wealth, and pride stripped by Canute

He beats Arnheid to death to vent his anger because it is allowed within the system - he is a vain man that needs his ego to be fed, yet is unable to exact violence upon Canute due to his relative powerlessness. He recognizes and understands the inherent inhumanity of the system but is unable to let go of it, and ends up adopting it in its entirety

Snake:

As opposed to Ketil, Snake is a tenacious survivor that wants peace but is constrained by his own proficiency in carrying out violence. He is ripe with contradiction - he reads the Bible and finds companionship with Sverkel, but commands mercenaries and violently enforces the authority of a slave owner (even if reluctantly)

Snake operates on pragmatism, but tries to be compassionate if brutality is unnecessary. When he hunts down Gardar, it is not because he is sadistic or is a strict believer in the law, he pities him and dislikes systems of control. However, he is chained to societal expectation, much like Olmar, but he actually has the necessary capabilities to carry out what is expected of him. If he doesn't get vengeance for the guests that Gardar killed, then he will lose his authority - collapsing the fragile order on the farm

Snake recognizes that prioritizing his men as much as possible requires him to murder those that are in opposition to them, especially when the other party has already resorted to lethal violence. He is rational and empathetic, but his own strength shapes his approach to resolving the situations that he encounters

Olmar:

At his core, Olmar is just a normal teenager being heavily encouraged to participate in a vicious culture that equates capacity for violence with strength. Despite his laziness and being seen as a slacker by those around him, he has a genuine and naive desire to prove himself to the world

From his perspective, he is given that chance by Canute. When he tries to sever the head of the pig to prove himself, he is publicly humiliated. He is unable to meet the expectations of others, due to his physically weak body and relatively sensitive nature. He is a normal kid with a fully functional sense of empathy that is trying to stand beside sociopaths

When he is manipulated into killing a man for the first time, with some help, he doesn't feel the rush of his first kill. He instead vomits and feels disgusted, immediately thinking about the ramifications of what he has done. Though he has been conditioned to view killing as a courageous act to aspire to, his inherent empathy prevents him from embracing that path

In the end, after being inspired by Thorfinn, he makes the difficult choice and surrenders. When Olmar cries and begs Canute to allow the farm to surrender, he effectively discards his dreams of proving himself to everyone. He accepts the label of "coward" to save the remaining people on the farm. His character conclusion of abandoning his aspirations of societal validation and his superficial definition of strength, accepting the shame of surrender, to protect what truly matters is remarkably strong

Sverkel:

The old man recognized that chasing societal recognition and wealth were destructive tasks that would result in unnecessary conflict. Sverkel does not operate on the same wavelength that society does - he doesn't value money or power and treats slaves as equals

He does not offer condescending pity, nor treat Einar and Thorfinn as subhumans. He engages with them through a transactional yet respectful relationship, bartering with them in exchange for labor. Through these fair yet strict interactions, he affirms their sense of human dignity

His quiet rebellion develops beyond simply farming - it becomes a more active rejection when he hides Arnheid and Gardar. Through this, Sverkel makes the assertion that his personal sense of morality is far more important than whatever society expects him to do. He refuses to flee from his bed despite Canute's army approaching, solidifying his absolute denial of the system's power

This isn't even delving into the most important characters in the season - Thorfinn, Einar, and Canute. Vinland Saga is able to achieve an immense amount of excellent characterization in such a short amount of time - all of this is accomplished in 24 episodes

My Vinland Saga themed school leavers graduation cap! (opinions?)

People (rightfully) always talk about the moment where Hild forgives Thorfinn, but this moment from a few chapters earlier perfectly sets up how she is beginning to let go of her hatred and move on from the past. For some reason though I never seem to see anyone talking about it!

I am not finished...but I was drawing thorkell. A friend and I had a concept that Cordelia would love mlp growing up in modern setting. And I thought it would be funny to draw him like this. I'm not a good artist please don't hate too much...

Okay... so I'm not really a fan of Gudrid. It's not her character so much as how she is used in the series. She has this kind of mini-arc about how since she's a woman she hasn't been allowed to do masculine things such as being a sailor and this is her main struggle. It's just... drama. Even in the Farmland arc we saw Thorfinn dealing with the trauma and brutality of his past. Einar went through Hell too as a victim of the kinds of raids Thorfinn did and they bonded and became brothers. There was Ketil, Arnheid and her husband that came for her. We saw strong character development in Omar, going from a sniveling rat to the leader of the farm after Ketil shut down because of Arnheid's death. But then after that we get... Gudrid dealing with the struggles of being a woman. Then after that once she's joined Thorfinn and company as they begin their journey to Miklagaard. What did she even do besides be the dumb comedic relief and kind of suddenly become romantically interested in Thorfinn which by the way it was bs that we didn't get to see Thorfinn's answer on screen but that's besides the point. Gudrid feels simply just there. Just along for the ride. Which i don't like. Thoughts?