Thorfinn wanted nothing more than to kill Askeladd.
He failed to do that, though.
It had to happen this way to have Season 2 the way it is.
We all know how much fans loved the second season of Vinland Saga. If you ask them why, they will surely tell you it’s because of the incredible character development and deep philosophy.
These two things would never have happened (or would have happened much later) if not for the ending of Season 1.
All he ever wanted was to kill Askeladd
The main conflict of the first season started when Askeladd killed Thorfinn’s father. The boy was frustrated and driven by revenge. All he could think about was avenging his father and killing Askeladd. Thorfinn didn’t really have a plan, he just knew he wanted the man dead.
But Vinland Saga is a cruel series, and Thorfinn was never given the chance to execute his revenge. Askeladd is murdered by Canute right in front of Thorfinn, which made the boy even more furious: he had to be the one to kill him!
However, the point of this scene was not only to hurt Thorfinn and Askeladd’s fans more, but to lay the foundation for Season 2 and for the man Thorfinn was going to become.
Thorfinn’s story might have been different
Had Thorfinn succeeded in killing Askeladd, such tremendous character development would never have followed. Fans think that it would lead Thorfinn to fall even deeper into violence.
There would hardly be any satisfaction for Thorfinn in the act of killing the man, and it would be more difficult for him to find new motivation. Without knowing anything else, fans think the boy would keep doing the only thing he knows how to do: fight.
This is also something that would have happened if Thorfinn had indeed been satisfied with killing Askeladd. He could have understood that violence was the answer and decided to cause more and find solace in it.
Still, there’s a chance that it would make him feel empty at some point, and he would have come to the same conclusion he did in Season 2. But it would have taken him much longer to get there.
Thorfinn had to see how unjust the world is, and how the thing he wanted so much could be taken away from him in mere seconds. This is where violence leads men: to emptiness and despair. And it was crucial for him to learn it that way.
On top of that, without Canute and Thorfinn’s reaction to Askeladd’s death, the boy would never have been sold as a slave, so the story would have taken him to a completely different place.
It had to happen this way.
Summary:
Thorfinn wanted nothing more than to kill Askeladd.
He failed to do that, though.
It had to happen this way to have Season 2 the way it is.
We all know how much fans loved the second season of Vinland Saga. If you ask them why, they will surely tell you it’s because of the incredible character development and deep philosophy.
These two things would never have happened (or would have happened much later) if not for the ending of Season 1.
All he ever wanted was to kill Askeladd
The main conflict of the first season started when Askeladd killed Thorfinn’s father. The boy was frustrated and driven by revenge. All he could think about was avenging his father and killing Askeladd. Thorfinn didn’t really have a plan, he just knew he wanted the man dead.
But Vinland Saga is a cruel series, and Thorfinn was never given the chance to execute his revenge. Askeladd is murdered by Canute right in front of Thorfinn, which made the boy even more furious: he had to be the one to kill him!
However, the point of this scene was not only to hurt Thorfinn and Askeladd’s fans more, but to lay the foundation for Season 2 and for the man Thorfinn was going to become.
Thorfinn’s story might have been different
Had Thorfinn succeeded in killing Askeladd, such tremendous character development would never have followed. Fans think that it would lead Thorfinn to fall even deeper into violence.
There would hardly be any satisfaction for Thorfinn in the act of killing the man, and it would be more difficult for him to find new motivation. Without knowing anything else, fans think the boy would keep doing the only thing he knows how to do: fight.
This is also something that would have happened if Thorfinn had indeed been satisfied with killing Askeladd. He could have understood that violence was the answer and decided to cause more and find solace in it.
Still, there’s a chance that it would make him feel empty at some point, and he would have come to the same conclusion he did in Season 2. But it would have taken him much longer to get there.
Thorfinn had to see how unjust the world is, and how the thing he wanted so much could be taken away from him in mere seconds. This is where violence leads men: to emptiness and despair. And it was crucial for him to learn it that way.
On top of that, without Canute and Thorfinn’s reaction to Askeladd’s death, the boy would never have been sold as a slave, so the story would have taken him to a completely different place.
