Review of Vinland Saga Season 2
"I have no enemies." The journey of Thorfinn is a troubling one. On the one hand, his revenge story ends unsatisfactorily with the target of his hatred being executed before his own eyes, without him being given the satisfaction of doing it. It's a resolution to the first season that emphasizes the bitter nature of conflict in the world. Nothing ever ends happily when two sides go to war. Revenge only begets more hatred. The cycle repeats until only one remains standing atop a mountain of corpses, screaming at the sky over their dissatisfaction at having outlasted all others. Vinland Saga is first and foremost astory about finding the "first option" in a conflict before arms are taken up.
Season two opens with the perspective of a seeming nobody living his happy life on a farm with his mother and sister. One can't help but feel that this could have easily been an alternate timeline where, rather than revenge, Thorfinn simply went home and sought a quiet life. Very soon, however, our perspective character Einar is forced to experience history repeat for himself. What results is his enslavement and eventual purchase by Ketil, whom owns a large farm. There, he meets Thorfinn, and the two resolve to regain their freedom by working off their debt to their master.
Throughout the story, both Einar and Thorfinn come to understand each other and form a bond of brotherhood stronger than steel and thicker than blood. Einar's resentment towards the Vikings and warriors does play strongly into the overarching theme of finding peace with oneself and resolving to make a better world, as strongly as Thorfinn's own bloody history and nearly suffocating regret for what he had done in the past. These two represent the path not taken by the other, and it's an incredibly potent recipe for storytelling. Other stories do have a similar contrasting character arc between two major protagonists, but very seldom do we see it executed so well.
The animation for this season is as good as the first, if not better. When it needs to be action-focused, it goes the extra mile. When it needs to show somber scenes or even moments of brooding for our cast, the show knows how to let the scenery set the tone. The only disjointed part is during one of Thorfinn's nightmares where he witnesses Hell. The animation in that scene felt a bit off, though I can respect the studio for trying to go with a more surreal look given the context.
The music is fantastic as usual. While Mukanjyo has grown on me and I've listened to Dark Crow ten thousand and one times (the one time after ten thousand was my limit, still a banger), it's this season's ops that have truly captured my love. Rivers is a very sombre opening that encapsulates the feeling of hopelessness in the face of a world that favors the strong and powerful. Paradox embodies the resolve Thorfinn eventually finds to follow a new path and forge a better world. Both are incredibly powerful songs on their own, and for their own reasons.
Vinland Saga season 2 catches the baton that season 1 handed off almost two years ago and does an incredible job carrying it to the next checkpoint. When a show goes this hard to tell its story and present itself so well, one can only wonder what season 3 will be like, whether it continues the trend of beautiful storytelling and wonderful sound design, or if the studio will relax their role a bit. Knowing Studio WIT, though, they've already begun work and have refilled the water tower of coffee. Godspeed, you magnificent people!