Vinland Saga Episode 10 Review: Ragnarok

Listen to your heart, Thorfinn, even your dream daddy is telling you that there is no point for revenge at this point! Go back home, take care of your family and even better, take everyone from your village and go live in Vinland, so that they can be happy.

Japanese Original Episode Title: ラグナロク

Plot

The siege of London continues but Prince Canute doesn’t seem to be willing to fight Thorkell. When Thorkell realizes that Canute is leading the Danish army, he gets overly excited, leaves the castle, and attacks them on land. Askeladd and his men have separated from the main army who is slowly heading back to the North because winter is coming and are trying to make some cash by raiding small villages nearby Bristol. One day, a messenger from Prince’s Canute army stumbles upon Askeladd by accident and informs them about Thorkell’s attack. He has taken Prince Canute as a hostage and is heading towards the main army. Intrigued by the idea of a juicy reward, Askeladd kills the messenger and decides to go save Prince Canute and later give him to the Kingdom that will offer him the best recompense.

Episode Highlights

His consciousness is finally getting to him: It has been hinted a couple of times so far that Thorfinn is starting to miss his home and family. In this episode, it is truly showcased that the kid desperately craves for a different kind of life but he is stubborn and lets his revenge feelings overwhelm him.

‘Even the strongest die one day’: Askeladd is very good with words and knows what buttons to push when he talks to someone. He knows that Thorfinn is young, impatient, and thirsty for revenge and every time he talks to him, he likes to challenge him to see his reactions. This time he told him that he will eventually win the fight between them and manage to kill him because he will get older and weaker while Thorfinn will only keep getting stronger and stronger. He even gives him examples with the way the world works and of human history, the decline of the Roman Empire, the Saxons, Ragnarok, etc. He teases him and with his words while trying to ride Thorfinn of any sort of satisfaction and fulfillment from his ‘revenge’. He basically says: ‘You know, you will only win one day because I will get old and useless, not because of your skills’.

Askeladd has a death wish: After this episode, it is very clear to me that this man has just one wish: he wants to die while leading an exciting life. He doesn’t really care about money or glory, he just wants to experience chaotic and insane situations in his life, because that’s what give him thrill and the power to move on. I also don’t take Askeladd as a believer, so all this talk about Ragnarok and twilight is probably just symbolic for him.

Themes & Trivia

Ragnarok: In Norse mythology, Ragnarök is a series of events, including a great battle, foretold to lead to the death of a number of great figures (including the Gods Odin, Thor, Týr, Freyr, Heimdallr, and Loki), natural disasters, and the submersion of the world in water. After these events, the world will resurface anew and fertile, the surviving and returning gods will meet and the world will be repopulated by two human survivors.

Valhalla: Once again in the Norse mythology, Valhalla is a majestic, enormous hall located in Asgard, ruled over by the god Odin. Chosen by Odin, half of those who die in combat travel to Valhalla upon death, led by valkyries, while the other half go to the goddess Freyja’s field Fólkvangr. In Valhalla, the dead warriors join the masses of those who have died in combat and various legendary Germanic heroes and kings, as they prepare to aid Odin during the events of Ragnarök.

Yule: ‘Yule time” or “Yule season’ is a festival historically observed by the Germanic peoples. Scholars have connected the original celebrations of Yule to the Wild Hunt, the god Odin, and the pagan Anglo-Saxon Mōdraniht. Later departing from its pagan roots, Yule underwent Christianised reformulation resulting in the term Christmastide. Many present-day Christmas customs and traditions such as the Yule log, Yule goat, Yule boar, Yule singing, and others stem from pagan Yule traditions. Terms with an etymological equivalent to Yule are still used in Nordic countries to describe Christmas and other festivals occurring during the winter holiday season.

Comments

When Thorkell hears Canute’s name and starts getting that crazy grin on his face, I honestly thought that he was into him or something, but it seems that he just wanted to use him as an incentive for the rest of the army to not fall back and get the insane battle that he has been craving for. That man is mental. Also, can we take one moment to sit down and think how bloody immature are Askeladd’s men? They literally killed each other just because one of them insulted the other and called him ‘stupid’ and a ‘cow thief’.

Dawn in the age of twilight

Damn, Asekladd got too deep with his whole Ragnarok and Twilight quotes, even though he is a crazy bastard as well, I cannot bring myself to dislike him and I love his dynamic with Thorfinn. Can’t wait to see what will happen in the next episode, when they will go rescue our precious Prince Valkyrie.