Just how much time has gone by since Einar joined Ketil’s lands isn’t clear (for me anyway), but the truth of the matter is that together with Thorfinn, he is struggling hard to transform that forest into a farm. It’s no wonder this is the case, considering they are only two people working on their own strength to make such a miracle happen, with no proper material whatsoever and with the plus of being slaves. They will have to have a horse if realistically, they want to teach the necessary power to get rid of the roots as efficiently as possible but it’s obvious that in their current position there isn’t much they can do. It is just so Einar to his mind automatically wonder in favor of seeking Ketil’s help – he’s shown his kindness when he bought him and offered to him and Thorfinn the deal about the farm, but just how honorable the man’s intentions are is still a mystery. To be clear, it ain’t like I don’t believe at all that he could potentially be genuine about it (and we did indeed get an example of a former slave of his who went through the same process), but you know, seems to good to be true; there might be a catch we still don’t know about.
But still, in their situation, even if they got help from Ketil, they would get screwd with the retainers all the same, since they make it painfully clear that their intentions to make the slaves’ lives as miserable as possible, lile if what they got wasn’t enough yet. And who would have thought, the help they need comes in the most unexpected form when Sverkel, an old man who is later revealed to be Ketil’s father, shows up and offers to land them one of his horses in exchange for their services, which they gladly take. So at least, one less problem to deal with.
Sverkel’s presence is truly interesting here, adding so much to the family dynamic. Each of the men acts as a great contrast to the other, sorta like a like father, like son scenario where the same differences Ketil has with Olmar being prevalent in his relationship to his father. Judging from the nature of the story this season, sooner or later, each of them will get explored and serve a purpose to the story. There’s a lot of room here to exploit, especially when you consider Sverkel disapproval of Ketil methods regarding his wealth, where it seems like he’s fallen to a trap of his own, and the fact he has to pay such absurd value in tribute so he can get protection to his lands doesn’t help much in his father’s eyes.
What’s interesting here as well is the dynamic between Sverkel and Snake, where they seem to click much more than the old man would with Ketil. They seem to share a lot in common, but more than that, there’s the mutual respect they seem to hold toward each other, acknowledging each of their wisdoms (even if they don’t seem to agree that easily). And Snake’s interest in Thorfinn is building up to be something to keep an eye on. He sees the warrior in Thorfinn (it takes one to recognize the other, I guess), and if he could, I bet he would be willing to work toward building that warrior again. But right now, Thorfinn is on his path to redemption and might just become a full-fledged farmer, so I wonder: is there still a possibility for that man to return to the battlefield?
And since we’re talking about Thorfinn, let me praise once more the wonder this arc is doing to his character. His interrumactions with Einar are really holding up strong, and the way their bond is evolving is a great feast to me. Through Einar, he’s learning to regain the humanity he lost, and a huge part of that is illustrated during their last exchange with the friendship thing. For instance, just try and compare ep1 Thorfinn to this ep’s. He doesn’t know the next thing about farming (makes wonder how the heck he expected to transform that before Einar showed up), but the work he puts in is very valid. His bond with Einar is really piling up into something special. This has all basically turned into a slice-of-life, but when the characters and story are this great, who can complain? It’s a lot different from the first season, but in the quiet moments where interactions and character moments are everything you have, a story can be of sublime quality as well. And this is firmly the case with Vinland Saga.
OTAKU SPACE 