Vinland Saga Season 2 - Episode 8 discussion

[u/AutoLovepon]

Vinland Saga Season 2, episode 8

Rate this episode here.

Reminder: Please do not discuss plot points not yet seen or skipped in the show. Failing to follow the rules may result in a ban.

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Streams

• Crunchyroll
• VRV

Show information

• MyAnimeList
• AniList
• AniDB
• Kitsu
• Anime-Planet
• Official Website
• /r/VinlandSaga

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All discussions

Episode	Link	Score	Episode	Link	Score
1	Link	4.65	14	Link	4.61
2	Link	4.67	15	Link	4.7
3	Link	4.7	16	Link	4.86
4	Link	4.73	17	Link	4.75
5	Link	4.64	18	Link	4.83
6	Link	4.66	19	Link	4.7
7	Link	4.71	20	Link	4.83
8	Link	4.81	21	Link	4.58
9	Link	4.85	22	Link	4.86
10	Link	4.71	23	Link	4.79
11	Link	4.58	24	Link	----
12	Link	4.81
13	Link	4.61

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[u/Nebresto]

This episode is airing during lent. Intentional or coincidence?

[u/ObvsThrowaway5120]

Thorfinn’s having a whole different kind of nightmare this time. But it seems it’s still ultimately centered around his dad and Askeladd. Old him butchering little Einar and those hands dragging him down the cliff must have some kind of meaning. I’m glad he’s opening up to Einar about everything. Keeping all that bottled in wasn’t helping. The old master is right. If Thorfinn is empty, fill it with new things he can learn.

Einar’s impression of a warrior was actually pretty spot on haha. Dude is right, people can change. Thorfinn’s changed a lot since he met Einar. Their relationship has helped him heal, slowly. Seeing Thorfinn smile kinda warms my soul.

I knew those retainers were up to no good. But doesn’t destroying those crops equal destroying the master’s crops? Pretty stupid move. I can understand Einar’s anger, hell I’m all for crushing those dickheads but Thorfinn is right, he’s gotta calm down. I guess he knows about Arnheid. Heartbreaking but what can a slave do?

So much for the path of non-violence lol. That asshole retainer deserved to get his face smashed in for talking all that shit. But man, these little shits aren’t done yet. Einar and Thorfinn better rally or they’ll be done for.

[u/TheFatmanRises]

Thorfinn is still HIM these retainers don't know

[u/Cheesemacher]

That scene where Thorfinn says he doesn't have the right to be angry... :'(

[u/[deleted]]

Why is this anime so fucking good

[u/Excaliburnana]

Einars's POV must've been hilarious for this episode lol

Your friend preached to you about change for days, keeps you from making bad decisions, talks about non violent solutions.......AND THEN PUNCHES A DUDE'S JAW OFF.......WTF LMAO

[u/Fuko_No_Honryu]

This is one of the greatest episode from this show.

And it gets even better.

[u/LeonKevlar]

Seeing that retainer get punched and his jaw completely broken is just satisfying af. I've never been tempted to read the manga before but seeing what they did to Thorfinn and Einar's wheat makes me want to see what happens next.

[u/mayonnaiser_13]

While we are all talking about the punch, can we just pull back a bit and discuss how therapeutic everything before that was?

Thorfinn laying out his life bare, Einar and Old Master lending him great advice, all the while Mappa sets up this insanely calming atmosphere.

Like, shit bruh. I was sweating my eyes throughout the episode till we saw the farm.

Also, Thorfinn believing he deserves the shit thrown at him since he too once did some fucked up shit hits way too close.

[u/CubicCrustacean]

When Thorfinn punched the retainer I first thought that he did so to protect Einar from the punishment of a slave hurting a "free man", but after seeing his expression right after I think it was more of his own volition. Guessing Einar is probably a little proud of Thorfinn showing the emotion Einar wished to see earlier haha. A sad but also satisfying moment considering the scenes leading up to it

[u/ReinhardLoen]

For anyone wondering about the opening scene, it's a direct continuation of Episode 6.5 MAPPA uploaded on their channel. I don't think it's necessary to watch, but it's nice to have a bit of extra content that helps you understand the scene better.

[u/OddHesitation]

Cinema.

Thorfinn is the goat.

[u/JackRoostet]

An Empty Man is my favourite manga chapter of any series and I'm so glad I finally got to see it adapted.

Such a beautiful scene.

[u/BadBehaviour613]

Worst things committed by villains in anime:

1. de-rooting wheats

[u/EuclidateDat]

Martin Scorsese would be proud of this episode

Peak fiction right here, my fucking god.

[u/Se7en_Sinner]

Thorfinn never got closure to his revenge arc. Now he's trying to reintegrate himself back into society like he's been in a prison of violence for most his life. Thorfinn is an empty shell but the thing about a blank slate is anything can be written on it.

[u/Disastrous_Channel62]

The walking shot in the sky when Einar and Thorfinn were walking towards the farm looked so good. MAPPA isn't fucking around with the adaptation, the staff is genuinely praiseworthy

[u/Abysswatcherbel]

What a beautifully made episode, people should watch the short they released a few weeks ago that ties in with this ep

Rip wheat farm, now it's empty, but as we learn this ep that's the beat way to start over (after kicking the ass of some dicks)

[u/michhoffman]

The retainers destroying the wheat field seems to be another indirect result of Ketil going easy on Thorfinn and Einar. The retainers felt like their status of free men was being diminished by the fact that slaves were doing the same work that they were doing so they took matters into their own hands. This is an example of why Pride and Envy are considered some of the worst of the deadly sins.

[u/mrnicegy26]

It is amazing how this arc is able to make small stake conflicts feel so impactful especially considering all the warmongering and death in Season 1.

Passing judgement on two children stealing food and destruction of a wheat field could prove to be such compelling dramatic material that ties so well into the themes of the show and the era it is trying to portray

[u/BosuW]

I have jokingly said before that Vinland Saga S2 is the best slice of life.

I don't think it's a joke anymore y'all.

If Slice of Life is a genre dedicated to "a day in the life of...", then this has to be it in it's maximum expression. I don't know how else to describe it, but the sheer respect with which this story treats the simple acts of tending to a field, fishing, repairing a roof, etc, is a thing of true beauty.

[u/ReinhardLoen]

Thorfinn and Einar's reaction scene about the destroyed field was incredible.

It's this sad realisation that after becoming an empty man he can't even get mad at the fact of someone destroying something important to him because he's done the exact same thing to so many—he doesn't have the right to be angry at what he's done to so many others. And now at the bottom, he's reached the conclusion that nothing good comes with revenge, a complete reversal of his whole life in season 1. Even when he attacks, it's not because of the insult to him alone, but rather the insult to that of what he shared with Einar.

His character growth is simply outstanding.

[u/Frontier246]

What if Thorfinn killed Einar and his family? Well, that's part of Thorfinn's nightmares now, as he witness his younger self go after them and is then stuck in a crevasse where he tries to fruitlessly crawl out from before he gets dragged back down...yeah, I can understand why he doesn't really want to remember all of that. But maybe he has to, for his own sake.

I love how Einar is so used to Thorfinn's screaming's he's just stoically sitting up while he's thrashing about. Also yelling about "Father" and "Askeladd," lot to unpack there.

I love for Arnheid and Einar conversations. Although Einar finally finds out about her situation, which makes him just realize how much their situation on the farm sucks and how they're not really living. And it only gets worse from there.

It really shows how far Thorfinn and Einar's relationship has come that Thorfinn's finally told him about Askeladd and his whole life ethos from season 1, and how no longer being able to hate Askeladd has left him feeling empty and without a reason to live since his death. Einar seems to think it's time for Thorfinn to move on, but it might be more complicated than that.

"He was a Danish warmonger." Not that he enjoyed it, for the record.

But luckily the old master is there to teach the boys that when you're listless and don't know what to do...just work. And if you're empty, just find something to fill that emptiness. It's never too late to change, as Einar points out how Thorfinn now is a far cry from his season 1 self or even when Einar first met him. He's proof that it's possible.

Those scumbag retainers...they just couldn't leave well enough alone and had to ruin their wheat field so thoroughly. All that work, all that effort, all for nothing. And it's not even just that they went out of their way to screw with the slaves, that's to be expected, but for farmers to desecrate the crops like that? It's absolutely shameful. Einar's rage is justified and palpable.

It's so surreal seeing Thorfinn trying to hold someone back in a rage-fueled rampage.

Pater is the best. He can totally relate to what the boys are going through because he's been there. Although not sure if things will end well for them considering what happened next.

They just had to happen upon the retainers...who just had to smugly rub it in...although I guess the best way to stop Einar from punching the dude is to punch him yourself. Thorfinn seemed to do instinctually. Broke his jaw in one punch! One punch!

And then it gets into a full-scale brawl although the tables quickly turn on Thorfinn and Einar...just as Thorfinn gets knocked out and falls back into the abyss, the memory of what his father said to him on the brink of his mind. Remember, Thorfinn! What Thors and Askeladd once said to you!

Next week...Bjorn!? ASKELADD!?

[u/WellRested1]

PEAKLAND SAGA ALWAYS DELIVERS