Vinland Saga S01E08 - Beyond the Edge of the Sea

it' not that everything before is a flashback in the manga it's moreso that the whole first season kinda acts as a prologue to the rest of the story

I believe the conversation between Thorfinn and the slave girl was meant to highlight the previous dialogue by Askeladd about the slave owner. Askeladd says there is irony about the slave master not realizing that he is a slave to money, and then we have the following scene of Thorfinn telling the slave girl that he is 'nothing like her' and that he not a slave. And although he isn't a slave in a literal sense, he is a slave to his revenge in that moment. He says he can do as he pleases, when in reality he 'can't'.

Vinland saga is a story that’s just so satisfying, i always have opinions on shows how i would want them to take on the story. With vinland, especially season 2 i was just squirming with happiness

Honestly upon rewatching, this episode has become one of my favourites. I teared up when Thorfinn started talking about Vinland

The biggest question I got from this episode came from Askeladd saying that everyone was a slave to something. I assumed it had to do with money and treasure, but from the way he spoke about his uncle, it seemed he didn't find much meaning in that. If Askeladd also believes he is a slave to something, what could it be? And does he resent his source of meaning, or is it something he is fully committed to? That's how I felt when I watched it, at least.

Something interesting to note, which you might already be aware of is the fact that the strengths showcased in Vinland Saga are not that exaggerated compared to Nordic folktale. Thors and Thorkell's (the guy at the end) strength are actually almost on par with what you'd expect from historical figures in the different Sagas (old Nordic historical texts). Thorkell is actually based on a real historical figure, named Thorkell the Tall, who shares a lot of the same achievements as VS' Thorkell, which is cool to note.

I also find it interesting how the show used such massive socio-political events of the time in this way, we see little bits of the motivations from the king but we are more often placed in the middle of a battle and given only a synopsis on its tactical value, maybe thats to give us the perspective of the Vikings themselves? They were only in it for the pay after all. It also seems to play into how Thorfinn or the viewer who have no stakes and aren't even being paid, have to be in the middle of this constant movement. You also mentioned your thoughts on his strength and I do think it's important to pay attention to, I think it's sort of a distraction for Thorfinn to invest in, it's his only idea of being like his father, being a warrior. He's in so deep now and beyond his need for revenge he has no idea what he's doing outside of A. Get stronger B. Kill Askeladd. These ideas like honour are so thinly veiled to the point that they provide no guidance, and are perverted easily by the band of pirates he's living with. Askeladd is almost more upsetting because he understands it so well, he refers to it directly with the "man who's a slave to money holds a whip" thing. He knows exactly what he's doing to Thorfinn.

I remember seeing a slightly different subbed translation of that duel where they localised one of Askeladd's lines to something like 'you're growing like a weed, boy', when he realises Thorfinn had gotten taller, and it really stuck with me — it felt like something a family member would say? At this point Thorfinn's known Askeladd longer than he knew his own father, and I think it's so telling that no matter what Askeladd says, there are these flashes I don't think he even understands.

wow, this was a very AOT episode. "everyone is a slave to something", 'if i cross the sea will i be free (or will i be disappointed )'

Yeah, this guy was in the beginning of episode 1 with Thors