Vinland Saga 2x10 Reaction

About the line of succession you are right: Harald was the main heir to the throne. The fact is that: The kingdom of Denmark in that historical period was in continuous expansion especially in Britain which is why the Council and the high nobility pushed for a division of the territories between the two sons. King Sweyn in VS is totally against leaving Canute in a leadership role because he considered him weak and unable to manage a kingdom, which is why he wanted to kill him. Expecially after Canute has managed to bring Thorkell's army from his side: his position in the eyes of the nobles has strengthened. Sadly the "Game of thrones" part in VS was quite overlooked is my only slight disappointment with this story arc. But it's more my personal whim, objectively as a manga reader I think this narrative arc is absolutely perfect. Yukimura is a master storyteller

I love what they're doing with the anime. They add stuff in a really nice, coherent way without altering the narrative at all. It's a masterclass of expanding faithfully on a story. Makes me really wonder what else they're going to shove in there just to make the story even more impactful. I love the manga to death and didn't think they could make the story even better. I simply wanted to see it animated and wasn't expecting this at all.

Man this season has been on another level. There are certain episodes that I remember that takes anime to another level. Like season 1 ep 24 put this anime in my top 3. After season 2 ep 9, it became my number 2. I can totally see it happening when it becomes my number 1. Same thing happen with HxH (my number 1) there are certain episodes that you will never forget!

the young canute and harald flashbacks werent in the manga but they are welcome additions from mappa. makes the whole thing more tragic

11:39 Thorfinn's eyes are starting resemble like the ones Thors had. That mysterious sparkle. That shine.

Since you brought it up at the end: no third season has been announced yet, BUT it is very likely and should be released in 1 to 2 years. Also, with the three years for season 2, you have to know that it wasn't just Corona, but also the studio changed, with the team of animators remaining the same. There was probably relatively big chaos behind it.

I got major Light vibes from the scene towards the end when he was talking with King Sweyn's head alone in his room. It reminded me one of those Light and Ryuk convos lol

Canute always struck me as very self-righteous after his transformation (I mean he literally declares war on God lol), so his ruthless 'ends justifying the means' attitude didn't really surprise me.

It was this moment in the manga that made me start despising Canute. I think he's a well written character but in general I absolutely despise anyone who's goals lead them to believe that any evil they commit is acceptable and necessary because they plan on eventually creating paradise on earth. No matter what they do they are justified because of a far away goal of a utopia, which in of itself is an impossibility. No matter what Canute's future ambitions are, he is still a man who murdered his older brother for power.

Since we've caught both stories up, it's a good place to have a timeline for anyone interested. I'm pretty confident about most dates, but some might not be exactly right. - February 1014: Askeladd kills Sweyn (S1E24) - Sometime 1014: Ethelred II returns from exile to retake England (S2E5) - June 1015: Einar arrives on Ketil's farm and meets Thorfinn (S2E1+2) - Summer 1015: Canute makes a deal with Earl Eadric to turn on Ethelred II (S2E5) - Sep 1015: Einar and Thorfinn need a horse, meet old man Sverkel (S2E6) - Oct 1015: Einar and Thorfinn start sowing seeds in their field (End of S2E6) - Nov 1015: Thorgil returns to Ketil's farm. (S2E7) - Dec 1015: Retainers destroy the wheat field. Thorfin swears to pursue a life of non-violence. First snow of the year falls (S2E8+9) - April 1016: Ethelred II dies of "illness" (S2E5) - Nov 1016: Ethered's son and successor, Edmund, dies of "illness" (S2E5) - Sometime in 1018: Canute is officially crowned King of England (S2E5) - Sep 1018: Einar and Thorfinn finish clearing their land of trees.(S2E10) - Sep 1018: Ketil begins his trip to Jelling to visit King Harold. (S2E10) - Sep 1018: Canute arrives in Jelling to visit his brother Harold. (S2E10)

I had already posted a historical comparison at the end of season 1. I think now it's time for it again: [Thorkell the Tall and Eadric of Mercia] First of all, I must mention that Ragnar (fictional character) did not raise Canute as a foster father, but Thorkell. In the anime only the warlike side is shown, but Thorkell was also very calm and level-headed. Ultimately, the combination of Ragnar and Thorkell depicts the true character Thorkell in the history. I had considered mentioning this in the first history summary, but I didn't want to spoil Canute and Thorkell's future relationship. Canute's right hand man is also not Ragnar's brother, but Thorkell. Eadric of Mercia sided with Canute, as shown in the anime, and was killed by him a little later after Canute's coronation, because he did not see him as trustworthy. The story about Eadric is generally entangled with the deaths in England. Æthelred died from disease, as in the anime, with poison seen as realistic. Edmund (Æthelred's son) also died a little later, as in the anime. However, the story is far more complicated. Edmund and Canute, with the help of Queen Emma (Æthelred's widow, stepmother of Edmund), were able to negotiate a peace in which England would be divided. It was agreed that all of England north of the Thames was to be the domain of the Danish prince, while all to the south was kept by the English king, along with London. Accession to the reign of the entire realm was set to pass to Cnut upon Edmund's death. But just days after the divided rule began, a strange event occurred. Henry of Huntingdon wrote: "Edmund went one night to the lavatory to answer a call of nature. There the son of Ealdorman Eadric, who by his father's plan was concealed in the pit of the privy, struck the king twice with a sharp knife in the private parts, and leaving the weapon in his bowels, fled away. Then Eadric came to King Cnut and saluted him, saying, "Hail, sole king!" When he revealed, what had happened, the king replied, "As a reward for your excellent service, I will make you taller than all the English noblemen. Then he ordered him to be beheaded, and his head to be put on a pole on London's tallest tower." However, Saxo is not convinced that Canute did not have a hand in the game: "Others say that Knud had secretly given orders to kill Edward, and that he now commanded that the murderers should be punished in order to divert suspicion from himself, since he held that he, to get people to believe that he was innocent and had no part in this crime, had to let those, who had done it, be punished on the hardest. However, the incident robbed for some time Knud's part of the love that his retainers had for him." [Harald Svendsøn] Harald Svendsøn is the older brother of Canute by about 10 years. On the whole, the brothers seem to have had a very good mutual relationship. The most important event in Harald's reign was the reconquest of England by his brother Canute, with the full support of Harald. The brothers focused all their attention on England and probably spent all their resources on the war there. Olav Digre took advantage of this to establish himself as king of Norway, losing this territory after the death of King Sweyn. Many historians write that Harald Svendsøn died in 1018 - by all accounts, childless. It is not known how he died, and his grave is not known. He was succeeded on the throne by his brother Canute. In part, you can find a speculation in some texts that Canute wants to avenge the murder of his brother, but it is very unclear.

Milena: Love that he's not gonna poison his brother.... 💀😬

Are you guys gonna react to Shadow and Bone season 2? I finished the season and I have thoughts!

imagine if someone told you a few episodes back you'd see thorfinn laughing from happiness. the serotonin his character arc gives me is inmensurable. i really want to watch this but i still haven't watched the discussion of the last episode and i'm behind in mr robot and hxh. only a few days with a new job and it's already consuming all my time 💀