Vinland Saga

[Chosen_Hero]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

No, it’s really not. This would have ended the same way no matter what happened, and Thors knew it. There’s no way he could defeat all of Askeladd’s men and protect two boats worth of farmer’s sons with no fighting experience. Askeladd was too smart to let this end without getting his prize - the rest of the crew was unimportant to him.

However, I do think his offer to Thors to become the leader was sincere. He knew there was almost no chance Thors would agree, but it was offered seriously.

If he hadn't been there his father could have had more freedom to do as he liked (he even mentions this in the episode), sure, Thors would have tried to protect the others but he wouldn't have had to hold back as much as he did while trying to set an example for his bloodthirsty son.

Would he have sacrificed himself either way? Sure (he was already doing that the moment he said he would send the other back instead of letting then fight in the war), but for all we know the blond guy would probably have honored his deal with Thors if that one other asshole had not take the stupid kid as a hostage (you can even see the blonde guy slightly hesitating as if thinking "this dumbass"). The blonde guy showed that he has enough honor to follow through on his promise and that he had enough respect for Thors to ask him to be their leader (I don't believe for a second that he was kidding about the proposal) and to understand why he willingly sacrificed himself to the point that he was pissed at that one idiot for not understanding.

So yeah, there is enough evidence for me to make the claim that he got his father killed.

The worst part is that Thorfinn was stupid enough to not understand that his father sacrificed himself to protect him (I don't care what age he is, at this point I just think he is retarded) and just willingly threw himself into yet another predicament where he could die that he will only survive because he is the MC, not because he is "badass" (he hasn't proved himself and any attempt at this point to make him look like he is badass is only attributed to his being Thors son and nothing more).

[Guardian Enzo]

Nah, no way what Thorfinn did resulted in Thors' death. It accelerated a standoff that was coming anyway, that's all. And that standoff was always going to end with Thors choosing to sacrifice himself for the others. It's just looking for reasons to hate on Thorfinn.

[TheForsaken]

Originally Posted by Chosen_Hero

The worst part is that Thorfinn was stupid enough to not understand that his father sacrificed himself to protect him (I don't care what age he is, at this point I just think he is retarded) and just willingly threw himself into yet another predicament where he could die that he will only survive because he is the MC, not because he is "badass" (he hasn't proved himself and any attempt at this point to make him look like he is badass is only attributed to his being Thors son and nothing more).

The anime never tries to make Thorfinn look like a badass.
Before, he was a normal kid.
Now, he is a broken kid.

[Haak]

Originally Posted by Chosen_Hero

If he hadn't been there his father could have had more freedom to do as he liked (he even mentions this in the episode), sure, Thors would have tried to protect the others but he wouldn't have had to hold back as much as he did while trying to set an example for his bloodthirsty son.

He doesn't actually. He explicitly mentions that if he were alone he would have more freedom, not if Thorfinn weren't there. He's looking at his son and one can appreciate the subtext without him having to say anything (because that's how well layered the storytelling is) but Thorfinn isn't what made the difference.

Would he have sacrificed himself either way? Sure (he was already doing that the moment he said he would send the other back instead of letting then fight in the war), but for all we know the blond guy would probably have honored his deal with Thors if that one other asshole had not take the stupid kid as a hostage (you can even see the blonde guy slightly hesitating as if thinking "this dumbass"). The blonde guy showed that he has enough honor to follow through on his promise and that he had enough respect for Thors to ask him to be their leader (I don't believe for a second that he was kidding about the proposal) and to understand why he willingly sacrificed himself to the point that he was pissed at that one idiot for not understanding.

So yeah, there is enough evidence for me to make the claim that he got his father killed.

Caveat: For all you know, probably.

The worst part is that Thorfinn was stupid enough to not understand that his father sacrificed himself to protect him (I don't care what age he is, at this point I just think he is retarded) and just willingly threw himself into yet another predicament where he could die that he will only survive because he is the MC, not because he is "badass" (he hasn't proved himself and any attempt at this point to make him look like he is badass is only attributed to his being Thors son and nothing more).

I do because he's just a kid. I'd like to think I had a better head on my shoulders at his age too but the reality is that nobody who hasn't lived through similar circumstances would know how they would react if they witnessed their father die as violently as that, let alone when they're a kid.

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by Kanon

It should be noted the manga starts with teen Thorfinn attacking a fort and basically most of the stuff you see in the OP. It's only after that that we get his backstory and we're introduced to Thors, who we knew from the get go would be killed by Askeladd. I think the anime team has made an excellent choice by starting with the flashback. They should have gone all the way and not show the OP until episode 5, since it gave away a lot.

Ok, that makes sense now. Manga authors have to keep every chapter interesting, there can't ever be a boring lull. When they kill off a character, they are making a promise which is "It'll be more interesting with him dead". And at this point, if I didn't already know this is an award-winning work, I wouldn't believe it.

[Blaat]

Solid episode, the quality drops in some shots but it looked great for the most part and the backgrounds continues to be gorgeous.
The Ylva point of view was from a bonus chapter in the manga, so the episode wasn't exclusively anime original.

Images

Episode 6 preview video

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Looks like episode 6 is going to be another anime original.

[Frontier]

It's an interesting dichotomy with Askeladd's group. I mean, the stuff they were shown doing to the village was monstrous but they're not cartoonish villains, as shown by their reactions to Thorfinn. They're just vikings.

I'm glad they adapted the Ylva/Helga extra story to show their reaction to what happened to Thors and Thorfinn. And then we see Ylva throw herself into being the breadwinner of the family because the men are gone and she doesn't know how else to cope with losing her father and brother until Helga gives her the opportunity to finally grieve. They probably would rather Thorfinn have come back then try to obsess over avenging Thors .

We get Lief vowing to find Thorfinn no matter how long it takes. With what Thors did, he owes him that much.

No amount of self-training, especially only a day or two's worth, is going to make a child capable of taking on a full-grown warrior. Thorfinn was lucky he was able to last as long as he did before Askeladd kicked the crud out of him. He does have decisively good aim though, aiming right at Askeladd's face. Too bad he's got a good guard .

[FlareKnight]

I will say it was a bit more interesting seeing the family trying to continue on after such a massive loss. Can easily say both Thorfinn and Ylva are throwing themselves into something to avoid getting worn down by the loss. Although I'd say Ylva is being the more productive. Putting that inherited strength to good work and keeping things going by herself. If Thorfinn ever does reach the point where he grows enough to decide to go home, it will only be because of Ylva's insane efforts that he'll have a family to see again.

But for now it is on Thorfinn's journey to avenge his father. Definitely not a rational choice, but not a surprising one either. This kid was being run by his emotions long before this. That he'd completely get swallowed up by anger and hate isn't a shock. He'll definitely devote every second to becoming capable of killing Askeladd. Although considering the tricks that got his father killed...it may not matter if he surpasses Askeladd. And beyond that there is the truth that while Askeladd was the one who did it, he was just paid to do a job. The revenge trail isn't one quickly completed.

[Kanon]

That was interesting. Not a bad thing for the anime to fill the gaps of the manga, and I think they're doing a fine job. I'm still hoping these anime original episodes won't last too long though.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Kanon

That was interesting. Not a bad thing for the anime to fill the gaps of the manga, and I think they're doing a fine job. I'm still hoping these anime original episodes won't last too long though.

And I would assume the author probably approved of them or helped the anime screenwriters come up with the material for the anime original content. So that helps.

But yeah, I think they'll only be able to carry it into the next episode before we get back to actually adapting the manga.

[kari-no-sugata II]

I'm still in two minds about whether it's a good thing or not for the anime version to do the MC's story in chronological order. In many ways, it's a brave decision as it's generally considered that the way to make a popular story is to have a standout first episode, even if it doesn't make all that much sense due to a lack of background detail. Consider the first episode of Darling in the Franxx, for example.

The first chapter of the manga did this after all. One danger of the anime route is that viewers might not like the rapid changes in the MC. However, there's danger for the manga route too - that without seeing the background detail, it's hard to feel sympathy for the MC. The manga did get to the background very quickly, which was smart, though I wonder how many readers dropped the series before then.

Anyway, I'm glad to see an anime series that is willing to take a more careful approach rather than going all in on the "make a popular first episode" approach.

[Wandering Soul]

So, in the end, both siblings react to grief the same way. They both dedicate themselves to something else (revenge in Thorfinn's case and providing for her mother in Ylva's). The moment where Ylva allows herself to cry for her father was a touching one.

[grecefar]

I think she was crying more for thorfinn than her father.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by grecefar

I think she was crying more for thorfinn than her father.

Why not both?

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Why not both?

Yeah, she lost half her family. That could emotionally break most anyone. I'm surprised Helga's able to remain as composed as she is but we see from the flashback that she has the nerves of a viking.

[Applehell]

This episode was quite hard to watch at times. Thorfinn really saddled himself in such an unforgiving circumstance that certainly gonna shape his worldview much of his life. Especially he since he'll be living and surviving no much than rage.

I wasn't surprised what going on with Ylva. It's not an uncommon reaction she was clearly trying way too hard to act like this was just a setback.

[Arya]

Well, well, this seems to be a very good series. I'll be honest though, showing a strong (OP?) and likable MC for the first three episodes and then kill him off to leave you with a kid is not really the most polite thing to do Especially if the kid behaves in a way he should have died already twice, given the context and his actions. That's also a personal pet peeve of mine, kids in dangerous scenarios I mean, starting from Newt onward. So it can't be helped I guess.
But why these kids have to scream and scream .. in my book a silent mouth and hateful eyes would be much more effective. In any case as far as he will grow fast enough into a more collected teenager that's ok, even if as of now Ylva would be my first choice as MC by a long shot, but unless she won't take the Lady Oscar route I'm bound with the kid for a while.

Oh, I'm a bit surprised to see Thors sharing Kira policies when it comes to killing people especially given the vikings settings. But maybe that's an OP acquired feature we can't truly understand.

[grecefar]

well that escalated quickly...

thorfinn did try to warn them but old lady wanted to believe something that wasn't there.

[foxbox360]

this series reminds me of ringing bell.

[Blaat]

First half of the episode was anime original but second half was adapting a manga chapter.

Images

Episode 7 preview video

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Teen Thorfinn is here, this is going to be good.