Vinland Saga

Episode 16

Thus far, I've been going easy on Vinland Saga for how it has handled this approach to pacing, mostly because I like the characters and the setting enough that I'm happy to just spend some time with the show, week after week. That said, it would be disingenuous to begin criticizing Vinland Saga for spinning its wheels as if that was some kind of new problem, because in a way, wheel-spinning has been half the point of the show. It's been obvious from the get-go that Thorfinn's journey from naïve young boy to hardened warrior to whatever he will end up becoming after that would be a long and complicated one, and in the tradition of the oldest epics, his journey has involved a hell of a lot of walking. And talking. And stabbing. And then walking some more.

Point being, I think what can often feel like an un-economic use of time on Vinland Saga's part is simply a by product of the manga not necessarily being prime adaptation material. This whole journey through Wales and Mercia, for instance, is something that I would imagine plays a lot better when a bunch of the manga's chapters are collected in larger volumes, where its easier to see the connective tissue that binds everything together. The Vinland Saga anime has stumbled every now and then in that regard, but the strength of the show's atmosphere and tone has kept things afloat well enough.

You've probably picked up on the big “But” that I've been telegraphing, and yeah, as much as I hate to admit it, “History of Beasts” might officially be where my patience and goodwill starts to run out. A big part of this has to do with where we are in the show – everything up until the last couple of weeks has felt like the rising action of this arc's plot, so I could forgive a little meandering, but with Ragnar dead and Askeladd barreling head first towards a bloody reckoning, Vinland Saga can't afford to twiddle its thumbs any more. Yet that is exactly what we get here, in an episode whose entire plot could be boiled down into two basic statements: Askeladd tortures a guy for some information, and then everyone freaks out because Thorkell is coming either way.

The torture scene seriously lasts forever, too, taking up a majority of the episode's runtime up to the ten-minute mark, with the other couple of minutes being reserved for the OP and the beat of Canute learning about Ragnar's death. The latter moment is actually quite well done, but it becomes background noise as Askeladd and his men take their boots and a pair of shears to a poor Englishman's fingers and face. It's gratuitous, but also too rote and banal to be particularly shocking. In the wake of the genuine horror we've seen Askeladd commit over the past couple of episodes, this all just ends up feeling redundant. We get it Vinland Saga, Askeladd is a brutal and remorseless killer.

To give the episode credit, this scene does provide the most thematically interesting morsel we get this week, which is Askeladd's monologue on the violence that has followed the history of the land he's currently spilling blood all over. The Englishman decrys the Danes as nothing more than beasts, but Askeladd is quick to point out that the Celts settled the territory before the Romans did, and when the Romans disappeared the Anglo-Saxons came and stole it for themselves. As far as Askeladd sees it, his violent re-appropriation of the soil is simply the next step in a recurring cycle of violence. It's a good point, albeit another one I think the show has already made, and more effectively, since the endless recurrence of violence and revenge is basically the crux of Thorfinn's entire character arc.

After the torture scene, Askeladd's army gets word of Thorkell's impending arrival, and this is honestly where the episode feels the most like pure, unapologetic filler. Sure, Askeladd's apparent willingness to let his scared men defect to Thorkell is something, but it isn't a complex enough beat to carry half an episode. Just in case you haven't been paying attention, yes, there's going to be another run in with Thorkell, and yes, Askeladd's men are suitably spooked about it. Vinland Saga was telegraphing this a month ago, so I don't know how or why the show expects us to pick up that old sense of suspense and dust it off like nothing has happened in the meantime.

By his very nature, Thorkell is basically only interesting when he is actively murdering fools on the battlefield, and specifically fools that we have at least some modicum of investment in. There are only so many times he can magically turn his enemies' bodies into so many pieces of disembodied meat before his schtick gets old. “History of Beasts” might have worked as a single chapter of a comic that you could read in a matter of minutes, but it has absolutely no business taking up nearly a half-hour of our attention. Normally this is where I'd leave off with some kind of foreshadowing statement about the impending battle or whatever, but I've already done that twice before in reference to this exact scenario, so I'm not pressing my luck. Let's just get this over with already.

Rating: 2.5

Odds and Ends

• Canute's mourning period for Ragnar is quite affecting, all things considered, and his single moment of hateful consideration for Askeladd that we get is better than pretty much anything else “History of Beasts” has to offer. I see very interesting things brewing for our once mute monarch-in-the-making.

• Once again, all of Thorfinn's participation this week boils down to him being grumpy about getting saddled with Prince Protection Duty. I do miss when our main character of the show was actually, you know, the main character.

• I was expecting a lot more to come from the potential mutiny that Askeladd has brewing in his ranks, but it looks like any potential payoff is just another thing Vinland Saga is pushing back another week, or two, or twelve.

• Poor Ragnar doesn't even get to be buried, Askeladd is in such a hurry, which is yet another instance of me feeling more emotion for Ol' Conehead than I ever would have expected to even a couple of episodes back.

Vinland Saga is currently streaming on Amazon.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on Twitter, his blog, and his podcast.