Vinland Saga season 2 episode 4 recap & review: Awakening

The fourth episode of Vinland Saga season 2 sees Einar and Thorfinn confronting who they are. The episode is now streaming on Netflix.

Recap

Snake asks Badger to explain what they’ve been doing with Einar and Thorfinn. After learning everything, Snake calls them fools for bullying the slaves; this is something only their master is allowed to do.

Snake observes Thorfinn, who hasn’t felt a thing despite being attacked constantly by Fox. Snake wonders if he really has lost the will to live.

In order to figure that out, Snake opts to attack Thorfinn himself. Thorfinn instantly notices Snake’s moves and retaliates quickly like a warrior. Everyone else in the camp is left in awe watching a slave move like that.

Snake suggests to Thorfinn that his body still wants him to live. If that was not the case, he wouldn’t have tried to defend himself. Snake leaves after ordering his men to send Thorfinn, Einar, and Olmar back home safely.

Snake also reminds them of what he will do if he sees them bullying or indulging in any other pranks like these again.

Pater, who is in charge of taking care of Thorfinn and Einar, patches Thorfinn up and puts medicine on his injuries. He apologizes for not coming to their aid earlier.

Pater claims that even the master doesn’t know what to do about his guests’ behavior. Einar criticizes the guests, stating that their pranks could’ve killed them.

Thorfinn gives his thoughts on their treatment. According to him, they can’t do anything about this because the strong kill the weak.

The statement irks Einar a bit, but Pater calms him down. He tells them to come to him if these guests bother them again. When Einar thanks him, Pater tells him to thank Arnheid too, as she was the one who came running to inform him about this.

Thorfinn is offered a new shirt. Einar and Thorfinn then head to work despite getting a day off.

Einar continues to rethink how Thorfinn acted on Snake’s moves. More importantly, he is wondering what Thorfinn meant by ‘the strong kill the weak’.

When Einar questions Thorfinn about the war, the latter admits to having been in wars since he was a child and killing many people. He lets Einar know that he was a part of the Danish army’s invasion of England.

After confessing that he was a warrior, Thorfinn asks Einar whether this revelation disgusts him.

At night, Einar keeps thinking about the interaction he had with Thorfinn earlier. He intends to strangle Thorfinn at night. The moment he puts his hands on Thorfinn’s neck, Thorfinn starts having nightmares of the war.

Einar takes a step back after realizing how much Thorfinn has suffered because of the war. Einar wakes Thorfinn from the nightmare.

When Thorfinn claims that not a single good thing has happened to him in his entire life, Einar confronts him and tells him how lucky they are to still eat, talk, and sleep in peace despite being in hell because someone is keeping them alive.

After hearing Einar’s piece, Thorfinn thanks Einar for waking him from the nightmare. He further apologizes to him.

Review

• The fourth episode is quite a heartfelt episode, with both the main characters of the second season finally confronting each other about who they once were.
• The creators took their time to build the new world Einar and Thorfinn are navigating before having them talk about each other’s past.
• The conversation about wars between Einar and Thorfinn is built and written carefully. The viewers will be left wondering how the other person will react to every other claim and sentence.
• Lastly, Vinland Saga season 2 continues to be a calm, feel-good episode after being bloody and violent in the first season.

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Also Read: Vinland Saga season 2 episode 3 recap & review: Snake