REVIEW: ‘Vinland Saga,’ Season 2 Episode 5 – “Path of Blood”

Vinland Saga is an action-adventure drama anime based on Makoto Yukimura’s historical award-winning manga series. It is animated by Studio MAPPA and directed by Shuuhei Yabuta (Attack on Titan). The voice cast of Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 5 includes Shunsuke Takeuchi as Einar, Yuuto Uemura as Thorfinn, Mayumi Sako as Arnheid, and Kensho Ono as Canute. 

In Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 5, following the death of Sweyn, King of Denmark, war erupts in England again after losing its ruler. Canute, who once despised conflict more than anyone, now walks a bloody path alone to conquer England. Now Canute must find a way to usurp the current king and take his throne. 

Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 5 takes a break from Thorfinn and Einar on Ketil’s Farm. Instead, the primary focus of this episode gives us an update on what the other fan-favorite characters, Thorkell and Canute, have been up to since the Season 1 finale and time skip. I gladly welcomed the break from Thornfinn’s storyline as I was starting to feel the story had gone as far as it could go for the time being. Vinland Saga needed to widen the scope of this season’s story, to include what is going on in the outside world beyond Thorfinn and Ketil’s Farm.

Although Thorfinn is the main character of the series, it is nice to see the show focus on other character storylines as it provides a better sense of what is happening outside of Thorfinn’s story arc. Focusing the story on something different than Thorfinn informs the audience how drastically the war has affected the rest of the country. For example, Ketil’s Farm’s serene and bountiful setting starkly contrasts the war-torn land that is most of England due to Canute’s ongoing war. In actuality, battles rage on throughout England as Canute tries to regain control of it with his army of Vikings.

To say Canute has changed would be an understatement. It is more like he has gone through a complete evolution and is now a completely different man from the one we once knew. Canute has evolved not just in character design but in personality too. In this episode, Canute’s demeanor and features changed from being the timid and soft-spoken boy from last season. Now, Canute has become a calculating and manipulative character that does not hesitate to remove anyone in the way of his goal of creating paradise on Earth for the Vikings.

Although Canute has this new hardened exterior from battle after battle, he still retains his sense of honor and a moral compass. For example, when he sees his men pillaging and taking women from the territory they recently conquered, he instructs his commander to have the men beheaded. Years of raging war and leading his Viking army have pushed him to be a ruthless leader, but it is nice to see he still has a somewhat merciful heart toward others.

Lastly, fans of Vinland Saga Season 1 will be thrilled to see fan-favorite Thorkell return in this episode. Although he is only a supporting character, he has left quite an impression since his first appearance in Season 1. He goes the same effect this season as well. Although Thorkell’s appearance in this episode is brief, he has a powerful and ominous exchange with Canute that excites me for him to appear again soon.

Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 5 brings back familiar fan-favorite characters and shows how much they have changed since season 1. Canute is a force to be reckoned with this season, and I cannot wait to see where his story goes. Although the story in Vinland Saga has taken some time to pick up, this episode helps progress and flush out the overarching conflict.

Vinland Saga streams weekly Crunchyroll and Netflix.