This was an interesting week on Vinland Saga.  For the most part it was another full-on battle episode, and a corker at that – not nearly so silly and a lot grittier than the one set in France (even if one of the characters’ abilities stretched credulity a good bit).  But it says something about the nature of this series that an ep can be all tempest and rage for its entire length, and have it all be overshadowed by a single line of dialogue at the very end.  Both about the ability of the series to tell a story, and about its goals for that story.

Things pick up more or less where they left off last week, with the Danish fleet approaching London Bridge.  There’s a famous nursery rhyme based on the “Battle of London Bridge” (if I said which one it’d be a spoiler) so while less famous than the other “bridge” battle that would follow a half-century later, this was an important event in English history.  For the purposes of Vinland Saga, however, it’s most important because (even though we met him briefly in the premiere) it’s the formal introduction of Thorkell the Tall into the story.

Thorkell is a unique individual to be sure, and in fact based loosely on a real person.  Here he’s a former Jomsviking (as he was in real life) and comrade of Thors, and perhaps the only man stronger in battle.  Unlike Thors the Troll however, Thorkell seems never to have lost his lust for battle.  Bjorn speculates that once Floki offers him double what the English are paying him (which he only does after trying to win him over the cheap way, by playing on his loyalty) he’ll switch sides back to his roots, but Askeladd knows better.  The whole reason Thorkell is fighting for the English, it seems, is because they were a lost cause.  It would be much more “fun” to win leading such an army, and indeed Thorkell is dismissive of King Sweyn for “only fighting battles he’s sure to win”.

Askeladd, charming rogue that he is (his beard hair seems to be falling out – stress?), is certainly an asshole for sending Thorfinn to “take Thorkell’s head”.  Thorfinn has no idea what he’s getting himself into, but he acquits himself quite well in another splendidly choreographed fight sequence.  Thorkell is nothing if not sporting – he voluntarily takes the boy on without any weapons, and doesn’t seem especially angry when the ensuing scrap causes considerable damage to his sword hand.  As for Thorfinn he’s pretty damaged himself – broken ribs, dislocated shoulder, sprained ankle – and he retreats into the Thames before Thorkell gets a chance to explain his relationship to the lad’s father.

Thorkell the Tall is obviously an incredibly charismatic screen presence, and with Ohtsuka Akio voicing him the impact is magnified by an order of magnitude.  I struggle a bit with a man who can single-handedly sink warships with spikes the size of trees and toss boulders as big as minivans – even for a generational freak of nature, Thorkell’s prowess is a bit much.  But it is true historically that Thorkell was an extremely powerful warrior whose allegiances in this war were a matter of great interest to both sides.

The question of allegiances is an important one in this battle, and it’s not simply a matter of “English vs. Vikings” by any stretch of the imagination.  Britain wasn’t a united kingdom at this point for starters, and things were complicated in the Norse world too – not least with some Vikings being Christians and some observing traditional Norse beliefs.  Sweyn’s decision to abandon the attack on London Bridge for now and leave only 1/5 of his force (about 4000 men) under the command of Prince Canute is met with outrage and dismay by Ragnar.  But Sweyn coldly accuses his retainer of spoiling Canute and causing him to grow up “soft” (and blames Christianity in part) and it’s clear the seize of London is an important crucible for Canute to prove his worthiness to succeed the throne.

All that is big – big characters, big historical events, big action and drama.  But the best epics are also intensely personal, and with one sentence Vinland Saga distills everything back down to Thorfinn and the real battle at the heart of the series – the one going on inside him.  Even as Thorfinn chases revenge, grows stronger and becomes more and more inured to the horrors of battle, the part of him that’s his father’s son remains alive inside him.  And that boy realizes the insanity of Thorkell’s way of living – that the endlessly spinning wheel of brutality grinds up all in its path, even those who feel as if they’re in control of it.