Vinland Saga should, in theory, be airing it’s “season finale” next week – that mid-point episode of a two-cour series that (usually) tries to establish a sense of both finality and transition.  This ep did an admirable job of that, but of course it shouldn’t have because of the one-week break caused by the typhoon.  I can’t imagine Wit did any major editing this late in the game, so I’ll just chalk it up to the series’ overall Olympian quality and consistency, but for an episode that wasn’t supposed to be a season-ender this ep sure felt like one.

It’s fitting that this episode started off with a discussion of Askeladd’s accent, because it was all about talking.  Normally that can be problematical, but the dialogue is so jaw-droppingly superb in Vinland Saga that I was absorbed from OP (I won’t miss that one) to ED (I will miss that one).  Great anime is no different from great TV or movies of any kind – when the dialogue is really smart and laced with subtext. and delivered by superb actors, it’s as thrilling as any big-budget action set piece.

Askeladd just continues to get more fascinating as we progress.  His behavior has Bjorn vexed, and his men seem to be a bit disgruntled for the first time.  For men most at home on the sea, all this endless marching is no fun – though still better than the alternative, with Thorkell close behind.  He leads the troop to Wales, where he’s arranged for reinforcements from the kingdom of Morganwgg – starting with a ferry ride across the Severn and (temporarily) out of Thorkell’s reach.  I can’t help but wonder – why does Askeladd speak English perfectly with only a slight accent that an old boatman finds familiar?  Why does he refer to “Artorius” as one of his ancestors?  And why does he have strong ties to Welsh kingdoms?

On the subject of speaking, Canute does, for the first time – and it’s Ono Kenshou doing the honors.  His first words are a command to Ragnar to capture a low-flying hawk – a starkly tin-eared request at a rather tense moment, as the Welsh general (who I’m guessing may be Askeladd’s cousin of sorts) Gratianus (Saito Jiro) is demanding an oath that once King, he’ll stay out of Welsh affairs.  Both Gratianus and Askeladd are distinctly unimpressed with the prince’s visage, but Askeladd thinks back on Thors’ face and remarks that “the more you fall for a man, the less things go how you want”.  Chew on that one for a while…

As Gratianus leads Askeladd’s part over the Welsh mountains (for this tiny kingdom three warships is an impossible ask), yet another fascinating conversation takes place.  Askeladd’s men ask the drunken priest about the treasures he’s seen inside King Sweym’s palace, but the priest informs them that he seeks nothing but love – for it’s love which gives silver its value.  For simple soldiers of the time this is a baffling statement, but there’s definitely a certain curiosity about this “magic Christian spell” the priest is talking about.  It’s not that the Vikings didn’t know or accept love, but one imagines their definition of it is very different than the priest’s – and one must do a fair amount of extrapolation as to just what he means when he uses the word here.

There’s not much dialogue when it coms to Canute – or his new bodyguard Thorfinn, promised a duel in Gainesborough once Canute is safely delivered.  Both are young men of few words, though that seems to be the only thing they have in common.  Thorkell appears to have done an end run and made a deal with another Welsh Kingdom that Gratianus had arranged for passage with, so Thorfinn is going to earn his new title soon enough.

As the scene sweeps across Britain and back to Denmark, we see Sweym in his palace, surrounded by the Jomsvikings.  And fascinatingly, a visibly aged Leif presumably somewhere in Norway or Iceland, momentarily taken aback by a young slave he sees on a wharf.  I initially thought this might be Ylva but it appears to just be a random kid who puts the old sailor in mind of the boy he’s searching for.  It’s a reminder of a part of the story that’s been absent from the screen for a good long while, and on balance these final moments serve to tie together the first twelve episodes very much in the way you’d expect a mind-point ep to do.