This episode was, once more, good. I wouldn't say it was my favourite or least favourite this season, but I liked a lot about it, and to do that I have to go more detailed.
What I did like about this episode was the art and cinematography and how it complemented the plot well. Often I think MAPPA sacrifices quality of art for quality of effect, using ugly images to add emphasis to inhumane or dramatic scenes, however I think they made the right call in not going too far into changing the original art of the manga. I think they used great ranges of angles in the frames, and some of the background moments were top notch.
I also, while the plot was slow, did like the episode. I think it's interesting when a show steps away from a main character, because it risks losing a lot, and I mean a lot, of charisma, but Vinland Saga isn't afraid of it, and it really feels of high calibre for this reason. The climax of the episode was interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed the dynamic at the ending points of the episode.
That being said, I don't think the pacing was as ideal as it could've been in this episode. I think too much happened at the end and too little happened at the beginning, and really the content should've been spread more carefully. I don't know if it was just me, but I just felt like the speed of the scenes was weird and erratic, and while the dialogue was interesting I hadn't engaged with earlier parts. I have read the manga, so I may have lost engagement here, but I think there were reasons I found it boring. I get the character is intended to be cold and wicked, I found the voice acting a bit too levelled from the focal point of the episode and I much preferred how Thorfinn and Einar spoke last episode. I think really this could have been a 9.1 or 9.2 episode if it just had that bit more, but it was still really strong.
Overall, probably a less notable episode but I enjoyed it nevertheless.
