Oath

Literally a masterpiece. Never thought I'd see episode dethrones AOT's Friday episode. WOW, WOW, WOW. This episode included all the technical elements that we usually see in masterful movies. Creative directing, well-done dialogues, and eye-pleasing drawing. What makes this episode the best in this season is the appearance of the great character Ashilad, who we have always admired and missed in this season. I liked the writer's philosophy. And the contrast between Thors' and Ashilad's conversation addressed to Thorfinn. "Nobody is your enemy" says Thors, "Everyone but you is your enemy" says Ashilad. I love this Anime man. Looking forward for the new era Thorfinn.

This episode is the culmination of what makes Thorfinn who he is and who he will be -- it's really a testament to the people and things that have defined him most.

So many stories would blunder at this sort of moment: a time when the main character is facing a truly life-changing event despite it being something that normally isn't remembered (dreams). Putting so much heart and emotion into this episode, combined with improvement-driven encouragement, creates a chilling sense of redemption and rebirth. It's an ode to the lessons Thorfinn has learned along the way and, additionally, his most important one: becoming a true warrior.

Not to mention, it draws a harrowing parallel between the things Thorfinn has done before and what he needs to do now.

To me this is the best episode in the whole series.

Sums up all the emotions and guilt that Thorfinn carried in his journey. As a viewer, we get to feel all those emotions in 20 minutes. Anger, guilt, sorrow, love, hate, conviction. All these emotions served with top notch visuals, soundtrack and voice acting that shatters the heart. Thorfinn finally finding solace. This whole season is about healing and redemption, and I feel Thorfinn finally gets on the path of healing after this episode. I feel that the series reached its prime in this episode and will continue to add on this wonderful journey of healing.

This season of Vinland Saga has been a clear change in pace that might not be loved by some who enjoyed the first season, but after the events of The End of the Prologue this slow paced change is extremely necessary for the sake of Thorfinn's character in my opinion. He's been crushed and left with little to no purpose after chasing a flawed goal for over a decade by trying to take Askeladd's life to fill that void in him, but the sad irony is Askeladd became more of a father figure to Thorfinn than Thors himself. So after the events of the prologue the void nearly became Thorfinn and trying to climb out of that void is something that shouldn't be settled with cool fight scenes, quicker paced episodes, but rather with slow character development that makes you more invested in Thorfinn's progression. Whether that's learning to grow plants at a farm or learning to make a friend, or even making you feel at rock bottom for simply punching someone, I think this season has shown a more human side to this story and shows us that grief isn't something that is to be glossed over or rushed past, but rather be treated day by day.

That being said I love what they've done with the season up until this point and the direction they took in this episode was great to see. Clearly the characters they've introduced with Snake, Ketil, his son Thorgil and others will have more of a role as this season and series goes on, as well as the faces we've already seen in the past with Canute and Thorkell. But seeing Thorfinn and Einar trying to get by day by day is something that I wasn't expecting to enjoy, but I am and I'm glad this story is being treated with the delicacy and patience it deserves.

Great way to show the true colors of mindless killing. Animation was on point, from details like the fingers to whole scenes like Askeladd standing on the column. A lot of things are related to the first season so you should make sure you remember that before watching this episode. The way guilt was portayed was very well done, also the amount of symbolism that was used helped it gain a philosophy-like vibe. Not a lot of action shown, but there was no need for that since the scenes and the dialog was very well done. Kind of episode you should watch alone at night with the lights off and with headphones on.