Askeladd died in most heroic way. King Sweyn told him to sacrifice his home or his retainer. Askeladd chose to save both. Doing so he lived up to the true name his mother gave him. Being the savior of his homeland by protecting it from Viking intrusion. Trusting Canute with his legacy. Giving Thorfinn his life back.

Finally! Someone who cried as much as me during this heart wrenching episode! Thank you for sharing this with us!

The reason Askeladd had to die is they had to make the people in the room believe that Askeladd had truly lost his mind. Additionally Canute killing Askeladd legitimized him in a way, making it look like he put a crazy dog down rather than people thinking Askeladd and Canute conspired together.

Please, go for Season 2 right now!, haha. I love your reactions!, and Season 2 is a MASTERPIECE!, you need to see it. Cheers from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

You deserve a big hug my friend. Thank you for reaction to this masterpiece. Now onto season 2 which is in my opinion one of the greatest seasons of a show ever. "That's your true fight. Become a true warrior... Son of Thors.."

Canute ordered everyone to kill Askeladd because Askeladd's crime was killing the King. The punishment is death. If Canute did anything except order the execution, the powerful men in that room would not respect Canute and would not recognise him as their next legitimate leader. Canute knew that that was Askeladd's intention as well; to make himself the scapegoat so Canute can rise to power.

the ost is just breathtaking, makes the series 10x better

Season 2 is a fuckin banger, you’re gonna bawl your eyes out

A lot of those end scenes are going to come in to play in season 2. Which I am actually jealous you get to watch season 2 without having to wait week to week like I did! I hope you enjoy it. Most of your questions are relevant to season 2 so no one can give you too many answers without spoiling stuff.

This one of the best episodes in any anime I’ve seen I cry but for thorfinn, Askeladd is a great character one of the best antagonist of the anime but so difficult to feel bad for a character that spends almost the whole anime killing people He’s clever and charismatic but very cruel very hypocritical so in my case I felt sad because of thorfinn

This episode remains as one of the best season finales I've seen in any show. Regarding your question about Canute. He was forced to kill him as a way to separate himself from Askeladd's actions. Like Thorkell said, the stage was set for him and Askeladd knew it from the moment he decided to kill the King. I think all the Lords in that room would rather follow someone who killed the person responsible for regicide instead of someone who played a part in it.

Chain-whip guy(Halfdan) isn't in the show because he's chillin all the way over in Iceland. Canute had to kill Askeladd because you can't just hurt(let alone KILL) royalty and get off with a slap on the wrist. That'd make Canute look weak and corrupted, giving way to more people to challenge his power. He had to show everyone he has what it takes to become a King by slaying the man who "went mad" and killed half the King's guard along with the King himself.

vinland saga season 2 ❤

Thank you for showing real emotions. It's refreshing among the sea of people who fake it for views.

Askeladd was redeemed at the end. He was a terrible person that subscribed to the belief of creating a good society by any means necesarry. He realises this about himself, which is why he tells Canute that he is a lot better than him. He can tell by looking at his face ( it's not a superpower; you can tell a lot by looking into someone's eyes). He could also tell that Thors was better than him, which is why he was asking him to be their leader after they faught. After he found out that he didn't kill any of his men we see him being really distraught which tells us that was an important encounter for him and he most likely regrets killing him. However, even though he knows now that there is a way to "becoming a true warrior" which just means becoming a good person, he keeps employing his "get it done by all means necessary" tactic. The look that he sees in Canute's eyes is the same look he saw in Thor's eyes so he can tell that they are similar people so he wants to make him king. The reason he keeps doing bad things is that he thinks it's to late for him to change. His actions at the end redeem him just a bit because he sacrifices himself to save his country and Canute. But that is not what redeems him in my eyes. What redeems him is teling Thorfinn to stop his quest for revenge and move on. This is what the story is about and always has been about. The clues about this being true are the conversations the priest has with different people and the conversations Askeladd and Canute have with other characters. You should definitely consider rewatching the show after you reacted to it because you keep looking at the camera and missing important information. This story was never about cool action or vikings or whatever else. It's a story about people, about right and wrong, about the cycle of violence, about redemption, about love, about the history of human kind made for people that don't read and are not curious about learning about history and the lessons of the past. I am among those people to a certain extent, so I am very thankfull for Makoto Yukimura, the writer of this story and I'm thankfull for the people that animated this show and brought these lessons to a large audience.

"What is wrong with the prince" Nothing is wrong with the prince. The king basically blackmailed Askeladd and forced him to choice to either sacrifice Wales or Canute. Askellad realized that the only way to not sacrifice one of them, it was to kill the king. This would mean the safe death for him and Canute, so he acted like he become mad, so the murder of the king was not connected to Canute. Askeladd sacrificed himself for him and Canute understood his plan. He had to kill Askeladd, the kingslayer, otherwise he would've accused of being a co-conspirator against his father. The prince played along Askeladds fake madness.

There was 3 goals askalad had Save wales Save canute And finally make him King. It was important that all the people witnessed canute kill the one who killed the king and immediately take command in charge so he is seen as the king by the people and accepter as such. If he didn't personally kill him the people wouldnt have truly accepted him as the new king

No need to apologize about crying, it makes the reaction great and authentic 😁

The character in the boat will be a big part of season 2. If you shed tears in season 1 then be prepared for season 2 haha

Im crying again i cant stop whyyy askalad ;-; Thorfinn hearts just incomplete and will never will be i hope he finds peaces s2

We all cried for askelad :( , he was a really good grey character, not a good person, not entirely a bad person, just another viking.

Good, finally. now you have season 2 where this is another masterpiece that completes this ending

Askelad is basically the main protagonist of season 1 with his character development. I think Askellad's death is necessary so Thorfin can finally move on from his revenge. Oh the new guy at the end will be in season 2.

this was intense. looking forward to what comes next

Hands down the best reaction to this episode, was waiting for this episode, Askeladd was a real one and planned for this all along just for the sake of Canute and Wales as you said … anyways much love to you Tara , cannot wait for season 2 to continue your journey to Vinland .. keep up the great work always.🌹🙌🏼

The ending had me weeping, have fun with s2 :)

Canute although understood Askeladd plans yet he killed him to show his people that he is the Hero and be elected easily to be the king , that’s why you see Thorkell on the other hand telling Canute to “Stand up straight, this part is Important” he meant that Canute needs to show no weakness in front of his people and show them how strong kings acts.

Very good reaction! Looking forward to your next ones for season 2.

in order for Canute to maintain innocence, he has to feign ignorance - and that means Askeladd has to die and Canute has to be the one to do it

Loved the reaction! I noticed the subtitles are really weird on your Vinland reactions, it's the first Time I see these kind of subtitles, they speak in a very formal way that seems unnatural 😅

Saving an entire nation from war, What a beautiful and heroic death.

A bit late to the party - Askeladd was locked into the situation by the King so he had basically only two choices, bend the knee for the King and foresake his loyalty to his lands or take action to force Canute into power leaving the Welsh to be safe. When Thorfinn drops his dagger it's like an end to an era reflected in the metal as it falls, beautifully executed and one of the better moments in anything I've seen, live action or anime...

Good reaction, vinland saga is a great anime, I hope your reaction to the second season!

You’re really going to like season 2!

Askeladd created a situation for Canute to kill him, so the people will accept him as the new king. So if Canute didn't kill him, the opportunity would have been wasted.

All the characters you see at the end of outro thingy aren't characters you know yet. It's pretty confusing, I always thought it was a strange editing choice to include them. I'm pretty sure no on becomes King until it is decided. By who? Idk medieval stuff lul. Canute DOES have a brother, so it's not so obvious who will become King since earlier in this season we learn the people are split on supporting Canute, or his brother. This plot will be explored so I won't say anything beyond that. Askeladd had a fantastic sendoff. RIP to one of the anime GOATs 🐐

Omg you poor thing 🥺 It was a tough episode to watch, and short answer is, Askeladd looked at canute before killing the king as a sign from him that canute needs to be the hero of this day after what about to happen, so he had to kill Askeladd. All the characters at the end are new ones so you should not know any of them right now.

Dont think anyone memtioned this, but Asheladd also chose not to tell Thorfinn that Floki was the one who wanted Thors dead for the explicit purpose of having him move on from it.

Great reaction!!!😂😂😂 now be prepared for season 2 the real deal.....

9:36 Tara/King Sweyn: "I actually stopped breathing"

You will meet him in the next season. You are in for another emotional roller coaster.

Canute didn't want to kill Askeladd but he had to if he wanted to be respected enough by everyone to be king. It was all part of Askeladd's plan, he was ready to die.

Damn these subtitles are so weird :( like when the King is talkin to Askeladd he actually says "The only merchandise from Wales is slaves" a bit different of a meaning than what the subtitles here showed.

Those characters in the last scene, they are-

I cried for Askeladd so bad :(

Askellad had (and wanted) to die the moment he killed king sweyn, in order to make Canute king. If Canute didnt kill Askellad the people would not follow him.

Death of Bjorn and Death of Askeladd tragic but just m'en's life and purpose : Sacrifice. We men have this sacrifice instinct harden in our heart, that why i cried cause I identified myself into Askeladd. Sorry I Mean Lucius Artorius Castus, the real Artorius, savior of Cymru (real name of Wales).

SLICE

I know it hurts but Askeladd's plan doesn't work if Canute just spares his life. He just killed the king in front of everyone. The prince sparing his life after that would be the most sus thing, and people were already sus they were trying to kill each other, imagine if he goes and spares the killer 😅. He'd be wasting his sacrifice. Also by doing it himself he gained respect and to be seen as a hero. This is what Askeladd wanted all along.

I found good chnnel from Japan😮❤

What is wrong with the prince? I think you didnt get that was part of Askeladd's plan

KNEW youd cry btw lmao

canute had to kill him. if he didnt everyone would think he was part of it. and his brother wouldve got the crown. canute was acting. he didnt want to kill askeladd but it had to be done

Okay I'm subbing. I like ur reaction but please stop looking away at important moments and looking at the camera. 😂