Did Thorfinn Kill Einar’s Family? Here’s What Happened to Them

One of the things that we saw during the first episode of Vinland Saga season 2 was that Einar lost his family in an attack by a Viking band on his village in England. Of course, he survived the attack because the Vikings decided to sell him off to slavery, which is why he is now on Ketil’s farm with Thorfinn. But we also know that Thorfinn spent a good part of his life raiding villages in England and killing countless people. So, did Thorfinn kill Einar’s family?

Thorfinn was not responsible for killing Einar’s family. At the time when Einar lost his family, Thorfinn was already working on Ketil’s farm. We also saw in episode 1 that the ones responsible for killing Einar’s family were random Viking raiders that didn’t belong to Askeladd’s band of Viking mercenaries.

Even though Thorfinn was not the one responsible for killing Einar’s family, he did say that he might as well have been the one who killed them because he killed countless people during the time that he was working for Askeladd. As such, he knew his actions’ consequences before becoming a slave, and even Einar understood what Thorfinn did before they met. So, with that said, let’s talk more about this topic in greater detail.

Did Thorfinn Kill Einar’s Family?

During the early part of season 2 of Vinland Saga, we saw Einar’s story as he was a farmer in northern England. He had a peaceful life with his family as he was able to help the village prosper by working well as a wheat farmer. But he always knew that he wasn’t a fighter, and his lack of fighting skills was apparent when there was an attack on his village.

Vikings attacked Einar’s village, which was why his mother and his sister died. Meanwhile, because he had a strong body, he was sold off to slavery by the ones that were responsible for killing everyone in his village and burning it down. Luckily for him, he was sold off as a slave to Ketil, a somewhat kind man with a use for Einar’s strong body and knowledge of farming.

Of course, he and Thorfinn worked on Ketil’s farm as partners that needed to clear the forest to plant wheat there. Ketil gave them a chance to become free men by allowing them to work well on that farm so that they could sell the wheat to Ketil for their freedom. And that was why Einar was so pumped up about working hard on the farm, as he understood that he could become a free man and continue with his life, as that was what his family would have wanted him to do.

But after he and Thorfinn were able to plant wheat, some of the farmhands working on Ketil’s farm decided to destroy their crops because they didn’t like the fact that Einar was a good farmer. This pissed Einar off, as he wanted to get his hands on the ones responsible for destroying their wheat. 

Still, Einar was surprised to see that Thorfinn wasn’t angry about it, and that was when Thorfinn said something interesting. Thorfinn said that he wasn’t angry about the farmhands destroying their crops because he had no right to be angry about anything in life because he was responsible for killing a lot of families and destroying a lot of farms during the time he was working for Askeladd. So, did Thorfinn kill Einar’s family?

Thorfinn told Einar that he might as well have been the one who killed his family, not because he actually killed Einar’s family but because he has killed a lot of people in the past. He was responsible for destroying hundreds of lives and burning countless villages while working for Askeladd. As such, he told Einar that if there were someone he needed to be angry at, it would be him. And this is also the reason why Thorfinn wasn’t angry at the farmhands, as he was responsible for doing things that were far more horrible.

Of course, it is worth mentioning that the death of Einar’s family happened when Thorfinn was no longer working as a mercenary. When Einar and Thorfinn met, Thorfinn had already worked as a slave for Ketil’s farm for about a year. Meanwhile, only a few months passed between when Einar lost his family and when he was sold off to slavery. And that is the reason why Thorfinn could never have been the one who killed Einar’s family.

There’s also the fact that Thorfinn was too busy fighting England under Askeladd’s leadership for a long time before he was sold off to slavery. Most of the time he spent raiding and killing people in different villages happened before he and Askeladd’s band were hired to take part in the war against England. As such, he could not have been the one who killed Einar’s family.

Who Killed Einar’s Family?

Episode 1 of season 2 made it clear that the ones responsible for killing Einar’s family were large Vikings that went around England to fight, kill, and pillage. This happened when Canute was already claiming the title of King of England and Denmark and England were still locking horns with one another.

Of course, we saw that the ones who killed Einar’s family did not even belong to Askeladd’s band of mercenaries, as these were Vikings that we had never seen before the events of episode 1. As such, neither Thorfinn nor any of Askeladd’s men were responsible for killing Einar’s family. That means that the ones that killed Einar’s family were random Viking raiders going around England to wreak havoc.