‘Vinland Saga: Season 2’ Episode 9 Recap & Ending Explained: What Does Thorfinn’s Oath Entail?

Welcome to the Recap and Ending Explained for Vinland Saga: Season 2, Episode 9, titled “Oath.” This is a very anticipated episode for those who have been reading the manga. In it, Thorfinn, our main character, goes through one of the biggest changes in his arc. Mappa has done the episode justice, and this very important moment in Thorfinn’s life has been portrayed beautifully thanks to the talents of an animation studio that seems to have no limits to what they can create.

The episode follows the events of the previous episode, where Einar and Thorfinn find out that the farmer retainers have destroyed their crops. These are free men working as farmers on Ketil’s farm, but for some reason, they believe that Einar and Thorfinn, as slaves, should not receive the same opportunity. Einar becomes enraged and goes after the guilty, but Thorfinn punches first, breaking one of the retainers’ jaws and starting a brawl between them and Einar and Thorfinn. What follows is an incredible sequence into Thorfinn’s psyche.

The following paragraphs contain spoilers for Vinland Saga: Season 2, Episode 9. Read at your own risk.

What Is Valhalla In Norse Mythology?

In the previous episode, after Thorfinn punches one of the retainers, breaking the man’s jaw in the process, he also later receives a strike to the head. This strike leaves him unconscious while Einar fights on his own. Episode 9 begins with a younger Thorfinn sleeping under a tree in what appears to be his homeland. The environment is gorgeous, like straight out of a screensaver. The trees are all healthy, the grass covers every inch of the ground, and Thorfinn looks healthy, young, and innocent.

Thorfinn wakes up and believes that everything he has been living, the war, the killings, and even his time as a slave, were all dreams. In the distance, he sees his father, Thors. A happy Thorfinn goes to meet his father and tell him about his strange dream, but in a very ominous tone, his father says he smells blood and then asks Thorfinn who he killed with that knife. Thorfinn looks down, and the paradise-like vision disappears instead; he sees his hand on his knife stabbing the neck of a young Einar, who represents all the people he killed while being a warrior.

Thors speaks with regret; he feels that he has failed Thorfinn by leaving him alone. He also says there were many things that he didn’t manage to teach, which is why Thorfinn followed this path of death. Thors gives one last lesson to his son; he tells him that he has no enemies. Thors could be speaking from the point of view that no one is born with enemies; they are made, and right now, Thorfinn is in a position where he can start a new life from scratch. All the blood and death from his past can be left there as a memory.

At this point, hands start coming out of the ground, dragging Thorfinn into the Earth. It is quite a terrible sight, but Thorfinn cannot do anything about it. He is brought down to the abyss until his hands, all broken and bloody, find a grip. When Thorfinn looks down, he sees a hellish sight and wonders if this hell is Valhalla.

In Norse mythology, Valhalla is a hall where half of the Viking warriors who have fallen in battle reside. They are there waiting for Ragnarök when they will join in his battle against the giants. Often, Valhalla has been depicted as a sort of paradise for the Vikings; there, they can eat, drink, and be content with themselves after a life of killing and pillaging. However, Vinland Saga takes another approach, and this Valhalla is anything but a paradise.

What Does Thorfinn’s Oath Entail?

Thorfinn’s fingers grab the cliff with all their strength, and Thorfinn himself is horrified by what he is seeing. There is a big blood pit down there, and in there are countless ghouls and some zombie warriors, and they are all killing each other. During their lives, they focused only on killing, and so, in death, that is the only thing they can offer. This is an eternal war, and they will wait until Ragnarök arrives. It is quite a hellish sight, and Thorfinn definitely doesn’t want to fall down there.

A familiar voice speaks to him. On a rock, there is Askeladd, his father’s killer. In the previous episode, Thorfinn concluded that he didn’t really hate Askeladd. On the contrary, at some point, Askeladd became a father to him. However, when Askeladd was killed, Thorfinn returned to being alone, and all his hate toward the man disappeared. Askeladd explains that this is a place for those with hatred in their hearts. This is where all the human trash ends up being.

Ghouls begin to climb, and they grab Thorfinn, trying to bring him down. Askeladd explains that these are the people Thorfinn killed. There are hundreds of these ghouls, and they all want a piece of Thorfinn. However, Askeladd explains that this is the moment when Thorfinn must decide what to do. He can fall into despair or take a chance on life. Thorfinn is now an empty man, and he has the chance to start learning new things. Thorfinn begins to climb and escape Valhalla as Askeladd screams to him that life is the true battle, and that battle begins now.

Thorfinn wakes up as usual from one of his nightmares and discovers that Einar can fight the retainers and win. The men escape but warn Einar and Thorfinn they will be punished for attacking free men. It doesn’t happen. Ketil resolves the issues thanks to Pater, who discovered a bottom from one of the retainer’s coats in the destroyed crops. Meanwhile, Thorfinn makes an oath that he will renounce violence from here on out. We see Thorfinn and Einar working the land again, trying to rebuild their crops.