Thorfinn vs. Thorkell
What They Say:
Episode #9: “The Battle of London Bridge”
In October 1013, King Sweyn leads a fleet of Danish and Viking ships in an attempt to take London Bridge of England. Askeladd’s army, hired by the army of Denmark, was among them. However, after the betrayal of Thorkell the Tall, a Viking known for his overpowering strength, London Bridge has become impregnable. Askeladd tells Thorfinn he’ll reward him with a duel if he’s able to kill Thorkell.
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
There is dry historical fact, and then there is legend, and then there is historical fiction.
Sure, details on the Danish conquest of Anglo-Saxon England is regulated to a few surviving manuscripts, and this series takes great artistic license for fiction’s sake, but hell… the real-life Thorkell the Tall’s motivations for his constant side switching is unknown. Why not make him a bloodlust addict?
I appreciate the way that the animators try to keep all of the action dynamic. It’s so easy for the director to fall back on uninspiring camera angles or rote presentation of material. When we’re reintroduced to Thorkell his face takes up more of the frame than seems possible. We’re often looking up at the man. He feels gigantic, and not just because he towers over all the Englishmen. We’re down at Thorfinn’s level, a David versus Goliath.
Thorkell is massive, but he’s still mobile. We, the audience, remember he fought alongside Thors. We’ve already seen him cut down ship masts and lines of men. We go into this fight knowing that Thorfinn doesn’t stand a chance against a mountain of a man. Instead, we watch to see how badly he will fail.
The thing is, Thorkell isn’t just an obstacle in Thorfinn’s way toward vengeance. He is the logjam for Sweyn and Floki in the taking of London. Thorkell stands on London Bridge (one of the original, wooden versions) and sinks boats by himself. Floki tries to reason with the man, then bribe him, to no avail. Thorkell is left raging that he didn’t get the fight he wanted, although he did have fun against Thorfinn even though he lost two fingertips in the fight.
Thorfinn, beaten soundly but non-fatally, limps back to Askeladd’s army. His men are moving on to Wessex. Thorfinn curses out the fact that Askeladd likely knew that no man could hope to beat Thorkell, but I have to wonder if he was frustrated at his own lack of strength.
During all of this King Sweyn withdraws rather than carry out a lengthy siege. He leaves his young untested son behind with a single regiment to carry on the attack. It’s a fool’s errand, and his son’s retainer knows it. What could Sweyn be thinking, I wonder?
In Summary:
This episode is all action, punctuated by the headliner bought. Vinland Saga shines when we get to watch the warriors fight one on one. Larger than life figures in ancient tales sometimes prove to be just that. Thorkell’s thirst for battle overrides all other desires, and nobody can hope to match the giant. Thorfinn had no chance against the man who once fought next to his father. Thorfinn does leave his mark on the man in a very literal fashion, and Thorkell misses his chance at telling the boy about his father. It certainly won’t be the last chance these two get to clash in battle though.
Episode Grade: B +
Streamed by: Amazon
