Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 18, 19 & 20 Live Reaction

Thorfinn's pacifism is an interesting philosophy to try to wrap your head around because ultimately it's something that is the way that humanity should move forward, we should strive for a world in which wars are fought over a dinner table with no blood spilled and the lives of humans protected and I don't think it's necessarily bound to religion that pathos. But it's difficult due to the complexities of human nature, people's perspectives of life are different and in some ways justified by the world we live in. After watching this and reading Full Metal Demon Muramasa however, I genuinely feel like Ketil not being killed by Einar was actually a good thing. In Muramasa it condemned the act of killing a "villain" in the name of justice and balance since it became nothing but a warped excuse to kill and cause violence. It posed the idea that in killing, you must balance the death of good and bad which is why killing is just killing and should never be given justifications, that ultimately at it's core it was just murder. You betray the very ideal you pretend to uphold by doing the same back and wrapping it up in justifications while producing more that feel the same way you do but towards you.

If Einar had killed Ketil, he'd likely have died to Snake or would've had to have killed him, if he had killed Snake he likely would've had to kill the soldiers under him wanting to gain vengeance, there is no justice in that ultimately. If Einar had died that would've lead to someone else, potentially Thorfinn, doing the same, it becomes an endless cycle of needless bloodshed, all avoided by stemming Einar's rage and allowing him to let it go, something Thorfinn had to learn to do all season. I also think there is an equal comparison in Thorfin and Einar, lest we forget Thorfinn himself was filled with rage and fury to kill Askeladd after the death of his father. He desired vengeance and killed many, innocent and not, to try to obtain it, something he never did obtain and was left after all of it empty, hollow and with the burden of many more lives taken than he ever should have taken, having lost a life he could've lived instead. To me Ketil's death wouldn't have been balance, it would've caused more anger, bloodshed and death by those connected to Ketil, people like Snake, Pater, Olmar and perhaps Thorgil, who knows who else that death could effect.

That being said Thorfinn's ideology does slip in that I do think that there comes a point in the world we live in right now that, like in Gaza, it's important to fight if only to protect oneself, both in life and it's freedom. Palestine's inhumane suffering and oppression has escalated to a point where it's kill or be killed, it may perpetuate a cycle, but it's impossible in our current mindset to resolve it any other way since diplomacy has failed, and if there were attempts to put down the weapons we know first hand that Israel's government wouldn't care. Perhaps Yukimura in some way is trying to express that even in a time where war, strife and suffering happens around us, wars justified by the individuals fighting it, that it's important for there to be people like Thorfinn who uphold a desire for absolute peace, to escape from violence and aggression. In order to facilitate the best way of showing that, chooses such a violent period where he can really try to tackle both the pros and cons to that ideology since it challenges it's logic and creates a great comparison to our brutal modern world. Really thought provoking philosophies and storytelling, Vinland this season defo hit my top 10 after this, truly incredible stuff.

EDIT: To add, it's also why I think Einar is such a great character, despite his closeness to Thorfinn throughout, he acts as the questioning to Thorfinn's ideals. He doesn't oppose them but he plays the part of a devils advocate for the audience almost, the idea that there is a need to raise your fists in certain contexts. Yukimura while evidently sides with Thorfinn's ideals isn't afraid to combat them.