Vinland Saga Season 1 and 2 had many real-life themes but the upcoming seasons 3 and 4 will delve into even deeper themes.
WARNING : This article contains major spoilers for Vinland Saga's mangaVinland Saga's first two seasons raised many questions about social issues, which is why it's so surprising that its future seasons will delve into much more serious topics. The series' ability to talk about these tough subjects in an elegant way has captured the hearts of many. Season 2 just concluded and it's easily a candidate for anime of the year because of its more introspective edge. Provided that Mappa continues to adapt the manga faithfully, the hypothetical seasons 3 and 4 will feature even more real-life themes.
The past two seasons of Vinland Saga have been an incredible success, with both averaging an 8.7 rating on MyAnimeList and hundreds of thousands of dedicated fans. With how extremely popular it is, it's only a matter of when and not if season 3 will be announced. Fortunately, the character designer of the show Takahiro Abiru has hinted to this in a tweet: "Thorfinn's journey will continue". Given what happens in the manga, fans can look forward to a season that goes even deeper than its predecessors.
Vinland Saga Season 3 Can Tackle Forced Marriage Through Gudrid
Gudrid is a young-widowed character who’s set to be introduced in the first few episodes of Season 3. She’s being coerced into marrying Sigurd, son of Halfdan. Halfdan is the man who bought livestock from Thors in exchange for a runaway slave back in Season 1. Gudrids’ family will have an easier life by forging a bond with the wealthy family of Halfdan, so they are making her marry Sigurd. Gudrid has other plans than just becoming a wife and staying in the village. She’s a rarity in her times as she’s a woman yet desires to sail the seas.
Eventually, she's married off to Sigurd, but just before they're about to consummate the marriage, she stabbed him, although it wasn't fatal. In a panic Gudrid runs away to Thorfinn, Leif, and Bug-Eyes who were about to depart from the island. Realizing this was her only shot at achieving her dreams, Gudrid begged them to let her onto the boat. After pleading and convincing them that she was capable, Thorfinn allowed her to journey with them. The two became closer and eventually got married. Like many young women around the world, she initially got married against her will. She didn't take it laying down and accomplished her dreams which is very inspirational.
Sigurd's Vinland Saga Story is About Living Up To Parental Expectations
Many people suffer from fulfilling expectations set on them by their parents and Sigurd, son of Halfdan, can relate to that. His father is extremely wealthy and respected on their island. There are already expectations from outsiders for the son to follow in his father's footsteps. However, Sigurd's situation is more complicated than that. His father had never acknowledged him, never praised him, and never talked with him for more than a few minutes or told him that he loved him. Sigurd did everything to get his father's approval, even going as far as pursuing Gudrid for humiliating him, but it was all useless.
After going on a long and deadly journey, Sigurd came back to the island. He became a changed man. Although he still loved and respected his father, he was no longer shackled by the chains of pleasing him. Ironically, Sigurd no longer caring about his father's approval made his father finally respect him, deciding his son was worthy of inheriting his wealth. Sigurd went ahead and married his childhood friend and had a child. Vinland Saga shows that holding on to others' expectations and approval is detrimental and that once you let go you can achieve happiness.
Future Seasons of Vinland Saga Will Be About Redemption
Season 2 saw Thorfinn Karlsefni regret his old way of life after being tormented by his sins of murder and pillaging. Thorfinn had initially given up on life and forgiveness but found an answer when he met Einar. After this fateful encounter, Thorfinn decided to live a life of pacifism and use his strength only for protection, and even then he wouldn't use deadly force. He was a changed man. Even Vinland Saga's political mastermind King Canute was shocked by how much Thorfinn had changed and how kind he became. However, the crimes of his past simply couldn't be undone no matter how much he has changed.
During the Eastern Expedition Arc, Thorfinn and his crew met a hunter named Hild. Turns out that Thorfinn had killed Hild's father during a raid by Askellad's group. She recognized him and put poison in the food that she cooked for them. In order to get the antidote for his friends, he had to come fight Hild. She had the advantage of terrain and defeated him. Just as she was about to kill him, Gudrid begged her to spare him, and said that he had changed. Remembering her father's teachings, Hild let him go. She joined the crew in order to monitor if Thorfinn had truly changed, and even forgave him in the end.
Vinland Saga Has a Story Arc About Gender Dysphoria
If the anime catches up to the manga, then future seasons of Vinland Saga will tackle the topic of gender identity using the character Cordelia. Cordelia was originally born as the son of Thorkell in Ireland, however her mother raised her as a girl so that Thorkell wouldn't send Cordelia to war, as was tradition at that time. When Thorkell found a potential husband for Cordelia, the mother ran away with her so that he wouldn't find out about her lie. Cordelia ended up as Halfdan's slave. She started referring to herself as Halvar, the name given to her by Thorkell, although she was uncomfortable using it.
When she overheard Thorfinn's plan to go to Vinland and start a new life there, she realized this was her opportunity to start over and embrace her identity and name. She decided to go with him to Vinland and shared her name with him: Cordelia. In a touching moment of acceptance, Thorfinn wholeheartedly accepted her and started referring to her by her true name. Though Thorfinn might once have been apathetic or even disrespected Cordelia's identity, his decision to welcome her with open arms is a testament to how far he's come.
Vinland Saga addresses many topics that are still relevant to this day, and it does it in a way that entertains and engages the viewers. It makes the audience question reality and what's wrong and right, leading to its huge fanbase. Thorfinn's journey to redemption is quite inspiring to many, as people can sometimes fall into the trap of thinking their sins are far too big or numerous to forgive. Thorfinn works hard to make up for what he did as a teenager. If they live up to their manga counterparts, than future seasons of Vinland Saga will make the already incredible series much more complex and interesting.
Vinland Saga is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
