Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 4 review 

In this week's episode of Vinland Saga, the "awakening" referred to in the title is not the moment when Snake the mercenary demonstrates Thorfinn's survival instincts by taking a real swing at him, but rather a more literal and nuanced awakening that happens after Thorfinn confesses to Einar about his past as a Danish warrior. Einar, despite having every reason to hate Thorfinn for his past actions, cannot bring himself to take Thorfinn's life when he tries to do so in the dead of night. Instead, he wakes Thorfinn from his nightmares and offers him a simple gesture of kindness.

Throughout the episode, we see the evidence of the hardships that Thorfinn and Einar have endured etched onto their bodies in the form of calloused hands, cracked lips, and numerous scars. Thorfinn has been willing to reduce his entire sense of self to these scars and the stains of the blood he has shed in his life, but Einar refuses to see him as "just" a killer. Instead, he recognizes Thorfinn as a human being who deserves the right to find a life for himself that is more than simply wasting away at the whims and mercies of the "strong."

Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 4 review 

The episode ends with Einar angrily berating Thorfinn for claiming that "not a single good thing" has happened to him in his entire life, despite the fact that he is alive right now and able to keep on living. Thorfinn's response is a simple "Thank you, Einar." Although this interaction between Einar and Thorfinn takes up the majority of the episode and there is no traditional emotional climax, it is a grand enough moment in its smallness. Thorfinn has found a person who is willing to accept him for who he was and who he is without throttling the life out of him, and this gesture of kindness may be the first step towards finding a path back to himself.