It would be easy to think that the “Awakening” referred to by the title of this week’s episode is the moment where Snake the mercenary demonstrates Thorfinn’s latent survival instincts by taking a real swing at him, instead of the humiliating cuts that Fox inflicted last week. Despite Thorfinn’s insistence on how little he values his own life, the swiftness with which his leg rises to block Snake’s blow says otherwise, something that Snake could clearly see in Thorfinn when Thorfinn was silently enduring all of Fox’s torment and insults. However, it isn’t like one bold gesture from a complete stranger is going to suddenly turn Thorfinn’s life around. This is Vinland Saga after all, and things are never so simple.
Instead, Thorfinn’s “awakening” is a much more literal—and much more nuanced—affair. It comes…
