Vinland Saga delivered another gripping story in Season 2 Episode 5, choosing to focus on Canute (voiced by Kensho Ono) and show viewers his ascension to power. It was clear he’d matured quite a bit since we last saw him, becoming a man who is willing to resort to any tactic to get what he wants. How this will affect everyone in the future, especially Thorfinn (Yuto Uemura), should be a thrilling journey to watch play out.
- Canute leads an Army through Mercia. Through flashbacks, we learn that ever since King Sweyn’s death, England and Denmark have been at war.
- Ethelred II leads the Danish army against Canute.
- Canute notices troops pillaging. He orders Gunnar to have them beheaded since this is a practice he has already outlawed.
- Floki thanks Canute for making the trip to see him in person. Canute admits that he also came to deal with Thorkill, who is still angry about being forced to stop fighting when Mercia requested a ceasefire.
- Thorkill warns Canute that he will not be able to avoid fighting forever.
- Canute speaks with Earl Eadric, who promises 8000 pounds of silver if he agrees to remove his troops from Mercia. Canute calls his offer cheap, saying it is a disrespectful amount to offer their king.
- Eadric’s son shouts that Ethelred is the true king, but Canute says he is a coward.
- Canute tries to convince Eadric to assassinate Ethelred for him. He says he will retreat from Mercia if Eadric does this for him, but the man refuses.
- Canute requests that Eadric followed him outside, where he has his men light a large wooden pyre. Soon signal fires pop up all across the area.
- Eadric asks what this is supposed to mean, and Canute responds that he could have Mercia reduced to ashes in no time. He then demands Ethelred’s head in exchange for peace.
- The next year, in April 1016, Ethelred II dies of what is said to be an illness.
- In November of the same year, Ethelred’s son, Edmund, also seems to die of an illness.
- In the year 1018, Canute is crowned the King of England.
Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 6 Release Date and Time
Episode 6 is scheduled to release on both Netflix and Crunchyroll on Monday, February 13th, 2023. The release time is 11:30 a.m E.T. The title of episode 6 is unknown at this time, but it will have a run time of approximately 23 minutes.
Where to watch online
Viewers worldwide can catch Vinland Saga Season 2 Episode 6 with a subscription to Netflix or Crunchyroll on the date mentioned above.
Predictions
While I wasn’t right on last week’s Thorfinn and Canute prediction, I was right in assuming that Thorkill was not far behind. While it’s always fun seeing the large warrior, he does not seem to be very pleased with Canute, which could definitely come back to haunt one of them later. However, since I doubt Thorkill will be hashing it out with Canute any time soon, let’s see if I can predict what will happen next week.
- I have a feeling we’ll return to Thorfinn and Einar’s story next week. When we last left them, things were rocky between the pair, with Einar unsure if he could see Thorfinn the same after learning of all the people he’d killed. I have a feeling things will start off awkward before Einar finally agrees to look past it.
