Vinland Saga is Over: Discussions Up to Ch 220 (SPOILERS)

[Beelzebud]

Hi everyone, last week the praised manga Vinland Saga from Yukimura Makoto reached it's ending with chapter 220 release.

Still waiting for vol. 29 cover, that should release in September.

I do not want to spoiler any curious who just opened the thread, so I'll not post any spoiler or detail in this first post, but be warned that any reply will have spoilers that are not intended to have spoiler tags before(as the title already have it).

The story so far

Vinland Saga is a Seinen manga that started serialization in 2015 and reached it's ending after a little more than 20 years, it's art, storytelling, philosophical topics, real world brutality and it's focus on 10th - 11th century history, since it's based on a real history was some of the things that stand off for me.

During these 20 years Yukimura filled in dark spots on Thorfinn Karlsefni and many other real world figures lives, many of it's know story are mixed with myths and facts, and Yukimura used what was know and his own creation to fill more than 30 years with his own fiction story on the pursue for Vinland, a far west land were war still didn't touched in this earth, a long promised and speculated continent that was a hope for many 10th century European folks.

And now, what?

As the story told from Yukimura Makoto reached it's end, we know what happens to the world after that, Vinland is North America and the world keep up with wars all around even to this day.

So what were your expectations for the end?
Did you get surprised?
Did get what you want?
How do you fell with the story at all, and with it's ending?

 

[Beelzebud]

Answering my own questions, I always expected and ending like this, because well, we know kinda how the world progressed after these events even not knowing exactly how THIS story ended.

Thorfinn and his father philosophy and objective of a world without war was not possible, and Vinland/North America would eventually be invaded and all the native people massacred. The Norse and Lnu cultural differences were destined to lead to competitions, so I was always curious to how our protagonist would deal with this peacefully, but he wasn't able to avoid the upcoming war which I kinda expected to happen.

But indirectly he was the responsible for ENDING this war, not by his own actions, but by Einar's that was strongly influenced by Thorfinn philosophy.

I was always expecting this end, but honestly wanted to be surprised by something different than what I expected.

In the end, Einar understood fully what is the feeling of being in war, he fully understood Thorfinn and gave his life to protect what he believed, and finally gone to the other side to meet with Arnheid(which I was expecting to see at 220 after reading 219, so kinda disappointed here, not exactly Arnheid but an afterlife vision from his pov).

Thorfinn found his own peace by understanding that he can't change the world, but that he can plant seeds in others so that they too fell to the "I have no enemies" mindset. Which I found poetic by the mirroring of Thorfinn giving Plmk a bag of wheat seeds, at the end he was capable of planting his seeds within the Lnu people. But on the other side, Ka'Qaquj also got a thing planted in his mind and kept the norse sword with him in order to be a war master that Thorfinn so much fight against. Don't know how to feel about this, but also did not see any other outcome for this Sword matter.

I know about some stories about the norse people blood being mingled within the native american people, including some historical figures who were told to be tall, bearded and even blonde within their people, which is very very uncommon for their genetic lineage, so I was expecting that Thorfinn expedition would describe some future like this.

With that said, Bug-eyes and Niska might be an indicative of their people starting to mix, but this is only one example of one couple. There's also mention of "the saga of the greenlanders" manuscript, who described 6 voyages and Thorfinn's one being the fifth and largest, but the sixth seems to be a very brutal history that involves Leifs sister, ending with her betraying her partners in the project and slaying everyone including woman with an axe, so describing that would've been a degression to Thorfinn tale.

After Bug-eyes and Niska aftermath, ending with the last dialog in the series saying "Somewhere not here" that is the chapter title, only narrator and footnotes from the author after this. But it shows Thorfinn long awaited reunion with his wife Gudrid and finally meeting their newborn son(which by curiosity is said to be the first known European born in North America and also ancestor of many notable Icelanders) presumably already on Greenland shore.

And finally the poetic ending: Plmk planting the wheat, taking care of it under sun and rain and finally watching it sprout, sided by the footnote (I still need a better source of translation):
"What sprouted were prayers for the future. We must not let them die out."

Relating the wheat sprout with Thorfinn philosophy teach to Plmk.

My conclusion:

It's a beautiful end, and with a very poetic and philosophical message to the readers, I found it good and in fit with the story told from the start.
But still have the feeling that there should've been more, I was expecting to be surprised as when Thors died, or when Askeladd killed the king Sweyn, when Einar stood up in front king Canute, how Thorfinn deals with Garm in the middle a conflict in the Vinking capital Jomsburg while trying to avoid violence at all cost. I could go all day giving examples of moments in this story that I was expecting something to happen and got surprised by how it ended up, but did not feel the same with chapter 220, while it's still a good ending.

Maybe Yukimura got himself in a corner that had no other way to go, just ending the story as a real world story usually ends, there's no end to nothing after all, there's always more.
Maybe I just need to give a rest to the ending, and then I'll feel better with it.(am I feeling the end is bad, or am I feeling bad that it ended?)

Well, eager to hear more from anyone who have read it up to the end too.

 

[Rhombaad]

I enjoyed the ending. It felt right for the series. I wasn't expecting it to end when it did, but I don't feel dissatisfied by it, either. I think Yukimura probably could've continued Thorfinn's story forever, always throwing up new challenges in his life until he died of old age, but I'm glad he decided to end it where he did. As you said, we know how the story ends. It ends with us and wherever we decide to go from here.

 

[Beelzebud]

I enjoyed the ending. It felt right for the series. I wasn't expecting it to end when it did, but I don't feel dissatisfied by it, either. I think Yukimura probably could've continued Thorfinn's story forever, always throwing up new challenges in his life until he died of old age, but I'm glad he decided to end it where he did. As you said, we know how the story ends. It ends with us and wherever we decide to go from here.

I already knew by the real history that they failed somehow in Vinland, and after returning to Greenland him and Gudrid returned together to Iceland where Thorfinn became a chieftain, so I was expecting at least an epilogue mentioning this and both his sons following and spreading his philosophy. I think it would be more satisfactory seeing more of his "seeds" being spread.

But I agree with you, it felt right for the series, and maybe that's why I feel it was kinda predictable until some point.