Episode 5

"The Troll's Son" is the 5th episode of the Vinland Saga anime.

Summary
After Askeladd kills Thorfinn's father Thors, Thorfinn hides inside Thor's ship and bides his time until the opportunity to take revenge. However, life on the ship is harsh without any food or water, and Thorfinn grows weaker day by day. One day, Thorfinn, armed with his sword, attempts to attack Askeladd in his sleep...

Overview
Askeladd's band of pirates sail across the sea drinking alcohol. Torgrim impatiently asks Askeladd when will they arrive at the place where they will be paid for Thors' murder. Askeladd tells him to be patient and they're almost there. Meanwhile, on Thors's stolen ship, Thorfinn has grown weak from a lack of food and water begins to cry in despair. Askeladd and his crew sail within the vicinity of the Humber River in England and docked their ships, so they can rest. Askeladd and his crew walk through a forest, while a weak Thorfinn follows them. However, Thorfinn slips and tumbles down a hill, knocking him unconscious.

Later at night, Thorfinn wakes up and finds a pond, giving him freshwater to drink and a glimmer of hope. However, Thorfinn realizes that he needs to eat as well. Suddenly, a fire is lit in the distance, to Thorfinn's shock. It is revealed that Askeladd's crew is raiding a nearby village. Askeladd orders his men to not let anyone get away, because it would be troublesome if others found out about the raid. Outside of the village, Ear uses his sensitive hearing to locate any nearby people who aren't in the village and archers kill them. Thorfinn is shown to be terrified by the heinous acts committed by Askeladd's crew. Afterwards, when they've all went to sleep, Thorfinn sneaks into the village, looking for Askeladd. He eventually finds Askeladd asleep in a small house. Thorfinn steals a sword from one of Askeladd's men and attempts to kill the pirate captain in his sleep. However, the boy cannot bring himself to kill his defenseless enemy and leaves. It is revealed to the viewer that Askeladd was awake the entire time.

The next morning, Askeladd's crew clean up the dead bodies of the English and cook, whle their captain and Bjorn go for a walk. Bjorn notices that Askeladd still seems tired and asks if he had trouble sleeping. Askeladd replies that a noisy little fly was in his room, referencing Thorfinn. Suddenly, Thorfinn approaches Askeladd and challenges him to a duel, to avenge his father's death. Askeladd reluctantly accepts and says that Thorfinn should have killed him when he was asleep, to the boy's surprise. Thorfinn says that as the son of Thors, he would never do something so cowardly. Askeladd asks Thorfinn if he thinks that he is a warrior and tells him to attack. Thorfinn clumsily charges at Askeladd with a thrusting attack, however, the pirate captain easily dodges. This causes Thorfinn's sword to get logded into wood and he struggles to pull it out, causing everyone to laugh at him. Askeladd tells Thorfinn not to let his sword swing him around and kicks the tired boy away, quickly ending the fight.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Askeladd
 * Atli
 * Torgrim
 * Thorfinn
 * Bjorn
 * Ear
 * Thors Snorresson (flashback)
 * Leif Ericson
 * Ari
 * Helga
 * Ylva

Differences from the manga

 * The entirety of this episode excluding the scenes with Ylva is anime original content that was not seen in the original manga.
 * Ear makes his anime debut in this episode earlier in the story than in the manga.

Trivia
Эпизод 5 Odcinek 5