Episode 6

"The Journey Begins" (旅の始まり) is the 6th episode of the Vinland Saga anime.

Synopsis
Thorfinn goes to battle for the first time as a member of Askeladd’s army. After witnessing the harsh reality of the war to conquer England first-hand, Thorfinn tries to run away but later throws himself into battle in order to get revenge for his father by defeating Askeladd. One night, Thorfinn gets wounded in battle and is saved by a mother and daughter living in a village by the sea.

Summary
Askeladd's army is happy to use the rain to wash themselves. They joke with Thorfinn, but he ignores them. In 1002 AD, they reach the vicinity of Gainsborough, the center of England, where they find an aftermath of a battle with many dead. Bjorn recognizes they aren't army regulars and Askeladd explains that the Danish army hires people like them for their own army. Bjorn is surprised to learn that vikings are helping in the war and Askeladd confirms it, explaining that skirmishes with the English army are happening all over the place. The King of Denmark will one day invade England and is currently laying the groundwork. Askeladd notes that if they help them, they will be compensated.

At night, Askeladd meets with the vikings and proposes his help. The viking confirms that they are having trouble with the local English troops, but is hesitant to accept pirates help. Bjorn notes they are all Danes, but the viking states it doesn't mean they are the same. Askeladd continues to pursue the man and explains that this way they won't lose a single man and asks for seven pounds of gold, along with all the women and all the treasure and food the English lord has. That annoys the viking, but he agrees on five pounds of gold. As both sides agree, the viking states he will send a messenger tomorrow, but in that moment he and his man are shot with an arrow. Arrows starts raining down on Askeladd's camp, some of the men fall down, but the rest pick their weapons and engage the English troops. Thorfinn recalls Askeladd telling him to achieve something great on the battlefield and he will reward him with a duel. As he wonders on what to do, an English soldier finds Thorfinn and wonders if he is a pirate too. Scared Thorfinn tries to run, but the soldier takes him down and prepares to kill him, however before he is able to, Askeladd kills the soldier. Askeladd's blade punctures a bit Thorfinn and Askeladd apologizes, stating he didn't knew if he was still alive as weaklings like him due first. Annoyed, Thorfinn stands up, but soon another soldier attacks him. Thorfinn dodges and manages to stab the man twice and kill him. As he killed someone, Thorfinn tears up and yells.

As time goes, Askeladd's army gets involved in numerous battles and Thorfinn gets better at fighting as he keeps killing soldiers. One time, Askeladd asks him to scout for them and while doing so, Thorfinn encounters three soldiers. He struggles a bit, but manages to kill them. Moments later, two more soldiers appear and Thorfinn engages them too.

1008 AD, East England. While scouting, Thorfinn gets found out and hit by an arrow. They send dogs after him, but he fights them off. The next day, a woman with her daughter are doing the laundry by the river. The woman complains how the current king is bad and its natural that the Danes are angry after what he did. As they leave, the girl sees Thorfinn in the water and calls her mother. They take Thorfinn to his place and threat his wounds. When Thorfinn wakes up, the woman gives him new clothes and invites him for dinner. She asks him about who is he and from where he came, but as he doesn't respond, her daughter is sure that he is Dane. The woman doesn't care from where he was, since she couldn't leave an injured child. The girl then gets itchy and sees Thorfinn scratching, realizing that he has fleas.

The woman then combs Thorfinn's hair to help him with the fleas. She explains she used to have a son for which she did the same, but he caught a cold and died two years ago. Thorfinn says he isn't English and can't understand what she is saying. The woman slaps him, laughing that he can actually talk. An English soldier then shows up and explains that a Danish scout is hiding in this area and wonders if she had see a suspicious-looking kid. He tells her to underestimate him as he killed two soldiers and was hit by an arrow on his left hand. The woman sees Thorfinn preparing to draw his daggers. The soldier asks her if Thorfinn is her kid, and she confirms, stating its her youngest child, John. The soldier explains the kid they are looking is the same height and to notify them if they see anything.

Later, her daughter wonders why is her mother hiding Thorfinn, but the woman explains that its not normal for a kid to be a pirate, so something must have happened to him. The girl states he can't replace John and wants to go to talk with the soldier. However, she sees Thorfinn taking a burning wood. Thorfinn then tells them to run and leaves the house. Thorfinn goes and sets a house on fire. Askeladd and his men are waiting on ships in the water and see Thorfinn's signal. The soldier from earlier, along with three other soldiers and villagers rush to the burning house. He sees Thorfinn there and recognizes him. By the time the woman arrives, Thorfinn had killed the three other soldiers and faces the last soldier. He kills the last soldier, but sees the woman and asks her why she came as he told her to run. He tells her there is still time to run, but goes silent after seeing tears on her face. Askeladd's ships then reach the shore and the villagers run in fear. Askeladd congratulates Thorfinn and tells his men to finish everyone before the soldiers come. Thorfinn looks at the woman and gets reminded of his family. As she disappears into the crowd, Thorfinn takes a deep breath and joins the rest of Askeladd's army.

Characters in order of appearance

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

Differences from the manga

 * The first half of this episode is anime original content that was not in the manga.
 * This episode shows that Thorfinn obtained his second dagger by stealing it from an English soldier who was attempting to kill him. In the manga, it is never explained where the dagger came from.

Trivia
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