#VinlandSaga EP 14 completely elevated the manga chapters I read for this part, on EVERY level. It's brilliant, merciless, and brutal. It's such an amazing mix of awful violence, incredible tension and tragic thematics. The best episode uptil this point in the series. (Thread)

First of all, presentation wise, it's the highest peak of the entire series. Animation and artwork is top tier. The cinematography makes every scene feel cold and Yutaka Yamada brings some of his most chilling compositions yet, that fit the perfect background art and colors.

I need Kobayashi as the season 2 director, man. The episode opens up with the drunk priest, Wiliballd, hearing about Thors, a perfect description of a man that embodies the type of love that the priest is looking for.

Then, Anne's story begins. Her struggles with trying to do the right thing while fearing hell is a struggle many people can probably relate to. We all want to live a life being good people, but we've all done a few bad things in our life.

And, in a tragic twist of irony, it is because she did this bad thing, that she is spared, that she survives. But, it comes at a prise.

She sees Askeladd systematically take everything away from her family and the rest of the villagers, dragging them out into the cold weather, playing with their hopes and expectations, just to murder all of them. It is haunting.

Seeing bloody corpses of parents who tried to protect their children, and Askeladd's emotionless face truly shows that despite the noble intentions he says he has, he is still, no matter how complex of a guy, without doubt, a very cruel, and a very, very evil man.

He has no personal feelings for those people, no moral concerns, they're just hindrances to him, and he isn't afraid of getting rid of them. Of course, Askeladd does these terrible things so his men can survive, and he's not so simple and pure evil like Anne thinks.

The entire thing hit me a lot harder than the first time I watched the episode.

Yukimura is extremely good at humanising even his most cruel characters, and as charismatic and complex as Askeladd is, it's easy to forget that at the rawest level, he is a mass murderer.

Askeladd is an incredibly rich and tragic character, he embodies what his society allows people to be. He was born from an abused slave of a mother, he despises the royal bloodline that caused her such pain, and does not believe in God's justice.

He is above the chains of his time, but while he understands that, he still can't quite overcome them. He's still stuck in that awful cycle and he has to do whatever he can to ensure his own survival and from time to time cause more people to break just like him.

While this isn't my favourite episode in the series, it is my second favourite, and rewatching it with my dad for the first time was a treat. I'd honestly go so far as to say this episode is probably one of my all time favourite anime episodes (though maybe top 30, lol).

Hopefully, I'll be able to watch the rest of the episodes a hell of a lot quicker now, than it took between EP 12 and 13.