not to write a whole goddamn essay at 2 in the morning, but i genuinely believe that askeladd really got that whole ‘true warrior’ gimmick figured out wayyyy earlier than it’s explicitly stated in the show. there’s no other reason for him to keep thorfinn alive no matter how much you try to rationalize his choices. and yes, the show does make it look like thorfinn stuck with them through sheer will and hatred but… askeladd could always kill him. it would not be any extra effort for him to. murk thorfinn. sorry, sorry.
my point being, i think the first moment where askeladd is being shown to broach the dilemma that thorfinn is battling is when he tells atli to not pick up a sword ever again. that’s (my opinion) the first obvious point in the show, where the audience also has to process that statement with atli. because it cuts right back to thorfinn training. viciously so. guy fucks up a barrel with a kick and throws a look over his shoulder it’s a wonder askeladd’s face doesn’t melt right off.
and while the philosophy that ‘nobody has any enemies’ isn’t fully explored with thorfinn until season 2, it’s through askeladd that you see it applied in season 1. because truly, the freedom of choice COULD give askeladd the chance to NOT have enemies, but he actively seeks them out, better yet, creates his own enemies where previously he had none. on a more reduced scale, he explores themes of freedom and peace by showcasing what a lifetime of violence and rejection does to someone. he is repeating a cycle he has suffered through his whole life with the sole purpose of offering freedom to his mother’s homeland.
it’s where both thorfinn’s quest for freedom AND canute’s desire to know what love is tie into a single character’s plot. askeladd chooses violence and wages war in order to achieve freedom and peace for the sake of his mother, which he LOVES. it’s why it’s so misleading for thorfinn, who has known this man almost his entire life, to accept him talking in a similar way to his father about what all three have in common: the status of warrior.
askeladd drags thorfinn into his violence for more than a decade then forcefully pushes him out by DYING, but askeladd already knows (has known for a while) by that point what thors wanted to demonstrate in their duel when they met. it’s what he does for thorfinn basically; thrusts him in the same vulnerable position he was in when thors died. except this time, when askeladd is dying, thorfinn HAS to hate him. polar opposite experiences of helplessness, but thorfinn still wants for both of them to live. both thors and askeladd.
in season two, when thorfinn is scared of the fact that he doesn’t hate askeladd, it’s not because he should hate him still. it’s because he’s scared that askeladd’s death, just like his father’s, is in vain. except this time, he wasted 11 years of his life for an unfulfilling death. he doesn’t receive the realization of what a ‘true warrior’ is on a silver platter when askeladd dies. it’s just the apathy of not having a reason to live when previously he’s lived surrounded by men who lived for battle. he lives with the WRONG assumption that askeladd is cut from the same cloth as those guys when really, i genuinely believe that they both had an awakening when they met thors. it’s just that askeladd’s isn’t clearly showcased because of his status as an antagonist at that time
dededos
annaxmalina
titsay
yousharknotpass
germansingergirl
theartofmadeline
