As Vinland Saga Nears Its Close, Don't Bet On the Ending Being a Happy One
Warning: Contains spoilers for Vinland Saga's final arc.Vinland Sagais nearing its conclusion, and fans shouldn’t expect a happy ending. Series creator Makoto Yukimura recently confirmed that Vinland Saga was nearing its finale; that was easy enough to assume by the most recent events of the story, but the explicit confirmation now fully sells just how little time is unfortunately left for the series.
Vinland Saga is ending very soon, likely sometime in mid to late 2025, and it probably won’t have a happy ending. In a recent interview with Makoto Yukimura’s editor, he said that “an ending where a Viking discovers the solutions to humanity’s problems is unimaginable” and that the ending “may not necessarily be happy”, so with that in mind, it’s all but certain that Vinland Saga won’t have a straightforward happy ending. That makes sense for anyone caught up on the story, but regardless, that doesn’t make it any harder to hear.
Vinland Saga’s Final Arc Already Disproved The Idea Of A Happy Ending
A Downer Ending For Vinland Saga Might Be Inevitable
As sad as Vinland Saga not having a happy ending is, it makes sense with how the final arc has progressed. As the fighting between Thorfinn’s group and the Lnu escalates beyond control, Thorfinn’s ideology is being challenged to a greater degree than ever, as he either has to break his oath of pacifism or simply give up on his dream to maintain it, something he’s already being called out for. Vinland Saga’s final arc has already made it clear how impossible Thorfinn’s dream is, and changing that now would make a happy ending feel far too cheap.
The real-life history behind Vinland Saga also plays into this. Not only does Canute historically not stop the actions Thorfinn is challenging him on, but it’s a historical fact that Thorfinn’s settlement fell apart and he had to leave Vinland, so the real-life history Vinland Saga is based on makes it clear that there was never a way for the story to have a happy ending. Granted, Vinland Saga has never been a one-to-one retelling of Thorfinn’s life, but details like that feel far too important for the story to change just so it doesn’t end on a bad note.
Vinland Saga Already Set Up A Way For Thorfinn To Get A Happy Ending
While it’s unlikely for Vinland Saga to have a happy ending, there’s already a way for at least Thorfinn to get a happy ending. One of the major characters in Vinland Saga is another person named Thorfinn, nicknamed “Bug-Eyes” to avoid confusion, which means that Vinland Saga could give Thorfinn a happy ending by having Bug-Eyes be the Thorfinn who leaves Vinland while Thorfinn builds a new paradise with Gudrid and the rest of his family.
An ending like that wouldn’t necessarily be a happy ending, either, as Thorfinn would still fail in his larger goals and would likely have to accept the impossibility of it all. However, no matter how sad or bittersweet an ending Vinland Saga might have, it would be far worse if Thorfinn died or went back home in failure, so Vinland Saga finding some way to give Thorfinn a semblance of a happy ending is the best way to keep the story from ending on an entirely negative note. Whatever happens, it’s hard to believe a story like Vinland Saga wouldn’t find a way to have the best ending possible, so the only thing that can be done is wait for it to play out.
Source: @Kurokawa on X.
- Main Genre
- Anime
- Number of Episodes
- 48
- Seasons
- 2
- Streaming Service(s)
- Netflix, Crunchyroll, Amazon Prime Video
Your comment has not been saved