"After all...Aren't we enemies?"

[Mattaru]

http://img55.onemanga.com/mangas/00000266/000170982/09.jpg

What do you think Askeladd is to Thorfinn?
Thorfinn has been given relatively little interiority; he has become rather stoic and silent since his father's death. Askeladd's death never gave him much interiority either; we don't even see what he's thinking when he tries to rush Canute.

His final collage of thoughts is also rather puzzling:

http://img55.onemanga.com/mangas/00000266/000170982/34-35.jpg

So what is Askeladd to Thorfinn?
On one hand, he sees Askeladd as his target for revenge and his hated enemy. It certainly reads as such from the very beginning of the manga.
But like the enigma that he is, Askeladd could also represent to Thorfinn a father-figure that he usurped, a mentor and a guardian - his death scene reads more as such than of the latter.

What do you think?

Edit:

http://img55.onemanga.com/mangas/00000266/000170982/36.jpg

[Freija]

Those are runes on his blades.

[Mattaru]

Those are runes on his blades.

Because I totally didn't know that Freija :awesome!

[yo586]

Part of the reason this story is so goddamned good, in my opinion, is the complex relationships like Askeladd's and Thorfinn's that really make the reader question what is truly going on.

I see it as this:
The reader is lead to a conflict b/w seeing Askeladd as Thorfinn's mortal enemy and closest father figure/companion. Thorfinn clearly believes throughout most of the manga that he hates Askeladd and wants to kill him.
However, it seems that Askeladd realizes this is not the full story. I don't think he keeps Thorfinn around simply because he's an effective fighter, but also because he respects him more than any other member of his crew. It appears that Askeladd realizes Thorfinn's revenge lust is a simple child's temper tantrum and legitimately wants to help him mature. He's a complex character and understands Thorfinn more than Thorfinn understands himself.

In this bizarre relationship I'm not sure either of them have come to terms with their emotions, but Askeladd was far closer to it than Thorfinn. I think Thorfinn's caring for Askeladd was largely subconscious and hit him like a shit ton of bricks in the last chapter. We'll probably see a very confused and erratic Thorfinn coming up until he can reconcile and appropriately label his relationship with Askeladd.

[Freija]

Because I totally didn't know that Freija :awesome!

Didn't look like it :mad