The storyline of Vinland Saga season 2 has been picking up as we are now looking at King Canute’s journey after it shifted from Thorfinn’s story temporarily. We learned that he returned to the capital city of Denmark to visit his older brother, King Harald. However, Harald was already on his deathbed due to a mysterious illness that was secretly Canute’s own doing. So, why did Canute poison King Harald?
Canute poisoned Harald because he needed his brother dead for him to become the king of both England and Denmark. It was the price that he needed to pay for his ambition to create a haven for all of the Vikings in Northern Europe. This was the “curse of the crown,” a king’s insatiable hunger for ambition.
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It was clear that Thorfinn wasn’t the only one facing his demons, as visions of his sins also haunted Canute. However, in Canute’s case, he decided to move forward toward a life of death and violence, all for the sake of his ambition. And he did not even care, even if it was his brother that he needed to kill to achieve his goals.
Canute’s Motives Explained
The storyline of season 2 of Vinland Saga takes a good look at two different characters with different goals in mind. Of course, we know that Thorfinn is trying to move on from his bloody past by overcoming the ghosts of the people he killed while on a revenge quest. Meanwhile, King Canute is trying to achieve his goals by establishing a paradise for his people on earth and by making sure that there is no one in front of him to stop him from reaching his ambitions in life.
We know that Canute is now the King of England but had to go to Jelling, the capital of Denmark so that he could see his older brother, King Harald. But what was clear was that he needed to visit Harald because the older brother was sick, and he only had a few days left in his life. And when Canute arrived in his brother’s chambers, he was named King Harald’s successor.
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However, while he spent in his room, Canute is also revealed to have been haunted by his ghosts, just like Thorfinn was suffering nightmares from his past. That was when it was made clear that Canute saw visions of his father’s head, his conscience talking to him. And his conscience revealed that he was the one that killed his brother by poisoning him.
This means that it was indeed Canute that had his brother killed during the time that he was away from Denmark. He poisoned his older brother so that Harald had no choice but to give the throne of Denmark to Canute, as he had no heirs of his own. In that regard, Canute is now king of both England and Denmark.
The reason why Canute killed his brother was the fact that he was an ambitious man that had plans for the Vikings of the north. He felt that he needed to be the one to rule both of his father’s territories if he could create a heaven on earth for his people. And the only way for him to do so was to eliminate his brother from the equation.
King Sweyn’s severed head, which was the form that Canute’s conscience took, told him that he was suffering from what was called the “curse of the crown,” which was a curse that came with being a king. This curse took form in Canute’s ambitious nature as he wanted to eat off more than he could chew. And his ambition was to become the king that would lead the Vikings of both England and Denmark.
The curse was so powerful that Canute was forced to kill his brother for his goal to materialize. This only shows that he had matured from the helpless teenager we saw in season 1 and was now an ambitious young man who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. And killing his brother isn’t something that’s beyond him.
Did Canute Hate Harald?
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Even though Canute did indeed kill Harald by poisoning him, one of the things that we saw in episode 10 was that he had a good childhood with his older brother. Harald was a kind, strong young man who loved and respected his younger brother. In fact, Canute enjoyed his time with Harald while they were both playing.
That means Canute harbored no hatred for Harald and loved his brother. The feeling was mutual because Harald didn’t know that his younger brother was responsible for poisoning him and loved Canute enough to name him his heir.
This only shows how far Canute was willing to go for his ambitions, as he had to kill a man he both loved and respected. And this is also the reason why his conscience took the form of his father’s severed head, as his conscience was eating him from the inside after he killed his brother.
How Did Canute Poison Harald?
One of the things that you should know is that Canute has spent his time in England ever since the war against England in season 1. After his father died, he needed to stay in England so someone would be left to lead the Danish forces there. That means that it had been years since he last went home.
As such, Canute couldn’t have been the one who directly poisoned King Harald. That means there’s a good chance that Canute poisoned his brother through the help of the people loyal to him in Jelling. He must have had spies that were also close to King Harald, and such spies were the ones who steadily poisoned him until he eventually fell ill and died from his mysterious condition.
Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: WHY
