Vinland Saga doesn't fail to pull characters or historical figures from real-life history and fictionalize them in the story. After all, on some level many of these characters follow what happens in actual history along with their own character development. One of them being the former Prince Canute, who had suddenly grown from a relatively spoiled, naive, and soft-spoken prince that hadn't seen the harshness of the world. After witnessing the death of his father, and suffering a huge personal loss in the form of his retainer Ragnar, along with being marked for death because of his father, he has changed in season 2 to be more cunning, manipulative, and a bit more harsh despite his intentions. Of course, Canute as a character has changed drastically but by how much, and why is this such a significant change for the future?