This and all images from Vikings are the property of the History Channel. I use them only for illustrations regarding their show.

Heill!

The Shieldmaidens of History (Protecting the Innocent from Anachronisms) welcome you back to our review series on the History Channel show Vikings.

I am so excited to be back for a third season of History Channel’s VIKINGS series! Once again, author Lissa Bryan and I spent last night on twitter (@LissaBryan, @sandyquill) during Season 3, Episode 1: Mercenary. Today, we present our discussion, recap, and thoughts on this episode. Lissa’s comments will be in blue, this season. And boy, did we have a lot to say!

Lissa: This was a great premier episode! It had everything. Gorgeous costumes (cough boot heels cough), action, love, and conflicting alliances.

Sandi: ​I was enraptured by last night’s episode. Getting to see everyone, trying to study the interpersonal dynamics…wow. And I missed the boot heels! Who had them?

L: It was one of the men on the boat as they were leaving for Wessex. I saw it as they were lounging back. I’m thinking we might just have to learn to live with that one. I suppose History Channel’s commitment to authenticity does not extend to hiring a cobbler.

We started out with Lagertha going to the Seer to learn her future. She had an achingly sad expression in her eyes when he told her she would never bear another child. I think she already knew, but the last shred of hope she had died at that moment, and it was hard to watch.

S: ​I felt bad for Lagertha. I do wonder what this trip to the Seer might have had to do with her flirtatious behavior back in her own Hall. She strutted in there – it was great. Lagertha is a powerful woman. I was a little surprised, I confess, to see her flirting. She doesn’t often let her feminine side come out to play. I wonder how this will happen this season.​

L: We haven’t seen that since some of her loving scenes with Ragnar early in the series. I suppose she’s been so busy being a Jarl, she hasn’t had much time to focus on being a woman. Perhaps with this young man, she feels safe enough to let it out. The actress looked so beautiful in these scenes. Lagertha would be about thirty in the series now, correct? In those days, that was certainly nearing the end of her youth, so her question to the Seer is understandable.

The Seer predicted a harvest of blood, broiling seas, a “trickster” whose weapon will cleave her, and a river with three crossings or shores, which I think may represent the three major power players in this situation: Lagertha herself, Ragnar, and Ecbert. Lagertha didn’t unerstand what he was talking about and the Seer chuckled. He said that the nature of prophecy is that its meaning doesn’t become clear until it’s too late to stop it. Dark times are ahead, it seems.

S: Well, yes. Dark times, indeed. Invasions are happening, and that is not going to be pretty.​

L: She then asked about her own death, which is a question I’d never ask in a million years.

S: Me, either. Who would want to know that? How would that knowledge affect everyday decisions?

L: I certainly wouldn’t do so much saving for retirement!

He didn’t give her a definitive answer on that one, which worried me a little – is it already too late to stop it, or is there a fork in the road ahead where Lagertha could make a choice, and only when she looks back would she realize its significance?

S: ​These are a people who believe in the skein of their lives already being woven, so Fate is a given. Is it a matter of her choices or just a matter of time?​

L: Lagertha’s hall seems quite prosperous! And she has a very handsome young gentleman who is her new right-hand man. And maybe left-hand … And maybe more than hands. She asks him about potential new spouses for herself, and then asks why he never approached her with his own offer. He essentially says he’s not good enough for her, and she should have a marriage that brings her wealth and status. Noble fella. He’ll hold down the fort for her in her absence, he says.

S: Ha. Noble indeed. Later, when he confronts Einar in the little rowboat with the axe, he intimates he himself will be the next earl. How does he plan on that happening? Will he woo Lagertha or depose her?​

L: My money is on “wooing,” at least for now. He’s obviously smitten, but if Lagetha declines his offer, or marries another man, heartbreak could lead to some ugly decisions.

But she’s barely out the door before there’s a man challenging for her seat. It seems there are some who wish for rule that represented her dead husband’s interests. Lagertha’s new chief assistant puts that down quickly.

Björn and Ragnar overlook Kattegat and discuss the reason why they fight. Ragnar looked as though he was wearing the mantle of a king well across his broad shoulders, but it seems he recognizes the costs of his reponsibility. He tells his son that power is dangerous and it attracts the worst.

S: ​This is very interesting, seeing how this relationship plays out. Ragnar is a good father toward his younger sons (Ivar notwithstanding) but as Björn gets older, there is more of a confrontational nature between them. Which makes perfect sense. Ragnar is operating with knowledge of the prophecies about his sons, and Björn is coming into himself and, heck, out there with a lover and likely siring a child of his own. Ragnar wants to do right by his eldest, but communicating that means there will be harsh words.​

L: What a conflict in Ragnar! He is so proud of Björn and wants to see him thrive, but at the same time, it would be hard to know your boy is destined to achieve more greatness than you ever will, especially given the emphasis on fame as a warrior in their culture and religion. Not only is poor Ragnar doomed to watch Björn outshine him on earth, but in the Afterlife, as well!

Floki tells Helga that he feels trapped and smothered by the happiness of his family life. He’s genuinely spooked by it, and I think it’s because he’s now realizing just how much he stands to lose. What the gods have given, they can take away in an instant. He tries to pick a fight with Helga, but she isn’t having it. He’s a hard man to love, there’s no doubt. His baby is beautiful, though. I mentioned on Twitter that I wondered if she’d be a Seer.

S: Floki’s behavior was unsettling here. After he played us all last season, I am going to try harder to understand him this year.

L: I am so glad he turned out to be a loyal friend and my faith in him wasn’t misplaced.

S: I’m wondering how much of this behavior is because he’s afraid he’ll lose all the blessings he has gained and how much of it is a sense of time passing? He is loyal to Ragnar, but he doesn’t agree with him on all fronts. He misses, I think, the old ways and the old days when things were simpler. Perhaps he needs to design more ships?

L: He is absolutely out of his comfort zone, there is no dfenying it. Floki has deep-seated problems. The show hasn’t really explored the root of them. He’s just “Crazy Floki,” the genius shipbuilder who is clearly a bit “tetched” but is ultimately a good guy. Now, he is utterly out of his element. He wasn’t a man made for peace, love, and happiness. (Remember his fear the first time he beheld his baby?) Perhaps you’re right that he’s the kind of person who always needs someone to battle against.

Floki isn’t the only of Kattegat’s men to wants to leave town. Torstein, it seems, has gotten two women in the family way, and the ladies hate one another. He wants gone, like, YESTERDAY. Both women glare from the pier as the men hop in their long boats for the trip to Wessex to claim the lands Ecbert promised them.

S: ​Torstein cracked me up. “Get me outta here!” And the scene where the longships were pulling out of harbor showed images of the women being left behind. Some pregnant, some not, but it seemed rather clear that their men were content to go at that point.

Aslaug, too, is standing on the pier, eyes narrowed as she watches her husband talk with Lagertha. There was an earlier scene in which Ragnar giggled, chased, and wrestled with his children until Aslaug entered carrying Ivar. “How’s Boneless?” Ragnar asks, tactless as ever. The baby’s limp legs peek from under the blanket. Aslaug asks if Ragnar loves the boy and Ragnar replies that of course he does. But there’s no doubt he’s troubled by the child’s condition. And he may be feeling guilt in what he believes is his role in creating the child’s disability. Aslaug then asks a very dangerous question. “Do you love me?” We don’t see the answer to that, and it’s just as well. She should have known better than to ask it. 

S: Mockingjay haircut. Nice! I was also reminded of that movie. I am with you on the Unsuitable Bride front. Porunn is undoubtedly a strongwilled woman, but she is not a good choice for Wife of the Eldest Son of a King. And is she going to Floki’s makeup artist? I keep expecting to see her eyeliner run. (Okay, so I’m not a Porunn fan, either. lol I think Björn can do better. And he should!)​

L: I’m just wondering when his parents are going to step in. Aslaug did something rather sly when she freed Porunn. I have to wonder if it was because she was hoping to reduce Björn’s status in favor of her own sons by making it easier for him to marry Porunn instead of a princess who would bring him wealth and status.

 

I respect Porunn as an individual. She’s undoubtedly strong and determined. She wants to try to make herself worthy of Björn by building her reputation and wealth as a raider. I imagine that Lagertha, watching it, has to have the same respect, but at the same time, her marriage to Björn just cannot be. Björn should know that too, but I forsee conflict with his parents if they object.

As a free man, how much power did his parents actually have over Björn’s choice in a wife? Could they legally forbid it?  (I imagine most parents wouldn’t have to bring down force of law because the respect for one’s elders was so strong, but where did they legally stand over a man?) Add in the fact that they’re a king and a jarl, and it seems they would have full rights to forbid the union.

S: Marriages were generally arranged by the families of the higher classes, as marriage was considered to be for the forging of alliances. For a man to marry for love, so far beneath him, was not admired. Also, a well bred man would have seen to his fiancé’s virtue before marriage – anything less would be disrespectful. So B​jörn​ hasn’t treated Porunn as a prospective wife as much as he has a concubine or something. ​His family might not be able to legally forbid a marriage, but it would be deeply frowned upon and seen as a lessening of the man in this regard.​

L: Ecbert greets Ragnar and Lagertha with a banquet. Princess Kwenthrith is there, and I’ve got to tell you, I am pleased by what seems to be an evolution in her character. She was far more modest and subdued than the flamboyant, man-hungry, wild thing of last year. As you said, it’s only the first episode, but I hope we’ll see a real layered portrayal evolve here, instead of the Messalina caricature she was before.

S: She really did seem to have calmed down, some. She wants blood, yes, but she doesn’t seem to willing to consume every male in her vicinity to get it. But does she want to consume Ragnar…? ​

L: Gosh who can blame her there? Rawr. He actually might make a good husband for her. He has an army to win back her claim to the crown, which at this point, is more important to her than royal blood. He could help her expand her holdings, and make her a formiddable queen.

Ecbert uses Athelstan as the translator, and both Lissa and I cyber-drooled over the music of the languages. Ecbert convinces both Ragnar and Lagertha – whom he addresses as equals though Ragnar is now a king due to the “unfortunate accident” that befell his predecessor. They will support his military ambitions, and that of Kwenthrith, in exchange for lands.

S: ​I adored listening to the Old English and Scandinavian last night. Swooning did happen. King Ecbert seemed to be, initially, very casual and welcoming. I am not inclined to trust him, though he did amuse me greatly in his loquacious admiration for Lagertha. ​

L: Ecbert is delighted to see Athelstan again. He hands him the cross that Athelstan left behind when he decided to go to Ragnar and renounce his faith. Athelstan is reluctant to take it back, but he wisely does. He is in a very tenuous position in this regard.

S: Athelstan really must tread carefully. What actual status does he have? What protection does he have aside from the favor of two kings? How far will that take him? How has it changed him? The ease with which he interacts with Lagertha is good to see. They seem comfortable with one another, friends even. They’ve come a long way.

And with Ragnar! We ended last season with Ragnar learning the Lord’s Prayer from Athelstan (the only words Ragnar spoke for the entire episode, remember) and saying in this episode that he regards Athelstan as his John the Baptist (although I believe they would have called him John the Baptizer at this time). Ragnar says it’s because he will follow Athelstan (!!!) but I wonder if this is also because he expects Athelstan to speak for him and make introductions to the locals, too.​

L: I think Ragnar genuinely loves the “tiny Viking.” Because of that love, he’s dabbling in Athelstan’s faith, which was the source of much of his conflict with Floki in the last season. I think Ragnar was telling Athelstan that he would follow his lead because he trusted him not to lead him astray. One had to have immense faith in a translator, especially when negotiating such delicate matters. He had to be able to rely on Athelstan to full convey Ecbert’s meaning and vice versa.

But poor Athelstan, always having to walk the fine line between worlds!

Ecbert’s daughter-in-law is fascinated by Athelstan’s scars from the aborted crucifixion. She calls them stigmata and presses a kiss into Athelstan’s palm.

S: ​Oh, Athelstan needs to have a care with this woman (Yes, I saw the previews, too!). Not sure where he is in his previous (current?) crisis of faith, and the man deserves to love and be loved, but… that lady is very married. And pregnant, it sounded like. Her husband was certainly all kinds of possessive.​

L: King Ecbert hops in Lagertha’s wagon and proceeds to chat her up as they drive along. I half expected him to yawn and stretch his arms up so he could lay it down behind her shoulders. (He probably smells like Axe Body Spray, too. :D) He’s very interested in Lagertha, but she didn’t seem so keen. He would make a good husband for her, financially speaking, but I don’t think her mind is going in that particular direction.

S: That was a very amusing scene. :)​

L: They meet the forces of Kwenthrith’s brother, and the Vikings acquit themselves marvelously, as usual. Kwenthrith hangs back in the long boat, gasping at the violence, or whatever it is women in movies gasp at during battles. I mean, could you at least throw some rocks or something? Last season’s Kwenthrith seemed to have a bit more grit.

S: ​I enjoyed the quick discussion/banter that occurred before Ragnar decided how to handle the situation. “I dunno, Boss, that looks kind of messy…” He evaluated the forces arrayed and then chose whom to fight. To excellent effect, apparently.​

L: Floki picks up the battered crown of the dead king and smirks at it. Richard III much?

S: ​I was thinking Henry VII. :)

L: I was thinking of the play,  dear, not the man. :D

Lo, here, this long-usurped royalty 

From the dead temples of this bloody wretch 

Have I pluck’d off, to grace thy brows withal: 

Wear it, enjoy it, and make much of it.

But it’s just a bauble to him. I don’t think Floki has ever sough​t​ power. He prefers to be behind the throne… lurking.

S: ​He’s good at that. :) But I think he rather despises the English, overall. They are largely a Christian people and he finds that a weakness. A weakness that he is fervently hoping is not further transmitted to Ragnar.​

L: All in all, a terrific opener. And that preview! Oh my stars and garters! I can’t wait to see Lagertha’s reaction when she hears a certain proposal!

S: ​For real! I was breathless by the time it wrapped up. Just amazing. The cast of this show is very sure we’re going to be appreciative of everything this season and I am inclined to agree.​

Thanks, History Channel!

Thoughts? Comments? Let us know! And feel free to chime in next week (2/26) when Lissa and I are on twitter again during the next episode!

Heill þú farir, heill þú aftr komir, heill þú á sinnum sér!

Hale go forth, hale return, hale on your ways!         – Vafþrúðnismál 4

This and all images from Vikings are the property of the History Channel. I use them only for illustrations regarding their show.

Heill!

The Shieldmaidens of History (Protecting the Innocent from Anachronisms) welcome you back to our review series on the History Channel show Vikings.

Author Lissa Bryan (whose Under These Restless Skies is a fantastic love story set in the Court of Henry VIII) and I spent last night on twitter (@LissaBryan, @sandyquill) during Season 3, Episode 2: The Wanderer. Today, we present our discussion, recap, and thoughts on this episode. Lissa’s comments will be in blue.

Lissa: I think I say this every episode, but “Wow, what an episode!”

Sandi: Absolutely. From Wessex, to Kattegat and Hedeby, to Mercia, we moved from the warriors to the farmers to those who remained back in the cold white north while the others were seeking a new place for themselves. It was good to see the variety of their circumstances, I think. We got treated to more or less prosperous Britons as well as a rural community where there is building a conflict of faiths. This to contrast to Kattegat with the frosty weather – shows again why the Northmen were on the move to find new places to live.​

L: We start with the aftermath of the battle from the premier episode. Kwenthrith reveals that she wants her uncle’s blood so much because he molested her, and offered her to others when she was a young girl.

These and all gifs in this post are from Vikings on History Tumblr, the official Tumblr for this show.

S: I have made no bones about my lack of happiness with Princess Kwen in this series, but this really did have to move me over some. A hellish life indeed, as a child, and it is easier for me to put her actions thus far in a better perspective. So long as she doesn’t try messing with Ragnar, anyway. When she said she wanted her uncle’s head, it was really interesting to see how very easily Floki took the request and he brought it back without ceremony.​

L: She has a bit of a drunken breakdown in the aftermath, hacking at her uncle’s head and sobbing in relief when she tosses it aside. Her character has really evolved this season, and I’m intrigued to see what will happen with her.

S: Perhaps we’ll see on the other side of the river where her brother has his men, eh?

L: Rollo has a strange incident of his own, hacking at some of the enemy soldiers while in a haze. Clive Standen mentioned in the season previews that Rollo would become a beserker.

S: I am missing Rollo so far this season. The man has kept his shirt on so far, and has been stable and reliable…until he started eating whatever it was that blurred his vision. Were these the same plants/fungi/whatsits that Floki gave him before, to enable him to act in a berserker manner?​

L: Torstein has been wounded on his arm, and as the episode progresses, we see that it’s become infected. I don’t know the statistics during the Viking age, but I know that during the Civil War, infection and illness killed more men than direct battle.

S: Too true. Without traveling kvinna medisin (medicine women, healers) it’d be tough to perform any kind of advanced medicine while raiding.

L: Siggy, Helga, and Aslaug are having the same recurring dream. A man with a burning ball of snow, whose blood hisses as it drips into the snow … and a bloody, bound, and blinded Rollo. Aslaug gives a pained smile in front of the children and says it’s “Just a dream,” but you can tell she doesn’t believe that. It’s an omen, and the women are terrified by what it may mean.

S: I called the ladies the Weird Sisters on twitter last night and I’m sticking with that. Aslaug has the reputation of a Seer, Helga – well she’s Floki’s mate and is perfect for him so this worked for me, but to see Siggy in on this? That surprised me. The power of three or a triad is something that exists throughout the history and mythos of humanity, so this was a powerful omen, I think. The dream.

L: King Ecbert is pressing his suit with Lagertha. He asks her if she’s unattached, and then later, we see him gifting her with a fine opal and gold necklace. A step up from his earlier gift of a handful of earth, eh? But, as you said, Lagertha is a practical girl, and she may have appreciated the significance of the handful of earth more. Lagertha seemed very demure during this scene. She’s obviously charmed by Ecbert, but are his intentions honorable?

S: I think “honorable” is a relative term, here. I believe he is serious in pursuing her as a romantic partner and he would treat her well and all that, respecting her body as well as her position, BUT does he mean marriage? I don’t think so. King Ecbert is a product of his people and he is a Christian. He likely holds those who aren’t of his faith to be a lesser type of person, and not worthy of any more binding ties. Such as marriage. I am thinking he wants Lagertha as a mistress of station, but not as a wife. As such, he would see to it that she had everything she wanted…to a point. We all know Lagertha would take issue with at least some of this, no?

L: Björn scolds Porunn for straying from his side during battle and taking risks. She shrugs it off, but then Björn suddenly comes out with a proposal of marriage. A delighted Porunn accepts. But Björn may be sadly disappointed if he thinks it will keep her away from danger.

S: I was very much unsurprised that Björn proposed to Porunn, but it would not be seen as a respectable alliance. I know we talked about the purity of the bride before, and Björn has not treated Porunn as a proper wife prospect in the manner of the Northern culture. He’s treated her as a concubine—a well-loved and fertile concubine—so I am wondering how a marriage proposal will be received by his parents. ​

L: Back in Hedeby, Kalf has decided to betray Lagertha.

S: That was what I thought he was planning last week. Behind the “Kalfling’s” pretty face is a cunning brain.​ And a traitorous one.

L: He  wants to be earl himself and persuades the supporters of Lagertha’s dead husband to support him. Welp, that little romance didn’t last long, did it? 

S: Must not have been much of a romance. More of a playful faux flirtation on her part and an effort (successful) to beguile on his.

L: But the same thing happened to Ragnar when he left his lands, didn’t it? It just shows the danger that leaving with your best men to go raiding presented to a community. It left it vulnerable to outside attack and to usurpers who had the idea of taking advantage of the leaders’ absence.

S: The personality of the leader was a main factor in keeping the people together, at this point. There wasn’t a system in place to make changes, so the leader had to keep things in hand him/herself.

L: Athelstan s facing his own challenges. Lady Judith asks to confess to him because her own confessor is gone. Athelstan protests he was just a monk, not a priest, but she insists she needs to confess. They meet in a confessional booth. Last night during the episode, you and ​I discussed that confessional booths are probably a bit anachronistic for this era. They don’t seem to have been used this early in the church’s history.

S: Yep. As far ahead of this time as the 12th Century, it is noted that a priest taking confession would often sit on a stool or bench while the penitent knelt at his feet. There was no privacy, no disguising the complete awareness of one from the other. I think that in this instance here with Judith, the writers chose to use a booth as theatre more than anything.​

L: In the booth, Judith confesses she’s been having erotic dreams about Athelstan. She leaves right after dropping this bombshell, leaving Athelstan a bit unsettled, to say the least. Later, as Athelstan is saddling up to leave, he reminds her he never gave her penance. She says his leaving is penance enough. As she watches him rid off, her father-in-law, King Ecbert, leans over to murmur to her that the object of her “fascination” is very dangerous. I wonder if the gears are turning in Ecbert’s mind that Judith might be a way to keep the “Tiny Viking” interested in hanging around Wessex.

S: King Ecbert is a visionary (according to the website) and I can see him using those around him for his own aims. ​It struck me as curious that Judith made very sure to call Ecbert “Father-in-law” during their final chat in this episode. I wonder if there is additional tension between them that has nothing to do with the king’s son.

L: The new “Jarl Kalf” is dining in his (Lagertha’s!) hall and says that he dreamt Ragnar tore out his liver while he was still alive and ate it in front of him with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. Okay, I made up that last part. Yeah, I’d say that’s an omen, too, son.

S: And according to your friend on Facebook, the Kalfling was actually eating Lagertha’s own cat. (Is this in place of the lambs from prior seasons, I wonder?) ​

L: Torstein’s arm has become too badly infected for him to ignore any longer. He calls over to where Rollo and Floki are standing and says the arm has to come off. He puts on a brave face, and even jokes about it a bit: “I never liked that arm anyway.” Floki, the one he has chosen to do the job, maintains the light tone. He tells Floki he would do it for him, if their positions were reversed. The amputation scene was tough to watch, but well-done.

S: The amputation was pretty brutal. (No one gave Torstein any alcohol?) I was pleased to see that Rollo cauterized the stump. It’s messy, it’s gross, but it was better than dying of blood poisoning. And the byplay was very cool. 

L: But the last scene we see is of Torstein’s wound having re-opened and darkening the sand beneath him with blood. It seems he’s on his way to the halls of his fathers.

S: The Wanderer, for whom the episode is named, is Harbard. I’m very much intrigued by what his presence means to the storyline and individual characters this season.​

Thanks for reading! Comments? Questions? Just let me know! I’ll do my best!

Heill þú farir, heill þú aftr komir, heill þú á sinnum sér!

Hale go forth, hale return, hale on your ways!         – Vafþrúðnismál 4

This and all images from Vikings are the property of the History Channel. I use them only for illustrations regarding their show.

HEILL!

THE SHIELDMAIDENS OF HISTORY (PROTECTING THE INNOCENT FROM ANACHRONISMS) WELCOME YOU BACK TO OUR REVIEW SERIES ON THE HISTORY CHANNEL SHOW VIKINGS.

Author Lissa Bryan (whose expertise on the Tudor court is getting some notice!) and I spent last night on twitter (@LissaBryan, @sandyquill) during Season 3, Episode 3: Warrior’s Fate. Today, we present our discussion, recap, and thoughts on this episode. Lissa’s comments will be in blue.

Lissa: Whew! Need to catch my breath after that one!

Sandi: I need to replace my headphones after that one! ​

L: The mysterious stranger is invited into Ragnar’s hall by Helga. He claims to be a wandering story-teller, but I noted that his clothes seemed well-kempt and his beard was neatly trimmed. You (ever the medicine woman) noted that his bandage was filthy, but other than that, he didn’t seem like a man who slept in bogs or beds of straw as fortune’s whims dictated.

S: Okay. This is my thought on Harbard and his grooming. He did clean up rather well! I’m thinking a couple of things.​ One, is that if he is indeed a professional storyteller, it is possible that “show clothes” are all he possesses, and his image is his craft in many ways. Keeping it up would be important. And though he might say he sleeps wherever he can, it is evident by his size and grooming that he generally gets the good beds. The second thought I had with this was that he wasn’t a storyteller at all but has a much more nefarious purpose in mind!

And hey…was I the only one to see the sexual interplay involved with that storytelling? Hm?

L: He tells a long tale of going to a king’s hall and having a bet with the king he could drink all of the wine in his horn, but the level never diminished no matter how much he gulped. He then bet he could beat whomever the king challenged him to wrestle, only to be presented with a suprisingly strong old crone. Siggy watches him with dispassionate eyes as the others become enthralled with the tale. The king in the story reveals that the horn was connected to the sea, which is why it kept refilling, and the crone he fought was Old Age personified. Siggy looks away and says crisply that the “stranger” must be Thor because only Thor could drink the oceans dry or beat old age.

I didn’t have time to look it up last night, but these tales rang a bell in my memory. I could swear I’ve read them before.

S: I found the story of Thor and his journey to Utgard at Hurstwic Norse Mythology’s website: http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/mythology/myths/text/thor_utgard.htm

Thor doesn’t actually beat old age, but he does wrestle with her. It is a story in which, the website says, Thor is once again “outclassed by an adversary” regarding his verbal skills.

Thor does not have a silver tongue, which makes the idea of a storyteller taking on his persona to be even more amusing.​

L: The “stranger” has odd Rasputin-like powers to soothe Ivar when he screams in pain from his legs. He claims to be taking the baby’s pain into himself. Aslaug is very grateful as her son drifts into a comfortable sleep, but Siggy is alarmed by it… something is amiss here.

S: Siggy is suspicious – Siggy is pretty much always suspicious. She was a jarl’s wife, of course, and has had her own ambitions to see to for a long time. She is not trusting of any man, in my estimate, though she seems to get younger every season.

Okay, I want to bring up King Ecbert and his nobles and their differing opinions as they travel to make nice with the Northmen.

The Pagan v. Christian thing is a big issue here in this season. There was the man who elevated an idol while Athelstan was praying for the farming in episode one, and of course we have Floki who is one of the most vocal supporters of the Northern Way, trying very hard to get Ragnar to see that they shouldn’t be supporting Christians.

King Ecbert is actually helping the pagan newcomers, to the dismay of his underlords. The lesser lords think that a conversion should be the price of the lands given. But Ecbert is looking to military strategy at present rather than a faith thing. It was not uncommon for the rulers of Briton to accept foreigners (and all their ways) to the Island and to give them lands and even titles in exchange for arms. England was rather isolated, but it was very accessible. Having strong arms helping hold it was considered wise policy.

How long, I wonder, until the lesser nobles dig their heels in against their king?

L: Back in Wessex, Kwenthrith asks Ragnar to spare her brother’s life in the upcoming battle. Considering the horrible things about her past that she revealed, I’m saddened for her that she may still feel emotional attachment to him. But perhaps she’s thinking pragmatically that she can rule through him, or ransom him back to his people. We’ll have to wait and see what her motive is.

S: Yeah…she acted a bit off I think. Even compared to last episode. It was really weird. ​

L: Ecbert continues his campaign to woo the wooly skirts off of Lagertha. He presents her with a plow, and she reacts much like a modern woman given a sports car filled with Gucci purses. She climbs up into the wagon, eyes wide and shining, and runs her hands over the wood.

S: Oh. My. Farming equipment. History Channel and the writers had way too much fun with this one. King Ecbert was a walking innuendo with his plowing and fertilizing and so on. And Lagertha was all comprehensive and, clearly, not averse to, er, plowing. Many kudos to the writers for that little bit of “Really? Did he really say that?” and to the actors for brilliant deliveries. ​

L: The battle against Kwenthrith’s brother’s troops begins and a not-dead-yet Torstein struggles to his feet. He wants to lead the way up the hill, checking to see where the enemy is. As it turns out, it’s more of his way of honorably ending things than anything, and he’s slain by the opposing force.

S: I had to give the man full credit. The ideal was to die in battle, slaying the enemy, so that a warrior could enter Valhalla with pride and live and drink with his fathers forever. Torstein, though maimed and ill, managed to get himself together enough to meet the enemy and—though wounded enough to remind me of Sean Bean as Boromir in Lord of the Rings​—he was able to take a stab at the enemy before being slain on the field of battle.

L: Floki cries over his body later and demands of Ragnar to know how many more of the men have to die for the Christians and their god. He says Torstein’s death was pointless. Ragnar reacts angrily and tells him to shut his face before stomping away. As @duncanpowers noted in our live-Tweet last night, Floki may respect people who occasionally tell him to cut back on the emo, but he looked so wounded.

S: Ragnar made good points in his reaction. Each man’s skein is spun and fated, and each man can make his own choices until his end. Ragnar has not demanded any of his men fight, though he chose to fight himself. He left everyone with their own choice. And Torstein chose to fight. So, too, did Floki. Floki was undoubtedly feeling wounded by his friend’s death as well as Ragnar’s reaction, but I think the words needed saying.

As I mentioned during the show, Ragnar is not just Floki’s friend; he’s also a king and has to lead. ​

L: Ragnar orders his men not to shoot the prince, who’s heroically … fleeing as his men hold shields over his cowering head. He drops his (unused) sword and shouts to Ragnar that he surrenders. The looks on the Vikings’ faces when he said that were just precious. “He’s …. what? What is that strange and unusual word he’s using? Not fighting? What odd ducks these English are…”

S: Princess K’s brother was SO wimpy, in my estimation. His guards kept him safe, but he was clearly not a guy who was ready to take a stand. Not in front of his men, who had to drop their swords or in front of his sister who treated him like a puppy. Wasn’t she abused at his hands? Ugh.​

L: Ecbert brings Lagertha to the Roman bath house, and it’s not long before the two of them are canoodling in the tub. Judith and Athelstan are on the opposite side of the bath, and Judith gets agitated when Lagertha and Ecbert begin kissing. She says it’s not right and scurries from the room. Athelstan follows her, wrapped in an itty-bitty towel (did I actually see terry cloth there?) and tells her not to fret, she hasn’t sinned. But oh boy, does she want to. She really, really wants to.

S: This is where my sound went wonky, but the visuals were communicative. I think Athelstan’s towel was nubby linen, rather than terry cloth, lol, but the man was certainly not ashamed to wear it and only it, eh? It is rare to see him as provoking anyone, but he clearly was in Judith’s case. To be fair, she confessed her desire to him before, but she is now in a place where she is (or is wanting to be seen as) striving not to give in to what they both know is wrong in their society and in terms of their faith.

I wonder why Athelstan’s doing this and I wonder if Judith is playing him or if she realizes she might have overstepped and is having a problem drawing back from that.

L: In battle, Porunn falls, despite Björn struggling to get over to her in time. She’s laying in camp, hovering between life and death when Ragnar comes over after his talk with Floki. Björn is wiping away tears as he says he never should have let her fight, never should have let her risk herself. Ragnar says with his characteristic bluntness, “We’re Vikings! It’s what we do!” and essentially tells him, “Man up, crybaby.” It’s not clear whether she’ll recover or whether the baby has been harmed.

S: Here, what I saw was Ragnar’s known devotion to the health and welfare of the children of his house. I think he was livid to find out a) that Björn allowed his own child to be endangered and b) that Björn didn’t have the authority in the relationship to keep the mother of his child (and Ragnar’s potential first grandchild!) safe at home. Lagertha didn’t battle while pregnant, or while her children were too small, either. Ragnar honors that – it’s a very desirable quality, to be a good mother, in this culture.

I am with your tweet, though, in thinking it’d be okay with me if Porunn didn’t make it. (Sorry, Gaia Weiss! You’re fabulous!). I have never agreed with her as marriage material for Björn Ironside.

L: Lagertha offers to let Ecbert stay to see the spring planting and the harvest offering to Frey. They slaughter a cow, though I suggested they might want to bring back the ever-so-slightly-incorrect human sacrifice aspect and offer Judith up instead. I mean, it was a really nice cow, and she’s not doing anything but tempting poor Athelstan … But I digress. Ecbert agrees to stay for the sacrifice, though his nobles are outraged. They mutter behind him as Lagertha sews the blood into the soil that if the Northmen can’t renounce their pagan gods, they shouldn’t be allowed to stay in Wessex. Ecbert looks thoughtful at this, and as Athelstan dusts soil from his hands.

S: It was interesting to me to note that the nobles didn’t leave entirely. Also, did you note the defiance in Lagertha’s entire attitude when she informed King Ecbert that they’d be doing a blood sacrifice to her god? And what about the pouring of the blood all over her? Ecbert seemed to be evaluating the situation but was carefully refraining from an expression of approval or disapproval. Very cagey, that fellow.​

L: Back in Kattegat, two little boys are pulled from the ocean’s depths, drowned. Not near the shore… Far out to sea where they had no business being. Siggy goes to the Seer to ask if this “stranger” might have anything to do with it. The Seer asks her why she thinks that, and she tells him about the shared dreams. But the Seer has no answers for her. The gods have shown him nothing… nothing. The Seer has been blinded and they have no guidance. As he said to Lagertha in the season opener, often omens are not understandable until it’s too late to do anything about it.

“No one can help you,” he says, holding out his hand to her for her expected offering.

S: And she gave him nothing, there as the episode ended. Nothing. I wonder what that portends (if anything).​

L: Ominous words indeed!

= = =

We’ll be back next week, on THORSday, with Episode 4: Scarred. Questions? Comments? Let me know and I’ll try to answer! :)

Heill þú farir, heill þú aftr komir, heill þú á sinnum sér!

Hale go forth, hale return, hale on your ways!         – Vafþrúðnismál 4

This and all images from Vikings are the property of the History Channel. I use them only for illustrations regarding their show.

HEILL!

THE SHIELDMAIDENS OF HISTORY (PROTECTING THE INNOCENT FROM ANACHRONISMS) WELCOME YOU BACK TO OUR REVIEW SERIES ON THE HISTORY CHANNEL SHOW VIKINGS.

Author Lissa Bryan (whose post-apocalyptic trilogy concludes this month with Shadows Have Gone) and I spent last night on twitter (@LissaBryan, @sandyquill) during Season 3, Episode 4: Scarred. Today, we present our discussion, recap, and thoughts on this episode. Lissa’s comments will be in blue.

Lissa: My, things are moving in rather interesting directions, aren’t they?

All Vikings gifs from the official History Channel Vikings tumblr and are used only for illustrations regarding their show.

Sandi: They really are!​ One thing to note is the continuation of Floki’s concern about the Christians’ influence on Ragnar (and Rollo). I’m glad that—what with everything else happening this week—this theme wasn’t lost. Historically, it’s significant.

L: Kwenthrith discovers Ragnar has been injured as he lounges by the banks of the river. She climbs up on him and urinates on his wound. (It’s not a jellyfish sting, Kwenthrith.) A somewhat unusual method of treatment, I should think. It’s a little unclear when she resumes her perch on him if there’s going to be a little bit more “healing” going on – of the Marvin Gaye type.

S: Urine is actually indicated for the treatment of wounds, if there aren’t other methods available. It may seem really gross to us in our present day world, but urine is a filtered substance and is even potable at need. ​As to whether she employed any Marvin Gaye treatments, we don’t know… I’d like to think not, but with Princess Kwenthrith?  Who can say?

L: Back in Kattgat, Rasputin – I mean Ha​r​bard – is still using his magicks to soothe little Ivar’s pain. Aslaug begins to spend more and more time with him, strolling with him as he tells her stories. She argues with Siggy about it, who still mistrusts the stranger and his intentions. Aslaug more or less casts her duties into Siggy’s lap in turn for having the freedom to spend her time with Ha​r​bard  He lures Aslaug inside an empty building and seduces her. Well, maybe “seduces” isn’t the right word, because Aslaug doesn’t seem to need much persuasion in that regard.

S: Her behavior seemed out of character to her second-season behavior. Aslaug is now a wife who is perhaps feeling neglected and under-appreciated, certainly​ not loved as she wishes she could be. So, bring in a charming stranger and..? Still, I would have liked Aslaug not to be so easily seduced.

L: I think the parallel with Rasputin was strong here. Empress Alexandra was also accused of being under Rasputin’s sexual thrall, and she hung on his every word to the detriment of her duties, according to her detractors.

The next scene shows Judith and Athelstan in bed together. I was hoping it was one of her dreams, but no, she and Athelstan crossed the line into the physical. He tells her he loves her and pulls her in for another embrace.

S: his really surprised me. Last we saw of these two (together) Judith was putting up a big “Oh, no! I couldn’t possibly!” façade. The advances in this relationship initiated from her side, though Athelstan did grow more forward during and after the steamy bath in last week’s episode. But last night, the two of them appeared entirely comfortable with one another, and the princess seems no longer to be at odds with her choice, while they are in bed together.

L: We see Porunn, too. Her face is horribly injured from the battle. She says Bjorn won’t want to marry her any more (one can wish!) but Bjorn assures her that isn’t true and kisses her forehead.

S: Had quite a few comments about Björn’s perfect post-battle​ hair. It was a bit amusing. Porunn’s poor face was a mess, and her flippant attitude was designed to shield her from Björn’s possible rejection. And he, poor guy, is not shallow enough to think of abandoning her due to her injuries, but I think he’s engaged in a considerable amount of self-castigation over how he didn’t protect her as he should have. This could drive a wedge that has nothing to do with her looks.

L: Lagertha is in the king’s bed​room, listening to him as he tries to convince her to shrug off her duty as earl and stay in Wessex with her settlement. Lagertha tumbles into bed with him with a smile, but says she has come to discover that King Ecbert cares about nothing but himself. Lagertha has gone into this affair with no illusions. She is not a wide-eyed girl to have her head turned by a king’s attention and a few trinkets. She had fun with him and accepted his gifts, but she has no intention of staying as his mistress.

S: I really enjoyed her clear personal strength in that scene. She’ll take her pleasure, certainly, but not forsake her responsibilities. Has she strengthened the alliance with King Ecbert? I think so, at least in the short term. Will King Ecbert continue to pursue her now that he’s been with her? Not sure, because Ecbert is a practical man and if she’s not going to be his, he might seek someone else who would be.

L: But Lagertha is going to be surprised when she returns to her lands. Kalf’s advisor frets over the fact she’ll be returning with seasoned warriors at her back. Kalf says he has a plan for that, an ally coming to support him.

S: The Kalfling’s arrogance continues to surprise me. Granted, he managed to get the support of Earl Ingstadt’s people in the short term, but Lagertha’s personal charisma is great, and her battle prowess undoubted. How can he think to win out over her, no matter who he has in alliance?​

L: In Kattegat, Ragnar’s sons wonder to Siggy where their mother is. Siggy tells them Aslaug is with Ha​r​bard and one ​d​ay they will understand the sacrifices mothers make for the​ir​ children. The boys wander off, presumably in search of her. Siggy chases after them to see th​e​ boys trying to cross the frozen expanse of water. She shouts at them to stop, but it’s too late. The ice cracks below them and boys plunge into the water.

S: This almost had a dreamlike quality, her pursuit. The winter landscape once again contrasts with the more springlike views where Ragnar & Co. are, which helped in this otherworldly feeling. When Siggy took off her shoes, I winced. Loudly. Hissed, too. Frozen feet are so not fun. The wonderful thing about this is how determined Siggy is to save the lives of her lord’s sons. She had just been demonstrating her own proclivity for personal leadership, yet she will preserve the right bloodline even at the cost of her own.​

L: Siggy morphs into a superhero. Dashing across the ice, she tosses off her cape and leaps into the hole, diving after the boys. She surfaces for a gasp of air and sees a ethereal girl sitting on the edge of the ice. With a sweet smile, she takes Siggy’s hand. Siggy’s whole face lights up when she sees her. Last night, you wondered if maybe it was the daughter Siggy had lost. My True Love said it was a Valkyrie. In either case, after saving one (or both – it was unclear to me) of the boys, Siggy surfaces one last time and sees Habard watching her flounder in the water. She sinks back below the surface, her hair floating in the current. Siggy died a hero, battling to save her people.

S: In an article I read this morning on Entertainment Weekly, it was revealed that the lady waiting for Siggy on the ice was indeed the spirit of her daughter. The idea was that Siggy would get to return to those she loved in death, since her loves in life had not proven permanent or satisfactory.​ I think that her death was a good one, as she saved the lives of two children, and her expression as she sinks is not one of despair, so I am left with a good feeling.

L: Back in Wessex, there’s a party to welcome Ragnar home. He looks around quickly and spots Athelstan, and you can almost hear him say, “Okay, there’s one, where’s…” He asks Ecbert, “How is … the settlement?” but he’s not really asking about the farm. He’s asking about Lagertha, to whom Ecbert defers the question. She’s wearing the opal necklace that Ecbert gave her. There’s a bit of flirting between Lagertha and Ragnar, and Ragnar notes that Lagertha seems to have gotten to know Ecbert well. Lagertha doesn’t deny it.

S: I still love Ragnar and Lagertha as a couple. They understand one another so well, and she is his equal in every way. Ecbert, though an astute man, does not comprehend the full nature of the bond Ragnar and Lagertha share, I don’t think. The dynamic is fascinating.

L: A bit later, King Ecbert embraces both Lagertha and Athelstan in a gregarious and overly-friendly crouch-hug. He asks them both to stay in Wessex when the ships leave. Lagertha says she’s already given him the answer to that one, and Athelstan says he’s going where Ragnar goes. Ecbert is not best pleased to be losing both of his favorite chesspieces – I mean Vikings – at once. He tells Athelstan that’s the wrong decision.

S: His manner with both of them is so familiar. Athelstan looks a bit uncomfortable. I am wondering if he is feeling that way due to his relationship with Judith or his relationship with the king himself? Not that anything untoward was overtly demonstrated, but Ecbert has been quite attached to him.​

L: Judith draws Athelstan into a cove and asks him to stay. She sinned for him after all. But Athelstan tells her that her husband, Ecbert’s son, has returned now, and Athelstan is going to leave with his people. Judith kisses him, and they are seen … possibly by Floki? It was so dark, it was hard to tell. Considering the follow-up scene outside where Floki says he’s talking to the gods, I’m betting it was him. What he will do with this very dangerous information is a question that will keep me guessing all week. As he told Siggy before, he can’t keep a secret.

S: This scene is really odd and necessary. I’m not sure if it was Floki catching a glimpse of The Priest and the Princess—might have been the cuckolded husband—but ​either way, they’re keeping it to themselves…for now. What might Floki do with the information? It’s possible that he could use it and talk to Aethelwulf about it, since elsewhere in this episode they’re almost sort of talking with one another. And I don’t know. I think Floki can keep a secret, but only if it matters to him. After all, he played us all last season!

I wanted to mention another moment I really liked. When Ragnar and Ecbert are talking, sitting side by side, man to man. Not making eye contact, but speaking to the air in front of them. “Are you a good man?” “Are you corrupt?” And they both agree that they both are both of these things. Yet still they sit, observing those around them with a casual sort of jaundice that I think is amusing and also sad. Ragnar of many years ago wouldn’t have been able to deal with this in such a calm manner, I don’t think. He had to prove himself and so on, but now…he’s different. He’s a king. And he calls Ecbert out on Ecbert’s own schemes. I like it.

L: Kwenthrith introduces her brother to court and tells everyone that she has now gotten past the abuses she endured. She proposes a toast to her brother, but she pours out her own wine as her brother begins to drink. Predictably, he begins to choke, and blood pours from his lips as he collapses to the floor.

S: What struck me is that no one, but no one, said anything. ​

L: Kwenthrith looks a little horrified at what she has wrought, but she stands and asks everyone to lift their glasses to the sole heir of the throne of Mercia. Ragnar doesn’t looks surprised by this turn of events, but neither does anyone else, frankly. They gaze down into their cups and as one, pour the wine onto the floor, and toss the empty vessels at Kwenthith’s feet.

S: This was one of the most amusing moments of the episode last night. Everyone holding their cups and then they’re all, “Nope, not gonna risk it.” All that wine, all over the floor. And still, Kwenthrith is utterly unrepentant. Just, “So, that’s done, eh?”

L: We discussed last season that Kwenthrith was a real person, though little is known about her. She seems to have had an unusual amount of power for a woman of that era, and even minted coins wth her name and face on them. Like many figures of the era, her name is entwined with legend, so it’s hard to tell what’s truth and what is fable.

I will say that most historical folks prefer to do their poisoning in private, or with a bit more subtlety. An oaf her brother may have been, but he was still a prince, and the church frowns upon fratricide.

S: One of the chief draws of murder by poison is that the murderer is often allowed to remain anonymous. If someone was going to kill someone in full view of an entire royal court, why not go for something more direct? Lagertha, for example, wouldn’t poison someone to do away with them in front of others. She’d see it as a show of power and would indeed show her strength. Kwenthrith, on the other hand, simply watches with avid interest as her brother chokes to death and dies. It’s morbid. And does not gain her any respect, in my estimation. ​

L: In Kattegat, Harbard has a bit more of a frosty reception when he next sees Aslaug. He tells her that Ivar won’t experience as much pain any more, because he has taken it into himself. It’s time for him to move on. “Who am I? A wanderer,” he says as he leaves, pulling up the hood of his cloak, and stepping out into the mist… where he vanishes.

S: The change is really sudden here, for me. Is Aslaug frosty because she feels she’s been taken advantage of or are her feelings due to Siggy’s death and her suspicions about Harbard’s possible involvement? ​And has he really taken Ivar’s pain? If so, how? Three women had a vision of this man who strode into Kattegat, helped, told stories, had sex with the queen, and then left again. The dream would seem to indicate he has more importance than the few episodes in which he appeared, so I will wait to see what happens next with him.

L: Kalf’s new ally arrives. It’s the son of King Horik, the princeling that Ragnar spared at the end of last season. And he has brought with him Tovid, Earl Borg’s wife. She carries Borg’s baby in her arms. An alliance of two claims to the land, it seems, joining with Kalf’s forces. Ragnar’s mercy has come back to haunt him.

S: Shouldn’t ever spare a princeling if you want to rule peacefully. Isn’t that in the How to Be A Conquering Overlord handbook? ​I wonder how problematic this will be for Lagertha. This is such an amazing season. Again!

Thank you for reading and to all those who tweeted with Lissa and me last night! It was great to hear from you! Have any questions or comments about this episode? Let me know. See you next week for Episode Five: The Usurper.

Heill þú farir, heill þú aftr komir, heill þú á sinnum sér!

Hale go forth, hale return, hale on your ways!         – Vafþrúðnismál 4

This and all images from Vikings are the property of the History Channel. I use them only for illustrations regarding their show.

HEILLIR!

THE SHIELDMAIDENS OF HISTORY (PROTECTING THE INNOCENT FROM ANACHRONISMS) WELCOME YOU BACK TO OUR REVIEW SERIES ON THE HISTORY CHANNEL SHOW VIKINGS.

We’re back here in the middle of Season Three of VIKINGS on History Channel. I’m so happy to be able to discuss these episodes with that Woman of Win, Lissa Bryan, whose latest book, Shadows Have Gone, is being released this month! Her comments are below in blue.

Lissa: Treachery is everywhere this episode!

Sandi: Oh my word, yes. I’m still processing. I was left unsettled and unnerved by last night’s episode. I want to go and yell at different characters so that they know what’s happening. This is good, though. I react like this to my favorite books.​

from historyvikings.tumblr.com

L: We started out with Ragnar lounging in the longboat, asking Athelstan to tell him a bedtime story about Paris. “Again!?” Athelstan teases him. All that was lacking was Athelstan tucking him in with a warm glass of milk. (Goat milk, surely!) Athelstan tells him about the wonders of Paris, and the beautiful ladies that made the young monk question his vows of celibacy.

S: This was really an interesting exchange. For one, we see the very real friendship/relationship the two men share. And it’s lasted for years, through captivity, temptation, major life changes, worldview adjustments, everything. And they can still talk to one another in this manner. That’s wonderful. Also interesting of course was Athelstan’s reminder to Ragnar that at least he, Ragnar, has children.​ A nice bit of foreshadowing for later in the episode, eh?

Gif from vikinks tumblr.

L: Floki is watching, spider-like, from another boat. He asks Rollo what he thinks “that priest” and Ragnar are talking about. Jealousy drips from every word.

S: It really does. The writers have done a fine job of maintaining the tension between Floki and Athelstan (and Ragnar!) in this battle for Ragnar’s conscience, heart, and loyalty. No mean feat over a show that’s spanned not only seasons but years of in-show time.​

L: The boats arrive in Kattegat, and Lagertha’s ship pulls up with them. She’s riding in the middle, slightly elevated, and all I could think of was Cleopatra from Antony and Cleopatra:

The barge she sat in, like a burnish’d throne, 

What can I say? Lagertha makes me wax poetic.

S: She really does. :) The Shieldmaiden Longship was quite dramatic.

L: Anyway, they arrive at Kattegat. Lagertha is helping the wounded to shore when two ladies, large with child, approach her looking for Torstein. “Both of you?” she asks, and the women exchange uneasy glances as they nod. Lagertha tells them that Torstein is now in Valhalla, and the women slowly walk away together.

S: This struck me as quite singular. These women probably despised each other, having discovered they were simultaneously pregnant by the same man. They would perhaps have drawn together in some fashion while he was away, and had perhaps come to appreciate being known to one another, if only to bad-mouth Torstein for doing this to them and then being so eager to leave! ​

easycompany.tumblr.com

L: Rollo comes ashore shouting for Siggy. Aslaug has to tell him she’s dead. Rollo looks like he’s been hit between the eyes with the butt of an axe. Aslaug explains she drowned while ​trying to save the boys after their fall through the lake ice, and they never recovered her body. Rollo is crushed and says it’s his fault because he didn’t treat her well enough.

S: I really, really feel bad for Rollo in this episode. He is so very often disappointed in his life. The ambition he held as a younger man, being thwarted by his blue-eyed brother. The love he had (and still has maybe?) for Lagertha, the most amazing woman, wife, and mother. And then just as he’s finding a space for himself, maybe, his lover is killed saving the children of another man. Never mind that their relationship was odd at times and based upon an uncertain premise, it was still his relationship and where Rollo sets his loyalties, they tend to stick. It was dreadful to see him deteriorate.​

L: Ragnar, on the other hand, is more concerned with the reasons why it happened.

S: He’s grown and matured as a leader over the years. He knew there had to be something happening behind the scenes—his life has been filled with “behind the scenes” moments of great significance. ​

L: Why was Siggy tending Ragnar’s sons? Aslaug tries to explain it away by claiming the women shared child-tending duties, but Ragnar notes that Siggy had no children of her own to tend. He wants to know what was going on. In their bedroom, Aslaug drifts around in a filmy shift, and tries to lure him into their bed, but Ragnar rejects her and leaves.

S: She tried the classic sex diversion for what I believe to be a two-fold purpose. One, to get Ragnar to focus on his lust, not his brain. Two, because it is possible that she is pregnant and if she can get Ragnar to have sex, there would be no proof that she was unfaithful. (Of course, she didn’t know that Helga had spilled the entire story to Floki already.) ​

L: Porunn is having a breakdown in her quarters after seeing her scarred reflection in a bowl of water. Aslaug tries to comfort her but Porunn says there’s nothing she can do for her.

vikinks.tumblr.com

S: I think there were a few hard truths hitting poor Porunn at that j​uncture. She fought, fully believing in her right to do so, even though she had been advised against it due to her pregnancy. She had been wounded to the point where she feels unattractive and unworthy, AND she miscarried the baby she carried. All of this is pounding at her and she knows that basically, if she’d listened to Björn, she wouldn’t be in this condition. For a proud woman determined to make her way in the world, this had to be hard to bear. Especially without a counselor whom she would trust. Therapy wasn’t an option.

L: Rollo is having a breakdown of his own, getting roaring drunk in the presence of the other men. They’re dismissive of his grief, saying they’ve all lost people in the battles in the Christian lands. Rollo tries to start a fight, but ​Björn breaks it up, telling his uncle the other men will kill him. But Rollo wants a fight. ​Björn obliges, giving him the physical pain Rollo can deal with better than the emotional pain he doesn’t know how to express.

S: I think it probably helped Björn, too. He has to be dealing with pain of his own.​

L: When ​Björn goes back into the longhouse, Lagertha asks him about his battered face and Björn tersely says he had a fight with his uncle, and “What of it?” Lagertha decides to accept that at face value. She asks Björn if he’s going to go see Porunn, but ​Björn says no. She doesn’t want to see him, and if she does, she’s a grown woman and can ask for him.

S: And here we see how very young Björn is, and it’s a very male trait, too, I think. He’s not rejecting Porunn, but he’s honestly confused I believe about how he feels because she seems to have rejected him. And he has to be blaming himself (thanks, Ragnar) for her condition to a certain degree. Being able to fight with Rollo helped, but again, this family needs a therapist and they don’t have one.​

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L: Helga confesses to Floki what happened during Harbard’s visit. Floki is excited by it and says Harbard is another name for Odin. They have been visited by a god. Helga doesn’t understand, because the visit resulted in Siggy’s death, but Floki shakes his head. The gods bring death, but they also bring new life.

S: Floki is a true believer. He dashes off to Ragnar to share his revelation with him, and Ragnar’s response was, according to someone on social media, the biggest eye-roll​ in history. Still, Ragnar is determined to continue to find out what happened in his absence. Another confrontation with Aslaug—in which she avoids his direct and offers instead a redirect for her own purpose—reveals that Harbard seems to have aided Ivar.

“Was he good?” Ragnar asks. He knew what had happened and he wanted her to know he knew.

Aslaug plays it off, but I don’t think she won any points.

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L: Another new life is on its way. Judith confesses to her husband that she is with child. He asks how this is possible, because they haven’t lain together since the birth of his son.

S: This surprised me because I really had thought she was pregnant before he left. His behavior and words seemed to indicate as much. But he was just marking his territory apparently.

L: He roars and smashes his hands onto a table as Judith sobs. He’s leaning against a wall, struggling to regain his composure when his father, Ecbert, calls for him. Someone has attacked the Northman settlement, and he wants the conflict to end because of the promises he made to Ragnar. Aethelwulf offers to go with a group of soldiers.

S: Now up to this point? I was still seeing King Ecbert as sincere. Just for the record. He had alliances to protect, not only with King Ragnar, but also with Lagertha. She might not have wanted to stay as his mistress—she’s an earl, blast his eyes!—but she did seem to have earned his regard and respect, to a degree. ​

L: Lagertha learns about Kalf’s betrayal and how he has seized her earldom in his absence. She marches up to Ragnar and demands he support her in getting it back. Ragnar essentially says, “Yes, dear,” but warns her that civil war could upset his plans.

S: Both of them have changed a great deal since we first met them. Their ambitions have grown with their experiences. I really think they both behaved in character, and even appropriately to this point. They made sense to me even if my Ragertha ship isn’t as smooth as I might like.

L: Ragnar goes to the Seer to ask about his Paris attack plans. The Seer tells him that “The dead will conquer Paris,” and that the “bear” or “bearer” (the sound was a little unclear) will be crowned king – but that’s not Ragnar.

S: The Seer doesn’t have a lot of screen time, but he surely can keep us thinking, no? Björn means “bear” as we were reminded ​on twitter last night, so if it is Bear, then the Seer could have been talking about Björn. Or it could refer to Rollo, whom we know in history does become a Duke of Normandy (essentially leading the way for Vikings to become Normans over the course of time).

L: “Bearer” would work to, which is why I wasn’t certain. “Something” will be carried, if the show sticks to the storyline of the saga.

They return to Lagertha’s realm, but the exchange with Kalf is not as decisive as Lagertha would have liked. She eyes Kalf coldly as he tells her that even as he was plotting against her, he lusted for her.

S: So he was genuine with her—to a point. He seemed insufferably into himself during that entire exchange, though. I believe that if Lagertha had been a man, his self-assurance would not have been so obvious.

L: Ragnar, it seems, has decided to settle for a peaceable agreement for the meantime, even if it means Lagertha has been unseated. She’s pissed, and rightly so. She mounts her horse and rides off. “You’re a man now,” she tells a protesting ​Björn. “Act like one.”

S: If she and Ragnar had not been married and had a life together before, I think the anger factor would have been less. But they were and they continue to have a good relationship even now, so Ragnar’s insistence on pursuing his own interests over hers rankles. I get it. Then, Lagertha’s talk with Björn leaves him dissatisfied. Be a man, huh? In terms of helping his mother? Helping his father? Helping Porunn? Seems like the young man can’t get it right no matter what. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t, and he is still also likely dealing with guilt. History knows Björn Ironside, though, so one must imagine he gets through this and becomes even stronger. I look forward to watching that happen.​

L: Rollo goes to the Seer as well, but his visit is less to ask for insight into the future than it is to unburden his soul at the unfair treatment he’s gotten at Ragnar’s hands. Everyone has preferred Ragnar over Rollo, and he asks if anyone can blame him for being disloyal in light of it. The Seer chuckles and says he wouldn’t be so tormented if he could see what the gods have in store for him in the future. In fact, he’d be dancing for joy on the seashore if he knew.

S: And we know the Seer to be right on target for this. Really a remarkable character, as I said earlier. Rollo will, I hope, rise to the occasion that his future presents to him.​

L: Aethelwulf arrives at the Northman settlement and decides to solve the problem of conflict by killing all of the pagans, which he piously says is for the Lord.

S: This really shocked me. Utterly. The children were so vulnerable here, too, and that was heartbreaking for me. What was he thinking, I wondered. Did he know about Athelstan and his wife? (Likely.) Was this in retribution? (Possibly.) Was he mad at his father and wanted to create further strife, uncaring as to the ramifications upon his future kingdom and reputation?​

L: After they’re all slain, he kneels before a burning cross and begins to recite the Lord’s Prayer, his eyes fixed on its flickering flames. Back in his father’s hall, Ecbert roars in rage that his treaties with Ragnar have been violated. He accuses Aethelwulf’s men of treason and has them all arrested. He orders his people from the room so he can deal with his son. As soon as they’re gone, he spreads his arms and laughs, embracing Aethelwulf – the plan went off without a hitch.

S: This was THE mindblowing moment for me. Up to this point, I had thought that Ecbert was sincere in his pursuit of an alliance and so on. Even now, I’m not sure what was happening “behind the scenes”. Ecbert’s tone never seemed sincere in this final scene, he seemed to be acting, even with his son in private, and I’m not (still) entirely certain he was being real for anyone.

He’s still playing his own game of chess.​

And that’s a wrap this week! If you have questions or comments, let me know and I’ll get right on them. :) Predictions for the rest of the season? I’d love to know what they are. Only five more episodes to go! Next week: Born Again.

Heill þú farir, heill þú aftr komir, heill þú á sinnum sér!

Hale go forth, hale return, hale on your ways!         – Vafþrúðnismál 4

This and all images from Vikings are the property of the History Channel. I use them only for illustrations regarding their show.

HEILLIR!

THE SHIELDMAIDENS OF HISTORY (PROTECTING THE INNOCENT FROM ANACHRONISMS) WELCOME YOU BACK TO OUR REVIEW SERIES ON THE HISTORY CHANNEL SHOW VIKINGS.

We’re back here in the middle of Season Three of VIKINGS on History Channel. I’m so happy to be able to discuss these episodes with that Woman of Win, Lissa Bryan, whose latest book, Shadows Have Gone, has just been released! Her comments are below in blue.

Lissa: I don’t even know where to start. Quite literally – because of a mix-up in the time zones, I missed the first ten minutes of the episode.

Sandi: Well, the beginning segment before the first commercial. I believe my exact words were: So, we’ve had religious tension, childbirth, death by kingly hands — all before the first commercial. 

A messenger came with the delayed news of the slaughter of the Norse farmers. Floki blamed this slaughter on Athelstan’s Christian God and the concept that they were at odds with the Norse gods. Ragnar didn’t want the news to get out, so after ascertaining that the messenger hadn’t told anyone else, King Ragnar strangled the man. Right there.

Additionally, Porunn had her baby—a beautiful girl whom Björn named Siggy. There were a few other ideas that were tossed around on Twitter, but I think Siggy is a worthy name. In the culture of the Northmen, the acceptance of a child hinged upon its father, so that Björn immediately did so was a relief to Porunn.

Who may or may not have called Björn her husband. Which would mean that a lot happened we didn’t get to see.

We also didn’t see Aslaug with a baby or a bump. So I guess The Wanderer didn’t get her pregnant…? That totally surprised me.

L: When I joined, Aslaug was having a nightmare about Siggy’s death. Ragnar watches her coldly as she jerks awake with a gasp. He tells her she could have slept with Harbard right in front of the children, for all he cared, as long as she was taking proper care of them. Aslaug is heart-struck, and she attacks him with slaps. Ragnar smirks as she draws away, stung by his indifference, and tells her to have sweet dreams.

S: Yeah. Ragnar isn’t all that keen on Aslaug at present. Still, her position is secure in that she has borne him sons and runs his household while he’s away. I am sorry she’s so unhappy. She wanted more and now even Siggy, her best friend, has been taken from her.​

Image from http://www.worldhistoryplus.com/worldhistorypictures/8/3%5BUK%5DA.jpg

S: You are right on with that, there. The penalties in Wessex in this time focused on a wergild that would be paid from the male perpetrator to the cuckolded husband. The penalty for a woman wasn’t even stipulated in my research.

L: Judith is sentenced to have her ears and nose chopped off…. unless she named the man who impregnated her. She screamed in terror and agony as one of her ears was sliced off. She couldn’t take it – she broke and shouted Athelstan’s name. Ecbert’s eyes widened in alarm and he quickly grabbed his son. He said that Athelstan was a holy man, and it must have been God’s plan this should happen. And, besides, there are larger issues at play. The child, he decrees, will be baptized and named Alfred.

S: King Ecbert’s behavior here was, to me, very odd. The No Ship Network, whose thoughtful podcasts on this show have been filled with great insights, called Ecbert “Cream of Wheat”, because he’s so smooth and all. I look forward to hearing if they’ve changed his nickname.

L: It seems he’s going to be the historical figure Alfred the Great, though history records his mother as being a different wife of Athelwulf.

S: Well, I can kind of see that happening, if his mother were in disgrace.

I want to take a minute here and discuss the preparations for the invasion of Paris. I love how Ragnar and Athelstan employed their version of the sand table to highlight key obstacles, routes, and strategies for the proposed invasion of this city. Paris is impregnable, Athelstan says. Not something Ragnar wants to hear.

L: Athelstan, in his room, is enraptured by a beam of light. He plays with his fingers in the glow, and is suddenly stricken by a vision. He arises re-invigorated in his faith. He goes to the ​fjørd and throws his torc into the water. He tells Ragnar that he is now a Christian again, and has renounced the Northmen’s gods. He offers to leave Kattegat, and Ragnar is agonized by the idea. He tells Athelstan he can’t leave him – he loves him.

S: I think that, for Athelstan’s character arc, this was a necessary step. He was a man of strong faith, years ago, but his life experiences have had him divided in his loyalties for a long time. Here, he reclaims what I think is the purity of his faith and doesn’t count the cost to him. He cares only that he is back where he belongs.

Throwing away the torc, though, was a bad move. It was disrespectful and left him—and through him, Ragnar—open to hostility and criticism.

Still the scene where the two men confront this schism is wonderful. There is devotion and confidence between the two men, and Ragnar plainly expresses how valued Athelstan is. This is one of the key relationships in the entire show and I am wondering what will happen now.​

​L: Floki has seen Athelstan cast off his torc. He retrieves it from the water and tells ​Björn about it. Actually, it seems he tells everyone about it, because when Athelstan walks into the hall, it falls silent and he is given hostile stares. Rollo grabs his arm and demands to know where his armband is. Ragnar escorts him away, breaking the tension, but it was a bad moment.

S: It goes to show that Ragnar’s loyalty is to Athelstan his friend, without regarding their different faiths.​

L: Kalf has arrived with the princeling and Horik’s widow. The prince has brought with him ships and warriors to help with the raid on Paris, and so Ragnar welcomes them with open arms. Lagertha is not as pleased. Those are HER ships. Kalf meets up with Lagertha in the hall, and insinuates that their fates are joined. She should marry him if she wants to get her stuff back, it seems.

S: This whole thing makes me nervous. Lagertha does not back down, but she is seeming to let the usurpation of her earldom slide for the time being. She doesn’t trust Kalf, but he’s still coming on to her. I kinda hope she manages to have him, oh, meet an unfortunate end in battle. ​

L: Björn tries to coax Porunn into his bed, but she rejects him and tells him to go enjoy the favors of other women, indicating an elvin blonde Viking woman. Miss Big Eyes tells ​Björn she’s going with her husband on the raid to Paris – not because she simply doesn’t want to be left at home, but because she’s a VIKING. ​Björn meets up with her on the beach a bit later and they have a passionate embrace. Björn refers to Porunn as his wife at this juncture, so I am going to call that a confirmation that there was indeed a wedding between episodes five and six.

S: Porunn is having serious body confidence issues, I’m thinking. Sounds like she and her man haven’t been intimate for a long time. He obviously wants her, but she is adamantly refusing. That she wants to act as something of a procurer for him surprised me. ​

And is it just me or does Miss Big Eyes remind anyone else of Helga? (LATE ADDITION: Per @duncanpowers on twitter, the women who play Helga and Torvi (Miss Big Eyes) are sisters in real life!)

L: Floki is carving ship prows when he has a vision of one bleeding. He starts to run off and Helga stops him. I was a bit disturbed by this scene, because I never imagined Floki would harm his beloved Helga, but he grabs her by the throat and squeezes as she gasps. He finally releases her, and she says that there is someone he needs to hurt.

S: Last time we saw blood, there was the sacrifice of the cow in front of the Christians. This time, we see it in a vision and one has to know that this means another sacrifice. As Floki said last week, the gods bring life and death. ​I was really surprised how violent Floki got, though, with Helga. He apologized after a fashion, but was clearly enveloped in his urgent need to carry out what he perceived as his mission.

L: And then it happens. Honestly, I’m still so stunned by this turn of events that I don’t really know how to describe it.

S: You were not the only one, last night. Even those who knew about Athelstan’s planned ​departure from the series, were stunned.

L: Athelstan is praying in his room, anointing himself with oil as he kneels, nude, before the cross. He sings a hymn, and when he finishes, he looks up with a sweet, beatific smile. “Floki,” he says in a gentle voice, a stark contrast to the fierce fury in Floki’s tear-filled eyes. Athelstan commends his spirit to God, and then Floki strikes. Athelstan falls, and Floki anoints himself with Athelstan’s blood, just as the priest had anointed himself with oils only moments before.

S: I don’t know that he was nude. Looked like he was wearing a loincloth. From behind, it appeared as if it were made after the images of Christ on the cross.

What struck me most was how abrupt and final that was. It worked, but we didn’t get a confirmation of “He’s dead” or anything from Floki. Though, I didn’t seen Athelstan’s chest move so I imagined that was a fatal blow.

L: I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t. I was trying to figure out ways it could be untrue even as we watched Ragnar lugging Athelstan’s body up the hill to bury him at the spot where the two of them recited the Lord’s Prayer last season. It was, as Ragnar said, the closest he could get Athelstan to his god.

S: It took Ragnar’s words to confirm it for me, too.​

L: He weeps as he speaks to Athelstan’s grave. ‘How could you leave me when we have so much more to talk about?” Later, he slices his flesh at the creek, dripping his blood into the water as he dons Athelstan’s cross. “Forgive me for what I am about to do.”

S: When Ragnar shaved his head, I figured it had a dual purpose. One, it was a sign of mourning. Two, it would have had a cleansing effect. Like he was ready to start something new. Why did he choose to wear Athelstan’s rather elaborate cross? What purpose will it serve?

And why did he feel the need to ask for forgiveness about it? I imagine we’ll find the answers in Paris. Ragnar always has a plan.

And that’s a wrap this week! If you have questions or comments, let me know and I’ll get right on them. :) Predictions for the rest of the season? I’d love to know what they are. Only five more episodes to go! Next week: Paris.

Heill þú farir, heill þú aftr komir, heill þú á sinnum sér!

Hale go forth, hale return, hale on your ways!         – Vafþrúðnismál 4

This and all images from Vikings are the property of the History Channel. I use them only for illustrations regarding their show.

I am missing my cohort as I type this. Historical fiction author Lissa Bryan, who wrote the wonderful Tudor love story, Under These Restless Skies, is a brilliant researcher. But, alas, she didn’t make it to Paris last night, so I’m on my own today. Next week, she’ll be here!

I’d also like to encourage my readers to check out the podcast done for last week’s episode by The Wild Hunt of the No Ship Network. They do a podcast for every VIKINGS episode and their insights are keen and broad. Also, they include interesting cultural references that I’ve found entertaining.

On to the show!

Last week, in episode six, there was nonstop action, beginning even before the first commercial on my end, which culminated with the murder of Athelstan. This week, things were all about preparation.

This struck me as particularly apt, as there is a great deal of preparation to be done before any major military undertaking. This whole season, as I see it, has been about undergirding Ragnar and those who look to him to ready him for the invasion of Paris. There has also been a great deal of politicking in Wessex and Mercia that has occupied the fans of this show and this has not abated.

The episode begins with a seeming face-off between Ragnar and Floki. At this juncture, we have no idea if Ragnar knows that Floki was the one who killed Athelstan, but as it appears the men are playing a sort of mental chess game, I imagined that Ragnar does indeed suspect Floki’s guilt.

Of course, Floki would not acknowledge any guilt. As he tells Helga later, he performed a needed sacrifice and he’s not unhappy about that at all.

The silhouette of a well fortified Paris looms in the background and next thing we know, we’re in the court of the Emperor Charles of France. He’s known in history to be steadfast against the Northern Invaders, insisting on fortifications to be erected, among other things. When Charles is advised by the iron-handed Count Odo to leave the city for his own safety, he refuses.

He is no doubt at least partially influenced by his daughter, the Princess Gisla. Now, here is a woman with a backbone. I look forward to seeing great things from her in future episodes. She is dignified, proud, and seems fearless as she confronts the men of power in her sphere. Is she the Princess who has been prophesied by the Seer to wed the Bear? I believe so.

Back at the Viking encampment, Floki—looking a bit wild and electrified—and Ragnar have a little chat. Ragnar doesn’t confront his old friend on the Athelstan issue, but he does decide to make Floki the leader of battle for the invasion. Which visibly freaks the shipbuilder out, but he steps up to the task. Everyone else, as they meet around the planning table, is also rather unnerved at Floki’s appointment. (To say nothing of the Game of Thrones-type chair in which he sits.) Lagertha and Rollo impress me with their decisiveness, while Jarl Kalf (I still call him the Kalfling) seems to continually encroach upon Lagertha’s space. Björn and Rollo together make up the best part of the battle plans, after which Rollo looks to Floki—who has been squirming uncomfortably in his chair—and tells him to build whatever was necessary.

Floki agrees. Let’s face it, we all know who was really in charge of that meeting, don’t we? Aside from Ragnar who roamed behind the seated participants, watching carefully with an intrigued light in his eye.

Back in Wessex, King Ecbert is unmanning his son, Aethelwulf. Now, I’m not a fan of the prince, but he’s been given a bit of a raw deal. Ecbert has clearly expected his son to acknowledge—despite a public declaration of cuckoldry—his wife’s son by Athelstan: Alfred. And Ecbert is asking Aethelwulf about his wife’s opinions regarding King Aelle (her father) to see if Ecbert would cause a massive row if he were to seek to overthrow the other king. In addition, there is talk of disenfranchising Princess, er, Queen Kwethrith of Mercia!

King Ecbert is showing himself to be an ambitious, corrupt man who looks smooth and persuasive but is actually quite heartless, no matter how soft his words are. He sends Aethelwulf to see Kwenthrith as a warning, no matter that many Wessex nobles have perished at her hand.

And while Aethelfwulf is obeying his father? Ecbert is applying the same academic seduction techniques he was using early on with Athelstan – with his focus now being his daughter-in-law, Judith.

I saw this coming weeks ago. He kissed Judith, who was trapped, really. Judith is in a really bad place for her own peace of mind, I think. Now that she has proven herself unfaithful toward her spouse, and now that King Ecbert has promised (like anyone can believe a promise of his?) to protect her, she is unable to leave. She’s married. She has position – but everyone knows what she’s done. She’s disfigured. And if her lord and king and father-in-law puts the moves on her, how can she say no? A truly untenable position and I am worried for her.

Let’s peek in at Kattegat. Porunn—also disfigured this season—tries to give her daughter, Björn’s daughter, to Aslaug to raise. We have no clear idea as to why, except that Porunn seems to feel ill-equipped to raise the girl as a Viking. Jill on Facebook said:

I think Porrun has some PTSD or brain damage from her head injuries… I felt horrible for her, but at the same time wanted to shake her!

I fear for Porunn if she were to relinquish care of her daughter. She might do herself further injury, run, or worse.

Aslaug, though, stepped up and imparted wisdom to her stepdaughter-in-law and managed to keep Porunn with her and to engage the younger woman to keep her child for the time being. The domestic sphere is Aslaug’s and she inhabits it well.

Floki finally tells Helga that he killed Athelstan. He does this while gripped in a passionate frenzy of faith in himself and his gods, and Helga listens to him as she always has, but there is a hesitancy in her expression, now. Her husband has hurt her and she won’t forget that, though she forgives. But when he grabs her face, her concern is clear. And when he confesses, she breaks from him and runs. We never find out what happened with her after that, but I am very curious. Will she keep this knowledge to herself? Will she run to Ragnar?

We go back then to Mercia, where Aethelwulf is finally in a meeting with Kwenthrith. She tries to seduce him, but he prays audibly to be delivered from temptation and…she leaves him. In the morning, though, she threatens him with death. He, with a show of his own spine, defies the naked blades at this throat and reminds her that she is in the inferior position, no matter that she waves Ragnar’s supposed son in his face. Ragnar is said to have had many children—far more than we have yet seen in this series—but none of them are named Magnus.

In France, Princess Gisla meets with Count Odo and he reminds her he has offered for her hand. She still isn’t accepting it, though she does say she’d be in his debt if he managed to save Paris. She herself goes masked to Mass, which would seem to indicate she was not expected to be there. But it also shows the strength of her faith and, when she takes off her mask, that she wants others to know she was there, praying for her people, the night before the Vikings were due to invade.

For of course they’d been seen that day. Approaching the seaward wall in the longships, Rollo and his crews were attacked by ready crossbowmen. The power of the crossbow is what made it a superior weapon in many ways to the longbow. The bolts from a crossbow could pierce armor and shields where a regular arrow might not, so much power went into the firing of them. Still, it seemed that Rollo and the men came through that well enough.

Well enough that he was able, back on shore with his men, to engage in a fight. Where, yes, fangirls, he fought shirtless once again. His hair, though, had been wrapped into a semblance of a flat bun on the back of his head. This would keep it out of enemy hands during a battle.

As the episode concluded, Floki himself was with the main cast on a ridge overlooking Paris. He led a battle cry and the people took it up, shouting into the torchlit night. It seems that, at last, Paris will be invaded next week.

Now, I know that without Lissa I’ve missed a bunch of stuff, so if you have anything you’d like to discuss about this episode, let me know! See you next week!

Heill þú farir, heill þú aftr komir, heill þú á sinnum sér!

Hale go forth, hale return, hale on your ways!         – Vafþrúðnismál 4

(If there are formatting issues, I will see to them when I am back in my usual abode with my usual wi-fi. Thank you for your patience!)

By elithanathile on Tumblr

The Shieldmaidens of History (Protecting the Innocent from Anachronisms) welcome you back to our review series on the History Channel show Vikings. 

Historical fiction author Sandi Layne is with me again to discuss the historical aspects of the show. Sandi has written her own series on Vikings, both well-written and carefully researched. (You can read my review of the third book in the trilogy, Éire’s Devil King, here.)

Lissa: Ah, raiding Paris. Good times! I once raided Paris, but I didn’t bring an axe or do much conquering. I drank too much champagne and swam in the Seine, though.

Sandi: So…you went inSeine, eh? Sorry. I had to. I have never raided Paris, but I’ve been to Lake Perris in Riverside, California. I don’t think that counts. But! Boats were involved. ..

Courtesy of history-vikings on Tumblr

Lissa: Floki’s floating siege towers were a marvel, but the Parisians are fierce defenders of their city walls.

Courtesy of easy-company on Tumblr

Sandi: Fierce on both counts, Lissa. Floki might be having a rough time right now, but he proved that Rollo’s decision to have him in charge of making things to make the invasion happen was the right one. Floki performed brilliantly. And the Parisians defended brilliantly as well. Their crossbows were wickedly effective.

Lissa: After barring the gates, they use archers and boiling oil to repel the Viking advance. We were both a little skeptical about the usage of oil, especially when it instantly burst into flame when hit by a burning arrow. They didn’t have petroleum oils at the time, and most oils from plants won’t instantly burst into flame when merely touched by a burning arrow. They will burn, but it takes a bit more coaxing than that, and usually a tinder source for a wicking effect.

I did a quick search and I found a mention of incendiary oil being used in the 12th century (a mixture of cannabis, nut, and flax oils) but as I noted during the episode oil was a very expensive item to use during a battle. Boiling water works just as well to injure/disable troops scaling the walls, and is easier to heat.

Sandi: They might have been thinking of the legendary Greek Fire which was basically burning naphtha. Which has largely been a term used for crude oil. It’s been around for perhaps two thousand years (Ancient Greece!) but it requires distillation. Boiling water would have been far more predictable to use, less dangerous to those who were using it, and also easier by far to acquire.

Lissa: Gisla sets out to inspire the troops defending Paris. She gathers up a scarlet banner embroidered with a burning flame and hurries it to the bishop praying in the cathedral. It’s the banner of St. Denis, she explains, and if he blesses it, it will rally the troops and give them the strength to overcome their enemies.

Courtesy of easy-company on Tumblr

Sandi: The belief in symbols at this time is huge. Today, we might be more inspired by a living hero rather than a dead one, but then, just a banner that was rumored to have a saint’s blood on it was hugely empowering to the people.

Lissa: The real banner of St. Denis (the oriflamme) first makes its appearance in the 11th century, so it’s a bit anachronistic. There is a mention of a scarlet or saffron-colored banner being used at the battle, but it doesn’t seem that it was the same as the oriflamme. However, holy relics were of deep importance to early Christians. According to a monk who wrote about the Viking siege of Paris, the relics of Sainte Geneviève were brought into the cathedral for safekeeping during the battle, and it was those holy relics which rallied the troops.

Sandi: We read of Chaucer, centuries later, who mocked the men who would sell supposed relics to common people. They were taken advantage of because of their beliefs. It goes to show, though, that the beliefs were very real and the faith in relics lasted for hundreds of years. Today, they are still revered by many, though not in the same Defend the City! kind of way.

Funny, you should say that Princess…that’s actually the #Vikings way! pic.twitter.com/J1NVecH3c1

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) April 10, 2015

Lissa: I mentioned I had a bit of a nerd-gasm at the scenes in the cathedral. There were no pews, which I though was one of those lovely little Easter eggs that Michael Hirst inserts just so he can watch us geeks squeal during the episode.

Sandi: The cathedral scene was well done. Not too many cathedrals in the ninth century, so I am guessing that the church they were in was the Basilica of Saint Denis, which was built in its original form in the 7th Century. No seats! It was perfect. Yes, we have our nerd-gasms and they’re wonderful.

Lissa: Gisla goes out and gives a stirring speech to the men on the ramparts, hoisting the banner high. The whole scene is strongly reminiscent of Jehanne D’Arc, who also used holy banners to rally her troops for battle against the English. She urges them to fight to the death to defend their city.

I also appreciated that she felt empowered enough to stand in plain sight, without armor or weapons. That took courage and faith, I think.

Gisla watchin’ Rollo Courtesy of vikings-shieldmaiden on Tumblr

Lissa: The Vikings break through the gates and Lagertha is with the men making the initial charge, but Kalf grabs her by the shoulder and tells her to wait. When she tries to break away from him, he slugs her in the chin, and drags her dazed form back from the front lines. Turns out he was right… The Parisians launch bolts and arrows, taking down a good number of the Vikings.

Courtesy of history-vikings on Tumblr

Sandi: Now, I don’t know about you, but I was really surprised by this turn of events. We know that Kalf has a thing for his former leader, but when he usurped her earldom, that would have seemed to have taken priority. Still, he’s clearly in pursuit of her, to some degree, and she hadn’t yet had him neutralized. The woman has patience. It was good to know that Kalf was indeed acting on her behalf at this juncture, rather than his own. At least, I hope he was!

Lissa: In the fray, Björn  is injured, and so is his father. But Ragnar manages to drag Björn back to safety and his wounds are tended in one of those lovingly filmed scenes with lush cinematography.
Seriously, I don’t know how they make these bloody scenes look so gorgeous, but gosh, they do.

In every battle blood must be shed. #Vikings pic.twitter.com/rRYGuPIfhg
— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) April 10, 2015

Sandi: The lighting and everything are perfect, here. I so appreciate the filmmakers’ skill. How to make a dim, close room totally accessible yet still feel right? They do it every time.

Lissa: The siege towers are burning, and the Viking dead are piling up around the walls. Floki has a meltdown in the midst of the fray, retreating under a burning tower to pray. He can’t understand why the plan he lovingly crafted has gone awry. Have the gods forsaken them? Was it his sin which caused them to abandon the Vikings?

Courtesy of pantherpause on Tumblr

Sandi: What struck me was that he was STILL blaming Athelstan! Floki did seem to rather lose it here, for a bit.

Lissa: My friend Jill Peterson wondered if perhaps Ragnar had placed Floki in charge of the battle itself knowing the losses would be high and it might shake some of Floki’s faith that his actions are especially blessed by the gods. The look Ragnar gave Floki as he retreated under the siege tower seemed significant. Confidence and faith are good – fanatical arrogance is not.

Courtesy of its-blee on Tumblr

Sandi: I think that’s an excellent observation!

Lissa: As the battle cools, he wades out into the Seine and gets himself a healthy, heaping dose of hypothermia. As he shivers in the water, he sees Helga wade out to him. She tells him, in no uncertain terms, “It’s not always about YOU, Floki.” She leaves him sobbing in the water, afraid he has lost her.

Courtesy of pantherpause on Tumblr

Sandi: Oh, also we have the sense that Helga is not accepting of the murder/sacrifice her husband committed in slaying Athelstan. She was appalled when he told her and she still seems to hold it against him. Her rejection of his entreaties left him devastated.

Lissa: In Kattegat, we see Porunn standing on a hill above the village. She looks back one last time before walking away. As we discussed last night, I don’t really understand her motivations. She’s a Viking. She knows the price of battle, and she earned her scars in honorable combat. But perhaps, as you said, she romanticized being a warrior, and the price has been too much for her to bear.

Courtesy of easy-company on Tumblr

Sandi: Porunn was fine for a concubine for the son of a king, but she was not wife material for a young man of his standing at that point in time. Marriages were arranged for the betterment of families, lands, and finances. I feel bad for Porunn, and it’s terrible that she abandoned her child—albeit to Queen Aslaug, who has proven herself to (mostly!) be a fine mother (who might appreciate a daughter amidst all her sons)— and I wonder how Björn will react to that.

Lissa: In her lodgings, Lagertha is bathing her scratches when Kalf comes in. He tells her how much he desires her as he takes the cloth from her hand and runs it over her skin. Lagertha responds to the caress, even as she tells him how much she resents the fact he stole her earldom from her. She tells him she will enjoy the pleasures of the flesh with him, but she will kill him one day. If he’s okay with that, they can proceed.

Courtesy of canislupusalces on Tumblr

Kalf either doesn’t think she’s serious about the “you are a dead man” comment or he is willing to pay with his life for time in the furs with her, because he takes her into his arms.

Oh my stars and garters! Gah! #LAGERTHA NOOOOO! The fic! THINK OF THE FIC! #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 10, 2015

Sandi: This scene completely surprised me. Maybe it shouldn’t have, but it did. And that’s all I have to say about that.

Lissa: Ragnar makes his way in to visit his injured son. He’s hurting a bit himself, having fallen from one of the towers and hitting every single obstacle he could on the way down.

#SEER‘s next prediciton: “I see #RAGNAR visiting the chiropractor with some regularity…” #VIKINGS
— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 10, 2015

Björn asks him what he intends to do about the siege, and Ragnar says he has to talk to an old friend about it first.

Sandi: I was really impressed with Ragnar when he was speaking with his son. So often, we see Ragnar as either the fond father of small children or the harsh father of his adult son, but here? He did just right, I think. He treated Björn as an equal, or near enough, and neither patronized nor criticized. He supported and confided, to a degree. Well played, all.

Lissa: When he scoffed at Rollo saying Björn should never have been allowed to climb the siege tower, I sensed a shift in their relationship. “He is a man. Treat him like one.” Björn, it seems, has finally “grown up” in his father’s eyes, and now he will treat him as an equal, not a child. It remains to be seen, however, as to whether his jealousy over Björn’s superior destiny will rear its ugly head once more.

He goes outside and sits on the forest floor, looking up at the sky as he speaks to … Athelstan.

Courtesy of its-blee on Tumblr

Sandi:  I so appreciate that Athelstan hasn’t been forgotten. Ragnar truly did seem to be confiding to his friend, even about his concerns regarding Floki.

“I’d worry less about the gods and more about the fury of the patient man.” – RAGNAR. How badly is he injured, @LissaBryan #VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 10, 2015

Lissa: I’m still not over the loss of the Tiny Viking. :(

Sandi: Me either. But what a marvelous character he was and continues to be!

Thanks for joining us! Tune in next THORSday for another episode!

Hale go forth, hale return, hale on your ways! – Vafþrúðnismál 4

This and all images from Vikings are the property of the History Channel. I use them only for illustrations regarding their show.

The Shieldmaidens of History (Protecting the Innocent from Anachronisms) welcome you back to our review series on the History Channel show Vikings. 

As this season is ALMOST OVER, I continue in appreciation for my cohort in awesome: Lissa Bryan, author of the wonderful Tudor love story, Under These Reckless Skies. Her comments are below in blue.

Also, dash over to The Wild Hunt on the No Ship Network for their excellent podcasts! They are three knowledgeable folk who bring historical and philosophical backgrounds to their commentary, as well as well-reasoned predictions.

Lissa: Did you enjoy watching Lagertha go all Navy Seal like I did?

Sandi: That was pretty darn awesome, seeing the Shield Maidens go all Navy Seal, yes. Was it an entirely feminine force? If so, I wonder why? Smaller? Better swimmers? I have no idea.​

L: I would guess it was because they were more stealthy. The Viking men are great at “berserker” type attacks, but they’re a bit… lumbering. Lagertha and her girls are more fleet of foot. And if a man turns and sees a woman’s face, he might hesitate just an instant, giving them the advantage.

SagaThing on twitter said, “The Age of the #Vikings kicked off with the Lindisfarne raid of 793,but the siege of Paris proved no European near navigable water was safe.”

L: Ragnar is still suffering serious debilitation from his injuries. He’s urinating blood, and coughing it up, too.

S: We discussed whether this was plague related or due to his injuries. The blood in the urine would indicate an injury, but there are historical notes that indicate Ragnar came home from Paris with dysentery. Dysentery doesn’t usually lead to the kind of bleeding we saw, but I just thought I’d note that, here.​

L: They decide to try a stealth attack at night, and Lagertha and her shield maidens lead the way. They head in, swimming across the river to slip into the city under cover of night. From shadow to shadow, they flit on silent feet, reaching deeper into the castle. They slit the throats of the guards who are atop the walls, inexplicably still wearing their battle helmets at night, and thus suffering from limited peripheral vision.

S: The Northmen did wear helmets on occasion, but not nearly so often as the City Dwellers of this time. And though the fortified cities were not often conquered, they did wind up paying the Northmen a great deal to be left in peace for a season or two. So…did the helmets help or not? ​

L: When the alarm is raised, a pot of that incendiary oil is dropped on one of the women warriors. They must keep it boiling at all hours, which as you noted is a huge investment in fuel and effort… But I digress.

S: Should we add this to the Boot Sole file? ;-)

L: Lagertha lights it on fire and it burns away the doors. They kick down the weakened panels to admit Rollo and a team of Viking men who rush in, axes swinging.

S: ​I’ll get you to write a Viking novel yet, Lissa!​

L: Count Odo orders the release of some weird spiked Barrel of Doom, which rolls down a ramp into the Viking horde… well, actually into the Frankish troops. But still, it was kind of a neat idea.

S: We were not the only people who tweeted a shout out to the Indiana Jones franchise. I did a quick bit of research and was unable to find anything of this sort that was made in the 9th Century, which is when this show is taking place. There are, however, many spiked weapons used for hand to hand combat that were wicked.​

L: Of course, once the spikes get all clogged with guts, it becomes sort of useless. But still, quite wicked looking. I can’t really call it anachronistic, because I don’t know of any time period in which that sort of thing was considered a practical weapon. It strikes me more along the lines of those things Leonardo Da Vinci sketched for the French king, who nodded and said, “Yeah, sounds really cool,” but never actually got around to building.

S: I could totally see that.​

L: Gisla passes out knives to the women of the castle, telling them that the barbarians are breaching the city and they mustn’t be taken alive… Then she goes downstairs to watch the battle from the distance of a few feet. Perhaps someone let her know that Rollo was fighting with his shirt off again.

S: My goodness, Lissa, do I hear a sneer in your words? ​I think what Gisla is trying to do is provide motivation for her people to keep fighting, even against such frightening invaders as the Northmen.

L: Yeah, maybe a bit. “Use this blade for suicide. No, don’t stress your pretty little heads with the idea of trying to defend yourselves. Just kill yourself on the spot.” What a thing to lay on a girl! Yes, being a captive could be awful, but to give the women only the option of death if the “barbarians” broke through the lines isn’t exactly inspiring much hope.  

Count Odo goes into the chapel where the king is praying and begs him to go down to the battle. The king tries to demur, but Odo insists it will inspire the troops. “I am not my grandfather; I am not Charlemagne,” the king says. Truer words were rarely spoken.

S: Very true indeed. And his reluctance to put on the proper face of the ruler is duly noted. His own daughter understands these leadership functions better than he does.​

L: Back at the Camp, Ragnar sees Athelstan come to him, bathed in an eerie light. He smiles and extends a hand to Ragnar. We see Ragnar curled on the ground in a fetal position, lying in a pool of brilliant red blood.

S: To me, this said a couple of things. One, that it was an image of being born again – something Athelstan would of course be in favor of – as well as a violent death from some kind of intestinal or internal problem, due to the way Ragnar was huddled over himself.​ Seeing Athelstan was good, and it gives some ambiguity about Ragnar’s actions later in the episode.

L: One of the Vikings was captured – he was the man Ragnar showed to Athelstan, the one who could speak the language of the Franks. He pleads to act as a liaison and his life is spared. Odo asks him about the “bear-like” Viking man who stopped the Rolling Spike Barrel of Doom.

S: The informant/linguist/crossdresser (not judging, just making an observation) ​seemed to be ill at ease both with the French and the Northmen. I am in hopes that he will be better treated with Ragnar’s people, though, since he wasn’t actually brought in bound.

L: In Wessex, Ecbert speaks to Judith and tells her he can protect her.

S: That miserable excuse for a poetic seduction was just…ew.​

L: He knows what his son is capable of. But there must be “recompense” for his protection. Judith goes to his chamber that night, and Ecbert does a bit of poetic hemming-and-hawing before getting right down to business and telling her he wants Judith as his mistress. She asks him if he will protect her little Albert. Ecbert tells her to get into the bed, which isn’t really an answer, but Judith obeys.

S: SagaThing on twitter said, here: Well, that at least is historically accurate–Judith was indeed married to father & son kings of Wessex!​

What I’m seeing is that Ecbert will perhaps protect Alfred — who grows up to be The Great and all—but there are no promises for Judith. Indeed, he humiliates her and his own son, later.

Cap from vikings-shieldmaiden on Tumblr

L: His son comes home soon after and tells his father he was successful in his mission in Mercia. He didn’t fall victim to the seductive wiles of Kwenthrith. Ecbert praises his piety and chastity and asks Judith if she’s grateful as well. Judith replies that she is, but wouldn’t be so hypocritical as to say so. Athelwulf tells her that he now sees that Judith’s affair with Athelstan was God’s will. He has to ask his father, though… was it part of his father’s plan that Kwenthrith should kill him?

S: I was very much in favor of this question last night. Ecbert is unscrupulous, playing everyone off everyone. And have you noticed, he’s become less “polished” around the edges in the last few episodes? I don’t know if that’s purposeful or not, but it’s working for me.​

L: Ecbert reacts with wide-eyed horror at the suggestion, and says his intention is to leave his throne peacefully to his son, something that has not yet been accomplished in history, and not only the throne of Wessex, but the throne of “England.” Which wasn’t really a concrete concept yet. Given Ecbert’s Roman preocupation, he probably would have referred to the island as “Albion.”

S: Indeed, Ecbert is way overreaching in even bringing up leaving “the throne of England” to anyone. Powerful kings (and queens!) are still forces with which to be reckoned all over the island. Not only Queen Kwethrith the Poisoner and Fratricide of Mercia, but also King Aelle ​of East Anglia. There were also the kingdoms of Essex, Sussex, Kent, and Northumbria. This doesn’t even count Wales or the kingdoms of what is now Scotland.

L: In Kattegat, Aslaug has a problem brought to her in the great hall. A Christian man has insulted the Norse gods. He explains to her that the Norse gods are false as the crowd jeers at him and pelts him with rocks. Aslaug proposes that he demonstrate the power of his god, and the man agrees. The next day, he is given a red-hot iron to carry across the grounds. The man first envisions himself crossing the expanse with a beatific smile on his face as it glows in his palms, and dropping it at Aslaug’s feet to lift unblemished hands to the sky. Real life sees him screaming in agony as the metal burns his tender flesh. He only makes it a few feet before he has to drop it. His hands are a bloody mess. Afterward, Aslaug is asked what they should do with him, and she says in a cool, impassive tone to kill him.

Gif from charlesvvane on Tumblr.

S: I am not sure why this particular scene was brought into the episode, to be honest. The life of a Christian missionary to the lands of the North was harsh and often ended in martyrdom for the missionary. I will be interested in knowing if what happened here is reflected in what happens in the season finale next week. Otherwise, it seems to have been included just to make sure Aslaug gets her moment.​

L: Back in Paris, Odo suggests to the king that they should offer treasure to the Vikings to get them to lift the siege, because things are getting bad inside Paris. The people are falling ill and they’re swiftly running out of food.

Plague often broke out during sieges. Sanitation was pretty much limited to “dump your pot in the street,” and with so many people crowded together, water supplies were bound to get contaminated. Secondly, scarcity of food brought in rats and mice, and their fleas carried all sorts of nasty illnesses.

S: The images of the aristocracy wading through the clusters of plague victims was well-done. Gisla in particular looked squicked out. Still, they did make themselves visible. Again, that leadership function thing.

L: Gisla doesn’t want to treat with the barbarians, but the king eventually agrees it’s a good idea. Ironically, she’s of the same opinion as Björn, Floki, Rollo, and Lagertha – they think the city is about to fall. Why else would the people be so eager to bribe them to go away? But Ragnar insists on meeting with the king’s men.

S: Ragnar’s attitude is, to me, a bit sad, here. He’s clearly ill/wounded to a dire degree and everyone knows it. Therefore, as was common for centuries, those who were immediately under him in the hierarchy all faced off to see whose word carried the most weight. Who will succeed the leader? Who will be king after this one dies?

Ragnar’s response to this nonverbalized competition is to state—loudly and with far too much emphasis—that he is king. That he’s in charge. That he’s the one who will make the decisions. Thing is, a leader who IS wielding full power doesn’t have to say so. Only the weaker king does.

So, this made me sad. His mortality is showing. :(​

L: At the meeting, he surprises everyone by approaching a priest. He says he’s a dying man and he wants to be baptized immediately so he can go to the Christian heaven when he passes. He splashes right into the nearby Seine, and the priest dutifully performs the ceremony. Floki arrives right at the end and is horrified by what he sees.

S: Ragnar’s wish to “see his friend” will be immediately understood by those closest to him, even if they’re appalled. But is that the real reason for Ragnar’s baptism? The man is a plotter—he always has been.

I am eager to see the finale next week to see if his plots bear fruit. The preview, though, showed me I’ll need to bring a handkerchief with me.​

Thanks for joining us! Tune in next THORSday for the season finale: The Dead. Questions or comments? Let me know! I’ll do my best to answer. :)

Hale go forth, hale return, hale on your ways! – Vafþrúðnismál 4

This and all images from Vikings are the property of the History Channel. I use them only for illustrations regarding their show.

The Shieldmaidens of History (Protecting the Innocent from Anachronisms) welcome you back to our review series on the History Channel show Vikings. 

What a season this has been on Vikings! The History Channel has totally delivered once again as Ragnar & Co. raided Paris. The finale was a fitting end for this year—and a killer tease for next season! My cohort in history geekness, Lissa Bryan, whose Tudor love story Under These Restless Skies is a delight you should read, and I will be sharing our thoughts on this final episode: The Dead. As always, Lissa’s comments are in blue.

Lissa: Wow that was a finale!

Sandi: It really was. A roller coaster of an episode. I was still gasping by the end.​

L: Rollo and Lagertha are talking and they say they can’t believe Ragnar has really become a Christian. “Not in his heart,” Lagertha insists. She points out that Rollo was baptized, but he says the gods protected him from the Christian magic. They won’t protect Ragnar, and it’s all because of Athelstan poisoning Ragnar’s mind. Behind him, the other men grumble. A Christian can never be king of the Vikings.

S: The around-the-camp conversations on this I felt were really authentic sounding. Often, we forget there are many people surrounding protagonists in life as in fiction. Here, Michael Hirst (as he has so often) nailed it with the discontented gossip that skirled around the Viking encampment.​

Credit to knighterrantjr.blogspot.com

L: The Franks deliver the wagon full of treasure to Ragnar’s camp and say that they’ve held up their end of the bargain. It’s time for the Vikings to do the same and leave. After the troops depart, the Viking warriors swarm the cart to start divvying up the loot. I think we both had the same thought at this scene – they wouldn’t have dared been so grabby if Ragnar was there to divide it up in an orderly, fair fashion.

S: Yep. I was rather appalled that someone didn’t think to handle this better, but this early on in the Viking Era, there weren’t a lot of protocols in place, yet. I would have expected fighting and so on, as well. ​

L: Björn goes into his father’s tent to tell him the treasure is there, but Ragnar says he doesn’t care. He looks awful, pale and sweat-soaked, trembling in his cot. He’s dying, he says. He rolls over and clutches at his gold cross and says at least he’ll see Athelstan again.

S: I am firmly convinced that Ragnar is dying at this point. Really, the man’s a mess. He’s been holding on for weeks, but yeah.  I’m still not sure that we’re seeing dysentery, here, as a cause for his debilitation. The symptoms aren’t entirely consistent. ​I believe, too, that his wish to see Athelstan is sincere. However, I’m also sure that his actual thoughts on the matter are more like what we heard when he was alone and burying Athelstan on the hill where they prayed together last season. He said, then, that he was pretty sure the Christian God wouldn’t want to see him. And this, I think, is something to hold on to as the finale unfolds.

L: The king of the Franks is in church, giving thanks for his “victory” over the Vikings.

S: I think he plays this like a politician. And the courtiers appear to eat it up. As well as how they treat Gisla. Which, as I mentioned last night, would give me the willies. I’m not a touchy-feely person.

L: I loved the beautiful set and the air of authenticity, except for the fact Charles is wearing his crown. I don’t know why TV and movies have royalty wearing those things around all day, every day. Boot sole file, as you said. Same thing with Gisla’s hair loose and uncovered, but I’ve given up protesting that one. Actresses want their shiny tresses on display, after all, and those heavy veils are so unbecoming.

S: Yep. We do, on occasion, have to sacrifice historical fitness to drama. But overall, the producers of this show get a lot very, very right. Clive Standen, who plays Rollo, has mentioned the care to use the languages of the time, too. Which I know you and I both geek out over!

Courtesy of history.com

L: Gisla is a little snarky about the so-called victory and says they paid the Vikings to go away. Her father more or less ignores her and says he wishes his grandfather, Charlemagne, could be here to see this glorious day. I will have to search the internet diligently for an eye-roll gif that will appropriately express my emotions at the moment.

S: Politician time again.​ When one cannot produce proof of one’s own awesomeness, one should remind everyone of your awesome antecedents.

L: In the camp, the Vikings are celebrating their newfound riches. Floki sees Helga and tries to talk to her, but Helga is having none of it. She still hasn’t forgiven him for killing Athelstan. She stomps away. It seems their relationship is not going to be repaired this season. She has been so patient and understanding with him, but she has her limits, and it seems Floki has finally crossed them. It will be interesting next year to see if he can find his way back to her after all that has happened.

S: Those who know him best will be of two minds, I’m sure. On the one hand, Floki is known to be in communion with their gods, so his actions might be sanctioned on that score. Many do sympathize with him to a degree. On the other hand, he murdered their king’s best friend. How is that a display of love and loyalty?

So I remind everyone for a final time this season that one saying of the Northmen was that a wise man waits to take his revenge. That was considered praiseworthy. We’ll see what happens next season with this issue.​

L: Ragnar is talking to Björn. He tells him that soon, Björn may find himself in the position of having to assume leadership. But when he does, he needs to make sure he leads with his head, not his heart. Ah, many times over the last three seasons, we’ve seen Ragnar fight that particular battle within himself! He then tells Björn he has a job for him to do – a job that only Björn can do.

S: This is a pretty neat set-up for Ragnar. Björn has long understood that he’s the heir-apparent (as such things go in this time and place) to Ragnar’s leadership. He would have to be vetted and approved and followed by the men, but he’s in a good place for it. To be given a Super Secret Important Job is attractive for such a man, to be sure, no matter what it is that he’s being asked to do. And the viewers don’t know, then, what that job is!

Ragnar is also, as you said, speaking from experience that has nothing whatsoever to do with his own private plotting. He wants his son to be successful—in fact, the Seer has said his sons will be vastly famous—and he is trying to be a good dad in passing along wisdom.

Perhaps he has forgotten the arrogance of young men everywhere. Wisdom is often not appreciated until one has acted without it.​

L: Next, we see Count Odo getting the attentions of a grateful Frankish lady named Therese who is happy he “saved” the city from the invaders. He invites her back to his Red Room of Pain to express her gratitude properly. Seriously … He has cuffs suspended from chains and various whips, which he is happy to explain to her as inflicting varied levels of discomfort. I am surprised he didn’t pull out an NDA and a contract for her on the spot.

S: This really, really puzzled me as to why it was included, here. There was no real resolution to my confusion in this season, either. I am wondering if the #50ShadesofOdo tag will resurface next season. Was this all about titillation for the audience or is there a secret history of this man somewhere? Is the Therese here also the Theodrate de Troyes who later becomes Mrs. Count Odo? (http://www.geni.com/people/Théodrate-de-Troyes/6000000006727888762)​

L: BDSM takes on a whole different dimension in an era in which a man was encouraged to employ corporal punishment on his wife, doesn’t it? In any case, he indicates that the person he really wants to submit to him is Gisla.

S: That was just wrong. I mean, sure, contracts and safe words (he mentioned it but also said he’d rather not have them – shudder) weren’t in play here, but this was really, really odd. *Note: I have no objection to Safe, Sane, and Consensual, understand. But my impression is that Odo isn’t all that concerned with these things.

Not the Gisla aspect, though. I can totally see him wanting her at his mercy. He’s taken a lot from her. I’m thinking his “playtime” with her would be punitive in nature. ​

L: Helga and Floki speak one last time. She sees him on the beach working and asks him what he’s doing. He says Ragnar has asked him to build one last boat for him.

S: She is here trying to build a bridge back to her husband, however angry she might be. This bodes well for their future, I’d like to think.​

L: It’s been a month, but the Vikings are still camped outside of Paris. The Franks send someone to find out why – Odo the Odious, who else? – and Björn tells him Ragnar is to ill to be moved. Odo asks to see him, and Björn leads Odo in to where Ragnar is lying, ​in even worse shape than we saw him before. Björn tells them that Ragnar’s dying wish is to be given a Christian burial in their cathedral, and they won’t leave until it’s done. Odo agrees, as long as the Viking men accompanying his burial retinue are unarmed.

S: So, what one might wonder here is if the mere notion that The Barbarian King became a Christian was enough to bring down these barriers between the people that they would willingly open their city for the burial. Does this speak to their faith and how protected they feel by it or is this mere expediency? “Give the heathens what they want so they’ll go away?”​

L: The next scenes were hard to watch. Björn tenderly fits a coffin lid over his father’s still form, and then goes outside the tent. Inside, on its bier, the coffin is a beauty. It’s crafted in the shape of a ship, with beautifully shaped planks and a carved prows. There are crosses carved into the lid (I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume Floki didn’t make that part!)

S: Ha! Who else would have carved crosses into it? Would Floki have done it if Ragnar insisted? Maybe he did, remembering the pain Athelstan experiences or something?​

L: As I mentioned last night, Vikings loved to bury their dead in ship-like vessels whenever possible. The very rich or blue-blooded might actually be buried in a ship itself, like the famous Oseberg Ship burial (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oseberg_Ship). Those of lesser means tried to replicate it as best they could. The poor might put an outline of stones shaped like a ship around an earthen grave, for example.

S: It really is a gorgeous coffin​. “One final boat” indeed.​

L: The Vikings are gathered around Ragnar’s tent, standing motionless in the cold rain. Lagertha crouches down, her eyes swollen with tears. Björn says to her that she can go inside now.

S: Björn, here, is playing it pretty well. Especially since it’s raining – I think that makes his role easier.​

L: Lagertha touches the coffin and speaks to her dead ex-husband, telling him of all the things she hopes they’ll do together in Valhalla. They’ll live, they’ll drink, they’ll love. Emotion chokes every word. We next see Rollo sitting by his brother’s coffin, his head resting against the wood as he speaks to him, and confesses his life-long jealousy. He feels that the gods always favored Ragnar. But he never thought Ragnar would go first in this regard.

S: These two moved me during their farewell speeches. The passion is still there between Ragnar and Lagertha—it always has been, really. And Rollo, too, is so honest and open. Very casual, though. Sitting as if chatting with his brother. This could be interpreted a couple of ways, I think. One, he feels very close to Ragnar at that moment and is comfortable with being honest and treating a coffin-closure as an everyday conversation without tension. Two, he isn’t too emotional as he’s already planning for a future without his brother. Without feeling lesser than or anything. Hard to say for sure.​

L: Floki enters next. Bitterness coats every word as he spits out angry denunciations of Ragnar for betraying him and the gods. But there is pain there, too.

S: There really is. A very emotional time for him. I can’t help but feel for him, even as I’m still mad about what he did to Athelstan.​

L: Ragnar’s casket is carried by his men into the cathedral, where the nobles of Paris have also gathered for the funeral. Nice of them to show the courtesy, I suppose. Gisla is shooting daggers out of her eyes, and has a look of disgust pursing her features, so I’m assuming her father forced her to attend.

S: I very much appreciated the contrast in processionals, here. Outside, with the Northmen, there was one kind of music, the round shields of their warriors and shield maidens, chanting. Then within the walls, there is an abrupt transfer of theme. Elongated shields with crosses on them, priests replace shield maidens, and there is prayer and incense as they walk through the surprisingly clean streets of Paris. (Come on, we know those streets were just awful with offal at this time period. Unless someone opted to clean?)​

L: The coffin is laid down and censed, and the priest sprinkles it with holy water as he starts the words of the burial mass. Suddenly, the lid flies off and Ragnar pops up, still quite ill, but in the land of the living yet. He had been lying on a pile of weapons, which he distributes to his warriors as the crowd stands there and stares in shock. Ragnar takes a blade and slays the priest as the crowd gasps in shock. He grabs Gisla around the neck and drags her back toward the hallway (where the Rolling Barrel of Doom has apparently been removed.)

S: This. Was. Awesome. Okay, so we knew this was a possibility, right? And SagaThingPod on Twitter said she was thinking Ragnar wasn’t dead yet, too.​

Ragnar could have killed any number of people, but killing the priest (bishop? I’m kind of thinking it was a bishop due to the rank not only of the Frankish king but also of Ragnar) made a statement about where his loyalties actually were. Quite strongly, in fact.

His choice of hostage was brilliant, though Gisla herself seemed less so after her capture.

L: His men open the doors to show the rest of the Viking horde waiting to come in. Ragnar looks back at them and then at the princess squirming in his arms. He releases her and she just stands there, gaping at him. He gives her a “go on, shoo!” motion, but she still stands there, jaw hanging down. He has to give her a hard shove before she starts running back toward the church. After she is out of the way, Björn throws up his arms to signal for the men to storm in and they swarm the city of Paris.

S: Her utter “What??” expression cracked me up. Normally, Gisla is vastly self-possessed and in control. Take her into an unfamiliar environment, she flails, apparently.

Nice coordination between father and son as Björn has the gates opened to the Viking Horde. A spool-free invading force is unleashed!​

L: Ragnar stumbles outside into his son’s arms and collapses to his knees. He seems to have used up the last of his energy with this “Surprise, I’m only MOSTLY dead!” routine.

S: Björn’s job, here, was to wait for his father so he could get the ailing man away, it seems. So he didn’t get to stride in with the invading force.  ​

L: The sack of Paris is a success. The Vikings are loaded with loot. But Lagertha is pretty steamed that Björn let her think the love of her life was dead. Björn tells her and Rollo that he did only as his father – the king – commanded.

S: Oh, yeah. That was good. I can bet that there will be repercussions on that one into next season. Björn is projectile-proof, here. That the ruse worked so well and so many of them were enriched thereby can only make him moreso. And Ragnar’s legend grows.

As if the man himself didn’t plan that!​

L: They decide to head home, and take Ragnar with them, but they’ll come back in the spring. They leave Rollo in charge of a force of Viking warriors to keep up their threatening presence outside of the gates.

S: Okay. There was a moment in here that was a bit odd. Rollo and Björn have a silent eye-conversation while this is being decided. Rollo says he’ll stay and….silence. Then, out of the blue, his nephew agrees and so does everyone else. Björn did, by the way, do a good job of chairing this meeting. He seems to be coming more into his own all the time.​

How will this play out in the future?

L: It made me think of one of those horrid komodo ​dragons that poisons its prey with the bacteria in its bite and then just lies there to wait, watching with pitiless eyes until the critter dies. The citizens of Paris would have to look over the walls at their own doom, knowing there was nothing they could do to chase these merciless invaders away.

S: It was very tense. The Parisians were safe, but under the eye of the Barbarian Horde, so what could they do? And if the Vikings could take ransom money and STILL INVADE (bad form, guys, bad form) then what did this mean regarding the safety of their citizenry?​

L: Inside the church, the Frankish king is slumped on the floor. Gisla tells him to get up because it’s all over now. I said out loud, “Don’t worry, there aren’t any kingly duties for you to fail at right now.” The king looks at the body of the priest in horror and says the cathedral has been desecrated. Gisla isn’t very impressed with the job her father has done, to say the least.

S: ​Is anyone?

L: That night at dinner, her father notes the Viking men still camped outside and realizes it means they’re in for more pillaging in the near future. He says he has decided he must give them something more precious than gold or silver… He’ll give them his daughter in marriage.

S: Did you note the huge appearance of fat tears that spilled onto his cheeks as he said this? Still, the notion was not unheard of. They should both have been thinking it over from the moment they saw there were men of rank among the Northmen.​

L: Gisla throws what can most charitably be called a hissy fit. She says in an impassioned heat that she would kill herself for Paris, but she will not marry one of those barbarians. She claims Odo is behind this, because she refused to marry him.

S: What happened to Miss I-Totally-Own-This, anyway? How old is she, twelve? No. I can’t see an historical princess pulling this stunt in front of her father. In front of her maids, maybe. Because a girl has to vent somewhere.

L: I  joked with you last night that I would have to create a Princess Gisla “I forgot how to princess” meme. She is shocked, shocked that her father didn’t consult her about the marriage.

S: This was brilliant of you, by the way. :)​

L: When the marriage was offered to Rollo, he was given the promise of lands, a title, money, and the hand of the princess. Rollo asked what he’d have to do in return, and he was told he would have to defend Paris against his brother.

We’ve seen in this series that Ragnar and Rollo have no problems making false promises to their enemies. Rollo has had his struggles with Ragnar’s authority in the past. What do you think? Do you think he is giving a false oath in order to gain the keys to the kingdom, which he will hand over to Ragnar, or do you think he has finally been tempted too strongly to resist?

S: I am thinking that Rollo will play it all sincere and his men will back him because they’ve seen how he has supported his brother time and again. Even if Ragnar is dying, there is Björn, and the relationship between uncle and nephew remains intact.

False oath? Rollo? Of course it’s a possibility. History shows us a Rollo who does become a Christian – but history was written by the victors. The dirty truth of the matter might be hidden in bloodied flagstones in a church.

L: Gisla seems surprised to discover that being a princess entails marrying the man your father picks without considering your opinion on the matter. Was this chick dropped in from another movie where a modern American girl discovers that she’s actually royalty? Because she seems to have no idea what royalty has been doing for most of human history. The king reminds her that she has to obey him not only as a father, but also as her emperor.

But it gets worse.

We next see them bringing in Rollo for the wedding, and Gisla stands up and goes on a rant in front of God-and-everyone, insulting Rollo as a “filthy pagan animal.” “I’m a princess of the blood,” she says, “not a cheap whore.” She vows she would rather be burned alive or give her virginity to a dog than allow Rollo to lay a hand on her.

S: I was appalled. No one said anything to her. No one laughed a little and made excuses. And the whole time, Rollo is just watching with that kind of open expression on his face.​

L: Rollo’s response is to say “bonjour” to the emperor and grin.

Sacking the city = Several hundred dead Vikings.Cost of a coffin = Several silver pieces

Dat grin? = Priceless

S: And can we give props to the man for even TRYING to learn Frankish? Just a word or two? It showed a consideration for the lady in question, the option of a Frankish lordship, and the people themselves that no one seems to appreciate. That irked me. Because here, I’m liking Rollo.​

L: The episode ends with Ragnar still clinging to life as he lays on the deck of the ship. He calls softly to Floki and he comes over to crouch down by Ragnar’s side. Ragnar looks him in the eye and says, “I know you killed Athelstan.”

S: What a way to end this season! Like many, I’m sure, I was all bug-eyed with this line and the unusual expression on Floki’s face. A bit hesitant, guarded, but also worried. Ragnar IS his king. And his friend, even yet.

Isn’t he?

An amazing season. Brilliant acting, thrilling writing. A few more items in the Boot Sole file, but we can live with that as long as we get our geek on. :)

 My thanks to: vikinks, vikings-gif, vikings shield maidens, bjornstark, gifchannel, and the official history vikings tumblr accounts, where I found my animated gifs this season for the blog.

My thanks also to The Wild Hunt at the No Ship Network for your references, tweets, and fantastic podcasts!

Looking forward to next year! ​ If you have any questions or comments about the finale or anything else that went on this season, let me know below!

Until Season Four:

Hale go forth, hale return, hale on your ways! – Vafþrúðnismál 4

“These chicks are machines!” – The No Ship Network

(check them out for their podcasted recaps and feedback ‘casts!)

This and all images from Vikings are the property of the History Channel. I use them only for illustrations regarding their show.

Heillir!

Lissa Bryan and I like to call ourselves the Shieldmaidens of History: Protecting the Innocent from Anachronisms. We’re excited to bring you our recap and discussion of each episode of History Channel’s series VIKINGS.

Lissa Bryan is an awesome historian as well as a writer of historical and End of the World as We Know It romantic fiction. Check out the review I wrote for her book, The End of All Things here.

Lissa: We opened with a scene of Lagertha blessing Kalf’s grave, sowing its soil with blood. Erlendur approaches and asks her why she killed Kalf. Lagertha says she did it because she promised. She told him she would kill him for usurping her earldom and she did. She asks Erlendur if he’ll be leaving now that Kalf is gone and he says that he wants to return with her to raid Paris again. Torvi’s little son comes over and she tells him she’s going to be going away for a while. He should cherish his friends, because many of them will die soon, and those that don’t will betray him.

Sandi: Something that always strikes me about Lagertha is her willingness to get her hands dirty. She flinches from nothing. I love that about her. She met her oath, as well, even if part of her didn’t wish to do so. That she gives that advice to the boy is poignant, as she’s been betrayed and has, after a fashion, betrayed others.

Lissa: In Kattegat, Ragnar’s sons Ubbe and Hvitserk are given their arm bands by their father in a sweet and touching ceremony. The boys swore fealty to their father and became men in the eyes of the Viking culture. It was a lovely, warm moment, and Sandi contrasted it with the same scene in season one, when Björn was given his. Ragnar announces he’ll be taking the boys with him to Paris. Aslaug, not respecting their new status, protests that they’re too young. Ragnar – probably stung a bit by this – jabs back at her by saying the boys will probably be safer in his hands given what happened last time he was away.

Sandi: Ragnar—sounding breathless, but happy—asks the boys to taste the offering of earth and salt. They then touch both dirt and salt rocks with their tongues. I’ll have to check, but I don’t remember if that was part of the ceremony in the first season. I love that Björn is the one holding the sword that is used in place of a salver that might be used in a Christian communion service. An interesting unspoken moment, I think, happens when Ragnar tells the boys they are swearing their allegiance “to your father” and Aslaug sort of starts in alarm. The tug-of-war between the king and his queen over their sons has been ongoing this season, and this is a part of it. Ragnar is holding, in essence, the threat of being barred from Valhalla if they aren’t loyal to him. Wow. By making them men, Ragnar has essentially cut their formal ties to Aslaug. A mother had the raising of her children when they were small, but young men were expected to gravitate toward their father and the male line as they matured.

Lissa: In Wessex, another boy is becoming a man, but in this case, by going on pilgrimage. Burger King Ecbert is sending Alfred on a journey to Rome to meet the Pope. When Ecbert announces this, Judith’s eyes light up with excitement. With him is going Father Prudentius, and conveniently enough, Judith’s husband Aethelwulf.  Little Alfred isn’t quite as excited. He asks how long the journey will be. Prudentius tells him they’ll travel about twelve miles per day by foot and Rome is a thousand miles away. Ecbert gives a little speech about what a great thing a pilgrimage is. After the court applauds, the little boy dashes away behind a pillar and fights off a panic attack.

Sandi: This scene caused a minor flurry amongst our fellow raiders on twitter! It was not uncommon for a second son, as Lissa will attest, to have the Church presented as his occupation in life. As Aethelred is Aethelwulf’s son, he could be considered to be in place for being on the throne of Wessex. The “second son”—everyone knows about Alfred’s birth, as King Ecbert says publicly (again, I imagine)—is here being directed into what could be his profession. And his mum, Judith, doesn’t seem dismayed. Could it be that she will be relieved to have this living, breathing proof of her affair with Athelstan out from her sight, as well as the sight of every other person around who is reminded of events? I felt bad for Alfred. The lad hasn’t a clue, here, and the panic attack at such a young age—and that he knew a way to cope with it—speaks of a life that brings these forward often. How many times does Ecbert have to put “great” and “Alfred” together? I do wonder where the “Applause” signs are hidden in that audience chamber…

Lissa: I didn’t even think about the idea that Ecbert might be intending Alfred for the church. Good catch! You’re absolutely right. It would be very smart for Ecbert to push Alfred’s destiny in that direction at this point. As you noted, second sons were often pushed in this direction – willing or not! Ecbert already has the secular powers wrapped up. It’s smart to have a thumb in the proverbial pie of the church as well. Albert would be “fast-tracked” because of his rank and rise quickly in the church. He could be Pope one day. Of course, history tells us his destiny was something different, but Ecbert is thinking wisely, planning ahead for his grandsons and settling the balance of power in Mercia for the generation to come.

Ragnar goes to visit the seer before he leaves, and the Seer tells him of the day of his death: Ragnar will die the day the blind man sees. Later, we see him with Yidu. He asks for more of the medicine and says he’ll need a stash of it for the journey. Yidu says she can’t do that because Ragnar is like a greedy child with it; she has to control how much he takes. So Ragnar had best take her with him when he goes.

from talktotheseer.tumblr.com

Sandi: Everything about Yidu is now having my inner Robbie the Robot calling, “Danger! Danger Will Robinson!” Her approach to Ragnar is seductive, making sure to expose her skin as much as possible, yet his attention is on the “medicine” she has made sure he’s very much into. Whether this is a true addiction (with withdrawal as a threat for the future) or just the wish to feel the release of it (with irritation and anger but no physical symptoms) remains to be seen. I hate to think of Ragnar in the thrall of any kind of addiction.

Lissa: The ships depart Kattegat and it’s one of those lovely scenes the History Channel does so well. Gifts they bestow upon us geeky little fans. A chanter sings and beats a drum as they depart, and I’d love dearly to know what song it was he was singing, because you just know the History Channel had him sing an authentic Viking poem as the ships departed.

Sandi: Oh, I was smiling with one of those big, goofy smiles that belongs on a fangirl at a convention. It was awesome. I heard the Old Norse and swooned, even if I didn’t know what it meant. It is scenes like these that make me smile at our boot-sole file.

Lissa: Floki has chosen to take the ship occupied by Harald Finehair and his brother Halfdan, whom Floki calls his new friends. He says he’d rather sail with them than Ragnar because these men love the gods as he does and would never betray them. After he speaks, he gives one of those little Floki giggles, but there’s an odd edge to it. His tone is biting and bitter.

Sandi: Did you get the feeling that Harald and Halfdan are courting Floki, after a fashion? Making much of him, wooing his pride, making him feel as comfortable as possible. Note the deference they pay him, the proximity they maintain throughout. If Floki were a woman, I’d think they were trying to bring her into a relationship of one sort or another. And yes, Floki’s giggle is bitter. Edged. Is he playing another spy game for Ragnar (as he’s done so effectively before) or has he truly “gone to the dark side” even as he seems to be groomed for the role of Kattegat’s new Seer?

Lissa: Oh, yes. Floki is being courted. But this time, I think he might actually be going to “the other side.” As some of our Twitter convos revealed last night, Floki has never lied to Helga before about his thoughts and motivations. Refused to speak, yes, but never lied. He’s telliung her now that Ragnar is no longer his friend. He humiliated Floki. Tortured him. Betrayed the gods. Floki may not turn out to be willing to work against Ragnar, but he seems no longer emotionally bound to him as he once was.

[Back] in Kattegat, Sigurd walks into the house and finds Aslaug breastfeeding Ivar. It’s an odd scene, because Ivar is obviously past the age where mothers have usually weaned their children.

@LissaBryan @DeeDonuts Well…it’s a mother’s choice, by and large. In my eyes, if a kid is old enough to crush a skull in? Nursing is over.

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) March 25, 2016

Lissa: Aslaug merely looks back at Sigurd when she sees him watching, and tells him if he’s lonely because his brothers have departed, he should go play with Siggy.  Outside, Sigurd mocks Siggy for being dirty and asks her if she ever bathes. Siggy runs back into the house. It seems to imply the poor little mite is neglected, which seems strange.

@DeeDonuts @sandyquill #SIGGY is the granddaughter of a king, daughter of the heir to the throne. #ASLAUG would be wise to care for her.

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) March 25, 2016

Sandi: I keep looking, but there’s no indicator that Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye still has a snake in his eye. Sigurd must be feeling quite bereft, really. His older brothers in their father’s favor and gone on a raid. His younger brother in his mother’s favor and garnering most of her attention (as had long been the case, likely). He’s left with his “dirty” cousin as a playmate, but she’s not a playmate for a young boy. She’s a tag-along. This might build to resentment or something in the future.

Back on the ship at night, we see the Ubbe and Hvitserk wrapped warmly in furs. Yidu tells them not to be afraid and she starts singing. A tear tracks down her cheek, but I don’t know why. I did see Floki’s face when he heard her; he appeared quite unsettled. What is he sensing? An appeal to a different set of gods, perhaps? Or is it the foreign-ness she represents?

Lissa: Soon, Aslaug sees a stranger in the doorway. It’s Harbard. He’s returned. Aslaug asks him why he’s come back, and he tells her he can take away all of her pain and sorrow.

@LissaBryan @sandyquill Ok, Harbard, who has to die this time?#VIKINGS #HARBARD

— D Donuts (@DeeDonuts) March 25, 2016

Sandi: The concept of “freedom” is raised again, here. Harbard promises Aslaug freedom if she comes to him. And . . . she walks toward him.

Lissa: On the ship, Ragnar uses his sunstone as the ships get parted and misdirected. When they approach the coast of France, the scarlet sails of the Vikings are unfurled, and oh… It was a magnificent sight. How it must have struck fear into the hearts of villagers! Onshore, Floki scoffs at the boats they pass.

Sandi: And back in Wessex, we see Judith’s sorrow as she bids her son goodbye. So maybe it’s sinking in that he’ll be gone? It’s quite an occasion, seeing the pilgrims off. Ecbert, who has been so protective of Alfred, must have something up his sneaky sleeves, here.

@DeeDonuts @sandyquill “Pfft. Amateurs.” #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) March 25, 2016

Lissa: They find some Frankish troops, and they do what Vikings do. Bodies are strewn about. We see Ubbe and Hvitserk practicing their archery on some hanging bodies. One poor soul is set adrift, strapped to a wide board. Floki and his “new friends” take a few others to a beacon post that’s been lit to warn Paris the Vikings have arrived. They say they have another warning to send Paris. They bind the men to the legs of the stand and set it on fire, celebrating as the Frenchmen scream. From the edge of the woods Björn watches this. His little brothers come up from behind and witness the spectacle, too. Björn doesn’t seem pleased by it.

Sandi: This is really the darker side of the Viking raiding culture. This is psychological warfare, and that’s never going to be pleasant. I wonder what Björn is thinking, here, and if he and his brothers will ever talk about it? Björn Ironsides wins renown in the future as a warrior, but did he use such tactics?

Lissa: Ragnar and Lagertha have a quiet moment. She’s sharpening her ax as he sits down beside her.  He asks her about Kalf’s death and whether it broke her heart. Lagertha gives him a small smile – more of a grimace – and says no, her heart was broken long ago. He asks her why she’s with them on this raid, risking her baby. So it does appear that Lagertha really is pregnant, but the Seer’s prophecy that he could see no children as far as he looked rang in our minds. Lagertha is pushing forty or so, by my reckoning. A dangerous age for a pregnancy in that era, and she had such a tragedy the last time she was with child.

Sandi: Is she acting under guidance from the prophecy, convinced that she won’t carry the child to term so it doesn’t matter if she fights or not? Or is she acting in defiance of it? It is interesting and, yes, I think it’s a bit sweet that Ragnar expresses concern for her. But she informs him indirectly that he broke her heart long ago and it never really grew back together in that way.

Lissa: In Paris, Simple Chuck talks to Rollo and says the Vikings have returned. He promises he – the grandson of Charlemagne – would get down on his knees before Rollo to plead with him to defend Paris. Rollo swears in the name of Christ that he will.

Sandi:  He swears he will not betray his wife, and Gisla flashes a bit of smug, right there. Rollo has pledged himself to this new life and he’s not going to betray them. I feel that this time? He’s firmly opposite his brother Ragnar and it will remain thus. How will they greet one another when they meet again? I am dying to find out.

Lissa: Therese is talking with Darth Odious in his chamber. He has changed his mind about trusting Rollo, a pagan, to defend Paris.  He’s working himself up into a rage. Therese finishes her wine and asks if he wants her to undress. He says he wants to chain her up clothed, and as he does, he reveals he intends to defend Paris, and then kill Simple Chuck and make himself emperor. Therese pretends to moan and get excited about Emperor Odious as he whips her savagely.

@DeeDonuts @LissaBryan Uh, no. A Dominant needs to be in control, not unbalanced. He’s angry and unsteady. And she’s chained. #VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) March 25, 2016

Sandi: I feel, here, that Darth Odious is more aware of the undercurrents, when he’s sober, than he lets on. That he knows of the plots and counterplots that are being worked out in the Frankish Court. He’s angry and he’s going to let this play out, perhaps. I think he can be patient, if he’s thinking. But here, he’s not.

Lissa: As the skipniu are sailing up the river, Ragnar has a vision. A white horse runs along the beach, and it leads him to… Ragnar’s old farm. Lagertha is standing there with Gyda in her arms. Athelstan is behind her on a small bridge. And Björn as he was when we first met him, a fierce, stubborn Viking boy. Lagertha beckons to him. Ragnar shakes his head to clear it and the vision vanishes.

Ragnar’s vision made me teary. https://t.co/Bt0WsfIUTD

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) March 25, 2016

Sandi: I think it made Ragnar teary, too. I miss that First Season Ragnar. Back when it was just him, his sunstone, his ambition, but also his farm, his goats, his new slave Athelstan and his daughter still alive. But his story is a story of a life fully lived, I think, with all its ups and downs. Writing-wise, this was a poignant scene and I wonder if it’s prophetic in any way.

Lissa: As the Saga Thing Podcast said last night, Ragnar saw the doors of Valhalla shut to him earlier in the season. Now, he has also seen a glimpse of the Heaven he wants so badly, but it seems he’ll also be denied.

@LissaBryan @sandyquill That’s a great point. He saw Valhalla closed to him in the s4 premiere; now he’s seen the heaven he cost himself.

— SagaThing (@SagaThingPod) March 25, 2016

Lissa: In Kattegat, Aslaug leads Harbard over to the bed of her sleeping son, Ivar. They wake the boy and she asks him if he remembers Harbard and the child giggles.  What in the world could they have in store for him?

Sandi: I don’t know, but the giggling reminds me of Floki.

Lissa: The ships near Paris. Björn notes with a tone of concern that they haven’t seen Rollo’s camp. Lagertha looks up to see Rollo on horseback with French troops around him. Björn roars at him, “Uncle!” but Rollo does not reply.

Sandi: Indeed, we get reactions. Floki looks unsurprised but disappointed. Ragnar hits a mast with his arm. Erlandur is all, “Is that Rollo?” As if he didn’t know. Lagertha seems impassive, but her mind is working for sure. And Björn’s whole aspect speaks of betrayal. Yes, he left Rollo behind and yes, Ragnar chewed him out about it, but I think Björn still hoped to see his uncle, there. The one who supported him when he was a boy, who helped him learn how to fight, who spoke with him man to man. Who fought with them when they both needed the outlet. And that man, Uncle Rollo, is now Frankified. Björn is betrayed as well.

So much to wait for next week! I hope you’ll join us @LissaBryan and @sandyquill!

If you’re looking for incisive comments, please check out ProjectFandom. @DeeDonuts on twitter is the chick in charge, there, and she always has sharp things to say!

Congratulations to History Channel, as VIKINGS has been optioned for a fifth season!

Heill þú farir, heill þú aftr komir, heill þú á sinnum sér!
Hale go forth, hale return, hale on your ways!  – Vafþrúðnismál

“These chicks are machines!” – The No Ship Network

(check them out for their podcasted recaps and feedback ‘casts!)

This and all images from Vikings are the property of the History Channel. I use them only for illustrations regarding their show.

Heillir!

Lissa Bryan and I like to call ourselves the Shieldmaidens of History: Protecting the Innocent from Anachronisms. We’re excited to bring you our recap and discussion of each episode of History Channel’s series VIKINGS.

Lissa Bryan is an awesome historian as well as a writer of historical and End of the World as We Know It romantic fiction. Check out the review I wrote for her book, The End of All Things here.

Lissa: We opened with Ragnar seemingly back in his element, strategizing with the other Viking leaders about the new attack on Paris. Ragnar plans to sail down the river between the two forts that are perched on the banks while Lagertha leads a team over land to attack one of the forts. His speech is a little choppy, as though he struggles for breath. Ragnar’s lips are noticeably red as he talks, though no one mentions it.

Sandi: Opinion is divided about the reasons for these symptoms. Whether it’s the “medicine” that Yidu has him dependent upon or his injuries or a combination thereof, he is clearly not a well man.

Lissa: As Björn leaves the tent, he trots to catch up with Erlendur. He pulls the ring he took from the berserker assassin from his pocket and offers it to Erlendur, saying he believes it’s his. Erlendur pretends he’s never seen it before.

@sandyquill “Here’s your murder ring, Erlender.” #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 1, 2016

Sandi: Because of course Erlandur will look all happy and say, “Wow, thanks, Björn! I wondered where that went!” What did Björn expect to gain by confronting him, I wonder?

Lissa: Ragnar approaches Lagertha and says he wishes she wouldn’t fight. Sandi was right in her speculation last week that Lagertha believes what the Seer told her: she would never bear another child, and so it doesn’t matter. She tells Ragnar as much, her voice tinged with bitterness. Ragnar retorts that she seems to be doing everything she can to ensure the prophecy comes true as he walks away.

#Vikings pic.twitter.com/RL9JYimmW8

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) April 1, 2016

Sandi: He places great store in children, even if they’re not his. And I think part of him longs to see Lagertha pregnant. Maybe to vindicate his choice to keep Aslaug?

Lissa: Ubbe and Hvitserk approach Ragnar, their bows in hand. They ask Ragnar if they can go with him to attack Paris. Ragnar tells them they’re not strong enough yet before moving on to a more diplomatic tactic. He says he needs them to stay behind and guard the camp and its stores. The boys agree, obviously feeling that they’ve been tasked with something important.

Sandi: It can’t be denied that Ragnar wants his sons to be safe. He is all for giving them advancing responsibilities, though, as we’ve seen this season. Just responsibilities that will entail little risk. He truly thinks that “guarding the supplies” is a good thing for them. It does provide responsibility and the expectation of safety away from the battle. Additionally, there are a lot of adult women about, so Ragnar knew his sons would have eyes on them. He is, by and large, a good father to his young sons.

Lissa: Rollo and Gisla are atop one of the towers in the morning. Both of them look flat-out beautiful. Rollo has long, curled hair, and his molded leather armor is studded with gold.

Sandi: I gotta say, Rollo wears the look better than Darth Odious.

@sandyquill I can’t help but imagine #ROLLO with his hair bound up in rags the night before to make those luxurious curls. #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 1, 2016

Sandi: On the longship. Björn says, “I hate my uncle. I want to kill him.” Ragnar stands beside him and says, “Good.” Because this indicates that Björn sees his error in leaving Rollo behind, I think, as well as affirming that Björn will not hesitate if the opportunity arises.

Lissa: Gisla has a breastplate of her own, and it’s molded to every curve as though it’s made from Spandex. Beneath it, she wears a pair of leggings and a split skirt. Her war outfit is somewhat of a departure for our prim Princess Le Pew.

Rollo asks Gisla if she is afraid. Gisla replies she wouldn’t be up there beside him if she was afraid. They watch Ragnar’s ships approach.

Sandi: Gisla must have half of Frankia making her outfits. Employment guarantor! Guarantess? Her signature smug expression has re-emerged. I was surprised when Rollo asked about her being afraid. Has he forgotten where he first saw her? Standing on a parapet, staring him down?

Lissa: From land, Lagertha approaches, but she looks down in alarm as her boots sink into the mud.

@sandyquill @DeeDonuts Jeeze, #VIKINGS have never encountered mud before?

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 1, 2016

Lissa: I mean, come on… Lagertha is a seasoned warrior. She’s encountered mud before and knows how to handle it, or to go around, or to do anything but stand there and churn her feet like she’s never seen a mixture of earth and water before. She and Rollo exchange a look at one point, and it’s one of those looks which epitomize the saying of if looks could kill. Rollo hears her voice, giving her warriors commands as he orders the men atop the walls to fire the crossbows.

Sandi: Rollo had been paying a great deal of attention to the fleet of longships, that he hadn’t thought of the land behind his fortifications. He seemed a bit taken aback to see Lagertha & Co. on their way through the marshy land. I think the confusion she and her warriors experienced is due to the fact that they hadn’t encountered the marshland last time they visited. This could be due to weather or to the building of the towers; a large enough project to affect the groundwater in the vicinity.

Lissa: The battle comes to a head quickly, and it’s an out-and-out slaughter. Once the chain goes up, Ragnar’s boats are stopped dead in the water. Trebuchets throw Greek firepots and the crossbows rain death from above. Ships are tangled in the chain and overturn, hurling the occupants into the water.  As Rollo watches from above, he murmurs a haunting poem.

“Cold is the ocean spray, and your death is on its way.” #Vikings pic.twitter.com/GG2DNn0j84

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) April 1, 2016

Sandi: The tension before the chains go up is palpable. You can see both Rollo and Odo fidgeting and giving everything a last look. Due to the shallow draft of the longships, they are not broken by the chains, but they are capsized. This is dangerous of course, but it doesn’t mean a loss of their transportation, which could have been the case if their ships had been differently made.

Lissa: Floki struggles in the water and sinks below its surface. A hand grabs him and hauls him back. It’s Ragnar. He has dived into the water to haul his friend back to safety. As he lays Floki down on the bottom of the ship. Floki looks up at him with something like wonderment in his features. He seems to have honestly believed Ragnar wouldn’t risk his life to save him… Not now. Not after everything that’s happened. Ragnar looks out over the carnage of wrecked ships, burning… floating bodies in the water and abject horror washes over his features.

@sandyquill the #Vikings are lighting up now! This will be bloody! pic.twitter.com/VCD5DJe6iY

— Whipclip (@whipclip) April 1, 2016

Sandi: The Franks launched Greek Fire, or some form of naptha, here, in packages that look like Chinese dumplings. This was followed by fired arrows and caused even more chaos. But Ragnar didn’t let that distract him from Floki’s distressing predicament. It was right that the king see to his shipbuilder’s safety. I think Floki’s surprise speaks to their estrangement rather than a secret understanding.

Lissa: On land, Lagertha’s forces are decimated as they head toward the tower.  Driven back, they have to retreat. As the ships prepare to sail back, Ragnar shouts to his brother. He says he always defended him, even when others said he deserved death. And this… this is how Rollo repays his love. Rollo doesn’t reply and Ragnar sinks down to lay against the prow of his ship as they limp back to their encampment.

Sandi: It is the final end, I think, of the brotherhood, here.

Lissa: But there will be no rest there…. In the meantime, we see that the Franks have also attacked the Viking camp.

@LissaBryan @sandyquill There’s always that one chick out in the woods to run screaming #VIKINGS

— D Donuts (@DeeDonuts) April 1, 2016

Sandi: It’s a slaughter, alternated with views of the retreat of Lagertha’s forces as well as Ragnar’s men in the water, slogging their way out of danger. An altogether depressing sequence. Excellent cinematography as the camera swings from Lagertha’s people in the swamps to the ships on fire in the river. And here, we do see the damage done to the Viking fleet.

Lissa: Rollo and Gisla come down from the fort and view the bodies lined up along the shore. Gisla is surprised there are so many women among them. Rollo tells her the Viking women warriors are just as fierce as the men – sometimes more. He tells her about Lagertha, and Gisla doesn’t seem to notice his tone.

@sandyquill @LissaBryan I love how Gisla fangirls out about Lagertha, not hearing the “and she’s my ex” tone #VIKINGS

— D Donuts (@DeeDonuts) April 1, 2016

Sandi: “The most fierce – her name is Lagertha.” “You know her?” “Yeah, I slept with her. Might have fathered her son. At least, that’s the rumor…” – Vikings American Apocrypha

Really, though, the scene is a brutal view of war. A great victory is proclaimed in the midst of the dead and dying. Rollo and Princess Le Pew step around corpses to have their civilized little discussion about the fierce females of the North.

Lissa: Gisla expresses interest in meeting Lagertha. Yeah. That would go well.

Sandi: Meeting the leaders of the opposing army was not unheard of, after a war was fought. Terms had to be discussed and such.

Lissa: In Wessex, Ecbert is meeting with the mysterious “W” who has taken Queen Kwenthrith’s kingdom from her.  He sees off a priest on his journey and draws his sword to kneel for the prelate’s blessing. What was entertaining was that the priest seemed to flinch a bit when Ecbert drew that blade, as though he wasn’t entirely certain what the king was going to do with it.

Sandi: The prelate has to remember that Ecbert is not the most reliable of men. His alliances are temporary. He lies and plunges in a knife. He is carrying on with his own daughter-in-law and is apparently sanctioning a relationship between his son and Queen Kwenthrith. The prelate is undoubtedly aware of these things; he’s not blind and no one’s hiding anything very well.

Lissa: The Vikings return to their camp to find carnage. Tents are burning and bodies lay everywhere. Ragnar first finds Helga among the wounded and shouts for Floki. Floki runs to her side and shakes her limp form. Helga is horribly burned. She doesn’t stir, but she seems to be breathing. The collective fandom sent up a shriek of despair when we saw her.

@sandyquill @DeeDonuts I hope she was. #HELGA deserves better than an off-screen death. #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 1, 2016

Sandi: Why didn’t Halfdan go closer to her when he saw her? To see if she was alive?

Lissa: Ragnar finds his boys unharmed. They hug their father as he stares around at the carnage.

ASGARD-SIZED SIGH OF RELIEF. #Vikings pic.twitter.com/yiJ2rYNjgJ

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) April 1, 2016

Sandi: He eyed Yidu, who had run to greet him too, presumably, but he gives her no special looks or anything. His concern is all for his sons, for the moment. Though, of course, that will change.

Lissa: Back in Kattegat, Aslaug strolls with Harbard. She asks him where he’s been and he’s very vague about where his travels have taken him. He says he’s journeyed to the place between life and death. He heard about Ragnar’s sickness and wasn’t sure if he would survive.

Sandi: Thing is, there are eyes everywhere. And that Aslaug and Harbard kiss in public will not go unforgotten.

Lissa: We see him meeting with the village women under Aslaug’s smiling and approving gaze. He speaks to one who says she has no children. He teases her and asks her if she knows how to get them. He tells her she’ll have three children and then kisses her passionately. He “counsels” the other waiting women in the same way, kissing each one in turn. From the porch with his mother, Sigurd watches all of this. A while later, he follows Rasputin – I mean Harbard – as he goes into a house and makes love to the woman inside.

Careful Sigurð–that’s how Bran got hurt. #vikings #ohrightwwrongshow

— SagaThing (@SagaThingPod) April 1, 2016

Sandi: The women are in awe of him. Enthralled. They see him as holy and close to the gods and are willing to have him avail himself of them. And the men that are crowded about him don’t seem in any way concerned about this behavior.

Lissa: Back in Paris, Ragnar is still dealing with the horrors of the battle and the attacked camp. The funeral pyres burn in a somber scene. Lagertha tenderly covers the face of one of her shieldmaidens before lighting her pyre and stepping back. Björn is angry. He says this is Ragnar’s fault.

Sandi: There are a lot of bodies being burnt, as one can see. The Northmen have taken a bad blow that day, both in battle and back in camp. Ragnar did not expect that, I’m sure.

Lissa: Ragnar strides through the camp and shouts for Yidu. She comes to the opening of her tent, and he demands the medicine. He says it’s been a terrible day and he needs it. She lies and says there isn’t any more and he proceeds to wreck the interior looking for her stash. It’s an absolutely horrible scene because it shows the raw and ugly desperation of an addict. Yidu finally pulls some from her bag, and he kisses her in gratitude. Yidu jerks away in fear. Ragnar gobbles the medicine down, then goes outside to sit in the rain to wait for it to take effect.

Sandi: This was so disappointing for me. I wanted him to be seeking the medication for Helga, I guess, and to find out it was because Ragnar was clamoring for it was disheartening. I hate to see him in the thrall of an addiction.

Lissa: We debated some last night over whether the relationship between Ragnar and Yidu has become sexual or not. I said I didn’t believe so, based on the way she cringed back after he kissed her. She doesn’t seem to accept his touch the way one would expect from a mistress or a thrall.

Sandi: She needs to remember that his loyalty to her is now bounded (I think) by her ability to get him what he craves. If she can’t, he might forget any other thing he had found pleasing about her.

Lissa: Floki visits the injured Helga and gives her some of his carved runestones to aid her in healing. Heart-struck, he slowly staggers his way out of the camp into a grassy meadow.

@LissaBryan Gustaf Skarsgard’s weary walk, here, is well done. And #Floki‘s devotion to Helga is clear UNTIL #Aslaug‘s image shows up.

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 1, 2016

Lissa: He sinks down onto the grass, and that’s when we see Aslaug approach him. She kneels down beside him and gives him a tender smile before kissing him. The kiss turns into passion and she climbs atop him. Floki’s eyes are wide with shock, but he goes with it, and they make love under the sky. This scene cuts back and forth to where Aslaug is in Kattegat, making love with Harbard in the same fashion.

@sandyquill @LissaBryan Yes, I think he’s channeling what’s happening at home #VIKINGS

— D Donuts (@DeeDonuts) April 1, 2016

Sandi: Did you hear the church bells in the background? I noticed it on my second watching of this episode this morning. What is the significance of this, I wonder, for two such as they, who are violently anti-Christian?

Lissa: Floki isn’t sure what’s going on, but he’s enthusiastic about it. She says Harbard’s name after Floki falls back to the ground, replete. We weren’t sure last night who was directing this vision. Was it Harbard, sending Floki some kind of message, or joining minds with him in some way? (Remember Floki thought Harbard might be an incarnation of Odin.) Was it Floki himself, who seems to have been tapped as a Seer? Or was it Aslaug, with her völva powers?

WHAT. JUST. HAPPENED? #Vikings pic.twitter.com/y4enrb8iDB

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) April 1, 2016

Sandi: It is such an odd scene. I confess I was thinking how it was filmed. I mean, they had to go through the sequence with both men separately and then cut it. My kudos to the editors for the care that was taken in the exchanges. But what was the significance of this sequence, I wonder? For Floki’s spiritual awareness that all the kids that might be born in Kattegat are Harbard/Odin’s? A portend of a future with Aslaug?

Lissa: Ecbert rides to a crypt with a cross atop it. I thought it was a little chapel at first, but Ecbert walks down the stone steps to find burials inside. And the mysterious “W” lurking in the shadows. He steps forward and reveals himself as Prince Wigstan of Mercia. Wigstan details the brutal deaths his relatives buried here have suffered in the endless fighting around the throne. He wants peace to come back. He wants Mercia to be a golden kingdom as it once was, long ago, strong and powerful and secure. And to do that, he’s willing to combine his army with Ecbert’s in order to fight against the ruling council of nobles, whom he doesn’t describe in the most flattering of terms.

@LissaBryan “Fools monkeys and drunkards – mostly distant relations.” LOL #VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 1, 2016

Sandi: Wigstan says, “If you think Kwenthrith is a calming influence? You’re insane.” (Sandi paraphrase.) This in response to Ecbert’s quick, “Hey I’m only backing her to keep things peaceful next door. I don’t like her, or anything!” Ecbert: Making up lies since before sunrise. Or something.

Lissa: Wigstan doesn’t want to see Kwenthrith on the throne because she’s unstable, both in her rule and in her judgment. Wigstan will fight and claim the throne for himself, with Ecbert’s help, but as soon as it’s achieved, he wants to renounce the throne and travel to Rome as a pilgrim. He will hand Mercia over to Ecbert to combine with Wessex into one vast kingdom.

@LissaBryan #Ecbert is … having a kingasm right now. #VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 1, 2016

Sandi: The interesting thing is that while Wigstan says he’s lost his faith in God, Ecbert never has, not really. Ecbert still believes heartily in God, but his view of the Almighty is not in line with, er, traditional teachings. Wigstan would not be surprised, I’m guessing.

Lissa: To prove his sincerity, he has his guard pull his mother’s coffin from the niche on the wall. He opens the casket and reaches down among the bones.

@sandyquill @DeeDonuts “I swear it on my mother’s femur.” #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 1, 2016

Lissa: He pulls out a dusty crown and holds it out to Ecbert. He says it’s the ancient crown of Mercia. And it’s his. Just like that, Ecbert is seemingly handed everything he’s wanted.  All he has to do now is reach out and grasp the opportunity he’s been given… and betray Kwenthrith.

@sandyquill @DeeDonuts Burger King Ecbert gets another franchise. #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 1, 2016

Sandi: Wigstan says this, and is relinquishing the kingdom, apparently, but still refers to Mercia as his. “Both our countries forward,” he says. He will always identify with Mercia, and will likely – even from Rome – keep an eye on dealings there. I wonder how close this story in this show will run to the historical events?

Lissa: Wigstan is based on a real king by that name. He also preferred the religious life to ruling. History records that Wigstan asked his mother to serve as regent so he could go do his monastic thing. His mom attracted a suitor, but Wigstan refused the match because of consanguinity. The suitor was a mite bit miffed by this and went to have a talk with Wigstan, a chat which ended with the suitor bashing Wigstan over the head and stabbing him with his sword. Like a number of pious nobles of the era, Wigstan then became a saint. Supposedly, a great column of light shot up from the spot he was slain and stayed there for a month. Saint Arclight’s remains were moved a bit later to a monastery in Evesham, but that was destroyed by Henry VIII during the Dissolution. (This is why we can’t have nice things, Henry!)

Heavy is the head that wears the crown. #Vikings pic.twitter.com/MexmGbPwY8

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) April 1, 2016

Sandi: Ecbert, as a self-identified corrupt and ambitious man with dreams of having it all, is undoubtedly doing an inner Snoopy Dance here, but he contains himself admirably. He is, as always the definition of “urbane” – even before that was a word.

Lissa: Back at Ragnar’s camp, Björn goes to his father to ask what they’re going to do next. It’s been three days. What is the plan? His father is in bad shape. Ragnar is tense and sweating, rocking as he speaks in a tight, clipped tone. He tells his son they’ll depart on the morrow and head down the river. Yidu has either cut off his supply of drugs, or Ragnar has decided to kick the habit himself, cold turkey. Either way, he’s suffering badly from withdrawal. Every word seems like a painful effort as he spits it out. After Björn departs, Ragnar speaks, seemingly to himself, but he’s actually addressing a severed head that lies on the floor. I couldn’t make out who it was he was talking to.

Sandi: If Yidu has truly run out (which would be extremely foolish of her, as she got Ragnar to take her with him so she could be his supplier) then I am concerned for them both. If he’s decided to try to live without them, I applaud that. There is no twelve-step program here. No rehab clinic. No substitute pharmaceutical program. It will be ugly.

Regarding the retreat, this has to be upsetting to Björn. To have sat for three days, waiting, and then be told they’re to retreat? I imagine this will anger those who are hoping for more of the treasure they acquired last time they were there. Regarding the nameless head  on the floor, I haven’t any idea whom that is, either.

Lissa: So much is up in the air! Will Finehair see this as an opportunity to capitalize on Ragnar’s weakness as a leader? Will Harbard father a passel of children to greet the Viking warriors who return? And – most important to me – will our beloved Helga recover?

Sandi: Overall, this was a week of ups and downs. Great battle scenes – if you’re Frankish. Interesting developments in characters. But I’m still left with questions! I wonder how many will be answered by the end of the first half of this extended season?

So much to wait for next week! I hope you’ll join us @LissaBryan and @sandyquill!

If you’re looking for incisive comments, please check out ProjectFandom. @DeeDonuts on twitter is the chick in charge, there, and she always has sharp things to say!

Congratulations to History Channel, as VIKINGS has been optioned for a fifth season!

Heill þú farir, heill þú aftr komir, heill þú á sinnum sér!
Hale go forth, hale return, hale on your ways!  – Vafþrúðnismál

“These chicks are machines!” – The No Ship Network

(check them out for their podcasted recaps and feedback ‘casts!)

This and all images from Vikings are the property of the History Channel. I use them only for illustrations regarding their show.

Heillir!

Lissa Bryan and I like to call ourselves the Shieldmaidens of History: Protecting the Innocent from Anachronisms. We’re excited to bring you our recap and discussion of each episode of History Channel’s series VIKINGS.

Lissa Bryan is an awesome historian as well as a writer of historical and End of the World as We Know It romantic fiction. Check out the review I wrote for her book, The End of All Things here.

Lissa: Well, this episode was full of surprises! I’m still a little dazed.

Sandi: I still have hopes that one or two things will turn out differently next week. However, this was the eighth of ten weeks for this half of the season, so excitement and surprises were to be expected, I guess!

Lissa: We started off with Lagertha in the longboat with Finehair and his brother. Finehair is complaining about the retreat and is scornful. “We bought into the magic of Ragnar Lo∂brok,” Harald says. “In our world we cannot accept compromise. We cannot accept failure. Someone is always responsible for failure.” Lagertha glares him down as she retorts, “If I were you, I wouldn’t talk like that about Ragnar Lo∂brok to my face.” But when she turns away, she looks as dejected as we’ve ever seen her.

Sandi: First, kudos on getting the quotes so accurately. You rock, Lissa. Yes, Lagertha might not be Ragnar’s queen, but she is the mother of his firstborn and his loyal ally. Even when he has not always been so loyal to her. She’s just . . . an amazing woman. Not perfect, but amazing.

Lissa: In the other boat, Björn murmurs to his father that the retreat has “weakened you in every way.” Ragnar glances up at the cliffs they’re sailing past and calls a halt. He says they’ll camp there. No one has any idea why he’d want to do such a thing. Ragnar says thy ought to try listening instead of talking so much. He has an idea.

Sandi: This part was a really cool turning point for me personally. The previous episode had a decline for Ragnar, from his first weird unicorn-strategy meeting to the “talk to the head” moment at the end. (We call it the #PoorYorickMoment.) And to have Björn, his own son, publicly (because on a longship, nothing is private) decry his leadership skills must have been painful and humiliating, yet Ragnar couldn’t deny the justice of the remarks. Then, we see Old Ragnar surface. Brilliant. Innovative. The man who could sail into the unknown. That man showed up again with a great idea for how to take Paris.

Lissa: In Paris, Simple Chuck is congratulating himself over the win against Ragnar. Darth Odious warns him that “There is nothing else in the mind of the pagan Rollo but the destruction of Paris and its Emperor.” He only fought against Ragnar because they had a personal squabble. Arrest him and dispose of him, and give Gisla a husband worthy of her. Simple Chuck says he will consider it.

@sandyquill Well, Darth, Princess Le Pew has been consummated. Enthusiastically, I might add. A new marriage might be… difficult. #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 8, 2016

Sandi: Here, you’ve got the classic “Make nice with the Powerful Warrior then betray him when he wins” move. Odo did his best to work with Rollo when Rollo could benefit Paris—and, by extension, Odo himself—until Rollo’s perceived purpose was fulfilled. Then, time to get rid of the man. I think Odo did this for two reasons: 1) To regain his role as premier military advisor and 2) To try for access to Gisla once more. Charming fellow. Ugh.

Lissa: Ragnar reveals his idea to the Vikings. He wants to lift the boats up the cliffs and carry them overland, past Rollo’s forts, and slip them into the river on the other side. He asks Floki if it can be done. Floki tells him he can do it… for Ragnar. He tells him that everything he does is for Ragnar.

@VerucaSaltNPpr @LissaBryan @DeeDonuts Look into my eyes…and you will see…beyond the kohl, dirt, sea salt, to me… #VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 8, 2016

Sandi: We had such a fangirl moment over this, Lissa and I. Longships—skipniu, as they were called in Old Norse—were designed to be portable. The Northmen sailed them down rivers and, when the water was too shallow even for the ships, the men could pick up their craft and carry them. It wasn’t a light burden, but it was possible with enough arms. Watching Ragnar put this plan into action made me very happy.

Lissa: In Kattegat, Sigurd is sitting in the hall, uncomfortable with his mother’s behavior around Harbard. He says he wishes his father was here and leaves the table without eating. Harbard starts to follow him, but Aslaug tells him not to. Harbard says he wanted to tell the boy that he loved him. He loves everyone.

Sandi: I don’t even blame Sigurd for his feelings of discomfort. It wasn’t that sex between parents was unknown to most children in this time. Without private bedrooms, most of domestic life was there on display for the entire household to see. But Sigurd is well aware of who his father is and he’s old enough to have a sense of what is due to Ragnar.

Lissa: Indeed, he does. Sigurd leads his mother to a cottage later and shows her Harbard making love to another girl.

@LissaBryan @DeeDonuts He is. Putting it all out there for public service. Yep. it’s a spiritual thing. Sexual healing and so on. #VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 8, 2016

Lissa: A furious, screaming Aslaug goes on a rampage, smashing furniture in her chamber in a rage.

@sandyquill @DeeDonuts Sounds like #ASLAUG is having a queen-sized hissy fit. #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 8, 2016

Sandi: Very soap-opera, here. I wonder if it’s hormonal? If Harbard has succeeded in getting Aslaug pregnant, along with half the village?

Lissa: Her actions here are a little strange, to be honest. Last week, she smiled approvingly as Harbard kissed woman after woman in the village square. And now she has become insanely jealous of the man she’s having an adulterous affair with. Rasputin-Harbard tries to soothe her, telling her he only makes love to those women because they need him to take away their pain the way he took Ivar’s pain away. He loves Aslaug, but she cannot possess him. Possession is not love. Neither is monogamy, apparently.

Helheim hath no fury. #Vikings pic.twitter.com/F3qlytSnqS

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) April 8, 2016

Sandi: It does seem an abrupt turn-about for her. Whether this is due to an increase in her attachment to him or to her feeling of what is due her—she can be jealous of her prerogatives just as much as she can her heart—she has certainly taken a sharp left in her reactions.

#Vikings pic.twitter.com/R2mexEFm37

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) April 8, 2016

Lissa: Ecbert arrives back in Wessex after having apparently battled off-camera with the council forces and beaten them squarely. He’s greeted by a delighted Kwenthrith who says she’s now the unchallenged Queen of Mercia. Ecbert doesn’t address that particular point. That evening, Kwenthrith goes to meet with him in his office. Ecbert quickly rolls up a map of Mercia and wipes the drool from his chin. Kwenthrith informs him that she’s pregnant. Ecbert congratulates her and asks the identity of the father. Kwenthrith is probably a bit insulted, as one can imagine, but she tells him that it’s his son, Aethelwulf, and that they had a meaningful relationship. Of which Ecbert is fully aware, but that’s not at issue.

Sandi: Ecbert’s ability to present any face he wishes is growing legendary. He can sup with someone and plunge a knife coolly in their back that same evening.

Lissa: Kwenthrith starts to address some of the issues in her kingdom and Ecbert cuts her off. It’s not her kingdom any longer. He has his assistant lay out the paperwork. Before their untimely demises, the council all signed documents for the abdication of Queen Kwenthrith and ceding the throne to Wigstan, who in turn handed it over to Ecbert. He is now king of Mercia.

.@LissaBryan @sandyquill #vikings @MrAmyBailey
(With love) pic.twitter.com/aijRamiZ36

— D Donuts (@DeeDonuts) April 8, 2016

Lissa: Kwenthith screams at him that he’s a monster, and Ecbert is rather untroubled by this. Because he is, and he knows it. She asks him how he can sleep at night, and Ecbert doesn’t say, “On a pile of stolen crowns, my dear,” but you know he’s thinking it. She’s dragged away by guards.

Sandi: At this point, we were thinking that this was the point when Kwenthrith would find herself consigned to a nunnery to have her baby. She is told that she’ll be under house arrest, after a fashion. Ecbert is invested in keeping her unborn child safe, too, as that child is his grandson. Something Kwenthrith seems to have overlooked; a powerful king will not be dictated to.

Lissa: Gisla and Odo are having dinner with Simple Chuck.  He’s eating with a serving fork, for some reason. I teased a bit about it during the episode, but didn’t really want to get into all the history at the moment.

@sandyquill @DeeDonuts When you sup with the devil, you need to use a long spoon… or a two-tined fork in this instance. #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 8, 2016

Sandi: That is a frustrating part of live-tweeting! There’s stuff in the mind that we don’t have time to explore because there’s a story being told before our eyes. A fascinating story.

Lissa: In any case, forks had been sort of introduced at the French court during this time, but they weren’t commonly used, not for eating, anyway. They were sort of a novelty item. Not unknown, but not common by any means – sort of like chopsticks in an average American home. Your eating utensil was your spoon or your knife. Forks didn’t come into common usage in France until Catherine d’Medici’s time.

Sandi: So, though it was possible for the Emperor would have used a fork for his personal food consumption, it was highly unlikely at this time. Good manners would have dictated he use his knife for spearing his meat or veggies and carrying them to his mouth.

Lissa: But I digress. Gisla announces she is pregnant.  A baby Viking is on his or her way! Pepe Le Bébé?

@DeeDonuts @LissaBryan With a tiny little blessed banner in one hand and a wooden battleaxe in the other… #VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 8, 2016

Lissa: Simple Chuck praises Rollo the defeat of his brother but Rollo reminds him it’s not really a defeat.

@LissaBryan “…What defeat? Ragnar’s breathing? He’s not done yet.” #Rollo is NOT stupid. #VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 8, 2016

Sandi: Part of what the Franks need, though they don’t acknowledge it as such at this juncture, is the knowledge of how the Northman thinks. It’s a mindset different from that of the Franks’ own. The Northman doesn’t necessarily need to live past the battle; the warriors are content to die and go on to Valhalla. So conquering is a goal, but not the only goal. Valhalla is a noble one. 

Lissa: Therese meets with Darth Odious, and says he hasn’t visited her in a long while.

Sandi: As he reminds her, he was fighting (and winning!) important battles and so on. “Quit yer whining, girlie. I was busy doing man-stuff.”

@sandyquill @DeeDonuts “You haven’t beaten me for a long time. I’m getting worried.” #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 8, 2016

Lissa: She asks him if he’d like to try a little something different. How would he like to be tied up and whipped for a change? Odious is excited by the idea, and manacles himself. Therese tries a couple of strikes and he scoffs at them as being too soft. He cries out in real pain when a long cat o’ nine tails strikes his back. It’s being wielded by Roland, who gives Therese a kiss in front of Odious. He lays into Odious with vigor while Therese watches. Blood spatters her face and she seems to get quite… excited by the sight.

@sandyquill She really seemed to be… um… enjoying that. Perhaps Therese learned something about herself. #DominaTherese #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 8, 2016

Sandi: No safewords were used in that session, I daresay. I actually felt a bit bad for Darth Odious. He trusted Therese, and then found himself completely at their mercy. And . . . they weren’t merciful. Not at all.

Lissa: Kwenthrith approaches Judith and tells her she needs to confess. She’s pregnant by Judith’s husband, Aethelwulf. Judith says she knows, and she forgives Kwenthrith. Kwenthrith asks for her help in escaping.

Sandi: One would think that Kwenthrith would know better than to trust anyone who has appeared to prosper in Ecbert’s court. Cunning and double-dealing is a way of life, there, and Kwenthrith is no stranger to these herself. Sadly, she may have thought she was smarter than anyone she encountered, there.

Lissa: That evening, Judith goes to Ecbert’s chamber. He’s gazing out at the moon. He says he wants to ask her forgiveness. He’s already beyond God’s forgiveness, but perhaps he can get forgiveness from her. He feels he didn’t have a choice but to take Kwenthrith’s throne. She was unstable. “You may treat this statement as compromised, disingenuous, perhaps even as a lie. And why shouldn’t you. But the funny thing is, it’s true. I have lied about many, many things, both to others and to myself, but I find, to my surprise, that I cannot lie to you, nor escape your judgment. Please, Judith. Don’t forsake me.”

@LissaBryan @DeeDonuts Hey, he has RATIONALE. Oh… the L WORD. #VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 8, 2016

Sandi: I have to think/hope that Judith has learned enough of her father-in-law by this time not to be completely drawn in by Ecbert’s words. His track record for reliability is so not good. Unless it’s for his own self-interest. He might treat Judith well, for the time and place, but can she trust him to see to her welfare for her own sake? I doubt it. Highly.

Lissa: We cut to a scenes of the Vikings still moving the boats.

@sandyquill @HistoryVikings BEAUTIFUL cantilevers! Bravo! Having a geek-gasm here! #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 8, 2016

Lissa: It’s beautifully period-accurate. Lifting the boats up from the docks, they’re loaded on to sledges and rolled over logs along the ground. It’s one of those delightful historical touches that makes my geeky little heart so happy. Even Finehair seems happy. He admits he was wrong to doubt Ragnar.  “You’re insane! But this is beautiful. After everything we heard and thought, we feel stupid.”

Sandi: Me being me (read: suspicious) I tend to take Harald’s claim of feeling stupid with a whole block of salt. He has said this to placate a man he now perceives to be more powerful than he might have done not too long ago. Now, Ragnar is a king in his element, not a defeated warrior who’d had a faulty plan. Now, Ragnar has a chance of winning and leading the way to treasure and renown. Now, Harald Finehair will pay him lip service.

Be cool, Torvi. #Vikings pic.twitter.com/R2VVgwemA4

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) April 8, 2016

Lissa: Torvi is watching from the dock as Björn rides one of the boats up. She has a vision of Erlendur shooting him with a crossbow and Björn falling to the water below. But Erlendur hasn’t moved. He’s just watching Björn with grim eyes.

Sandi: Yep, we were psyched out to see Björn shot through the throat. But no! History Channel was messing with us. But did this mean that Torvi is an incipient Seer herself or was it just a momentary fear? 

Lissa: Back in Paris, Darth Odious’s bloody, dripping corpse still hangs from the chains, whipped to death.

@sandyquill DarthOdious is really regretting his decision to let Therese top. #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 8, 2016

Lissa: Simple Chuck announces from his throne that Odious was executed for his disloyalty. Rollo is granted the metal hand that Darth Odious always wore. Which is gross and a-historical. At least I’ve never heard of it. “He rules his realm with an iron hand,” doesn’t have an actual historical basis in a physical object, as far as I know. After they leave, Simple Chuck has a moment with Therese. He says he feels she carries a terrible burden, and she carries it alone.

Sandi: Nice of Charles to put an official face on the revenge-murder of his former favorite. I can’t find a reference to an actual “iron hand” either, at first scan, but it does make a nice (if macabre) symbol, here. I wonder if a warning is also attached thereto? Or maybe not, as Duke Rollo has officially gifted his wife with a baby?

Lissa: Kwenthrith tries her escape, hiding her face and that of Magnus under large cloaks. She doesn’t even make it as far as the gates before she’s captured and brought back inside the villa. She’s told by Ecbert that he wants to have Ragnar’s son, safe and sound in his hands when Ragnar returns. She will not be allowed to leave. Guards will keep her inside the villa.

Sandi: Ecbert takes it as his right—I won’t say “divine right” as he seems to have abdicated that option—to maneuver and manipulate all in his purview. It’s as if Kwenthrith couldn’t possibly think otherwise. His sense of entitlement here is overwhelming.

Lissa: Back at the Viking camp, Floki talks to Helga, who seems to be on the mend, which made me happy. She wasn’t burned, thankfully. It must have simply been mud covering her when we saw her last. He asks her to remain at the camp, where she’ll be safe, while he goes onward with the boats toward Paris. He’s tender and concerned with her, and even better than that he seems more stable than he’s been in a long time. “Don’t die, Floki,” she says to him, with a haunting sadness.

@LissaBryan I like seeing #Floki look more rational. I confess. #VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 8, 2016

Lissa: Down at the beach, Ragnar tells Yidu to remain behind. He only brought her along for the medicine she had. She tells him there isn’t any left, and so Ragnar says he doesn’t need her any more. Yidu says she came along because she was a free woman. Ragnar scoffs and told her he never said she was free, only that she could come and go as she pleased.

Sandi: I see this as a parallel to Ecbert’s keeping Kwenthrith (and Judith and anyone else) tied to him. A captive, willing or not.

@LissaBryan “I never said you were free.” Oh, he’s into semantics. Welcome to Kingship. #VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 8, 2016

Lissa: “You’re a liar,” Yidu hisses to him. “You’ve lied to me, and you’ve lied to your people. But you made the mistake of telling me the secret of the slaughter of the families in Wessex.” She starts to march off, but Ragnar seizes her, dragging her into the water. He holds her beneath the surface. Yidu’s arms wave frantically as she fights for her life and then they slowly fall back, limp and lifeless. Her body bobs in the water. Ragnar searches her bag and grabs her drug stash before he sloshes out of the water.

Sandi: So . . . she had a drug stash. So she lied to him, too. For the record and all. The drug was her hold over him and it would have been singularly foolish of her to let this hold disappear at this juncture.

@sandyquill I am shocked. Sincerely. Ragnar has never been one to hurt a woman, free or slave. He killed her with such indifference #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 8, 2016

Lissa: I was stunned. I couldn’t believe it. Ragnar has never been brutal with women, even slave women. His cold-blooded murder of Yidu is bizarrely out of character for him, and now that he’s past his drug withdrawals, there isn’t even that excuse. I didn’t understand this scene at all. Ragnar goes Tony Soprano, and it’s devastating.

Sandi: This will sound horrid, perhaps, but I was not even remotely put off by this action. I saw this killing as expected and even a bit rational from a certain point of view. Yidu represented a threat and he handled it. She was also taunting him and doubting him and maybe even making him doubt himself – intolerable – so killing her was an expedient option. I don’t agree with it, mind, but I guess I wasn’t as flabbergasted as many.

Lissa: Ubbe and Hvistserk have seen it from the beach and are staring at their father as he sloshes up out of the river, leaving Yidu’s corpse floating behind him. “It’s all right. It’s all right.” He tries to reassure the boys, but he’s obviously jittery. He shoos the boys away and goes back to give Yidu’s body a shove out into the current.

Sandi: Now, here, I had to cringe. Ragnar has by and large done his best to be a good father on campaign, but here? He loses that. His need for the drug, and to see to the secret of Wessex, overpowered his need to be a good father and role model for his sons. I kept hoping that Yidu would sneak off, out of breath but alive, while Ubbe watched the water carefully beyond his father’s shoulder. But. No. 

@LissaBryan @sandyquill Ragnar deserves father of the year, amiright? @HistoryVikings pic.twitter.com/vGEmk2Uhsr

— Whipclip (@whipclip) April 8, 2016

Lissa: It’s late at night in Wessex and Kwenthrith hurries through the hallway toward Ecbert’s room. She’s stopped by a guard who tells her she’s been banned from his chamber. A desperate Kwenthrith pulls out a knife and stabs him in the neck. King Ecbert wakes to find her dagger at his throat.

@sandyquill Had to catch him sleeping for that to happen. #BurgerKingTriumphs #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 8, 2016

Sandi: This is where Kwenthrith’s imbalance is most tragic. She seems to think she can pull one over on a man who has demonstrated himself to be her superior in terms of military might, strategy, and manipulation. That she thinks she can actually pose a threat to him is ludicrous. Tragically ludicrous. 

Lissa: She tells him it didn’t have to be this way. She asks him what it’s like to be at the threshold of death. “Do you know what would have been better for me?” she asks. “Can you even imagine? To have been born a man.” She’s half-crying-half-laughing as she says this, and she’s about to drive the dagger through his neck when suddenly, she’s hit by a knife from behind. Judith has stabbed her. Kwenthrith falls over, and murmurs. “Poor Judith, you have killed twice over,” referring to her unborn child. With a gurgle, Queen Kwenthrith of Mercia is no more.

@sandyquill Well, no nunnery for #KWENTHRITH it seems.

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 8, 2016

Sandi: I was stunned to see that Judith had killed Kwenthrith. That was the murder that had me blinking in this episode. But, Judith was doing a few things with this. One, she was protecting her Sugar Daddy/liege lord/father-in-law. This was her duty. The corpse at the door to Ecbert’s chamber likely clued her in as to the need for her knife. Two, she was preserving the roles of her sons in Ecbert’s realm and influence. This was a princess’s duty in a royal court. Three, she was perhaps enacting her vengeance on the woman who had slept and been impregnated by her husband. “I forgive you,” she said. But Judith is a student in Ecbert’s school; words can be said without being binding. (As an aside, there’s an interview with Amy Bailey (Queen Kwenthrith) on Entertainment Weekly that makes good reading.)

Lissa: Judith looks down at Kwenthrith’s corpse and says to Ecbert, “Look what you have made me become.”

Sandi: This is Judith refusing responsibility for her own actions. For each step she has taken to get to where she is. A far cry from the girl she may have been when even looking at Athelstan made her blush. 

Lissa: What an episode! We lost Yidu, Kwenthrith, and Darth Odious (though he won’t be missed.) We never got an answer to the question of #YorickTheMysteryHead, but so much was going on, I don’t think any of us noticed at the time.

Sandi: I certainly didn’t notice the last, no. I was too happy to see Ragnar take on a new challenge to invade Paris. Again. Two more weeks to go in this first half of this season. I can’t wait to see what they hold!

So much to wait for next week! I hope you’ll join us @LissaBryan and @sandyquill on twitter!

If you’re looking for incisive comments, please check out ProjectFandom. @DeeDonuts on twitter is the chick in charge, there, and she always has sharp things to say!

Heill þú farir, heill þú aftr komir, heill þú á sinnum sér!
Hale go forth, hale return, hale on your ways!  – Vafþrúðnismál

“These chicks are machines!” – The No Ship Network

(check them out for their podcasted recaps and feedback ‘casts!)

This and all images from Vikings are the property of the History Channel. I use them only for illustrations regarding their show.

Heillir!

(Sidenote to the NoShippers: Yes, you pronounced it correctly. Well done!)

Lissa Bryan and I like to call ourselves the Shieldmaidens of History: Protecting the Innocent from Anachronisms. We’re excited to bring you our recap and discussion of each episode of History Channel’s series VIKINGS.

Lissa Bryan is an awesome historian as well as a writer of historical and End of the World as We Know It romantic fiction. Check out the review I wrote for her book, The End of All Things here.

Lissa: This episode, I think was aptly named!

Sandi: I do appreciate the care they take to title them. I know I have a hard time with titles. The History Channel does a great job. Even if the titles refer to some horrible and sad things.

Lissa: We began with wonderful scenes of the Vikings porting the boats overland, rolling the ships over lubricated logs. It gave a great sense of how much effort and labor had to go into tasks like these, the engineering and forethought. Lagertha is helping haul on the ropes to pull the ships over the log rollers. She winces and grasps her belly at one point, but goes right back to pulling.

Sandi: They had a bit of a distance to go, here, but it was encouraging to show that they just did it. Marshaling local resources and getting down to business. Lagertha—yeah. The psychology of her behavior here is interesting. The Seer said she’d have no more children, yet she’s pregnant. It is possible that she’s decided to trust in Serendipity and do exactly as she would were she not pregnant, hoping that the chance of Fate would smile upon her. Or she’s subconsciously believing the Seer and his prophecy and determines to act in such a way that will not protect her unborn child to make it come true. I don’t believe she consciously is seeking to harm herself in any way. She’s just going to do what she feels she must.

Lissa: Two locals peek through the trees. They hope the Vikings will pass them by. It’s all any family could do at the time.

Sandi: The average local “peasant” or “villein” had no recourse when armed men moved through their territories. They were used like canon fodder, their lands were harvested bare and ruined, and their lives were considered as nothing to noblemen waging war.

Lissa: Finehair and his brother Halfdan take a breakfast break to go raiding a farm. The brothers are cheerful and playful as they loot. Halfdan lobs an egg at Harald and they share a laugh as it spatters the front of his armor. The residents are obviously hiding. Halfdan lifts a pillow and finds a jewelry below. He informs his brother there are women here, and they search the barn. A hard shove on the boards of the hayloft above sends the girls crashing down. They’re young – around Gyda’s age. The rest of the family pleads in French and Spanish – at least I think that’s what I heard. But both being Romance languages, I imagine Old French has some similarities.

Sandi: It really struck me how lighthearted Harald and Halfdan are, here. Like the village was created just for their amusement and plundering. I heard Spanish, too. The lines between people were more fluid in those days and the languages were still in development. Indeed they still are.

Lissa: We all cringed at the thought of what was going to happen to those girls, and mercifully, the scene cut away.  As they pack up to leave, we see more of that cheerful demeanor. Halfdan sings a Norse song and Harald joins in as they ride away. But we see the carnage as they’re leaving. The family has been slaughtered brutally, hacked to pieces.

@DeeDonuts @LissaBryan It was. Just awful. From the sails of the Northmen, Good Lord, deliver us. #VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 15, 2016

Sandi: That’s actually a poem from the Irish. The Northmen were seen as an unstoppable force to the man in the village. They came in with their axes and shields, their belief that death in battle was a good thing, their unassailable confidence that raiding was their right, to bring treasure and slaves back home, where they were needed. A run-of-the-mill farmer (or miller!) couldn’t stand up to that. All they could do was pray, hope, and hide.

Lissa: Finehair later justifies it to Björn by saying the family would have told the Franks of the Vikings’ plans. He says Björn would have done the same, and Björn replies, “I’m not blaming you.” As Julie summed it up last night on Twitter:

@sandyquill @DeeDonuts @LissaBryan And suddenly I remember that no one is the good guy here.

— Julie (@VerucaSaltNPpr) April 15, 2016

Sandi: I think Hirst has been careful to show this, in his writing of this show. People are . . . people. With strengths and failings as a community as well as in individuals.

Lissa: The scene cuts to little Alfred on the road approaching the city of Rome with Aethelwulf and Prudentius walking behind him. Beggars line the pilgrims’ path, some more insistent than others. Aethelwulf functions as the bodyguard. Alfred meets Pope Leo X. An interesting aside – Do you realize the same actor playing the pope also plays the Seer?

Sandi: Alfred, at this point, has walked over 1,000 miles. Okay, perhaps he’s been able to ride a pony for some of that, but still. A long, long walk. It’s taken months, even if they didn’t go souvenir shopping along the way. Still, the little guy is plucky, striding along with his wet hair in his face, ignoring the importuning people along the road. Aethelwulf does a great job and we noted last night that he’s been a good father to the lad, despite the more-than-awkward beginnings of that relationship. And I knew the pope looked familiar…(Yes, I hang out on IMDb and the Vikings Wikia on occasion!)

Lissa: The pope tells Alfred that he has an important destiny in defending Christendom from the pagan invaders.  The pope warns him, “If Christian people do not do penance, a great and rushing disaster will swiftly come upon you.” It’s a reminder that the Vikings were thought of by Christians as a scourge of God, a punishment for their sins. The pope shows little Alfred a sacred relic, one of the thorns from the crown cruelly thrust on the head of Jesus when he was being crucified by the Romans. Alfred kisses it in reverence.

Sandi: Alfred has been well-indoctrinated— I mean, taught!—of the tenets of the faith. At this time, that was handled by memorization, so one can imagine that the lad has a grand memory and is dedicated to learning. As indeed, King Alfred will prove in the fullness of time. I like that the show gives foreshadowing of Alfred’s lifelong commitment to faith and learning even at this stage, even including the trip to Rome Alfred did indeed make the pilgrimage. 

Lissa: The show already highlighted the early church’s reverence for relics. Remember Gisla and the oriflamme? I mentioned last night that there was also a terrible market for forgeries arising at this time, and a great many people got taken in by scammers who took advantage of their faith and trust that a fellow Christian would not lie about something so sacred.

Sandi: Even Chaucer had something to say about relics, having his Pardoner character in The Canterbury Tales, discuss how he (the Pardoner) cons people in the Pardoner’s Prologue. Not saying that the Holy Father was using the thorn of Christ’s crown of thorns as a moneymaking prop in this episode! Just a commentary that this practice did go on for centuries.

Lissa: There was a wonderful scene of little Alfred being crowned as a Consul of Rome while Ecbert is being crowned as the joint king of Mercia and Wessex. The bishop anoints Ecbert’s head with oil and proclaims the kingdoms are forever and indissolvably joined, and Little Alfred is gifted a beautiful sword and a golden crown of laurel leaves. It would have been a moment that left a powerful impression on a young boy.

Sandi: Really nice display here by the History Channel. I enjoyed how these scenes were combined with some Gregorian Chant as background music. (Not sure if it was, technically, Gregorian, but you know what I mean.) Ecbert gets to wear the Where the Wild Things Are crown so I imagine we can let the Wild Rumpus start! 

Lissa: Judith is, of course, all smiles, but Aella is displeased by Ecbert’s coronation and reminds him afterward that he and Ecbert were supposed to split Mercia equally. Ecbert betrayed him. And Aella mentions that Ecbert’s new domain borders his own. Ecbert essentially tells him to learn to live with it, because that’s how it is.

@LissaBryan @sandyquill #ECBERT #VIKINGS pic.twitter.com/amRbGMI9bW

— D Donuts (@DeeDonuts) April 15, 2016

Sandi: Yeah.  ^^ That. (As an aside, @DeeDonuts always gives good GIF.) King Aelle is disgruntled and likely even angered by King Ecbert’s obvious duplicity. But he is in Ecbert’s court, surrounded by Ecbert’s men, and can do nothing. That has to stick in his craw in a bad, bad way.

Lissa: We return to Paris, where Björn and his father are hastily summoned. It’s Lagertha. When they arrive, they find her lying in her tent, her dress pulled up to her thighs and soaked with blood. She tells them she lost her child. She’d hoped the Seer might be wrong. She begins to sob and Ragnar pulls her into his arms to comfort her. He looks equally agonized as he holds his ex-wife and murmurs to her. But very quickly Lagertha sits up and tells him to go. “Just go away. Leave me alone.” Ragnar releases her, but he doesn’t leave. He retreats just a few feet behind her and sits down, and Björn sits down on her other side. In one of those gorgeous touches of cinematography conveying emotion, their body movements are in sync as Lagertha struggles to control her grief.

Sandi: That was heartbreaking for Lagertha, even though she knew it could happen. I really appreciated seeing how Ragnar supported her, and his own grief there even though the child was not his. As we said last night, these two are the great big One True Pairing for many VIKINGS fans and their chemistry is undeniable. And props to Björn, too. This is not a typical place for a son to be supportive, but he did very well. Sometimes, it’s right to ignore his mother’s wishes and do the right thing.

Lissa: Outside, Floki’s eyes roll back in his head and he has a vision of Aslaug wandering around in the rain, screaming Harbard’s name and falling to the earth in tears when she cannot find him.

@DeeDonuts @sandyquill That’s a good comparison. They are both addicted to something now that’s not healthy. And paying for it. #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 15, 2016

Sandi: So now we see Floki as Seer, really. He’s not seeing the future, not here and not in the earlier episode when he seemed thrust into the sexual encounter between Harbard and Queen Aslaug. Instead, Floki Sees what is happening at the moment. I wonder how this will play out in the future of the show. I wonder if Kattegat’s Seer really has gone on, and that’s why the actor is now the pope?

Lissa: Simple Chuck is seated on the throne when Gisla and Rollo stride in. Since her marriage was consummated, Gisla’s style has changed to sleek and simple – and frankly, rather modern-looking. Beside her, Rollo is stylin’ in a shiny, shiny doublet. Simple Chuck announces Gisla’s pregnancy, and then has another announcement… He’s making Roland a count for his services to Frankia. Gisla doesn’t look very pleased by the announcement. The king dismisses everyone but asks Roland to linger for a moment. He has an important question to ask him. After everyone is gone, Chuck lays it out in the bluntest terms possible. Chuck wants Therese as his mistress and he wants to know if Roland would be upset about it.

@LissaBryan “Go on, go on. I’m not mad at anyone. But. Roland. We need to talk. Uh oh. I want to have sex with your sister.” #VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 15, 2016

Lissa: Not at all, Roland says with aplomb. In fact, she’d be the happiest woman in Frankia, he’s sure. He turns to go and Chuck tells him there’s just one more thing he’d like to ask about.

Sandi: I think the thing with Gisla’s wardrobe is that she isn’t having to prove anything any longer. Not to her father, not to the court. She’s married to a man she (finally) respects (though she finds it necessary to lecture him about How to be Frankish quite often) and she no longer has to build her reputation in her wardrobe. She is who she is, and that’s enough. I do concur, though, that her wardrobe does seem almost modern in its lines. (I am reminded of the wonderful series Robin Hood from the BBC, where the characters dressed in such a way as to call forth modern stylings using traditional means.) I will say though that I am getting rather tired of her pedantic manner. Still, there’s a lesson to be learned here: We often tend to think our own culture is the superior one. We should guard against this when dealing with others.

Lissa: We cut to Rollo and Gisla’s bedroom as they’re retiring. Gisla undresses behind a screen as she gives Rollo a lecture/lesson on… something. Sorry, it sort of just went in one ear and out the other. I did catch, though, that she’s unhappy about her father honoring “those people.” She puts on a white cottony-looking nightgown, complete with little satin bows and climbs into the very 18th century-looking bed with its scalloped headboard and pulled-back curtains. Rollo is also wearing a nightgown, and it has a shiny placard breast.

@sandyquill @VerucaSaltNPpr @DeeDonuts ‘Cause, you know, nightgowns were a thing in the 9th century. *cough* #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 15, 2016

Sandi: Yeah. The use of nightwear was extremely rare, back then. A bridal couple on their wedding night might have something to wear, if they were noble, because there was an audience to their bedding ceremonies. But even then, it was rare to use valuable resources on a garment one wore only to sleep in. There are accounts of even kings holding court in their beds, naked under their bedding but for a cap on their heads. This was also rare, but it happened.

Lissa: The #BootSoleFile is swelling a bit, eh? And they were doing so well with the portage and such! Alas!

Sandi: It is! But, I remind myself that this is historical fiction, after all.

Lissa: In any case, Rollo starts to get frisky, and Gisla rebuffs him. She’s pregnant, she reminds him. Yeah, he says, and he’s real happy about that. She tells him he cannot have carnal relations with her while she’s in this sacred state.

@LissaBryan It will NOT. “I’m holy. I’m sacred. Mew mew mew.” #VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 15, 2016

Lissa: I predicted this will not end well, and let me repeat that now: this will not end well. Rollo and Gisla had a good thing going here for a while, but it’s probably about to be seriously challenged because Rollo is not going to take to almost a year’s worth of abstinence well. How soon before his eye begins to roam? And how will Pepe le Princess take that? Considering her other views on marriage, I imagine she won’t accept it with a simple, “Well, that’s noblemen for you!“

Sandi: This will be interesting. Ah, the Royal Soap Opera! It was not uncommon, of course, for well-born men to take mistresses while their wives kept their sacred, baby-making selves away from them. Wives were often guided to look the other way when that happened, resting in the knowledge that they were providing an heir/ess and their position was secure even if their “husband had no self-control”. (Royal hmph! here.)

Lissa: At dawn, Simple Chuck rolls out of bed, dressed in his own nightgown, this one of a vibrant blue. 

Sandi: Another note on their clothing: Blue is a notoriously difficult color to make permanent in a fabric dye. It’s one reason why purple was considered a royal color. So using it for nightwear, again, is unreasonable. Sorry. I just had to get that out. 

Lissa: He strolls to the window, leaving a sleeping partner in the bed. It’s not until he glances back that we see who it is… Roland.

@DeeDonuts @sandyquill Oh, Simple Chuck scored, but not in the goal post we expected! #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 15, 2016

Sandi: That shocked me. A lot. I did a quick check and the Emperor Charles was not known to be a homosexual, even to history. However, he was noted to have a marked preference for a certain friend of his, giving him many favors and honors. So. That is a possibility as to where this came from, here in the show. I wonder if Roland considered this possibility when he told the emperor that he was ready to sacrifice all for him?

Lissa: At the Viking encampment, Torvi and Björn make love while Erlendur watches. When they’ve finished, Björn asks Torvi why she came with him when he asked. What does she want from this? Torvi says with a bit of amusement that it took him long enough to ask.

@LissaBryan I kept hearing Torvi say, “I want you to give me, right now, the head of John the Baptist…” #VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 15, 2016

Sandi: I don’t equate Torvi with Salome, understand, it was just something I heard in my head at that point in the story. 

Lissa: She sees Erlendur aiming a crossbow at Björn, so she climbs back atop him and slides to his side, blocking Erlendur’s shot.

Sandi: Nice move! She is all about protecting Björn at this point, which was reassuring. The buzz in the VIKINGS fandom has included thoughts on whether or not Torvi is a spy for Erlandur—albeit under duress. It seems here that she is not willing for harm to come to Björn, which is a relief. (I mean, if they killed off Queen Kwenthrith, is anyone safe?)

Lissa: In Kattegat, Sigurd is floating a little boat down the creek when he comes upon a body laying on the bank. It’s little Siggy, and she’s dead, drowned like the woman she’s named after. Sigurd goes into the house. Ivar is playing a game with his mother. She’s drinking heavily. She’s gone full Circe Lannister in this episode, I swear. She makes a bad move on the game board and Ivar announces it was stupid. He’s won now. Aslaug retorts that he shouldn’t call her stupid. After all, if it wasn’t for her, he wouldn’t even be alive.

Sandi: SIGLET!  I mourn for the poor little girl who had nobody to truly care about her. 

And let’s take a moment to check out Ivar, shall we? He is the same boy who screamed in fear when he killed the other child with an axe. Blood all over his face, the boy was a mess until his mama told him it wasn’t his fault. Everything was going to be fine. Have a biscuit. And now, he’s going full-on psychopath here in this scene.

Lissa: Sigurd comes forward and announces he found Siggy’s body. Aslaug first says “Who?” before it clicks into place. Aslaug isn’t the slightest bit troubled by this news. She asks if someone was taking care of the child, and Sigurd says apparently not.

@sandyquill @VerucaSaltNPpr @DeeDonuts And #ASLAUG “I thought… someone or other was taking care of her.” Indifferent as heck. #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 15, 2016

Sandi: Sigurd is the only one who seems to have known the little girl existed, at this point, and even he didn’t value her highly at all. One can only think that Harbard used this little girl as his sacrifice (of whatever nature) much in the way he took Siggy’s life before. I will miss Siglet.

Lissa: Ivar interjects. “Who cares?” Sigurd turns and stomps out as Aslaug gives a chilling smile. The happiest smile we’ve seen from her in a long while.

Here’s what throws me about this… Siggy was Ragnar’s granddaughter, daughter of his eldest son. Even if Aslaug was indifferent to her, you’d think the child would have some value in the community. Everyone knows how much Ragnar adores the children in his family. Ragmar is going to be very upset when he returns and finds out his first grandchild died of what is essentially neglect. Björn, too. The girl may not have “value” to Aslaug, but she will be a princess one day and her hand has value in marriage negotiations.

Sandi: These two have gone from sad figures to bad guys. They were to be pitied at one point, I feel. Aslaug as a neglected wife, for she did all that was asked of her and Ivar who was born with a deformity (in the show) and has to be tended as an invalid for a time. Now, she’s caught up in her Harbard-addiction and getting drunk in the presence of her children and he’s telling his mother she’s stupid and he doesn’t even care when a girl raised in his household is found abandoned and dead.

Lissa: The Vikings have reached the opposite side of the river. They all gather to cheer the sight of Paris in the distance.

@LissaBryan @DeeDonuts on a clear day u can see Paris 4eva and your enemies. #ShieldGeeks #Vikings pic.twitter.com/9MQPAmtpw1

— Whipclip (@whipclip) April 15, 2016

Sandi: You have to feel for them, here. Though they are a seafaring folk, this might have been the longest distance any of them have had to transport their ships. What if Ragnar didn’t have it right? What if they climbed that last rise and found…more land? This was a vindication of sorts for Ragnar, but he doesn’t seem remotely aware of it. He’s in a bad, bad way, thanks to Yidu’s “medicine”.

Lissa: In his tent, Erlendur is sacrificing a rabbit, gathering its blood in a cup. Torvi crouches down beside him. She asks if she returns to him as his wife, if he will abandon his plan to kill Björn. Erlendur says he never will. He is a Viking; they don’t give up on vengeance. Ragnar killed his father. He must have his revenge. Something in the sacrifice makes him say that the gods have determined it must be Torvi who slays Björn. She tries to protest, but Erlendur threatens her son again. He presses his crossbow into her hands and forces her to drink the blood from the cup.

Sandi: I don’t believe that the gods said anything of the sort. I am sure that Erlandur chose this method as a punishment for Torvi, who had protected Björn before. Making her drink the blood makes this a religious communion, of sorts, as when all shared the blood of the cow in ritual before. 

Lissa: Torvi strides outside and sees Björn standing in the center of the camp. She has a dribble of blood running down the corner of her mouth. She tells him that she has to kill him to avenge Erlendur’s father. Björn gives a small sigh and asks her what she’s waiting for. Torvi lifts the crossbow, spins, and puts a bolt through Erlendur’s chest. Way to go, Torvi! As she told Björn many episodes ago, she is a Viking, too. Björn goes over to Erlendur’s gasping body and drops Erlendur’s ring onto the shaft of the crossbow bolt.

Sandi: I thought it interesting, here, that after all of Björn’s brooding on the matter, he is not the agency by which the Erlandur matter is ended. Instead, it is Torvi who has the opportunity and strength of purpose to end it. Forever, one hopes. 

Lissa: Ragnar is very ill and hallucinating. He thinks he’s vomiting up spiders.

@LissaBryan @DeeDonuts LOL And a strange red oral buildup. Coughing. Spitting. Sweating. Insomnia. See your kvinn medisin…#VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 15, 2016

Sandi: This is a bad, bad thing. When a king is seeing things, how reliable can he be? No one knows exactly what he’s seeing, which is something, but it is worrisome.

Lissa: Björn goes into his father’s tent and finds him smashing imaginary spiders on its floor, pausing now and then to vomit helplessly. Ragnar looks awful. Ragnar finally tells Björn the trouble: Yidu gave him something she called medicine, but now without it, Ragnar feels poisoned. It should be noted here that this is the only mention of Yidu in the episode, and Björn doesn’t follow it up by asking whatever happened to that girl, anyway? Though Yidu was “just a slave,” it seems odd that Björn wouldn’t at least mention her absence. After all, Yidu speaks French, and could reveal their plans if she’d run off.

Sandi: For all that Björn is growing into himself and learning leadership skills, he is not entirely savvy yet. It did seem strange that Yidu’s absence from Ragnar’s side is not more widely noted. So many did not care for her that one would think there’d be some kind of response to her absence. If only smiles and crossed glances.

Lissa: Björn is focused instead on his father’s illness. He asks, rather naïvely, why Ragnar doesn’t just take more of the drug if being without it makes him so ill. Ragnar says he has to save the little that’s left for the fight with Rollo. Paris doesn’t matter, he tells Björn. Only his fight with Rollo.

@LissaBryan “I came for Rollo.” This is the focus of a desperate mind. If this is his last goal, it’s going to be very, very messy. #VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 15, 2016

Lissa: Ragnar stands and starts to tug on his leather armor, but you can see it’s exhausting him. With tender hands, Björn helps him dress.

Sandi: This was a great moment, though not surrounded in pomp and noise. One is reminded that parents care for children and then, one day, children care for their parents. It’s a bond. It’s good to see Björn acting thus, here. But still, his neglected daughter is dead far in the north and he doesn’t even know it. That’s painful. 

Lissa: We see the ships on the water in the last scene. They were transporting the battle platforms between the longships, something I’d never seen before, but it was ingenious. Floki’s work, no doubt!

Sandi: The man is a genius in such matters, for all that I’m not a fan of his character. Fully maneuverable floating platforms were used by other Vikings as well as other cultures to facilitate fighting on the water while using advantages available on land, such as room to maneuver. The battle platform was indeed ingenious. For the Vikings in particular, these platforms were of great use when fighting in fjørds and lakes and rivers.

Lissa: On the prow, Ragnar mutters about Rollo. “I must kill you. I have to kill you. I will kill you.”

Sandi: And next week, this confrontation might very well happen. 

So much to wait for next week! I hope you’ll join us @LissaBryan and @sandyquill on twitter!

If you’re looking for incisive comments, please check out ProjectFandom. @DeeDonuts on twitter is the chick in charge, there, and she always has sharp things to say!

Heill þú farir, heill þú aftr komir, heill þú á sinnum sér!
Hale go forth, hale return, hale on your ways!  – Vafþrúðnismál

“These chicks are machines!” – The No Ship Network

(check them out for their podcasted recaps and feedback ‘casts!)

This and all images from Vikings are the property of the History Channel. I use them only for illustrations regarding their show.

Heillir!

Lissa Bryan and I like to call ourselves the Shieldmaidens of History: Protecting the Innocent from Anachronisms. We’re excited to bring you our recap and discussion of each episode of History Channel’s series VIKINGS.

Lissa Bryan is an awesome historian as well as a writer of historical and End of the World as We Know It romantic fiction. Check out the review I wrote for her book, The End of All Things here.

Lissa: I hate to start this review off with a concluding statement, but I’ve got to get this off my chest: for me, this is the lowest-rated Vikings episode in … well… ever, I think. I was left deeply dissatisfied, confused, and irritated, not feelings I want to associate with a favorite show.

Sandi: Believe me when I say, “I hear you!” I think there will be considerable backlash from this episode. But. I am going to try to keep faith, grateful that the second half of the season will be happening in 2016, not 2017.

Lissa: The episode started right where we left off, with Floki’s ingenious floating platforms heading up river. Rollo, as we see, is on a ship of his own, floating down to meet his brother. Floki shouts to Rollo: “Rollo! Betrayer of the gods and of all the sacred things in Midgard! Come here you snake—come my way and let my axe slake its thirst on your blood. Come to Floki.”

The enemy is closing in. The #Vikings mid-season finale starts in 30 mins! pic.twitter.com/kk3FQ9SSMF

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) April 22, 2016

Sandi: It was one of those wonderful shots this show does so well. The wide expanse of the fleets with more personal views of individuals. Rollo invokes the name of God, here, and I was surprised by that. Though he had technically “converted” to Christianity, one doesn’t see him sounding like a Christian before this episode. He is paying lip-service, here, if nothing else. But that’s more than he’s done before, unbidden. This could be seen as an indirect response to Floki’s challenge, actually.

Lissa: In the streets of Paris, we see a priest walking through the crowds, giving them blessings and absolution before the battle. Gisla is in church, praying before a statue of the Virgin Mary, begging her to save her husband and the city. As she weeps, the statue of the Virgin appears to weep as well. Gisla later offers Rollo’s torc, placing it on the Virgin’s feet.

Sandi: This is a nice continuation from last episode, in which we discussed the exploitation of relics, real or invented, in this era. Did the statue of the Virgin Mary really cry? History shows that there are examples where statues were made to show tears to garner awe—and monetary gifts—from the faithful. I believe Gisla’s prayers to be sincere, here, as definite affection has developed between her and Rollo. It might be considered odd, though, that Gisla is making an offering that she herself might see as “pagan” in origin.

Lissa: Ragnar pops the last of his “Chinese medicine,” and drops Yidu’s empty pouch at his feet. Rollo gives his own men a stirring speech to inspire them to victory.

“All of my life. And all of your lives have come to this point. There is nowhere else to be but here. Nowhere else to live or die but here. To be here now is the only thing that matters. So gather yourselves, gather all of your strength, and all of your sweetness into an iron ball, for we will attack again and again until we reach and overcome their king or we die in the attempt.” 

Sandi: It’s a great speech. Very much along the lines of what Henry V said in the eponymous play. Interesting, though, that Ragnar’s use of the last of the Yidu-brand, there, was also considered inspiring. At least to his son Björn. And Lagertha was waiting to  hear if Ragnar thought the gods were with them. So, even speech-less, as it were, Ragnar was a source of inspiration to those who knew him best, even if not to Rollo’s wider audience.

Lissa: The ships collide in the water, and the battle ensues. It’s wonderfully shot, as most Vikings battle scenes are, but most of the action is confined to the main platform where Lagertha, Ragnar, and Floki are.

Sandi: This is calculated for effect, I’m sure. The focus gives a more obvious purpose as to the benefit of the battle platforms, as well as letting the viewers focus on those who have become most important to many of us. You can see, though, the clear advantages to having the stable platforms amidst a naval fleet. It’s not an aircraft carrier of modern times, but the room to launch arrows rather than airplanes is invaluable.

Lissa: In the midst of the carnage, we see Simple Chuck with Roland and Therese at the dining table. He says that even as they speak, Count Rollo is fighting to save Paris. Roland tells him that He’s made alternative plans for the defense of the city if Rollo happens to fail. Roland doesn’t think Chuck should put all of his faith into a pagan. Chuck says that Rollo has not only his faith but his heart. Therese gives a small laugh and tells him that’s stupid.

@VerucaSaltNPpr @sandyquill @DeeDonuts Therese, babe, you ain’t been his mistress long enough to tell him he’s stupid to his face. #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 22, 2016

Sandi: This was rather baffling. Clearly, the Bobbsy Twins have seriously underestimated their ruler or overestimated their importance to him. Or both.

Lissa: Chuck orders dessert, which turns out to be Roland and Therese being garroted by the guards. Chuck nibbles on a bit of chicken and smiles as he watches them die.

Sandi: Ew. But. What stands out to me is the new aspect to the Emperor Chuck’s demeanor seen in the last couple of episodes. He’s more defined, now. Stronger. Seeming more aware of power nuances than he had demonstrated before. Kudos to Lothaire Bluteau, who plays Charles in the show.

Okay, so he’s got some trust issues. #Vikings pic.twitter.com/gUXy1QUtcr

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) April 22, 2016

Lissa: We see Halfdan take an arrow, and Floki is stabbed in the side. as the Seer in Kattegat lets out a roar of agony. We see Lagertha battling, using her shield as a shieldmaiden would have, using it as an edged weapon and as a block. It was a delightful little historical touch in an episode that – frankly – didn’t have many.

@sandyquill Can you imagine the weight of swinging that thing? You’d have to have a fair amount of upper body strength. #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 22, 2016

Sandi: Those that enjoy battle scenes would have enjoyed this one. A lot of hand to hand. Plenty of arrows. There are men overboard, and no one is a clear victor as the donnybrook—or should we say mêlée—continues.

Lissa: Rollo and Ragnar finally meet in battle. Ragnar taunts him, telling Rollo that he looks like a bitch. Considering that many scholars think the English word “bitch” comes from the old Norse bikkjuna, meaning female dog, it might be a period-accurate insult.

Sandi: I think that’s a fair assessment. And many kudos to you, ma’am, for going all Norse!

Lissa: “One of us will die today,” Ragnar promises him. The two brothers fight, and it’s a harsh and brutal struggle that doesn’t have a clear winner. Lagertha sees Rollo pin Ragnar against the side of the ship and hammer his face with his bare fists. (Interesting that neither brother pulled a secondary weapon, isn’t it?) She fights her way toward them, but falls when she’s stabbed through the shoulder.

@sandyquill OH NO!!! #LAGERTHA goes down. That screaming you just heard was the collective #VIKINGS fandom.

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 22, 2016

Sandi: The fight between the brothers really did surprise me. As you said, no secondary weapons were used. But then, this was a personal struggle more than a martial one, in my estimation. Their whole lives, they’ve struggled with one another. Alongside or in opposition, Ragnar and Rollo have not had an easy time of it. That two mighty warriors,  both of whom are more than proficient with axe and sword, find it needful to slug it out in a brawl involving fists and elbows, is quite eloquent on its own. No flashy statements. It’s about proving themselves on a visceral level.

A brotherly brawl. #Vikings pic.twitter.com/bUzIRItqQC

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) April 22, 2016

Lissa: This [Lagertha’s involvement] breaks up the fight between Ragnar and Rollo. Ragnar orders his men to get her into the boat and shove off. He tries to charge Rollo again, but his men grab him and throw him into the ship with the wounded. They row away, the battle lost. Both men look horribly depressed in the aftermath.

@LissaBryan Is Rollo dejected due to Lagertha’s wounding or due to the unresolved fight with Ragnar? #Vikings

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 22, 2016

Sandi: So, no death for Rollo that day. No resolution to a long and troubled relationship. I have to believe, though, that neither of them truly desired death to come to their brother. A beating, yes. Humiliation? Certainly. But death? Not so much, or either of them could have made it happen.

Lissa: Rollo returns to Paris and he’s cheered as soon as he stumbles off of his horse to stagger down the street. The people clap and scream his name, and some rather insensitive types slap the injured man on the back.

@LissaBryan Applaud the beaten and battered Rollo … and slap him around in congratulations. #Vikings

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 22, 2016

Sandi: Yeah. Not quite a ticker tape parade, is it? But this is a culture of personal contact, whether that be meeting with a king, fighting face to face, or welcoming home a battle-chief.

Lissa: Gisla runs down to greet him, kissing his bloodied mouth passionately. Simple Chuck kisses him too, on both cheeks. Rollo calls out “God bless Paris!” Either his faith really has changed, or he’s being very clever in pretending it has to appease his new people. Chuck crowns him with a golden laurel and proclaims him Caesar.

@sandyquill Rollo: “Who is Ceasar, by the way?” #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 22, 2016

Sandi: I am thinking that, for the present, Rollo’s place in the Frankish pantheon is holding steady. No garroting wire in sight.

Lissa: I saw an interesting comment on Tumblr this morning… That it would have been interesting to have Gisla place the golden laurel on Rollo’s head, fulfilling the prophecy that a princess will crown the bear. Is the fact Hirst chose not to do it evidence that Rollo isn’t the “bear” that was prophesied to receive the crown?

We see one last scene of the battered and depressed Ragnar in the ship. His eyes are swollen shut.

@sandyquill @DeeDonuts @VerucaSaltNPpr #RAGNAR looks like he should be shouting for Adrian. #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) April 22, 2016

Sandi: It’s a sad scene, really. I wonder what’s going through Ragnar’s head, here? He only stopped his fight with Rollo, it seemed, because Lagertha was grievously wounded. “Get her on the boat!” he shouted. And then, he directs them to get the boat she’s on away. “Get her out of here” before turning—with a weapon—to confront Rollo once again. And his men pushed him into one as well, as he needed the respite from his slugfest with Rollo. I do believe this happens against his express wishes.

Lissa: … And then…

Sandi: . . . Yeah . . .

Lissa: Björn is standing in the water in Kattegat, fishing. Everyone immediately started Tweeting, saying, “What? Huh? What did I miss?” It was a moment of collective bewilderment.

Sandi: It was weird. And not in the Norse “wyrd” sense. We were all displaced. Seeing Björn in Kattegat was one thing. I had hoped to get resolution about his daughter (Siglet!) and so on, but times had clearly changed. The village is clearly more populous than it was last time we saw it. Prosperity is sure, based upon the clothing we can see and the barrels on the dock.

Lissa: Aslaug comes out of the hall and calls to him to say he needs to see something.

Sandi:  And this is where this viewer, anyway, was studying her and then studying the environment, to see the changes that would give us clues as to how long a gap we’ve had since we saw battle-sore Ragnar. And boy, were we surprised!

Lissa: A messenger is standing in the hall. He tells Björn that he’s come to see Ragnar. Aslaug says that no one has seen Ragnar for years, not since his defeat in Paris. “How could such a man disappear?” the messenger asks. The messenger says he has word that Ragnar has a son by Queen Kwenthrith in Wessex, and the boy is about twelve now. (Which means we’ve skipped ahead in time about five or six years by my reckoning.) Aslaug gulps wine throughout the chat. Moreover, the messenger has found out that the settlement in Wessex has been destroyed, and that Ragnar knew about it soon after it happened. Aslaug smirks as she tells the messenger she’s glad he came.

Sandi: Story-wise, this gives all of us who are puzzled by the circumstances a solid reason as to why so much seems to be missing from this section of the story. Much of what we expected to see has already (hopefully) happened, years past. Did Hirst do this to get us to the next level in this story or because he felt there were too many threads to tie off to fit into that final twenty minutes (for American audiences)? On the positive side, the way that facial expressions communicated Björn’s dominance in the scene between himself and messenger was very well done. The messenger thinks to make a joke about something Björn takes quite seriously, and in next to no time, Björn’s demeanor has the messenger nonverbally backing down.

Lissa: Björn says he needs to tell his brothers about this. Aslaug tells him they’re at a hunting cabin. It’s not the “cabin in the Smoky Mountains” that Björn used. This is a more traditional sod-house with a slanted roof. Ragnar’s grown sons are lounging around outside. Ivar has some very strange eyes. The whites are blue-toned.

Sandi: His eyes reminded me a bit of the novel Dune by Frank Herbert. Was Ivar eating some spice? No, I’m fairly certain this is meant to remind us he’s been touched by Harbard, whom some might say is an incarnation of Odin himself. That was a bit weird in a scene that was otherwise well structured in terms of historical niceties.

Lissa: The boys are furious when Björn tells them that Ragnar lied to the people of Kattegat. All of the boys feel abandoned by him, except for Ivar.  Ivar scoffs and says it would have been a waste of time to tell the people of Kattegat, who would get all fired up and want revenge. That,” says Ivar, “is why he didn’t tell them. They were dead. Ragnar wanted to sail to Paris. He wanted to be famous. Isn’t that more important?” Ivar says he feels Ragnar did nothing wrong. He spits out scornfully that Hvitserk, Ubbe and Sigurd sound like a bunch of Christians.

Sandi: Sigurd, sorry, reminded me of Erlandur. Now, I’m prepared to like Sigurd, but the physical resemblance was a bit unnerving. Ivar’s position is clear, here. He’s very Old School. Having been—one presumes—continually tutored by Floki during his younger years, this is not surprising.

Lissa: Björn says he doesn’t think Ragnar is coming back. He thinks the loss in Paris finally broke him. He is just a man, after all, not a god. A deeply flawed man. But despite everything, Ragnar is still his father, and he loves him.

“Despite all his failings, he’s still the greatest man in the world to me.” – Björn about Ragnar. #VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 22, 2016

Lissa: But the boys’ conversation is enlightening in one respect.

@LissaBryan This is good to have the sons discussing this amongst themselves. One way to learn who they are now. #Vikings

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 22, 2016

Lissa: We find that Ubbe is the more thoughtful one among them. He says Ragnar’s power isn’t what interests him, it’s what he does with that power. Ivar has the blunt, pragmatic (and somewhat sociopathic) train of thought that Ragnar acted as a true Viking in what he did. Hvitserk and Sigurd say they’ll kill him themselves when they see him. Ubbe speaks of fatherly love.

Sandi: It’s interesting. The younger men haven’t had the time with Ragnar that their eldest brother has, so their impressions of Ragnar are largely academic, I think. They discuss Ragnar as if he’s more of an idea than a person. A point to be pondered rather than their father.

Lissa: Björn goes to talk to Floki. He and Helga are at the water’s edge, sailing model ships. Helga tells Björn that his ships are almost ready and soon he’ll be able to sail to the Mediterranean. Floki is still skeptical that it actually exists. He says the map could be fictional, drawn by a child, for all Björn knows. Björn asks Floki if he’ll go, and Floki chuckles. A journey to a mythical land that may not exist? Sure, Floki is down for that.

“The only way we can tell if something is real is to sail there.” I love it. #Vikings

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 22, 2016

Sandi: Björn’s actions in this segment strike me as much more regal than otherwise. He’s keeping tabs on his fellow “princes”—such as they might be—as well as with Floki, to see how future naval preparations are going. But we don’t sense a wartime effort, here. Kattegat is a peaceful and prosperous place, and what Björn wants to do is explore. Björn isn’t king, per se, but he is likely considered the highest ranking man in the kingdom.

Lissa: Helga smiles and says that if Floki is made enough to go, she will as well. Their skepticism that the Mediterranean Sea is really there strikes me as odd, especially in light of the next scene which shows people from many far-off lands have joined Kattegat, including what appear to be Arab traders that presumably sailed it personally in their voyage to the land of the Norse.

Sandi: Maybe the term “Mediterranean Sea” is a nebulous term, here. A far off place that holds dreams and ideals, but without any real idea as to what it is. I enjoyed the body language between Floki and Björn. An initial hesitation, as if they are deciding how to approach a topic one knows, one suspects, might be hard. But then, they are in accord and it’s arms about shoulders and we’ve-been-friends-forever. With Floki as the older man, now, rather than the young genius.

Lissa: We next see Ragnar sitting at the edge of a large and prosperous village. He rises and walks down the street, people stop to turn and stare at him. Some follow him as he walks. We also see people from many different nationalities trading in the market. When he reaches the center of town, we see that it’s Kattegat. Ragnar’s sons come out to the edge of the group surrounding him. Oddly, Ivar crawls on the ground on his stomach, pulling himself by his elbows.  Did he outgrow the cart and they simply never made him another?

@LissaBryan @BevanWendy Wagons are for YOUNG psychopaths. Older psychopaths get about on their own. #Vikings

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) April 22, 2016

Sandi: The size of the place shocked me, once I understood where we were. Gone is the simple fishing and farming village from Season One. This is a major trading center, as much of a city as one might expect to find in this time and place. Not everyone who followed Ragnar to the center of town would have known him by sight; so many would be following only due to the whispers that were passed along as he made his way to his sons.

Home sweet home. #Vikings pic.twitter.com/OgqQmn1lWZ

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) April 22, 2016

Lissa: They’re glaring at Ragnar. Ragnar says he understands their anger. What kind of a king abandons his people? What kind of father abandons his sons? He shouts at the boys to kill him. The only way for someone else to become king is to kill him. He offers his sword to all of the people standing around the edge of the circle. No one will take it. Ragnar drives his sword into the earth and shouts at them all, demanding to know who would be king.

Sandi: Ivar, from his position low to the ground, lifts his chin as if in answer, but then he has to duck his head a bit; he knows he couldn’t challenge Ragnar on his own. And really, would he want to?  Hvitserk, when confronted face to face, refuses to kill Ragnar, though he had said he would, were his father to return. Ubbe is watching, studying, but not preparing a response. I think that Sigurd looks most betrayed. Like, “I waited for you. I watched for you. And you never came to hear what I had to tell you.” But no matter what their facial expressions communicate, their lack of acceptance of Ragnar’s challenge appears unified. No one. No one wants to try to claim the kingship. Not one of them.

Lissa: And that’s where it ends.

Sandi: It was something I would expect to see in a young adult trilogy, perhaps. The end of book two before book three. Unsatisfying. Unresolved.

Lissa: I was flummoxed. I was irritated. I was disappointed. I felt like I was expecting to see the Battle of Waterloo, and instead ended up watching a short man beat a mall security guard with a Nerf bat.

Sandi: The transition was, in my view, too abrupt. I felt that the ending was supposed to provide suspense and excitement, but instead, it left so many unanswered issues as to be disappointing.

Lissa: There were some glaring questions left unanswered. Who, in Ragnar’s absence, ruled Kattegat? It seems to be Aslaug, because she takes a seat on the chair in the king’s hall. Presumably, she’s been kept as regent by the claim of Björn or that of her own sons. But that makes little sense, given how Harald Finehair was angling for the throne – it was the only reason he went on the Paris raid, after all. Did he just say, “My brother has been killed. I think I’ll give up on this monarchy bid.”

Sandi: On twitter, @US_TV_Addict suggested that perhaps flashbacks might be utilized when the season recommences. This would be undeniably helpful in determining how things got to where they are, but will they resolve our abandonment issues? Maybe? Aslaug was ruling in Kattegat, as perhaps per the Seer’s words some time before. I sense that Björn hasn’t supplanted her because he wants to keep an eye on her. He is the one whom many likely look to. Notice that he was not grouped with the other sons to meet Ragnar. Björn has his own place and no one challenges it. Not even Aslaug.

But the reason for abandoning Paris escapes me. Historically, Björn is made famous for his trip to the Mediterranean, so it is possible that Paris will be sidelined in the future. But what of Rollo and his transition to being the Duke of Normandy (Northman’s Land)? Will we see this?

Lissa: Why didn’t Ragnar regroup for another attack? It seemed, from what I saw, that while the initial losses were heavy, there were still some ships that hadn’t even engaged yet when Ragnar rowed away. He said his whole purpose in going back to Paris was to kill Rollo. Mission most assuredly not accomplished.

Sandi: Most assuredly. I maintain that the reason for Ragnar’s abandonment of the Paris operation is due to his relationship with Rollo. Yes, he came to kill him, but he couldn’t do it. This had to strike at his heart, there at the end. Also, he changed his course of action when Lagertha was wounded. This was significant for him as well, even if we don’t see her there at the end with the boys.

Lissa: Lagertha’s fate isn’t addressed, though she was shown for a moment in the teaser for the “sneak peek” of next season. I think it’s safe to assume she’s still with us, and that she’s gone home to rule Hedeby.

Sandi: But without that peek, her fate would be unknown. Another major character left in limbo. Most disquieting.

Lissa: I feel like this episode suffered badly in the editing room. Moreover, it probably would have been better if they’d just ended the season with the last one, which would have provided a better “cliffhanger” than this confusing jumble. Perhaps, if it hadn’t been crammed into a season ending, the time jump could have been handled better.

Sandi: I’m just not sure if they understood the big, gaping confusion we would feel, being transported from post-boxing-scene, battle-weary Ragnar to peacefully fishing Björn. If the episode had ended with the weary Ragnar, we would have felt irked, perhaps, because no one’s “fate was sealed” as was mentioned in the blurb under the episode on the show’s website. But it would have settled in more easily than the abrupt time jump. Perhaps, as I let this sink in, I’ll feel more comfortable with the uncertainty, and less irked at the questions I felt should have been answered.

Whether I do or not, though, I will certainly be waiting for the second part of this season, later this year. I might even have my next Viking book ready by then.

Heill þú farir, heill þú aftr komir, heill þú á sinnum sér!
Hale go forth, hale return, hale on your ways!  – Vafþrúðnismál

Sorry for not being here yesterday. It was a day in which I typed nothing. All better now, though.

All images from VIKINGS are the property of History Channel and are used solely for illustrative purposes.

I am continuing my Favorite Episodes of History Channel’s VIKINGS show leading up to the continuation of  Season Four, which begins next week! Lissa Bryan and I will be back on Twitter with our running commentary and I look forward to having many of YOU join us if you can!

Today is Thanksgiving here in the States, and we give thanks for many things. One thing I give thanks for, sincerely, is this show. Not only has it been an amazing adventure so far, but I have met people I wouldn’t have otherwise, and had the opportunity to learn many new things.

So today, if you’re in a thankful mood as well, check out Season Two’s Finale: The Lord’s Prayer. And if you’ve got the series on DVD, watch it again.

And if you’re looking for more Vikings, check out my Éire’s Viking Trilogy. Taking place in the 9th Century, this story tells of Norse raiders who raided—and then settled in—Éire.

This and all images from Vikings are the property of the History Channel. I use them only for illustrations regarding their show.

“These chicks are machines!” 

(CHECK THEM OUT FOR THEIR PODCASTED RECAPS AND FEEDBACK ‘CASTS! And Yes, we did one, too!)

Heillir! The Shieldmaidens of History (Protecting the Innocent from Anachronisms) welcome you back to our series on the History Channel show Vikings. 

We—Lissa Bryan and Sandi Layne—are two historical fiction authors with a serious thing for Vikings. And for VIKINGS, the amazing series that is going to begin its fourth (point five) season on HISTORY CHANNEL.

Follow us on twitter with the hashtag #ShieldGeeks where and Lissa and I will be live-tweeting during each episode, as has been our custom since Season One. We’ll follow up with a more detailed discussion on our websites the following day.

We are SO excited! So, Warriors and Shieldmaidens all, get your weapons and armor ready, because it’s going to be an amazing season!

(¯`•ღ•´¯)

Lissa Bryan is a delightful historian as well as being a wonderful writer. Her latest book, Dominion, is a dystopian romance taking place at a time in the not-too-far-distant future. 

Lissa: It seems like we’ve had such a long wait, but the show made it up to us with an episode that delivered a lot of emotion and promise for an exciting season.

Sandi: I really appreciated that this episode focused on the Kattegat Kontingent (Yes, I know I spelled that with a K. Alliteration, anyone?) As an audience, we need to get to know Vikings: The Next Generation and we got a good start on that. A solid beginning for what is to come!

Lissa: We began right where we left off with Ragnar thrusting his sword into the earth and shouting to his sons, “Who wants to be king?” He throws his arms wide, baring his chest for a blade, daring them to kill him and take the throne. After a long, tense moment, Ubbe strides forward, sword in hand, his head lowered… Ragnar challenge him, even strkes him, trying to goad him into attacking.

Sandi: Well, just before that part, you see this really quiet scene. Ragnar, alone, on the edge of the water. It’s obvious it’s out of sequence from the last scene of the prior episode and before the continuation of that scene that you just mentioned. Highly effective, a bit disconcerting, and a good place to take a breath before we were tossed in.

Lissa: We next see Ragnar standing alone at the edge of the bay, looking out over the water. Was it the same place he made his tender goodbyes to his daughter, Gyda? He stands there, silent, for a long moment.

Sandi: Ah, I hadn’t even thought of it as a Gyda-moment. Shame on me, as she’s a favorite of mine. But yeah, I can see that. Ragnar was a fond father, especially in his younger years. It isn’t as obvious when we return to the confrontation with his son’s in Kattegat’s market square.

Lissa: And then… They embrace. Björn asks his father, “Why have you returned?”

Sandi: I thought it was a great question. Regardless of the fact that the young men were just discussing it, it bears confrontation, here. Björn is getting his future in order, as we knew from the prior episode as well as his plans as they unfold in this one. The other lads are all sons of Aslaug and have their own dynamic. Why would their father return when he’d been (apparently) content to be gone so long?

Lissa: We see him with the quartet next, and he tells his sons the reason he’s returned is to see what has become of them. He wants to go back to England, but Björn tells him that he intends to explore the Mediterranean. Hvitserk is going with Björn. Sigurd and Ubbe say they will not leave their mother because their kingdom in Kattegat needs to be protected. Ragnar tells them they’re right to think of family. They walk away from their father, leaving him alone beneath a tree.

Sandi: This is their stance at the beginning of the episode. I have to wonder, as we see the tale spin out, how much of these answers were made strictly in a contrary reaction to their father’s reappearance?

Lissa: The boys discuss this over dinner as Aslaug watches. As they debate whether to join Björn’s or Ragnar’s voyage, Ivar sneers at Sigurd’s decision to stay in Kattegat and asks him if he’s worried about getting seasick. Sigurd retorts he’s afraid of nothing.

Sandi: The episode is called The Outsider and it seems that the reference is to Ivar, here. His inclusion into various aspects of his brothers’ lives is . . . unwontedly later than it might be. Additionally, Aslaug has always rather favored him, so this would contribute as much as his physical disability, I would think. That Ivar makes his presence felt by taunts and the force of his personality is not to be wondered at. What did we call him? A sociopath? A charming one?

Lissa: Ivar next creeps on the slave girl who fills their goblets, running his hand down over her hip. When Ubbe chides him that it’s wrong to treat her that way, Ivar shrugs and says she’s just a slave. Aslaug asks him to stop.

Sandi: Aslaug. I am not entirely sure what to make of her at this juncture, to be honest. But Ragnar’s first wife is easier for me to read.

Lissa: Lagertha doesn’t seem to have aged a day.

Sandi: No. Kidding. Especially compared to Ragnar. Thanks to genetics (and the wonderful people of the VIKINGS makeup teams, I’m certain!) Lagertha now appears almost in a different generation than the husband of her youth.

Lissa: She is sparring with a dark-haired girl with an elaborate neck tattoo, whose name is Astrid, but I have officially dubbed Joan Jett. I won’t be budged on this nickname. Enshrined, it is, in our conversations, thus and forevermore. Joan Jett is holding her own as they tussle, Lagertha initially getting the upper hand, then being toppled by the other woman. When they fall back to the grass beside one another Joan asks her whether Lagertha will tell her what they’re training for, but Lagertha says she’s not yet ready to say it.

Sandi: Which of course allows us to speculate. Lagertha is still, one presumes, the Earl Ingstad. Is she preparing for a conflict that will involve her demesne? I am inclined to think not, for if that were the case, she’d have warriors at her back. This is a one-on-one sparring session, so she is preparing for a one-on-one bout of hand-to-hand combat. Gee, I wonder whom she is planning on fighting?

Lissa: Björn visits the Seer, who tells him that his father’s return bodes despair and bloodshed.

@DeeDonuts @sandyquill “Your father brings chaos and death.”
“Yeah, he’s a viking.” #ShieldGeeks #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) December 1, 2016

Sandi: This is classified in the “Captain Obvious” file. Which is sad, really, when one reflects on where Ragnar started in the first season. He wanted adventure and renown. But these can indeed breed chaos and death, given the opportunity.

Lissa: Björn asks him if this means he will die, and the Seer won’t answer that. All he will do is make vague predictions of doom. For all their glories, the gods will be filled with despair, the Seer says mournfully. He says Björn will curse the day Ragnar returned.

Sandi: Evil writers! The Seer is a great fellow for feeding lines, isn’t he? The “curse the day” statement is dramatic but a bit more specific than the “despairing gods” prediction. We are left to wonder why Björn would curse that day? He’s irritated, perhaps, but Björn has plans already in motion that, frankly, had nothing to do with Ragnar and everything to do with Floki and that map Björn’s had for so long. How will Ragnar’s presence affect that? Well, perhaps this is one of the reasons we have the dynamic of the brothers being presented . . .

Lissa: Björn goes into his bedroom and we see Torvi there, nursing a bitty BjörnBaby. She asks him why he’s not going to England to avenge the colony, and Björn tells her that the days of Ragnar’s missions being their priority are over.

Sandi: It was good to see Torvi, even if for just a moment, as we had no sense of where she was when we left Kattegat at the end of the prior episode. That he is claiming his own adventures as priority speaks of Björn’s disillusionment as well as his independence. I think, not too long ago, he was much more supportive of his father. But his reappearance and apparent utter lack of concern/regret about having been gone so long without word, has squashed much of the former good opinion Björn may have held.

Lissa: Instead of visiting his [former] wife, Ragnar goes to see Floki. He sneaks up on Helga and when she startles he teases her that she looks like she’s seen a ghost.

#Vikings pic.twitter.com/5kMG1nKzWy

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) December 1, 2016

Sandi: This is a sweet scene. There has always been an interesting dynamic between Ragnar, Floki, and Helga throughout the series. Here, as they’re all older and (hopefully) wiser, we get to see the maturity of years and the comfort of long acquaintance. Humor, pathos, familiarity.

Lissa: He checks out the beautiful new ship Floki has built, but it’s not for him, it’s for Björn. Floki says he’s refined the design, learning from past mistakes, and now he’s designed a ship that can take them to the Mediterranean. Ragnar is a little wistful as he says it’s fitting – albeit annoying – that Floki’s skills have now passed to Björn’s command. Ragnar says he has a feeling if Floki doesn’t come with him, it’s the last he’ll ever see of him. Floki tells him that no matter what happens, they’ll meet again in Valhalla, where they will drink, and fight, and revel in the presence of the friends they’ve lost. Ragnar tells him he’s lost his faith in that. When he leaves, he turns and tells Floki that he loves him. The expression in Floki’s eyes at that moment made tears well up in my own.

Sandi: That really was gorgeously done. We speculated on twitter that the Ragnar-Floki relationship is one of the enduring ones that VIKINGS has shown us. From their wild and crazy youth, through trials and outright opposition, to this quieter time in their later years, we’ve seen a wide spectrum of a Viking Bromance.

Lissa: They were the words he always wanted to hear.  A tiny bit of a giggle bursts from him, a flash of the old “tetched” Floki that so enthralled me from the first season. He shouts joyfully at Ragnar’s retreating back that he loves him too. He always has.

Sandi: But even as Ragnar walked on his solitary way, I was feeling a foreboding. Ragnar was saying farewell. Which is a heavy thing.

Lissa: The slave girl who was groped by Ivar is Margrethe, but she looks just like Danaerys, Mother of Dragons.

She strolls into the arms of each of Ragnar’s sons while Ivar watches, creeping from spot to spot to peer through boards and bushes voyeur-ing as she lies with each of them. I speculated initially that Ivar was resentful that she was freely giving his brothers what he had to compel.

Sandi: This really was creepy. I am thinking all the brothers had to know she was not “exclusive” to any of them, but I wonder if they knew Ivar was watching? Don’t you get a sense of your siblings after a life spent in close association? And if so, why did they do it? Back to The Outsider theme again. An interesting portrayal.

Lissa: We next see the brothers sparring in the woods, practicing swordplay and shooting their bows.

There was a delightful nod to the Sagas when Ivar skillfully put two arrows right through the eyes of a deer carcass they’re using as a target.

He also shoots an arrow between his brothers and drives it deep into a log behind them. We also see him throw an ax with incredible strength when Ubbe playfully knocks his mug of mead from his hand with his blade.

Sandi: This is more of the Brother Bonding thing amongst Aslaug’s sons that I really enjoyed in this episode. Ivar may be an outsider, but his brothers have sought to see to his complete training in combat or at least self-defense. I wouldn’t want to take Ivar on, to be sure. And, of course, being good brothers, Ubbe, Hvitserk, and Sigurd all seek to make sure their brother achieves all milestones of manhood.

Lissa: But the issue with Margrethe, as it turns out from a conversation he has with his brothers after they’re worn out and laying in a semi-circle on the earth, is more than simple jealousy that she freely chooses to be with them. Ivar has never lain with a woman. His brothers gamely offer to ask her if she’d mind giving him a tumble. They remind him that Margrethe is more than “just a slave.” She’s a person. Ivar is torn between resentment that they have to ask her to sleep with a “cripple” and longing for the experience.

Sandi: They’re doing their best, to be sure! But they can’t control everything, can they?

Lissa: A tumble is duly arranged and there’s some real awkwardness in the initial stages. Things seem to be going well when suddenly Ivar freezes and falls to the bedding in shame.

Sandi: And, yeah. One of the historical suppositions regarding Ivar is that his nickname of “Boneless” has to do with his being impotent. There are no descendants of his body on record (and he has quite a reputation, so sons and/or daughters would have been noted) and no record of his having married. When his bones were recovered, a boar’s tusk was found in his pelvis, as if his men—who were devoted to him as a leader, for Ivar was apparently quite charismatic—wanted to make sure that there was no doubt whatsoever that Ivar was a Man Among Men.

Lissa: He flips Margrethe onto her belly and pulls her necklace tight around her throat. He says he has to kill her now to keep the secret that he’s impotent. (Jeeze, it’s the first time, Ivar. Give it another go before you declare it impossible! A little patience and gentleness, and perhaps a little blue pill…) He hisses that he likes killing as Margrethe pleads for her life. Margrethe is a quick-thinking girl. She tells him that she’ll keep his secret. Just because he can’t do this one thing doesn’t mean he’s not a man. Lots of men can have sex. Lots men can have children. Those things are easy. To be a son of Ragnar Lothbrok and to find greatness that is hard. I truly believe that.

Sandi: I was quite worried for Margarethe there, for a bit. Ivar does not, historically, have the most merciful reputation and he is likely carrying about a huge chip on his shoulder. She did incredibly well under pressure and I hope that her quick thinking continues to pay off. And I hope she keeps her mouth shut, too!

Lissa: Alex Høgh Andersen’s acting in this scene was absolutely superb. Ivar’s rage melts into doubt, grief, and shame. He begins to sob, and she lies down beside him quietly.

Sandi: The casting for this show is pretty much perfection. Alex has a hard role, but he’s making it work, compelling even the unsympathetic—namely me—to hop in his wagon. I couldn’t stand Ivar the Child, and I might not LIKE him as an adult, but I can’t fail to be impressed by him.

Lissa: Ragnar heads next to visit Lagertha. He meets with Joan Jett first who tells him that the woman who was her wet nurse told her tales of Ragnar Lothbrook, and she believes the woman was a bit in love with him. Ragnar teasingly asks how he can meet this woman.  He tells Joan he’s old enough to be her father, and he doesn’t remember her. Joan scoffs and Lagertha enters. Dressed in green, she has a tawny owl as a pet now.

Sandi: And here we see the huge differences that life has brought to my VIKINGS OTP. Ragnar looks ancient, in this scene. His eyes still twinkle, but dimly. His attire lacks . . . everything. He appears to be on a medieval mortification pilgrimage. And Lagertha looks like a manifestation of a classic goddess.

@sandyquill @LissaBryan Looking like Athena herself, all in green with that owl on her arm. Not even being subtle #ShieldGeeks #VIKINGS

— D Donuts (@DeeDonuts) December 1, 2016

Lissa: She asks Ragnar why he’s come, why he left. Ragnar says he was simply uninterested in ruling any longer. Lagertha chides him that he had responsibilities. She asks why he never told her that the Wessex colony had been wiped out. Ragnar apologizes, quite humbly, I might add. He asks her about Joan Jett and what kind of relationship Lagertha has with her. Lagertha deflects that, and she also rejects his invitation to return to England on a new raid. Ragnar sighs as he sits back in his chair and tells her he made many mistakes, and has many regrets. One of his regrets is what happened between them.

@sandyquill “I wish I’d never left our farm. Forgive me for all of my faults, all of my failings.” #ShieldGeeks #VIKINGS

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) December 1, 2016

Sandi: It was apology that was frightfully long in coming. With age comes wisdom but it can come too late for some of us. What if Ragnar had remained content as a farmer? What if he and Lagertha had been able to eventually have more children, quietly prosperous on their farm and with their fishing weirs? It is of course too late for speculation for Ragnar, but he can see that with great ambition comes great trouble and he’s been fully immersed in both.

Lissa: “No regrets… and every regret,” Lagertha says to him. They kiss… sweetly and tenderly. He walks away from her, and Lagertha’s face is filled with sorrow. We later see Lagertha and Joan in bed together. Joan says that Lagertha still loves Ragnar. Does she love Ragnar more than she loves Joan?

Sandi: Do we even have to ask? Ragnar is the love of Lagertha’s life, I think. Their relationship—another long one that VIKINGS has featured throughout—is a cornerstone for both of them.

Lissa: Lagertha says of course not, and they kiss.

Sandi: I have to wonder what larger purpose there is for Joan Jett, here. Will she have a plot-significant role or is she there to broaden Lagertha’s character?

Lissa: The sons meet one more time, and Ubbe, Hitsverk, and Sigurd all say they’re unwilling to go with Ragnar. Ivar spits that they are bastards, unworthy to be Ragnar’s sons.

Sandi: I am inclined to think that Ivar the Dramatic is overstating the case a bit. I think the other sons are merely abiding on principle: Dad Abandoned Us. We’re Not Supporting Dad.

Lissa: Lagertha watches as Ragnar rides off into the distance the following morning. Joan Jett asks her if she regrets she didn’t go with him. Lagertha says she was never really sure how she should feel about him, but then again, she wasn’t the only woman who felt that way. It’s a very poignant scene, and it made one of those watching with us wonder if it had a special significance.

Sandi: Will this be the last time she sees him? It is evident that Ragnar is, once again, saying farewell. His response to Lagertha’s kiss was probably far less that Lagertha herself was expecting; after all, she sent Joan Jett away. He is distancing himself from her. From everyone. Lagertha is not unaware of that.

Lissa: Ragnar rides off, alone. No one has agreed to come with him. He has no allies, no friends, no one to raid with him and avenge the settlement lost in Wessex.

He spots a tree, and eyes one of its limbs. He rides up below it and tosses a rope over the limb…

Sandi: It is at this point that I am reminded of Odin’s stint at the Hanged Man. Odin the All-Father, according to the tales, attained wisdom by hanging from Yggdrasil. It was a great sacrifice that he made and it is reflected in the standard Tarot card designs. I honestly saw Ragnar seeking to do likewise, here. At least at first. Until I saw how he did this.

Lissa: Then climbs his horse and digs his heels into its sides…

But as he hangs himself from the rope, a flock of ravens lights on the branch. One even perches on Ragnar’s shoulder and gives a peck at the knot slowly strangling him. They all take flight when the rope snaps and he falls to the earth. For a moment, he just sits there, coughing, and then he flops back, defeated, and the expression on his face is a little wry. The gods will not let him die. Not yet.

@LissaBryan @DeeDonuts Ah, okay. But I’m okay if the Raven did it.

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) December 1, 2016

Sandi: Because I was. I was thinking that perhaps Odin’s presence—the Raven being a part of Ragnar’s spiritual life in Season One, to be sure—had intervened in this, his attempted suicide.

Lissa: Ragnar makes his way back to the great hall and sits down in his throne with a sigh. Ivar crawls along the floor and pulls himself up into the queen’s chair. He tells Ragnar that Aslaug would never let anyone sit in Ragnar’s throne, but at night, Ivar would creep to it and sit in it, brooding on how his father had abandoned him. Ivar asks why he hasn’t spoken to Aslaug, and why he abandoned them. Ragnar doesn’t look at him as he says that perhaps he’ll explain himself when they get to England. Ivar stares at him. England? Is Ragnar asking him to go? Just assuming he’ll come along? Fine, don’t come, Ragnar says. Ivar retorts that now he doesn’t want him to come? Fine, come, Ragnar says. Only if Ragnar asks him properly, like he asked his brothers, Ivar says.

Ragnar turns and begins to ask nicely, and Ivar interrupts him to say he’ll come. It’s a very cute scene, and it it seems like Ivar is going to grow on us, despite – or perhaps because of – his sociopath’s charm.

Sandi: And here, at the end of the episode, we can see that The Outsider might not refer solely to Ivar. It likely refers to Ragnar as well. Neither of them fit in with their people, precisely. Both of them want to be elsewhere.

Thanks for joining us! Tune in next ODINSday for another episode!

This and all images from Vikings are the property of the History Channel. I use them only for illustrations regarding their show.

“These chicks are machines!” 

(CHECK THEM OUT FOR THEIR PODCASTED RECAPS AND FEEDBACK ‘CASTS! And Yes, we did one, too!)

Lissa: This episode wasn’t quite as strong as the one before it. It was sort of a “getting ready” episode, like packing for a vacation, turning off all the lights, getting the pets to the kennel… that sort of thing.

We begin with Ragnar in Kattegat, walking through the marketplace. The hustle and bustle reminds us what a busy place it is. One of the traders drives a cart through the streets. Its cargo is a live emu.

@sandyquill @DeeDonuts Who buys an emu? Honestly? #VIKINGS #ShieldGeeks

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) December 8, 2016

Sandi: Yes, you rather liked the emu! Really, it spoke well to the internationality of Kattegat, but then we’d also seen that before, with a host of culturally diverse people selling their wares in the market square.

Lissa: Ragnar stops to speak to a man he knows. He tells him he’s getting a crew together to go back to raid in England. The man draws back with a smile and says he’s a farmer. Just like his brother was, and his brother went to England to live in one of Ragnar’s settlements. He found out that his brother had been slaughtered years after it happened, but Ragnar had known all along, hadn’t he? He leans forward and spits in Ragnar’s face.

Ragnar stands there for a moment, and a small smile ghosts across his lips. He thanks the man for his time and walks away. At his back, the man shouts that no one loves Ragnar any longer, not even the gods.

Sandi: That was expected. We needed to see this kind of response. The interesting thing, to me, is that there weren’t more Kattegatians (I can’t call them villagers anymore, can I?) who were up in Ragnar’s face about the Wessex slaughter/failure/tragedy. But still, note that Ragnar can walk about in Kattegat without being on the defensive. He isn’t otherwise assaulted, and people make way for him. He is still Ragnar, and that name means something. Even his sons, who might not all appreciate him entirely, nor agree with him, bank on that name.

Lissa: Ragnar speaks with Björn about his plans. It’s a sad exchange, in a way, because Ragnar can see how the Seer’s prophecy is coming true before his eyes… Björn has a great destiny before him, and seems destined to go on to greater things than Ragnar ever achieved. Ragnar tells him he needs ships. Björn agrees to give him some of the fleet he’s assembled to go to the Mediterranean. It had to be very galling for Ragnar to have to go to his son – hat in hand, so to speak – and ask for ships that were built by the man who used to craft ships for Ragnar.

Björn mentions having to pass by Rollo’s lands, and says he intends to see how much of a Viking his uncle still is.

Sandi: Galling, yes, but I think too that Ragnar is proud. I mean, he raised Björn until Björn was granted his armband. He and Lagertha created a strong son who is now doing what men do: make their own way. And even if he does become bigger and better than his father, Björn is also carrying Ragnar’s name with him as he does so. It’s hard for the older generation, too, to make way for the younger, but it is the natural way of things and a Viking will bow to that. They’ll all meet in Valhalla and share stories one day, would be a way to acclimate himself to that.

Lissa:  At the midday meal, Aslaug tells Ivar she’s happy to see him with Margrethe. She tells all her boys they should be having children.

Sandi: Odd, but I don’t really see Aslaug as a grandmother. She might be!

Lissa: Ubbe blithely says he probably already has a few and the boys laugh. But Aslaug insists they should marry and father legitimate heirs. Sigurd asks his mother if she married Ragnar because she loved him.

Aslaug replies tartly that love has little to do with it, but when he presses, she snaps that she did love him.

Sandi: This is odd, in the cultural context. A marriage in this society would not be based upon love, as a rule. A marriage was most often an arrangement between families, for the better fortune of them all in terms of land, influence, wealth, or all of the above. Marrying for love would be a foreign notion. Why would her sons even inquire about it? I could just slide this into the Boot Sole File.

And Aslaug married Ragnar because she was bearing his child. I mean, it’s not a romantic story at that point, not really. Perhaps, though, Aslaug is trying to keep a legend alive with her sons. They are her closest companions at this juncture.

Lissa:  He then brings up the rumor that Aslaug bewitched Ragnar into marrying her.

Body and soul. #Vikings pic.twitter.com/KjFCTSndD6

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) December 8, 2016

Ivar starts to defend her, Sigurd wonders aloud if she loved anyone except for Harbard. Ivar says he knows Aslaug always loved him. Sigurd retorts that Aslaug felt pity for him – like the rest of them do, but sometimes they wish that she’d left Ivar to the wolves.

Sandi: Sigurd really takes the proverbial bull by the horns, here. Ivar is defensive of Aslaug—for good reason—and the sequence is indicative of the long-festering unease/antipathy that has developed between the two brothers over the years they’ve lived together.

Lissa: Ivar tries to attack him, but he has to drag himself along the furniture to reach him. He finally gets close, and Sigurd jerks away the chair he’s using for balance. Ivar falls to the floor as Sigurd walks away. He crawls after his brother crying out in rage as Aslaug tries to soothe him.

Sandi: Sigurd was not playing fair, but then I imagine he’s seen Ivar favored during his whole life. And Ivar really let his guard down, or was overwhelmed by his feelings, here. To show so much emotion, genuine emotion, makes him vulnerable.

Lissa: That evening, there’s a feast in the great hall.

Sandi: Gotta say I enjoyed seeing that. This is a different kind of feast than we’ve perhaps seen in a while. Good to see all the Northmen in their fantastic costumes (History Channel continues to impress in the wardrobe department) and to have a feel for the atmosphere of the Great Hall.

Lissa: Harald and his brother Halfdan are in attendance – they’re going on Björn’s journey.

Björn mentions Harald’s old ambition to become King of Norway, but Harald says he doesn’t think it’s possible to depose Ragnar. Which is a bit odd, since Ragnar is obviously reduced to begging his own child for the boats he needs for a small raid, but perhaps Harald was just being diplomatic, considering his current plans.

He mentions how tall the Ragnarssons are, and Ivar says he’s tall when he stands up. Harald is a bit – well a lot – patronizing when he says that he bets Ivar wishes he could go with them. Ivar tells him to go to hell.

Skol, to new friends! #Vikings pic.twitter.com/1XvhYrOToS

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) December 8, 2016

Sandi: Ivar has to be seething, here. Regarding Harald, I think he might be a bit behind the times, perhaps, in terms of the current political climate. Unless he has spies?

Lissa: Lagertha enters with Joan Jett at her side.

Joan seems very popular amongst the people of Kattegat.

Sandi: This is a bit surprising. Lagertha resides in Hedeby, does she not? But Lagertha is a woman of substance, a jarl, and if Joan Jett is seen as her Current S.O., then it is likely that others court her for her favor. Even those who aren’t beholden to Hedeby in any way.

Lissa: Aslaug makes her way over and Lagertha tells her that since their sons are going on a journey together, they should both ask the gods for their blessing.

Aslaug says they should make a sacrifice. Jointly, Lagertha tells her. Aslaug reminds her that she is the queen of Kattegat. Lagertha replies she never forgets anything.

Sandi: Aren’t they so polite, here? slanted smile I like the edge that the actresses gave the scene. The time was short, but the animosity was well-played.

Lissa: After the feast, Margrethe runs outside and pleads with Sigurd for protection from Ivar. She tells him that Ivar tried to kill her, and she tells him Ivar’s terrible secret, that he cannot pleasure a woman. She begs Sigurd not to tell anyone. Suuure he won’t.

@LissaBryan @DeeDonuts And I’ve got a FARM in WESSEX to sell you.

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) December 8, 2016

He tells his brothers immediately, of course.

Sandi: I was making all kinds of rude sounds during this sequence. What was she thinking? Here I thought Margrethe (Hey, I went to the IMDb page to make sure I spelled it properly!) had a sense of self-preservation. She had taken time to connect (cough!) with each of Aslaug’s sons. And she had used her wits to save her life when it seemed certain Ivar would kill her. So why on earth did she go to the one brother she knew had a serious hate-on for Ivar? She acknowledged that Ivar was crazy, we all know he’s murderous (has been since childhood), so why do this? I was flummoxed. It does, though, make for more drama.

Lissa: The sacrifice ceremony begins. As with the other Viking ceremonies we’ve seen, this one is beautifully – reverentially – cinematic. Aslaug’s face is painted red and black. She slices each of the animal sacrifices and drains their blood into a basin.

As Floki did long ago, Ivar approaches the basin and strokes the blood over his face.

Sandi: They really do give good ceremony on this show. This one is darker than previous sacrifices we’ve seen, merely in terms of the time of day and such. It makes everything smoky, more potently ominous.

Lissa: Aslaug appears to be as high as a kite, her eyes rolling back into her head and her lashes fluttering, but Lagertha leans down to whisper in her ear. “I want you to know that I can never forgive you for taking away my husband and my world. Look what you’ve done with it. You call yourself Queen, but you will never be Queen in Kattegat.” She flicks some of the blood in a dismissive manner in Aslaug’s face.

Sandi: I honestly thought Lagertha had sliced off a piece of Aslaug’s ear, there. It would have worked for me.
 
Lissa: Ivar follows his father out into the hills where Ragnar digs up his hoard of treasure from the earth, intending to use it as a way of buying himself men for the voyage since no one seems willing to volunteer.

@sandyquill @DeeDonuts “I stopped to make a withdrawal from the First Bank of Dirt.” #VIKINGS #ShieldGeeks

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) December 8, 2016

Sandi: Ragnar teases his son in a not-too-kind manner, calling him his “crippled son” and so on, but Ivar seems to find this as a form of affection. And, to be honest, it likely is. Ragnar loves his children. It is one of the defining characteristics that continues to endear him to us even when he’s making us crazy.

Lissa: Ivar picks up a coin and turns it in his fingers. He points to the face on the front. “Who is this?” Ragnar tells him its King Ecbert, and Ivar asks if he can keep the coin. Ragnar closes Ivar’s fingers over it.

Sandi: And here we have more from the Wisdom of Ivar, for which he will become famous. Again, kudos to the History Channel for their attention to detail.

Lissa: Ivar warns him that buying men will only get him the dregs.

In town, Ragnar sits at a table, handing out his treasure to a long line of people who’ve come to take it.

Make it rain. #Vikings pic.twitter.com/LmhZnXidaI

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) December 8, 2016

Ubbe tries to stop him, says he’s embarrassing himself, but Ragnar flings it out into the crowd, saying he doesn’t care.

@sandyquill @DeeDonuts “I’m spending my kids’ inheritance.” The joke t-shirt becomes literal. #VIKINGS #ShieldGeeks

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) December 8, 2016

Sandi: A king is expected to share from his wealth, but it is tradition that the sharing is done amongst those who have shared in the work. All those on a raid, from the warriors to the navigators to the shipwrights, get gold. But here? These men haven’t worked with Ragnar. He hasn’t chosen them. It is a lowering thing for Ragnar to give his gold away. “Embarrassing” indeed.

Lissa: In preparation for the voyage, Ivar has iron crutches made. He’s able to “walk” with his arms alone, dragging his legs along.

Determination. #Vikings pic.twitter.com/iO88hbrfvQ

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) December 8, 2016

Sandi: I discussed this with my spouse, as I thought iron was not perhaps the best choice for a seafarer. But Spousal Unit is a craftsman and he reminded me that the Vikings would have known that regular wooden crutches would be soaked repeatedly and swell and become unusable unless they were coated in pitch—at which point they would become flammable.

Lissa: The swelling of the wood is an excellent point. Iron really would be more durable and easier to maintain in sea-faring conditions. If he kept the metal well-greased and used a pumice stone to remove any rust that began to build, he could probably keep them in good condition for years.

Sandi: It pays to have to connections, for those iron crutches would have been costly.

Lissa: He trips and falls at one point, and his brothers start over to help him up. Aslaug – very correctly – stops them, and Ivar pulls his own way up.

Ragnar smacks him on the shoulder and tells him nonchalantly that they have a ship to board.

Sandi: I appreciate that Ragnar handled this so casually. It could have been a lot uglier.

Lissa: That night, Ivar creeps to Margrethe’s bed. She cries out in terror when he puts a hand over her mouth. He tells her he knows she told his brothers. She swears she didn’t and pleads for her life. Ivar tells her he believes her, and he just wants to lie next to her.

Sandi: Ha! I bet she didn’t get any sleep that night . . .

Ragnar comes to visit Aslaug as she’s removing her hairpins to go to bed. He gently caresses her neck as he speaks. “Love was not what brought us together. But you endured me. You suffered my words and my neglect. And you never turned our sons against me.” He’s grateful for that. Aslaug’s eyes fill with tears.

Sandi: Ivar asked when Ragnar was going to see Aslaug, and here he does. The “farewell” visit such as he made to the other people in his life.

Lissa: In her own bed, Aslaug has a vision of Ivar floating over the sea, and his limp form swept up by a tornado of water. She tries to run into the sea and save him.

In the morning, she warns him if he goes on this journey, he will drown.

He tells her he finally has a chance to prove himself to the gods, and that one day at his father’s side – as a true Viking man – is worth a lifetime of pity. She cannot tell him what to do. He’s going and doesn’t care if he dies. Aslaug kisses his head and tells him to go.

Sandi: This was a GREAT scene. The episode is titled “The Vision” but I think this moment is more indicative.

Lissa: At the docks, Lagertha has a tender goodbye with Björn.

Be safe. #Vikings pic.twitter.com/uXRphxFP6K

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) December 8, 2016

Torvi tells Björn that he cannot come back without winning glory because what will she tell their children of him, the great Björn Ironsides? “Tell them I loved them,” Björn says.

Sandi: Torvi seems to really lay it out for him, here. I don’t know how much was spousal-teasing and how much was sincere “With your shield or on it!” Spartan-wife/mom thing, but she seemed quite determined.

Lissa: The small fleet sails, only a handful of boats with Ragnar, the rest with Björn.

Sandi: It really is a small fleet, as well. Not an impressive flotilla, but just a few ships. Well, that is what was requested, no?

Lissa: As they sail away, Ragnar notices Ivar clinging to the side of the ship. Ivar confesses that he’s terrified of water. Ragnar sits down beside him and tells him there’s worse ways to die than drowning. Ivar retches over the side, apparently seasick as well as afraid.

Sandi: Being terrified of the water makes sense for a man that would have to rely solely on his arms to keep himself safe in the ocean. Ivar is, though, determined to win his sea-legs and Ragnar lets him.

Lissa: Ragnar’s new men are obviously not sailors. Their oars only shallowly dip into the water as they head out to sea. It’s gonna be a long voyage, it seems!

Sandi: This was a great detail. As Ivar predicted, Ragnar got the dregs to crew his longships. Older men. Weaker. Perhaps even a bit lazy. Not determined warriors. Even in Season One, the older warriors had more to them than this bunch.

Set sail. #Vikings starts NOW! pic.twitter.com/MXSvsE6sv9

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) December 8, 2016

Lissa: They’re beset by a storm, as Aslaug predicted. The men are being thrown from the vessel by the massive waves. Ragnar grabs Ivar and tosses him over his shoulder as he struggles toward the mast. He lashes Ivar to the mast with rope, and as Ivar roars in fear, Ragnar puts his hand over his mouth. He meets Ivar’s eyes, and Ivar calms.

Sandi: Ragnar saves his son here, and it’s another good moment. Ivar will have learned much, I’m thinking, during this part of his life.

Lissa: While this is happening, Aslaug is rocking in her room, her face contorted in agony. Her lap is soaked with blood. We had a lot of discussion last night over what we were seeing. In the Sagas, aslaug has a vision of her sons dying and is so agonized that she weeps blood, but this appeared to be more along the lines of a miscarriage. But we haven’t seen Aslaug with a lover since the time jump, or any indications that she’s pregnant.

“Sail to England,” he said. “It’ll be fun.” he said. #Vikings pic.twitter.com/R4Rl98vuCe

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) December 8, 2016

A massive wave overturns their ship. Ragnar struggles through the water to try to untie his son. The last scene we see is Ivar going limp.

Sandi: We know, though, that Ivar lives a long life, and is a warrior of renown. So one can only imagine here that Ragnar saves his son again and brings him to safety in some way. Unless a supernatural agent steps in, that is likely to be the case.

It is somehow fitting that here, Ragnar is saving the life that he was prepared to let end when the lad was an infant. And that the mighty king is struggling in a storm on the way back to a village that he’s known has been gone for a long time, with only a ragtag crew.

As you said, Lissa, a “preparing to go” episode. I am hoping the next one, “Two Journeys” according to IMDb, will have a landing in Wessex and a journey for Björn. 

“These chicks are machines!” 

(CHECK THEM OUT FOR THEIR PODCASTED RECAPS AND FEEDBACK ‘CASTS! And Yes, we did one, too!)

Sandi: For reasons that will become obvious, I am half-inclined to add “In vino, veritas” to this week’s episode.

Lissa: This episode had a lot of… strange moments for me.

Sandi: Oh, it really did. On some of them I concur, even. Some humor, some pathos, some awkwardness, and some boot soles. It was a strange night.

Lissa: Lagertha is cheered as she walks through Kattegat’s main street toward Aslaug. Aslaug, adorned in her queenly robes, is standing there with the Shiny Sword on her palms. Even the Seer has come out to watch. Aslaug starts out by playing the victim. “How strange, Lagertha, that you should play the usurper. One woman against another.”

Sandi: Even from the initial words, it was plain that his was not the showdown that had been hinted at in previews. History Channel VIKINGS previews are, though, notoriously misleading. Seeing the Seer out of his ritual space was a surprise. He’s taller when he’s upright than one is accustomed to seeing.

Lissa: Lagertha sheathes her sword. “I was never the usurper. Always the usurped.”

Sandi: Now, that’s a lie, really. Lagertha could be said to have usurped her own demesne of Hedeby, back in the day. She provoked her husband into hurting her badly enough in public that she was able to strike him down and usurp his power and authority. This would be well known by each and every one of her listeners, as well. I think that here, she is laying a case for her vengeance in Kattegat alone, by saying she’d been wronged. In public. Which would be the right thing to do in terms of the law.

Lissa: Lagertha says that Aslaug stole her husband, her home, and her happiness. Aslaug retorts that Ragnar wanted to be with her, and Lagertha accuses Aslaug of bewitching him. Aslaug says that women have power over men sometimes, but she didn’t use any magic on him. Aslaug tells Lagertha that Ragnar is dead. Lagertha doesn’t want to believe it. Aslaug tells her she saw it in a dream. Lagertha retorts that she doesn’t KNOW for sure he’s dead. Aslaug doesn’t try to defend her völva powers. She smiles and says that Lagertha may be right. It was only a dream. In any case, Lagertha can have her home back. She will not fight. She’s not her mother, or her father. “I have fulfilled my destiny. The gods foretold Ragnar would have many sons. I have given him those sons. I am as much a part of his saga, Lagertha, as you are.” She tosses the sword at Lagertha’s feet. All she asks is that Lagertha give her safe passage to go wherever she wishes. Her sons, she says, will be grateful to Lagertha for it.

Sandi: I see in their exchange the equivalent of a courtroom proceeding, ending with an abrupt acceptance of the verdict as Aslaug tosses the sword at Lagertha’s feet. And then, we were expecting, perhaps, a cheer or a farewell scenario or something.

Lissa: Lagertha agrees and Aslaug struts away, her lips curved in a triumphant smile.

@DeeDonuts @LissaBryan She was smirking like a teen boy after prom! #ShieldGeeks #VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) December 22, 2016

Lissa: She pauses at the end of the street, and her smile freezes. She starts to tilt forward and we see an arrow protruding from between her shoulder blades. As she falls, we see Lagertha standing behind her with a bow in hand.

Sandi: I confess I was startled that Lagertha had done this herself. When I saw the arrow, I assumed that Lagertha had set up someone on a rooftop as she had done in the battle prior, someone who was ready to handle things if the legal proceedings got ugly. But that’s clearly not how it went down.

Lissa: I was shocked by this. It honestly didn’t seem to be Lagertha’s “style” to give safe passage and then shoot an enemy in the back. Every revenge slaying she’s ever done has been face-to-face and she’s kept her word about it. I could see her killing Aslaug on the spot, or even hunting her down afterward and making her life a misery, but this just didn’t seem “Lagertha” to me.

Sandi: Though I was startled, I was not put off by Lagertha’s action, here. I don’t believe it was the wisest thing she could have done (LagerthAthena she isn’t, apparently, owl companion not withstanding), but I got it. She had waited. She had bided her time. She had arranged her people and provided an appropriate venue, and she took her revenge on the woman who had basically been the impetus for upending her entire life.

That Ragnar is the ultimate guilty party is a given, but Lagertha will always love that man so she took her vengeance on the other woman.

Lissa: Aslaug is given the cinematic version of a Viking funeral – the boats and flaming arrows thing. Here’s where I wish they would have inserted one of those little historical nods and had Aslaug’s interment be the Oseberg ship burial.  The chanting was beautiful, though, as the Viking ladies add jewelry and other items to her pyre boat.

@DeeDonuts @LissaBryan Also, they smoothed out her eyeliner. Details make the lady.

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) December 22, 2016

Sandi: Notice the absolute lack of horror at Aslaug’s public murder. Notice the apparent acceptance of Lagertha’s actions. This is, as Hirst is showing again, the 9th Century and the world was a different place back then.

Lissa: It was sort of an anti-climactic end to the queen people loved to hate. As I’d mentioned in our podcast, I was hoping they would continue with the Sagas, and Aslaug leading an army to avenge Ragnar’s death (in the Sagas, her sons, but since they didn’t die and Ragnar seems destined to…) I was hoping Aslaug and Lagertha could come to a truce and work together to avenge the man they both loved. What a journey that could have been! But, alas, it shall have to be explored only in fanfic now…

Sandi: Anti-climactic indeed, and a bit disappointing for that. But as you say, there’s always fan fiction! If History Channel had chosen to follow the female lines, this could have been an epic tale, but it is evident that the future story will follow the males and the legends and histories told of them. It is best that the show focus more tightly; exploring everything can be confusing.

Lissa: Ragnar tells the soldiers at the city gates to take him to Ecbert, and they will be rewarded for treating one of his friends well. He is soundly thrashed while Ivar watches. We next see him in a small iron cage, suspended off the ground a few inches. I couldn’t figure out why they’d bother with suspending the cage such a small distance off the ground, and Sandi swooped in to offer the answer:

@LissaBryan @BevanWendy @DeeDonuts Ah, this is to keep him unable to get a steady place to rest. Keeps him off-balance.

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) December 22, 2016

Sandi: The imprisonment is clearly a petty (and effective) treatment, here. Ragnar’s entire demeanor is quiescent. The beating he received was vastly overdone under the circumstances and the imprisonment unnecessary except as a means to humiliate and unman him.

Lissa: Aethelwulf questions Ragnar, demanding to know where the rest of his men are. Ragnar says he killed them. He asks Aethelwulf to be kind to Ivar and appeals to Aethelwulf as a father himself. Aethelwulf snaps that Ragnar is an animal who deserves to be in a cage.

Sandi: Aethelwulf is suffering from an inferiority complex, and I can’t really blame him. Even beaten, filthy, locked up, and at the mercy of his captors, Ragnar exudes serenity and confidence as to his position. Aethelwulf has never had that kind of personal strength; he’s been held back for too long in his life.

Lissa: Ecbert has Ragnar, and his cage, brought into his hall. He wants to chat. Ragnar pleads to see Ivar, because he doesn’t know if his son is alive or dead. Ecbert nods, and two soldiers carry Ivar in and deposit him in a chair. He’s well-dressed and clean, and has no visible wounds. Ragnar asks him how he is, and Ivar tells him he’s fine. Ecbert offers Ivar some food and says that Ivar is his guest. He orders the soldiers to have Ivar treated well. Ivar is taken from the room. He calls over his shoulder to his father as he is carried away, “Don’t [mess] with them.” (The Viking wording might have been a little rougher, but both of our blogs are PG.) Ecbert asks what Ivar said and Ragnar replies that Ivar said “Thank you.”

Sandi: This was a nice little scene that did a few things. One, it reinforced Ragnar’s purposeful projection of his son being weak and unable to handle himself, which Ragnar is keen on making the public perception as we the viewers are aware. Ivar plays along, but only on the surface, as his native tongue conveys his true feelings. In a non-PG manner. This father and son are contrasted definitively with Ecbert and Aethelwulf. Ragnar might be the dominant figure, but he respects his son and works with him.

Lissa: Ecbert tells Ragnar that he’s sorry the Wessex settlement was destroyed by Aethelwulf, but it was, of course, done on Ecbert’s orders. He regrets it now. “Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa.” But it was part of a much larger, long-term strategy.

Sandi: His sincerity is as ersatz as Splenda® in my coffee. Which is to say, not at all effective or believable in place of the genuine article. And Ecbert knows Ragnar will feel this way (with appropriate, 9th Century equivalents) but he says so regardless because he also knows that Ragnar is a self-confessed corrupt fellow. Just like Ecbert himself. They understand one another so the words can be said for form without belief and, somehow, this works for them as a means of communication.

Lissa: He has Magnus brought in to meet Ragnar. The boy’s eyes are full of wonderment. Magnus tells Ragnar that his mother told him stories of his amazing father, and he can see now that the stories are true. Ragnar tells Magnus that his birth was truly a miracle, since he never had sex with Kwenthrith. After the boy leaves, Ecbert says he always had his doubts about the boy’s paternity. He asks Ragnar why it took him so long to return, and why he’s here now. Ragnar replies with Ecbert’s own words from earlier: it’s part of a larger, long-term strategy. Ecbert cracks up.

Sandi: Well, Magnus certainly looked as if he could have been lo, another Ragnarsson, but no! I wonder if the wonderful Amy Bailey knew that Kwenthrith hadn’t had sex with Ragnar in that memorable, erm, healing scene? I felt dreadful for Magnus here, as he was confronted with a fat lie. Ecbert, unsurprisingly, appears to have not a care in the world for how his charge-to-date might be handling the abrupt disclosure.

Lissa: In Hedeby, Margrethe opens the door to Ubbe and Sigurd’s prison. She tells the boys they need to get back to Kattegat. The boys ride there and find Lagertha sitting in the great hall. She is wearing a red dress with a high black collar that immediately went into our “Boot Sole File” of anachronistic costumes. History Channel… There is just no excuse, man. No excuse.

Sandi: Yeah . . . No. The official title for this episode is An Uncertain Hour Before Morning, and I really feel the “uncertain” refers, in large part, to Lagertha. Or at least our perception of her. I wonder where her character’s arc is heading?

Lissa: They demand to know where their mother is and Lagertha is simple and direct: “I killed her. She took Kattegat from me. I wanted it back.” The boys ask why she didn’t kill them too, and she tells them that it’s not their fault their mother bewitched their father. Ubbe says it was a mistake not killing them. The enraged boys start fighting their way through Lagertha’s guards.

@sandyquill Son, you do NOT want to reach that dais. That woman will kill ya twice before you hit the floor. #VIKINGS #ShieldGeeks

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) December 22, 2016

Sandi: One has to believe that Lagertha had known this confrontation was inevitable, hence her utterly calm demeanor as it went on. She had her defenses in place, as it were, from the implacable gaze to the bodyguard. Ubbe taking the lead in the attack, going so far as to shove his younger brother aside, did surprise me. Why not take the extra pair of arms? I think perhaps that Ubbe was just furious and he wanted to be uninhibited, not thinking about the defense of anyone else as he went on the attack.

Lissa: But they’re eventually taken down, and dragged out of the hall, unharmed except for some bruises. They lick their wounds with some mead by the fire. Ubbe wants to attack Lagertha. Go into the hall and finish her off. Sigurd scoffs. Aslaug wouldn’t have done the same for them. Her favorite was Ivar. And Harbard. He reminisces – or rather bitterly recollects – what a fool she made of herself over Harbard. Ubbe says that Lagertha should be made to pay for killing their mother, and Sigurd says Ivar will do it… If he’s still alive. They both heard what Aslaug said about the ship sinking and Ragnar and Ivar being killed. Sigurd laughs at that.

@LissaBryan “Ragnar Lo∂brok can’t die.” #mythshappen #ShieldGeeks #VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) December 22, 2016

Sandi: This is part of the “in vino, veritas” theme that I found in this episode. Okay, so they’re drinking mead (have I mentioned before that it’s a favorite of mine?), but still. The young men are coming down off the adrenal rush of combat, imbibing alcohol, and they’ve a common enemy. Of course they’re talking rather more freely than usual and of course past experiences color everything. Sigurd carries a grudge against Ivar and his mother, having lived with the inequality of the various mother-son relationships in a more intense way than Ubbe did. He saw what Harbard did to Kattegat as a whole and in his own house in particular. Resentment will linger always, I think, though he knows that Ivar would be better at making anyone pay for wrongs against the family. Ivar has, after all, killed before. But he doesn’t believe his legendary father would die. And he likely believes that if Ragnar lives, so does Ivar.

Lissa: Back in Wessex, Ecbert is justifying himself. He says he’s united all of the small warring kingdoms in England. Which… he didn’t. And using “England” itself is kind of an anachronism, but we’ll just roll with it, because it’s that kind of episode. He tells Ragnar that he’s considered by the people to be the most dangerous man in the world. . He shares some food with the ravenous Ragnar, and some wine, and then unlocks the cage. Ragnar collapses to the floor when he tries to straighten up after several days in such cramped accommodations. It’s a reminder that they’re both older men, beset by bodily infirmity. Ecbert says he has to decide what to do with him. From his position on the floor, Ragnar says that the Seer prophesied he would die on the day that the blind man could see him. That means Ecbert must kill him.

Sandi: More of Ersatz Ecbert, here. Met by Realistic Ragnar. They are older, though, so there’s no invitation to bathe in the communal Roman pool. (Though I really wish Ragnar could get cleaned up a bit!) There’s merely the testing of weapons, verbal only, on the familiar foe.

Lissa: Aethelwulf escorts young Magnus out the gate of the city and hands him a small leather satchel. He tells Magnus it’s time for him to go off and learn to be a man.

@sandyquill @DeeDonuts Throwing the kid out of the village… Sort of like throwing kid into pond to teach swimming. #VIKINGS #ShieldGeeks

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) December 22, 2016

Sandi: This scene, to me, is the most heartbreaking and troubling of the whole episode. The young man—boy, really—had been raised by a king, told he was the son of a legendary king, and he was innocent of harsh realities. Soft in feature and manner, his aspect also spoke of elegance of condition. He was a pampered scion. Until he wasn’t. And then he ws kicked out on his own without warning or any preparation whatsoever. This was deplorable, in my view, as the lad had done nothing wrong.

Lissa: Magnus is understandably bewildered. He asks where he’s supposed to go. Athelwulf essentially tells him that’s his job to figure out, and if anyone troubles him, to tell them that he’s Magnus, son of Ragnar Lothbrook, and everything will be fine.

@sandyquill @DeeDonuts Yeah, and those highwaymen are TOTALLY gonna respect your princely identity. #VIKINGS #ShieldGeeks

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) December 22, 2016

Sandi: Really, I was speechless. My whole mind, as the mother of sons, was occupied with all the many ways in which Magnus could be hurt out there in the 9th Century.

Lissa: Magnus is like a dog dumped beside the road, with the owner blithely saying it will be fine, hunting rabbits and such, and driving away. He stands there sobbing in the rain, clutching his only earthly possessions, wearing clothes on his back worth more than the average highwayman will see in a lifetime.

Kid is frickin’ doomed.

@LissaBryan @DeeDonuts Chiming in with the idea that tossing out Magnus is worse than shooting Aslaug in the back. #ShieldGeeks #VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) December 22, 2016

Lissa: Aside from the cruelty of the situation, it doesn’t make much sense. He may not be the son of Ragnar, but he’s the son of Princess Kwenthrith of Mercia, and no one aside from Ecbert knows Ragnar disavowed his parentage. They can say whatever they like. And if they want the kid dead, why not kill him right there? After all, he could later return with an army at his back and press for his birthright from his mother’s line. Stranger things have happened throughout history. (Perkin Warbeck, anyone?)

Sandi: As you say, this makes no sense plot-wise (after all, Magnus was basically a non-entity before, so forgetting about him again in the show would work) or character development-wise unless it’s to show how heartless King Ecbert is. But we already knew that, right?

@sandyquill @DeeDonuts Coming up, the Pit of Despair. Now with snakes. #VIKINGS #ShieldGeeks

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) December 22, 2016

Lissa: Ragnar and Ecbert are drunk and having an existential debate about religious faith and our purpose here on earth. Ragnar says, in essence, that he’s come to Wessex to die. Ecbert throws up his hands. “You Vikings are incorrigible. You emerge from the womb with only one thing on your mind: How to die!”

@DeeDonuts @sandyquill “You emerge from the womb with only death on your mind.” Kind of like 9th cent. christians. #VIKINGS #ShieldGeeks

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) December 22, 2016

Sandi: And here we have the beginning of another “in vino” scene!

Lissa: As we discussed last night, preparing for death was an important aspect of life in both cultures, especially in an era in which death was omnipresent, and could strike for seemingly no reason at all.

Sandi: Basically, it’s true. Ragnar made the point about the Christians being obsessed with death and the afterlife in this time as well, so the men are, once again, on par. Which they knew in advance of this part of the discussion. Their verbal fencing seems endless.

Lissa: The conversation turns to Athelstan, whom both of them loved. Ragnar says that Floki killed him for jealousy’s sake – because Ragnar loved Athelstan more. Ecbert says he, too, felt jealous, when Athelstan chose to leave with Ragnar instead of stay with Ecbert.

@sandyquill @DeeDonuts “He loved me more.” Kinda reminds me of tent scene in Twillight. #VIKINGS #ShieldGeeks

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) December 22, 2016

Lissa: Ecbert brings in someone special, and he doesn’t need to identify him, because Ragnar instantly recognizes Alfred. The scene is incredibly tender, a moment of genuine emotion so rarely found in movies and television. Ragnar embraces the boy. It was a wholly unexpected kindness that Ecbert would share Alfred with Ragnar, giving him a living glimpse of the man they both loved and lost.

Sandi: I loved this scene. I had real tears and everything. Casting for Alfred was well done; the lad could indeed have sprung from Athelstan and Judith. We don’t know what the future Great King might have thought, for this moment was—unlike Magnus’s—not for his benefit. It was all for Ragnar.

Lissa: That night, Ragnar sits at the foot of his bed sleepless and we see visions of the sunlight sparkling on waves. Ecbert, too, is sleepless, kneeling before an altar and quoting Ecclesiastes. The King James Version, I might add. History Channel… We need to talk.

Sandi: I am wondering if the intent was not to have him quoting the KJV but a Latin translation from the Greek—which would have come from the Hebrew, in all likelihood. It would have been far less of a History Channel faux pas if they had had Ecbert at least begin quoting in Latin, transitioning to English for those of us who watch VIKINGS in that language.

Lissa: Ubbe and Sigurd wake up, probably with severe hangovers, and see Joan Jett perched on the edge of the bed they didn’t sleep in. She’s perky and resplendent in a gorgeously woven tunic. She tells them if they harm a hair on Lagertha’s head, they’re dead men. Ubbe replies that if they don’t fear Lagertha, why would they fear her? Joan Jett smiles slightly and flounces out.

Sandi: I’m still trying to get a handle on Joan Jett, here. Lagertha certainly hasn’t demonstrated a need for a bodyguard, but it seems Joan Jett is thus appointed. Her woven garment was indeed intricate and well made, but I took exception to the extraneous fabric on her left arm. It served no purpose other than for show, unless Joan Jett was trying to make an impression on Ubbe and Sigurd beyond the threat of violence.

Lissa: Ecbert tells Ragnar that he can’t kill him. He can’t let him live, but he can’t kill him, either. He just can’t. Ragnar suggests that Ecbert hand him over to Aella, and “wash his hands” of Ragnar’s death. More Christian anachronisms in my Vikings. Ragnar tells Ecbert to send Ivar home with a message for Ragnar’s other sons: that Ecbert did everything he could to stop Aella from harming Ragnar. Then the boys will focus their vengeance on Aella. You can see the wheels turning in Ecbert’s brain. What a lovely, convenient way to destroy Aella, and get rid of Ragnar, too.

Sandi: There is also a reference to lung ripping, and I am reminded that in legend, Ivar performs a blood eagle on Aelle. We discussed it a bit on the podcast we did with the awesome folks at No Ship Network. And Ragnar did use what we see as a Christian reference but the washing of the hands would have been a Jewish phrase in its initial use and, it is possible that Athelstan had used the phrase in the time that Ragnar had known him, so I’m leaning toward Ragnar’s using the phrase on purpose. Part of a larger, long-term strategy.

Lissa: He leans forward and says to Ecbert, “Do not be afraid.”

Sandi: And if we’re thinking of Christian phrases used out of place, this might be another one. Almost whenever an angel appears to people in the Bible, the angel says, “Do not be afraid.” This is often a harbinger for news from on high, but here . . .why does Ragnar say this? His aspect as seen below is hardly angelic.

#Vikings pic.twitter.com/Hk6uR6UsPj

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) December 22, 2016

This and all images from Vikings are the property of the History Channel. I use them only for illustrations regarding their show.

“These chicks are machines!” 

(CHECK THEM OUT FOR THEIR PODCASTED RECAPS AND FEEDBACK ‘CASTS! And Yes, we did one, too!)

Lissa: This episode was the end of an era, and I’m still “all the feels” as I type this.

Sandi: It really is the end of an era, but you and I both knew it was coming. That “foreboding feeling” has been haunting us since probably the middle of Season Three.

Lissa: Ecbert is struggling with the idea of turning Ragnar over to Aelle for execution. He agrees to send Ivar home, and Ragnar says he needs to talk with him one last time.

Sandi: Though I was highly skeptical of this, I was glad to see this was said (and later carried out) in good faith. I was worried that Ivar’s safe departure would be used as a carrot (or its opposite as a bludgeon) for Ragnar regarding a level of performance or something.

Lissa: In the meantime, Ivar is making friends with young Alfred. I really like this character and the actor who portrays him. He has such a peaceful and gentle demeanor. He and Ivar are playing chess, and it looked like to me they were playing with a replica of the Lewis Chessmen, a famous 12 century Norwegian artifact.

Sandi: This is, to me, quite intriguing. We know that Alfred takes a firm stand against the Northmen in the future, but I wonder if Hirst has plans for this quiet, gentle moment to play into future international relations.

Lissa: Ragnar and Ivar meet and Ragnar tells him that he’s going to be executed. Ivar insists at first he’s going to stay and die too, and says flippantly he wants to be burned alive. Ragnar tells him that he must survive.  “It is far more important that you stay alive. People think that you are not a threat, but I know differently.”

@LissaBryan “It is you that I believe is most important to the future of our people.” – Ragnar. Wow. #ShieldGeeks #VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) December 29, 2016

Sandi: You have to figure that Ragnar knows these are his Last Words. And words said before dying are important (as we will learn later in the episode), so Ivar will carry these closest to him, perhaps, as he goes on in the world.

Lissa: He predicts that one day, the world will fear the name of Ivar the Boneless.

#Vikings pic.twitter.com/25q96aEx8x

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) December 29, 2016

Sandi: And though Ragnar has never claimed to be a Seer, he does remember what the Seer said, long years before.

“The sons of Ragnar Lothbrok will be spoken of as long as men have tongues to speak.”

Lissa: He says that Ivar is the son he wanted to bring with him on this journey. Ivar confesses to his father that he wishes he didn’t feel angry all the time, and wishes he could be happy. Ragnar scoffs at the idea of happiness and tells Ivar that without that anger he is nothing. Ivar tries to retract it by saying he was joking and Ragnar gives him a slap. He tells Ivar to be ruthless.

Sandi: It seems odd, here, for Ivar to mention that he doesn’t like feeling the way he does all the time. We have here a conflicted young sociopath, as we’ve mentioned before. He isn’t truly “joking”, I don’t think, but I also think Ragnar is aware of this. There is quite a strong bond between them, here at the end of their relationship.

Lissa: Before they part, Ragnar takes off his torc and presses it into Ivar’s hand. It’s a significant moment, considering what the torc represented to a Viking man. (We never saw Ivar get one of his own.) Ragnar is passing on so much to his son, represented by this simple, twisted band of metal. Ivar – rightfully – hesitates before he puts it on. Ragnar leans in before he is drawn away and whispers in his ear that Ivar must take vengeance … against Ecbert.

Sandi: This really is another good moment. Having his king—his father, yes, but his king—give him a torc is huge. Ivar is a fine marksman, for all he cannot stand on his own, but he has perhaps not been officially recognized as attaining his manhood. Here, he is not only being given an heirloom, but also a mark of faith and honor. And then to be given what is, in effect, a secret mission? Wow. So, yes, get vengeance, Ragnar says. But also, avenge me against Ecbert, who cannot know I’m saying this or he might not let you go home.

Lissa: When Ivar boards the wagon to leave, Judith urges her son forward and Alfred goes over to offer one of the chessmen to Ivar. I mentioned on Twitter last night that Judith was being quite clever to encourage her son to build a bond of friendship – or at least cordial relations – with Ivar. Ivar looks down at the chessman in his hand for a moment and then closes his fingers around it.

Sandi: And though it has no real basis in anything, I was reminded of the interplay in the 2002 movie version of The Count of Monte Cristo, where the protagonist, Dantes (played by Jim Caviezel), and his antagonist, Mondego (played by Guy Pearce), exchange a chess piece back and forth during the movie as an indicator of which of them is enjoying the most favor. I know, it makes no sense, but I still thought of it. I guess I see it as a wish for future favor between the two men; though who knows how that will play out here.

Lissa: Judith is visited by Ecbert that night, and Ecbert says he feels like Pontius Pilate in handing Ragnar over to Aella. He feels like he’s sending a friend to his death. Judith says he has no choice and Ecbert scoffs at that. “Do I not?” he asks her repeatedly.

Sandi: I see this in direct contradiction to what is written in the Bible, when Pontius Pilate—whom Ecbert is equating himself to—is begged by his wife:

“Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.” (Matthew 27:19 ESV)

So does Ecbert have a choice? Of course he does, as did Pilate himself. But still, he follows through with what he thinks he has to do.

Lissa: He visits Ragnar and tells him Aelle will make his death a huge spectacle. Ragnar is expecting it. He says he’ll make a profession of his faith in the gods. Ecbert retorts that Ragnar doesn’t really believe it any more, but Ragnar says his people do… His words are for them, in the end. Ragnar walks away, down a gauntlet of armed soldiers, the bright outdoors light shining around his dark, shuffling form. Walking towards the light.

Sandi: It is interesting, how he is set in what he’ll say at this juncture. We need to remember this conversation as he has a couple more on the way to King Aelle. He knows that his words will be remembered and he has every intention of claiming his place in Valhalla, for though he goes out as a captive, he is fighting for the future, I think.

Lissa: Ragnar is led out to a wagon with an iron cage in the back. The rain is pouring down, and the soldiers around him have their spears drawn as if Ragnar is in berserker mode.

@sandyquill It’s the show of force to impress the onlookers. Like a liontamer with a whip they don’t need/use. #VIKINGS #ShieldGeeks

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) December 29, 2016

Sandi: This is all theater. Every bit of it. From the moment Ragnar appeared at the village gates to the time of his death, he went forward with complete self-determination, knowing what would happen and welcoming it, really, for there is a purpose to him. Travis Fimmel always manages to make Ragnar look purposeful, here, even if it seems the man is in the control of others, he never is. Not really.

Lissa: Alfred and Ecbert watch as he climbs onto the wagon. Ecbert walks toward him, the train of his luxurious robe trailing in the thick mud. He motions Alfred over and Ragnar turns to the boy with a gift. It’s Athelstan’s cross. He tells Alfred it once belonged to his father, and as he’s climbing into the cage, he says if it brings him any comfort, Athelstan returned to the Christian God at the end of his life. Alfred tells Ragnar he’ll never forget him.

#Vikings pic.twitter.com/WM0jHiyAbQ

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) December 29, 2016

Sandi: I wonder if this is the last time we’ll see Young Alfred? Likely, but I feel a bit bad, you know, as I can’t remember if the lad had any lines of significance, for all that he will be a man of significance.

Lissa: The wagon rumbles down the road, and the driver starts chatting with Ragnar. I really liked the driver’s character. A charming, affable fellow.

@LissaBryan @DeeDonuts I am reminded of the gravedigger in Hamlet for some reason.

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) December 29, 2016

Sandi: And Ragnar is apparently entirely at his ease. This is a man who is going on a path he himself has chosen. Again, I just adore how Fimmel has brought us Ragnar Lo∂brok.

Lissa: It soon becomes apparent that the coachman is blind. He says he’s heard of Ragnar – that he’s eight feet tall, has killed thousands, and eats children. Ragnar smiles and says that the last one isn’t true. The coachman isn’t sure if any of it is true, but he can smell the fear of the soldiers around him. He asks Ragnar how he intends to make his escape. Ragnar tells him he doesn’t intend to try.

Sandi: And during the show last night, we all reminded ourselves of the prophecy quoted to Ragnar:

“You will die on the day that the blind man sees you.” – The Seer, Season 4, Episode 6

Lissa: That night, the soldiers stand in a tight ring around the cage as Ragnar sleeps. They start daring one another to get close, and one soldier sticks out a trembling finger to touch him. Ragnar suddenly lunges toward him, grabs his arm, and gives him a pretend bite. The soldier staggers back, screaming, and Ragnar looks up toward the night sky.

Sandi: This was just so . . . third grade. “C’mon! Let’s poke the lion in his cage and see if he notices! Hey, I’m not scared. Are you scared? Well, go on, then!”

Just . . . stupid. Not for the episode, but just in terms of human behavior. And see, people still do this.

Lissa: Back in Wessex, Judith awakens as Ecbert comes into her room and gives her a tender kiss on the lips. Startled, she sits up and presses her fingers to her mouth. “Ecbert?” she calls, but he leaves the room. He goes into what looks like Athelstan’s old study and opens the lectern. From it, he draws a monk’s robe.

Sandi: So, Ecbert—sometimes called Cream of Wheat on the No Ship Network, and sometimes Creep of Wheat, depending upon what’s going on—has kept a souvenir from his dear friend, Athelstan. Monk’s robes. Likely from that time when Athelstan first joined him in Wessex, before he was gifted with nicer raiment. Ecbert’s kept the robes for years, apparently. I am thinking maybe he had some kind of moth-repellent in the wraps. It was common, then, to use wormwood as a deterrent, or bay leaves, or resin from a cypress tree. So, he’s kept the old clothes for some unknown reason and now he brings them out.

Lissa: The next day, the wagon continues its journey. Ragnar realizes the driver is blind. But the driver says not to worry – the horses know where they’re going, and though he’s blind,  he can see Ragnar. Ragnar has a vision of the Seer in his place, and Ragnar recalls the Seer telling him he would die on the day the blind man saw him. He tells the Seer that it will be at least another day before he dies, so the Seer was wrong in his prophecy, and that he, Ragnar, directed his fate, not the gods, in whom he no longer believes.  The Seer tells him he has walked among the dead, and has struggled with the meaning of what he sees. Perhaps he was wrong. Ragnar urgently asks him what he saw, and reality reasserts itself. The blind driver tells him he didn’t see anything at all.

Sandi: The prophecy in question was shown in the first half of this season, in episode six, for those who are looking for it. So, as much as Ragnar would like to believe he has escaped the gods and their machinations, it seems clear that they still have a hand on his life. The blind driver, after all, is still there and Ragnar knows he’s going to his death.

Lissa: Ecbert is walking along the road, dressed in a monk’s robe, his feet bare. He looks … rough. I mean, like seriously rough. His feet are bleeding, his face is filthy, and his hair is stringy. It’s only been like eight hours, and dude looks like he’s on the back end of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Sandi: He really does. This speaks, undoubtedly, to his intense mental turmoil. Intense as it is, though, he does nothing to stop the upcoming events from unfolding. Also, I think that he looks worse here than he does later in the day.

Lissa: The prison wagon is greeted by Aelle and his men.

Sandi: And . . . we have more posturing, more theater, more of “Watch me, a great and mighty king, subdue the terror of the seas, Ragnar Lo∂brok.”

Lissa: Pushed to his knees in front of Aelle, he has to listen to another round of exhortations by King Aelle about paying for his sins against Christians, and that the souls of those Ragnar killed will be released from Purgatory this day, with a Hallelujah on their lips. God chose Aella as the instrument of his justice and he’s about God’s work and blah blah blah I dunno I think I fell asleep for a minute there. He’s laying it on thick.

Sandi: Oh gads, it was so very, very tiresome. You have to know that Aelle has likely been ranting on this very topic for a full decade at the very least. Everyone in his kingdom knows how he feels. And they’re likely as tired of it as we are. But then, we are led, in this show, to see King Aelle as a man without finesse. Class. He is uncouth, for all the wealth he may have and the power he may flaunt. He is still just a man. A frightened man who has to strut like a peacock to make a point.

Lissa: He demands Ragnar plead for absolution and punches him when Ragnar refuses. He repeats the demand and Ragnar stays silent again despite another punch.

Sandi: I have a really hard time watching this kind of thing. The Blood Eagle was artistic, of course, and masterfully filmed. This, though, is just dirty. And gross. But it shows Ragnar as a true Viking, ready for Valhalla, as he takes the scorn of his enemy without a sound.

Lissa: Aelle then draws out a red-hot poker and presses it to Ragnar’s stomach. Ragnar gives a small grunt, but otherwise remains silent while Aelle repeats his demand. Aella looks genuinely frightened when he takes the poker away.

@sandyquill @DeeDonuts Poker being ineffective against his skin may be a nod to the “enchanted shirt” of the Sagas. #VIKINGS #ShieldGeeks

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) December 29, 2016

Lissa: I speculated that the show may be saying that this is where the legend of Ragnar’s “enchanted shirt” came from. In the Sagas, the shirt was given to Ragnar by Aslaug when he ignored her prophecies he’d come to doom. The shirt protected him from harm (the snakes) until it was removed. They may be implying that the legend came from Ragnar’s seemingly supernatural “protection” from the agony.

Sandi: I tend to see it as Ragnar’s fully human wish to maintain control over himself no matter what provocation there is to do otherwise. He will meet his wyrd with strength and not falter. What I also found interesting was that Ragnar’s baldness works for him in a significant manner: Aelle cannot grab his hair to compel any kind of physical obedience. He just can’t. Ragnar has even more self-control as demonstrated here.

Lissa: Aelle then produces a knife and carves a cross on Ragnar’s face, blinding him in one eye. Ragnar barely makes a sound. When Aelle has finished, Ragnar indicates he wants to speak and the ropes are loosened. His line is a slightly modified version of what he’s reported to have said in the Sagas as he was dying, “How the young pigs would squeal if they knew what the old boar suffers!“

Sandi: He is basically informing his captors that his sons will have something to say about this. They might not be there at the moment, but they will come to know that Ragnar died at Aelle’s hands. And Ecbert’s. Even if they do not find out how he suffered, precisely.

Lissa: Aelle steps back and his soldiers beat Ragnar before they shove him back in his cage. But that night, they don’t harass him any further. I got the feeling they were in awe, or slightly frightened of this man with his preternatural tolerance for pain. Or perhaps torture loses its fun if the subject reacts like they’re impervious to it.

Sandi: Oh, it really does. An impassive victim loses his flavor for the average soldier. But I also believe, as you said, that the men might indeed be more frightened of him than they were before. Even if he was likely very hungry, hadn’t been given food or drink in more than a day, and they knew that he would then be weak. He is still seen as stronger than they are, which is why they keep him caged.

Lissa: As Ragnar dozes in his cage, he flashes back over his life. Kissing his young wife, Lagertha … meeting Athelstan … teaching the young Björn swordplay … Lagertha divorcing him … Floki giggling and then tied to the pole in the center of Kattegat … Rollo calling him “brother” before their final battle on the river … and Athelstan teaching him the Lord’s Prayer in front of the waterfall.

@LissaBryan @DeeDonuts Oh man. Not all the Greatest Hits moments. My heart! #ShieldGeeks #VIKINGS

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) December 29, 2016

Sandi: “I saw my life flash before my eyes…” Ragnar, I feel, welcomes these flashes. They remind him of the most significant times of his life and are what he will take with him, nearest to his heart, to keep him strong in the coming final trial. 

Lissa: He snaps awake hearing the crowd reciting the same prayer and spots Ecbert weaving his way through the crowd, still disguised in his monk’s robe. Ecbert looks considerably better. Got a good night’s sleep at a Holiday Inn, perhaps.

Sandi: Or something! Perhaps his inner torment is over, now that he’s here and it’s happening and there really isn’t any struggle for him. The slaying of Ragnar is in the hands of another and Ecbert, the pragmatist that he always will be, lets it go and just . . . watches.

Lissa: The men pull ropes and drag apart a pair of doors on the ground beneath Ragnar’s cage. A square pit is revealed, lined with logs. Does Aelle keep one of these on standby, or did he have time to build it in the 24 hours since Ragnar left Wessex?

Sandi: “Many hands make light work?” Or it could be that Aelle has had a pit in place forEVer. A multipurpose destination for those whom he wished to end. Torture? Captivity? Basic humiliation? Here, it will be a site of death.

Lissa: Men stand by, holding snakes aloft, which they toss into the pit. I noted last night that handsome portion of those snakes were of the nonvenomous type.

@sandyquill @DeeDonuts “We’ve run low@on vipers, so we included these boas for visual effect.” #VIKINGS #ShieldGeeks

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) December 29, 2016

Lissa: But, as Sandi said, St. Patrick did a number on the amount of venomous serpents in the British isles, so one does what one must, even if that means padding the amount of snakes with the likes of the boa constrictor, which is only found in the Americas, which technically hadn’t been discovered yet and… I’m digressing, aren’t I?

#BootSoleFile

Sandi: Always a good place for the random extraneous boa constrictor.

Lissa: Anyway, it suddenly seems very cold. You can see the breath of the people as they speak. When the prayer is finished, Ragnar stands, and after exchanging a smile with Ecbert, he suddenly has back his energy and defiance. He shouts out his final words. “It gladdens me to know that Odin prepares for a feast! Soon I shall be drinking ale from curved horns. This hero that comes into Valhalla does not lament his death. I shall not enter Odin’s hall with fear. There, I shall wait for my sons to join me. And when they do, I will bask in their tales of triumph. The Aesir will welcome me. My death comes without apology. And I welcome the Valkyries to summon me home!”

Sandi: This is the moment he’s been preparing for. This is the Viking King. The explorer. The adventurer. The mighty warrior. This is Ragnar Lo∂brok and he is making sure that no one would leave that place without knowing exactly what he stands for. He wants his words to be remembered, to fly back to Kattegat where his sons are, to call them to action. It’s a strong speech, for all its made from a cage, and he makes it without hesitation on any front, despite all the sufferings and deprivations he’s recently experienced.

Was I the only one that was applauding as I watched? I mean, Ragnar is unconquerable.

Lissa: Aelle shouts, “Lord, deliver me from mine enemies!” The soldiers pull the ropes attached to Ragnar’s cage, and the bottom drops out. He plunges into the pit.

@sandyquill @DeeDonuts “Um, there was a flaw in our plan. The falling man crushed all the snakes.” #AlternateEnding #VIKINGS #ShieldGeeks

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) December 29, 2016

Sandi: As a closing line, King Aelle’s lacks all that Ragnar’s delivered. Oh yes, your enemy, great king. Beaten up, bloodied, caged, hanging over a pit of snakes. So very, very terrifying.

Lissa: Ecbert shuffles forward with the rest of the audience, peering down into the pit. Ragnar is covered in snakes.

Sandi: And still, Ragnar says nothing. He doesn’t cry out, though we see him grimace and jerk with the different bites he is receiving. He meets his fate with his eyes as open as they can be until he can do so no longer.

Lissa: He looks up at Ecbert and their eyes meet. Ecbert gives him a genuine smile, and Ragnar closes his eyes. He is gone, and an era has ended. But he never once screamed or begged. Like Jarl Borg and the Blood Eagle, Ragnar endured his torture silently, and thus earned a place in Valhalla.

@LissaBryan @DeeDonuts @NoShipNetwork @HistoryVikings I feel like we’ve just . . . reached the end of a cliff and I don’t know what to do.

— Sandi Layne (@sandyquill) December 29, 2016

Sandi: And because it has to be said again, many kudos to Travis Fimmel. The man deserves all the awards for his portrayal of a legend. I didn’t know who he was when the show started, but now? I’ll watch him in just about anything. Maybe it’s the eyes?

Lissa: The pit is covered over again. It becomes the tomb of Ragnar Loðbrók and the hundreds of non-native, innocent snakes.

Sandi: Well, if he is so careless with his snakes, it is no wonder that Aelle has to use nonvenomous ones for his executions. Terrible treatment of the reptiles.

Lissa: Ecbert remains after everyone is gone. The empty cage remains above, swaying in the cold wind. He pauses for another long moment, and then drifts away.

@sandyquill @DeeDonuts They just gonna leave that cage? #IronIsExpensive #VIKINGS #ShieldGeeks

— Lissa Bryan (@LissaBryan) December 29, 2016

Sandi: It is an odd image to have, of the last place where Ragnar drew breath. But it is also a reminder of mortality that even the Seer might appreciate. Our lives are short and sharp, ending in violence (if one is a splendid Viking), or otherwise, and we leave the world. It is only our reputation that will live on afterward. Our words. And Ragnar’s words will travel far.

Lissa: Ivar lands in Kattegat and is carried off the ship. Lagertha exchanges a look with Joan Jett. Lagertha has to see the significance in the fact that Ragnar isn’t there.

Sandi: But still, she’s troubled.

And I’d like to take a moment to appreciate this episode. Until this point, this episode has kept its focus tight on Ragnar and his end. No cut-aways to Kattegat or even Frankia. Just Ragnar. If we have to say goodbye to the man, we got to do it with respect and consideration. Thank you, History Channel.

Lissa: Ivar’s taken to his brothers’ house, and they ask him where Ragnar is. He tells them that Ragnar is likely dead now, and that King Ecbert turned him over to King Aelle. They must get their revenge. Sigurd tells Ivar that Aslaug is also dead, killed by Lagertha. The last thing we see is Ivar squeezing the chess piece that Alfred gave him so tightly that his hand bleeds. His eyes are glowing blue again.

#Vikings pic.twitter.com/BFvvFHzSz9

— Vikings on HISTORY (@HistoryVikings) December 29, 2016

Sandi: So, the Ragnarssons are orphaned in a very big world, with many expectations set before them. We have been guided, as an audience, to heed the future of Ivar over his brothers, and I am eager to see where this will take us.

The Vikings were around a long time, historically. The Viking Age is generally seen to be from the late 8th Century all the way into the 11th Century, before they ceased to raid as their primary objective and instead settled down all over Europe.

Next week, I imagine we’ll take steps on this new road. Perhaps more than one road. Should be interesting!