It was a good episode. I won't spill the beans. But I dislike Ivar even more.

 

Saw it! Can we talk about it now? Just in case I'll put it in spoiler tags....

*I'm not a complete lunatic, I do know the actors are not biologically related to each other, lol, and I don't know how far in advance the script plot lines are laid out but whoever was responsible for casting hit the nail on the head. Physically, Alex Ludwig is a big guy like Cllive Standen. I don't think the other young men they cast as Ragnar's sons are quite as large so from a viewers (my) standpoint it made perfect sense when they threw that little curve ball in there. Helped to sell it....well at least I'm buying it,lol

 

Same. I can't wait until they kill him off. The problem with his character for me is that he has zero redeeming qualities. He's not the guy you love to hate, you just hate him.

 

They kept it open though about Bjorn's father. He mentioned to Rollo who he most resembled in every way. I've always seen Bjorn though as Ragnar's son. Alex Ludwig has even imitated some of Ragnar's mannerisms etc. This episode instilled some doubt about whether he might be Rollo's son, but we'll never get a definitive answer.

Rollo couldn't have screwed that up worse though if he was trying to win over Lagertha and Bjorn. You don't take the side of Ivar, help him become King and then come along and say, "Hey, since I just destroyed your world now I have a safe place for you to go."

I've always liked Rollo's character, even when he was up against Ragnar, but this was just going too far for me. His natural allegiance should have been to Lagertha and Bjorn. If he had weighed in on their side he would have had a chance maybe of working himself back in, but I have no sympathy for him after what he did. They could have both died too. He just came across as a self absorbed, manipulative bastard who originally lashed out at them by taking Ivar's side and now wanted to use their weak position to take advantage of them. Hasta la vista Rollo. I'd rather see them taking their chances with Heahmund and Alfred.

 

Oh yeah, I can see your point of view. It certainly seems like a bone head thing to do backing Ivar over Lagertha so I tried to imagine why he might do that.

Here goes. First off I'm going to assume Rollo's wife is dead so he is in a position to take a new lover or even a new wife. I think he figures that Lagertha is a proud woman who enjoys being Queen of Kattegat. If he backs her and Bjorn she will win the battle and stay on in Norway. If he backs Ivar and they win, and she and Bjorn survive (who can kill the Ironsides, I taught him to fight) they will be in desperate straights needing some place where Ivar can't touch them. They may be inclined to accept anything he proposes. If he spirits them away, Ivar may never know he rescued them until perhaps much later after he gets what he wants from them, which was going to be exorbitant, something he would never demand of Lagertha. Then he throws in the paternity card to sway Bjorn and it's win win for him.

I think it didn't go down as he hoped but he was no worse off. Except for maybe a heavy heart, he still won.

Selfish yes, but as a powerful monarch in his own right he was just playing the game as well as Ragnar or Althestan would have done.

IMO, Bjorn was being the sulky one. I kind of believe he knew Rollo was his dad so he chose to lob the I am Ragnar's son in spirit which I feel was how he truely felt. If you're a Viking warrior do you want to be remembered as the son of the mighty Ragnar Lothbrok (whom he loved) or the son of a man who betrayed his fellow Norsemen even if he became a mighty king of his own land? Even so, was he really thinking about his mother's safety? He could have possibly persuaded her to go with Rollo along with Torvi and his kids then he could have taken off for parts unknown for further adventures. Ubbe and any remaining fighters would probably have gone with him but then again, what kind of legacy would that have left? Something tells me things aren't going to turn out so well in England however.

 

I agree with most of that. Only area I differ is Bjorn. He was justified in his actions and actually showed some mercy in not killing Rollo on the spot. You don't betray people multiple times and then show up looking to be best buddies again.

If he had been in Rollo's spot I think Ragnar's move would have been to side with Lagertha, defeat Ivar and then try and get Lagertha to go back with him to France by saying it was time to pass the power on in Kattegat to Bjorn/Ubbe. He would have then demonstrated some reason to be trusted. Even if she didn't agree right away he could have left the option open and said he'd return in a year to check on her again.

 

Yes, I find that interesting as well that Bjorn didn't kill Rollo on the spot. Did you see the Saga of Bjorn? They recapped basically all that had happened from Bjorn's viewpoint as Torvi tells her son about his dad. They had a clip of Ragnar telling Bjorn he needed to rule with his head and not his heart. I think that's why he didn't fall on his "uncle" immediately. It wasn't mercy so much as he wanted to hear what he had to say. Despite everything, remember, he did go to Rollo in France before he set out for the Mediterranean voyage and Rollo went with him. They didn't part as "friends" but he's family (now probably more so) so you could say the relationship is complicated.

Rollo will have time to mull over his strategy, as to whether or not he did the right thing but these vikings seem to have the mentality that the gods have preordained their fates. He will probably tell himself that he did what he had to for Francia and what he could do for Lagertha and his son but whatever happens now is in the gods hands.

 

I did watch the saga of Bjorn. I split it up watching that first and then the new episode on a different day. Two hours is too much to see in the middle of the week. I usually fast forward through recap style episodes, but this one I watched from start to finish. I liked how it was presented.

I'm not sure what they're going to do with Rollo now, particularly since they haven't devoted much time to Francia in recent seasons. He doesn't have any main cast allies at this point, because Ivar wasn't happy with his demands.

 

Maybe this is the last we'll see of Rollo. He did tell Lagertha they would never meet again, so unless Ivar fails to keep the bargain and Rollo comes back, could be his character is done in this saga.

 

Not sure how I feel about this latest episode, Murder Most Foul. It was full of events that I found er.....unlikely... maybe.

I will say that events in England seem to be rolling forward with the usual love/hate relationship that Ecbert and his family have always had with the Norsemen. I think Alfred would like to honor his grandfather's intent that they should welcome the Vikings who would ally with them, granting them land but he has his own problems as apparently he has his enemies at court.

Bjorn, who of late can't keep his pants zipped so to speak, encourages and then follows through with seducing Alfred's intended, who is obviously fan girling. This can't be a good thing.

Ubbe in the meantime has been given the opportunity to convert, which Ragnar did eventually if in name only, to grease the way towards giving them that land grant. Think with your head Ubbe.

Then we have Headmund who figures that he should have his bishop's position restored all the while he's banging Lagertha on a daily basis. Well, that's the catholic church for ya, IMO, lol. Problem solved when he goes to the church and stabs his replacement in a most gruesome way or problem just beginning. I thought murder within the church would be more subtle somehow. I'm interested to see how this plays out.

Back in Kattegut, Ivar takes a bride. Hvitserk, thinks this is hilarious as Ivar is boneless in every sense of the term AND he shares this little bit of information with Harold of all people. I think the wheels in Harold's mind must be working overtime but he keeps his emotions close to his vest. Ivar's new wife assures him, while they are in bed that she will bear him a son. Ivar is skeptical and I must say that if anyone could hoist his main sail it would be her, but I don't know if it's physically possible considering she was riding some young man, perhaps her real lover, for all she was worth.

Alas Margrethe's ravings have run her afoul of Ivar, who dreams that she murders him. Oops. He sends 3 assassins to finish her off. Overkill much? Wouldn't a little poison in her drink do just as well? Poor girl just wanted to be queen but trying to turn brother against brother was the dumbest strategy ever in this case. She reaped what she sowed.

 

For the first time Bjorn is annoying me because he's putting his entire family in jeopardy by pursuing the woman Alfred is set to marry.

Heahmund will be able to spin the killing of that bishop to his advantage. He'll say that he found out he was plotting against Alfred and when he confronted him about it, the man pulled a knife on him. There will be some doubts due to that being the position Heahmund wanted back, but Alfred is in need of allies right now. He also previously expressed doubts about that bishop. And I'm sure Heahmund will gather more evidence to bolster his claims.

The death of Margrethe was overkill, but that's how Ivar usually operates. Speaking of overkill, having Lagertha with white hair looks ridiculous.

 

I didn't think about Heahmund giving the explanation that he was foiling a plot against Alfred to address the bishop's murder. Alfred for sure will jump on that bandwagon. He'll publicly praise Heahmund which will also serve as a warning to his other enemies.

Bjorn is just asking for a arse kicking. To be fair, Heahmund did tell Arthur when he asked if the Northmen could be trusted, that Lagertha could be trusted. He didn't vouch for the others. How worldly is Alfred anyways? Would he be expecting a virgin wife or would he know the difference or care? Seems to me the girl wouldn't be giving the goods away if she was expected to be virgin at the time of her nuptials unless she was hoping that Alfred will renounce her and seek another wifely candidate. Maybe she thinks she's gonna run off with the tall, blonde, handsome Viking. Who knows.

I too noticed Lagertha's hair. I think it was meant to indicate that the events she'd gone through were so stressful that her hair turned white. I wasn't sure if this was even possible so I looked it up and this is what I found quickly from Google:

"The color comes from a pigment called melanin. ... In that study, the researchers found that hormones produced in response to stress can deplete the melanocyte stem cells that determine hair color. They found that stress causes the stem cells to leave our hair follicles, leaving hair gray or white.Nov 28, 2015"

It's pretty close to her original blonde though so it's not quite the shock it would have been if she had had dark hair. At least for me.

 

I'm guessing Alfred is more wordly than your typical young King since he was trained by Ecbert. He already showed patience and intelligence by telling Bjorn and company that they needed to wait for him to fulfill his promises. He not only recognizes that he has serious adversaries but he also knows every move he makes needs to be calculated. He's actually showing more maturity than Bjorn. Alfred sees Ubbe too as a better, more malleable ally and is working him.

It's not so much that his wife would be a virgin or not that would matter, but the betrayal involved I think. We'll see. Her relationship with Bjorn might be something that is never revealed either.

It's the suddenness of Lagertha's hair change that bothered me most. We went from a battle where she still had blonde hair to the next season where it's white. There wasn't much passage of time either since the first episode opened with the aftermath of the battle.

 

Well of course you'd be right about Alfred learning the ins and out of ruling from one of the best....his grandfather, but what was he taught about women? Could be you're right about that too. While mouthing piety and Christian scruples there seems to have been plenty of hanky panky going on in the palace. I don't need to tell you. As I recall, Ecbert ( I accidentally typed Athelstan instead of Eckbert in a previous post but I corrected it) slept with Kwenthrith, Lagertha and then bed his son's wife who slept with not only her husband (granted) but Athelstan and then her father-in-law. Althelwulf went on to sleep with Kwenthrith who shagged Ragnar, lol. Now much of this occurred before Alfred was even born but did they shield him from his grandfather sleeping with his mother? I'm curious as to what his grandfather may have told him....you marry to strengthen the kingdom and if you fall in love that's great but as the king you can sleep around as long as you're discreet. Don't be angry if your wife follows her heart as well but you'll have to cut off her ears and nose if she gets caught. Much will be revealed about Alfred's state of mind when or even if, as you suggested, it comes out that his betrothed slept with Bjorn.

I'm buying into the hair thing. According to google, we lose approximately up to 100 hairs a day out of the average of 100,000 hair follicles but can lose a lot more if the person has under gone a lot of stress. Looking back, I don't think her hair looks as thick to me either. With the melanocytes gone, any regrowth is coming back white, like it does for many blondes. I think they accelerated it a bit cause it would be hell for makeup to try to approximate a "salt n' pepper" look, but she has a beautiful face so she can pull it off, IMO. It also suggests to me that while she maintains a calm and in control exterior, the events that have transpired (especially having to kill Astrid) created an internal stress so great that it came out anyways in her hair.

 

Yeah I meant the whole deal too beyond just ruling. I could see Ebert telling him that he might need to marry for political reasons but he could always take up with others. Alfred didn't seem overly concerned about the arrangement, even the casual way he mentioned it to Bjorn and the others about going to meet the woman he would marry.

 

OMG! This latest episode was something else. Another crazy wife!!! What is it with Ragnar's sons and the crazy women? With the exception of Torvi, they sure know how to pick 'em, Ivar just made a very, very bad decision, IMO. Hvikserk may have been mad at the moment but he would never have turned against his brother. What he failed to remember was that Ivar had already murdered Sigurd so what was to prevent him from murdering another? More power to Harold.

In England, it seems to me Bjorn is pouting. Not happy with events but powerless to do anything about it. I was actually intrigued to see that Magnus survived his exile. It never sat well with me what Ecbert did to that kid but he's had a lot of years to harbor a grudge and his mom was also one grape short of a fruit salad, so what's gonna happen here? Is Bjorn really happy to find a long, lost half brother? Maybe. I think that Magnus is happy to find someone he thinks can avenge him but both men should tread carefully.

Do Vikings have no long term memory? Both Rollo and Ragnar converted to Christianity at various times for various reasons. Big deal. Forced or expedient conversions seldom if ever produce true converts. In this case, Ubbe and Torvi have made the right decision for this time. Whatever they still believe in their hearts is theirs but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do and no one is being hurt by this decision. They have the kids to think about.

Stealth was right that Heahmund would claim he was thwarting a rebellion. I was a bit saddened to see Alfred's brother was in on it though. Looks like he secretly wanted to be king after all. Also, I'm a bit relieved that Alfred married that girl so quickly. If she's pregnant by Bjorn she can pull it off as Alfred's child, unless of course it's born with blonde hair and blue eyes, lol.

I haven't even commented on the Floki/Iceland situation. That whole idea was ill conceived and so far it's come to naught. However, there were Viking settlers there. My daughter was in Iceland a couple of years ago and one of the sites her group toured was an old Viking lodge, reminiscent of an Iroquoian long house. I can't predict whether or not this first attempt at settling will bear fruit or not as Iceland's permanent settlers may have come later but two warring families playing out a Romeo and Juliet senario doesn't look promising now that the pregnant woman is missing.

Oh, by the way, Lagertha's hair is looking better and better to me as time goes on, lol.

 

Just when you thought it wasn't possible to hate Ivar anymore, he decides to kill his second brother. This is even worse too because it's not on impulse, but a sadistic, planned sacrifice. I hope Lagertha ends up being the one to kill him. That's what he deserves the most, because he still wants revenge against her.

It's funny how Ubbe is displaying the sort of intelligence that Ragnar displayed but Bjorn is digging in his heels and acting more like Floki. I'm starting to like Ubbe's character more now.

Despite his doubts, Alfred is proving to be handling things quite well for a young King. He's correctly noticed that he must stick with someone loyal like Heahmund to get through the challenge to his crown.

Since Bjorn is increasingly unhappy I'm wondering if he might end up joining with Harold to defeat Ivar.

 

Ooh, I think you may be right about Bjorn eventually joining with Harold. I think Alfred will hold Bjorn to his promise to help fend off Ivar's army whom I'm sure will be coming but when he hears from some of the Norsemen what happened to Hvikserk, he'll be hell bent to avenge him. I don't think he has ever had any ambitions to be king, so no threat to Harold who will welcome him into the fold. This is gonna get good. Quite frankly, I don't care who kills Ivar but he needs to go.

 

I'm hoping Ivar is killed off by the end of the season. Don't want to go into another one with him still alive. This will be the second brother he's killed, and now he's completely lost touch with any semblance of reality. It makes Rollo's part in helping install him as king even more deplorable too.

I agree with you on Bjorn I don't think he has any interest in ruling. Harold has also shown the flexibility of working with anyone who will help him reach his goals, so it wouldn't be a stretch for him to ally with Bjorn.

 

This latest episode could be the calm before the storm as they say. I was truly frustrated, and a bit relieved.

For instance, I was relieved that Ivar wasn't stupid enough to sacrifice Hvikserk but at the same time was stupid enough to kill an unwilling woman and tell everyone that she was Lagertha. All the while, until they slit her throat, she was protesting she wasn't and any one who lived in Kattegat knew she wasn't and sacrificed her anyway. That was a Trump move, you know, declaring something is true when it obviously isn't, lol. Ivar is so off the rails, he's in the next village. No wonder there are the beginnings of some uprisings although the three men who were hanged might have been kin to the poor young woman who lost her life.

In England, we saw Althered wasn't able to follow through with the overthrow of Alfred. Relieved. However I was frustrated that the king is now saddled, along with a faithless brother, three (?), not really sure now about Magnus, sons of Ragnar, Larry, Daryl and Daryl with Ubbe being Larry by the way. I was happy Ubbe was willing to teach Alfred to fight but I hope there was more to it than throwing axes at him so he can conquer his fear. First things first I guess. I thought it was appropriate that Al cut his hair, (although I rather liked the long locks) but the mustache made him look like a seventies porn star.

Then we get to Harold. First rule, don't make a move on your ally's female. Second, he says something about how the English may try to block the river. It was a hand slap to the forehead moment for me. Why hadn't the Lothbroks given Alfred that piece of strategy already? Surely there must be chains in England and it wouldn't have taken long to post guards or arrow shooters along the banks of the river. They were all there in France when Rollo used that tactic successfully against them. Would have slowed Harold down at any rate. Not doing the job the Vikings given asylum promised to do. It would have been a good faith move. No wonder Al got a bit tough with them. It's now or never guys...put up or....die. Now we'll have a more organized ground battle. Let's see what Bjorn and company can cook up.

Iceland? I'm done with those jokers. Floki should be too. I think he did the right thing by exiling the offending family who killed the young mother to be. I'm not sure he should have made the young husband go with his family but he wanted to make it a clean split I guess.
Now, unless they go back to Norway and recruit new families we're gonna be looking at a serious inbreeding situation here. When the banished boys decide they've tired of living a celibate life we're going to end up with them trying to steal (literally) the girls away from the other family unless they should perish during the winter. It could have been so simple if they could have just all gotten along. *sigh*