The Vikings on the History Channel : "The end of Season Three"

 The plot, the vast array of characters, the emotions and attachments the viewer develops as one watches yet another great season of The Vikings certainly leaves suspense and a deep curiosity as to what may happen next. Although season 4 of The Vikings has been confirmed and is said to be starting production this spring in Ireland, it is also reported season four is the final season of this marvelous historical fiction.
 According to List+3 ratings in Variety, 4.3 million viewers are watching each episode weekly.  What a joy it has been to appreciate Michael Hirst's ability to create such a historical drama that is filled with facts and evidence  yet allows the various fictional characters within this story to capture and embrace the viewer's heart.  
  It's  been curiously interesting to watch a small tribe of Viking Norsemen  attack others on foreign soil in Season One with only one vessel and thirty men, initially raiding isolated monasteries up and down the Northumbria in  northern England, to now having fifty boats with 3000 men as the famous warriors attack Paris in Season three. 

 As season 3 came to a close with King Ragnar making it clearly known to Floki he knew it was Floki that had killed Ragnar's beloved friend Athelstan leaving Floki in an apparent shock upon hearing this news from Ragnar's own lips, it leaves the viewer what may be in store for Floki.
 Season 3 for myself brought sadness as Siggy and Athelstan have both died in different episodes and now Ragnar is sick and you get the feeling he too is nearing death.
 Ragnar's curiosity and openness to Christianity because of Athelstan's influence has certainly changed the relationships between Ragnar and his brother Rollo and with Floki who has reeked with jealousy over the last 2 seasons because of the growing friendship between Ragnar and Athelstan with Floki ending their friendship by killing Athelstan...or so it appears.  Lagertha has reentered the scene drawing close to Ragnar once more. Everyone seems to want Lagertha including King Ecbert of Wessex and yet Lagertha seems most comforted when she has interaction with Ragnar, as does Ragnar's son Bjorn.

 As Season 4 comes to us hopefully by next spring, the questions for me will be:
1. Does Rollo betray his brother once again to become a Count of Paris and fight against Ragnar?, much like he did when he joined up with Jarl Borg and fought against Ragnar in Season 2.
2. Since Ragnar may now know the true feelings of Bjorn, Rollo, Lagertha, and Floki when they had thought Ragnar was dead and in a Viking boat type casket when in truth Ragnar was still very much alive and could have been listening to each word each person said as they paid verbal tribute to King Ragnar individually. How will this change their relationships: Bjorn expressing love for his father Ragnar, Rollo expressing how his brother always overshadowed Rollo, Lagertha who seemed to imply her trust and confidence in Ragnar, and Floki, who now faces the consequences of killing Ragnar's friend Athelstan?
3. In the attacks upon Paris with Ragnar being deathly sick, has Rollo become the supreme Viking warrior and perhaps finally the new leader of the Vikings?
4. Where does Princess Aslaug fit in the next season as Ivan the Boneless grows into a young man and Princess Aslaug's view on  killing Christians while Ragnar has now been baptized as a Christian in front of all his fellow Vikings, and the return of King Ecbert of Wessex should make Season 4 a great finale to a time in history when:

                                                  Vikings roamed the earth....