In this episode, King Ragnar's dream not entering Valhalla after a lifetime of epic battles is quite frightening to him. Listening to the celebration going on in the festive halls of Valhalla only to disappear as he approached was a traumatic experience. In the midst of this dream, Ragnar's love for Athelstan with his Christian views have deeply affected Ragnar to the point of his apparent rejection into the halls of a true Viking's ultimate destination.
Now, we enter the world of religion and politics. As in any culture, religion and politics help us to organize our world in order to justify the type of lives we choose to live...and stay true to ourselves including our dreams, desires, and personal success in life. Politics and religion help to decipher what is right...and what is wrong.
Politics and religion often divides us into competing groups according to: 1) status 2) order 3) territory 4) community aggression, and 5) survival. It equally conveys information that is both educational yet at times simply propaganda. As religion and politics attempt to "hold hands," there immerses a mixture of humanistic and theistic views, a blend of logic driven thoughts with a faith driven trust in a Supreme Being in the afterlife: Odin for Nordic belief, Jesus for Christian thought.
As this 4th season of The Vikings begin, betrayals have happened... and betrayals are about to happen!
Queen Aslaug, the clever yet icy wife to Ragnar, goes to the Seer to ask a question. She wants to know if a woman (eluding to herself) will ever rule Kattegat. The Seer, a brilliant character in this complex historical fiction, answers in a mystical and shadowy way. Queen Aslaug leaves the viewer with a cold yet clear feeling she is about to further her undermining to the desires of King Ragnar. Their relationship is quite evident to be cold...icy as Queen Aslaug herself.
Queen Aslaug then purchases an Asian slave, Yidu, with the clear intention to captivate Ragnar and expose his weakness to his commitment to her. She leaves the viewers wondering if Queen Aslaug is so sick of Ragnar, she now is making her move to turn on him? Is she about to find ways to convert this hatred of Ragnar and convince the community in the process?
The viewers favorite for many, our dear Floki! He is in a rancid mess. In an attempt to restore a friendship to his friend Ragnar, he leaves runes as an offering. (Runes was a gift of Nordic divination believed to produce a psychic awareness. They usually consisted of 24 tiles or stones that had carvings of characters or letters.)
Bjorn has returned from Paris and calls out Floki for his betrayal in the murder of Athelstan. Floki is put in chains and later pleads for help from his wife Helga. She looks at him with a seemingly mixture of disgust and compassion, yet refuses by leaving him chained to a stake.
Lagertha...( note to self...do not piss this lady off!). She cuts off a guy's genitals! Kalf, a jealous man toward Ragnar, is dedicated to making Lagertha happy. He tricks and kills Vikings of honor, namely Erlander and Einer.
Rollo, he is seemingly a man of mixed loyalties. He is in Paris, becoming a leader of Frankish royalty. He marries the strongly opinionated Princess Gisla. She is extremely stubborn toward her marriage with Rollo, which is almost comedic in nature. Rollo going to sleep while Princess Grisla threatens to murder him is a quite light-hearted scene in my humble opinion.
My favorite part in this episode?
The Bjorn and Ragnar conversation! Bjorn chooses to leave for a while...in the beginning of winter. Ragnar asks " Why are you really going?" Bjorn responds "Because you don't think I can survive."
Awesome! What a start!
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