Vikings 4.18: The Beginning of Revenge

A brutal Vikings 4.18 this week, as Ragnar's sons with Lagertha and associates prepare for and begin to exact revenge for the killing of their father.

Lagertha's sacrificing of a Viking man as Bjorn made love to Lagertha's lover was a powerful scene, which put in high relief the savagery and sexual permissiveness which both characterized these Vikings.  This second point was repeated when two of Ragnar's other sons agree to bed the same woman, after she has married one of them.   That was actually my favorite scene of this dark episode.

And the darkest part, of course, was the protracted killing of the northern English king Aelle who so mercilessly and viciously killed Ragnar.  What Ragnat's sons did to him, in retribution, shows us the audience that these Vikings were not to be outdone when it came to meeting out revenge and death.

And though I'm naturally inclined to support our heroes, it's important to keep in mind that, after all, it was Ragnar who first attacked and invaded England, not vice versa.   So, on some moral plane, the English were entitled to kill Ragnar, if not in such an inhumane way.

And waiting on the deck of history is Ecbert, to get his just dues, too.  In the most horrendous scene of the evening, Ivar looks with rapt satisfaction right in the face of King Aelle, as the last of his life drains from him.  That's the face - Ivar's face - which will soon be looking at Ecbert, whose plan to pin the killing of Ragnar on Aelle has already failed, just as Ragnar intended it to fail, and as we already know.


See also Vikings 4.1: I'll Still Take Paris ... Vikings 4.2: Sacred Texts ...Vikings 4.4: Speaking the Language ... Vikings 4.5: Knives ... Vikings 4.8: Ships Up Cliff ... Vikings 4.10: "God Bless Paris" ... Vikings 4.11: Ragnar's Sons ... Vikings 4.12: Two Expeditions ... Vikings 4.13: Family ... Vikings 4.14: Penultimate Ragnar? ... Vikings 4.15: Close of an Era ... Vikings 1.16: Musselman ... Vikings 1.17: Ivar's Wheels

And see also Vikings 3.1. Fighting and Farming ... Vikings 3.2: Leonard Nimoy ...Vikings 3.3: We'll Always Have Paris ... Vikings 3.4: They Call Me the Wanderer ... Vikings 3.5: Massacre ... Vikings 3.6: Athelstan and Floki ...Vikings 3.7: At the Gates ... Vikings 3.8: Battle for Paris ... Vikings 3.9: The Conquered ... Vikings Season 3 Finale: Normandy

And see also Vikings 2.1-2: Upping the Ante of Conquest ... Vikings 2.4: Wise King ... Vikings 2.5: Caught in the Middle ... Vikings 2.6: The Guardians ...Vikings 2.7: Volatile Mix ... Vikings 2.8: Great Post-Apocalyptic Narrative ... Vikings Season 2 Finale: Satisfying, Surprising, Superb

And see also Vikings ... Vikings 1.2: Lindisfarne ... Vikings 1.3: The Priest ... Vikings 1.4:  Twist and Testudo ... Vikings 1.5: Freud and Family ... Vikings 1.7: Religion and Battle ... Vikings 1.8: Sacrifice
... Vikings Season 1 Finale: Below the Ash

 
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