Vikings 4.12: Two Expeditions

Another excellent episode of Vikings - 4.12 - on Wednesday night, featuring the launching of two very different expeditions to the world beyond Scandinavia.

Bjorn and another one of Ragnar's grown sons are taking Floki's best ships to the Mediterranean. Ragnar and Ivar the Boneless are going to Wessex to avenge or reclaim the lost Viking settlement there.   Bjorn's expedition has the strongest men.  Ragnar was happy to get whomever he could get, in most cases Vikings well passed their prime.

As with last week's episode, the focal point of this story are Ragnar's sons.   They have subtly different, interlocking and complementary personalities, and these are played out very well by the acting.  Alex Høgh Andersen's performance as Ivar is especially memorable.

Lagertha and Queen Aslaug are also part of this tableau.  For understandable reasons, they hate each other.  They each have a son in the game - Aslaugh of course has more than one son on these voyages - but Bjorn represents the best of Lagertha and Ivar the truest soul of Aslaugh.   She does not want her son to go on this dangerous voyage, given his condition, but a part of her is happy, painful as it is, not just for Ivar as a man, but for her own stake in the future of the world.

Of course the voyages are not a game.  They are real life, at its most dangerous, where anything can happen.  In this case, our story on the screen is tempered by what we know of real history - and confirmed by the coming attractions.  So although it looks at the end as if Ragnar and Ivar may drown in the sea with their capsized ship, we'll certainly be seeing more of them next week.

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

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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