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Saturday, February 15, 2020

Vikings 6.10: The Conversations



Catching up with a review of the momentous mid-season finale of Vikings - 6.10 - and what an episode it was, replete with superb battle scenes and some notable and at least one highly regrettable death.

Season 6 already had its momentous death - Lagertha.  I could have lived without another.  But Bjorn dies at the end of the battle between the Rus and our Vikings, which is also the end of the episode.  The presentation of this death is very effective.  Throughout the battle, we see Bjorn and Ivar, sitting on the beach, in conversation.  They're not really there - they're actually in battle.  So I guess it's their spirits who are conversing.  The denouement comes when Bjorn admits to failures in the past, but vows to succeed in repulsing Ivar and the Rus.  Ivar, remarkably calm and composed in this conversation, tells Bjorn that he failed a long time ago.  (Maybe this conversation of spirits is actually in the future?)  And, sure, enough, Bjorn is killed when he leads a last, desperate charge against the invaders, with no one behind him.

The other notable conversation is earlier, between Ivar and Hvitserk, who surprises Ivar when he says his joining Ivar is an expression of Hvitserk's embracement of evil.  Ivar, significantly, looks a little surprised at this admission.  Ivar likely considers what he does right and destined, not evil.

Meanwhile, on the death toll, Harald also dies, after raping Bjorn's lover (but not because of that).  I'm actually glad to see him go.  Not only because of the rape, but because of the way he in effect stole the kingship from Bjorn.  But one last proviso about the deaths:  my general principle of unless you see their heads blown off or chopped off comes into play, and this applies to both Bjorn and Harald.   Their heads were intact, on the beach, last we saw them.

Well, we'll find out when this final season resumes, and I'm sure much more, including how close Ubbe and Torve get to America.  See you back here then.

See also Vikings 6.1-2: Russia! ... Vikings 6.9: Othere = ?

And see also Vikings 5.1-2: Floki in Iceland ... Vikings 5.3: Laughing Ivar ...Vikings 5.4: Four of More Good Stories ... Vikings 5.5: Meet Lawrence of Arabia ... Vikings 5.6: Meanwhile, Back Home ... Vikings 5.7: A Looming Trojan-War Battle, Vikings Style, and Two Beautiful Stories ...Vikings 5.8: Only Heahmund? ... Vikings 5.9: Rollo ... Vikings 5.10: New and Old Worlds ... Vikings 5.11: Rollo's Son ... Vikings 5.12: "The Beast with Two Backs" ... Vikings 5.13: The Sacrifice ... Vikings 5.14: Fake News in Kattegat ... Vikings 5.15: Battle ... Vikings 5.16: Peace and War ... Vikings 5.17: No Harmony in Iceland ... Vikings 5.18: Demented Ivar ... Vikings 5.19-20: Endings and Beginnings

And 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 ...Vikings 1.18: The Beginning of Revenge ... Vikings 4.19: On the Verge of History ... Vikings 4.20: Ends and Starts

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
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