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I wonder if the use of both earl and jarl is supposed to be showing a difference between the Northmen and the Swedes?
Very random: Yay! Proper Scandinavian weather!
I wonder if it's a deliberate strategy on Ragnar's part - using Rollo as bait, an easy target for tempting to betray Ragnar. And as long as Rollo's family loyalty weighs heavier than his personal aspirations, it will work - and I worry one day it won't. I worry, because I like Rollo the amoral and yet loyal son-of-a-bitch, and what if this time is the time the writers decide he's going to actually betray Ragnar?
I do like how common shieldmaidens are turning out to be.
Denmark? Well, okay - Skåne used to be Danish, so let's say, for the sake of peace, that this must be Skåne. How else could Floki have ridden there anyway? (Admittedly, I don't think Skåne looks like that either, but truth be told, I'm not able in all honestly to say that it doesn't...)
Anybody else want to slap Ragnar? (Yes, I know Aslaug/Ragnar is historical/mythical/supported by canon, I know that - doesn't mean I have to like it and so far, she is not coming across as likeable anyway).
Ah, so this is why we never heard of a village named Kattegat - everybody died of plague and no doubt the place was razed. No doubt that's it... (Really, for such an apparently small community, a ridiculous amount of people die in this series).
1½ round of sex and suddenly "I'm carrying your child"? That was fast... (And certainly nothing like the sagas': "We can't have sex for the first three nights or the child will be legless." "I follow my own advice." - Kraka and Ragnar, in conversation, 9 months prior to the birth of one Ivar Ragnarsson).
And roll credits.
So, hardly the strongest episode. I disliked Ragnar's plotline - Kraka doesn't come across as a particularly sympathetic person so far, and it doesn't help that while Ragnar is chasing possible sons with her, he's loosing an actual daughter to the plague back in Kattegat. Not to mention that it seems that Rollo has finally decided to betray him - or has he? (What? Rollo has previously proven willing to say and do stuff for political expediency - why should this time be so very different?) Basically, Kraka is distracting Ragnar from all the stuff he ought to be focusing on (and it was Borg that conveniently pushed him in her direction - I wonder if that's supposed to be a coincidence...).
Lagertha, well, I like how she's coming more and more into her own as leader of Kattegat - I wouldn't be surprised if the possible divorce (that I don't want to happen) will end with an Earl Lagertha. I mean, these three episodes has clearly shown her as the one actually doing the ruling - even after her miscarriage it's Ragnar pouting while she handles the necessary business of government.
Athelstan - not nearly enough him. At least he didn't die (I'm a bit sad Gyda did, but perhaps not surprised - she was by far the member of the household given least screentime). Also, the beard is still horrible, but his hair's better. Apart from that, well, there's not much to say about Athelstan this episode, is there? I would have liked something - some fallout from last episode, perhaps?
That said, I must admit, as the concluding episode of a season - not to mention the ever-possible end of a series that has been averted this time around - I found it weak. Kraka's bewitching of Ragnar and Jarl Borg's plotting doesn't feel like a good enough cliffhanger, while at the same time, things aren't tied up neatly. It feels - like a new episode is supposed to come next week, if you know what I mean?
In any case: anybody else think Ragnar will end up killing Horik and supplanting him as King of Denmark? Hail King Ragnar!
Very random: Yay! Proper Scandinavian weather!
I wonder if it's a deliberate strategy on Ragnar's part - using Rollo as bait, an easy target for tempting to betray Ragnar. And as long as Rollo's family loyalty weighs heavier than his personal aspirations, it will work - and I worry one day it won't. I worry, because I like Rollo the amoral and yet loyal son-of-a-bitch, and what if this time is the time the writers decide he's going to actually betray Ragnar?
I do like how common shieldmaidens are turning out to be.
Denmark? Well, okay - Skåne used to be Danish, so let's say, for the sake of peace, that this must be Skåne. How else could Floki have ridden there anyway? (Admittedly, I don't think Skåne looks like that either, but truth be told, I'm not able in all honestly to say that it doesn't...)
Anybody else want to slap Ragnar? (Yes, I know Aslaug/Ragnar is historical/mythical/supported by canon, I know that - doesn't mean I have to like it and so far, she is not coming across as likeable anyway).
Ah, so this is why we never heard of a village named Kattegat - everybody died of plague and no doubt the place was razed. No doubt that's it... (Really, for such an apparently small community, a ridiculous amount of people die in this series).
1½ round of sex and suddenly "I'm carrying your child"? That was fast... (And certainly nothing like the sagas': "We can't have sex for the first three nights or the child will be legless." "I follow my own advice." - Kraka and Ragnar, in conversation, 9 months prior to the birth of one Ivar Ragnarsson).
And roll credits.
So, hardly the strongest episode. I disliked Ragnar's plotline - Kraka doesn't come across as a particularly sympathetic person so far, and it doesn't help that while Ragnar is chasing possible sons with her, he's loosing an actual daughter to the plague back in Kattegat. Not to mention that it seems that Rollo has finally decided to betray him - or has he? (What? Rollo has previously proven willing to say and do stuff for political expediency - why should this time be so very different?) Basically, Kraka is distracting Ragnar from all the stuff he ought to be focusing on (and it was Borg that conveniently pushed him in her direction - I wonder if that's supposed to be a coincidence...).
Lagertha, well, I like how she's coming more and more into her own as leader of Kattegat - I wouldn't be surprised if the possible divorce (that I don't want to happen) will end with an Earl Lagertha. I mean, these three episodes has clearly shown her as the one actually doing the ruling - even after her miscarriage it's Ragnar pouting while she handles the necessary business of government.
Athelstan - not nearly enough him. At least he didn't die (I'm a bit sad Gyda did, but perhaps not surprised - she was by far the member of the household given least screentime). Also, the beard is still horrible, but his hair's better. Apart from that, well, there's not much to say about Athelstan this episode, is there? I would have liked something - some fallout from last episode, perhaps?
That said, I must admit, as the concluding episode of a season - not to mention the ever-possible end of a series that has been averted this time around - I found it weak. Kraka's bewitching of Ragnar and Jarl Borg's plotting doesn't feel like a good enough cliffhanger, while at the same time, things aren't tied up neatly. It feels - like a new episode is supposed to come next week, if you know what I mean?
In any case: anybody else think Ragnar will end up killing Horik and supplanting him as King of Denmark? Hail King Ragnar!