Robb Ghag recaps the fifth episode of The History Channel drama Vikings…
The Earls, after having consulted the shaman in the last episode, gathers his forces to attack Ragnar’s family and farm. Immediately the farmers begin to fall from a hail of arrows as the Earl and his troops attack, leaving many dead bodies in their wake. Somehow Ragnar senses this and comes back to the farm to protect his family. His skills are great to watch as he quickly cuts down enemy after enemy. During the skirmish, our hero’s leg is cut deeply, and as he tries to find his family, he gets struck with an arrow. The Earl and his men summon Ragnar to come before them, and he’s so wounded he cannot even stand.
His family makes good their escape, while the Earl stands before Ragnar gloating. It’s quite a brilliant move, as Ragnar buys his family time to escape and then steals a horse and escapes himself. It’s an epic opening and a great way to escalate the already tense relationship between Ragnar and the Earl. Ragnar’s family reunites with him as he escapes into the river. They make for Floki’s home where he begins to churn herbs and attempt to heal Ragnar.
At Earl Haraldson’s throne room another Earl arrives from Sweden to the surprise of Ziggy. Earl Haraldson announces to his wife and his daughter that she is to marry the Earl from Sweden. This shock and dismays all, but no one can withstand the Earl’s command. Ziggy is furious with her husband as she knew nothing about this arrangement, and says it’s clear the Earl has stopped caring about her. In response he re-tells the story about how he found his two sons dead in a shallow grave. The sons both had their heads cut off and then placed by their asses, for extra insult to injury. This explains why the Earl has lost faith in the gods, and why he must consolidate power with the Swedes to ensure his bloodline continues to rule.
As Ragnar begins the road to recovery, we see the wedding of the daughter of Earl Haraldson. Rollo enters the throne room to join in the festivities, to the surprise of everyone. As Rollo explains, he wants to continue in the service of the Earl with Ragnar being dead. The Earl invites Rollo to stay as his guest as he contemplates his offer. Rollo accepts. Later, Ziggy comes to find him to warn him, that the Earl doesn’t trust him, and that he must get out. Rollo is capture by the Earls guards, and they begin to torture him to find Ragnar, or at the least, his dead body.
Back in Floki’s home, one of Ragnar’s crew mates comes to find him to tell him that Rollo is captured and being tortured by Earl Haraldson. The crew mate tells Ragnar that Rollo will soon be dead because the Earl tortures him to find his whereabouts, and Rollo will say nothing. This infuriates Ragnar and he tells Floki to go to the Earl, ask for a meeting and challenge him to open combat with Ragnar. If the Earl refuses, then shame will befall his entire family, and he’ll never be allowed to enter Valhalla.
Robb Ghag works for an Arts & Entertainment Brokerage in Toronto Canada. An Animation and Film school graduate, he specializes in Risk Management of Animation and VFX studios throughout North America.
Originally published April 8, 2013. Updated March 19, 2022.
