Vikings

Lagertha is in one of the previews for the second half of the season.

I'm not impressed by the Go T comparisons. Extended breastfeeding as metaphor predates Go T by, oh, a few dozen centuries. I suspect many people have things in reverse - ASOIAF owes a great debt to European epic poems and sagas, which this show is based on.

Then again, I have a very different opinion of this show than most. Last season got a lot of gripes and I thought it was by far the most intense season yet, and easily the richest in symbolism.

You're probably right on the whole "which came first" thing, but the symbolism is probably the part that's turning people off the most. We know History channel's been a joke for a loooong time now, but I think folks wanted this show to be a Hell of a lot more maybe mundane and a whole lot less maybe magic than it's become. This is supposed to be HISTORY channel, not fantasy channel. That shit belongs on Syfy or one of the Premium channels, not where it is now.

I could be wrong, of course, but that seems to sum up the undertone of all the complaints, including the Go T comparisons.

I wish there was less fantasy on Vikings and more on Game of Thrones

I view the mythological elements as Unreliable Narrator - much the way Christians view everything through the filter of their faith, so do the Vikings. Importantly I don't think anything has ever really taken place that was undeniably supernatural, it's all explainable as the merely the way those present viewed things. If anything, I've been extremely grateful that the show has given a relatively fair view of Viking religion, portraying it as a nature cult first and foremost, so I suppose I'm glad they worked that in however it is.

Imagine part 2 of this season is either going to be series finale, or it will be a total transition afterwards with maybe one more season. They certainly could squeeze quite a bit of mileage out of the upcoming invasion but I suspect it will end with the death of Ragnar.

Well, this started back up without a word being said. S 4 E 10 was indeed labelled the season finale, but now it's the spring finale only and it's back on for the winter.

S 4 E 11 recap:

Ragnar shows back up at Kattegat and challenges his sons. They aren't impressed. The younger ones have little respect for him, and Bjorn has better things to do and better places to raid than returning to Wessex for vengeance.

Lagertha is alive and well, and has...a girlfriend? No complaints here, thank you very much. Her meeting with Ragnar is touching, they both seem to feel like they lost what they cared for most in their quest for power and adventure.

Floki is busy helping Bjorn. Another scene in which it feels Ragnar is saying goodbye.

And so he is, he hangs himself...and fails. He returns to Kattegat, and Ivar says he will go to England with him.

Overall, not looking so great for ol' Ragnar's chances of long term survival, but it is looking good for the show's longevity if they're working to establish his sons as characters. We may get the great heathen invason yet.

Please God no Heathen Invasion.

Lagertha and girlfriend = OTP.

Haven't they already gone on record saying Ragnar's death is the endpoint for the show and there won't be a Heathen Invasion? I guess they could change that, but far as I knew that's where they stood so far.

Okay, now I've actually seen the episode. There were weird, unrealistic parts, but at overall it was good and it moves the story forward.

I'm looking forward to this half-season.

That has to go down as one of the more brutal ends to a main series protagonist. It was determined from the start, but damn. Let's hope Lagertha isn't next.

Guess we are getting the Heathen Invasion after all.

I was surprised and annoyed at seeing that, but we should have expected it. Those Sagas were often multigenerational affairs.

Well, at least they outright said Kattegat was in Norway now. We figured that from the conversation where Fairhair's ambition to rule Norway was laid out, but now we know for sure.

Well, Lagertha is obviously doomed. Probably didn't want to bring her back for the next (final?) season, which will presumably all take place in Britain (or Ireland too?).

Another example of Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane that's bound to infuriate the segment of the audience that hates that kind of thing. This one could be interpreted as the news of Ragnar's death arriving by rumor (except maybe for Bjorn, but what can you do?), if you choose not to take this at face value as a message straight from Odin.

But that's how sagas work. You can reliably assume that Odin came and told each one. Just like the guy who was with Aslaug when Siggy died can reasonably be assumed to be one of the Gods (I forget if they said Loki or Odin.)

Harbard? He implied himself to be Thor, although the show also suggested he might be a charlatan.

The appearance of Odin could be treated as a vision, which is probably what it's really intended as since nobody else in the vicinity reacts to the appearance of such a striking stranger who obviously resembles Odin.

Yeah, probably visions granted by Odin.

All I can say is if/when they decide to get rid of Lagertha, I'm out. I like Bjorn but his arc doesn't fill enough of an episode and Rollo's presence detracts from it. None of the other sons really keep me amused. I just wanna slam a warhammer down on Ivar's head, and the others don't strike me as much better.

ETA: Plus Floki's intense interest in Islam comes across as highly hypocritical given that he killed Athelstan.

edited 9th Jan '17 6:46:27 PM by Journeyman

I think it has to do with devotion to their faith. Maybe Floki dislike the Christians since for all their talk how great their religion is, they aren't willing to fight to the death to defend their faith and aren't really devoted to God. For the Muslims, Floki has some respect for the people at the Mosque since despite their city is being raided, they show no fear and continue praying to God even when an Iman was killed by one of the Vikings. That's what i think.

Then how did Lagertha go from Kattegat to Hedeby on a horse?

-angry geography noises-

1. They have Uppsala on a fucking mountain when the real one is in flat land.

2. Did we see the whole trip? Maybe she took a boat and had her horse with her.

This is alternate historical fantasy where they went Dynasty Warriors Orochi on a whole bunch of Norse sagas and called it a day. Show's only worth watching if you pick a character to like and follow it until their inevitable death.

In b4 an accident at sea or on a raid kills Bjorn before he can be King of Sweden.

http://ew.com/tv/2016/12/28/vikings-death-all-his-angels-season-4-episode-15/

Some interesting tidbits in here.

'Over the course of four seasons, Ragnar converted to Christianity and struggled between different religions: What did he believe, by the end? "He's a definite atheist," says Fimmel. "I’m a big atheist, so I always pushed for that at the end."'

Make of it what you will.

Ha, so his speech was just one big fuck you to all the religious people around him who pushed him around.

Gotta admit, the man was pretty much insane by the end, and Fimmel pulled it off wonderfully like Avery Brooks playing Benjamin Sisko in DS 9.

I'm really weirded out that Bjorn is banging his mom's girlfriend. He's a reverse Aethelwulf who is getting cuckolded by his own father.

Also I'm super happy that Jonathan Rhys-Meyers is going to join the cast

edited 18th Jan '17 12:50:24 AM by MadSkillz

Ah, that's the kind of fanservice this show provides. Gorgeous women performing human sacrifices in a strangely erotic manner, and gratifyingly gruesome executions of hated enemies.

Surprised this moved ahead so fast, but who's complaining? I wish the battle scene had a little more meat on it, but I suppose the point is that it wasn't even a fight, but a ludicrous slaughter. The oh shit faces were on par with the time they wrecked face in Mierce, so that was fun, especially Ælla's response to the bishop.

Ivar may not get it up for women, but he sure gets tight in the pants for death it seems.

Good episode. Had the flavor of an episode from seasons of yore.

That was fun. Now to see where they take it from here.

Bad, horrible art at the end, but it fits the show and works in a horrible way.

Huh, I wasn't expecting a son of Ragnar's to die this season.