Vikings: Born Again
March 30, 2015 7:06 AM - Season 3, Episode 6 - Subscribe
Planning for the attack on Paris is underway, and Aethelstan meets Ragnar's original source of information concerning the lands to the West. In Wessex, Lady Judith gives birth to a son named Alfred, whom King Ecbert believes may have special importance. Meanwhile, Aethelstan has a religious experience and declares himself a born again Christian, which leads to problems among the rest of the viking community, particularly Floki.
We really don't get a sense of Ragnar as a king until this episode. He still feels like a bumbling farmer and then he's killing that poor old guy and you realize it's because he's doing it because he can't afford to look weak.
posted by Catblack at 9:29 AM on March 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Catblack at 9:29 AM on March 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
Is it because of "face" or was it doing the old guy a favour? Kind of a really personal noblesse oblige?
Ragnar's burial of Athelstan was pretty touching; his only "real friend" is a former slave whose religion is causing Ragnar huge political problems. Yes, Floki is a good friend, but that friendship has serious strings attached due to the obligations of being a leader.
Yeah, the whole Ecbert is a little too soapy and the plans-within-plans is getting a little out of hand, story wise and a bit over the top.
posted by porpoise at 10:56 AM on March 30, 2015
Ragnar's burial of Athelstan was pretty touching; his only "real friend" is a former slave whose religion is causing Ragnar huge political problems. Yes, Floki is a good friend, but that friendship has serious strings attached due to the obligations of being a leader.
Yeah, the whole Ecbert is a little too soapy and the plans-within-plans is getting a little out of hand, story wise and a bit over the top.
posted by porpoise at 10:56 AM on March 30, 2015
We really don't get a sense of Ragnar as a king until this episode.
idk, for me i think i saw a lot of kingliness or whatever when he was sitting alone with ecbert, especially wrt how quickly and seemingly sincerely ecbert accepted his rise in status upon their second meeting.
i'm super irritated that we presumably won't see anything about athelstan's reaction to ecbert's pronunciation of his child's mystical holiness, but tbh i think it would probably be more born again stuff which i find uninteresting at best and highly vexatious at worst.
posted by poffin boffin at 11:35 AM on March 30, 2015 [4 favorites]
idk, for me i think i saw a lot of kingliness or whatever when he was sitting alone with ecbert, especially wrt how quickly and seemingly sincerely ecbert accepted his rise in status upon their second meeting.
i'm super irritated that we presumably won't see anything about athelstan's reaction to ecbert's pronunciation of his child's mystical holiness, but tbh i think it would probably be more born again stuff which i find uninteresting at best and highly vexatious at worst.
posted by poffin boffin at 11:35 AM on March 30, 2015 [4 favorites]
I am definitely going to miss Athelstan. I was looking forward to him trying to convert Ragnar or other vikings, and then the show dealing with the age old question, did Christianity weaken the Vikings? This has definitely been a season where there are no untouchables, be it the actress' personal reasons being respected to kill someone off or for the betterment of the story, as the writer has discussed concerning Aethelstan. Going along my wish above, I kept on thinking Athelstan was going to revive from the head wound Floki laid out on him, i..e, miraculously come back from the dead, and that would provide power to his conversion message. But....nope, he gets a grave and a cross, probably more than one would expect. Notably, Ragnar gives him a Christian burial, not a viking one.
But hey, at least Athelstan can watch from heaven as his son grows up to be Alfred the Great of England! Again, I never know with Ecbert when he's playing for the audience or being genuine, but none the less, poor Judith the One Ear. She won't be wearing her hair up in the future.
I saw Ragnar's murder of the surviving farmer more as a matter of concealing the fate of the settlement, so more along the lines of saving face. He doesn't want his trip to Paris to be undermined by the disaster of the Wessex experiment, so killed the guy. The guy obviously wasn't THAT ready to return to his family, as he struggled against Ragnar.
And Floki, I hope he can feel a bit better now. He's been a bit of downer with his grumblings toward Athelstan and Christianity. He may not like the cross that Ragnar has borrowed, something of a clever turn around, where Athelstan discarded the sign of Viking loyalty given to him from Ragnar, and now Ragnar has put on a cross that Athelstan wore as sign of loyalty/faith to the Christian God.
And I totally typoed Athelstan's name in the post. Brr.
posted by Atreides at 11:47 AM on March 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
But hey, at least Athelstan can watch from heaven as his son grows up to be Alfred the Great of England! Again, I never know with Ecbert when he's playing for the audience or being genuine, but none the less, poor Judith the One Ear. She won't be wearing her hair up in the future.
I saw Ragnar's murder of the surviving farmer more as a matter of concealing the fate of the settlement, so more along the lines of saving face. He doesn't want his trip to Paris to be undermined by the disaster of the Wessex experiment, so killed the guy. The guy obviously wasn't THAT ready to return to his family, as he struggled against Ragnar.
And Floki, I hope he can feel a bit better now. He's been a bit of downer with his grumblings toward Athelstan and Christianity. He may not like the cross that Ragnar has borrowed, something of a clever turn around, where Athelstan discarded the sign of Viking loyalty given to him from Ragnar, and now Ragnar has put on a cross that Athelstan wore as sign of loyalty/faith to the Christian God.
And I totally typoed Athelstan's name in the post. Brr.
posted by Atreides at 11:47 AM on March 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
i hope floki is devoured by jotunn and forever denied valhalla
posted by poffin boffin at 1:55 PM on March 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 1:55 PM on March 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
...well, there went the one person Ragnar hadn't been a total jerkface to. Athelstan, you will be missed.
posted by tautological at 4:27 PM on March 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by tautological at 4:27 PM on March 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
No worries, Æ is annoying to type.
posted by porpoise at 8:07 PM on March 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by porpoise at 8:07 PM on March 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
I saw Ragnar's murder of the surviving farmer more as a matter of concealing the fate of the settlement, so more along the lines of saving face. He doesn't want his trip to Paris to be undermined by the disaster of the Wessex experiment, so killed the guy.
Yeah, I saw this as politics: if word got out that the settlement was massacred, Ragnar would have to deal with that by avenging his people against Ecgbert, instead of going off to storm Paris with his BFF Athelstan.
But I expected Ragnar to kill the guy fast and mercifully; that extended strangulation scene was unpleasant, and hardly kind. What happened to the Jason Bourne-style neck-snap?
As for Athelstan, I was truly surprised. They did just kill off Siggy, and Athelstan has been the 3rd point in the philosophical/religious triangle of the show (with Ragnar balanced uneasily between Athelstan & Floki). It seems to me there was more they could have done with him, especially given that he now has a child (even if he doesn't know it). Although his constant uncertainty was getting a little old.
I am about ready for Lagertha to knife someone, though. Not even Bjorn is taking her seriously.
... so, is anyone going to deal with the massacre of the settlers? OK, so wassname and wassername, who hate Ragnar, clearly know what happened. I expect them to reveal the truth at the moment it will do the most damage to Ragnar, probably the eve of the battle for Paris.
posted by suelac at 9:26 PM on March 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
Yeah, I saw this as politics: if word got out that the settlement was massacred, Ragnar would have to deal with that by avenging his people against Ecgbert, instead of going off to storm Paris with his BFF Athelstan.
But I expected Ragnar to kill the guy fast and mercifully; that extended strangulation scene was unpleasant, and hardly kind. What happened to the Jason Bourne-style neck-snap?
As for Athelstan, I was truly surprised. They did just kill off Siggy, and Athelstan has been the 3rd point in the philosophical/religious triangle of the show (with Ragnar balanced uneasily between Athelstan & Floki). It seems to me there was more they could have done with him, especially given that he now has a child (even if he doesn't know it). Although his constant uncertainty was getting a little old.
I am about ready for Lagertha to knife someone, though. Not even Bjorn is taking her seriously.
... so, is anyone going to deal with the massacre of the settlers? OK, so wassname and wassername, who hate Ragnar, clearly know what happened. I expect them to reveal the truth at the moment it will do the most damage to Ragnar, probably the eve of the battle for Paris.
posted by suelac at 9:26 PM on March 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'm disappointed to see Athelstan go; whenever he was onscreen I'd find myself wishing for more of him. But it looks like the actor's moved on to play Louis XIV in a new show called Versailles.
posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED at 6:58 PM on April 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED at 6:58 PM on April 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
posted by Pendragon at 7:12 AM on March 30, 2015