‘Vikings’ season 4 episode 16 review: Ivar promises Lagertha death, will he deliver?
Last time on “Vikings” the unthinkable happened – we lost Ragnar. Both King Ecbert and King Aella were involved in his death and with that Ivar isn’t letting anyone off the hook, but before he can head back to England to avenge his father’s death he has to deal with Lagertha. He has learned that she killed his mother and took the throne of Kattegat and with that we are going to see just how ruthless Ivar can be.
Ecbert feels confident that Ragnar upheld his end of the deal when it comes to his son Ivar, but at the same time he’s decided to raise an army just in case Ragnar’s sons take vengeance on him as well as King Aella… and Ecbert is right to be worried, because Ragnar’s sons are coming for him lead by Ivar’s rage.
Lagertha is dealing poorly with the idea that Ragnar is dead (as we all are) and feels that she needs to rule in Ragnar’s place to honor him. She also feels that Kattegat was neglected by Ragnar since he never really enjoyed being king and that the town needs to be fortified. While many of the citizens are in agreement with her, Ivar is not. He enters the throne room and confronts Lagertha, telling her that he wants justice for killing his mother. He challenges her to single combat and she refuses saying that she doesn’t want to kill any of Ragnar’s sons. He promises Lagertha that even if she doesn’t fight him today, that he will kill her one day – and we believe him. Hopefully it won’t be any time soon, since we just lost Ragnar, we can’t lose Lagertha too. Lagertha asks the Seer if she will be killed by one of the sons of Ragnar and he tells her yes, but which one will be the one to do it?
On the other side of the world Bjorn is having a difficult time on his journey to Rome: They are lost, his men are turning on him and they are almost out of food and fresh water. When they stop in a land that they know nothing of (Rollo knows a little, but not much), they pillage the town, but we can see that this group of vikings is very divided. Floki sees a mosque and is drawn to it – inside he sees the main room filled with men praying and while some of the other vikings start to kill the men, Floki stops them. Are we going to see Floki learning about a new religion much like Ragnar did or is this just a respect for all religious places?
Helga wants another child and Floki says no, but when she rescues a child from the viking slaughter that would’ve been the same age as their daughter would’ve been, Floki tries to stop her. He can’t stop Helga though – looks like they are about to be adoptive parents.
Although Ragnar is dead, he really wasn’t gone from this episode. Everyone is feeling the effects of his death, Lagertha is seeing visions of him and all of his sons are seeing visions that are letting them know that Ragnar is dead. We were worried that the show wouldn’t be the same without him and while we are certainly feeling the loss of Ragnar (and Travis Fimmel), we had more then enough reminders to feel his presence. This cast is going to be able to continue to bring us powerful performances and there are still so many rich stories to tell. Episode grade: B
ICYMI: We spoke to “Vikings” actor Alex Høgh Andersen about his role as Ivar the Boneless! Check that out at the link here.
What did you think of this episode of “Vikings”? Leave us a comment in the box below and share your thoughts. If you want more scoop on “Vikings” season 4 then head on over to the link here. (Photo: History)