Vikings season 5 episode 8 review: Sons of Ragnar go to war against each other

The war for Kattegat is coming and it’s coming fast. Vikings season 5 has been a war for the throne and while Lagertha is currently the ruler, Ivar, Heahmund and Ubbe all have plans to usurp her. Bjorn has returned home and is ready to fight whoever he has to in order to help her (including his own brothers) and it’s just what she needed. After losing Ragnar, losing Astrid, the bad decision about Harald and losing the faith of some of her army she hasn’t been feeling much like the warrior we’ve come to know her as. She is vulnerable and everyone sees it, but with Bjorn there to help pick up her spirits we think she is ready to take whatever is coming her way. With all of her focus on Ivar and Harald, we worry that she’s not going to see Ubbe and Margrethe coming in from behind.

Preparing for the battle for Kattegat

Harald is feeling confident in his relationship with Astrid and is allowing her to come along on this attack on Kattegat, hopefully leading to the reunion of Astrid and Lagertha. All of Ragnar’s sons realize that they will be fighting each other in this battle, but all are ready to do what has to be done. We know where most of them fall in this battle… except for Ubbe. He’s given his loyalty Lagertha and is feuding with Ivar, but at the same time Lagertha killed his mother and Ubbe has his wife chirping in his ear about usurping Lagertha. As far as we are concerned, Ubbe is the one to watch in this whole thing – he is the wild card that could turn this battle one way or another.

Related – Check out a preview for what’s coming up on Vikings episode 9!

A moment of pause

Right before the battle begins, Lagertha decides to send emissaries to talk, because the sons of Ragnar killing each other is something she does not want. They start by exchanging brothers as Harald gets his back and Hvtesck joins Bjorn. They agree to meet again in the morning after both sides have a chance to talk and see if there is a chance to avoid battle all together. The next day the two sides meet in a peaceful setting to talk things through. Bjorn tries to lean on their family relations as a reason for a peaceful resolution, leading Ubbe to offer a bit of apology to Ivar.

Lagertha makes it clear that it’s ridiculous for them to weaken all of the viking armies by killing each other for a piece of land that the vikings already own and instead should join forces to carve out new lands to add to the kingdom. She tells Ivar that no matter if he wins or loses he will still be on the losing side since if he wins he will be looked at as a usurper and not as the true king of Kattegat. Ivar decides that he doesn’t want to fight against his brothers after all and renounces his promise to kill Lagertha – this leaves Harald on his own and us thinking that this is all part of a larger plan Ivar has to kill Lagertha and take the throne.

As it turns out Ivar is not interested in peace at all (shocking, we know) telling Ubbe that he is no longer his brother and that he is going to kill Lagertha. It’s a promise he made and will not break. Seeing Astrid and Lagertha meeting once again was heartbreaking for everyone, including Harald that realizes that even though she is married to him that Astrid will never look at him the way she looks at Lagertha.

Sides are choosen

Ivar has strong plans as to how to outsmart and beat Bjorn, but it mostly involves dividing up the troops (sending some back to protect the ships and some to flank Bjorn’s side). Not knowing how Bjorn and Lagertha plan to attack, Ivar is covering all of his bases. The battle begins and it’s just as thrilling, bloody and harrowing as you thought it would be. There is no description that can give this battle justice – it’s really something you need to see for yourself. We were waiting to see if any of our main players died in this battle and none did. We thought that we lost Heahmund but he’s now a prisoner of Lagertha’s. Ivar has finally tasted his first real loss – something we’ve wanted to see for a very long time.

CarterMatt’s Overall Thoughts

While we have been completely invested in the battle for Kattegat, we feel very removed from the Saxons story as even further removed from Floki’s story. Floki as a religious leader is a great idea, but having him gone from Kattegat and the rest of the main cast has felt very disjointed. What we loved about this episode is that most of it was focused on the battle for Kattegat and produced some of the best battle scenes we’ve ever seen on any show. This is why we continue to say that Vikings is the best show on television and it’s not even close.

What did you think of Vikings season 5 episode 8? Leave us your thoughts in the comment section below. If you want more scoop on what’s coming up next time on Vikings then be sure to check out our preview here. Also, join our CarterMatt Facebook page to stay up to date with all of our Vikings season 5 coverage. (Photo: History)