Vikings season 5 episode 11 review: Rollo and Lagertha’s secret revealed

It has been a long wait for Vikings season 5 episode 11 (especially if you’re like us and you think this show is the best show on the planet), but the wait is always worth it! This is where we are: Lagertha has retreated and is in hiding after Ivar used the army Rollo sent him to take claim over Kattegat. Harald is in pretty bad shape after losing his brother, his wife and what he thinks is his unborn child. Lastly, Rollo is back! We saw him sailing toward Kattegat at the very end of the episode. He gave his army to Ivar, but he doesn’t want any of his nephews killing each other and he’s loved Lagertha for the longest time. It’s hard to know where Rollo is going to land on this, but it’s good to see him back.

All hail your new king!

Lagertha and Bjorn have fled Kattegat and Ivar is now king of everyone who is left. We fear for the people still living there since we know what Ivar is capable of – including peeing on Lagertha’s throne (which is now his throne so he really didn’t think that through did he?). As happy as Ivar is to have gained Kattegat, his thirst for revenge against Lagertha for killing his mother is not gone and he’s not really enjoying his win.

Rollo’s gain

We have never really been sure why Rollo chose to back Ivar in the war for Kattegat over Lagertha, but tonight that’s become a lot more clear. When he shows up in Kattegat, he tells Ivar that now that he’s the king, thanks to Rollo’s army, that he wants to strike a trade deal that is favorable to him. He also wants it agreed upon that if Rollo ever needs warriors, that Ivar will send people to help support him as he supported Ivar. We weren’t sure if Ivar was ruthless enough to tell Rollo no and send him on his way – instead he saw what he’s gained from Rollo’s helps and may need it again in the future. He didn’t exactly say yes, but Ivar is entertaining it.

Lagertha’s plans

She is in hiding with Bjorn, Ubbe, Torvi and Heahmund and everyone has different ideas of what they should do like fighting back, or maybe go to England to see if they can set up a home there. Even though Lagertha doesn’t want to leave her home, she thinks that the plan to go to England is a good one, especially since Heahmund is willing to vouch for them with the king (not realizing that Aethelwulf is dead and Alfred is king).

Before she has a chance to leave Rollo sneaks out of Kattegat in the middle of the night and rides to where Lagertha is. So why is he here? He wants to try to save Lagertha and Bjorn’s lives because he knows that Ivar will not stop until she is dead. Clearly his love for Lagertha isn’t gone – just like we hoped! So how is he going to do this? He wants to give them safe passage back to France, but she calls him out saying that he fought with Ivar to destroy them and help run them out of Kattegat and now he wants to help them – it doesn’t make any sense to her.

This is where the truth comes out… He has always loved her and that Bjorn is Rollo’s son!!!!!!! She tries to deny it, but she is making a very weak effort. It seems that it could be true. When Rollo has a moment alone with Bjorn he tells him that he is his father, but Bjorn isn’t so quick to believe saying that he’s heard some murmurs of this in the past and has chosen to think differently. For Bjorn, he feels that he resembles Ragnar in spirit and in looks and that’s enough for him to feel that Ragnar was his dad.

With this information coming out we really don’t understand why Rollo didn’t send his army to help Lagertha and Bjorn – would they have not been happy to make the same deal with Rollo for trade? Instead he betrayed them again by siding with Ivar, something that Rollo is very good at doing and this is enough for them to refuse his offer.

Rollo the betrayer

When he gets back to Kattegat, he tells Ivar that he found Lagertha, but before he hands them over he wants everything he asked for including a ridiculous amount of silver, gold, furs, tusks, slaves, meat, silk, 500 warriors and precious stones. Why not also take the crown off Ivar’s head while he’s at it! A very high price which Ivar is willing to pay. Rollo gives Ivar the location of Lagertha, but when he gets there she is gone (sailing to England with Harald’s stolen ship) and Rollo’s fleet is headed back to France.

Related – Check out a preview for episode 12 of Vikings season 5.

CarterMatt Verdict

This was a great first episode back into the world of Vikings, made even better with Rollo doing what Rollo does best – screwing everyone over for his own benefit. By Odin’s hand can we please get a Rollo spin-off!? As much as we loved this episode (and we really did), we are still disappointed by Floki’s storyline. It’s not really that engaging for us and we hope that he’s going to find a way back to the rest of the group. We love the character of Floki so much, but so far this entire season we haven’t enjoyed his story as much as we have the first 4 seasons.

What did you think of Vikings season 5 episode 11 and do you want more Rollo going forward? Leave us your thoughts in the comment section below. (Photo: History)