Vikings season 5 episode 12 review: Ivar the husband, Heahmund’s revenge
England
No one is happy to see vikings coming back and Alfred’s first order of business is to learn if Heahmund has changed after living with vikings for so long and also what do the sons of Ragnar want in England? He tells Alfreed that he promised them safe passage and asks to be appointed as Bishop once again, but he is told that a replacement was chosen because they thought he was dead. Alfred tells him that he’s not strong enough as a king yet to remove him and that Heahmund lived with the vikings too long to not have to prove himself loyal once again to the cause and the church.
Heahmund refuses to accepts this and threatens the new Bishop to step aside or suffer the consequences, but when he reveals to Heahmund that the church may be looking to overthrow Alfred, he has all the ammo he needs. He just needs to move fast because the Bishop is already trying to poison Alfred’s potential wife (who has been having sex with Bjorn on the sly) and are moving forward with their plans to take him off the throne. Unfortunately, Heahmund is caught with Lagertha weakening his position to reclaim his Bishop title. The new Bishop uses this as blackmail to try to stop Heahmund from getting the title, but he clearly doesn’t know Heahmund and instead he rides to the church and murders the Bishop. No one blackmails Heahmund!
So far it looks like Alfred is willing to talk with the vikings. In exchange for giving them land to settle on he wants their loyalty and to serve as warriors as proof. They accept – more so Lagertha accepts and Bjorn and Ubbe are pissed off and want the lands that Ecbert already gave them. Alfred reveals the lie that Ecbert told when he signed those lands over to them, but that with proof of loyalty he will be able to make that deal happen for real. Bjorn is stubborn, but Alfred feels that if he can convince Ubbe to become baptized so that Alfred can show the people of England that they are no longer threats.
Ivar the husband
Ivar has fallen head over heels for Freydis (the slave he freed last season) and has decided to make her his queen and wife. Harald is concerned that Ivar has taken this wife to produce an heir and settle his claim over Kattegat for good, but is informed that Ivar can’t have children. Freydis on the other hand believes that Ivar is a god and that he will be able to bear children with her and is convincing to Ivar that she can make this happen for them. Is this something she can really make happen? Not with Ivar she can’t as we saw her grab a random Viking to have sex with to ensure she would get pregnant – and it works.
CarterMatt Verdict
We did have a pretty significant loss tonight as we saw Margrethe killed after she told Hvitserk that she wanted Ivar dead and wanted him to kill Ivar for her. This is a show that isn’t afraid to kill off big characters (including the lead in Travis Fimmel in season 4), so we continue to live in this beautifully crafted world where no one is safe and mouthing off about killing the king of Kattegat is a good way to end up dead.
What did you think of Vikings season 5 episode 12? Leave us your thoughts in the comment section below. (Photo: History)