Vikings season 5 episode 14 review: Did Ivar sacrifice Hvitserk?
So who is the human sacrifice?
Well it’s not Hvitserk! Instead it’s a woman that Ivar is trying to pass off as Lagertha, but someone in the crowd quickly calls that lie out and a few shouts of “hail Lagertha” and “hail Ragnar” start to erupt. The few naysayers are removed and Ivar goes on to try to convince people that this woman is Lagertha, and then sacrifices the fake Lagertha to the gods as he is reborn a god himself… at least in his own mind.
After all is said and done, the fear that Ivar has instilled in everyone is working to keep most of them quiet, but not Hvitserk – he doesn’t believe Ivar is a god, he knows that sacrifice wasn’t Lagertha and he isn’t afraid to say so. He really doesn’t understand his path and tries to seek advice from the Seer who only tells him that if he leaves Ivar then his life won’t really be accomplished and as the only son of Ragnar that really hasn’t found his fame yet he doesn’t want that. Ivar on the other hand goes to the Seer to make sure that he tells everyone that he is a god, but the Seer only sees him as Ivar son of Ragnar and tells him that Ivar is being deceived. That’s enough for Ivar to decide to kill the Seer, showing once again that no one is safe, especially if they are going to question him.
Where do the loyalties lie?
Alfred knows Harald and his army is coming and is using this as an opportunity for Lagertha, Bjorn, Torvi and Ubbe to prove their loyalty to him and help Heahmund devise a plan to stop Harald or they will be killed. Ubbe says that they are ready to prove their loyalty and the king is starting to trust him. Alfred decides to cut his hair and asks Ubbe to teach him to fight and he agrees which for right now consists of Alfred standing by a tree and Ubbe throwing axes at him. Bjorn on the other hand may be be thinking of jumping ship to work with Harald. Seems Magnus has been working some magic on him and once he has a chance to meet Lagertha and Ubbe he tries to push the same agenda on them. Lagertha and Ubbe don’t believe that he’s Ragnar’s son, but Bjorn does so it seems that Bjorn has choices to make on whether or not he’s going to fight for Alfred or join Harald.
The Bishop may be dead and Heahmund is reinstated but Aethelred isn’t out yet. He has a meeting of the religious counsel and they agree to go forward with their plan to take out Alfred. He’s ready to move forward with the plan, that is until Alfred tells him how much he loves him and believes in him in a moment of brotherly love and it dawns on him that he’s not just planning to kill the king, but his brother. He can’t go through with it and Alfred goes on to live another day.
Related – Check out a preview for episode 15 of Vikings season 5.
CarterMatt Verdict
So far this has been a really great second half of season 5, but this episode was the weakest for us so far, a bit of a throw away episode. A lot of Floki and his adventures on barren island that we are just not invested in no matter how hard we try. The Magnus character we aren’t fully on board with either and Ivar always getting his way is becoming a bit tired. We enjoyed Ivar a lot more when he was a strategist warrior and not being manipulated into thinking he’s something he’s not.
What did you think of Vikings season 5 episode 14? Leave us your thoughts in the comment section below. (Photo: History)