‘Vikings’ season 4, episode 10 review: Who was victorious in Ragnar, Rollo battle?
In the last episode of “Vikings” Ragnar revealed to Bjorn that he could care a less about invading Paris anymore and that his real goal with all of this is to kill his brother Rollo. his betrayal of Ragnar has cut him so deep that he sees nothing else right now, but he’s also dealing with another serious problem: Drug withdrawal. He only has enough drugs left to face Rollo and plans to take them when the brothers come face to face tonight in what is going to surely be an epic battle.
Raid on Rollo: Ragnar thought he was super clever with his portage, but Rollo had the emperor’s fleet meet them head on in the river. We won’t go into every detail of this battle since it is really a battle that needs to be seen to be believed, but know that it was bloody, gruesome and truly an epic fight that will go down in Vikings history. After a hard push from Ragnar, Rollo’s soldiers are going down in considerable numbers, but retreat is not an option for him as he pushes his soldiers to fight harder.
Ragnar takes the last bit of drugs left by Yidu and he’s looking pretty broken down as Rollo’s troops push forward at incredible speeds until they breach the Viking’s ship hulls and engage in hand to hand combat. Finally the moment came where Rollo and Ragnar faced off and there was so much rage between these two brothers that we cringed with every swing they took. Everyone on Ragnar’s side was falling as Lagertha and Floki both were stabbed, and when Lagertha went down everyone was loaded onto a boat (including Ragnar) and taken to safety as Rollo enjoyed another victory against Ragnar.
Time jump: After everything that happened in Paris there is a huge time jump where we see that Ragnar has disappeared for years, and that Ragnar’s sons have grown up quite a bit. His sons learn about Ragnar’s betrayal (he knew that the settlement in Wessex was destroyed as soon as he left and hid it from everyone) and many of the sons claim that they would kill him if he returned, but not Ivar – he respects the path he took. As for Bjorn, well he is leading a new charge towards the Mediterranean, a new mystery land. So where is Ragnar? He has returned home, greeted with hostility by his sons and his people. He challanges anyone who wants to kill him and take the position of king… but you will have to wait until the show comes back to find out if anyone accepted the challenge.
It was wonderful to see Rollo finally feel like he stepped outside of Ragnar’s shadow and was the shining star he always wanted to be… even if this moment he wanted all his life was at the cost of his family, heritage and everything he ever believed in. Many thought that we were going to lose Rollo tonight (for those of you who don’t know his history we won’t spoil it for you), but instead this was his moment to shine. Episode grade: A
What did you think of this episode of “Vikings” and are you prepared for the long wait until the rest of season 4 airs? Leave us a comment below and share your thoughts on the season so far.
Vaettra
May 26, 2016 @ 6:04 pm
I didn’t care so much in the end of this season, the had drawn it out too far imo. The battles on the river were kind of dumb too, with the insane numbers the vikings had they could’ve just gone to shore and sacked the two small towers with the chains, instead of sending a small raiding party that got stuck in the mud because they didn’t send a scout first, lol.
And Ragnar holding his own against Rollo in battle? Like, a 20kg lighter, smaller man with shorter reach, that wasn’t too realistic to begin with and even less after a severe leg(?) injury that gives him a limp, plus being all shaky from a bad drug habit – still fight his physical specimen of a brother to a draw? That kind of killed the season for me.
morgan
April 28, 2016 @ 12:17 am
Loved the scene with Gisela praying and the statue of Mary shedding tears, reminded me of ‘The Miracle Of Peckham’, was expecting Del Boy to pop up at any moment.
Max
April 24, 2016 @ 12:52 am
Sigurd looks too much like Erlendur.
DeplorableJayJay
April 24, 2016 @ 12:11 am
I’m sorry I read the comments as I didn’t know the history.
Steven D. Hobbs
April 23, 2016 @ 6:20 am
Vikings is the closest of most shows to having an historical perspective. They do take some pretty great liberties with events, however. Rollo was certainly not Ragnar’s brother. Many events they show as sequential actually happened many years apart.
FidyCents
April 22, 2016 @ 3:30 pm
Love the time jump and the coming of the sons of Ragnar.
Steven D. Hobbs
April 22, 2016 @ 12:51 pm
If you know any European history, you know that Rollo would survive and win the day. After all, he has to go on to found Normandy and his descendants attack England. Next season has to be the last for our Norse King, however. I feel his date with snakes or wolfs is near.
Cynthia02
April 22, 2016 @ 10:40 pm
Steven D. Hobbs
Glad you mentioned the historical fact that Rollo wasn’t going to die in the battle. He lived, married nobility and formed a dynasty and among his descendants was William the Conqueror who invaded and conquered England in 1066. I have been appalled to read so many “professional” critics question whether Ragnar would kill Rollo or not.
MrsCarter101
April 23, 2016 @ 12:07 am
Hi there, we do know the history of Ragnar and Rollo, we were not mentioning it in our review for people that didn’t know the history themselves and wanted to watch the show without spoilers (just as entertainment) to how it all ends. We try to keep things as spoiler free as we can in our reviews for what’s coming up since everyone doesn’t know.
Cynthia02
April 23, 2016 @ 1:47 am
Guess you’re right, its more entertaining. Maybe as the series continues they’ll slip in a little bit more historical facts. I am enjoying the series, regardless.
MrsCarter101
April 23, 2016 @ 4:35 pm
I hope so too, i’d also like to see that! I’m enjoying the show so much, it’s my absolute favorite show on TV.
Arlene
April 23, 2016 @ 7:09 pm
Mine too