Vikings season 5 review: Ivar follows Ragnar’s footsteps with Heahmund (episode 5)

When we last saw Ivar on Vikings season 5 he was leading Heahmund and Aethelwulf into another trap. They tried to starve Ivar and the viking army out of York and after Ivar pretended to burn the bodies, the Saxons felt like their plan was working. When they are informed that all of the vikings were gone from York and that their ships also were gone, they charged into town to find nothing but rats coming up from underground. What’s Ivar’s real plan? Let’s find out!

Can Ivar and Heahmund learn from each other?

The moment it was declared that the vikings had abandoned York and sailed home with all their ships we knew it was a lie and once the Saxons came into York and saw all the rats coming up from the sewers everyone watching knew that’s where they were hiding – the Saxons though were completely clueless as they have been for much of this battle. They may be great warriors, but they are coming across as a completely clueless group of people against the vikings – even Heahmund who was brought in to help doesn’t know what’s going on. Is there not one strategist or even one perceptive person on the side of the Saxons?

Once Ivar has the Saxons in place, they emerge from the sewers and start their attack against them once again. Ivar has a chance to take Heahmund prisoner, but gives him the opportunity to get back on his horse and continue fighting. This is clearly a fight that Ivar wants for himself and once Heahmund is taken down off of his horse a second time, Ivar steps up to deal with it – taking him prisoner this time. With another devastating defeat the Saxon army has left their camp and Ivar wants to go after them, but Hvitserk is pulling Ivar’s ear telling him that now is the time to return to Kattegat to make sure that Lagertha and Ubbe are dead and that Ivar is crowned king before Bjorn returns. Ivar loves this idea and comes up with a plan to work with Harald (in the short term) since he also wants to rule Kattegat. Much like Ragnar did in the past with Athelstan, Ivar has decided to bring Heahmund with him for his return to Kattegat as they each try to force each other’s religion on the other. We suspect that this is as far as the understanding of each other is going to go, since neither Ivar nor Heahmund are really all that open like Athelstan and Ragnar were to each other. There is no bonding of spirits here – just breaking of each other’s souls.

Lagertha’s warning to Floki

Floki has returned to Kattegat as a new man saying that he found a place where there were no humans, only the gods. Lagertha asks why he’s come back there and he says he wants to share this special place with the true believers – to find pure spirits to bring back there and start a new society. Lagertha is not thrilled that he’s there to take her warriors and shield maidens with him at a time when she needs them to stop Harald and forbids him to take anyone from Kattegat. It’s clear that this is going to be a problem, especially since Floki is going behind Lagertha’s back and has recruited about 20 people to leave her. Lagertha needs to get some control over Kattegat, everything is in a state of chaos right now with Harald married to Astrid, Ivar and his fleeting coming to usurp her throne, Floki stealing her troops and there being some serious unrest from her subjects not believing in her like they once did.

CarterMatt’s overall thoughts

As much as we have enjoyed watching Ivar’s rise to power and seeing just what a brilliant strategist he really is, it’s been a little tough to buy into him never having any set backs or any stumbles. This is a young man who hasn’t seen very much in the way or raiding or wars in his life, but now he’s an all powerful, never defeated viking warrior after just a few battles? It’s time to see what an Ivar defeat looks like. Also, we really wanted to be more invested in Bjorn’s story then we are, but this Mediterranean drug educed, sex romp, cannibalism story really isn’t as interesting as we wanted it to be. One of the weaker episodes of the season for us.

What did you think of the Vikings season 5 episode 4 and what do you want to see happen this season? Leave us a comment in the box below and share your thoughts. If you want more scoop on what’s coming up on Vikings, just head on over to the link here to check out a preview for episode 6.

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