Vikings season 5 episode 10 review: King Harald loses big in battle for Kattegat

Are you ready for the battle to end all battles on Vikings season 5? We have reached the mid-way point of the season and after tonight’s episode the show is going on a bit of a hiatus before we get the final ten episodes of the season. Right now there are a lot of calls in the air as we have Ivar and Harald regrouping with Rollo’s army after their defeat against Lagertha and Bjorn. Lagertha is not resting on her laurels though and is getting ready for the next battle, and this time she has an unlikely ally on her side – Heahmund. There was an instant connection between these two and he has pledged his allegiance to her, but with this relationship being so new (and Lagertha’s not so great luck with relationships in general) we are worried that he will turn on her in battle.

Before the battle

We still aren’t sure if Heahmund is playing Lagertha or not, and even after watching them kiss we can see that Lagertha isn’t convinced either, but the connection between them is very real. She is certain that she is going to die in this battle, whereas Heahmund doesn’t think that either of them will die.  Personally we are thinking that Heahmund is right and we will see them both come back for the second half of the season.

Hvitserk’s is talking about his regrets and he says his biggest one is that he doesn’t have children, but Ivar calls him out saying that he knows Hvitserk’s biggest regret is getting off Ubbe’s ship and siding with Ivar.

Bjorn is concerned that he’s going to lose his princess in battle and spends every moment he can with her…. only to lose her in battle after all.

Harald and Halfdan are both still having difficulty being on opposite sides of this battle, but as much as he loves his brother, Halfdan feels he owes his life to Bjorn and doesn’t regret his choice.

The battle

There was one moment in this battle that will stick with us and that’s the moment that Hvitserk and Ubbe met on the battle field. Ubbe went to swing at his brother but something stopped him from following through (brotherly love?).

Two other brothers that met on the field were Harald and Halfdan and this didn’t go quite the same way. Harald didn’t want to kill his brother, but when he swung his ax he connected. They always knew that no matter how much they loved each other that if they met on the field that the sides had been picked and that this is how it would end.

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The moment that broke us in two was seeing Lagertha and Astrid on the battlefield. She told Lagertha that she is with child and couldn’t go on living anymore. Lagertha gave her peace by killing her, but in doing that she broke all of our hearts. There was a part of us that had hoped there would be a way for them to be together once again, but things were becoming so complicated it was going to be difficult to go back to what they had.

This battle was brutal, heartbreaking and this was a serious loss for both sides. Even though Ivar had the numbers and was able to make Lagertha retreat, the real loser of the night was Harald who lost his wife, what he thinks is his unborn child and his brother.

CarterMatt’s Overall Thoughts

This episode was pieced together beautifully. We loved that moments before the battle were threaded together through out the actual battle – it felt seamless. The only thing that really took us out of this episode was having a scene with Floki’s camp right in the middle of this really intense battle. While we’ve never been fans of this storyline, we really weren’t fans of it in this episode and wish that it had been left out. The highlight of the night – seeing Rollo sailing with his fleet!!!!!

What did you think of Vikings season 5 episode 8? Leave us your thoughts in the comment section below. If you want more scoop on what’s coming up next time on Vikings then be sure to check out our preview here. Also, join our CarterMatt Facebook page to stay up to date with all of our Vikings season 5 coverage. (Photo: History)