Two kings sit together in a throne room
Queen Aslaug is queen no more.
There is a freedom to knowing you will never be free again.
The Queen looks amused by her invader.
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How strange, Lagertha, that you should play the usurper.
One woman against another.
I was never the usurper, says Lagertha.
Aslaug took Lagerthas husband, her world, her happiness.
Youre a witch, Lagertha says.
She did not bewitch Ragnar, but she knows he is dead.
In my dream, his boats were sunk in a storm, says Aslaug.
She will not fight.
She knows she would not win.
Aslaug has never been a warrior.
Yet, she has raised warriors.
I have fulfilled my destiny, she says.
The gods foretold Ragnar would have many sons.
I have given him those sons.
I am as much a part of his saga, Lagertha, as you are.
It is another gambit, a way of snatching some greater victories from the jaws of this mortal defeat.
Lagertha may defeat Aslaug.
Aslaug asks only for safe passage.
She promises Lagertha will have Kattegat and she promises she will not demand her sons seek vengeance.
It will be a peaceful transition of power.
I understand, says Lagertha.
What does that mean?
What message is she receiving from Aslaug?
Does she suddenly recognize, in Aslaug, a warrior?
Aslaug turns her back and prepares to leave her life behind.
And then her life is taken and a smile crosses her face.
What future has she cursed Lagertha, too?
The children of Aslaug are far scattered, one sailing to the Mediterranean, one imprisoned in England.
But Ubbe and Sigurd remain, and they are furious.
He attacks Lagerthas warriors and is brutally beaten.
Awakening, he and his brother are greeted by Astrid, who offers to change the way they look.
She also offers to kill them if they harm Lagertha.
Ubbe shows no signs of forgetting, nor forgiving.
The tale of Ragnars sons is just beginning.
NEXT: King to King
Years ago, two Kings sat together in a throne room.
They were different men, a warrior and a politician, but they had much in common.
They were curious about the world around them.
At a time of all-encompassing religious belief, they were fascinated by those who believed differently.
Together, their armies had fought a great battle.
And their hopes descended into blood and brinksmanship.
Ecbert does not mince words when he sees Ragnar again.
He asks only what took Ragnar so long.
They are old men now, their beards grown long, fewer days ahead than behind.
Ecbert tells Ragnar he commanded his son Aethelwulf to destroy the colony.
Perhaps even in my grandsons time.
It was the right idea at the wrong time, says Ecbert.
Perhaps that will be historys final word on Ragnar.
In innovation, it is bad to be too late but just as bad to be too early.
Perhaps Ragnar was too early.
They have much to talk about, these men.
Ecbert introduced Ragnar to his son, Magnus, born of Kwenthrith.
Ragnar tells Magnus his birth was a miracle.
I never had sex with your mother, he says.
All she ever did was piss on me.
What destiny did Ragnar imagine?
Death has been uppermost in my mind for a long time now.
He tells Ecbert to kill him and Ecbert almost laughs.
You Vikings areincorrigible, says the King of Wessex.
You emerge from the womb with only one thing on your mind: How to die!
But Ragnar has much on his mind, and perhaps he knows only King Ecbert could understand him.
They are powerful men and they are curious men.
They speak each others language.
They have loved the same woman and they have loved the same man.
What if your god does not exist?
Then nothing has meaning!
How lovely, to imagine these two great rulers having the worlds first-ever 2 a.m. dorm conversation.
So they say heaven is ridiculous and Valhalla is ridiculous.
And Ecbert says the gods are necessary, even if they dont exist.
And Ragnar says that is silly: If the gods dont exist, then they dont exist.
Ecbert recalls Athelstan: Didnt Ragnar love him?
Where is he now?
Ragnar once believed in Valhalla and believed he might see Athelstan again in heaven.
Now, he only knows Athelstans death is on his conscience.
And yet, from death comes a new life.
Ragnar meets Alfred, son of Athelstan, heir to the throne.
As the old grow older, the young grow into maturity.
Ecbert prays and quotes Ecclesiastes: He that increases knowledge increases sorrow.
Aelle has always hated Ragnar and has never been his equal, like Ecbert.
Perhaps he is sad to lose another friend.
Perhaps he feels trapped.
Ragnar takes his hands and looks him in the face: Dont be afraid.
In some ways,Vikingshas spent the last two seasons building up to this episode.
The showdown between Ragnar and Ecbert was inevitable, but how it played out was unexpected.
These men have never properly fought each other and its unclear if they are even properly enemies.
He likes power and he likes what power lets him do.
Born into royalty, he has somehow risen even higher in his society.
Ragnar has a different relationship to power.
He was curious about the world and that curiosity led him into battle against powerful men.
What more do you want out of television?
