Ragnar Lothbrok’s memory lives on
They build, they build, they build.
It is a modern city, and it is a prize, and Queen Kattegat will defend it.
She has set her people to building, building, building.
Credit: Jonathan Hession
They will build defenses.
There are enough enemies within already.
Ragnar Lothbrok is dead, but he lives on.
He lives on in his dying words, carried by wind and rumor and legend to his sons.
Ragnars youngest son, Ivar, seeks vengeance against Lagertha for the death of his mother, Aslaug.
But his brothers Ubbe and Sigurd pull Ivars focus toward on another vengeance.
To do so would require a large army, twice the size of the coalition Ragnar led to Paris.
But is it an army they can assemble, with their fathers memory as their rallying cry.
Ubbe relays their plan to Queen Lagertha.
He asks her to join them.
But Lagertha has a reason to stay.
The sons of Ragnar are inviting other rulers to her city.
They will see the size and understand the value of this trading station, says Lagertha.
The city has to be defended.
I know what your father would have wanted me to do, she says.
Lagertha has seen many great men brought low.
She saved Kattegat from Aslaug, didnt she?
She will save it from any assault, wont she?
But can she save herself?
Perhaps she doesnt want to.
The seer says she will be killed by a son of Ragnar Lothbrok.
Ivar certainly would like the opportunity.
His brother, Sigurd, disagrees.
We have different memories of mother, he says.
She doted on you and she ignored me.
Sigurd baits his brother; he calls him a mamas boy, and mommys little favorite.
Ivar lifts his axe to his brother, aiming to kill.
Only the ready arm of a humble blacksmith stops him.
Will brother kill brother?
Can Ragnars sons survive Ragnars legacy?
How far she has come from her fathers hall.
Wife of Aethelwulf, lover of her husbands father, mother to another mans son.
She has a message for her family.
There is much talk of the revenge of the sons of Ragnar, she says.
I wanted you all to be aware of it and prepared for it.
Judiths father condemns her and her mother condemns her.
If we do not pray for your soul, daughter, then you will be damned for all eternity.
Hell would be a fine place, Judith declares.
Meanwhile, Duke Rollo returns home from his Mediterranean jaunt with his former allies.
They would want him dead; Bjorn would have to kill him.
It is a kindness to leave him in Frankia, and Rollo returns with his own kindness.
I want to make you all an offer, he says.
Anyone from our homelands who wants good rich lands to farm can come and live in my kingdom.
It will always be a part of Frankia, which is a part of us.
Ironic, or inevitable.
And now it falls to Rollo, the traitor, to bring Ragnars dream to life.
Floki spits at him.
You are no longer a part of us, Rollo, he says.
What is us, Floki, is changing, Rollo claims.
Only you wont accept it.
So, Rollo leaves his people one more time, promising he will never forget them.
But she does welcome him.
NEXT: Betraying the traitors
In Wessex, King Ecbert struggles to educate his grandson, Alfred.
But there is power in community, too.
In Kattegat, the sons of Ragnar welcome the first arrivals in their vengeance army.
These are young Vikings, who think of Ragnar as their own father.
They have heard the poems about Ragnar and about Lagertha, too.
But Lagertha remembers more modest days.
She does not know this Ragnar the young men talk about … the hero, the father.
She remembers a man who was hers.
She sees his son, Ubbe, who looks at her with such hate.
She is reaching out to him, or perhaps she is saying: I understand what you are feeling.
The sons strike, Ubbe and Ivar.
They have allies; they kill shieldmaidens, exit the hall, advance on the Queen.
She advances to them, sword in hand.
But then there is a homecoming: Bjorn Ironside, back from his quest.
He knows his half-brothers want vengeance.
But there is a more important vengeance: their father and the land of Christians across the sea.
That is what Bjorn says, in public.
In private, perhaps, he feels much different.
His mother has her vengeance, and so she is Queen.
He sits with his family, with Torvi and his children, and he has never looked less comfortable.
I did not come back here to be told what to do!
He stalks out, angry, and goes to the throne room.
His mother is gone, but Astrid is there.
Astrid looks upset; Lagertha does not tell her everything.
The other sons of Ragnar Lothbrok recede, biding their time.
Who shall that be?
They plot, as ambitious men must plot.
And in the forest, Floki is building, too.
He carries little Ivar, his favorite student, and he gives him a present.
Your legs, Ivar, says Floki, showing Ivar a personal chariot.
