Vikings IX: The Bear Necessities [SPOILERS]

[Lord Lyman]

5 minutes ago, Alia of the knife said:

They did say mid season finale right?

There is more?

Yeah, Apparently this season has 20 episodes.

So that was Bjorn's daughter Ragner's kid found in the river. What exactly was the point of her character. It seems like she was just there and the killed because they didn't know what to do with her.

[HexMachina]

Pretty terrible episode. Liked the Pilgrimage stuff, the rest was awful.

Harald is an interesting character but Hirst is going out of his way to get us to hate him, and it feels like lazy writing.

Are we supposed to believe France is uninhabited? Surely more than two random farmers would see and tell someone about the Vikings coming...

Like i said, enjoyed the Pilgrimage stuff except the reference to Athelstan (the young monk walking beside you line). Just let it fucking drop already!

Still hate Wessex and I'm completely rooting for Aelle to kill them all. He is far and away the best thing about Wessex.

Poor Lagertha. Completely expected but still.

@ Ivar bossing Aslaug. "Move. That was stupid of you!" 

Wtf why is Siggy dead now? What the hell is going on? And are we supposed to care? She wasnt even a character.

Also Ivar delivered such a meta line for the season with *scoff* "who cares?" And Aslaug is the worst...

Oh christ, Hirst needs to stop playing favourites with his daughter and get her off screen. And what a fucking stupid plan. "here,completely untrained woman who despises me. Go kill Bjorn in the middle of a crowded Viking camp."

And then they have Torvi kill Erlendur. What a fucking joke of a storyline.

The Emperor is sleeping with Roland now? Um, what? Okay then fine. He is still among the worst characters.

Ugh,i thought we were donr with Ragnar tripping out? And he obviously does care about Paris since noone knew Rollo had defected until they arrived.

Ugh, Torvi in armour *flips tables*

Also I'm not even excited about the next episode either

looks like a whole lot of "shock! Chaos! Death! Oh my!" To me

[Corvinus85]

What's up with this show killing kids off screen? That whole thing with little Siggy dead in the river was terrible. Another character made pointless.

Hirst seems to really burn through the characters. I'm glad that we are no longer tortured with Erlendur's presence, but like everything about the character, his death was a pretty stupid scene.

Poor Lagertha. But it had to happen. Considering the pre-season promo scenes, I hope there are some great things in store for her in the future.

I like Sigurd, hate Ivarr (in the sense of love to hate him).

Everything about Paris, including Rollo this time, was terrible. So Emperor Charles is gay, or at least bi. BOOM Writing! There's is nothing that Hirst can do to this character that would make me like him. I'm hoping for another death.

I'm glad that Hirst decided to just transport Alfred and Aethelwulf directly to Rome, and not have us see them trudging through the country side. But what happened to people from different countries speaking different languages? I'm perfectly fine with the cast choice, but surprised that that an Italian pope of the time, (yes he is very likely Italian, in those centuries they all were) could speak English so fluently.

I liked the part with Aella and Ecbert, mainly because of Aella.

I was hoping for a naval battle, so I'm mildly excited for the next episode. I have feeling Rollo will die. What the hell, Gisla is carrying his legacy, and Hirst needs to make more room for the Emperor's court adventures.

[Alia of the knife]

I have never watched so much and been so lost.

Where to begin, okay, so the first thing that stuck out to me was the slaughter of the French family. I think this might be the first time in the series that I've seen this level of sick. That didn't seem so much as "Viking" warrior as Hannibal Lector.

And now we have Aslaug. What the hell happened to Aslaug and what is going on with the Dugger kids? And Siggy was Bjorns daughter right?(I can't even remember), but why is she dead? That can't end well when Bjorn finds out.

So now that Magic Mike has left, Aslaug is all to pieces? She was astral sexing Floki and now she is wandering the streets?

She has NO power as Queen? Instead of turning into a drunk, she can't gather up some of the men who can't be happy with the guy, and who would be more than happy to spread eagle his balls?

 

Snake-in-the-eye seems the only one that hasn't gone insane and seems ready to clean house. I think he loved Siggy.

What happened to Helga again? I swear I watched it.

And now Athelwulf likes his son? Whoops, not his son, but I guess they bonded on the road trip?

The only thing that is remotely consistent is that Rollo did keep it together, kept his word and became the great-great-great-grandfather of William the Conqueror.

 

[The Unborn]

Poor lil Siggy. Abandonned by her mother, ignored by her father, uncles, step grand-mother, well everyone in Kattegat apparently. Ivar was despicable, and Aslaugh deserve to die. Hell, I wish Bjorn would be the one to kill her, but I can't see him caring that much about her death for that.

 

Not much going on in this episode. Erlandur's death was predictable and completely anti-climatic. Not much to like here. At least next episode is Rollo vs Ragnar. That has potential.

[Astromech]

So Lagertha was pregnant. I don't see much point to it. Just to remind the viewer she can't carry to term? And why the hell is she working so hard if she is and then after the miscarriage. Isn't she an earl? Get some damn rest and let somebody else work. Floki was riding the boats the whole time.

Umm, Bjorn-Torvi-Erlendur ended so weakly. I was really hoping Erlendur would kill her by mistake in the night while with Bjorn. Bjorn could've then had a one-on-one combat for revenge and kicked the hell out him. Torvi killing Erlendur was so obviously daddy writing her something "cool" to do. However, I did like the nod from Ragnar and the placing of Horik's ring on the crossbow bolt.

Kattegatt is terrible without Ragnar et al. Poor Siggy. That was fucking horrible. I wanted to think it had something to do with Harbard and saving one child by taking another, but that was simply fucking neglect. Not like Bjorn is father of the year, but Aslaug is worthless. Just let Sigurd run Kattegatt while Ragnar is gone. He's the only adult left there. Oh, sweet Ivar, a trainwreck you just can't look away from. If you have problems with Finehair and Halfdan, just wait until Ivar grows up.

Paris, umm, ok. Charles wants both the Bobbsey twins. And Rollo can't have sex with Gisla while she's pregnant. Rollo is just a joke now. Paris really needs a laugh track.

Wessex and Mercia wasn't bad. I love the new tension between Ecbert and Aelle. Maybe this storyline will go somewhere now. The trouble I had with Wessex this week was King Ecbert looked liked the Burger King with that crown.

 Rome? Athelstan Jr. is almost as annoying as his father. He's what 3? 4? and crowned the savior of Christianity? Rome looked beautiful. The set was great, but the while messianic figure of Athelstan Jr. just annoys me.

But yay, seems Yidu is dead. I hope Ragnar kicks his habit. Good to see he's trying. I fear it's too late for him though. Bjorn just needs to step up out of his father's shadow. And yes, I think Rollo is a goner. Wasn't he cast in another show?

[HexMachina]

1 hour ago, Astromech said:

So Lagertha was pregnant. I don't see much point to it. Just to remind the viewer she can't carry to term? And why the hell is she working so hard if she is and then after the miscarriage. Isn't she an earl? Get some damn rest and let somebody else work. Floki was riding the boats the whole time.

Umm, Bjorn-Torvi-Erlendur ended so weakly. I was really hoping Erlendur would kill her by mistake in the night while with Bjorn. Bjorn could've then had a one-on-one combat for revenge and kicked the hell out him. Torvi killing Erlendur was so obviously daddy writing her something "cool" to do. However, I did like the nod from Ragnar and the placing of Horik's ring on the crossbow bolt.

Kattegatt is terrible without Ragnar et al. Poor Siggy. That was fucking horrible. I wanted to think it had something to do with Harbard and saving one child by taking another, but that was simply fucking neglect. Not like Bjorn is father of the year, but Aslaug is worthless. Just let Sigurd run Kattegatt while Ragnar is gone. He's the only adult left there. Oh, sweet Ivar, a trainwreck you just can't look away from. If you have problems with Finehair and Halfdan, just wait until Ivar grows up.

Paris, umm, ok. Charles wants both the Bobbsey twins. And Rollo can't have sex with Gisla while she's pregnant. Rollo is just a joke now. Paris really needs a laugh track.

Wessex and Mercia wasn't bad. I love the new tension between Ecbert and Aelle. Maybe this storyline will go somewhere now. The trouble I had with Wessex this week was King Ecbert looked liked the Burger King with that crown.

 Rome? Athelstan Jr. is almost as annoying as his father. He's what 3? 4? and crowned the savior of Christianity? Rome looked beautiful. The set was great, but the while messianic figure of Athelstan Jr. just annoys me.

But yay, seems Yidu is dead. I hope Ragnar kicks his habit. Good to see he's trying. I fear it's too late for him though. Bjorn just needs to step up out of his father's shadow. And yes, I think Rollo is a goner. Wasn't he cast in another show?

I can actually understand Lagertha working extra hard all of the time. Before the miscarriage it was because she thought she couldn't carry to term. Afterwards it was because she wanted to put on a show of strength. She has a status to maintain as fierce shield maiden, and, especially with people like Halfdan around, she has to keep up that persona. She also has a stubborn and proud streak that means she is always going to show that yes, she is just as capable as the men around her.

But yeah agree with everything else. What happened to this show?

[Mladen]

I swear to God, if I understood one thing from tonight's episode, I feel like I would be ruling the Earth. Like, seriously nothing made sense. I was starting to feel rather idiotic... Until I came here... Thanks guys

This season is really bad. Not like Grey's Anatomy bad, far worse. Like Scandal bad. Like, I got it, The Bastard Executioner bad

[Astromech]

21 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

I can actually understand Lagertha working extra hard all of the time. Before the miscarriage it was because she thought she couldn't carry to term. Afterwards it was because she wanted to put on a show of strength. She has a status to maintain as fierce shield maiden, and, especially with people like Halfdan around, she has to keep up that persona. She also has a stubborn and proud streak that means she is always going to show that yes, she is just as capable as the men around her.

But yeah agree with everything else. What happened to this show?

Hirst has gone full Tudors on us. Unfortunately, it was bound to happen eventually. I'm invested in the show at this point and will probably keep watching, but I'm not as excited for the weekly episodes as I've been in the past. This mid-season finale can't come soon enough. Shame.

[GeorgeIAF]

There are some strange things hapenning with Floki.

[GallowKnight]

Vikings on raid = Mostly good. Everything else = Mostly bad

Who would have thunk Aella would be the most likeable person in England?

Floki has a nice new hat.

I like that they had the actor who plays the seer play the pope.

Auslag sucks!

Ivar is a dick!

I guess Torvi killing Erlendur was supposed to fell like a moment of justice, but since Torvi is such a fucking bland and shitty character it just became anti-climatic. A proper showdown between Bjorn and Erlendur would have been so much better.

Seriously that post-sex scene with Bjorn and Torvi was so fucking bad.

And now Torvi is a shieldmaiden? Get the fuck outta here!

[RhaenysBee]

I am not going to spend an hour describing how bad this was and why, but... 

Did the pope of Rome just crown the bastard child of an adultrer and a monk gone heretic the consul of Rome and compared him to a hero of an overthrown pagan civilization while thousands of miles from Rome the king of Wessex has to keep a secret chamber for his reliquary of the same overthrown pagan civilization? 

[Wmarshal]

3 hours ago, BB-Rhae said:

I am not going to spend an hour describing how bad this was and why, but... 

Did the pope of Rome just crown the bastard child of an adultrer and a monk gone heretic the consul of Rome and compared him to a hero of an overthrown pagan civilization while thousands of miles from Rome the king of Wessex has to keep a secret chamber for his reliquary of the same overthrown pagan civilization? 

Yes he did, but looking at reality is not a Hirst thing to do. i still don't see how anyone sees Alfred as anyway legitimate heir to throne. Hell, Athelstan was caught and crucified for killing Christians.    

[wolverine]

Is Alfred openly known not to be Aetherwulf's son?  Like is he officially a bastard?

[Mladen]

28 minutes ago, wolverine said:

Is Alfred openly known not to be Aetherwulf's son?  Like is he officially a bastard?

Wasn't there public arrest and torture of Aethewulf and Judith?

[-Ghost-]

I'm so sick of the Paris court stuff. At first it was a little funny when Rollo was just learning the language, but now it's just too much.

 I really hope Aslaug dies soon. She is useless. Another Siggy dies on her watch.

 I just want more Vikings doing Viking stuff.

[GeorgeIAF]

I still miss Porunn ...

[Zorral]

These days Aslaug's mouth looks as though she's got too many teeth to fit in there -- kinda like what happened when Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother got eaten by the wolf.

Harbard appears and another kid goes in the water, this time the child named for the woman who saved her first two sons from freezing in that icy water and who went under the ice instead (which I never understood, but hey, another culture or something, or else -- Harbard?  Bad things happen when he's around despite all the women seeming to be on happy juice.).

Not to mention that poor boy who Ivar whacked -- Ivar is a whack job all the way through.  Did he make Aslaug a whack job too, or did she make Ivar the whack job that he's become within what looks like about a month.

Wouldn't pilgrims going on pilgrimage to Rome from England take ship most of the way?  All that declaration of walking the whole way never made sense -- especially with such a little child.  How did they get there so very fast, even if they did take a ship?  Teleporting is still not the same as walking.  Still Aethelwulf has become my favorite guy -- he's so nice, even seems to esteem, the cuckoo his father and his wife put into his nest.

But Lagertha -- give the woman something to do!  It was sweet to see her ex-husband her son rally 'round when she was in such agony, and that they remained even when she told them to "just go" and leave her alone.  She was Ragnar's luck, like Josephine was Napoleon's.  When Nap divorced Jo "for the sake of France (for an heir)" to marry the daughter of the Austrian emperor, his luck went away.  Ragnar's luck has gone too, since losing Lagertha.

It's Mercia - Wessex that's the most interesting now, so to speak.

 

 

[Veltigar]

I haven't been able to watch the episode yet, but whoever makes post 400, you'll be responsible for the next punny Vikings thread title. There is a long and sacred tradition, so put some effort into it  

[Lord Lyman]

It seems like the last few seasons that Lagertha's storyline goes in cycles. Gets married, kill man that wants to put her in her place, goes raiding with Ragner, finds new man to share earldom, kills man that wants to put her in her place, goes raiding with Ragner. As much as we complain about the other storylines, hers is just as bad.

For all the storylines now, it seems that's there is no build up to anything. It just happens. We have this Ragnar vs. Rollo fight coming up, and yet I'm just not feeling it. Neither of their storylines, had much to do with the other, aside from their first battle on the river. Rollo is finding his way around Paris, while Ragner relives the 1960's. There is no tension. I'll still watch next week, but I hope things pick up.

On a side note, can they please make the women all look different. I probably confused Therese and Grisela a bunch of times.