Vikings XI: Aelle's Anaconda don't want none unless you got buns hun [SPOILERS]

[Martell Spy]

Vikings creator and star talk about the shocking 'All His Angels

http://ew.com/tv/2016/12/28/vikings-death-all-his-angels-season-4-episode-15/

[Veltigar]

4 hours ago, PetyrPunkinhead said:

It wasn't the fall that killed Ragnar...it was the landing.

And the snakes.

Definitely the snakes did a great deal of the killing as well.

That comment gets even funnier when you realise that Aelle somehow got poisonous pythons for the job XD A stunning find I must say.

3 hours ago, GallowKnight said:

Oh yeah, you should have gone with the obvious "I've had it with the motherfucking snakes in this motherfucking Pit!"-title.

I was afraid that that would have been to spoilery  That's why I eventually decided against that title

6 hours ago, Martell Spy said:

Jarl Borg had to not scream during the Blood Eagle in order to get into Vallhalla. So I don't think it's absolute.

I guess the rule in this show is that they have to die a brave death, either in battle or by not showing any pain.

7 hours ago, Corvinus said:

A testament of the sad time we live now. No more thread titles for you!!! 

There is a secret Nicki Minaj fan in all of us  Don't deny it! Give in to your dark side  

6 hours ago, GrimTuesday said:

Oh dang, I think whoever posted them a while back missed that one (And I subsequently didn't look too hard for it). It will be interesting to see how early he dies, considering in the Sagas (where he seems to be known as both Hvitserk and Halfdan, though Hvitserk might be a nom de gurre since it means White Shirt and there is another son named Hvitserk who never appears at the same time as Halfdan) he lives a long time and takes over the Great Heathen Army after Ivar leaves to take over Ireland, later settling in York.

I guess they'll keep him around for at least another season. They can always sacrifice him when it's time to get the brothers extra pissed

3 hours ago, GallowKnight said:

I assume we're going to see at least some great heathen action this season. The show has never been shy about jumping forward in time, so it could be that we got another of those in store before they go back to England.

I think we'll probably need another one of those if we are going back to England this season. With Bjorn away and the other brothers pretty powerless, they'll have to solve it that way i think.

 

[Pliskin]

9 hours ago, Corvinus said:

I thought that only those who die in battle go to Valhalla. Granted, Ragnar died without fear, so maybe that is enough. Though in his books that inspired The Last Kingdom show, one point that Bernard Cornwell always makes is that warriors who expect to go to Valhalla have to keep their swords in hand when they die. So I don't know. 

In the snake pit, with the close ups on his hands, I was really hoping and expecting him to beyond cheesily grab a snake and shout "I die with a sword in my hand!". Or a bone from a previous guy in the pit, I don't know. I don't know if I'm disappointed that it didn't happen or relieved. Disappointed I think.

This Cornwell bastard conditioned me.

[generalzod]

I thought the episode was nothing short of brilliant. 

That cheesy sword death of Ragnar your suggest has been done before. 

 

 

I think "the Passion of the Ragnar" absolutely is one of the best episodes of the series:

 

Be ruthless.

 

I fashion the course of my life and my death. Me. Not you. Not the gods. Me. This was my idea, to come here to die. I don’t believe in the gods’ existence. Man is the master of his own fate, not the gods. The gods are man’s creation to give answers that they are too afraid to give themselves

 

How the little piggies will grunt when they hear how the old boar suffered.

 

It gladdens me to know that Odin prepares for a feast! Soon I shall be drinking ale from curved horns. This hero that comes into Valhalla does not lament his death.  I shall not enter Odin’s hall with fear. There, I shall wait for my sons to join me. And when they do, I will bask in their tales of triumph. The Aesir will welcome me. My death comes without apology. And I welcome the Valkyries to summon me home!

 

 

 

[generalzod]

Spoilers:

Darth Aelle and 9 Great Heathen Army Photos:

 

https://m.reddit.com/r/vikingstv/comments/5l3ir1/spoilers_screencaps_from_the_new_promo_the_great/

 

[Martini Sigil]

our boy went out like a champ

[Jen'ari]

You know, I hate to be all critical of an otherwise brilliant scene, but none of those snakes would have killed him, they were all various types of python and boa constrictor which are completely non venomous and pretty harmless to someone Ragnars size.

[Pliskin]

Can someone explain to me what Hirst means when he says "And I have to say that we've now shot nearly 25 episodes after Ragnar's death and so we're into different worlds." ? I just don't get it. They clearly didn't film 25 episodes already, so... what the heck.

(And Christ, as always when I read interviews of him, I have murder tendencies. I hate that guy.)

[generalzod]

You're 100 %  right.  They should have thrown Travis Fimmel into a pit with real, deadly venomous snakes.

(All the snake nerds have really outted themselves here...all saying in their best comic book guy voices:   "Oh, KING AELLE...That's a CORN SNAKE!  FAIL, VIKINGS, FAIL!"

[Veltigar]

1 hour ago, generalzod said:

You're 100 %  right.  They should have thrown Travis Fimmel into a pit with real, deadly venomous snakes.

Marlon Brando would have done it  method FTW

1 hour ago, generalzod said:

(All the snake nerds have really outted themselves here...all saying in their best comic book guy voices:   "Oh, KING AELLE...That's a CORN SNAKE!  FAIL, VIKINGS, FAIL!"

You do realise there is this new thing in Hollywood called props and/or CGI right? Or they could have used other, less familiar types of non-venomous snakes. I don't know the first thing about snakes but even I can spot a python when I see one (Harry Potter generation after all). Also don't forget that Ragnar literally put one of those snakes in his mouth last season while partying with Yidu in his crap shack and now all of a sudden they're poisonous  it's jarring really, takes you out of the moment.

[generalzod]

4 hours ago, Pliskin said:

Can someone explain to me what Hirst means when he says "And I have to say that we've now shot nearly 25 episodes after Ragnar's death and so we're into different worlds." ? I just don't get it. They clearly didn't film 25 episodes already, so... what the heck.

(And Christ, as always when I read interviews of him, I have murder tendencies. I hate that guy.)

What's your beef with Michael Hirst?  (I'm guessing its more than "season 3, episode 7 was lackluster.")

[Crazydog7]

4 hours ago, Pliskin said:

 

(And Christ, as always when I read interviews of him, I have murder tendencies. I hate that guy.)

 

Thank you.  I thought I was the only one. 

[Derfel Cadarn]

8 hours ago, Lord Sidious said:

You know, I hate to be all critical of an otherwise brilliant scene, but none of those snakes would have killed him, they were all various types of python and boa constrictor which are completely non venomous and pretty harmless to someone Ragnars size.

Says the guy who told a prospective apprentice to kill his current one, and when that didnt happen let the reject stand next to him while he fried his son. Next to a large pit.

And also thought giving away the location of an unfinished vulnerable battle station to the same people who blew up the last one was a winner.

[Jen'ari]

10 hours ago, generalzod said:

You're 100 %  right.  They should have thrown Travis Fimmel into a pit with real, deadly venomous snakes.

(All the snake nerds have really outted themselves here...all saying in their best comic book guy voices:   "Oh, KING AELLE...That's a CORN SNAKE!  FAIL, VIKINGS, FAIL!"

They could have just CGI'ed a pit of cobras.

2 hours ago, Derfel Cadarn said:

Says the guy who told a prospective apprentice to kill his current one, and when that didnt happen let the reject stand next to him while he fried his son. Next to a large pit.

And also thought giving away the location of an unfinished vulnerable battle station to the same people who blew up the last one was a winner.

Hey say what you want about that scene but at least the force lightning was real!.

[Pliskin]

9 hours ago, generalzod said:

What's your beef with Michael Hirst?  (I'm guessing its more than "season 3, episode 7 was lackluster.")

Oh no, frankly, I have less beef with Hirst the writer than with Hirst the... talker I guess?

The guy is so full of himself.

The main three points I can't stand with him are :

• I remember a past interview of him (or AMA?) where he was basically saying that he was a learned guy, and that he had an academia background and put himself in opposition to the other Hollywood writers, like you know they're all college dropouts and illiterate, right?
• His usual stance on Fantasy. Like you know it's shit and doesn't deserve any kind of interest. The guy either doesn't know what Fantasy is, or is just suffering from Alzheimer, and doesn't remember writing that shit show called Camelot. Where he succeeded in turning the most iconic medieval fantasy into a mess. And let's not even talk about the few supernatural elements in Vikings, or the fact that the sagas are more akin to Fantasy than History.
• And of course, but that's often dwelt upon here, the fact that he can't stop reminding us that he's a god writing his shows alone. You know, he's so proud of his perfect creation, Ragnar. Ok, he'll concede that Travis Fimmel is 50% on it, but still he's the only writer, that's something. Yeah, we got it.

[generalzod]

It's almost like he's trolling Game of Thrones fans...

"You know, I can't have some silly imagnary  dragon swoop in from the skies and save everyone. Or bring characters back from the dead!  What a presposterous cheat!  Suck it, Jon Snow!  The Vikings are real! "

In a world where series creators don't really say anything controversial, Hirst seems to enjoy taking shots at Thrones every chance he gets.  

I read somewhere he quit Camelot because they rewrote him/wouldn't let him run the series.  

I have to say, despite its sometimes flaws, I love Vikings.  It's like this great indy band that is sometimes imperfect, but raw and defiant and makes you feel.  Game of Thrones is a more polished megaband to me, but Vikings just keeps cranking out the angry and weird and messy but usually badass tunes. But I appreciate both bands for different reasons. 

And yeah, he's a bit full of himself, which is what you'd expect from a guy who eschews a writer's room and has written (69?) consecutive episodes in a 4-5 year span. 

[Swagwell]

There is ONE thing I really didn't like:

 

Why would Aella kill Ragnar somewhere in a forest as opposed to where his people could witness it? The setting was definately underwhelming, but I had a real fist-pump moment when Ragnar went into his Valhalla speech. I hope he gets the best parts of Särimner... (google it!)

 

Am I the only one who think the one-eyed guy at the end has something to do with Odin?

[Astromech]

Well, I suppose sending Ivar back was pointless when the gods act as your personal messengers. The messenger was one of the few aspects I liked about this episode and Ragnar's voice over at the end. Hopefully, next week will be the Great Heathen Army.

Sigh, exactly Aethelwulf. Exactlty!

So that build up and preview of Ivar v. Lagertha was a simple tease. I'm suspecting this conflict to be strung out throughout the season. Shame. I haven't been a huge fan of this new Lagertha and her ubiquitous shield maidens. However, her reflections on Ragnar were nice.

WTF was that travesty in Moorish Spain? Floki is suddenly religiously tolerant and a fine lockpick? Helga has some bizarre need for a child now and takes a page from the Brangelina book on international adoption? Bjorn seemed bored as opposed to Rollo and Hvitserk, who were at least enjoying themselves, but seem to be bffs. And of course, we still have our token villains Harald and Halfdan. I fear we may have another "exotic" love interest. Luckily for these Vikings they can just capture them as slaves and allow feelings to develop later  

 

[Crazydog7]

If floki converts to Islam who is going to kill Athelstan every day in Valhalla?  I guess that has always been the default position of the show have an episode that isn't going anywhere?  Well have one of your characters have some manner of spiritual crisis. 

[SweetPea]

Ragnar's death last episode, although it was well done, left me somehow... emotionless. It wasn't as sad as I thought it would be. But now, watching his sons learn about his fate...  man, it hit me. I almost shed a tear for him, and that doesn't come easily for me. Maybe it was the Wardruna song, I don't know, but I think this episode's ending was so epic and beautiful at the same time. A great send-off for Ragnar.