Vikings IX: The Bear Necessities [SPOILERS]

[Alia of the knife]

23 hours ago, Buckwheat said:

Of a cold. It was really loosely explained, by which I mean, it was not.

 

Okay, I thought I missed some detail, but it just wasn't there.

 

Thanks!

[RhaenysBee]

10 minutes ago, Alia of the knife said:

Great analysis. I suppose my complaint on the drugs is that it seems a little contrived.

As for his state of mind, he reminds me a bit of Robert Berantheon. Getting the crown was one thing, but wearing it is another.

Hmm... I see where you are coming from, but I think Ragnar has all the abilities to make a good King (unlike Robert). I personally just see a mid-life crisis in him. Prior to Paris he was a good King and even enjoyed being King. I feel like he's the kind of person who constantly thrives for new adventures and unexplored areas of everything. Being King was fun at first, but he's stuck with it and it stated to bore him and became a chore. That's just my understanding at this point.  A lot depends on how this unfolds. 

 

[Jack Bauer 24]

I just want to see Ragnar kicking ass again. This injury/mid life crisis arc has worn out its welcome.

[Buckwheat]

I am still curious about the interior arrangement during the Kalf assassination scene. White draperies all around seemed so out of place there.

[jarl the climber]

I thought Kalf getting offed by Lagertha was really sort of anti climactic. I think she implied to him that she would do that to him at one point still after building Kalf up over the past couple of seasons killing him off like this seemed sort of uninspired. Also is Lagertha really pregnant or was she lying to Kalf to maybe get him off his guard? I guess the big thing is what happens with Erlendur, does he split with Jarl Borgs heir or does he stay in which case you figure Bjorn will kill him off in the next episode. My take is that Bjorn will stay behind in Scandanavia to deal with Erlendur, who does split and raises an army to go oppose his enemies, while Ragnar maybe goes raiding with less men than he had planned.

[Spockydog]

9 hours ago, Alia of the knife said:

Thanks!

Also agree on the bath scene.

Must have been a different Michael Hirst that said this:

Quote

I feel like a lot of other people, that sex in Game Of Thrones and other shows is completely gratuitous and unnecessary and a lot of the violence is gratuitous… It’s largely to shock.

 

Quote

In Game of Thrones, you get to see a scene opening with two naked women, and then you see a couple of guys come in and that’s where the scene starts. We thought, “We’re not going to do that. We can’t do that anyway because it’s a network show…I think we’ve gone too far . . . you know, it’s all kind of violent porn and sex porn. I was very, very happy to not be part of that trend and to instead concentrate on the story.

What an asshole. He's turning this show into the fucking Tudors.

[HexMachina]

1 hour ago, jarl the climber said:

I thought Kalf getting offed by Lagertha was really sort of anti climactic. I think she implied to him that she would do that to him at one point still after building Kalf up over the past couple of seasons killing him off like this seemed sort of uninspired. Also is Lagertha really pregnant or was she lying to Kalf to maybe get him off his guard? I guess the big thing is what happens with Erlendur, does he split with Jarl Borgs heir or does he stay in which case you figure Bjorn will kill him off in the next episode. My take is that Bjorn will stay behind in Scandanavia to deal with Erlendur, who does split and raises an army to go oppose his enemies, while Ragnar maybe goes raiding with less men than he had planned.

There is a preview out for next week, and unless I am mistaken

it show the Vikings heading back to Paris, and Bjorn and Erlendur are both there. As is Lagertha, in full war gear, so maybe not so pregnant after all? 

This show is all over the place this season

[HexMachina]

Sorry for the double post, can't get the link to edit into my previous one. Here is the preview for next week, and I was correct in what I said above 

[Jack Bauer 24]

43 minutes ago, Spockydog said:

Must have been a different Michael Hirst that said this:

 

What an asshole. He's turning this show into the fucking Tudors.

Is he serious? Has he not watched his own show?

[Zorral]

I had no opportunity to watch the episode until this weekend.

 also don't get why she has to be the daughter of an emperor other than to emphasize Ragnar's regal taste in women...? 

That reflect my thinking about this relationship.  He didn't have sex with her until she said she was a daughter of the emperor.  Feh.

It's still entertaining but not in any meaningful or historic manner.  If Lagertha was going to finally take out Kalf, why wait until all the wedding ceremony and dressing were in place.  Why making it red blood on white (and agree with the person above who said all that white seemed not very historic) and for what?  Why is she being acclaimed as she walks out to the 'people' all blood stained?  What are they acclaiming her for?  Also she still looks botoxed or some other cosmetic process that has made her look like a soap carving. 

Bjorn though, now.  Ay-up.  He does seem all grown up now.  And very cool with it. While Ragnar's regressing into infantilism.

As far as Wessex is concerned, at this point it's Aethelwulf and Kwenthrith are the power couple I'm putting my money on.

Rollo -- well, just be careful.

[Mark Antony]

On March 18, 2016 at 5:39 PM, Veltigar said:

First of all, what was up with the cringe-inducing dialogue this episode.

Dude yeah this show has never been a masterclass of dialogue but last weeks was the worst episode for it of the show. There was legit a line that went like "there are moments when I feel so close to you especially when you are inside of me"  

[Veltigar]

4 minutes ago, Mark Antony said:

Dude yeah this show has never been a masterclass of dialogue but last weeks was the worst episode for it of the show. There was legit a line that went like "there are moments when I feel so close to you especially when you are inside of me"  

That line creeped me out. Not just because it was terrible, I mean Hirst wrote that line for his own daughter  Someone has a case of reversed Elektra complex going on me thinks. 

[Astromech]

Isn't this exactly what we feared upon learning Hirst was given a 20-episode season? I'm still enjoying the show, but I have to put the blinders on while I'm watching each episode and try not question it too much. But the season does need the pace to pick up a bit. Funny that the season is only a quarter ways through and we're already impatient More Wardruna and cultural scenes, please.

[Mazrick]

Wow, I'm pretty let down by this season. I thought the lack of Aethelstein could only be a good thing, but I'll be damned if this isn't the worst season so far.

[Raksha 2014]

On 3/19/2016 at 0:01 PM, BB-Rhae said:

I have mixed feelings about Ragnar doing drugs. at this point in his storyline he is tragically lonely and he lost all purpose and ambition. He has enough to not care about power and treasure anymore, and feel like raids are a chore. He's sick of his wife, he has no friends. He needs a companion as much as he needs new experience. And this girl comes along and gets him high. We've seen in season 1 that using drugs is not alien for the Vikings, throwback to the time Rollo got Athelstan high. I also see a parallel between his current drug use and previous Christianity obsession. Ragnar likes to explore on the spiritual/mental level as well. However, drugs are dangerous and at this point there's nobody around who would or could pull Ragnar back to reality. And I'm not sure why the Chinese girl thinks that drugs are the way to help Ragnar. In her place, I would go to bed with Ragnar talk with him, because with Aslaug and no friends, it's company and love that he needs, not drugs. I also don't get why she has to be the daughter of an emperor other than to emphasize Ragnar's regal taste in women...? 

About the Ivar issue. I think the reason why this whole incident could occur is that nobody made any effort to parent that child, and because somebody negligently left an axe in his cart. If Aslaug had only let Ragnar parent, Ivar would have been treated as an actual child. He would have been integrated with his brothers, hence socialized, he would have looked up to Bjorn and Ragnar like the rest of the boys, learned a thing or two about weapons and how they have something called an edge, and he may have heard about responsibility which is clearly not happening while he's around Aslaug. 

Now, in a ideal world the parents of that poor kid would find out and go to Ragnar. Then Ragnar could tell Aslaug to back the F off and have an educational chat with Ivar.  Not let Floki teach him, but find a reasonably truth worthy person to do so and integrate him with his brothers. Sadly, I'm not sure I trust the show enough to hope for this. They will probably just get rid of the body, nobody will say anything and the other kids who witnessed the incident will magically forget what happened. Ragnar will never find out and Ivar will remain under the questionable influence of Flokie and the unquestionable idiocy of his mother. 

 

Aslaug is ridiculous as a mother.  She let her older boys run off and nearly drown/freeze, resulting in Siggy's death, while she was fooling around with Harbard; and now she cuts Ragnar off from the kid who probably needs him the most, hands the kid over to Floki for instruction on the Old Ways/Hating the Christian God; constantly carries the kid around, and now tells him it's not his fault that he killed a playmate over a ball in a game.

Ragnar is usually pretty good as a father.  Aslaug should encourage Ragnar to bond with Ivar.  As a child with a physical disability in a society where physical strength and the ability to fight are valued above almost all other qualities, Little Boneless will need all the help and positive support he can get.  I don't understand why she is always carrying him around.  Aslaug should be encouraging him to use the cart by turning the wheels on his own (maybe give him Hodor a thrall to help pull the cart) and things to do that will build up the strength of his arms.  Little Boneless will be soon be too big for his mother to carry around anymore.  Also, she should have helped the kid cope with his killing of the other boy by telling him that 'We only kill our enemies, not our playmates, and not over a ball in a game'.  

I would imagine that, given Boneless' extreme youth, he will not be held responsible.  (no one's going to want him on their team in Viking Junior League Football again, though)  Ragnar or Aslaug will probably have to shell out some weregild to the dead boy's parents as compensation for their loss.  

Ragnar's such a self-pitying mess right now that he's probably not going to know that Floki is tutoring little Boneless in reactionary Old Way-craziness.  If I have to sit through another bathtub scene, I'll change the channel.  I'm not sure what Yidu's game is, whether she actually likes Ragnar (who apparently has improved her status so she no longer has to ineffectually feed the pigs or whatnot) or is trying to con him into making her an official concubine or maybe an advisor - hence her telling him she's the Emperor's daughter.

I did enjoy Lagertha in the last episode; and I did not see her status change coming.  I'm watching mainly for glimpses of Rollo in the Land of the Franks.

[dbunting]

Ok, as mess of a season and episode so far.

Aslaug still sucks, and as to why she keeps Ragnar away from him, she blames him for his condition. She had just given birth to a son and within a few days Ragnar was making her have sex with him and she said it was too soon, and sure enough he has his medical issues. Then, Ragnar planned to kill Ivar but couldn't go through with it, so she does have pretty good reasons for being leery of the two together.

Ragnar and the, of course she is a princess. This to me is the absolute worst part right now. Ok, how did these Vikings (who don't have as good of boats as Ragnar) get a Chinese person? I mean, am I stupid or would that have been sailing farther than any known voyage ever at that time? You would have to get around Africa to get to the far east, and these people are just now going to England and France, which by comparison to China is right around the block! (and don't try to argue that the "slave" was passed from one group to the other, without ever getting violated) Plus, she has fresh green "herbs" from China for him, how the hell would a slave be able to smuggle that and clothing? It would have been taken from her immediately and like eaten or tossed overboard by whoever found her, not to mention she had enough time to learn to speak their language before the herbs dried and wilted! Luckily while watching I can usually "tune out" these kind of details but when discussing it here it bubbles to the surface.

France, the Emperor is a bitch. That court scene was just horrible.

Wessex, again, WTF. Hey husband who is so religious that you are flogging yourself, here's a plan, you have sex with your whore Queen and I will have sex with your King dad ok?! and cut scene...

Season 1 and 2 were so interesting and full of the loosely told history of the Vikings and their lives and that is what drew me in. Now, that seems to have been entirely forgotten, become more about non Vikings, and the show is getting forgettable.

[Zorral]

4 hours ago, dbunting said:

Ok, as mess of a season and episode so far.

Aslaug still sucks, and as to why she keeps Ragnar away from him, she blames him for his condition. She had just given birth to a son and within a few days Ragnar was making her have sex with him and she said it was too soon, and sure enough he has his medical issues. Then, Ragnar planned to kill Ivar but couldn't go through with it, so she does have pretty good reasons for being leery of the two together.

Ragnar and the, of course she is a princess. This to me is the absolute worst part right now. Ok, how did these Vikings (who don't have as good of boats as Ragnar) get a Chinese person? I mean, am I stupid or would that have been sailing farther than any known voyage ever at that time? You would have to get around Africa to get to the far east, and these people are just now going to England and France, which by comparison to China is right around the block! (and don't try to argue that the "slave" was passed from one group to the other, without ever getting violated) Plus, she has fresh green "herbs" from China for him, how the hell would a slave be able to smuggle that and clothing? It would have been taken from her immediately and like eaten or tossed overboard by whoever found her, not to mention she had enough time to learn to speak their language before the herbs dried and wilted! Luckily while watching I can usually "tune out" these kind of details but when discussing it here it bubbles to the surface.

France, the Emperor is a bitch. That court scene was just horrible.

Wessex, again, WTF. Hey husband who is so religious that you are flogging yourself, here's a plan, you have sex with your whore Queen and I will have sex with your King dad ok?! and cut scene...

Season 1 and 2 were so interesting and full of the loosely told history of the Vikings and their lives and that is what drew me in. Now, that seems to have been entirely forgotten, become more about non Vikings, and the show is getting forgettable.

Slave trading, dude.  The Vikings didn't sail to China to get her.  The Franks got her on the market and the slave trader that brought her -- it seems as part of the Ragnar booty train to Kattegat got her from whatever Frank noble owned her.

My own first thought concerning Boneless not even being sent to bed without supper for killing someone was that as a deformed infant he was supposed to be disposed of.  Ragnar couldn't do it, and thus defied the gods, or at least the ways of his people.  So, now, seeing him become a psycho, the people are likely to say -- "See, the gods know best.  That's what you get when somebody like that isn't drowned at birth."

 

[dooog]

Absolutely appalling season so far. I actually feel really bad about recommending this to a few of my friends now. 

[dbunting]

17 hours ago, Zorral said:

Slave trading, dude.  The Vikings didn't sail to China to get her.  The Franks got her on the market and the slave trader that brought her -- it seems as part of the Ragnar booty train to Kattegat got her from whatever Frank noble owned her.

 

For some reason my post from yesterday in response to this was lost. This stuck with me so I did a little internet "research" on slave trading in the time frame that this is set in. I came across a very interesting forum in which a question is posed. The question is basically this, I am writing a book and need a plausible way for a Chinese female slave to be in Viking control in 800... Sound familiar? This question was posted in 2010.

I added the link because I was dumbfounded by the exact match to the show. Thoughts?

http://historum.com/speculative-history/15468-unlikely-scenario-vikings-china.html

[Jack Bauer 24]

#AskAslaug

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