Saturday, March 29, 2014

'Answers in Blood' -- Vikings 2x05


Warning: Spoiler Alert

I find it rather interesting that no matter what Athelstan does, he just can't win. After being captured by the Vikings, being forced to live amongst them, and then, assimilating with them, he can never stop being known as "Priest." Then, while helping them, he is captured by King Ecbert's people and brought back home (or near to where he had lived before the Vikings had captured him in the first place), and he is known to them as "the Pagan." It doesn't seem to matter where he is since he was first captured at the beginning of season one; wherever he is, he is an outsider and everyone who he is around, he is pushed into the outskirts of society.

But I wonder if the constant making of an outsider of him, combined with causing him to have religious fueled visions is leading up to something; I would really love it if it was leading to something. I would love more than anything if he turned out to be some kind of prophet or seer who was able to help Ragnar kick some serious ass (and that his prophecy seeing ass kicking locks would lead to Ragnar becoming the King of all the North ... and eventually the world). Probably not what the writers are leading us toward (his seeing of things that aren't really there are probably nothing more than an extension of his own inner turmoil over his religious conflict).

Of course, Lagertha couldn't stay without there being all sorts of tension between her, Ragnar, and Aslaug ... the same tension that she was trying to get away from when she left in the first place. But understanding the reason for why she left in the first place, why she came back when she heard that Ragnar was in need of help, and why she left again once Ragnar was able to get his position back ... that doesn't mean that I wanted her to go back to that douche that she's married to now. I want her to continue to be the righteous shield maiden that she has been, and lay the smack down on all sorts of idiots.

Giving her blessing to Bjorn to stay with Ragnar ... I wonder how that's going to change things. Sure, she's giving him what he wants by letting him get away from the douche that is his step-father, letting him be with his own father (who he loves), and letting him become the warrior that he seems to want to be, but that doesn't mean that everything is going to be amazing by letting him stay. I have a feeling that her husband is going to have eight kinds of cows when she returns (since I'm sure that she left without letting him know what she was doing, and without asking his permission, which he probably would have required to give her before she was allowed to leave, cuz he's just that kind of guy), and he'll probably have thirteen more kinds when he finds out that she allowed Bjorn to stay with Ragnar. He struck me as being the type of guy who needs to be in control of everyone who is around him, and he cannot handle it when something happens that he hasn't signed off on in triplicate.

I wanted Ragnar to be able to kill Jarl Borg when they fought, but I don't suppose that that would have happened. Sure, they still have Ecbert to deal with (in addition to Borg), but I don't think that the fight with Ecbert is going to happen this season, so they probably still need someone for Ragnar and the gang to deal with until the end of this season.

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