Vikings

Previously on Vikings...

Harald is gone. I make myself King.

And you will be my Queen.

I drive it into the eye of Vigfadir.

I'm blind.

We must flush the King out of his stronghold, and force him

to fight us at a place of our choosing.

Scouts tell us that the Viking army is here.

We should try to engage it on our terms.

We should never have left Kattegat!

Why are we dying here? In the middle of an ocean?

King Alfred will be bound to visit his strongholds in the south.

Wherever he goes, we'll see him.

We must evacuate here.

Although it pains me more than I can say.

I hope you are proud of yourself.

Leaving Wessex without even a fight!

It is only important that Ivar does not capture me.

Look.

We made it.

Fresh water.

Here.

And look!

I've tasted them! They're wonderful!

I don't know what gods brought us here.

I don't know anything anymore.

Just accept.

Torvi is right.

We must accept the verdict of my God and yours.

And know that we were brought here for a purpose.

Which is?

To be revealed, I would say.

We're alive.

It's enough.

For now.

Ready!

My gracious Lord King.

We are well met, Bishop Aldulf.

Let us face what we have to face, together,

thanking God for his many mercies and enduring love.

Amen.

My Lady, my name is Sister Annis.

I'm here to assist you and your son, with God's grace.

Thank you, Sister.

I've ordered some of my best men to escort the Queen

and the young Prince to safety.

My Lord Bishop,

nothing will prevent me remaining beside the King,

my husband, nor sharing his dangers.

But I thank you for your kindness.

Tell me, my Lord, just how large is this Viking army?

My Lord?

Come.

You should rest.

I'm fine.

You must have a great care for yourself, husband.

Or we both know the consequences.

You must stay strong,

in your body and in your soul.

If you feel a weakness or weariness,

then resist it.

Resist the temptation to fall easily into a drowsy sickness.

Stay strong.

For me.

For everyone gathered here...

and for yourself.

Do you understand?

Yes, my love.

I understand.

My friends.

Sons and daughters of Wessex.

We stand indeed at a crossroads.

But just as spring always triumphs over winter,

so life will always triumph over death.

We must believe that.

We know these Northmen have a reputation as savage warriors.

But they are only human, just like us.

- Yes. - Cut them, and they bleed.

There is nothing under heaven to say that we cannot vanquish them!

- Yes! - Confronted by evil,

we do not surrender to it.

Or fear it.

No!

We have the one thing that the pagans do not have.

We have the risen Christ on our side.

And with God on our side, how is it even conceivable

that we could lose this final battle?

So, we are at the crossroads.

We can decide to move forward,

engage the enemy,

trust in ourselves and in our God,

or we can, fearing the worst...

agree to negotiate with him.

I have to tell you that I no longer believe

in negotiating with the Devil!

We will travel to our garrison at Chichester,

and with the sea at our back, we shall fight.

It is the only way.

Wessex will never return to the Dark Ages!

Wessex will be a beacon for the rest of our country!

A beacon of light!

A beacon of liberty!

We shall never surrender, whatever the cost!

That is my pledge to you!

And I will lay down my body in the earth to fulfill it.

In this moment are all our lives

and all our history bound up in one.

This is our moment!

This is our time!

God bless you all! And God bless Wessex!

God bless Wessex!

King Alfred!

It's a new world.

I wonder what else it has to show us?

Make way, make way.

I was just thinking that King Harald may die in the battle ahead.

By whose hand, I don't know.

Do you really so much want to be King of all Norway?

Well, wouldn't that make me even more famous? Huh?

You see, Hvitserk...

nobody talks about Ragnar anymore.

They've already forgotten who he was.

That frightens me.

Yes, they talk about me.

And the Saxons talk about me.

And the Rus. And all along the Silk Road.

But...

it's not enough.

One day, it's true, I will die.

Hopefully in battle,

and not like some drooling old man!

And Odin will welcome me into Valhalla.

But when they dig up my bones,

I want them to say,

"Here is the grave...

of the most famous Viking who ever lived."

And do you know what?

My son will become a great warrior for the Rus.

And so my son and his sons

will ensure that my bloodline endures

and people a long way in the future,

hundreds of years from now,

and probably from all over the world...

will be proud to find that my blood is in their bodies...

and my spirit is in their souls.

What's so funny?

Ah, nothing.

Forgive me.

You're probably right.

Oh, you better believe it, my brother.

What?

Your eyes have turned deep blue, Ivar.

You know what that means, remember?

We used to watch over you.

We knew that when your eyes turned blue...

you were in great danger of hurting yourself.

And we would say, "Not today, Ivar...

not today."

I remember.

Gudrid, take Ragnar.

Torvi!

Look what we have found!

There is so much game, so many animals,

so much just to eat, I can't even describe it!

Words fail me.

Words are never enough. Here is paradise!

We must make a sacrifice, Ubbe.

We must thank the gods for all this bounty.

- We shall. - Mmm.

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I wonder if the gods are truly here in this new world.

Perhaps they are.

But, even so, perhaps in a different shape.

That is a strange idea.

Perhaps even terrifying.

What?

Did you come all this way just to find the familiar,

Ubbe, son of Ragnar?

That's shameful.

Maybe you are not so much like your father after all.

How would you know?

The carvings look recent.

And I found some footsteps over there,

and what looks like a path. But it runs out.

- A path down here. - Not alone.

What shall we do?

What could it be?

I think we should leave some gifts here

for whoever made the carving.