Vikings Season 5 Episode 4 review: Gang Aft A-gley

This week’s episode, the fourth of the season, of Vikings is entitled ‘The Plan’ and unsurprisingly everyone has a plan. Heahmund and Æthelwulf choose to lay siege to the city of York after their initial frontal assault failed, Ubbe returns to Kattegat and makes a pact with Lagertha, Astrid makes her own choice regarding Harold Finehair and Björn arrives in the Mediterranean. Of these stories, it’s the Saxon’s plan and Björn’s plotting in Sicily that take up most of the run time but mostly this episode is just setting up events to come.

Clearly Æthelwulf reads this blog because he questions Heahmund over the same issues that I raised about letting Ubbe and Hvitserk go free last week. Heahmund is too grounded in his faith to give any ground, figuratively or literally, to the pagan Norsemen, and instead claims to have had a vision in which they starve the heathen army out of York. Æthelwulf seems initially reluctant given their weakened forces but eventually goes along with the plan. Later, when it seems that the Norsemen have sailed away, Æthelwulf pulls rank and decides to enter the city, bolstered with re-enforcements from Northumbria.

The dissension between Æthelwulf and Heahmund is interesting, though not surprising given the previous defeat. It’s particularly noteworthy because Æthelwulf rightly accuses Heahmund of being less humble than he seems and reminding the bishop of his status. Notably, this scene comes on the heels of the Northumbrian lord swearing fealty to Æthelwulf as Bretwalda, so it could be that having others in his command has made Æthelwulf realise how Heahmund treats him. When Æthelwulf chooses to advance on York Heahmund does not ask him to reconsider. He simply says ‘no’. You don’t just say ‘no’ to your king. I’m curious as to how this plot will progress. Will there be a struggle between God and king as to who Heahmund serves much like Henry VIII? Will Æthelwulf simply have to put Heahmund in his place? Or will Æthelwulf’s unwillingness to listen be his own downfall?

And I bet we’ll never see those dirty pagans ever again.

The latter seems likely, at least in the short term. While the Saxon’s siege York and attack any hunting parties preventing any new food entering the city, Ivar exacts his own plan. Much like the battle last week, Ivar uses tricks and sleights of hand to manipulate the Saxons. This involves mimicking the burning of bodies to deceive Æthelwulf and Heahmund into believing that the Norsemen are starving and burning the bodies of their dead. Their ships then sail off leaving York dishevelled and overrun by animals. But Heahmund notices that something is off and…that’s where the episode ends. But Ivar has thus far been one step ahead of the Saxons at every turn and I don’t expect next week to be much different.

Over in the Mediterranean, Sinric, Björn’s guide, convinces him to sail towards Sicily rather than Rome. There, Björn meets with Euphemius who claims to rule the entire island and has abducted Kassia, a Byzantine abbess. However, through Sinric, Björn learns that Euphemius is in fact an under-lord to a Muslim Emir in Africa. Björn wishes to meet this Emir but Euphemius refuses until Kassia demands that he fulfil a promise by taking her to meet him.

Björn’s scenes in Sicily are reminiscent of early Vikings episodes. While with Ivar, we know the Saxons are their enemies, here we don’t yet know who can be trusted and who might betray them. In the early episodes we knew the Vikings were there to raid Northumbria but we didn’t know how Aelle would react; would he buy off the Vikings or attempt to ambush them? When he tries to ambush them he learn that Aelle is not a man of his word and can’t be trusted. It’s cool to see the characters in new environments and new locations but more so it’s engaging to see them interact with new characters who we don’t know. There’s definitely something shifty about Euphemius but question of whether he or Kassia can be trusted hangs over the story which makes the narrative infinitely more compelling to watch.

Imagine if they hadn’t introduced themselves as traders.

Less compelling are the other storylines. I continue to be underwhelmed and wanting by the storylines of Lagertha and Finehair. As I mentioned in the premiere review, it’s obvious the these storylines are building towards something, and Lagertha’s pact with Ubbe and Harold’s marriage to Astrid are both important events, but there are much more interesting things going on in the world of Vikings. Instead of being invested I just spend these scenes waiting for the story to get back to England or Italy. Thankfully these scenes are short.

In other news, Floki, having not died, decides he can’t keep the land of the gods, or Iceland as we know it, all to himself. So he plans to sail off and bring others there so they can create a settlement, free of any outside religious influences. Part of me finds this story dull too but another part of me can’t wait to see Floki’s face when the first Christian missionary arrives on his shores.

All in all another solid episode from this season of Vikings, again proving that it can be consistently entertaining without Ragnar Lothbrok. If you miss the days of Ragnar or what a theory for Ivar’s plan, gimme a shout in the comments below or on social media. If you enjoyed this review, check out the reviews of Vikings season 5 episodes 1,2 and 3. Also check out my review of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. And if you’re still found wanting after that, check out my novel, Carrion Youth, which you can read for free over on swoonreads.com.