After six episodes of losing men, kidnapped lovers and allied enemies, Lagertha finally caught a break. Not only has her son returned to her in this time of need but she also made a valuable alliance with the Sami, somewhat evening the odds against Harald Finehair and Ivar the Boneless. Though not everything is sunshine and daisies now. With Björn comes Harald’s brother, Halfdan, and though he says that he’ll fight with Björn, Lagertha is weary of trusting him. As she points out, his brother gave his word not to go to war and didn’t keep his promise.
Over in Vestfold, trust issues abound also. Ivar’s biggest concern is whether he can trust Bishop Heahmund. Again, these two actors play well off each other and it’s interesting to see the two characters discuss how their religions view something as routine as the moon. But at the core is Ivar’s desire for fame. Ivar wants to be so charismatic and magnetic that people from all walks of life will be drawn to him and praise him. He already recognises Heahmund’s worth as a warrior and wants Heahmund’s respect in return.
Ivar strikes me as the type of player to knock over the board if he starts losing.
Bishop Heahmund, however, does not seem to want to see Ivar as anything other than an inconvenience that God will eventually provide escape from. The determinism discussion is one that has gone on in religious communities since the dawn of time. While the discussion itself is interesting in that we get to see how Heahmund, Ivar and Hvitserk view their own actions, a more immediately practical effect of the conversation is how Ivar dismisses his brother over Heahmund, and that Heahmund is privy to this exchange. Heahmund, though pious, we know from events in the series, is capable of indulging in his darker urges from time to time. He’s not to type to simply sit back and wait for rescue. It seems unlikely that Heahmund will outright betray Ivar, because that would get him killed, but could he cause dissension between the brothers? That seems plausible, and not particularly difficult given already strained relationship between the sons of Ragnar.
Speaking of the sons of Ragnar, Björn and Ubbe are now together in Kattegat and both are making some serious relationship decisions. Björn has what has to be the most amicable divorce ever shown on television, all while making eyes at a Sami Chief’s daughter. Ubbe then immediately kisses Björn’s ex-wife, Torvi, which his wife, Margrethe, witnesses. Not to be deterred, Margrethe confronts Ubbe and tells him of her ambition to go from being a free slave to Queen. It’s getting all very The O.C. in Kattegat. Most of this likely won’t mean anything. Even if Ubbe does end up ruling, it’ll probably be temporary but more probable is that he continues to support Björn, and Margrethe will be murdered before anything can become of her. The most significant development is Björn’s marriage to Snaefrid, which is first of all an important alliance but could also signal that Björn is ready to more seriously rule his father’s kingdom.
Snaefrid was one of the stand-out characters of this episode. While Alexander Ludwig is likeable and has done an excellent job of channelling Travis Fimmel’s Ragnar Lothbrok, there was the risk that Snaefrid would be overshadowed by his character. Snaefrid is silent for a large part of the episode, communicating only through an ambiguous stare, but when her character does speak she commands the scene, and not just because she’s talking about chewing reindeer balls. (Whether that’s a legitimate method of castration is debatable, though it is banned in Norway for what it’s worth.) Her gentle mocking of Björn and confidence solidified the character as engaging. It’s the type of character that I hope we get to see more of. Though hopefully Björn doesn’t become a character with numerous adventures that could be developed but aren’t.
Despite having such a large role last week, Astrid is relegated to one scene in ‘Full Moon’. Initially it seemed like the sickness was just a result of the violent sexual assault from ‘The Message’ but if that was the case it seems risky for Astrid to proclaim that she might be with child. Instead, her awkwardness and apprehension can be interpreted as her knowing that even if she is with child, it is likely not Harald’s. And she’s still possibly unsure as to whether Harald knows or not. It’s possible that the peeking child is a red herring, but more probable is that he’s a Chekov’s gun. Maybe Harald doesn’t know yet, but that gun will fire.
It’s not like Ragnar’s courting abilities were much better.
The rest of the episode is filled with side stories of Floki’s settlement in Iceland and Alfred’s visit to Lindisfarne, both of which are unnecessary and distracting. The Icelandic settlement has devolved into another power struggle, and an illogical one at that. It’s pretty simply resolved by Floki simply not taking any title or role as King, which has never been his ambition. If anything, Floki is the seer that people go to for advice and gives cryptic statements that confuse as much as they help. Meanwhile, Alfred’s plot was fairly pointless. He didn’t learn anything of note about Æthelstan, so all it served to do was make some heavy-handed nods towards Alfred’s future church reforms and some sort of dual spirit prayer. Don’t get me wrong, I like both these characters. I just wish they were being given something interesting and worthwhile to do.
With ‘Full Moon’ wrapped up, all that’s left is to wait for the big battle in next week’s episode, somewhat humorously titled, ‘The Joke’. While you wait for episode 8, you can read up on reviews of the first six reviews here. There are also film reviews, such as the recent review of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Or you can find my review of Battle of the Sexes on moviequotesandmore.com. If all of that has whet your appetite, satisfy your hunger with some original fiction by reading my novel, Carrion Youth, for free online over at Swoonreads.com. Until next time, thanks for reading.
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