Vikings 3.9: The Conquered

Another superb episode - 3.9 - of Vikings.  Another close call for Paris, which again manages to hold on against a Norse onslaught.   Maybe it's unsuccessful because Ragnar isn't with them, in the throes of the wounds from the previous battle or maybe the illness that's wreaking havoc.   And, in the end, it's he who is conquered - at least, in part, spiritually.

Because, much to his people's horror - especially Floki - Ragnar is baptized by the reluctant French bishop.   Ragnar's motivation is clear and understandable.  He thinks he may be dying, and wants to be in the same heaven as his friend, Athelstan, whose conversation Ragnar so very much values.

The French bishop thinks Ragnar will go to hell, even if he is baptized.  But the immersion is a good move for the French, because it at least gives them some sort of common ground with the leader of the military demons who have been attacking them.

The indomitable Count Odo also sees that Rollo is the man to beat if Paris is to be successfully defended.   Rollo nearly reached Odo and the Princess last week, and in episode 3.9 he single-handedly stops a fearsome rolling engine of spikes that was literally chewing up the Vikings and obstructing their attack on the city.   I'm still expecting to see some kind of relationship between Rollo and the Princess before this series is over.  She looks at him with hate, but the intensity of that emotion could at some future point go a different way.

Meanwhile,  speaking of hate, Ecbert in Wessex is getting more hateful by the hour, now taking his son's wife as a mistress after allowing her ear to be chopped off several episodes ago.  I can't recall the last time a character who seemed so decent turned bad so quickly.

The Paris action has been the best on the series so far, and I'll be sorry to see this season end so soon.

See also Vikings 3.1. Fighting and Farming ... Vikings 3.2: Leonard Nimoy ...Vikings 3.3: We'll Always Have Paris ... Vikings 3.4: They Call Me the Wanderer ... Vikings 3.5: Massacre ... Vikings 3.6: Athelstan and Floki ...Vikings 3.7: At the Gates ... Vikings 3.8: Battle for Paris

And see also Vikings 2.1-2: Upping the Ante of Conquest ... Vikings 2.4: Wise King ... Vikings 2.5: Caught in the Middle ... Vikings 2.6: The Guardians ...Vikings 2.7: Volatile Mix ... Vikings 2.8: Great Post-Apocalyptic Narrative ... Vikings Season 2 Finale: Satisfying, Surprising, Superb

And see also Vikings ... Vikings 1.2: Lindisfarne ... Vikings 1.3: The Priest ... Vikings 1.4:  Twist and Testudo ... Vikings 1.5: Freud and Family ... Vikings 1.7: Religion and Battle ... Vikings 1.8: Sacrifice
... Vikings Season 1 Finale: Below the Ash

 
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