Something old and something new
Ambition is dangerous.
But love can blind even the most powerful women, even the bravest men.
Love can weaken them when they need their strength.
Credit: Bernard Walsh
And when love iscoupledwith ambition: Well, things get complicated.
All goes well in Hedeby.
And his fellow Earl has news.
I am with child, says Lagertha in defiance of the Seer, no less.
That makes me so happy, says Kalf.
Marry me, Lagertha.
Ive always know we were fated to be together.
Kalf has everything he has ever wanted and that is dangerous, too.
In Wessex
How do you solve a problem like Mercia?
The Kings clearly consider that it might be time to seek a deal with someonebesidesthe tempestuous Queen.
But Aethelwulf sides with Kwenthrith.
They have become lovers, after all.
And the truth is known to all.
Judith wont get into bed with her husband, no matter how he threatens her.
Then go sleep with my father, you whore!
Why dont you go sleep with your mistress, the Queen?
she fires back at him.
He gives Judith the ring that belonged to Ecberts wife.
She died in childbirth.
I cannot tell you the pain of it.
I was resolved to never marry again.
But I would like you to wear it.
The scandal of it all: Have Ecbert and Judith found some true connection?
She, beloved of the dead monk Athelstan?
He, the hedonist philosopher, bedmate of Queens and shieldmaidens?
Uneasy lies the head that wears Ecberts crown.
He visits a church for a talk with his savior.
Lord, you know me for a sinner, he prays.
And I think you have already decided to cast me out into the darkness, like a fallen angel.
To suffer in purgatory or the fires of Hell for all eternity.
Your kingdom, as you have said is not of this world, he says.
But my kingdom is.
We might remember that Christ died for his kingdom; we might ponder whether Ecbert would do the same.
In Paris
All seems happy for Rollo and Gisla.
Her loathing and his disinterest have warmed into something like love.
Rollo looks forward to his brothers return, and beyond.
I cannot wait to take control of my Northern lands, and set up my court.
Hard to imagine Rollo ever returning to the North with his civilized wife?
and Gisla considers another path, where Duke Rollo becomes the Emperors lead assistant.
What of Count Odo?
Gisla muses: It is possible that he could die in the fighting, slain by some unknown assailant.
Perhaps or perhaps Odos time will come even sooner.
Roland meets privately with the Emperor, informing the lord of Frankia that Odo has ambitions to the throne.
(That Roland is himself ambitious is a fact that even the coward King cant miss.)
NEXT: Another royal affair
In Kattegat
How far Ragnar and Bjorn have come!
How much things have changed!
Ragnar, remarried, with more sons that bear his name.
Bjorn, with a daughter he wont acknowledge and another mans wife in his bed.
What kind of a man takes a mother away from her child?
Bjorn stares daggers back at his father: Didnt his mistakes lead to their long separation?
Your mother left me, Ragnar says.
Ragnar has more problems.
Theres the matter of that new king, Harald.
He has a brother on the way and his brother is, apparently, much worse.
They have come to see the great hero Ragnar Lothbrok, but Ragnar isnt feeling himself lately.
Ever inquisitive, he is more interested to learn about Yidu.
Where did she come from?
Yidu tells him about faraway China, and about the Emperor who surrounds himself with men without manhoods.
She tells of the Emperors many daughters but swears that her father was a merchant.
I dont know you.
You dont know me.
Yet I want to tell you my most terrible secrets, says Ragnar.
What is it about this great Viking hero, that he can only ever confide in the outsiders?
First Athelstan, who loved the Christ-God, now this woman from another world.
Haralds brother arrives, another great warrior.
Is he going crazy?
Is it the blood sickness, from too many battles and too many lost friends?
Ragnar cant even bring himself to enjoy a night in his great hall.
He watches the celebrations with Yidu from a nearby rooftop.
His mind turns to Paris.
Is he excited to be going back?
No, he says.
I feel so old.
When I was young, I had the passion to win.
Now, with age, and all that comes with it, I have lost the desire.
He tells her of the settlement in England, his friends who made a new life for themselves.
Shortly after my departure, they were all destroyed and burned, he says.
I live with such guilt because of it.
Moved, Yidu confides in him: Her fatheristhe Emperor.
The truth, more so.
In the hall, Floki and Helge return to public life.
He does not see his son, Ivar Boneless, being tutored by his once-friend Floki.
He does not see Ivar play sport with the other youth of the village.
And he does not see Ivar make his first kill, accidentally slaying another child for stealing his toy.
Its not your fault, Aslaug says to her beloved son, lying.
Everything will be all right, she says, lying again.
In Hedeby
How happy Kalf is, here on his wedding day!
How beautiful his lady wife!
How grand, the life that stretches before him!
Before the ceremony, he sneaks into Lagerthas tent.
What is Kalf thinking, in those final moments?
What was he thinking, marrying the woman who promised to kill him?
Perhaps he thought love conquered all.
Long Live Earl Ingstadt, say the people of Hedeby.
Lagertha stands tall, her wedding dress covered in blood.
She fought hard for this moment.
She has gained power.
What she has lost, only she can say.
