Vikings Mid-Season Finale: Season 4, Episode 10 Recap, “The Last Ship”

Welcome to the worst Vikings finale episode ever. While I completely loved the battle scene, History Channel really should have just stuck with that rather than adding on a time hop and ruining everything. Here’s the recap for Episode 10, entitled “The Last Ship” of History Channel’s Vikings Season 4 mid-season finale.

[Image via A&E Network]

The Epic Battle Between Ragnar And Rollo

Okay, so while I hated the time jump at the end of the episode, I was completely captivated by the battle scene at the start. If History Channel had mad a longer battle scene or a shorter episode I would have been completely happy with this episode. The battle between Ragnar (Travis Fimmel) and Rollo (Clive Standen) was really hard work. But in a good way. I love how History Channel has managed to bring a more realistic version of battle to our TV screens. While I love the big production numbers with their sword fighting and battle axes lopping off body parts, it is the hand to hand combat that has shone this season. Vikings fans get to see battle up close and personal, all the sweat, the blood, the sheer determination. but, most importantly, the sheer struggle against fatigue. We saw it as Aethelwulf (Moe Dunford) tried to rescue Queen Kwenthrith (Amy Bailey) and we have seen it again between Ragnar and Rollo.

While the fight was fantastic, I must admit, I was not happy with the outcome. Neither character died. In fact, considering just how many deaths there have been of late, only red shirts bit the bullet in this episode of Vikings. Although there is some question about Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick) who sustained a shoulder wound and was taken from the battle and this is what, ultimately, what draws this battle to an end. When Lagertha is dragged from the battle, they also take Ragnar with them as they can see they are losing. Ragnar, however, as high as a kite on betel nuts has one mission alone; to kill his brother or enter Valhalla. For Rollo, the look of defeat as his brother is dragged away and Rollo realises this is not over yet is actually heartbreaking.

Rollo tries to bury those L’Oreal Paris memes once and for all [Image via A&E Network]

Paris

So Rollo enters Paris victorious and everyone is wanting to pat him down to congratulate him on a job well done when all Rollo wants to do is lie the fuck down and recover. But celebrate he must and the Emperor (Lothaire Bluteau) puts on quite a spread for him.

While Rollo was busting his guts out on the water, the Emperor was dining with his new playthings, Roland (Huw Parmenter) and his sister-wife, Therese (Karen Hassan). Turns out the Emperor would rather trust a Viking who has betrayed his own kind over his own people (which says a lot about the backstabbing that must go on in the royal courts of Paris). So Therese and Roland miss out on dessert and Rollo’s victory because the Emperor finally grows a set of balls and has them garotted. Thank fuck that 50 Shades of Thrones storyline is dead and buried!

Six years on and Aslaug is still a lush and forgetting where she placed things… like her husband [Image via A&E Network]

Kattegat

So we find Kattegat six years or so down the track from the battle of Paris we just saw. And what a shitty way to get some hype up about the second half of season 4 of Vikings!

Aslaug (Alyssa Sutherland) is still alive even though Bjorn (Alexander Ludwig) has returned and still doesn’t seem to give one shit about his dead daughter, Siggy. Oh, and speaking of lost things, it seems Aslaug has managed to misplace her husband. Not that she cares because she is finally the ruler of Kattegat, just like the Seer (John Kavanagh) predicted.

A messenger has arrived to notify Aslaug and Bjorn about Magnus, Queen Kwenthrith’s bastard son to Ragnar. Oh, and about that pesky little issue with the Viking settlement that King Ecbert obliterated and Ragnar knew of but didn’t tell anyone about. Aslaug is channelling Cersei Lannister during this scene, what with her gloating and wine guzzling. Can someone kill her already?

[Image via IGN]

So all of Ragnar’s sons have grown up and it is a fify/fifty split over whether they like their father or not. Especially now that they know Ragnar forgot to tell anyone about the Wessex slaughter… Surprisingly it is Ivar (Alex Høgh Andersen) that is most supportive of Ragnar until Bjorn melts my heart with a “Ragnar is still the most important man to me” comment. Bjorn also decides to sail to the Mediterranean with Floki (Gustaf Skarsgard) and Helga (Maude Hirst).

Then, after all this time, Ragnar finally shows up. It seems he has a death wish and wants one of his sons to kill him, presumably so he can enter Valhalla rather than the normal, boring version of Heaven the Vikings have. but we will have to tune into the second half of season 4 of Vikings to find out the outcome of that little hissy fit.

Everywhere Else

Wessex is not important enough to be considered in episode 10 of Vikings. Which is a shame because I am kind of getting attached to King Ecbert (Linus Roache) and his horrible rung-climbing.

Also, it is curious History Channel didn’t show us how Lagertha was going in Hedeby because the show’s creator and writer, Michael Hirst, has already told us Lagertha survives into the second half of season 4 of Vikings so you would think it would be confirmed in the episode as well to prevent the whole “Is Lagertha still alive” hysteria that currently going on over on Twitter.

What did you think of the season 4 mid-season finale of Vikings? Let us know by commenting below!

Season 4 of Vikings returns to History Channel later in 2016.

[Images via Jonathan Hession and A&E Network]

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