♪"This is the end, my only friend..."
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
As Vikings shuns the idea of a winter hiatus, even during this holiday bookended week, "All His Angels" offered up a shocking, sobering chapter that worked to shift the entire series in a new direction. In fact, you can read my interview with showrunner Michael Hirst about the episode here.
Though Vikings has given us its fair share of impressive battle sequences, most notably the two Paris raids, it's always been the quieter moments of pain that have landed with more of an impact. It's here where the show excels. Watching Ragnar suffer through his drawn out beatings and burnings this week, while not submitting a blink to King Ælla, reminded me of one of the show's first standout episodes, "Blood Eagle."
"Blood Eagle" was a violent episode, certainly, but also one that aimed to make a point with the violence. It wasn't gory, per se, but it was intense. And like Ragnar's final stand, it was filled with stoic and bold viking pride.
The decision to kill Ragnar is a surprising one even if you knew it was coming. Whether you knew about Ragnar's actual history or you could spot the decision coming over the past few episodes, the choice to take out a show's central character is always a jarring one. That's not to say Ragnar's death doesn't fit the story -- since it is a TV story that's being crafted here, regardless as to how much it follows historical fact -- but things will always feel shaky and unsettling after a massive show exit like this. That being said, this death wasn't treated lightly. Ragnar got to go out in a focused, unflinching manner on an episode that devoted itself to his legacy.
Ever since the midseason premiere, Vikings has had a foot firmly placed in the past giving this current run of episodes a "full circle" feel and appeal. Ragnar's entire story this year -- and Lagertha's too to some extent -- has revolved around the entire saga to date. From his humble beginnings to his friendship with Athelstan and encounters with Ecbert, Ragnar's been sorting through his greatest hits (and misses), saying goodbye to everyone while also grooming his successor, Ivar. And it's with Ivar that we see, truly, how much Ragnar values cleverness and trickery - the tactics that helped him rise up through the ranks all those years ago.
At some point before he returned to Kattegat, Ragnar decided that the only way to both repair his tarnished name and propel his people into victory was to gloriously die on a phony revenge mission. He'd go out a hero -- or as heroically as he could at this stage in the shame game -- and his sons would find fame in the retaliation that would assumedly follow. To get there though, Ragnar would have to endure an ample amount of pain and suffering, and take that punishment like a damn viking. That meant not flinching when scorched with a hot iron, or surrendering when beaten within an inch of his life.
And of course, there was the snake pit. It was never anything that was pre-established on the show really, that Ælla had a snake pit, but it is what's on record regarding the way the real Ragnar died. Watching all of this too was Ecbert, who made a barefoot walk of attrition so that he could be there for his friend's end. Heartbroken that he had to "destroy someone truly great," Ecbert ditched his kingly persona and garb so that he could honor Ragnar. It was quite a touching moment from a man who once said he'd sup with the devil if it helped him achieve greatness.
The Verdict
"All His Angels" gave Ragnar a bold, brutal hero's exit - in the way that he planned as a man who claimed, in the end, to be the master of his own fate. It was honest and earned and hard to watch, though for a man who no longer believed in the Norse afterlife Ragnar was still heavily devoted to his people and the future of his family - thinking about what the world would become after his death, not what would happen to him in Valhalla.
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