Vikings “Ghosts, Gods, And Running Dogs”

Well, Ivar might have met someone crazier than he is.

Or not.

I say that because, as we see Oleg decide to capture his brother Dir, and the end results of the mutilation and torture of Dir, we see Ivar maybe not enjoying these antics.  Oh sure, he laughs along, but there’s always a pause first, and he really seems to be bonding with young Prince Ivan.  Could Ivar be learning?  Is he seeing what he looks like to other people?  Is it a survival skill?  Is Oleg nuttier than Ivar?

There are a lot of questions there that will probably be answered, and perhaps even in a satisfactory way.

Besides, Ivar’s reach is longer than he knows.  The guys who worked for him that Bjorn exiled are attacking the women around Lagertha’s new home because we need to see they weren’t just victims of circumstance.  No, they deserve to die for all the rape and murder they dispensed to generally helpless widows.  Looks like Lagertha’s retirement didn’t take.  I hope the gods that even characters on the show admit probably aren’t real forgive her for taking up the sword again after foreswearing she wouldn’t.

Then again, maybe there is a way around that.

And then there’s Hvitserk, drunkenly seeing the charbroiled love of his life and Ivar just hanging around Kattegat because he’s had a little too much to drink for, like, the past six months or something.  Ubbe wants to send him as a trade envoy down the Silk Road.  That…seems like a bad idea.

Then again, that could describe a lot of plans characters have in Vikings.

Like Bjorn’s plan to rescue Harald during a night raid.  But Crazy King Olaf knew they were coming and set a trap.  True, Bjorn and most of his people get away, but it was still a trap involving water, arrows, oil, and fire.  He’ll need something else now.

Then again, maybe he shouldn’t sleep with his wife’s servant.  Just sayin’.  He did that, and I am sure it is about as surprising as Lagertha digging her sword up.  Everyone whose seen, like, three episodes of this show knows that was bound to happen. We don’t watch Vikings for original plot lines.

We watch it for water, arrows, oil, and fire traps.  Duh.