The sagas are basically Bonanza in a historical setting, too (nice observation). I'm not overly concerned about Hirst playing it a bit loose with history, even though it's on History. There's enough to stir interest in the source material, so mission accomplished.

As Hirst has gotten closer to his own characters, he's started giving them too much moral cover (as you've pointed out). This wasn't always the case. Think back to the first season and the raid on Lindisfarne. The Vikings slaughtered and tortured unarmed, utterly harmless monks with great glee. Hirst soft-pedals rape,…

That new satellite technique is genuinely exciting. It's going to revolutionize archeology (and, by extension, our understanding of history).

I suppose it means which of the at least three accounts we have of Ragnar's death, none of which harmonize. You could be right, of course, that Hirst does his own thing. There's such mighty foreshadowing with Aelle that I still think Ragnar will meet his end in Northumbria, but Hirst has surprised me before.

Do you mean Ecbert?

We're all rooting for the Vikings because, well, we're watching Vikings. But the real Odo was one of the great heroes in French history.

Ragnar didn't do anything to Yidu that viewers haven't wanted to do since she appeared.

For what it's worth, I think this week's review is off the rails. It was a good episode, and the deaths weren't for shock value (though I suppose you could argue this in the case of Odo, who was unrecognizable from his historical model). We're wrapping plot arcs in preparation for a big time jump and a lot of…

I feel badly about two of the deaths in Episode 8. Count Odo was actually a courageous and successful leader who successfully defended Paris and became king of the Western Franks. All that 50 Shades of Grey stuff was just weird. And I hate to say goodbye to the scrappy deposed Queen Kwenthrith. She was a great…

He killed her because Hirst wrote himself into a corner. ;-) I wasn't surprised, since it was so obviously a woman's hands in the promo and the skirt was distinctive. Hirst talks about Yidu in an article published by the Hollywood Reporter tonight. She was intended as a love interest, but became something else as he…

Well, I like Ragnar or I wouldn't have followed the series this far. I think Hirst is serious about unrolling the next generation, and that Fimmel is ready to move on.

I like your exposition a lot. :-)

We've got to keep in mind that the warrior caste was pretty narrow, though their worldview dominates the sagas. My unskilled opinion is that Valhalla was developed primarily for the comfort of warriors who might die afield, far from family and the burial places of their ancestors. The average Norse person was a…

I agree, and that was kinda my point.

I hate to see Kwen gone. She's fun, and the actress (Amy Bailey) is accessible and a good sport on Twitter. You could be right that Aslaug is headed for disaster. We never got to meet Ragnar's 3rd wife, and I doubt there's time to introduce a new character. I'm kinda hoping they reconcile him with Lagertha. :-)

The same could be said for most religions.

I agree that Dawson is terrific in that role. The shows are going to overlap soon.

You could. But I could do one on the worthwhile goal of reinvigorating an entire literary cycle, which is what he's done. These stories were told and retold — and changed in the process — throughout their history. It's fair game. :-)

It bugged me, too. :-)

It's a big hire. I could be wrong about him playing Alfred, but they won't waste him on a minor character.