Kate, he was the lead mercenary in those boats off shore, keeping an eye on the island. He was a hot-head militant who was not to be f*cked with. I can't remember if he threatened Ben's daughter. I think he was working for Ben? Or maybe Penny's dad, the gazillionaire father-in-law of Desmond? I can't remember. …

I need help here. What is Ragnar's strategy with Kwen/Mercia?
I realize Ragnar convinced Kwen to do away with her brother because he's weak (and surely someone else will come along and influence him again), but why do it in such a public setting? It seems they wanted Aelle and Ecbert to see that Kwen is actually…

And from what I recall last season, Aelle wants in on the action. At some point Ecbert is supposed to usurp Kwen completely and split Mercia 50/50 with Aelle.

This still confuses me.
It's clear Bugard was not fit to rule, and could be easily influenced again— but earlier in the episode Kwen admitted that although they were King & Queen of Mercia, they were still under Ecbert's thumb. What's the point of eliminating her brother to protect a throne that really belongs to…

He was the younger brother. The older brother and the uncle were the ones who abused her.

Helga evidently believes the same as you.

I for one am happy Athelstan finally got laid.
And as you said, having Athelstan be the bait for Aethelwulf makes sense because Hirst already put time into Ecbert's fascination of Athelstan over his own son. The fact his wife is also fascinated with Athelstan will be the straw.
My problem is that Athelstan is too smart…

Drunk Ragnar never disappoints.

She looked smoking hot at that party.
Leaning against that post when Ragnar discovered her and went to talk, realistically he would've been thinking "Why can't you be my wife again?"

How long does it take her to get ready each morning?

I feel like Hedeby/Lagertha needs an arc.
Lagertha is 2nd to Ragnar in the character hierarchy, and this is the other part of her life. Seems we should see this, because I for one don't want Lagertha to function strictly as a sexy battle ally for her ex. That's what she was becoming.

There's no place for 'normal' people in this series, so he'll never be popular.

I have a feeling Kalf is going to be slightly craftier than he appears. The writing hasn't given him much to work with so far, but hopefully the dude has significant maneuvers planned because you don't bait Ragnar with just Erlendur and Einar standing behind you.

Hmm, these are good things to ponder.
-I too thought maybe Ecbert felt sleeping with Lagertha would knock Ragnar off balance, mentally. With the flash of jealousy we saw in Ragnar, maybe he succeeded, just slightly. Ecbert is doing the same with Athelstan— and that, Ragnar will not stand for.

But does anyone know why Ragnar was being a creeper—crouched in the corner wearing an English battle helmet?

Could that be why Aethelwulf is suddenly making nice? Starting with Rollo and testing the water with Floki (who was ice cold) .

Seriously?! Wow!
No wonder Rollo secretly hates Ragnar.

My sense is that the show needs to give Ragnar a better reason to confront the situation in Hedeby. Kalf is too much of a nobody to inspire the respect of a face to face visit from Ragnar. But add in Erlendur, to Ragnar it will feel like unfinished business, and he'll be properly baited.

I was lost when Kalf—presumably not a glorified warrior— was able to usurp Lagertha's earldom by grabbing the mic and saying so.

It pains me to think Lagertha is being written brainless to advance this plot line. On it's face, it appears Lagertha not only put her trust in the wrong person, but she doesn't even seem cautious about it. The way she dismissed Rollo was uncharacteristically aloof.