Spoilers ahead: This article discusses events from episodes one and two from Vikings season four as well as past events from the series.
Last night’s episode of Vikings, the second of the brand new season, was entitled “Kill the Queen” and we learned that it was Kwenthrith, the Queen of Mercia (Amy Bailey) whose life was in peril. She survived though, thanks to some nifty fighting techniques involving a wooden stool, and an unlikely knight in shining armour.
Across the sea in Kattegat though, Queen Aslaug, portrayed by Alyssa Sutherland, and wife to the King of Denmark, Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel) suffered a devastating emotional and physical blow in a scene I felt was glossed over, buried even, much like the daughter of Floki and Helga in a subsequent scene.
As we witnessed, Ragnar returned home in a rage after failing to get Floki to admit he had killed Athelstan out of jealousy, and Aslaug questioned why Floki should be punished, all he did was kill a Christian. Ragnar stalked towards her, enraged. “This is not about Christians or faith, it’s about loyalty,” he barked, striking Aslaug in the face. “And trust!” he yelled, hitting her again, the force of his second blow sending Aslaug, the mother of his four sons, flying to the floor. Despite her shock and pain, she stood to face him, while Ragnar’s eyes glistened with contempt, and dare I say, satisfaction. “Something you can’t understand” he said, before walking way.
When I recently spoke with Michael Hirst he told me Ragnar is suffering with the burden of kingship, and while I have excused many of Ragnar’s less than noble acts over time, this I had an issue with, because he assaulted his wife, and because he justified his violence on two words he had no right to utter: “loyalty” and “trust”. A wife that had given him the sons he wanted so desperately he chose her over his previous wife, Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick). Why? Because Lagertha had a miscarriage, and he wanted more sons.
Ragnar would not send Aslaug away when she arrived pregnant in Kattegat, wanting instead to have two wives. A humiliated Lagertha divorced him and Ragnar watched her leave, along with his son Bjorn (Alexander Ludwig), while he remained with the beautiful princess he met in the forest, had sex with shortly after, while he was married to Lagertha, while his son slept nearby, while his daughter was dying.
During his marriage to Aslaug, Ragnar flirted openly with other women and had sex with Kwenthrith in England, who now claims to have born him a son. When Ragnar discovered Aslaug had slept with Harbard the Wanderer, his ego was bruised; he was insulted that another man had helped the son he had wanted dead, a son who evidently he has no bond with. And oh boy, Ragnar still harbours a deep resentment towards having another man fill his husbandly and fatherly duties, due to his constant absence, seeking fame and glory.
Knowing how Hirst collaborates with the actors regarding the scripts, I was curious as to whose idea this particular scene had been, and if it had been changed at anyone’s behest. I was lucky enough to have Alyssa Sutherland answer some of my burning questions.
“From memory, this scene wasn’t changed at all. Travis wanted to push the boundaries, and all I wanted was to see Aslaug pick herself up and get back on her feet, no matter how hard the blow. I think people will start seeing Ragnar differently this season,” Sutherland revealed.
“Ragnar’s never been a great husband to Aslaug, he too has slept with other people, and he’s constantly in a foul mood,” she added, bringing up the scene where Bjorn left to embark on a dangerous journey to prove himself to his father in the season opener “A Good Treason.”
“When Bjorn leaves to go out into the wilderness, Aslaug tries to suggest that Ragnar be a little more caring towards his loved ones. She starts to say that this may be the last time he’d see Bjorn, and wants to tell him to go and hug his son and tell him he loves him. But instead, Ragnar admonishes her,” Sutherland said.
What about the new personal servant of the Lothbroks, Yidu (Dianne Doan)? Plucked from her distant home by marauders and brought to Kattegat to be sold as a slave, just like the monk from Lindisfarne in season one. Did Aslaug choose her deliberately, knowing Ragnar would be attracted to her? The answer from Sutherland is a resounding “Yes.”
“She’s sick of having to deal with Ragnar frankly, and thinks Yidu may be a welcome distraction,” Sutherland said.
Also in the first episode of season four, Ubbe announced to his mother during dinner that Bjorn was teaching him and his brothers to fight, and Aslaug took the opportunity to remind her sons of her (and their) background: that her father Sigurd was the greatest warrior of all time, assuring her sons they too would be great warriors. Did she say that to remind everyone of her lineage, or to bolster the confidence of her sons, especially the physically deformed Ivar?
“I think Aslaug’s constantly telling her sons how special they are, but in this particular instance, it was for Bjorn’s benefit. It was a little dig. Aslaug sees Bjorn as competition for her sons and she wants her sons to take the throne, not Bjorn. That’s also why Aslaug wants the throne for herself – so she can pass it down to her sons,” Sutherland said.
Which brought me to another burning question: Why does Aslaug, the daughter of legends, remain with Ragnar when he treats her with such disrespect and disdain? After he physically assaulted her with such violence? Why doesn’t she divorce him, and leave?
“I always try to portray real human behavior as an actress. Unfortunately, there have always been women that deal with domestic abuse, and choose to stay with their abusers. To judge them is to not understand the psychology behind it,” Sutherland said.
“It isn’t always as simple as packing up and going. Where would Aslaug go if she left Ragnar? What would she do with her sons? She believes her sons will benefit from staying with Ragnar, and she would never leave her sons,” she added.
I accepted Ragnar’s infidelity while he was married to Lagertha and I forgave him for killing an old, innocent man with his bare hands so his planned raid on Paris wouldn’t be compromised: I couldn’t hate Ragnar for those things because in both of those instances he had shown remorse.
When I spoke with Michael Hirst, I told him that when I saw Ragnar hit Aslaug, I hated him, and I didn’t know if I could like him again. I asked Hirst if he was testing the audience; was he trying to make me hate Ragnar? But Hirst only said that Ragnar would go on to do things that are far worse in season four, and ensured me that I would not end up hating him, in fact, I would admire him.
That remains to be seen.
Vikings airs on SBS on Wednesdays at 9.30pm.
For more insight into season four of Vikings you can read my recent interviews with Alyssa Sutherland as well as series creator and writer Michael Hirst.
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