This article continues our episode recap of the History Channel’s Vikings as we enter Season Five.
This is the first season without Travis Fimmel as Ragnar Lodbrok, leaving his sons to take center stage as the principal stars and warriors of the season.
We see the History Channel take a few more liberties with the historical basis of their storylines, both to give the characters plenty to do and because we know less about Ragnar’s sons than we do about the semi-historical, semi-legendary Ragnar Lodbrok.
Episode 1 “The Fisher King”
When the first episode of Vikings season five aired, it was a two-hour premiere, but on streaming services, it is split into two episodes.
The episode begins with the brothers fighting over the death of Sigurd at Ivar’s hands, but they accept it and move on.
Ivar, Ubbe, and Hvitserk decide to stay in England, while Bjorn decides to sail off to the Mediterranean.
Halfdan, the brother of Harald Fairhair, decides to join him because he knows that his brother plans to make himself King of all Norway, and he wants to forge his own destiny.
Floki is also planning to leave, building a one-man ship.
He tells Ivar that he has no planned destination but will go wherever the gods take him.
According to history, after avenging the death of Ragnar Lodbrok and signing a treaty to gain English lands, the Great Heathen Army broke up, with some remaining and others heading home or to new adventures.
Ivar convinces his brothers that rather than settle the lands given to them in East Anglia, they should continue raiding. In particular, he has his sights set on the city of York in the north.
He convinces his brothers, and they organize an attack on a feast day, Ascension Day, when everyone is either praying or drinking, and take the city easily.
According to the sagas, Ivar took York not long after the Great Heathen Army first landed, and it acted as one of their bases of operations.
Meanwhile, Bishop Heahmund, played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers, arrives in Wessex to find Ecbert’s villa destroyed and the former king dead.
He organizes the burial of the king according to Christian tradition and the rebuilding of the villa.
He also learns from someone who survived the Viking attack that Ecbert had signed lands over to the Vikings, but that the treaty was invalid because Ecbert was no longer king.
Meanwhile, the legitimate King Aethelwulf, his wife Judith, and their sons Prince Aethelred and Prince Alfred are on the run, and Alfred is gravely ill.
The pious Aethelwulf believes that they are being punished for their sins.
Finally, King Harald arrives back in Kattegat to give Lagertha the news of what happened in England.
She confronts him, stating that his true reason for being there is to claim Kattegat, and he does not deny it.
Episode 2 “The Departed”
Floki finally lands in a strange land of ice and fire, which he believes to be Asgard, the realm of the gods, but we know is actually Iceland.
Historical records suggest that the Vikings first discovered Iceland in the late 9th century, around the time of the Great Heathen Army, but the earliest colonies are credited to a man named Ingolfur Arnarson.
The brothers fight over the leadership of the Vikings in England.
Meanwhile, Alfred receives a vision of his biological father Athelstan, telling him that the Vikings are in York.
This is taken as a sign that it is safe to return to Wessex, where they join forces with Heahmund and start planning how to deal with the Viking threat.
Alfred the Great was known to be a generally sickly and frail man, possibly suffering from an illness such as Crohn’s disease.
Heahmund is also based on a real person : the Birshop Sherborne fought the Vikings at the Battle of Meretun, and was later sainted.
Back in Kattegat, Lagertha refuses Harald’s proposal of a marriage alliance.
Shortly after, his men break him out of prison, and they kidnap Lagertha’s lover and ally, Astrid.
Harald offers her the same proposition : to become his wife and partner in power.
Episode 3 “Homeland”
Back in Norway, Harald Fairhair is welcomed with enthusiasm by his men.
Astrid also agrees to his marriage proposal, but not his sexual advances.
According to history, Harald had three wives : a Sami woman called Snjofithr, a little-known woman called Asa Hakonsdottir, and Ragnhild the Mighty, the mother of Eric Bloodaxe.
In the Mediterranean, Bjorn follows advice to pretend that they are traders rather than warriors and to send much of his fleet home.
In England, Heahmund and Aethelwulf decide to attack York, but Ivar has a plan that lures them into a trap, giving the Vikings a bloody victory.
Despite forcing the English to retreat, Ubbe and Hvitserk advocate making peace with the men of Wessex, while Ivar wants to keep fighting.
Consequently, Ubbe and Hvitserk go to the English camp in secret to negotiate, but they are humiliated by Heahmund and sent on their way.
Ivar highlights that this was a mistake and that he should be left in charge of the Viking army.
Ubbe says that as the oldest brother, he cannot accept that, so he and Hvitserk make plans to sail home with their forces.
But as they prepare to set sail, the vast majority of the Vikings decide to stay behind with Ivar.
At the last minute, Hvitserk also decides to stay with Ivar, and Ubbe sails off alone.
Episode 4 “The Plan”
Bjorn arrives in Sicily and is ambushed while looking for food. He successfully disarms the local commander, Euphemius, earning respect and being welcomed into the city.
He meets a mysterious woman named Kassia, and learns that real power in Sicily lies with a man called Emir Ziyadat Allah, in Tunisia.
Euphemius reluctantly agrees to take them to meet Zitadat due to Kassia’s intervention, raising questions about her identity.
Ziyadat Allah is a historical figure who was the ruler of Tunisia from 817-838, so a few decades before Bjorn is thought to have sailed to the Mediterranean.
In Norway, Astrid and Harald marry. Ubbe arrives in Kattegat and tells Lagertha everything.
Lagertha agrees to support him against Ivar if he supports her against Harald.
Nevertheless, there is continuing distrust between the two.
In England, Aethelwulf wants to return to Wessex to recruit more men, but Heahmund says that he has had a vision of dead bodies in the streets of York.
They agree to stay and block the Vikings from gathering resources, starving them out.
Meanwhile, Ivar is pretending to burn their dead but won’t tell Hvitserk why.
Eventually, the English enter York and find it empty, but Heahmund asks why the rats are above ground in the streets.
Episode 5 “The Prisoner”
The Vikings rise up from the sewers and attack the Saxons.
Alfred has a dramatic battle with a berserker warrior, and while Heahmund shows his prowess as a warrior, he is captured by the Vikings.
Again, Ivar wants to continue fighting, but Hvitserk tells Ivar that they should return to Kattegat if he wants to be crowned king there, and he agrees.
Heahmund offers to baptize Ivar, but Ivar explains to him that he is special, chosen by the gods, and above such things.
Floki returns to Kattegat with news of his new land. He wants to recruit people to travel there with him, but Lagertha forbids him to do this as she needs everyone for the coming battle with Harald.
Floki goes behind her back and recruits.
Bjorn and Halfdan experience both the pleasures of North African concubines and brutality when Euphemius is imprisoned.
Later, they discover that Euphemius was cooked and served to them for dinner.
They plan their escape, but their only hope is a perilous sandstorm.
Episode 6 “The Message”
Bjorn and Halfdan escape. Lagertha discovers Floki’s betrayal but lets them go because there is no point in keeping them there against their will.
When they arrive in Iceland, the settlers become angry with Floki because the land is nothing like what he promised.
Alfred decides to visit Lindisfarne to better understand his father.
Ivar arrives in Norway with Hvitserk and Heahmund as a prisoner.
They make an alliance, with Harald agreeing to make Ivar king, as he can rule when Ivar is dead, since Ivar is known to be impotent.
Harald is convinced of Ivar’s sincere desire to kill Lagertha for killing his mother, Aslaug.
Heahmund eventually agrees to fight alongside the Vikings, with Ivar telling Heahmund that he admires him.
Astrid asks a sailor, Hakon, to send a message to Lagertha for her, and he agrees, but only if she will have sex with him.
She is then raped by his entire crew in exchange for not revealing her secret to Harald.
Word of what is happening at Harald’s court reaches Kattegat, and they prepare for war.
Episode 7 “Full Moon”
Bjorn arrives back in Kattegat, having apparently never made it to Italy.
According to the sagas, Bjorn Ironside made it as far as Luna in Italy, which he successfully entered, thinking that it was Rome.
When he learned that Rome was even grander, he abandoned any further attempt on the city.
We watch both sides prepare for war.
Upon his return, Bjorn says that he no longer loves Torvi, and she accepts that their relationship has changed as long as he always cares for the children.
Lagertha has made an alliance with the Sami, and when they arrive, Bjorn falls for and later marries the Sami princess Snaefrid.
This is an inversion of history, as historically she was a wife of Harald Fairhair.
Ubbe comforts Torvi and kisses her.
Episode 8 “The Joke”
The battle for Kattegat begins, but after the first forays, peace talks begin as the sons of Ragnar do not want to kill one another.
Harald does not want to kill his brother Halfdan, who has sworn allegiance to Bjorn because he saved his life in the Mediterranean.
While they initially think that they have reached an agreement, conflict breaks out between Ubbe and Ivar, and the battle lines are set.
As they prepare for battle, Ivar pulls back a third of the army in case the other side has a trick, taking Astrid with him.
When Harald advances, he is ambushed by the Sami, but Ivar refuses to help them, saying it is too late. Harald sounds the retreat.
Heahmund is presumed dead on the battlefield, but he is found by Lagertha.
When she learns his identity, she demands that he be saved, though she admits that she does not know why.
In England, Alfred decides that they must build a fleet to counter the Vikings.
The real Alfred the Great was responsible for the expansion of the English fleet to combat the Viking threat.
Episode 9 “A Simple Story”
In England, Aethelwulf is stung by a bee and dies.
Succession is first offered to his eldest son Aethelred, but Judith urges him to reject the throne and let it pass to Alfred, who has a divine destiny confirmed by the Pope.
This move angers the people, but Aethelred supports Alfred, and he is made king.
The historic Alfred succeeded to power after two of his older brothers, the second called Aethelred, died during the invasion of the Great Heathen Army.
Hvitserk appeals to Rollo for help, and he sends Frankish troops but does not come himself.
There are renewed peace talks, but Ivar’s insistence on revenge and power mean that conflict seems inevitable.
Meanwhile, Lagertha and Heahmund become fascinated with one another, and he pledges his sword to her.
In Iceland, the settlers are still angry at Floki, who they believe wants to make himself king over them and is prioritizing the building of a temple to Thor over homes.
The settlement becomes further destabilized when a fight between two settlers leaves one of them dead.
Episode 10 “Moments of Vision”
The battle for Kattegat finally happens.
Harald kills his brother Halfdan, but when Ubbe faces Hvitserk in battle, he cannot bring himself to kill him.
Bjorn’s new Sami wife is also killed. Torvi’s son, Guthrum, is killed by Hvitserk, and Lagertha kills Astrid, who throws herself at her former friend in a form of suicide due to her uncertainty about whose child she is carrying.
Ivar sends the Franks into fight, forcing Bjorn to call a retreat and abandon Kattegat.
When he finds Lagertha, all her hair has turned white from the experience.
Rollo then unexpectedly arrives in Kattegat.
Meanwhile, in Iceland, a series of honor killings has begun. Floki offers himself as a sacrifice to end the killing and save the settlement.
Blood feuds between families feature frequently in the Icelandic sagas, and whole families could be wiped out by them.
Episode 11 “The Revelation”
Ivar enters Kattegat as its new king and celebrates with Hvitserk.
Harald is mourning the deaths of his wife and brother in the battle.
Soon, Rollo arrives and is told that Lagertha, Bjorn, and Ubbe have fled, but he suspects he knows where they are hiding and finds them there.
He invites them to come to Frankia with him and tells Bjorn that he believes that he is Bjorn’s biological father.
Bjorn rejects the offer and tells Rollo that Ragnar will always be his father.
The Icelanders vote whether to sacrifice Floki to the gods, and he is spared.
Meanwhile, Lagertha and her party sail to England, where they are caught by Aethelred.
As king, Alfred says that the church should start giving their services in England, alienating the powerful clergy.
Episode 12 “Murder Most Foul”
Heahmund intervenes with King Alfred in England and convinces him to let Lagertha, Bjorn, and Ubbe settle in East Anglia in return for fighting against future Viking raids.
Meanwhile, Heahmund has lost his bishopric to Cuthred because he was assumed dead.
When Cuthred catches Heahmund sleeping with Lagertha, he threatens to expose him to the king, so Heahmund kills him and reclaims his position.
Alfred tries to convince Ubbe to convert to Christianity.
Alfred is also ignoring his intended bride, Ealhswith, who starts an affair with Bjorn.
Her attraction to Bjorn seems to reflect a historical claim that English women were often happy to find Viking lovers, not least because they bathed once a week, which made them very clean by the standards of the day.
Ivar is engaged to Freydis, but they soon discover that they cannot consummate the marriage due to his impotence.
She drinks Ivar’s blood and tells him that this will impregnate her, but instead, she has sex with Ivar’s slave to get pregnant.
Episode 13 “A New God”
Ubbe and Torvi agree to convert to Christianity, which alienates Bjorn.
Meanwhile, Magnus is trying to ingratiate himself with Bjorn as a fellow son of Ragnar.
Alfred argues with his brother Aethelred about whether to punish Heahmund for killing Cuthred, but Alfred decides to leave his punishment to God, angering the court.
This leads Heahmund to start spreading the story that Aethelred is leading a conspiracy against Alfred.
Harald leaves Kattegat and goes to York to plan the next Viking raid on Wessex.
There, he convinces the man Ivar left in charge to join him in taking Kattegat.
In Kattegat, fuelled by Freydis’ flattery, Ivar declares himself a god and tells Hvitserk that he intends to perform a great sacrifice.
Episode 14 “The Lost Moment”
Ivar sacrifices a shield maiden he claims is Lagertha to himself as a god.
Hvitserk grows concerned with Ivar’s behavior and visits the seer, who gives him a disturbing vision of the future. Ivar later visits the seer and asks him to confirm Ivar’s divinity.
When he won’t, Ivar kills him.
Ubbe trains Alfred in preparation for Harald’s raid, while Harald becomes increasingly infatuated with the wife of York’s leader, Gunnhild.
Magnus tries to convince Lagertha, Bjorn, and Ubbe to join Harald, but they are not convinced of his parentage.
Aethelred is instructed by the nobles to kill Alfred and take his position, but he cannot bring himself to do it.
Episode 15 “Hell”
Heahmund has a vision of Hell that causes him to renounce Lagertha, and she claims that he never really loved her.
Alfred has one of the lords arrested for treason, and Judith tortures him for information, learning that Aethelred is indeed part of the conspiracy against Alfred.
Meanwhile, Harald’s army arrives, and Ubbe goes to talk to him, offering him money to withdraw.
Magnus joins Harald to test his Viking blood and informs Harald that Ubbe has set a trap for him.
But it is too late, and the Vikings get caught between the English and a fire started by Ubbe.
Harald sounds the advance, and in the brutal battle, the leader of York is killed, and his wife Gunnhild kills Hehmund and injures Bjorn before she is taken captive.
In the chaos, Lagertha vanishes.
Episode 16 “The Buddha”
While Alfred tells Judith that he has forgiven his brother, she confronts Aethelred about his disloyalty.
Aethelred says that he could not follow through with hurting Alfred because of his love for his brother, but when Alfred becomes ill, Judith becomes paranoid and poisons him.
Meanwhile, the Vikings are allowed to settle East Anglia, but Bjorn, who has started a relationship with Gunnhild, is disturbed by Ubbe and Torvi’s Christianity.
The pair travels north to join Harald and his attack on Kattegat.
While Harald welcomes them, he is upset to learn that Bjorn and Gunnhild are in a relationship.
Conflict between the Icelandic families continues, as it has for several episodes, and Hvitserk meets a trader and develops an interest in Buddhism.
There are some famous examples of Buddhist symbols on Viking artifacts, suggesting some contact with the Eastern religion.
Episode 17 “The Most Terrible Thing”
Alfred is furious at Judith for killing Aethelred, but Judith maintains that being in power requires terrible acts.
Hearing of a large force arriving from Denmark, Ubbe convinces Alfred to make him the leader of his army.
Harald makes the same deal with Bjorn as he did with Ivar.
He will help Bjorn regain Kattegat, but when Bjorn dies, it should go to Harald, making him king of all Norway.
Harald also tells Gunnhild about his feelings, and she says that she will only marry him when Bjorn is dead and he is king.
In Kattegat, Ivar is concerned about Hvitserk, and to get him out of the way, sends him on a diplomatic mission to an ally, Olaf the Stout.
In Iceland, Floki and a rescue party find a family who has become trapped in the snow.
Because they are part of the blood feud, the searchers kill the family over Floki’s objections.
When they return home, Floki recounts the blood bath to the rest of the settlers.
Episode 18 “Baldur”
When Hvitserk meets Olaf, he tells the king that Ivar is a tyrant and asks for his support to overthrow him.
Olaf refuses and tortures Hvitserk, but when he still does not change his mind, he agrees to help.
Back in Kattegat, Ivar has those who oppose him burned alive.
When Freydis gives birth, she calls her son Baldur, after the son of Odin.
The boy is deformed, but Freydis wants to keep him.
Ivar decides to expose the boy so that he does not have to suffer like he did.
In England, Judith seeks treatment for a tumor from a witch, and in the witch’s house, she discovers a feral Lagertha.
Ubbe tries to come to terms with the invading Danes by offering them land in East Anglia, but one of their leaders refuses.
Ubbe proposes to resolve the dispute through single combat.
Following the tragedy in the Iceland colony, Floki wanders into the wilderness to confront the gods, until he comes to a cave he believes is the gateway to Hell.
Episode 19 “What Happens in the Cave”
Judith dies of cancer. Ubbe wins the single combat but is badly injured.
He only recovers once he calls out for Odin.
The Vikings agree to settle East Anglia, but Ubbe and a recovering Lagertha decide to leave England and return to Kattegat.
Bjorn and Harald encounter Hvitserk and Olaf on their way to Kattegat and unite forces.
Freydis confronts Ivar about her missing son, and he strikes her.
In Iceland, Floki finds a cross planted inside the cave.
This is a reference to the fact that there is evidence that Irish monks briefly settled in Iceland before it was colonized by the Vikings.
Episode 20 “Ragnarök”
The combined forces of Bjorn and Hvitserk attack Kattegat, but are repulsed.
Angered by the death of her son, Freydis sneaks out to the enemy camp and reveals a secret door that allows Bjorn and Hvitserk to enter.
They take the city with little trouble, though Harald is badly wounded while defending Bjorn.
Olaf and a recently arrived Lagertha declare Bjorn king.
Before he flees Kattegat, Freydis reveals her betrayal to Ivar, and he kills her before heading east.
