Welcome back for episode four of Vikings season four! Once again please note this recap contains heavy spoilers! We’ve been officially warned. Get yourself caught up before continuing below, or face the wrath of Princess Gisla!

Merry Yul! It’s a happy wintertime tradition marked by the Winter Solstice which predates Christmas by many years. Yul came with all the festivities necessary to warm up a village. (Ah, family fun times with the Yul Log—the tree, not the dessert.) And on Vikings, ’tis the season for scheming! Of which we got plenty during this episode. How about that mystical Floki and Seer scene? (Remember, “The Gods are here.”) And now he has direct influence on little crippled Ivar, which could be an advantage for Floki—or whoever this trickster REALLY is!

Mercia geared itself up with some unstable alliances thanks to Queen Kwenthrith’s gambit, Magnus, and Judith’s new-found female freedom. And, behold! The tough times for Duke Rollo have ended. His annulment to Princess Gisla was about to go down until he broke out his newly learned French skills—among other things. He’s one determined traitor, willing to cast his Viking heritage out the window for power in this court and his now thoroughly impressed wife.

We finally got one step closer to the newest character, Yidu (Dianne Doan). Kidnapped while sailing with her family in the Red Sea then held as a slave in Paris and now Kattagat, Yidu has some pretty interesting mysteries tangled up inside of her which we just discovered. Plus Ragnar set her free, literally and metaphorically. They quickly became more than a king and a slave, hiding away from the world’s problems and confiding in each other. That “ancient Chinese medicine” sure helped set the mood, too. But here’s the thing about running away from your problems: they always come back—and now those problems have friends. Enter the Norwegian King, Harald Finehair (Peter Franzén).

Still, everyone tried their best to enjoy Yul. Lagertha got some peace and quiet in Hedeby, which made me believe that the coming times might not be so nice for her either (remember, there is no such thing as a happy family), mostly because we have to keep these two fools in mind—Erlendur and Kalf—are the kind of duo we’re rooting against. Their plans to rid the earth of Ragnar’s line isn’t cool. And although one plan ended, there are surely more to follow.

Which leads us back to good ol’ Bjorn! As a few of our awesome followers on Facebook noted last week, Bjorn is a translation of the word “bear.” Speaking the actual word “bear” was superstitious, so people used “Bjorn” in place of “bear.” Thus, the name Bjorn—like the Berserker—was eventually associated with bears. How badass! Equally as badass, that fight between Bjorn and the Berserker! He picked up so many neat tricks from this personal retreat. Not only that, he walked into Hedeby, brimming with confidence, and walked out with Torvi, Erlendur’s mistreated wife. VICTORY! For now…

Lots of deadly events are just starting to get set into place for Vikings. So let us hear your comments below. And return next week for our recap to episode five, “Promised.”

—

Image Credit: The History Chanel
GIF Credit: VikingsHistory/Tumblr