Welcome back for episode seven of Vikings season four! Once again please note this recap contains heavy spoilers! We bid you to join us after you’re all caught up.

There’s just a brief flash of King Ecbert’s ongoing schemes during this episode, but he’s got a friend in an extremely high place. The man known as ‘W’ turned out to be a Merican royal member, Prince Wigston. Apparently, Ecbert was never in favor for Kwenthrith or her son Magnus to rule Mercia entirely. He doesn’t even want his own son on the throne—he just wants it all for himself. And Prince Wigston agreed to renounce Mercia so that Ecbert could rule both lands. Looks like Kwenthrith and her son’s claim to the crown of Merica is officially in deep trouble. Let the power struggle in England begin once again!

Back in Paris, let’s just say that Ragnar should have listened to Finehair and his brother Halfdan. They knew that Rollo knew what Ragnar would command but, alas, Ragnar’s ego coupled with a severe addiction to Yidu’s “medicine” meant that the raid commenced in the most predictable manner—sending warriors to strike at the French troops by land and by sea. But of course Rollo’s defense plan won this round. Duke Rollo knew it would come down to this, and he planned accordingly with complete loyalty to his French allies. Point: Duke Rollo. It’s only a matter of time before Finehair and Halfdan use Ragnar’s failure to their advantage back in Kattegat to profit off such a massive lose and eventually fulfill their own desire for a full-blown vengeful and bloody Vikings victory against the French.

Ragnar had the most to loss during this raid. He gave the order which sent many of Finehair, Halfdan, and Lagertha’s warriors to their death. So, yeah–it appeared that the gods were definitely displeased with his past dabbling in Christianity and what not. Also Yidu realized that although she’s technically a free woman, she isn’t free of Ragnar. They are bound together by his addiction and her loneliness–much like Ragnar’s eternal vengeful bond with Rollo. After this episode I can’t help but recall Jörmungandr, the World Serpent in Norse mythology, which endlessly eats its own tail. Ragnar might not make it past this season unless he can realize that he’s stuck in a disastrous loop. All signs point to some upcoming Viking divisions. Bjorn’s fateful departure towards leading new exploration and conquest might be on the horizon. Or perhaps Floki might join Queen Aslaug’s side to defend the Norse values that Ragnar pretty much ignored. Where would that leave Yidu in this community too?

I saved, perhaps, the most intriguing part of this episode for last: Harbard the wanderer has arrived! And his ultimate role in Kattegat for this season was revealed finally. Siring as many children to replace all of the men and women from this failed raid in order to raid another day in the future seems like a rational plan—supply and demand, right? However, I can’t quite get over how many closely related children will be running around eventually. As the mystical elements of Vikings continue, it was also certainly interesting to see Aslaug and Floki in such a way for the first time, albeit in a pretty trippy “did that really just happen” kind of way.  So far we have Harbard’s connection to Ivar, plus his sired children with multiple women in Kattegat, plus his involvement in an Aslaug-Floki union. Never a dull moment on screen with this guy! Although this episode ended on a Ragnar-centric scene, my interest for the rest of the season is in the outcome of Harbard’s second visit to Kattegat.

And yet again we end another episode with another tease of the future! This time, though we’re all anticipating the next big Rollo and Ragnar battle—granted it might not happen until another few episodes down the way. But still: will this be the last brother-vs-brother conflict? Which brother has the higher ground? How many children did Harbard sire in Kattegat? Until next time, leave us with your Vikings prophecies for next week’s episode eight recap, “Portage.”

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