Welcome back for episode eight of Vikings season four! Once again please note this recap contains heavy spoilers! Go forth and binge on the previous seven episodes from this season, but be careful to not drown in all of the past feels. There’s so much more to come with this episode.

Well, well, well—the civilized world came crashing down while the Vikings scattered about themselves. King Ragnar, King Ecbert, and Emperor Charles have all had their illustrious moments in the past, but now’s the time for epic uprising, downfall, and—you guessed it—death.

First, the untangling of webs in Wessex: King Ecbert deliberately brought a newly impregnated Kwenthrith to her ruin. In a plea for assistance, she ran to Judith, who ran to Ecbert, who’s been running from everyone else. Ultimately it was not-so-sweet Judith who acted on this power struggle (Farewell, Princess Kwenthrith), and now Ragnar’s son Magnus is left entirely in the care of Ecbert.

To contrast that, we also had the ongoing Paris situation with the Emperor, Count Odo, and Duke Rollo/Gisla all scrambling for the best seat of power and glory. What they didn’t count on was the sneaky web of destruction cast by Therese and her brother, Roland—who both happen to get a certain kind of pleasure out the pain of others. Adieu, Count Odo; Bienvenue, sadistic French siblings. Also, score Duke Rollo! (Again!) For being such a loyal pal during the previous raid, he was publicly declared the new Count Odo and gifted with the Iron Hand of Franca. (Is that you, Jaime Lannister‘s sword-hand from Game of Thrones?) The unavoidable truth of the matter is that not everyone is seeing eye-to-eye with Ragnar these days. His commands have become extremely erratic, he moves around with a twitchy limp, and—oh, yeah—he killed Yidu. A moment of silence for this super interesting, strong character, taken from the Vikings family too soon. But will she haunt him just as Athelstan once did? You better believe she will—or at least I’m hoping so! And as we all know, no more Yidu means no more “medicine” for Ragnar to consume.

So, Floki brought the remaining fleet of ships up on top of the mountains, as per King Ragnar’s insane request. [Sidenote: the word portage means to carry a ship or goods out of the water and across land.] But once that odd task was done, he decided to take a hillside retreat, connect with the gods, and seek some brief asylum perhaps. After nearly losing Helga and almost drowning—plus that mind-bending moment with Aslaug and Harbard—it might be a wise move for him. In fact, maybe all of these worn-out Vikings in France should go on a little nature retreat to reconnect to their Norse gods. Those kind of events did help rebuild moral during past seasons, just sayin’. Lastly, back in Harbard’s happy-la-la land (’70s hippie cult vibes all over that place ATM), all the feels caught up with Queen Aslaug. Mindlessly trapped under his placid spell, the women of Kattegat have been secretly taking their turn receiving his “holy healing.” Apparently no one gave Aslaug that memo though. The long-awaited slap of reality finally struck Kattegat’s queen, and with that Harbard took his leave of the village and its many, many women once again. Until next time, Allfather!

Three major character deaths in just one episode–I shutter to think what the next two episodes hold for us as the mid-season finale approaches. Send us your Vikings prophecies for next week’s episode nine recap, “Death All ‘Round.”

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