Sorry I missed the last recap, I was embroiled in my “Invasion Series.” Which, mind you, I am also working on now. In Trial, Rangar raids another town in Northumbria, but he waits until the church bells ring, signalling mass, with frustrates Rollo. This leads to little bloodshed, with the Vikings telling the Saxons that if they do not resist they won’t be hurt.
That stupid idiot, Knut, the Earl’s “main man,” decides to be a total dick, and tries to rape a Saxon woman. Lagertha walks in in on this and tries to make Knut stop, resulting in him beating her, then trying to rape her, before she stabs him in the heart. When they all reconvene at the rally point, Ragnar asks Knut is, and his wife lets him know that she killed him, because he tried to rape her.
Nobody really cares, as they all didn’t like Knut, but they know it will be complicated when they return. Returning to the beach were their ship is moored, carrying their spoils, they observe a force– sent by King Aelle –that has killed the guards of their ship, and is greater number than they. They decide the only way out of this is to fight the greater force. They beat the Saxons badly, and only their leader rides back to the king.
They sail back to Kattegat, their Earl’s base– in modern day Denmark –with all their spoils and a victory on their hands. The only thing that hangs above their heads, is the death of Knut. He is the agent of the Earl, and we will soon learn he is the half brother of the Earl, being the “bastard child of his father.” (His words)
He arrested Ragnar, because of this, and tried to get his brother, Rollo, to testify against him, but Rollo does the opposite. Rollo gets Ragnar and Legertha off the hook, and Ragnar out of a certain death sentence. The Earl offered his daughter to Rollo, in exchange for a confession that Ragnar was guilty. Rollo played his bluff, and– figuratively –gave the Earl the finger. Later that night, as a free man, Ragnar, his family, and his friends, were drinking and having a good time in Kattegat, when a small force of men– knowing they were unarmed –attacked, killing his good companion, and respected elder, Erik.
This makes Ragnar very angry, and he prepares himself for war. Knowing it will come soon. While he is out hunting deer, his farm is attacked, with all his live stock killed, most of his workers killed, all of his livestock killed, him getting wounded, and his family escaping through their secret tunnel into their boat. After he pulls some “madness” to get away from the Earl, he follows his escape route.
They try to follow him but he jumps off of a cliff, and into the the water. His family awaits below in their boat, but he is in no shape to swim, so Athelstan jumps in an saves him. They take him to Floki’s, where his wounds are tended, and his friend is able to find him. After a few conversations about all the different gods, and Athelstan’s god, Ragnar’s friend– who had left and then returned –let Ragnar know that Rollo had been captured and tortured by the Earl.
With his wounds from the Earl’s raid on his farm not close to healing, Ragnar sends Floki to Kattegat. He asks Floki to challenge the Earl to single combat,, even though he is still very injured. The Earl thinks of him and Rollo as criminals, and usurpers, with the murder of his sons still fresh in his memory, and the culprit still not established.
The Earl marries his daughter to an old, ugly, Swede. His wife is not happy about this, and we also learn that his wife has something with Rollo. She hates to see when the Earl starts torturing Rollo, and makes it obvious, I think we’re seeing her loyalty start to shift.
In the next episode we shall see Ragnar challenge the Earl, while injured. this will determine who the next leader is.
