Vikings Season 3 Recap – Episode 7: Paris

Paris

Here’s what went down in Episode 7 (entitled Paris) Season 3 of History Channel’s Vikings:

Floki Spirals Ever Downward

I have loved Floki (Gustaf Skarsgard) for so long it feels like a stab to the heart what History Channel are doing to him this season. I truly thought I couldn’t be more conflicted than having one of my fave characters kill another of my fave characters last week, but it seems the misery bleeds through to this week as well. I am pretty sure Ragnar (Travis Fimmel) knows who killed Athelstan (George Blagden). He would be a fool not too with all the religious zealotry spewing from Floki’s mouth this season. Still, I was left shaking my head when Ragnar turns over the attack on Paris to Floki. Ragnar is either very stupid or has a hidden agenda and I am not sure which one I am hoping for.

Princess Kwenthrith of Mercia is Not So Crazy

The more I watch Vikings, the more I fall in love with the tenacity of Princess Kwenthrith (Amy Bailey). This woman gets shit done! In this episode we find out the consequences of that small peeing incident – it seems she has, conveniently, born Ragnar a child. And she uses this child gallantly in her negotiations with Prince Aethelwulf (Moe Dunford). These scenes are among my favourites this week as we see the game of kings and queens played out perfectly.

King Ecbert: the King who Can’t Lie Straight, Even in Bed

For such a long time fans thought King Ecbert (Linus Roach) would be the one person in power who wouldn’t try to double-cross Ragnar. But, alas, that hasn’t come to fruition and Ecbert seems to be the most rotten apple in a barrel you couldn’t even sell at market. And he will go to no ends to prove his ruthlessness. After sending in his son to sort out the mess that is Mercia, he makes his move on his son’s wife, Judith (Jennie Jacques). Yes, that’s right, it seems he will do anything for Judith and her son to Athelstan, even at the expense of his own flesh and blooded son. Or is it just another charming game on his behalf?

Paris

We knew Paris was the big shiny new thing for Ragnar to claim in Season 3, but now its shores are within sight. I must say, I was a little disappointed with how the city and its townsfolk were portrayed. King Charles of West Francia (Lothaire Bluteau) is less than the authority type having to bow to the whims and fancies of his daughter, Princess Gisela (Morgane Polanski) rather than Count Odo  (Owen Roe), a man who actually knows something about battle. It also seems like King Charles and Rollo (Clive Standen) have the same, my brother is better than me syndrome. To add insult to injury, the townsfolk of Paris are pretty flustered about the imminent invasion even though their fortifications are substantially grand. Honestly, I’m not even sure I care about Paris anymore…

Þórunn is Not as Tough as She Thinks

Þórunn (Gaia Weiss) is a character I feel like I should love but, more and more, I find her character spineless. I have said it before, and I will say it again; what did she expect from battle? She gets one little battle scar and instead of wearing it like a badge of honour she sulks, pushing both her husband and her child away from her misery. Meanwhile, as a result of this, Bjorn (Alexander Ludwig) has turned to the arms of another’s wife, Torvi (Georgia Hirst).

It will be interesting to see how next week’s episode plays out and whether Floki really can lead the Vikings into victory over Paris.

What are your thoughts on Episode 7 of History Channel’s Vikings? Let me know your thoughts by commenting below!

You can read my Episode 8 recap here.

(Photo Credits: History Channel, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.)

Related articles

• Vikings Season 3 Recap – Episode 6: Born Again (vikingsnewsandrecaps.wordpress.com)

Michael Hirst: “I’m not interested in accuracy; I’m interested in truth”

Michael Hirst, the writer behind History Channel’s Vikings, discusses Season 3:

For fans of History Channel’s Vikings, the show starts and ends with the writer Michael Hirst. Every scene, story line and plot arc is researched, developed and written by Michael. But does he have a favourite character in Vikings?

No I don’t have a favourite one. They are very real to me, and so I feel that when I go to my study in the morning I go to talk to them, and to find out what they have been up to, what they are going to do, who’s going to be brutal, and who’s going to be naughty.

I have always liked writing about Athelstan [portrayed by actor George Blagden] because he’s Christian, and he was originally our way into a different world. I could imagine that he would share a lot of our values and our outlook – here he is going into a very different Pagan world. We could feel with and for him, and then of course he develops this spiritual crisis which is wonderful to write about, and which is really rich.

Hirst may base his scripts on research, however, when the Vikings had very little written work and all the historical evidence of them is based on what the Christians wrote of them, how does he balance fact and fiction? He had this to share:

The things that I do are really well researched, and are based on realities although they are not completely true. One thing is drama and the other is documentary, and I’m not writing documentary. Everything I do starts life as research. Ragnar [played by actor Travis Fimmel] was the first real Viking leader to emerge from myth and legend, but he was real and he had at least two wives and he loved his children. We know certain things about him. We know certain things about Viking society, but we don’t know a huge amount because they are the dark ages.

So I have certain given material that I like to use, and I always like to add to the drama and things that are real and plausible. I’m not interested in accuracy; I’m interested in truth. So I’m trying to tell the truth as I see it, as I’ve discovered it in my research in the story. So I would never take it into fantasy – I’m not interested in fantasy. So whether it is absolutely accurate or not a) I don’t know, b) You can’t tell and c) the head of Scandinavian studies at Harvard University who’s a Swedish professor who we showed him some of the first series to said, this was the first time his culture had ever been taken seriously.

Many people have suggested that the History Channel’s portrayal of women in Viking culture is incorrect – a point that Michael is quick to rectify:

I was pushing for … Lagertha [played by actress Katheryn Winnick] to be a major character, but to also have a lot of other women in the show – Shield Maidens. I’m really pleased to say that Lagertha is a feminist icon across the world. In American TV there is nobody like her – she’s a mother, wife and she kicks ass. It’s totally unique, although I got into a little bit of trouble because I read a couple of people telling me that wasn’t true, and it couldn’t be true. Women couldn’t really fight in the Shield Walls, because how could they fight these big hairy guys? They would have been killed easily. The show was pushing that too much, but recently – only a matter of a few months ago, a Viking grave was found from a battle and fifty per cent of the corpses were women. So we were right; we were absolutely right.

While Vikings is shot on a very tight budget, there is still room for epic portions of CGI when needed – especially when Ragnar Lothbrok takes on Paris in Season 3:

There will be a lot of CGI when we come to Paris, because we built a huge wall, and what we call two cheese graters – ladders to get up the walls. But when you see it there will be a hundred ladders, there will be a hundred boats because that was what actually happened.

You can read the full interview Michael Hirst did with Flickering Myth by clicking here.

(Photo Credit: GamerHub.tv)

Vikings Season 3 Will See Ragnar Head to [SPOILER]

Paris is Next on Ragnar’s Radar:

(Photo Credit: History Channel)

For fans of the History Channel’s Vikings, it seems England is not big enough for this show. Vikings writer, Michael Hirst announced at the San Diego Comic Con earlier this year that Ragnar (Travis Fimmel) will have his eyes firmly set on raiding Paris. But this won’t be any small story arc, oh no, expect this battle to go forward into Season 4 of Vikings:

This isn’t a storyline that’s going to go away in a couple episodes. It’s a storyline that’s going right through the end of Season 3, into Season 4, and it has huge impact on several of our leading characters.

Huge impact? Hopefully this doesn’t mean we lose any of our favourite Vikings!

As per our earlier article, this raid on Paris will introduce some new characters, namely that of Emperor Charles of France played by Lothaire Bluteau and his daughter, Princess Gisla (played by Morgane Polanski). It is also possible the new character played by Kevin Durand (called The Wanderer) could also hail from France, but there is no definitive answer on this yet. Or perhaps he is someone they meet on the way to Paris?

Let us know your thoughts on Ragnar invading Paris in Season 3 of the History Channel’s Vikings by commenting below!

Source: Zap2It – ‘Vikings’ Michael Hirst: The raid on Paris lasts beyond Season 3

(Photo Credit: History Channel, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.)