Vikings

Last season on Vikings...

People of Kattegat, all hail your new King!

I want to take Kattegat back from Ivar.

You have no army. - King Harald has.

Bjorn Ironside, fate has brought us back together again.

We should attack Kattegat, all together.

The Gods have marked you out. Above all men.

You know very well you are not a god.

Bjorn Ironside has claimed you. - No man will ever claim me.

Don't you ever dream, King Harald?

We are always the same.

We just pretend to change.

I almost died, but was reborn.

The only thing that I've learned is that life is about suffering.

They whisper that I am the enemy. They are the enemy!

In Ragnar's time, everyone was free. He never forced them to worship him.

Thora is dead. Ivar burned her alive.

King Olaf, I've come here to ask you to attack Ivar

and overthrow him as King of Kattegat.

My fate is to kill Ivar.

We saw two armies marching towards us.

One was lead by Bjorn Ironside and King Harald Finehair.

And the other army? - By a King we did not recognize.

But someone we did. - My brother Hvitserk.

Come and see!

Come and see the death of humanity!

He is a monster. You have to stop him.

People of Kattegat, we are here to set you free!

I let them in.

Hail King Bjorn,

King of Kattegat.

Hail King Bjorn!

No one will ever forget the name Bjorn Ironside.

But the war is not over.

Why is that one-eyed idiot staring at me all the time?

He's been on the road with us for weeks.

I don't like it.

Tell one of our boys to find a quiet spot and get rid of him.

They're just mercenaries.

I wouldn't trust them to do anything.

Well, then, maybe you should do it.

Sure.

Bjorn!

People of Kattegat...

I told you that when I became King,

my rule would be very different from that of Ivar's.

And I mean to keep that pledge.

Ivar built a wall around our town.

He discouraged foreigners, outlawed free speech

and dissent amongst our own people.

Kattegat can only survive and grow prosperous through trade,

not conquest. That is my belief.

This is your meeting, your Thing.

Your chance to come to me

with whatever you want, and I will listen.

I am but your humble servant.

King Bjorn!

Who are these men?

I know who they are.

All of these men collaborated willingly with Ivar's regime.

They served as his bodyguards.

They did his bidding, whatever that was.

However cruel, however depraved.

They did it without compunction,

without a thought even for their own families.

They burned alive those who were brave enough to stand against them.

And they burned alive a young woman

called Thora,

who I loved.

Didn't you?

Well, are these men guilty?

Yes! They are!

And what should I do with them, huh?

Take these men away.

Remember, my son,

your full responsibilities of kingship.

These men are all guilty.

They committed crimes against their own people, against you.

Yeah!

And I know you all think they deserve to die.

Yeah!

But there's something far worse than death, far worse.

I will banish them for life.

They will become outlaws, Skogarmaors,

men of the forests,

forever condemned to live in the forest

and other deserted places.

Their property will be confiscated.

They will be branded as Skogarmaors,

and they can be killed with impunity.

This is much worse than death.

They will live not as human beings, but as ghosts.

Outside of human society.

Everyday forced to regret and remember their decisions

and their crimes,

yet unable to atone for them.

Such is my decision. All in favor, say "Aye."

Aye!

Then it is decided.

Come on! Kill me!

You'll be doing me a favor!

You made the right decision.

I hope so.

Ivar would never have set them free.

But I'm not Ivar.

Who is this?

He is a Viking.

His name is Ivar.

One night he got drunk

and told everyone that he was a King.

He doesn't look like a King,

and he doesn't travel like one!

What's he saying?

We'll take him to Kiev.

Not before you've paid for my information.

Who are these people?

Rus.

Cheap bastards!

It seems

they don't pay very well.

Where are they taking me?

To their capital,

a place called Kiev.

Who is their ruler?

Prince Oleg,

the Prophet.

The Prophet?

Why the Prophet?

Get on the horse!

You're coming with us.

What's the matter with you?

He's a cripple.

A cripple,

and a King!

Now I've seen everything!

What is it?

My Prince,

we have made an interesting arrest.

A King - or so he claims -

traveling along the Silk Road.

A King?

From where?

From Norway.

A Viking.

You cannot walk.

Are you wounded?

No,

I'm a cripple.

From birth.

You speak my language!

It was once the language of my people too.

We are Rus Vikings.

What did they call you?

My name is Ivar.

They call me

Ivar, the Boneless.

I've heard of you.

Ivar.

The Boneless.

Your fame has traveled along the Silk Road.

Like, honey, beeswax, furs and slaves.

But why do you travel along it now?

Without announcing yourself?

Like a thief, hmm?

I lost my kingdom to my brothers.

I am nothing.

And I have nothing to offer you, Prince Oleg.

It was not my intention to trouble you with my presence.

And where were you going?

Nowhere.

I have no plans.

I am simply fleeing the retribution of my brothers.

Well...

You're here now.

Who knows if your presence will trouble me.

Let us see.

We have embarked on a new way of life here.

And that was always my commitment as King.

To build the most successful trading station in all of Scandinavia.

But I will need your continued support.

I need my family.

Mother?

I wish you well in your enterprise, my dear son.

And I'm sure you will succeed.

But in the future, you'll have to do it without me.

I don't understand.

Why won't you stay?

I've seen enough of war.

I have seen enough of death.

I have lost so many.

I don't want to be a... A public person anymore.

I don't want to be responsible.

I desire to live a totally different kind of life.

How can you do that?

I plan to build a farmstead.

Just like the one Ragnar and I lived in when we were first married,

where we were all so happy.

I plan to build it in the countryside.

Untroubled by the problems of running a large and prosperous town.

Let me get this right.