Vikings - The Departed Parts I and II - Advance Preview + Teasers

There may be no dispute about who is King of Wessex for the time being, but with three of Ragnar and Aslaug’s sons still standing and a determined Harold Finehair still eyeing up the Kattegat throne, Lagertha’s position is not quite so comfortable. It looks like she’s just about able to keep on top of things for now, but one of the aforementioned will still be showing just how serious he is when he makes a brazen move behind her back.

Meanwhile, over in England, I doubt the Saxon royal family are feeling too cosy either as they have been hidden away in the marshes, which is about as far away from the luxury their previous abode afforded them as they could get. Despite his father telling him that he must take back what is his, Aethelwulf has instead been fretting the years away thinking that this is God’s punishment for the family’s past transgressions. As you would expect, one person takes this personally, in part due to Alfred, who has grown into a sickly young man, albeit one with a fantastic and unique prospective of the world.

The only thing that the king does seem to have going for him in this double episode season five opener is the Bishop of Sherborne has started clearing house for him in his absence. We only caught a brief look at Jonathan Rhys Meyers back in February, but it was succinct in showing us many aspects of this new character. Heahmund may be a man of the cloth, but he is conflicted and nuanced beyond being a mere implement of the Lord that he has sworn his life to. Aside from his wandering eye, the Bishop is essentially a precursor to the Knights Templar which followed a few centuries down the line, so it’s a shame that we don’t get to see him heave that intriguing sword too much in the opening episodes.

This shot of Ivar facing a Saxon army with not a hint of fear for his precarious position was probably one of the first released earlier in the year. Taken alongside his rage induced fratricide last season and his vicious delight in dispatching a man of the cloth this week, it’s obvious that the youngest of Ragnar’s offspring is simply not aware of his limitations, or restraints. We know that he thinks that his father chose him specifically to take to England, so that he would be the son to rise above the others, the only one who would be able to revenge his death at Ecbert’s hand. Yet, if we think back to the start of 4b, Ragnar only turned to Ivar after first asking all his other sons, his old friends, the gods, and hell, even the rest of Kattegat, to sale west with him one more time. Not that Ivar would hear it any different now, though I get the feeling that this season we will be seeing him pushing himself to become even more of an outsider in his fight for vengeance in his parents’ names.

Floki feels as if he has lost everything, and as a poor wretch, he deserves nothing. So, he sets off in a one-man boat, throws Ragnar’s navigation methods to the wind, and lets the tide and the gods take him where they may. After enduring their trials at sea, they decide to lead him to the isolated and volcanic island of Iceland, which has a profound effect on the broken man. I am enjoying Floki’s exploits so much that I am hoping he survives his voyages long enough for Gustaf Skarsgård to make it back from filming season two of Westworld! I am going to be too sad if this new, spiritually awaken Dane bites it now just as he’s becoming the most interesting and fulfilling character currently on the show. His sense of wonderment at discovering a new paradise as he is ‘reborn’ is enthralling to watch unfold, and I’m so glad that we see him come out the other side of his grief without too much wallowing in the past.


The Departed Parts I and II airs on Wednesday November 29 at 9pm ET/PT, below are a few dialogue teasers to see you through until then. If you want to have a go at guessing who said what I will fill in any correct answers before it airs. Don’t forget to come back and vote in our poll after the episode and let us know what you thought.

“And I thought perhaps you wanted to find out how well Egil the Bastard had served you”

There’s around six and half minutes with no dialogue towards the end of the second episode

“You have ambition enough for the both of us, brother. I’m a simple fellow, travelling to the ends of the known world, that’s enough for me”

“I don’t want you to go. I still need to win the fight against the Christians”

“Oh, you gods. Not like this, I don’t want to die like this”

“Even if he feared death King Ecbert should never have sold part of his inheritance to those Pagans”

“Even though Ragnar killed him, I know that they are fighting and feasting together in Valhalla”

“We must clean and restore this place despoiled by those heathen barbarians. Tell the people who fled from here that it is safe to return”

“Ivar the Boneless, scourge of the world. Huh. You don’t need me”

“I remember something my father said. It’s always better to attack an English town when they are celebrating one of their saint’s days”

“I agree with Ivar. We should go north and attack York”

“Lagertha has been so good to me, I owe her everything”

“Your people need you”

“Tell my mother, and Torvi and the children, that I think of them. And that I will return, if the gods will it”

“I am old enough to say that you never know for sure what someone else will do”


Homeland Teaser

“We must offer a sacrifice. Would you be willing to offer yourself as a sacrifice?”

“Where we are going, it would be much better to appear as traders rather than raiders”