Lost – As this episode of Vikings: Valhalla begins, Harald (Leo Suter) and the others are celebrated when they march through the city. Dorn (Eleanor McLynn) pushes a woman who kisses Batu (Taylor James). Leif Eriksson (Sam Corlett) is not in the mood for celebrations so he walks away from the group. Harald and Maniakes (Florian Munteanu) are approached by Emperor Romanos (Nikolai Kinski) who says they celebrate the army’s overwhelming victory in Sicily. He presents his wife, Empress Zoe. She tells Harald and Maniakes that they’re true sons of Constantinople. They give them the title of Spatharokandidatos which is the highest honor of an Imperial Warrior.

A woman finds out that Leif is back. A flashback shows a man coming for William (Senan Jennings) who is supposedly the Duke now. The man in charge of William refuses to let him go until he is killed. In the present, Alfred (Henry Proctor) wakes William (Ely Solan) to let him know they’ve arrived. Edward (Cal O’Driscoll) believes William had the nightmare again. Edward tells him he’s about to meet his nightmare. King Canute rides toward Bayeux Castle in Normandy. Richard of Normandy (Jack Hickey) comes out to greet King Canute (Bradley Freegard) and Emma (Laura Berlin). Emma promises to tell her son, Alfred, all about the Pope. Alfred’s brother, Edward, says he’s right where Emma left him years ago. King Canute is introduced to William, the Duke of Normandy.

Emma explains to him that she’s his great-aunt. Walter (Keith McErlean) introduces himself as the Duke’s guardian and his mother’s brother. He rules for William under he reaches his majority. Later, Canute tells everyone he wants to expand their wool trade. Walter says Normandy has no need for English wool. Canute argues they should ask William to see what he thinks, but William says his uncle speaks for him. Walter suggests England could lower the price of its wool. In private, Richard tells Emma that Walter has grown fat and rich off the boy. Walter controls Normandy and he’s bleeding it dry. Emma says William can reclaim power when he’s 15. Richard suspects he’ll suffer an accident at the hands of Walter.

Emma is thinking about her sons and what will become of them. In Denmark, Earl Godwin (David Oakes) reaches his destination and sees Gytha who didn’t want to miss the midsummer celebrations. Harold and Tostig run over to greet their father. Earl explains he’s there to deliver the terms of Canute’s agreement to his father. Forkbeard is not there. Gytha (Henessi Schmidt) introduces Earl to Canute’s son, Prince Harald Harefoot (Pyry Kahkonen). Harefoot knows Earl has his father’s ear. He wants to become the next King of England. Earl admits there are others ahead of him in the natural line of succession. Harefoot asks what he needs to do to make it happen. The woman asks Leif why he’s not with his friends receiving praise. Leif says he was responsible for something that should not be celebrated.

He gives her a small chest with coins and says he’s going to find the last place he knew who he was. Empress Zoe asks about Leif. Batu tells her they haven’t seen him since they entered the city. Dorn can’t remember the Elena they knew on the Dnieper. Harald speaks to Zoe. He admits he wants to return to Norway to be King. Harald is taken by a group of soldiers. He meets Romanos and Zoe in a private place. Once Harald confirms he can trust him, he is invited into the Emperor’s Vault and shown treasure from centuries of conquests. Romanos says it is for Harald to take since it’s a tradition that goes back hundreds of years. Anything in the rooms can be his, but he’s only given a limited amount of time to decide. Zoe flirts with Harald and tells him he can have everything.

She gives him a key before leaving. Earl speaks to Gytha about the political situation. She wants him to remind Canute that he needs him. Earl believes there’s something different about Emma this time. Wends attack while Earl is making out with Gytha. At one point, Gytha is taken captive. Earl manages to stop the man carrying her away on horseback. Both return to the village safely. Harefoot and Earl embrace before Harefoot calls him his brother. Kaysan (Kayode Akinyemi) tells Harald he could buy two armies with what he has. Harald insists he has not forgotten his goals. Kaysan thought Romanos would throw him in jail for talking to Zoe. Harald says he’ll find Leif. He finds Leif burning some of his papers. Leif intended to use the knowledge to make the world better, but he used it to make it worse.

Harald reminds him that what happened in the Syracuse was not his fault. Leif still blames himself. He believes Mariam would be disappointed. Leif does not burn the book he found in Syracuse library. Freydis (Frida Gustavsson) has a dream before waking up and learning that Harald is still alive with Stigg. She briefly speaks to Stigg (Leander Vyvey) about her son. Then, she asks Hamundr (Ciaran McMahon) how many they’ve lost. He says they’ve lost at least half. Aki (Eoghain Francis Kiernan) explains that the poison was in the flour they traded for in Kattegat. Stigg believes they’ll find out who did it soon enough. Freydis says they need to be ready when they arrive. She doesn’t think they can leave because they’re surrounded by Christians on all sides. Harald finds out that Leif is trying to leave.

Leif admits he’s changed. Harald hopes he finds what he’s looking for. Leif sets sail moments later. Stigg finds Freydis looking at her sword. Freydis believes she should’ve seen it coming. As the chosen one, she blames herself. She complains the gods have robbed her of her strength when she needs them the most. Stigg suggests they don’t want her to fight and maybe this is not the final home to fight for. Freydis is happy to see Harald awake. Emma tells Canute that her sons are strangers. Edward resents her for sending them to Normandy. Canute insists she did the right thing. Edward complains that he should be king now although Alfred says he saved their lives. He insists he will raise an army of Normans and land in England.

William warns him that he’s not ready so he should bide his time. He is adamant he’ll take what is his when the time comes. William asks Edward and Alfred to swear a blood oath. Freydis sees boats with Olaf’s colors. She suspects it’s Olaf’s son Magnus. Freydis thinks they should leave Jomsborg. She says Magnus believes the battle is already over. Hamundr says he’s right because he’ll only have to fight an army of dead Jomsvikings. Freydis believes that’s enough to defeat him. Harald takes the key and uses it to meet Zoe who is swimming nearby. She asks him not to go back to Norway. Zoe says his future is here and all he has to do is take it. Harald undresses and gets ready to have sex with her.

 

Vikings: Valhalla Review

This episode of Vikings: Valhalla was fairly dull with lots of nudity to make up for it. It’s unfortunate that the series wasn’t better, but it’s also surprising it made it this far. It’s just so dull and feels like it’s going nowhere half the time. We may be building up to something bigger, but some viewers may never reach that point.

The characters have become wooden to the point that it’s not easy to cheer for any of them. Again, this episode did very little in the big scheme of things. This is the final season of Vikings: Valhalla so a lot more should be going on. There should be more action and more pushing the characters to a climactic conclusion.

Instead, the episode was filled with tedious dialogue and nudity just for the sake of it. At the very least, the way this episode ended gives the impression that the next one could be stronger. This episode and the ones before it were watchable, but expectations should be minimized to avoid disappointment.

The episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Vikings: Valhalla can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. See what others are saying at the Reel Mockery Forum.