RagnarokVikings : Season 5 Episode 20 ##VERIFIED##
The fifth season of the historical drama television series Vikings premiered on November 29, 2017 on History in Canada.[1] The series broadly follows the exploits of the legendary Viking chieftain Ragnar Lothbrok and his crew, and later those of his sons.
RagnarokVikings : Season 5 Episode 20
The fifth season consists of a double-season order of twenty episodes, split into two parts of ten episodes; the first part concluded on January 24, 2018. The second half premiered on November 28, 2018.[2][3] The premise of the fifth season differs from the previous four after the departure of Travis Fimmel as Ragnar, and it follows the adventures of his living sons. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is introduced as a main character, after his initial appearance in the fourth season's finale.[4] The season concluded in its entirety on January 30, 2019.
Three main characters who died in previous seasons briefly appear played by body doubles: Sigurd's corpse is briefly shown in "The Fisher King", King Ecbert appears in "The Fisher King" as a corpse and in "Baldur" as a cloaked figure, and Athelstan is seen as a cloaked figure in "The Departed".
An Irish-Canadian co-production presented by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the fifth season of Vikings was developed and produced by TM Productions and Take 5 Productions. Morgan O'Sullivan, Sheila Hockin, Sherry Marsh, Alan Gasmer, James Flynn, John Weber, and Michael Hirst are credited as executive producers. This season was produced by Keith Thompson for the first four and last four episodes, and Liz Gill for the fifth to sixteenth episodes. Bill Goddard and Séamus McInerney are co-producers.[8]
The production team for this season includes casting directors Frank and Nuala Moiselle, costume designer Susan O'Connor Cave, visual effects supervisor Dominic Remane, stunt action designer Richard Ryan, composer Trevor Morris, production designer Mark Geraghty, editors Aaron Marshall for the first, third, fifth, tenth, fourteenth, seventeenth and twentieth episodes, Tad Seaborn for the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, thirteenth, sixteenth and nineteenth episodes, Michele Conroy for the seventh, ninth and eleventh episodes, Dan Briceno for the twelfth episode, and Don Cassidy for the fifteenth and eighteenth episodes and cinematographers PJ Dillon for the first and second episodes, Peter Robertson for the third, fourth, and seventh to sixteenth episodes, Suzie Lavelle for the fifth, sixth, seventeenth and eighteenth episodes, and Owen McPolin for the nineteenth and twentieth episodes.[8]
At the same time that the series was renewed for a fifth season, it was announced that Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers would be joining the cast, as Heahmund, a "warrior bishop". Vikings creator Michael Hirst, explained: "I was looking at the history books, and I came across these warrior bishops. The antecedents of the Knights Templar: these are people who were absolutely religious, yet they put on armor and they fought. Don't let their priestly status fool you, either. They were crazy! They believed totally in Christianity and the message, and yet, on the battlefield, they were totally berserk."[4]
Former WWE star Adam Copeland was cast in a recurring role for the fifth season, as Kjetill Flatnose, a violent and bold warrior. He is chosen by Floki to join an expedition to set up a colony in a new land.[9] Irish actor Darren Cahill plays the role of Aethelred in the fifth season.[10] Nigerian actor Stanley Amuzie told local media he had landed a small role in the fifth season.[11] The fifth season also includes Irish actor, musician and real-life police detective, Kieran O'Reilly, who plays the role of White Hair.[12] In April 2017 it was announced that Danish actor Erik Madsen had joined the cast for the fifth season, as King Hemming.[13] He spent several months of 2016 on the set of The Last Kingdom, portraying a Viking.[14]
Additional non-original music by Norwegian music group Wardruna is featured in the episodes "The Plan" and "A Simple Story". The featured tracks are "MannaR - Drivande", "Løyndomsriss", and "Heimta Thurs".
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 91% approval rating, with an average rating of 8.10/10 based on 11 reviews. The consensus reads: "Brutal battles and epic quests help Vikings' fifth season remain an engaging, exciting journey."[16] IGN awarded episode 10, "Moments of Vision", with a rating of 9 out of 10.[17] Entertainent Weekly gave the episode an "A".[18]
The second half of the season drew some criticism. Writing in Forbes, Erik Kain said: "the show continues to falter, an unfortunate mix of melodrama, one-note characters and absurd fantasy parading as historical fiction" and that the show "has simply lost its way".[19] In "A Simple Story", Aethelred is portrayed rejecting the throne in favour of his younger brother Alfred. In history, after the death of Aethelwulf, three of Alfred's elder brothers ruled, for two, five and six years respectively, all dying before Alfred took the throne in 871. Writing in Forbes, Erik Kain described the storyline as "just a huge unforced error".[20]
If the rest of Season 5 had been as good as tonight's season finale, I imagine my reviews would have been much kinder. In many ways, the last few episodes have seen a general uptick in quality, and the season ended on something of a high note---thank the Allfather.
The season has improved for a number of reasons, but chief among these is the culling of the bloated cast. We discarded the useless settlers in Floki's rambling, pointless storyline. The intolerable Bishop Heahmund---a character who never became what we thought he'd become---was mercifully dispatched several episodes ago. So too, Judith, Aethelred and others. The cast has thinned and that's undeniably a good thing.
Surprisingly, in tonight's season finale only one big death occurred. Freydis was strangled to death by Ivar after she admitted to letting the armies of Bjorn, Hvitserk, Harald and Olaf through the secret entrance in Kattegat, a betrayal she was happy to make after Ivar murdered their infant son. Alas, she did not get to see her husband strung up in a tree.
Alas, neither did we. Perhaps my biggest gripe with this episode was Ivar's survival. He makes good his escape, aided by loyalists, after the city falls. We see him ride off in a cart, disguised, that evil Ivar look on his face. "The war isn't over," the Seer tells Bjorn (in a dream? A vision? Is any of this real? asks Bjorn and we don't really know for sure.)
We also didn't see anything about Floki, which I found surprising and disappointing. Is he dead? Was last week's episode meant to be his last? Or are we simply left to wonder until Season 6 airs presumably late 2019?
In any case, we have some time before Season 6 arrives. Hopefully the uptick in quality at the end of Season 5 means that next season will be decent. There was so much of this season that was almost unwatchable---it really was that bad at times---but I have a spoonful of hope now. I'd love to see Vikings end well.
I could never figure out who the main character of Vikings was, but this episode really highlighted it to be Bjorn. Sometime after the battle, he sits atop of the hills looking down at Kattegat like his father often did. Ragnar speaks to him, recalling on a former conversation the two had years ago where he asked Bjorn why he desired to fight and then warned him of the dangers of thirsting for power.
Subsequent episodes explored the far-reaching consequences of Ragnar's death, which will continue to ripple through the show until its eventual end. (Which won't be any time soon -- History has already renewed the show for a fifth season.)
The last week's penultimate episode of 'Vikings' 5B proved Ubbe (Jordan Patrick Smith) was truly the son of Ragnar (Travis Fimmel) as he realized his father's dream of farmlands in the Saxon country, and this week, it was Bjorn's (Alexander Ludwig) turn to prove the same. It will not be an overstatement to say he did. In fact, the last scene of Bjorn perched on a hilltop overlooking Kattegat took us right back to the time when Ragnar was alive and reigning in the port town.
The finale, titled 'Ragnarok,' was as epic as fans had hoped; bloody battle, gore, unexpected major deaths, deceit, defeat, victory and a glimpse of beloved Ragnar Lothbrok. The episode hailed to be a war of the gods featuring the cataclysmic end of the world, spent most of the scenes at the battlefield - the walls of Kattegat.
Within 10 minutes of the episode, Ivar (Alex Høgh Andersen) and Bjorn were going head to head, but Ivar had the upper hand. Standing shielded and well-guarded on top of the wall while Bjorn and King Olaf's (Steven Berkoff) men tried to break open the gates of Kattegat with a battering ram, Ivar had ample time to pick his enemies off from right under his nose.
A point to be made here is the finale episode wasn't just about a great battle, it was also about great dialogues. Ivar's oratory skill has been a major highlight in the past episodes, and this finale was no exception. Bjorn's speech too was equally moving, especially when defeated and when Ivar shoots an arrow at him, because no one else would.
Suddenly the scene changes as the angle focuses on Bjorn's blue eyes reflecting the sky and the silver of the sword Lagertha presents. The sword is tainted with blood and in the backdrop are a mountain of corpses who died on the battlefield. Bjorn is sitting on Ragnar's spot, on top a hill overlooking Kattegat, and Ragnar comes alive to ask him about the purpose of fight and power. The scene is a recollection of season 2 when Ragnar had become king and father and son had a tete-a-tete moment right there. 041b061a72