Vikings recap: 'Mercy' 

'Vikings' premiere recap: 'A Good Treason'

Mercy, mercy, mercy. A kindness not often granted in the land of the Northmen, where violence and vengeance and glory is all. The history of the world is a history of conquest and bloodletting. Years ago, Ragnar Lothbrok led his men across the sea to Wessex, seeking riches and land. In Wessex, there was a kind of mercy: An alliance between equals, King Ecbert and King Ragnar. But that mercy was an illusion: The blood of dead Vikings mars the English soil, awaiting further vengeance. More dead Vikings sew the land of Frankia, where Ragnar led his men in pursuit of further conquest.

What awaits Ragnar in these far-flung lands? What awaits him outside his own home? In an episode called “Mercy,” we saw kings and queens and princesses and warriors spread across the lands. We begin across the sea:

Judith continues her lessons with Prudentius, the skeptical monk from Frankia. She inquires about the rumors of a Viking raid on Paris. That attack is, to hear Prudentius tell it, “a

across the whole of Europe.” Prudentius knows many details of the raid — but not the details Judith seeks. Was there a monk named Athelstan fighting with the Northmen? Did he live or die? “He should be caught and crucified,” says Prudentius, a true believer.

Judith amuses Ecbert with the saga of the Paris attack. And Ecbert assures her that Athelstan lives on, in his son Alfred and in Judith herself. “You are God’s sacred vessel,” Ecbert says. “Chosen to deliver the holy man’s child.” Judith laughs that off: What is she, after all, but a sinful woman? “We are all sinful, Judith,” Ecbert insists. “Ever since we were thrown out of paradise.” Perhaps we learn much about Ecbert from this statement. Most followers of the Christ-God believe that they must direct their lives away from sin. Ecbert believes that’s a fruitless endeavor. We are all sinners; better to be a powerful sinner than a weak one.

That evening, Judith comes to Ecbert’s chambers. She will become his mistress again, on one condition: “Heed and respect me.” Ecbert agrees. They are a curious coupling: The monstrous king with a child’s curiosity, the tortured and caged princess who dreams of independence. They rekindle their romance, if romance it be. At night, Ecbert has a vision of his old friend Athelstan. The monk says nothing. In the morning, Ecbert declares his interpretation of the dream. Athelstan is dead, he promises — the monk has sent notice via heavenly telecom.

They mourn their beloved monk. But new drama awaits. Aethelwulf returns from Mercia, with Queen Kwenthrith and Magnus son of Ragnar in tow. Aethelwulf goes to Kwenthrith’s chambers, welcomed to her bed as a hero. Dull Aethelwulf always tried to live a good Christian life, but now he seeks something different. The House of Ecbert ripples with incestuous confusion: Ecbert’s one-time paramour Kwenthrith now sleeps with Aethelwulf while Aethelwulf’s wife has become Ecbert’s mistress. Surely this will all work out well for everyone.

The marriage of Duke Rollo and Princess Gisla has not softened into love or mutual respect. Gisla disrupts the feast of St. Eulalia by declaring that her husband is just like the pagan emperor who slew the saint. “He’d probably like to burn me alive or cut off my head,” says Gisla. “I want a divorce!” She throws wine in Rollo’s face and storms off. He storms away, too, to the great vexation of the emperor. Rollo is important to Paris; he is the defense strategy against future Viking attacks.

Count Odo calms Rollo down with a method that King Ecbert might appreciate: education. Rollo is alone in Paris now; having slaughtered his brethren, he has no one to speak to. Odo promises to find Rollo a teacher. Throughout the 

 saga, we have seen how quickly the great women and men of the time took to new languages: Think of Ragnar learning to speak with Athelstan or Lagertha’s affair with Ecbert.

Alas, Rollo is no Ragnar, no Lagertha. After days of lessons, he still cannot say “I am delighted to make your acquaintance.” In rebellion, he throws his teacher across the room. No wife, no friends, no one who can even understand him: Rollo has come so far, and yet this all feels so familiar. Perhaps he is doomed to solitude; perhaps he is doomed, period.

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