Tonight we have The Reckoning we have been waiting for, as the sons of Ragnar continue their sweep of the north of England in the finale of Vikings.
The episode picks up from last week with the vikings’ Great Heathen Army encircling Aethelwulf and his army.
What has not changed is the uneasy alliance between the vastly different leadership styles of Ivar and Bjorn. The other sons are not as strong in leadership qualities.
But having the upper hand consistently in Wessex and East Anglia seems foreshadowed as not to be, with the introduction of Jonathan Rhys Meyers to the cast.
Showrunner Michael Hirst calls up his former Tudors star to shake it up with the bloody battle having an unsure ending.
Rhys Meyers is introduced into the series as warrior bishop Bishop Heahmund, part of a select group of men who were precursors to the Knights of Templar.
READ: Michael Hirst on why Jonathan Rhys Meyers is perfect for Vikings
That sets the stage for the dramatic Season 5. In short, the viking heathens who killed Aelle and trounced Aethelwulf might not keep besting the English.
History tells us the early armies of England were formidable in their own right and continued to be for many centuries.
Now that we have come to like him after seeing a human side of him last week, will King Ecbert’s son Aethelwulf (Moe Dunford) survive the trouncing that Ivar cooked up strategically with Bjorn?
And what of the traitorous King Harald Finehair (Peter Franzen), and Halfdan the Black (Jasper Paakonen), whose plan to stage a coup in Kattegat against Lagertha failed last week?
When word gets to Bjorn (Alexander Ludwig), all bets are off for these two connivers.
And there’s more questions as this incredible season winds down. Ubbe (Jordan Smith), Floki (Gustaf Skarsgard), Hviserk (Marco Ilsø) and Ivar the Boneless (Alex Hogh) are all characters in play and teased to be in jeopardy as we bid goodbye this week to the fourth season of television’s best drama bar none.
What will come of the well-meaning but obsessive Helga and her charge Tanusz?
Do we think that crafty King Ecbert (Linus Roache) will abandon his power so easily or survive and try to make a deal with the sons of Ragnar? Do we even believe Ivar is capable of any compromise in his revenge vision?
Watch this exclusive preview from the Season 4 Episode 20 of Vikings, the finale…
The Vikings finale airs tonight at 9/8c on History.