I’ve laid out my criticisms of
Vikings’ overall direction since (and for a time before) the death of Ragnar Lothbrok, at length. So here’s where I say that “It’s Only Magic” finds a way to recall
Vikings’ at its best for a little while. (It’s qualified praise, as I’m still me, after all.) As Ubbe and his followers explore what they assume to be Othere’s fabled Golden Land, with strange new creatures skittering through the abundant trees and a shimmering lake offering the sea-ravaged travelers a blissfully bracing swim,
Vikings recaptures a sense of wonder.
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Especially as what happens to Harald, Ivar, Hvitserk, and their 200 ships filled with viking warriors in Wessex will likely determine more of what happens to
Vikings’ home town than anything the righteously pissed-off Ingrid can accomplish in their absence. (At least with just three episodes to go.) Equipped, unlike poor Ubbe’s band, with supplies and sunstones, the Norse ships reach England and quietly sail upriver, relying on Ivar’s memory of his father’s advice on the best ground to make a stand. It’s a good plan, as it turns out, with Hvitserk riding in to save Ivar’s neck in a nasty ambush, and the resolute Norse rowing their way to plateau of high ground offering up a commanding view of the English countryside, having left a trail of burned villages and trudging refugees in their wake.
The Real-Life Golden Land That Ubbe Is Searching For On Vikings
The Real-Life Golden Land That Ubbe Is Searching For On Vikings History
By Eric Betts/Jan. 3, 2021 11:35 am EDT/Updated: Feb. 23, 2021 8:52 am EDT
Spoilers for Vikings season 6 below.
There s more to the story of the Vikings than raiding, conquest, and power struggles.
Though the final half-season of the hit series
Vikings is largely concerned with political and military machinations back in the Old World (alongside surprising deaths), one thread the show returns to ventures farther afield. Much farther. That s because while his surviving brothers battle and betray their way to power and glory, Ubbe Ragnarsson (Jordan Patrick Smith) and his crew have sailed far to the west of Norway in search of what he calls the Golden Land, a land of plentiful resources where a good life might be had without the threat of Norse politics forever hanging over one s head.