What will become of Gunnhild?
On Vikings Season 6 Episode 14, the beloved shieldmaiden agreed to remain with Ingrid, and both women geared up to marry King Harald.
It was a wild turn of events, especially when you consider the way Gunnhild has been talking about the end of Vikings as she knows it.
I appreciated the scenes between Gunnhild and Ingrid because we’re slowly starting to understand why Ingrid is making what I’ve perceived to be bizarre moves.
Ingrid agreeing to marry her abuser could make her seem weak in the eyes of others, but it was nice that she actually explained her machinations.
The first few episodes back were sorely lacking in exposition for the character, and now we’re finally getting the answers we need to choose the right side.
It’s obvious Ingrid doesn’t believe the child is Bjorn’s, but making everyone think it is would give the child a legitimate claim to the throne down the line, assuming things don’t change in the years before the child is of age.
Putting up with Harald for a number of years is better to her than going back to being a slave, and I loved how Gunnhild questioned Ingrid about it.
Harald: You and I, and Bjorn… we belong together. We danced around each other. We hated and we loved each other. I remember every time I ever saw you, and I remember every time I was in the company of Bjorn. Our sagas are one and the same. Bjorn died. I also died. But for some reason I came back to life. You can’t have Bjorn anymore. At least not as a warm body in your bed. You can have me. And you can be Queen of Kattegat.
Gunnhild: If I marry you?
Harald: If I ask you, in all humility, and I expect no immediate answer.
They are two very different women: Gunnhild is honorable, whereas Ingrid will go in whichever direction she needs to in order to stay rich and powerful.
Gunnhild’s words of wisdom in Bjorn’s cave certainly made it seem like she’s up to something. Is she worried about what Bjorn would think by being in a relationship with both Harald and Ingrid?
That seems to be what we’re supposed to take from the scene.
Erik continues to be a wildcard, and I find it hard to believe that Harald trusted him as far as he could throw him.
If you watch Vikings online, you know Erik has been conspiring against both Gunnhild and Ingrid, playing them against each other to figure out how he could benefit from either of the women being named Queen of Kattegat.
I’m Prince Egor! Emperor of Rus!
Igor
When Harald is made King and Ingrid and Gunnhild are made the Queens of Kattegat, it’s going to leave Erik to fend for himself.
It’s possible he could continue to scheme to take power, but too many cooks in the kitchen springs to mind here. The election plot has been exciting, but we need to up the body count in Kattegat because most of the people are playing too nice for comfort.
Politics is tough, but when we’re in the final stretch of episodes of a show built on different sides battling for dear life, there should be more death.
That being said, Oleg is going to start killing anyone who crosses him before long. Given the way Vikings Season 6 Episode 13 ended, the great escape was going to be a success.
But Oleg has proven to be the type of person to act first and think later. Now that Katia and Ivar have double-crossed him, he’s starting to realize that he can’t trust anyone.
That does not bode well for the future of anyone who has crossed him because he will feel like it’s do or die time and will not hold back when it comes to taking people out.
Oleg has been against his brother for some time now, but if we do get a battle between the two sides, it’s likely Oleg’s army would give up and defect to Novgorod.
All Dir needs to do is get Ivar and Igor to speak up, and it should be an easy affair, but I don’t expect Oleg to go down without trying to kill some people.
That’s why Ivar, Katia, Igor, Hvitserk, and Dir should be afraid.
The insanity in Greenland was fun because it actually started the process of advancing the plot in Iceland.
Leaving the previous location was a risk and one that Ubbe and Torvi wanted to take. They thought that risks would reap the rewards, and what they got was a land that appears to be inhabitable.
Torvi: What are we going to call this island?
Kjetil: Well, since there are no trees, why don’t we call it Greenland?
Splitting up the island between the different families may have seemed like a good idea, but it wasn’t a sound plan.
The only positive from it is that it gave them a moral dilemma when the dead whale washed ashore and landed on Ketjil’s part of the island.
Ketjil saw this as an opportunity to assert his power over the others and to shun the starving people who were not from his part of the island.
In hindsight, there should have been rules about dividing the island up, possibly that people should not be allowed to go hungry.
Maybe this scenario will give Ubbe, Torvi, and everyone else some food for thought when they move on from the land.
“Lost Souls” picked up the pace considerably and made it clear that these characters are going to face a lot more hurdles before they find some semblance of peace.
The most surprising aspect of the final episodes is the lack of big returns. I figured people like Floki or Rollo would pop up after the death of Bjorn.
What are your thoughts on the bedlam in Iceland? What does Gunnhild want to do about Harald and Ingrid?
Hit the comments below.
Vikings Season 6B is available to stream on Amazon Prime.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.