(Spoilers ahead)
For the second time, "Vikings" offered another sad episode with the death of one more major character. After killing off Siggy (Jessalyn Gilsig) a few weeks ago, the History Channel original series treated its fans to another shocking turn, for one character that has been in the show since day one.
A lot of things happened in this episode titled "Born Again." There is the arrival of Kalf in Kattegat, Princess Judith almost getting executed in public and Bjorn (Alexander Ludwig) cheating on his wife who just gave birth to their daughter.
However, none of this is heavier, and depressing, than the death of Athelstan.
Before dying in the hands of Floki (Gustaf Skarsgård), Athelstan (George Blagden) experienced some kind of reincarnation in his fate, as what the title suggests.
However, that did not save him. He still died. In the last minutes of the episode, Ragnar (Travis Fimmel) was seen carrying the corpse of his "best friend," the one he says he trusts the most in his camp.
With the two of them sharing close bond, expect Ragnar to grieve, or avenge, or maybe feel like he's born again. According to a "Vikings" season 3 episode guide from creator Michael Hirst, fans need to watch out Ragnar and how he will be affected by the death of Athelstan.
"It's going to have a huge impact psychologically and in other ways. We don't necessarily see that immediately, but certainly when he gets to France. He becomes a slightly different, slightly darker man," Hirst said in an interview with Zap2It shortly after the latest "Vikings" season 3 episode.
One sign that Ragnar Lothbrok is going to pay tribute to his Christian friend is when he shaved his head, one common practice among monks in England where Athelstan came from.
"That has to do, in a way, with shaving his head. If you remember Season 1, when Athelstan has spent a little time in Kattegat with Ragnar, he'd been filled with despair and traumatized. One of the things that's traumatized him is the shaved circle on his head that monks have has grown over. So he steals a knife from Ragnar and a bowl of cold water and scrapes, trying to get it back. Ragnar and Lagertha catch him doing it and laugh.
Now, this is Ragnar paying tribute to Athelstan by doing the same thing. It's also a visible sign that he's a changed person, though. What I didn't want to do ... It's not a Western, so I didn't want him to turn around and immediately get the guy. He's clearly going to get the man who did this but that's for the future."
Read more "Vikings" season 3 episode guide from Hirst's interview with Zap2It here.
