'Vikings' recap: 'The Great Army' 

Travis Fimmel, Katheryn Winnick, Clive Standen

They build, they build, they build. Kattegat has grown and it has grown large, from an earl’s village to a King’s capital to a merchant metropolis. It is a modern city, and it is a prize, and Queen Kattegat will defend it. She has set her people to building, building, building. They will build defenses. There are enough enemies within already.

Ragnar Lothbrok is dead, but he lives on. (I talk about that with 

writer Michael Hirst in this week’s postmortem interview, where he also answers your question about Bjorn and Astrid and explains why he doesn’t like gritty realism.) He lives on in his dying words, carried by wind and rumor and legend to his sons.

Ragnar’s youngest son, Ivar, seeks vengeance against Lagertha for the death of his mother, Aslaug. But his brothers Ubbe and Sigurd pull Ivar’s focus toward on another vengeance. Should they attack King Aelle, in tiny Northumbria — or, following their father’s wishes, take on King Ecbert in grand Wessex? To do so would require a large army, twice the size of the coalition Ragnar led to Paris. But is it an army they can assemble, with their father’s memory as their rallying cry. “In the name of Ragnar Lothbrok, in the name of Odin, we declare war on the whole world,” says Ivar Boneless, hate and joy in his eyes.

Ubbe relays their plan to Queen Lagertha. He asks her to join them. But Lagertha has a reason to stay. The sons of Ragnar are inviting other rulers to her city. “They will see the size and understand the value of this trading station,” says Lagertha. The city has to be defended. “I know what your father would have wanted me to do,” she says. Lagertha remembers when Ragnar was a young man, ambitious like his sons, and remembers one of Ragnar’s great ambitions: to build something that lasts. Lagertha has seen many great men brought low. She saved Kattegat from Aslaug, didn’t she? She will save it from any assault, won’t she?

But can she save herself? Perhaps she doesn’t want to. The seer says she will be killed by a son of Ragnar Lothbrok. Ivar certainly would like the opportunity. His brother, Sigurd, disagrees. “We have different memories of mother,” he says. “She doted on you and she ignored me.” Sigurd baits his brother; he calls him a mama’s boy, and mommy’s little favorite. Ivar lifts his axe to his brother, aiming to kill. Only the ready arm of a humble blacksmith stops him. Will brother kill brother? Can Ragnar’s sons survive Ragnar’s legacy?

1 Nicole Kidman: \'We as a country need to support\' Donald Trump

2 Stephen Colbert mocked unverified Trump report with pee jokes

3 \'This Is Us\' creator breaks down those Toby twists

4 Trevor Noah denounces Donald Trump\'s \'authoritarian\' press conference

5 Dax Shepard, Michael Peña hit the highway in first \'CHiPs\' trailer