Ragnar and Ecbert Relationship (Vikings S4E14)

A great performance of two best actors. “ Ragnar wanted revenge for Ecbert destroying the Northman settlement. He was old and no longer adventurous so raiding the Mediterranean wasn’t very interesting to him, and he wanted to settle that score before dying. Normally he would have commanded his men to come with him, but after his crushing losses in Paris he went into self-exile and lost a lot of respect. Björn took all the raiding men with him, so Ragnar had to bribe old men to come with him to at least to man the ships. He realized that he couldn’t exact revenge with his poor warband, so he hatched a different plan. He knew that dying in a spectacular way (hint: go down as a martyr) to his sworn enemy Aella would prompt his sons (who had power and respect) to avenge their father. He freely gave himself up to Ecbert to arrange for the safe return of Ivar so Ivar could spread the word of Ragnars death. It’s all part of a larger and bolder strategy that he hopes will result in the Vi