S04.E05: Promised

[formerlyfreedom]

There's an air of betrayal as those whom Odo trusts plot against him; Ecbert agrees to support Kwenthrith in Mercia; Pregnancy brings happiness to Lagertha and Kalf and a marriage is arranged.

 

 

[Crackers]

Can't wait for tonight's episode!

[Ohwell]

I will not underestimate Odo's capacity for torture.  I suspect they didn't show that chamber for nothing.  I can't wait.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

LOL!

That is all.

[LittleIggy]

My girl Lagertha keeps her promises! Holy shit!

[whoknowswho]

Vikings, I am so frigging disappointed with you!

I tune in to watch guts and blood, a good story of betrayal and brutality, and not blecky non fuckery in the tub, for pete's sake. We have erotica, and that's all fine and good if you like it--but it shouldn't ever be called "Vikings."

I've been a lover of this show for it's entire existence, and with the exception of Kalf's death--I hated every second of tonight's episode. Hated.

Edited March 18, 2016 by whoknowswho

[peridot]

Ivar's a little maniac!  I was not expecting that ending to the game. 

 

So freaking glad about Lagertha and her not forgotten promise.  She made the pregnancy up, right? 

 

Bjorn's a bad ass now.  I loved all the wary looks King Finehair gave him.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Soon as Lagertha said she was preggers, Kalf was a goner.

Bjorn will be coming for Horik's evil spawn.

Hmmmm, Ragnar can bathe me and finish with the happy ending w/o a message.

[Silverglitter]

This show is rapidly losing me.

 

- Judith is the f'ing worst. Seriously, I can't take her seriously because the actress is so horrible. She's even managed to ruin Ecbert now. Ugh!

- Ragnar/Yudu is even more boring than the Franks.

- I like Kwenthelwulf, but now that I'm done with Ecbert and always hated Judith, I'm starting to agree with those of you who don't care about Wessex.

 

I'm starting to wish they'd just spin off Lagertha so I don't have to bother with the rest of it.

 

Okay, that's a lie, I do like what's going on in Kattegat aside from Ragnar. I'd give anything for a Lagertha/Aslaug team up.

Edited March 18, 2016 by Silverglitter

[benteen]

I wasn't crazy about this episode although Lagertha disposing of Kalf was pretty awesome.

 

I do like Bjorn character has progressed and his conversation with Ragnar was good.

 

I suspect Ragnar is still playing at something but his current mindset fascinates me.

 

No surprise Floki is still a little shit.  Ragnar should have left up strung up in that cave.

 

I call Judith "The Coma" because I almost end up in one every time she's on the screen.

 

What an odd series towards the end with Ragnar bathing Yol and Ivar putting an axe to that kid's head.

[BitterApple]

Seriously I felt like I was watching bad softcore porn on Cinemax tonight. The Ragnar/Yidu storyline needs to die, like yesterday. Why lie about being the Emperor's daughter? Who really cares at this point?

Ivar, murdering a kid? Well damn, I didn't see that one coming.

When did Gisla stop by the Palace SuperCuts? I'm not sure I'm feeling the matching do's on her and Rollo.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

At this point, the Wessex folks should just have an Orgy.

Edited March 18, 2016 by MrsRafaelBarba

[Crackers]

God I was so looking forward to tonight. I am seriously the series biggest fan but....WTF happened? The only great scene was Kalf getting killed in the matrimonial yurt. Then to see in the previews that wanker Erlander going to Paris. Please! Cut his throat already. At least that tells me Bjorn hadn't informed Lagatha and she merely fulfilled a promise. One crappy episode won't ruin it for me. There's always next week :-)

[Silverglitter]

I actually think Erlendur has the possibility of being a believable villain now that he won't be sandbagged by Kalf anymore. Dude who played Kalf is pretty, but his acting sure left a lot to be desired.

[whoknowswho]

Seriously I felt like I was watching bad softcore porn on Cinemax tonight. The Ragnar/Yidu storyline needs to die, like yesterday. Why lie about being the Emperor's daughter? Who really cares at this point?

Ivar, murdering a kid? Well damn, I didn't see that one coming.

When did Gisla stop by the Palace SuperCuts? I'm not sure I'm feeling the matching do's on her and Rollo.

I am  past the age of caring about sex--and I really felt the same--like I was trapped watching bad, soft porn. And it went on, and on. I said to Mr. Who that the show was rapidly losing me, and I watch it voraciously.  I hate the Franks, I hate that Rollo speaks Frankish with better diction than I do of the Queen's English. He couldn't learn a word of Old English in all the time Athelstan was in the household--now he's blowing away the Franks, and Gisla--in record time. 

Bjorn--not really a fan, but at least he's brutal.

Ragnar's turned into a druggie and an old man, while his kingdom teeters. (He may be playing a long game, sure--or he may just be tripping with the oriental princess.) 

I was kind of liking Kalf, but I loved that Lagertha took back her earldom, as she said she would. And I missed what happened with Ivar--just turned away and missed it. 

Otherwise, yawn.

[LiveenLetLive]

I love Fimmel, I think that the Chinese chick is hot, and she and Fimmel have good chemistry BUT sex scenes bore me now, and that one went on too long. The last scene was intense and that was very good indeed. I dig Linus Roche so I don't mind seeing him, but I don't get his game with Judith. Rollo reminds me of that antique cartoon from the 50's Prince Valiant, LOL.

[Straycat80]

This wasn't my favorite episode either. I did enjoy that Kalf finally get what he deserved though. Long live Earl Lagertha! She isn't really pregnant, is she?

I'm still waiting for that little weasel Erlander to get his, get it done Bjorn.

Ivar killing that kid was shocking, guess that's what happens when you get schooled by Floki.

[kdm07]

I'm very, very over Ragnar's little drug trip with the Chinese slave girl. I don't care about any of it or what kind of "deep philosophy" he's gaining from it. Make it stop! And the whole bathtub sequence was so unnecessary, I ended up pressing the ffwd button because I'd had enough.

 

The best thing's about tonight were Lagertha fulfilling her promise (in a white wedding dress no less) and Ivar turning into a little maniac.

Edited March 18, 2016 by kdm07

[LittleIggy]

Gisla's hair is way too modern. Women back then didn't wear their hair that short. Kwen looks like a medieval Queen with the long flowing hair. I can't stand Judith or Gisla. I dislike Judith so much I wanted Aethelwulf to punch her.

I hope that French guy was lying when he said that lady was his sister!

Go Lagertha! I was chanting with her shield maidens! :-)

[Knuckles]

Lagertha does not disappoint. Liked Kalf doing a slow drop at her feet, and her shield-carrying bridesmaids leading the pep rally after the kill...very nice. And little Ivar, so small, so sweet and a stone killer. Does the dead tot have a mother?? No shrieking woman came to claim the body...just Aslaug carrying away her little killer.

 

Ditto the boredom with the Chinese druggie...have no interest in her, or her orgasms. Waste of time on a show I love. Is Ragnar really just drugging out, or playing a long con...can never really get a read on him before he makes his move. 

 

But Tattoo face and his his brother with the bad haircut are a little too enthusiastic about destroying Paris...I do hope Ragnar or Bjorn is planning to undercut them, as I can smell their ambition from my perch on the sofa. Subtle they aren't. 

 

Not a favorite episode. Please, drown the Chinese chick and move along.

[BitterApple]

Gisla's hair is way too modern

Maybe she had a moment a la Melanie Griffith in Working Girl where if she wanted to be taken seriously, she had to have "serious hair."

I thought Lagaertha's wedding tent looked a little too modern as well. Did Vikings really have pristine, gauzy white fabrics and loads of flowers? I was half expecting to see a hotel-style reception set-up where you checked "chicken" or "fish" on your placecard.

[Silverglitter]

Ragnar's pouty moment during his talk with Bjorn just pissed me off. "Wah, wah, wah, Lagertha left me".

There was a reason for that man!

Edited March 18, 2016 by Silverglitter

[millennium]

A couple weeks ago I would have said the show can't go on without Ragnar.

 

This week, I find myself thinking, kill Ragnar already and give the lead to Bjorn.

 

Ancient Chinese secret, huh?   The bathtub scene might have been edgy, say, back in the 1980s but sex is so ubiquitous in movies and TV today that it came off like a bad film school exercise in light and shadow.    I'm sick of Ragnar's drug trips.   Judging by this episode, it's only a matter of time until the other Vikings journey upriver to find him strung out in the critter cabin whispering, "The Horik, the Horik." 

 

Oh boy, here's Aethelwulf flagellating himself.  BFD. 

 

And here's Floki behaving like an unrepentant shit rather than a grieving father and local pariah.  SSDD.

 

And I just can't with Paris.   I dislike the Paris storyline so much that now I'm retconning my memories of Black Robe, a movie I actually liked, just so I can hate Lothaire Bluteau more.  

 

LiveenLetLive's Prince Valiant observation was dead on for Rollo.

 

What a mess.   This episode's only saving grace was Shield Maiden Practice.

 

I want more battles, more Lagertha, more Bjorn, and Ragnar clean (try to imagine that intervention).

 

The commercials are beyond out of control, too ... what are they now, like 8 minutes between acts?  Viagra, Jim Beam, car insurance ads.   I guess the demographic is old and impotent drunks.

 

And I'll say it again: HATE the Craig Ferguson segue. 

Edited March 18, 2016 by millennium

[AlliMo]

I like a good battle scene as much as anyone, but every episode can't be filled with them, both for plot and budget reasons. I've admittedly always found political intrigue more interesting anyway. Politics built civilizations; the battles were just what everyone knew about, and the Vikings were far more sophisticated and complex than their reputation for rape and pillage suggests.

 

I like seeing how Judith has grown and changed. She's learned to make the most of what very little power she has, and good on her. Lord knows that Ecbert is manipulative and scheming, but he's also a man who's always had a genuine interest in learning and open to new ideas, and above all else, he's thoroughly pragmatic.

 

Lagertha is a BAMF and the one character I expect to still be standing when it all ends.

 

Not a whole lot going on back in Kattegat, but Fimmel and Ludwig are both so compelling that I don't mind.

 

It's not entirely unbelievable that Yudu was an emperor's daughter, considering he could have literally hundreds of concubines.

 

I will forever be bemused by people complaining about sex scenes while simultaneously demanding more violence.

Edited March 18, 2016 by AlliMo

[thuganomics85]

That bathtub scene with Ragnar and Yidu just kept going on and on.  And on and on.  And it was just shot so weird.  Like it really was some kind of scene from an 80s softcore porn on Cinemax.  This show really needs to avoid sex scenes, because they can't seem to get those right since last week's Rollo/Gisela wasn't all that great either.  I really hope this is leading somewhere, besides a typical "Ragnar falls for a slave girl" thing.  Well, I guess she's now saying she's the daughter of the Chinese Emperor, but I'm not sure I fully trust her.

 

Lagertha!  She really was just biding her time.  Now that she's knocked up, it's time for Kalf to go bye-bye.  Sucks to be you, Kalf!  And you, Erelender.  Not only is Lagertha now in charge, Bjorn now got confirmation that you sicked the berserker on him, so I'm sure he'd like to have a word with you.

 

Ecbert is such a ball of ham, that he even oversells praying to God.  He practically face planted, instead of just kneeling down like a normal human being.

 

Odo's henchman and mistress already have Charles eating out of their hands.  And did he really say she was his sister?  Weren't they sleeping together.  How very Lannister of them.

 

So, this Harald guy has a brother who might be even worse then him.  They now know Floki is on Ragnar's shit list because of Athelstan, which I'm sure their Christian hating asses won't be down with.  And judging from Aslaug's smirk, this was all she wanted, so I guess those four are going to try something.

 

Not my favorite episode.  So much is going on, and half of it is starting to feel meaningless.  I hope things start connecting soon.

[Ravenya003]

I didn't mind the sex scene, but I object to how LONG it was. By comparison, Ivar killing the other child and Lagertha finally making good on her promise to Kalf felt rushed by comparison, and THOSE were the most interesting scenes in the show.

 

Otherwise, everything felt like well-trod territory here. Yidu is Athelstan 2.0, and I can't help but feel Ragnar is projecting his Christian friend all over her: they're both diminutive dark-haired youngsters with knowledge of faraway places, and he's already starting to confide in her.

 

The Wessex plot feels so pointless these days, and I'm disappointed they went there with Ecbert/Judith. It was an interesting enough dynamic without the sex, and I'm just left wondering what on earth they even see in each other. I want to like Judith, but she always seems so completely in over her head. And Athelwulf is a basket case.

 

Thank goodness the Vikings are heading back to France. Perhaps there's a chance that plotline could be wrapped up this season. 

[Silverglitter]

Ecbert is such a ball of ham, that he even oversells praying to God.  He practically face planted, instead of just kneeling down like a normal human being.

 

Yeah, what even was that?

 

It's gotta be a goof they just left in, cause why would you deliberately film it like that? It just looked bizarre.

 

Edited March 18, 2016 by Silverglitter

[Duke Silver]

Judith <yawn>

 

That is all.

[ihartcoffee]

A couple weeks ago I would have said the show can't go on without Ragnar.

This week, I find myself thinking, kill Ragnar already and give the lead to Bjorn.

Ancient Chinese secret, huh? The bathtub scene might have been edgy, say, back in the 1980s but sex is so ubiquitous in movies and TV today that it came off like a bad film school exercise in light and shadow. I'm sick of Ragnar's drug trips. Judging by this episode, it's only a matter of time until the other Vikings journey upriver to find him strung out in the critter cabin whispering, "The Horik, the Horik."

Oh boy, here's Aethelwulf flagellating himself. BFD.

And here's Floki behaving like an unrepentant shit rather than a grieving father and local pariah. SSDD.

And I just can't with Paris. I dislike the Paris storyline so much that now I'm retconning my memories of Black Robe, a movie I actually liked, just so I can hate Lothaire Bluteau more.

LiveenLetLive's Prince Valiant observation was dead on for Rollo.

What a mess. This episode's only saving grace was Shield Maiden Practice.

I want more battles, more Lagertha, more Bjorn, and Ragnar clean (try to imagine that intervention).

The commercials are beyond out of control, too ... what are they now, like 8 minutes between acts? Viagra, Jim Beam, car insurance ads. I guess the demographic is old and impotent drunks.

And I'll say it again: HATE the Craig Ferguson segue.

OMG, the commercials! I dvr it and start at least 20 min late. It's stiil incredibly annoying having to ff every 5 min.

I agree with your other assessments too. This episode was not one of my favorites. I watched last weeks twice, won't do that with this one.

[Ohwell]

Chinese chick has to go.  I'm bored with her and Ragnar trippin'.  I just hope he's playing a long con and is on to the Chinese chick and Aslaug working together.  Also, Bjorn will tell him about Aslaug working with the Finehair dude and his brother.  I hope Aslaug is toast, sooner rather than later.

 

I think Charles is on to Odo's henchman and his sister/girlfriend.  I could have sworn I saw him laughing after they left.

[givencare]

Ecbert is such a ball of ham, that he even oversells praying to God.  He practically face planted, instead of just kneeling down like a normal human being.

 

 

What Ecbert did is called "prostrating" yourself, which is a submissive gesture towards one's God or gods.  The practice is still common in some religions.  I grew up Catholic, so seeing him doing that didn't feel out of place, especially considering that time period.  They showed Aethelwulf self-flagellating, after all.

[Evagirl]

I thought it was just me (being disappointed in this show).  However, as I read the comments I can see that it's not just me.  This was a horrible episode.  I feel like I'm watching a soap opera set in Medieval times.  It's crazy how much this show has changed since seasons 1 and 2.  It's almost as if the writers drag crap out because they can't think of anything exciting to write about between battles.

 

This show has become more about who's sexing who than about Vikings. 

 

Ragnar is just a shadow of himself.  He is so getting on my nerves.  He should have been at the celebration, sitting on his kingly throne - watching silently, sipping ale, and reading people like he used to do.  Instead he's on a rooftop with girlfriend, probably high as a kite, spying and looking stupid.  If he's going to die this season, I wish they'd go ahead and get it over with.  I am sick of seeing him acting totally unlike a king and more like a little girl who's friends don't like her anymore.  I used to think this show couldn't survive without Ragnar.  Now I think Ragnar is going to be the death of the show.

[Primetimer]

Lagertha shows us that Viking women know how to play a long game.

Read the story

[TV Anonymous]

If France was Frankia and England was still divided into multiple of kingdoms, would China have been "China"? Would it not be Cathay, Sina, Thin or something?

[Scaeva]

If France was Frankia and England was still divided into multiple of kingdoms, would China have been "China"? Would it not be Cathay, Sina, Thin or something?

 

According to etymology online, that was an anachronism.

 

"China (n.) 

Asian country name, 1550s, of uncertain origin, probably ultimately from Sanskrit Cina-s "the Chinese" (earliest European usage is in Italian, by Marco Polo), perhaps from Qin dynasty, which ruled 3c. B.C.E. Latinized as Sina, hence sinologist. The Chinese word for the country is Chung-kuo (Wade-Giles), Zhongguo (Pinyin)"

 

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=china

[BitterApple]

If France was Frankia and England was still divided into multiple of kingdoms, would China have been "China"? Would it not be Cathay, Sina, Thin or something?

I was wondering that myself.

[TV Anonymous]

Another point, who was the idiot who put a battle axe in Ivar's Radio Flyer?

[SuzieBee]

I didn't like the episode either.  Though not much of a TV watcher, I contend that a series like this has to have some weak episodes.  It makes the truly outstanding ones look so favorable by comparison.  People complained all the time when Mad Men was on the air, that there was nothing happening in the episodes, or that weak characters stuck around too long.

 

Please get rid of the Ragnar/Yidu pairing and drug trips.  The producers haven't sold Ragnar's sordid descent very well; compare his debauchery with that of the fabulous Clive Owen, who plays the fascinating and compelling cocaine-addicted Dr. Thackeray in The Knick.

 

Charles looked a little confused, like he was in the early stages of dementia.  Was this an act?  I have to believe so, based on the sly smile when he was alone.  I don't get Roland/Therese.  They have been at court from the beginning.  Are they really sister and brother?  In the episode where Therese suggests an assignation with Count Odo, she says she has all the time she needs, as her husband is likely drunk and passed out for the evening.  Is that old guy she was sitting beside during the Epiphany feast her husband?

 

Lagertha has never looked more beautiful than in the wedding scene.  The visuals with all of the pastels, fluff, flowers, and other symbols of marital purity made the murder of Kalf all the more horrible.

 

Alexander Ludwig was very good.  I loved the expression on his face when he was conversing with King Harald, a man Bjorn distrusts instinctively.  Mark my words, Harald has a reason for going on the Paris raid.  We just don't know the reason.

 

Linus Roache is great.  I love him.  But that scene where he gives Judith his late wife's ring to wear was just lame.

Edited March 18, 2016 by SuzieBee

[Ria]

Don't these people do anything besides plot, kill and have illicit sex? I'm getting bored.

However I am amazed at how the males all age while the women stay the same. Ragnar and Lagertha started out looking the same age and now he looks 20 years older.

[Shermie]

Ludwig is doing a great job emulating Ragnar's mannerisms and expressions, just like a son would.

I liked this episode and thought the bathgasm was very sensual. Considering the network can't show any actual skin, it's what they can do to show an erotic scene (as opposed to just a quick sex scene).

There can't be a raging battle in every episode; that would be expensive, historically inaccurate, and stupid. Battles only happen because of a LOT of politicking first. They would be pointless without showing the viewer who is fighting, why alliances are formed, and how betrayals occurred.

And yeah, people complaining about a two-minute sex scene being too much, and then wanting more violence. Huh.

I'm still quite enjoying the show, but I might be over this forum.

[Lila82]

I wasn't bored with this episode so much as confused.  I'm a viewer that talks to my television, to the reluctant acceptance of others, and over and over again it was, "What the hell is going on?"  The show is too crowded, which makes each character's storyline a series of somewhat related plot points rather than a coherent arc.  Just because it's in character for Ragnar or Lagertha to do something doesn't mean I don't want to know how they got there.

 

I'd like to see more of Harald and Aslaug plotting together.  Her marriage to Ragnar was never based on much more than her fertility, but it's turned into a passive aggressive sniping match for which of them can be the bigger asshole.  We know the Lothbroks don't value fidelity.  Get yours, Aslaug. 

 

And on a related note, stop coddling your murderous child.  Ivar knew he did something wrong.  Telling him it wasn't his fault = sociopath in the making. 

 

I don't get Bjorn/Torvi anymore than I get Ragnar/Yidu but at least the Lothbrok men are all about doing it for the ladies.  

 

I think I need to dress up as a member of Lagerthat's Shield Maiden Squad for Halloween. 

 

Burn of the Night: "Fame won't make your kingdom any bigger."  Viking dick joke?  

 

I am sick of seeing him acting totally unlike a king and more like a little girl who's friends don't like her anymore.  I used to think this show couldn't survive without Ragnar.  Now I think Ragnar is going to be the death of the show.

 

 

See above:

 

Ragnar's having a midlife crisis.  He's getting older, Lagertha left him, his children don't need him as much anymore, and he achieved everything he wanted.  Plus, he almost died and was thisclose to finding relief in Valhalla.  He's tired and broken and exhausted by all the consequences he brought on himself.  Boo hoo, but I get it.  I don't mind him questioning his life and his choices, I wish we saw more of how the got there rather than a couple drug-infused confessions to Yidu.  

[attica]

And on a related note, stop coddling your murderous child.  Ivar knew he did something wrong.  Telling him it wasn't his fault = sociopath in the making.

 

I totally take your point, but if a boy is gonna be king someday, sociopathy is best developed early. Aslaug knows this above all else, being daughter and wife to kings. :)

[AlliMo]

If Ivar wasn't the song of a king, he'd have been dead before he reached his first year. He's going to need that sociopathy to survive in the world he lives in.

[Ardbeggar72]

I think Harald Finehair lacks charisma. He is so small, and his "even worse than me" brother is even smaller. Both of them have tattooed faces, but that's about it. Hopefully they won't get much more airtime.

[LittleIggy]

I think Harald Finehair lacks charisma. He is so small, and his "even worse than me" brother is even smaller. Both of them have tattooed faces, but that's about it. Hopefully they won't get much more airtime.

He doesn't impress me either. I can't stand the facial tattoos. At first I thought Harold's face was just dirty.

[Pogojoco]

I actually thought Ragnar's talk with Bjorn wasn't sulky....I mean, Bjorn smiled at the comment. Ragnar knows he's a bad husband.

Lagertha is my favourite. The creators did so well creating her it really makes me wonder why so many of the other female characters are so terrible.

[Ohwell]

What Ecbert did is called "prostrating" yourself, which is a submissive gesture towards one's God or gods.  The practice is still common in some religions.  I grew up Catholic, so seeing him doing that didn't feel out of place, especially considering that time period.  They showed Aethelwulf self-flagellating, after all.

I first saw that in The Nun's Story with Audrey Hepburn.

[Knuckles]

I so like this forum. I hadn't considered that Aslaug and the Chinese drug chick might be plotting together...or that Harald and his brother with the bad haircut have their own plans when they get to Paris, not forgetting that they are also in league with Aslaug.  Bjorn has his suspicions but unlike Ragnar, he does show it on his face and in his mannerisms...Ragner had a much better game face. But if Ragnar is going off the rez, then Bjorn is the man I back. At least I hope he remembers Ragnar's warning not to trust Rollo. 

 

Also, I do think that Charles was deliberately playing the gullible monarch to his two slimy courtiers...he was smiling when they left, as well he should...they have played their cards and now he knows their game. As they say, when you come at the king, you best not miss. So, she was sleeping with Odo and claims he said treasonous things...hearsay, baby, unless you have some proof to offer. It ain't much and they two of them aren't that clever. 

[Ohwell]

Ragnar's having a midlife crisis.  He's getting older, Lagertha left him, his children don't need him as much anymore, and he achieved everything he wanted.  Plus, he almost died and was thisclose to finding relief in Valhalla.  He's tired and broken and exhausted by all the consequences he brought on himself.  Boo hoo, but I get it.  I don't mind him questioning his life and his choices, I wish we saw more of how the got there rather than a couple drug-infused confessions to Yidu.

 

This might be true about Ragnar, but I'm wondering if there's a bit of Shifty Ragnar in there somewhere.  Drug-induced or not, he's still watching everyone's moves like he always has.  I think he wants everyone to think he's drug-addled, and he is to a certain extent, but I just don't think he's out of the game completely.  He's waiting and watching and he's not done yet, IMO.

Edited March 18, 2016 by Ohwell

[Babalooie]

Regarding my GG-Pa Ivar (true), I can't think of anyone other than Floki who would have given the axe to him.  I've read that he was the most brutal warrior of all the brothers.  I also wondered about the whereabouts of the murdered child's mother.  The sex scenes shouldn't be a surprise.  Remember The Tudors?  Also written  by Hirst.  The UK version of Vikiings is more graphic and uncensored.

Edited March 18, 2016 by Babalooie