Ragnar makes clever use of what monk Athelstan, his 'house slave', teaches him about England and Christianity. Thus his band can ransack a Northumbrian coastal town without senseless bloodshed, except his wife murdering the earl's spy Knut for attempting to rape her. Back home, he again hands over the treasure for the earl to 'divide'. The earl counts on Ragnar's overshadowed brother Rollo's frustrated ambition to have him testify that Ragnar murdered Knut, as he confessed to save his wife, who also confesses, but Rollo proves loyal. The earl still exacts bloody revenge by force.
—KGF Vissers