Get Back Up to Speed on 'Vikings' Season 3 to Prep for Season 4

Vikings Season 4 is just around the corner, but if you haven’t had time to re-watch Season 3 and find some details escaping you (Athelstan is totally fine, right? Right?), don’t worry. We’ve got you covered like a shield wall. Here are the pertinent betrayals, betrothals, and beefs to remember going into Season 4 on Thursday.

The biggest beef

Ragnar and Floki’s relationship took a rocky turn in Season 3. By killing Athelstan, Floki essentially drew a line in the sand: He stands on one side with his fundamentalist beliefs; Ragnar stands on the other with his desire to explore other cultures and modes of thought. Floki has no place for Ragnar’s curiosity and Ragnar has no patience for Floki’s close-minded worldview. Although the two men will always love each other, they enter Season 4 at extreme ideological odds.

Floki’s tormented goodbye speech to Ragnar was among the best parts of Season 3, but Ragnar was unmoved to hear it (either that, or the coffin’s walls were too thick). Season 4 will show whether their relationship can survive the events of Season 3 or whether it’s been irrevocably altered.

The biggest betrothal

Of all the Vikings characters, Rollo’s storyline saw the biggest pivot last season in the form of his betrothal to Gisla, the pissed-off Parisian princess. Thanks to the Seer, Rollo thinks this she and Francia are his destiny, but he’ll need all the luck he can get to convince the princess.

Not only will their marriage be a question mark — potentially hampered by Count Christian Grey’s schemes to have the princess himself — but Rollo’s relationship with Ragnar might also take a permanent turn. After all, he did promise the Parisian king to defend the city when Ragnar and the Northmen return. Will Rollo betray Ragnar once and for all, or will he try to play both sides?

Betrothals or beefs just waiting to happen

Kalf kept both Lagertha and viewers alike on their toes last season, proving himself to be both slimy and unexpectedly caring in equal measure. He betrayed and usurped Lagertha; but he also saved her life and genuinely seemed to desire her beyond a purely physical level. Although nobody will ever present as good a match for Lagertha as Ragnar, Kalf presents an interesting choice because you never know where he stands — and just when you decide how you feel about him, he’ll make a move to counter it. He’s the biggest wildcard in Lagertha’s storyline right now.

Bjorn, too, could be in romantic hot water this season. Recall that after Porunn — suffering from a mixture of undiagnosed PTSD and postpartum depression — withdrew from him in Season 3, he forged a relationship with Erlendur’s unhappy wife (and Jarl Borg’s ex) Torvi. Although Bjorn doesn’t love Torvi as much as Porunn, there’s a degree of caring between them. Their relationship could have implications on their Season 4 storylines and might just be the catalyst that instigates Erlendur’s inevitable “you killed my father, prepare to die!” revenge scheme.

Don’t forget, too, that Aslaug cheated on Ragnar with the mysterious wanderer. As hypocritical as it might be for him to be angry, we know he’s a proud man. Especially now that he’s lost his two closest confidantes — Floki and Athelstan — and found out his ex-wife still loves him, chances are slim that Ragnar’s relationship with Aslaug will be smooth sailing in Season 4.

Ragnar’s eyeroll backflip

Ragnar has always excelled at communicating through his eyes and body language, but he outdid himself in Season 3 when this happened:

Although he enters Season 4 weakened and ill from his fall from the walls of Paris — we can only hope it will bring more where that came from.

Vikings Season 4 premieres on the February 18 on History.