Their Great Army having exacted bloody revenge on the Saxon kings who executed Ragnar, his sons must decide on their future. Bjorn decides to resume raiding the Mediterranean, joined by king Harald Finehair's less ambitious brother. Ivar feels deserted when father figure Floki decides, having lost his wife, to set out into sea alone in what seems his final journey, dumping the compass Ivar provided. King Aethelwulf cowardly hiding in the swamps while prince Alfred may succumb to fever, bishop Heahmund becomes the new Saxon leader, preaching a holy war to exterminate the pagans and restore an Anglo-Saxon realm. Although Ubbe mistrusts Ivar, who pleads he couldn't help murdering sibling Sigurd in rage, Hvitserk sides with his strategic plan to establish a permanent Viking realm in northern England from an impregnable fortress capital close to 'home', so they set out to capture Ancient bishopric York by surprise.
—KGF Vissers