What happens in The Departed?
Spoilers for this episode and earlier events.
Astrid is taken away from Lagertha’s household, turning Harald’s escape into a personal as well as political loss. Aethelwulf and Heahmund join the Saxon response after Alfred reports his vision of Athelstan. Ivar’s public demonstration of mobility sits beside the brothers’ continuing contest over command and trust.
- Season & episode
- Season 5, episode 2 of 20
- Series order
- 51 of 89
Story connections: Floki, Lagertha, King Harald Finehair and Ivar the Boneless.
Identify a face in this episode.
Also listed as The Departed, Part 2. Use the season and episode number to match the listing.
Episode references: HISTORY season guide · Community episode record.
Key events and consequences
Astrid's abduction makes Harald's escape a loss within Lagertha's household as well as a political setback. At York, Ivar's demonstration of mobility asserts capability before his followers while command remains contested. Floki's interpretation of the new landscape offers a radically different answer to the question of where Ragnar's old circle should go.
- Astrid is taken away from Lagertha’s household, turning Harald’s escape into a personal as well as political loss.
- Aethelwulf and Heahmund join the Saxon response after Alfred reports his vision of Athelstan.
- Ivar’s public demonstration of mobility sits beside the brothers’ continuing contest over command and trust.
Key characters
Floki
Character story
Lagertha
Astrid is taken away from Lagertha’s household, turning Harald’s escape into a personal as well as political loss.
Character story
King Harald Finehair
Character story
Ivar the Boneless
Ivar’s public demonstration of mobility sits beside the brothers’ continuing contest over command and trust.
Character story
Ubbe
Character story
Aethelwulf
Aethelwulf and Heahmund join the Saxon response after Alfred reports his vision of Athelstan.
Character story
Athelstan
Aethelwulf and Heahmund join the Saxon response after Alfred reports his vision of Athelstan.
Character story
Alfred
Aethelwulf and Heahmund join the Saxon response after Alfred reports his vision of Athelstan.
Character story
Astrid
Astrid is taken away from Lagertha’s household, turning Harald’s escape into a personal as well as political loss.
Character storyLocations and story geography
York
The approaching Saxon response puts Ivar's performance of strength beside an immediate military test.
Kattegat
Harald's escape removes Astrid and converts a failed detention into a personal grievance.
Iceland
Floki reads the unfamiliar landscape as a sacred discovery before any community has had to live there.
These are places in the story. For the real landscapes used on screen, explore the filming-location guide.
The episode breakdown
The episode repeatedly asks who controls the meaning of a body or a place. Floki names a new landscape through religious expectation; Ivar presents his movement as a claim to authority; Lagertha and Harald’s encounter exposes power exercised through violence. Those strands should not be flattened into a celebratory tale of strength. Astrid’s abduction makes the cost of political rivalry concrete, while the brothers’ distrust shows that a striking public display cannot by itself create a stable coalition.
Themes to follow
- Control of movement and control of identity
- Religious expectation changes the meaning of a landscape