abstract
| - The Battle of the River Seine is a major event featured in the tenth episode of the fourth season of Vikings. This battle is supposed to seal the fate of the two brothers, Rollo and Ragnar, as the Vikings look to progress on to Paris. The battle soon begins upon the arrial of the French fleet. Rollo is their unique commander and leads around 2,000 to 2,500 soldiers sailing on about 50 ships. The Vikings number around 4,000 warriors and seem to be superior in numbers and in ships. Ragnar had already planned the attack as he disposed many men inside huge rafts destined to have a certain advantage upon the Frankish army. The battle begins as Bjorn orders his archers to engage the enemy with 4 lines of archers. The Frankish reply with their crossbowen and inflict moderate casualties to the Vikings. The Vikings use flamed arrows to inflict more damage to the Frankish soldiers. The first line of 12 to 15 ships sent by Rollo advances and soon Frankish soldiers emerge out of the boats to engage the enemy. A bloody battle then rages on, which slowly turns to the advantage of the Vikings. The Vikings cheer at this early victory, while a soldier advises Rollo to break off the attack, telling him that they already had sustained considerable losses. Rollo kills him suddenly and installs courage to his soldiers by improvising a speech which imeediately has the effect on his soldiers. All the Frankish ships attack the Vikings with real power and determination. Rollo tells his soldiers that they will try wave after wave to kill Ragnar and to win this decisive battle. Bjorn awaits him fiercely while Ragnar knows his brother's plan to attack with great force. The Franks row with more and more energy as it comes to an inevitable confrontation. The Vikings meet the incoming Frank soldiers with a volley of devastating arrows, while soldiers come pouring out of the boats. Lagertha and Bjorn join the attack and the Frank attack with great power and energy, concentrating on the rafts holding the Viking leaders. The rafts are submerged by the intensity of the battle, which rages on between the two sides. The Vikings seemingly use their shield wall technique to fight back the Franks. Rollo joins the fight to confront Ragnar, who declares that he has never been his brother. The battle continues to rage on around the two as it comes to a fist fight between brothers, which is undecisive. Lagertha is injured, stabbed next to her shoulder by a Frankish soldiers, while Floki manages to fight back a soldier who had stabbed him in the stomach. Halfdan takes a bolt in his chest, which causes his brother to attack more fiercely. The Franks and the Vikings both suffer great losses, but as more and more of the Viking leaders are injured or forced to retreat, the Franks gain the initiative. Bjorn carries Lagertha's body on the boat while Ragnar is pulled by his soldiers onto the boat, seemingly ending the battle; although the Franks have lost far more men, they have succeeded in forcing the Vikings to retreat. The Franks cheer in joy as they see the Vikings leave in disorder.
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