Episode 13: Child of a Hero

A flashback opens with a young Askeladd wading from the sea while carrying his dying mother, presenting her to a younger Gratianus with the wish that she die in her homeland. In the present, late in 1013, the Danish main army routs the Wessex resistance, and Floki reports the progress to King Sweyn. Pressed about Canute, Floki admits Thorkell's assault left the prince's fate unknown beyond a rumor of fighting near Marlborough, and Sweyn asks to be told at once of any fresh word about his dear son.

In Wales, the ambush proves to be theater rather than slaughter. Askeladd forbids his men from returning fire and greets the Brycheiniog envoy Asser, who is startled that a Dane speaks his tongue. Gratianus urges restraint, but Asser accuses the Danes of having no morals and vows to hold Canute as a shield, citing three broken ceasefires England violated over the past decade. Bjorn reads the standoff correctly, noting that only a horse was killed, a signal of intimidation rather than a killing intent.

Hoping to defuse the confrontation, Askeladd pushes Canute forward to address the enemy, but the prince panics and retreats behind Ragnar, who defends him fiercely. He describes the royal court as a den of foxes where kin devour kin, a place the fragile boy survived only by silencing himself. Askeladd apologizes, then withdraws with Gratianus to parley with Asser directly, where he confides the very secret that will move the negotiation.

Askeladd is Lydia's son and carries the bloodline of the Roman Celts, born of mixed Danish and Welsh descent after his father Olaf carried Lydia away as a concubine. That makes him a descendant of Artorius, the commander who crushed the invading Saxons at the Battle of Baden Hill in 516 and inspired the legend of King Arthur. His plan is to raise Canute to the throne, secure a high position, and broker a treaty for Wales, and though Asser doubts where his loyalties truly lie, Askeladd insists his hatred of Danes settles the question.

An arrangement is struck under which the band poses as Asser's prisoners, though Ragnar and Thorfinn both refuse to surrender their weapons, the latter declaring himself Askeladd's enemy rather than a follower. As the march resumes and locals gawk at the captured Danes, Thorfinn prods the silent prince, and Canute finally answers, explaining that his silence is caution rather than cowardice since his words carry political weight he cannot risk abroad without his father's leave. The onlookers freeze in shock at hearing him speak.

When Thorfinn mockingly calls him a clever princess, Canute erupts in indignation, and the two fall to bickering while Ragnar marvels that the boy is finally engaging with someone other than himself. Canute signs the document Gratianus wanted, and as snow begins to fall, Askeladd charts a new course across the northern edge of Mercia to reach Gainsborough, preferring enemy ground to being trapped in the freezing Welsh mountains.