Spar-ing In The Fjords
Episode 4 of Ragnarok begins with Magne running down the mountain and questioning just what was in the mead the family gave him that night. As he does, Vadir and the others gather and discuss the possibility that Magne is from the old world. While they talk, our protagonist tests his power as he punches a tree until it falls. Back home, Magne eventually admits to his Mum he was drunk during his night out while Laurits plays the role of Loki and continues to wind him up. Upstairs, Magne looks up mead on his laptop and begins to do research on its profound effects. Unfortunately this also brings a very concerned Turid into Ran’s office at school the next day where she berates her for serving her son alcohol and warns her against underestimating Magne. Meanwhile, Magne speaks to Wenche, who happens to be working in Spar, and she tells him he’s actually Thor and the family he’s going up against are actually the “giants”; the big antagonists from the old world who want to destroy everything. Magne heads back to school and in class they learn about Ginnungagap during their Norse mythology lesson that further cements this conflict. The blood test results come back and it turns out there are two sets of blood on Isolde’s jacket; Isolde’s and an animal. Before he can question it further however, the new girl Iman arrives and bears witness to the big debate between Saxa and Gry who discuss the pollution in the town from the factory. That evening, Magne and Gry head over to Eric’s and together show him the jacket, which he shrugs off and tells them to drop the case. While Laurits heads over to Fjor’s where they prepare for their trek up the mountain, Gry and Magne climb up to the fjords where the latter finds a dead reindeer on the ground. As Magne examines it, he notices its heart missing and proceeds to head over to the other teens, who happen to be up the mountain too. Infront of the group, Magne admits his feelings for Gry, embarrassing her. Unfortunately she rejects him and in private, tells him not to express his feelings so openly again, especially as she’s fallen in love with Fjor. Magne then speaks to Vidar about the dead reindeer and mentions the heart being ripped out. As he begins to speak Old Norse, he mentions the great battle before Magne suddenly speaks Norse back and walks away after issuing an ominous threat. Vidar sends his dog Trym after him though and as the mutt bites down on Magne’s arm, our protagonist grabs its jaw and rips it clean off as blood spurts over him. Eric walks up the mountain alone and finds a stack of rocks in Isolde’s honour nearby the melting ice. Once there, he also finds one of Isolde’s water samples, along with her phone hidden at their “special place.” Meanwhile, Fjor and Gry kiss and grow closer together as Vidar hurries after Trym and finds him dead, presented on a rock. Magne heads up to the cabin for help but instead finds Gry and Fjor sleeping together naked and decides against walking in. While he walks away, Gry gets up in the middle of the night and sifts through the family photo album where she finds a picture of Fjor’s family from ancient times. Thankfully, Fjor is there to stop her from prying further but as she looks spooked, Magne heads home and looks set to finally confront his mum about what’s been going on where the episode ends. With some prominent product placement from Spar and some rather clunky exposition once again delivered in the classroom, Ragnarok continues to stumble its way through its first season. There are moments of brilliance here but it all feels frustrating sparse – especially with so much emphasis on the teen drama and not enough on the Norse Gods fighting. When you go back and watch the trailer the show feels very action-packed and this unfortunately is not the case here. A shame for sure but Ragnarok is not one to remember.
