Lagertha told Ivar that whether he wins or loses this civil war, he loses. In Vikings fashion, the truth isn’t exactly what you’d expect.
Ivar is frequently touted as the master strategist on Vikings. Unable to fight due to his disability, he makes up for it with battle tactics and unpredictability. Yet in “The Joke,” suddenly Ivar became uncharacteristically uncertain. Ultimately he and Harald were defeated, with Ivar and his group never even seeing any action.
Having labelled Bjorn “not very smart” (though a great warrior), it’s possible Ivar got cocky and underestimated Bjorn and Lagertha’s strategic abilities. Presumably he also didn’t know about the Sami forces. But that doesn’t explain Ivar’s sudden indecisiveness once the battle was raging. Was he truly so overwhelmed that he couldn’t think logically anymore? Considering it’s never happened before, it’s definitely hard to believe.
Vikings is not so subtle in demonstrating Ivar’s capabilities of thinking far in advance. On more than one occasion we’ve seen Ivar play chess and Hnefatafl, games that require logic and strategy. Why continually demonstrate Ivar’s tactful mind only to have him lose so easily? What’s more likely is that Ivar was purposely pretending to freeze up, and it’s all part of some long term plan.
Assuming this is correct, and Ivar did in fact lose on purpose, why would he want to lose? How would losing benefit him in the long term? He’s actually already stated his reasoning in a conversation with Heahmund.
When discussing Heahmund’s loyalty to Ivar, Ivar pointed out that what Heahmund ultimately wants is dead vikings. He might as well fight for Ivar, because what does it matter which vikings they are, as long as they’re eliminated? In a similar way, this is also Ivar’s goal. He wants vikings dead too, but in his case, he’s very particular of who he has in mind.
Obviously Ivar wants Lagertha dead and he’ll stop at nothing to accomplish this. To help his cause, he’s enlisted the help of Harald. Like Ivar, Harald has singular ambitions. He wants to be King of Norway and will stop at nothing to accomplish this.
Ivar has made it clear to Hvitserk that he has no intent of giving Harald Kattegat, and he’s just letting Harald believe he doesn’t want it. How then, does Ivar plan on reneging this promise after Lagertha is dead? If his plan goes well, he won’t have to.
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Ivar’s real plan is to let Harald’s and Lagertha’s armies kill each other. Harald and Lagertha are strong warriors, why fight either of them if you can get them to fight each other? Once both sides are weakened, Ivar will have no problem defeating them and having leverage over both to take whatever his crazy heart desires.
During the battle, Harald and Hvitserk each led a team to the slaughter, while Ivar and Astrid remained behind, Ivar unwilling to send reinforcements. Is it coincidence that most of Ivar’s men remained out of harm’s way during this entire battle? He heard the horn signalling help, but still did not send any men to the rescue. The once bloodthirsty Ivar became skittish in the heat of the moment, and it’s just not believable.
True, if this was Ivar’s plan, it did require Ivar sacrificing some of his men, but it’s always a long term game with Ivar. Lose a few now, but come out on top later. A mentality like that makes much more sense than Ivar suddenly losing the ability to lead.
Not only was it strange for Ivar to crack under pressure, it was also odd that Ivar was not surprised Lagertha and her army were ready and waiting when they arrived. It was meant to be a surprise attack, yet they clearly knew well in advance that Ivar and Harald were coming.
If Ivar and Harald had taken Lagertha by surprise, it would have been easy for them to decimate her. In doing so, Ivar would still be left with the Harald problem. It was in Ivar’s best interest if Lagertha knew they were coming, so the fight would be fair, resulting in more deaths on either side. Ivar probably guessed Astrid still had feelings for Lagertha, and would do anything to keep her safe. With that in mind, he made sure Astrid knew of the plan, correctly hoping she’d somehow get word to Lagertha.
Now, despite having lost, Ivar has accomplished weakening two adversaries, knowing where certain people’s loyalties lie, and learning battle tactics of Lagertha and Bjorn. Does that really sound like a loss?