Brothers In Arms
Episode 1 of Ragnarok Season 2 picks up right where we left off, with Magne grabbed round the throat by Vidar who promises this is just the beginning. It’s just the ominous start one would expect from this season to have, promising war in the not-too-distant future. Magne heads straight up to the top of the cliff, where he berates Wenche circling overhead in her eagle form. Just like that, he’s whisked away to a strange spiritual realm. Here, we learn outright that Magne is the chosen one. With him now able to conjure forth and control lightning, he needs to assemble a team and find his weapon in order to fight back against the giants. Laurits shows up at Magne’s door not long after, where his brother admits that he thinks Ragnarok is starting again. He tells his brother the truth about his ancestry and the fight against giants but predictably, Laurits doesn’t believe him. In fact, this transformation continues that evening when Magne lifts his shirt to reveal intense muscles. Laurits also starts wearing make-up, culminating in the two boys heading out to pay their respects to their Father. Whilst there, they bump into Eric who agrees to let Magne come back to school for the time being. Vidar meanwhile, heads home and gathers the family. He’s concerned about Magne growing stronger and intends to stop him before he gets his hands on the ancient weapon that could defeat them. As they sit around, they wait for Fjor. Their son shows up and admits he was unable to kill Gry. Vidar is irate but his son defies him, walking away and deciding to forge his own path. In fact, Fjor heads back to visit Gry, deciding to stay with her after severing ties with his family. This mood only grows darker when Edda’s pollution situation starts to escalate. Vidar feel the heats, prompting him to start showing Saxa the ropes at the factory. When Morten, a man from the environmental agency shows up, he immediately starts questioning what Vidar has been up to. Elsewhere, Magne starts to learn more about Thor’s Hammer, Mjolnir, and sets to work sketching out a hammer to use in this upcoming fight. Well, he’s soon distracted when Wenche, still working as a cashier, passes a not-very-subtle message on to him through his Mother. She speaks of a prophecy and meeting Gods on the bridge. This immediately sees Magne rush out the house. When he shows up, Wotan -sporting an eye-patch of course- rocks up too. He’s not alone and he’s accompanied by a girl called Iman, prompting Magne to bring up the fight against the giants and divulge all. This conversation however, is undercut by a heavy dose of teen angst. Well, nothing settles the nerves more than a house party. Laurits suggests they throw it at his place and invites everyone to come over. Only, the one person he wants to show up – the random cashier from the diner earlier in the episode – is a no-show. Anyway, at the party it soon becomes apparent who Freya is, as Iman uses her powers to make a fellow teen get her a drink while on his knees. After the party, Iman and Magne head in to see the mechanic who overcharged Turid for the car repairs. Iman uses her powers again, forcing the mechanic to work for them and create Mjolnir. Handing over the sketch (and still under Iman’s control) he promises to have it ready the following day. Turid meanwhile, heads in to see Vidar at the factory. She confirms that 17 years back she got pregnant and it turns out Laurits is actually his child. Av wry smile crosses his face as he thanks her for revealing this to him. In fact, Vidar immediately head up and visits Laurits, hugging him outside their house while Vidar notices Magne from afar. His anger gets the better of him and he causes a blackout across Edda.
The Episode Review
Ragnarok returns and after the light bites of action at the end of the previous episode, we’re back to business as usual in this show. Much like American Gods, Ragnarok tends to meander and tiptoe around big action set-pieces as this coming war between the giants and Gods continues to linger in the background. Instead, Ragnarok focuses more on the teen drama, and there’s certainly plenty of that here. It’s clear that Laurits is being groomed to become Loki while Freya is obviously Iman, especially after her displays of power. This all builds up to a big reveal the end about Laurits’ ancestry, which leaves the door wide open for the rest of the episodes.
