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'Vikings' season 5 episode 17 review: Murder and suicide may not be 'The Most Terrible Thing' in love and war

'The Most Terrible Thing' picks up immediately after the murder of Aethelred, as King Alfred rises from his bed and realizes it was his mother who killed his brother

The only thing more terrible about an act of a mother killing her own son for the sake of another is the consequences of it and the reason for it. 'Vikings' season 5 episode 17, aptly titled 'The Most Terrible Thing,' begins with a funeral and ends with a suicide, with violent murder in between. In the last episode, Queen Judith (Jennie Jacques) poisoned her eldest son, Aethelred (Darren Cahill), for the safety of her younger son, King Alfred (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo). She loved both her sons, but she loves Alfred more, and that is evident as he is made king instead of Aethelred.

As one is laid to rest, the other rises from his sick bed and attends the funeral, questioning who is the one getting buried in "such a fine style?" The revelation of his brother's death comes with a shocking confession from his mother, that it was she who poisoned him because he had chosen to betray his younger brother.