Tonight's episode titled 'Baldur', will witness two special entries — first being the birth of Ivar the Boneless's "divine son", and the second being the most-anticipated comeback of the ultimate shieldmaiden of the 'Vikings', Lagertha.

The last we saw of the former Queen of Kattegat was in the battlefield when she witnessed her ex-lover Bishop Heahmund being axed by Gunnhild, who is now her son, Bjorn Ironside's lover. After winning the battle while fighting for King Alfred, Lagertha went full MIA and was nowhere to be found among the dead and the living.

When fans questioned where she had disappeared, they began to speculate that the sole leading lady of the series was bound to return as The Valkyrie, the goddess of death. Episode one of season one held proof that Lagertha could be The Valkyrie as Rollo described her fighting skills and in the same episode where she went missing, Ivar's evil queen, Freydis narrated about the coming of the Valkyrie.

However, the sneak peek of tonight's episode is a far cry from what fans had in mind.

Lagertha looks nothing like herself. Her long silver hair has been chopped in a messy bob, her face smeared with dirt and she's exchanged her warrior armor or her queen raiment for rags. Cowering in fear, looking nothing short of a mad woman, even Queen Judith questions in shock; "Lagertha, is that you?" We question that too.

Now that she's returned, though not in a way we hoped because, when they said she could return as the Valkyrie, we imagined her wielding the sword from the sky and landing on the ground with wings shooting from her back. However, she's back and there's hope in that too. But the major question is what happened to her? Where was she all this while and what could have possibly shrunk her to this condition?

Captured by King Harald

Many viewers opine that Lagertha was captured by King Harald since she disappeared during the battle between York and Wessex. After he was defeated in the battle, Harald could have captured Lagertha to hold her for ransom. However, King Harald has had ample screen time since, but we caught no sight of Lagertha. Bjorn and Gunnhild have joined King Harald's forces as Bjorn wants to take Kattegat back from Ivar, but during his stay too, she was never seen around.

Lagertha was captured in England itself

The very fact that it is Judith who sees Lagertha proves that she is still in England. Added to that, a Reddit user pointed it out that her cage looks like the one where Ragnar died in England. 

Captured by the Danes

Now that Ubbe and King Alfred are gearing up to fight the Danes, theories have emerged that Lagertha was captured by the Danish Vikings soon after the battle. Lagertha was wounded, so she could not have been able to defend herself when the Danes approached her. A Reddit user cited that the most logical probability is her fleeing the battlefield after witnessing Heahmund's death and the Danes ultimately capturing her.

Gunnhild could be responsible

The new shieldmaiden to have arrived immediately after Lagertha's disappearance is Bjorn's new lover, Gunnhild. She's ambitious enough to be the queen and she knows Lagertha formerly ruled Kattegat. Gunnhild was the one to throw an ax at Heahmund in Lagertha's presence, so she is, of course, the closest one to have seen Lagertha before she went missing. Even Bjorn knows that and asks her if she knows anything about his mother to which she replies in the negative. Gunnhild has mysteriously won Bjorn's heart but she is still playing King Harald in her ambition to be the queen, so we know this woman cannot be trusted.

She was never captured

Other fans believe that she's echoing her former husband, Ragnar Lothbrok, and left everything to go and wander about. Since Lagertha's name is renowned in the Viking world, the Danes could have added her into the fold and she could have had a complete breakdown.