#lord odda is so done with everyone's shit

[lynn1819summers]

Odda the Elder: How is it going, Lord?

Alfred: I have this headache that comes and goes.

Uhtred *suddenly dashes into the chamber*: WAS ANYBODY GOING TO TELL ME WHAT THE HELL WAS HAPPENING?!

Alfred: There it is again.

[lord-aldhelm]

Why Aldhelm in Season 2 was the GOAT

An essay by Lord-Aldhelm

Y'all... I wasn't going to post this but I guess I will now haahaa! Thanks to that convo with @errruvande @bilbotargaryen that convinced me to post this rant.

I kind of talked about this before in previous posts but I wanted to kind of gather all my thoughts into one place and make a post about this.

These are my thought on the character so you are forewarned. Read below if you really want to.....

So I have seen *a lot* of people say that they didn't like Aldhelm in season 2, but the character grew on them and he went from one they hated to one of their beloved characters. And that is great! He really did experience a hell of a character arc and grew a lot.

But I don't believe Aldhelm was ever a villain. I know in the books he was one, and did some truly horrific things. But Show!Aldhelm is a completely different character, and even though Season 2 was supposed to follow the books pretty closely, he still was changed a lot. I won't go into any details for those of you who haven't read the books, but it will be obvious he is a completely different character.

So, I never clocked Aldhelm as a bad guy, even in Season 2. He never gave me any bad vibes, even on my first watch-through. It is easy for me to say this now since I love him to pieces, but I can honestly say that even when he was new to me, I never thought of him as a bad guy. Sure he *seemed* to be, but him making a bunch of silly faces doesn't make him a villain. He looked like a scheming sycophant, and was overshadowed by Aethelred. I honestly did not think much of his character until Season 3 when he started to blossom in his own right and really started to become someone who I fell in love with. But after rewatching Season 2 so many times, I have really come to appreciate him as an interesting character with his own depth.

1. Aldhelm is actually in charge

In rewatching Season 2, I noticed that Aldhelm was the one who did all of the talking for Aethelred, while Aethelred just stood there silently and let him do it. It was always Aldhelm who addressed King Alfred, it was Aldhelm who spoke to Lord Odda and to Aethelwold when there was a conflict. And when Aethelred was knocked out cold, it was Aldhelm who led the negotiations with the Thurgilson brothers. He really was ruling with Aethelred was making an ass out of himself, being a deviant, and getting everyone into trouble with his stupid decisions. What king would allow his advisor to do all the talking for him while he stands there without a word? It is so weird. But if he didn't, nothing would get done otherwise.

Additionally, Aldhelm had to clean up his mess and do it with grace. He was basically like "OK this is how we get out of this and not look like fools." Which comes across as scheming and manipulative, and perhaps it is. But Aethelred was totally incompetent, and someone had to get shit done. What I think goes over a lot of people's heads about their "relationship" is that Aldhelm was Aethelred's sworn oathman. In those days, and in the Saxon culture (also other Germanic cultures at the time), your word was legally binding. It was taken seriously, and you could not break it. The cost of treason was death, and if Aldhelm had defied Aethelred, he could he executed. Which amazes me just how sassy and outspoken Aldhelm was in Season 2 especially. He was *not afraid* to speak his mind, to Aethelred or anyone else, and clearly was not afraid of consequences. This speaks volumes to how poor of a leader Aethelred was, too.

2. Aldhelm didn't really do anything wrong

This is kind of subjective but hear me out. Aldhelm literally did not do anything wrong in Season 2. There were two events that people like to point out as examples of him being "evil" or whatever, but I see it differently.

2a. Wanting to take over Wessex

Aldhelm to Aethelred, 2.06

Everything Aldhelm did, he did for Mercia. During his lifetime, he had borne witness to the Great Heathen Army invading Mercia, seeing King Burgred expelled by the Danes, the Danes installing their own puppet king with Ceowulf, the eastern half of Mercia ceded into Danelaw, and Mercia losing its sovereignty to King Alfred, who made Mercia a vassal state of Wessex. Mercia was crumbling under weak and ineffective leaders, first being lost to the Danes from the north and the Saxons to the south. He had enough.

It is hardly wrong for him to want Mercia to have its own independent king once more. And it is not wrong for him to want to take over Wessex. He didn't even suggest killing Alfred outright, just waiting for him to pass on his own accord, either from illness or injury, and then using that opportunity to take over while Wessex was weak. It is EXACTLY what King Alfred did to Mercia when King Ceolwulf died. Two countries under one king; at this point it didn't matter if it was the Wessex king or the Mercian one. The only flaw in Aldhelm's plan was that he backed the wrong horse; Aethelred was just as weak and ineffective as the kings who came before him.

It is sad to me that Aldhelm is cast as a villain for literally wanting the same thing that Alfred did.

2b. Dealing with Aethelflaed's Abduction

"My advice to you, Lord, is to rescue her by all means. But not at a price that will cut our throats" Aldhelm to Aethelred, 2.07

Aethelflaed has been abducted by the Thurgilson brothers. They will demand a huge ransom for her release; and in fact even if they get the gold and silver they demand there is not guarantee that they will release her. But even if they do, by giving into their demands, the Mercians and Saxons seal their fate, funding the very warlords that will turn around and destroy them. It is not a smart move.

Lord Odda had suggested to King Alfred that Aethelflaed allow herself to be martyred to save the kingdom from such a fate. What Aldhelm suggests is literally the same thing. "We will try our best to rescue her, but we cannot allow Mercia to be destroyed just to rescue one person." It is sensible advice, in my opinion, even if it comes across as callous.

It was Aethelred's stupidity that caused her to be captured in the first place. Aldhelm even said as much.

One has to wonder if Aldhelm tried to talk him out of bringing Aethelflaed to the campsite and he refused to listen. "It is a choice, lord, between appearing lovesick or foolish." No matter what, Aethelred will look bad in this situation. Aldhelm tried to do some damage control by shifting the blame to Uhtred. The only thing he really did "wrong" here was using a bad situation to try to be in their favor, by hoping that Alfred would blame Uhtred for Aethelflaed's abduction and thus removing his strongest warrior from the picture. Of course that didn't work. And it was a good thing too because it was Uhtred and Odda who ended up saving her without the need to spend all the gold and silver in Saxon England.