Ronja the Robber’s Daughter – Season 1 Episode 5 Recap & Review

My Brother

Episode 5 of Ronja the Robber’s Daughter begins where we left off in the last episode, with Ronja stuck in a hole and face-to-face with a fearsome harpy. It tries to take her away but Birk appears from behind and shoots the beast. It flies away, promising to see Ronja again.

Birk manages to free Ronja from the hole. The two hug it out but less huggy are the Rumphobs who are annoyed with Ronja for dropping snow into their home. 

In a touching moment, Ronja tells Birk that she wishes he was her brother. They’re becoming close but with winter settling in, there’s a chance she won’t see him for a while as Mattis later instructs her to stay indoors.

Shortly after, Ronja falls sick. Mattis is worried that he might lose her but Lovis reassures him that she will be okay. When Lovis gives her some medicine, Ronja asks her for details on the reasons why Mattis and Borka hate each other.

Lovis tells her that Mattis’s father and Borka’s father had been enemies for as long as anyone could remember. Nobody knows why they had fallen out. Mattis and Borka had to meet in secret in a mountain tunnel so their fathers wouldn’t know they were friends. But when winter came, Mattis’s father found them together, and made them promise they would never see each other again.

The two boys continued to meet anyway until one day Borka betrayed Mattis and led soldiers into the fortress through their secret entrance. Mattis’s father managed to drive them out but three of his crew were killed. His mother also died. After that, the friendship ended and Mattis has hated the ‘Borka robbers’ ever since. 

Following these revelations, we learn a little bit more about Chegge and Solve, his sister when Smavis visits with the latter. Smavis reveals a little about her life too, and how she and Cappa lived in a cottage when Cappa was injured and needed time to heal. 

At the fort, Borka and his crew and family have very little food between them. Mattis, on the other hand, seems to have plentiful supplies for the people in his care. Ronja is unhappy at having to stay inside. But she later perks up when she explores the dungeon and hears Birk whistling. She removes some of the rubble from the blocked passage so she can finally see him. But during her endeavour, she is interrupted by Skully-Per who instructs her to come upstairs.

The next day, Ronja tries to see Birk again. She is startled by Birk when he appears on the Mattis side of the rubble. He does not look well because he and the Borkas haven’t eaten in a while. They haven’t been able to access water either. Ronja has provisions with her so shares them with him.

As they part, Ronja promises to see him the next day. Later, she gets a bath and realizes how lucky she is to have water on her side of the fort. That night, she takes food from the pantry so she can give Birk something to eat when she sees him. 

In the morning, Ronja gives Birk the food. Birk is worried that Borka will be furious if he hears he has accepted food from Ronja but he eats it anyway. He then takes the leftovers and secretly adds them to the Borka crew’s storeroom.

Lovis realizes food is going missing and tells Mattis. Elsewhere in the fort, Chegge talks to one of the crew and expresses his fears that some people don’t have enough to eat. He is referring to his sister who, in another scene, falls into an icy river. We then cut to Cappa who talks to Smavis about the supplies they have been giving to Solve. This has caused resentment in some of the villagers. 

Smavis returns to the home of Solve and is alarmed by what she finds. We don’t know what she has seen but as the next episode reveals, its the body of Chegge’s young nephew.

The episode then cuts to Birk and Ronja. She has brought him more food. Mattis finds the food missing and thinks Chegge may have taken it. 

The Episode Review

We didn’t see Halvert in this episode so it can be assumed the harpies have eaten him! If they have filled their bellies, that’s more than can be said of the Borka clan who haven’t eaten in days. Ronja shows kindness by taking food to Birk and his family but that same kindness isn’t extended by her father, who is becoming more like the villain of the show with each passing episode. Halvert, if he is still alive, would likely approve!

This episode began quite comically with Ronja’s interactions with the adorable Rumphob’s. But it quickly became bleak, with its subplots about the food shortage and the backstory of Mattis and Borka. With regards the latter, it was confusingly told by Lovis who didn’t elaborate on Borka’s betrayal. This element of the episode was a little frustrating due to a lack of clarity. But as hinted by Birk in the episode, there may be another side to his father’s childhood past that we haven’t heard about yet.

With one episode to go, it’s hoped the real reason behind the clan animosity is revealed. We hope the finale will bring back the Rumphob’s too as we will need some levity if Solve has met a terrible end. Will Chegge suffer a terrible fate too?