It was a rough season for the characters of the History Channel show “Vikings.” With a first season cliffhanger, the second season promised to kick up its intensity—which it did to the highest extent. This season, in addition to dealing with Jal Borg (Thorbjørn Harr, “Reprise”) and Rollo Lothbrok’s (Clive Standen, “Hammer of the Gods”) betrayal, Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel, “The Baytown Outlaws”) battled with the local King Horik (Donal Logue, “Grounded for Life”), as well as the kings across the sea in England, where the warriors of Kattegat have been raiding. Ragnar also faced the fact of his infidelity to his wife, Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick, “Love and Other Drugs”)—and she, in turn, decided how to respond.
The second season was a captivating adventure full of twists and turns. Who would have guessed that the first scene of a battle between Borg and Ragnar would eventually lead to so many different paths? The finale episode, entitled “The Lord’s Prayer,” is an excellent encapsulation of all the things viewers love about “Vikings.” Horik, who has decided that he wants to wipe out the entire Lothbrok clan, hires a variety of allies who have orders to kill anyone, even children, that have the last name of Lothbrok. Luckily, Ragnar, Lagertha and everyone else already have a plan to deal with Horik’s suspected betrayal.
It was interesting choice by the show’s creator, Michael Hirst (“The Tudors”), to keep the finale close to the warriors’ home. A majority of the preceding episodes found the raiders spending a lot of time on the English shores, both fighting and making truces. The decision definitely worked to “Vikings”’ advantage though—instead of switching between locations, the finale episode allowed everyone to interact on their home ground. By choosing to bring all the characters to Kattegat, it both provided a sense of finality for the season, as well as potential for the third.
As usual, the acting is impeccable. Athelstan (George Blagden, “Les Miserables”), former priest, ex-slave to Ragnar and his eventual friend, has the most powerful scene this season. After being left behind by his fellow raiders, he is crucified by some members of the church, because he had converted to the Viking religion. Hands nailed to a cross, blood streaking down his face, the look in Blagden’s eyes is one that is hard to forget. More great acting also comes from Winnick, the actress that played Lagertha. Her character faced a variety of difficult choices this season—after leaving Ragnar on account of his infidelity, she eventually gets married to another man, who abuses her and eventually tries to kill her. Lagertha spent the majority of her marriage to him trying not to anger him, in an effort to protect Bjorn (Alexander Ludwig, “The Hunger Games”), her and Ragnar’s son. Things eventually become too much for her, so allied with members from her town, she kills her abusive husband and takes over his earldom.
“Vikings” has been confirmed for a third season, which will come out next year. It will be difficult to predict what exactly will happen next season, as the second season covered a great expanse of plot in ten episodes. Obviously, some of the people of Kattegat will move to England, where they have been promised land, as well as mercenary work. This precludes problems, as the king that gave them land, Ecbert (Linus Roache, “Batman Begins”), undoubtedly has something up his sleeve.
Since the first season and second season saw a jump of several years, it would be possible that Ragnar and his current wife, Aslaug’s (Alyssa Sutherland, “The Devil Wears Prada”), sons to grow up and become a vital part of the story as Bjorn did this season. Though Lagertha’s ascension to earldom seemed relatively easy, it will be interesting to see how that pans out—does everyone approve of her leadership or her support of Ragnar? Though it will be a long and arduous year of waiting until Vikings returns and answers these questions, the recent announcement of its renewal is great news to all fans. Vikings is shown Thursdays on the History Channel—look out for it in 2015.
