Vikings creator talks killing Ragnar, why he ended the show with season 6 (2024)
The sixth and final season ofVikingsis now available in its entirety on Amazon Prime Video, with episodes also dropping one at a time on History. The series has gained a huge following over the years, and now that it’s over,Collidertalked to creatorMichael Hirst about where it’s been and how it got here, starting right at the beginning.
“Most shows are canceled after the first season,” Hirst said of the series’ early days. “I was thrilled that MGM and then History had picked it up for starters. I had a sort of big menu in my own mind about what I want to do. A lot of that was to do with overturning a lot of cliches about Viking life and about the Vikings generally…I was aware that audience figures were growing exponentially and that it was working. But I was still kind… I was pretty superstitious about how far I could go.”
"I loved season one. I loved the introduction of the characters and the world. I did a lot of stuff that I wanted to do about putting in the Viking society, and Viking values, and trying not to be preachy about that, or educational. But to show that, to dramatize their way of thinking. And getting the first season, like the pilot episode, they’re really difficult to write, because you’re setting things up. You didn’t want it to go too far, but on the other hand you want to establish the characters."
The show grew in popularity year over year, which made when Hirst did next especially surprising: he killed the main character, Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel), in its fourth season. It was a bold move, but something Hirst had always planned. “[W]hen I finally announced to everyone that this was the season I was going to kill Ragnar I got a lot of warning, certainly from the Americans, that was a dangerous thing to do,” he remembered. “And that most shows, who lose their lead character, don’t continue successfully.”
I can think of at least one show —Game of Thrones— that seemed to only get more popular whenever it killed a major character, but Hirst wasn’t tapped in to any of that. “I have tried deliberately to avoid watching too much drama on TV, because I don’t want to be affected by it,” he said. “I never watchedGame of Thronesfor example, because I never wanted anyone to say, ‘You borrowed that fromGame of Thrones. or ‘That’s likeGame of Thrones.’ So I didn’t want to be effected by it. Not that it was similar, because it was a fantasy show. But still, you know what I mean? These things can come into your head when you don’t expect them to come into your head.”
That brings us up to the final season, which is Hirst’s favorite.“[I]t’s the closest one to me and I went through so many powerful, emotional experiences while we were making it,” he said. “So it indelibly printed on my mind.” And it sounds like he got to make the ending he always intended, and none too soon:
"I knew that the ending would be the discovery of America, and Newfoundland. And that was what I always planned. I have to say realistically that having spent every day, and sometimes some of the night, for seven years writing, and thinking, and living this show that I needed to conclude it. I needed to end the saga. But more importantly, I needed to wrap it up. I needed to conclude these last storylines in ways that would be satisfactory and satisfying to an audience. I didn’t want to cheat anyone. I didn’t want to cheat the actors, the characters, or the audience. The big challenge to conclude all the various storyline with justice, satisfactorily and emotionally satisfactorily, which involved me having to kill off some of my most beloved characters. So it was a very, very emotional experience writing these last 10 episodes."
Unlike a lot of shows,Vikingsdidn’t have a writers’ room — every single episode was written by Hirst. It’s impressive, but it also took a toll, particular after the series went from running 10 episodes a season to 20. Hirst’s wife noticed that it was wearing on him.
"She said, “It’s kind of killing you. I can see that. I know it gives you enormous joy. But it’s your full time life. This show is your life.” Which it was. And my wife was pointing out that it was very selfish of me to do that. So I knew that the sixth season would be the last, but I still had to end it properly. I still had to dig in, I suppose at whatever cost, and finish it as I wanted it finished. As I say, I had huge support from MGM and History."
We think it worked out pretty well.
So Hirst is out of theVikingsgame, but thereisa sequel series —Vikings: Valhalla— coming to Netflix later this year. Skol!
Next. Whales, Snickers and wet suits: Adam Copeland looks back on his Vikings journey. dark
The basic goal of Ragnar Lothbrok's death was to set up the destruction of both King Ecbert and King Ælle. There had never been any love lost between Ragnar and Ælle, but similar personalities and shared love for Athelstan meant that Ragnar and Ecbert had a great deal of respect for each other.
Hirst always knew that the narrative would end with the Vikings discovering North America. Given that this would occur in the show's sixth season, he wanted to take the time to bring every character and their arc to a logical conclusion so as not to leave any dangling threads for the actors or the audience.
Vikings Season 7 does not have a release date as it will not be happening. However, a sequel series to the Vikings, Vikings: Valhalla was made in place of a seventh season.
The deaths of Ivar and Harald were absolutely meaningless and not emotionally gripping at all. Not only did they die by the hands of nobodies, their deaths also made no sense what so ever. The writing has become so incredibly lazy. The entire final battle between the vikings and wessex felt so incredibly contrived.
Ragnar dies alone and isolated, thrown into a pit of venomous snakes by King Aelle. Ragnar has isolated himself for some time by this point as he grieves his mistakes and lost friends, but his death alone in a pit of snakes feels unworthy of such an accomplished leader and warrior.
However, in one legend about his life, he is attacking the city of Paris in about 845 CE, and God delivers the city by striking Ragnar and his men with dysentery, killing Ragnar.
Ragnar's son Ubbe reached North America by the time Vikings concluded, playing on historical evidence that the Nordic warriors were the first to make contact with the continent, arriving centuries before Christopher Columbus.
The end of the Viking Age is traditionally marked in England by the failed invasion attempted by the Norwegian king Harald III (Haraldr Harðráði), who was defeated by Saxon King Harold Godwinson in 1066 at the Battle of Stamford Bridge; in Ireland, the capture of Dublin by Strongbow and his Hiberno-Norman forces in ...
Ubbe fulfills Ragnar's dream by adventuring to the New World, while Ivar and Hvitserk face internal struggles and adopt new paths. Vikings ends with Ingrid as queen of Kattegat, bringing the show's core themes of faith and exploration full circle.
Whereas Ragnar's sons Ivar the Boneless, Halfdan Ragnarsson, Björn Ironside, Ubba and Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye are historical figures, opinion regarding their father is divided. Contemporary academia regards most of the stories about him to be fiction.
Vikings: Valhalla, or simply Valhalla, is a historical drama television series created by Jeb Stuart for Netflix that acts as a sequel to Vikings. The eight-episode first season premiered on February 25, 2022.
Ragnar returned in episode seven, accompanying Lagertha on her journey to Valhalla. He appeared as a sand sculpture alongside Lagertha embracing her as she slipped away to the bottom of the Viking sea.
Presumably, the filmmakers wanted their stars to be easily identified and so have dispensed with helmets entirely. Many of their key actors, such as Rollo, survives despite wearing no armour at all and are presented as fighting wearing only trousers! 2. Anachronisms abound.
Lagertha. Lagertha's death was expected since season 4, however, this doesn't mean that it was less painful to witness. The Seer revealed to her that she would be killed by the hand of one of Ragnar's sons and during the sixth season she was stabbed to death by a delirious Hvitserk.
The final ruler of Kattegat was a surprise to many fans - as most assumed that Bjorn would end up ruling the city with his wives - or that Harald would take over. Both did happen, for a while, as Bjorn ruled with Gunnhild and Ingrid, before Harald came to take over as King of Norway.
Obviously, the first 4 seasons were a lot better with Travis Fimmel as Ragnar still on it but the show was still pretty good even after he left...as long as you try not to compare it to those first four seasons. The writing and acting is so good that it just pulls you into their world.
Years of struggling and hard work continue to pay off and Travis has chalked up starring roles in several projects including Rocky Point (with Lauren Holly), Southern Comfort (with Madeleine Stowe and Eric Roberts), Restraint (with True Blood's Stephen Moyer), Ivory (with Martin Landau and Peter Stomare), Surfer Dude ( ...
Ragnar Lodbrok was not king of all the Vikings. He was the king of a large group of them. Lodbrok had several sons who took over after him, including Björn Ironside and Ivar the Boneless. Ivar is most famous for his conquests in England.
Ragnar returned in episode seven, accompanying Lagertha on her journey to Valhalla. He appeared as a sand sculpture alongside Lagertha embracing her as she slipped away to the bottom of the Viking sea.
Introduction: My name is Stevie Stamm, I am a colorful, sparkling, splendid, vast, open, hilarious, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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