With every season, the VIKINGS production gets bigger, better and braver. The History Channel series, which is also available to watch on Amazon Prime, has been garnering great reviews – and it’s not hard to see why. The cast are superb, the set design is great and the plot has become more gripping than ever.
Having binge-watched season one and season two on Amazon Prime, I waved goodbye to my weekend and my social life as I found that as each episode finished, I was quite happy to sit there and watch another episode and be swept back into an era of bravery, passion, treachery and mischief.
Over the last two seasons, the weary and blood-stricken Ragnar (Travis Fimmel) has learnt so much during his days of raiding and his rise in social status. He has made the reluctant transition from farmer to explorer, explorer to Earl and Earl to King – none of it wanted, but his rise was very much warranted. As season 3 kicks off, we see Ragnar trying to teach his grown son Bjorn (Alexander Ludwig) lessons: “Power is always dangerous. It attracts the worse and corrupts the best. I never asked for power. Power is only given to those who are prepared to lower themselves to pick it up.”
As a result of his success, Ragnar has experienced great betrayal from all of those around him, who wish to replace him or refuse to be his shadow. During this tumultuous journey, which finds him desperately trying to break the walls of Paris and raid the city, he has come to learn that pride and vanity are dangerous things – and they bring out the worst in people. In the second series, Ragnar had already confessed that his brother, Rollo (Clive Standen) had broken his heart by choosing to fight against him alongside Jarl Borg (Thorbjørn Harr). It seems that with each new rise in social position, which ultimately leads to more deception, a little bit more of Ragnar is being chipped away each time.
The warrior carries many burdens: memories of his dead daughter and unborn son, the betrayals of his brother, thoughts of his allies he fought alongside who have fallen and knowing that his wife (Alyssa Sutherland) has slept with a mysterious other whilst he was in England.
The only person that he truly trusts is Athelstan (George Blagden), who has never let him down and has always been his wise counsel and friend. Not unlike Ragnar, throughout the season Athelstan, a former monk, has been battling his own demons. He has never fully denounced his Christian God and was always conflicted by his commitment towards the Pagan Gods and his own. This has always been a big problem to Ragnar’s fellow viking and talented ship builder Floki (Gustaf Skarsgård). He has always questioned why Ragnar would choose to fight alongside Christians during their raids in England, not fully understanding that he has been doing it in order to keep the treaty with King Ecbert (Linus Roache) and Queen Judith (Sarah Greene), who has become Queen of Mercia after Ragnar and his men helped to defeat her enemies – her uncle and brother. The allegiance formed between the English and Vikings, the Christians and Pagans in order for Ragnar to secure some land so he can start a better life for his people where they can farm and plough and sow harvest.
In the season, we see another betrayal for Ragnar as he discovers upon his return back home to his family that his lands in England have been ransacked and his unarmed people murdered. In order not to upset Floki and his fellow Vikings, he does not tell them of what King Ecbert and his son have been up to and his turns his sights towards Paris – a mysterious land to him which he often speaks about with Athelstan. Whilst in Ragnar’s home in Kattegat, the former priest has an epiphany and feels that he has been visited by God and once again his belief is restored and he returns back to his Christian faith. As a result, he throws into the sea the Viking bracelet bestowed upon him by Ragnar – all of which was witness by an angry and currently mentally unstable Floki who wishes to rid his people of Athelstan – and Christianity. He takes the matter into his own hands and once again Ragnar is forced to say goodbye to another friend – a true friend. As he carries his friend up to the top of the highest point in his village, so that Athelstan can be buried as close to heaven as humanly possible, Travis Fimmel, who plays Ragnar delivers a touching monologue about his friend that will no doubt touch even the sternest of hearts of the audience and this is when we see a big change in Ragnar.
In honour of his fallen friend, he decides now is the time to attack Paris and he and his men head to the city to break into lands unknown. Episodes eight and nine provide some of the most formidable action scenes of all three seasons to date and the imagination of writer Michael Hirst really is brought to life. It will be interesting to see in season four and how they can possibly top the epic siege scenes from the penultimate episode and it is clearly the best of the series so far.
The clever scripting makes the audience evoke such empathy for the characters, especially Ragnar, who has become severely injured during the penultimate episode when climbing the walls of Paris. Realising the severity of his injury and his announcement of the fact that he is dying, it becomes clear how over the brilliant three seasons you have grown attached to the characters and grown concerned for their welfare.
With the final episode of the season appearing on the History Channel in the US today and available on Amazon Prime from Friday 24th April, we will be keeping our fingers firmly crossed that Ragnar’s shock decision to be baptised sees him born again and able to fight another day. It would be hard to imagine VIKINGS without Ragnar. What will ultimately be harder is waiting until next year for season four. After the final episode arrives on Friday on Amazon, what will I possibly do with my days then?!
Missed the penultimate episode before the big finale? Then check out the trailer below:
[…] up of the invasion of Paris and the episodes did not disappoint. (You can read our review of them here.) They provided a gripping multi-episode kick to the third season of VIKINGS, a TV series that has […]
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