A "familiar face" or two may appear in Netflix's Vikings spinoff, Valhalla

Vikings season 6 will debut on December 4 with a two-episode premiere. At the start of the season, Bjorn is finally the King of Kattegat, but his reign is challenged early on. Ubbe is searching for Floki, who seemingly died in season 5. Ivar makes a new ally in Oleg of Rus, Hvitserk has an identity crisis, and Lagertha has to decide if she’ll don her armor and again take up the sword.

There’s a lot going on, and creator Michael Hirst talked about it to TV Guide. Up first: Bjorn. “You might remember that Ragnar once told him about how problematic it was to be king,” Hirst said. “He said you have to stoop pretty low to get all that power and that all power corrupts.”

"But at the same time, Bjorn wants to fill his father’s shoes. He wants to inherit the mantle. But he also believes that he can do the job probably better than his father because he has the best of intentions. … Ragnar became king almost by default. It was part of other things he wanted to do and he never enjoyed being king, but Bjorn has, throughout his life I think, thought about that. So he thinks that he can do the job and he’ll be far more liberal and tolerant and empathetic than Ragnar was."

Hirst also weighed in on Olaf’s bid to unite all of Norway under one king. “Norway, even though it’s a small country, was divided into many, many small kingdoms,” he explained. “And when you get to the stage which they’re now at, when they’re sending out martyrs off to fight in foreign countries when they have to have collective action, it’s essentially a waste of time that all the individual kings and princes and jarls are constantly in-fighting.”

"It’s much more logical that they combine in some ways and the logic of that is so they have a king of all of all Norway. And in some respects, the most obvious king would be son of Ragnar Lothbrok, the most famous warrior so far in Viking history. So all that on the surface is logical and reasonable. Of course, nothing ever works out the way it’s supposed to work out but because people are jealous of those in power and jealous of that position and people won’t give up power easily."

So it doesn’t sound like everyone is just going to clasp hands and sing in a new age of peace. But Hirst does say that Ivar, at least, will have a redemptive arc. “So yes, again, it’s a very, very strong storyline for him in Season 6 and one that I enjoyed writing very much and has an extraordinary payoff that you would never see coming in a million years.”

Moving on to Lagertha, Hirst explained why she chooses to come out of retirement. “And fate just comes knocking again. It’s not her doing. She doesn’t choose to put her armor back on and pick up a sword again, but she has literally no — especially being Lagertha — she has no choice and she has to be a warrior again and re-energize herself.”

While Vikings is ending with season 6, there is a spinoff show coming to Netflix called Valhalla. Speaking to ET Online, Hirst teased that “the odd familiar face” might show up…even though the new show takes place 100 years after the old one. Valhalla will focus primarily on the exploits of legendary figures like Leif Erikson, Freydis, Harald Hardrada and William the Conqueror.

“I’m very excited that we’re going to move forward into exciting new places, and of course one of the big issues is the Christianization of the Pagan world,” said Hirst. “You’re going to see Christian Viking armies fighting Pagan Viking armies, and that’s really interesting. And [the show is] leading up to 1066 and the invasion of England by a descendant of Rollo. So you may well see the odd familiar face.” Ah, descendants. That’s how he’ll get around the 100-year gap.

Rollo, if you’ll remember, was Ragnar’s brother, the one who couldn’t stop betraying him. Hirst raved about his working relationship with the actor who plays Rollo, Clive Standen. “It’s going to be great. It’s fantastic.”

That kinda sounds like Standen could show up Valhalla. We’ll find out when the spinoff premieres on Netflix. In the meantime, Vikings season 6 debuts on Wednesday, December 6 at 9:00 p.m. EST on History.

Next. No, HBO wasn’t teasing anything big with “Winter is Coming” tweet. dark

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A “familiar face” or two may appear in Netflix’s Vikings spinoff, Valhalla

By David Harris (Razor) | Nov 27, 2019