By Brent Snyder (2/25/2022)
"This blood ... is not My blood. It is OUR blood. It is VIKING blood!" - proudly proclaims charismatic prince Harald Sigurdsson (Leo Suter), trying to unite a mixed crowd of both Pagan and Christian Vikings in common cause. If only things were so simple.
Netflix's new historical drama "Vikings: Valhalla," debuting today, takes place 100 years after the events of the popular and long-running series "Vikings." Much has changed since the days of Ragnar Lothbrok, Lagertha and Bjorn Ironside. Peace has reigned between the peoples of England and Scandinavia, with many of the Vikings converting to Christianity and living in farming communities on English soil.
But the St. Brice's Day Massacre of 1002, in which England exterminated and expelled Scandinavians from it's territory, sparked a new bloody conflict rivaling the wars of the past. Vikings from across the land and sea are called back to Scandinavia to gather in a grand army once again. It's there that prince Harald, the great grandson of King Harald Finehair from "Vikings," makes his impassioned speech to the men and women of the North, both Pagan and Christian, who have answered the call. Some want gold, others want glory - a few want to increase their reputation, power and influence - but all want revenge.
The plan to attack England in retaliation for the St. Brice's Day Massacre is not the only mission of vengeance presented in the series - Leif Erikson (Sam Corlett) and his sister Freydis Eriksdottir (Frida Gustavsson) have traveled from Greenland to Norway searching for the "Christian Viking" who raped and mutilated Freydis when she was a young girl. Arriving in Norway for the first time, the siblings find a land and people they hardly recognize. It's a dangerous new world where some Christian Vikings attack Pagans on sight - and vice versa. This clash of cultures and religions continues to fester and spread throughout the series, much like in the original "Vikings."
Also like the original series, the English side of the story is represented with royal family drama and court intrigue. Young King Edmund (Louis Davison) must prepare for the coming Viking invasion as well as build alliances to defend his crown. Helping him navigate the murky waters of palace politics are his savvy social climbing advisor Earl Godwin of Wessex (David Oakes) and his stepmother Queen Emma of Normandy (Laura Berlin), a brilliant tactician and the great granddaughter of Rollo from "Vikings."
But the sequel series "Vikings: Valhalla," described as chronicling the beginning of the end of the Vikings saga, also differs in many ways from the previous series. Michael Hirst, who created and wrote "Vikings," serves as an executive producer on the spinoff, but his trademark vision quests, dreamy visual flourishes and fragmented flashbacks/flashforwards are greatly minimized. The new series, created and co-written by showrunner Jeb Stuart ("Die Hard," "The Fugitive"), is a more straight-ahead historical action drama - emphasis on the action. And the action - from single combat to large battles of epic scale - is very well staged and executed.
The supporting cast is rounded out with a roster of interesting characters (and character actors), including Jarl Haakon of Kattegat (Caroline Henderson), Queen Aelfgifu of Denmark (Pollyanna McIntosh), King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark (Soren Pilmark), King Canute of Denmark (Bradley Freegard), King Olaf of Norway (Johannes Haukur Jojannesson), the Christian zealot Jarl Kare (Asbjorn Krogh) and supernatural oracle the Seer (John Kavanagh) from "Vikings."
Various battles, alliances and double crosses ensue as things move along rather quickly. Since the series has only eight episodes to swiftly spin its twisty tale of war, revenge, gods and glory, it all seems to end very suddenly (with plenty of unresolved loose ends). Without delving too deeply into spoilers territory, it's a shame that several characters - both likeable and hateful - meet their respective makers by the end of episode eight, which is a shame because I would have liked to see much more of them.
History tells us that fate has much more in store for the heroic Harald, Leif and Freydis - including a voyage to a far-off land for the adventuresome siblings. Thankfully a second season of "Vikings: Valhalla" has already wrapped production - and a third season is being prepped. (Netflix originally ordered 24 episodes of the series but decided to break them up into three eight-episode chapters). An air date for season two has not yet been announced, but here's hoping that it's either late 2022 or early 2023.
Season one of "Vikings: Valhalla" is streaming on Netflix.
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