Vikings: Valhallaended with its third season, which perfectly set up its best spinoff, only to go on and totally waste it. The success of Michael Hirst’s historical dramaVikingsled to it getting a sequel series two years after its finale. TitledVikings: Valhalla, and created by Jeb Stuart,the show was set more than a century after the events ofVikingsseason 6, thus focusing on new characters, though some of them were descendants of some ofVikings’ most notable characters (as was the case of Emma of Normandy and Rollo).
Vikings: Valhalla, then, began when tensions between the Vikings and the English reached a breaking point, triggered bythe St. Brice’s Day massacre. On top of that, there was the conflict between pagan Vikings and those who had turned to Christianity. Themain characters inVikings: Valhallawere pagan siblings Leif Erikson (Sam Corlett) and Freydis Eiríksdóttir (Frida Gustavsson), and Norwegian prince Harald Sigurdsson (Leo Suter). Despite having many more stories to tell,Vikings: Valhallaended after three seasons, and it completely wasted its best setup for a spinoff.
Vikings: Valhalla Ended With Leif Finally Sailing To America
Leif Erikson Found His Calling At The End Of Vikings: Valhalla
Leif Erikson is one of the most notable Viking figures in history.The real Leif Eriksonwas a Norse explorer, son of Erik the Red (who founded the first Norse settlement in Greenland), and had three siblings: Freydis, Thorvald, and Thorstein.Leif Erikson is thought to have been the first European to set foot on continental America, many, many years before Christopher Columbus did – however, the details of his journey to Vinland depend on the source. Unlike Erikson inVikings: Valhalla, the real one converted to Christianity while serving King Olaf I Tryggvason.
When Leif Erikson was announced as one of the main characters ofVikings: Valhalla, I was very excited to see his journey to the other side of the world, more so after one huge historical change that the main show made (more on that in a bit). However,Vikings: Valhallawaited until its third and final season to explore Leif’s plans and preparations for his trip to the Golden Land, which was a perfect setup for a spinoff.
In Vikings: Valhallaseason 3, Leif, after studying a lot, decided to findthe Golden Land, which he once saw while traveling with his father. Freydis joined his journey as she thought the Golden Land would be the best home for her people, where they would be safe and could thrive. Unfortunately,Vikings: Valhallaseason 3 ended with Leif, Freydis, and their crew sailing away, so the actual journey was never explored.
Vikings Made A Huge Change To Leif’s Journey To America
Leif’s Journey Left A Huge Mystery Thanks To Vikings
As mentioned above, Leif Erikson is considered to be the first European to arrive in America, butVikingsdidn’t respect this part of history. InVikings, one of Ragnar Lothbrok’s (Travis Fimmel) dreams was to travel to the other side of the world to see what was there, but he never got to do so – however, his friend and Kattegat’s boatbuilder, Floki (Gustaf Skarsgård), did. At the end ofVikingsseason 5, Floki was believed to have been killed after being trapped in a cave underneath an active volcano, but season 6 revealed he was alive.
Floki was later found by Ragnar’s son, Ubbe, withVikingsending with Floki and Ubbe sitting together on a beach in America.
Even better,Floki had somehow made it to America, where he established a settlement. Floki was later found by Ragnar’s son, Ubbe, withVikingsending with Floki and Ubbe sitting together on a beach in America. By not fully covering Leif’s journey,Vikings: Valhallaavoided having to address this historical change, but it would have been interesting to see what happened to Floki, Ubbe, and their settlement, as well as how Leif and Freydis would have established themselves in the Golden Land.
Will Vikings: Valhalla Season 4 Ever Happen?
The Future Of Vikings: Valhalla Isn’t Bright
Unfortunately,Vikings: Valhalladoesn’t seem to be expanding any time soon. DespiteVikings: Valhallaseason 3 covering too much in little time and setting up a fourth season and a couple of spinoffs,the show was planned to end with its third season. Creator Jeb Stuart explained that it made sense forVikings: Valhallato end at that point (viaEconomic Times), and it was time for the journeys of Leif, Freydis, and Harald to end.Vikings: Valhallaleft many loose ends and wasted many interesting opportunities, so it’s now up to viewers to decide how the characters' stories truly ended.
