‘Vikings: Valhalla’ Stars and Showrunner Break Down That Bloody Season 1 Finale

Netflix‘s new series Vikings: Valhalla weaves together heroes of Norse legend into a brand new dramatic take on history. Set about a century after the events of the original Vikings, Netflix’s series follows the early exploits of Leif Eriksson (Sam Corlett), Freydis Eriksdotter (Frida Gustavsson), and Harald Hardrada (Leo Suter). Not yet the imposing figures of legend, these young Vikings meet each other in the famed city of Kattegut before embarking on the first part of their journeys.

Created by Jeb Stuart, Vikings: Valhalla Season 1 follows King Canute’s (Bradley Freegard) invasion of England, Freydis’s emergence as the “last” daughter of Uppsala, and the dissolution of half-brothers Olaf (Jóhannes Jóhanesson) and Harald’s relationship. The final episode shows us a brutal invasion of Kattegut, a Norwegian stronghold known as the hometown of Ragnar (Travis Fimmel) in the original Vikings. Christian zealot Jarl Kåre (Asbjørn Krogh Nissen) has decided to wage all-out war on the pagan Vikings. Joining him in his quest is Olaf, who is not only Christian, but also hoping to push Jarl Haakon (Caroline Henderson) out of the way so he can consolidate power and become King of Norway. Olaf has also teamed up with King Canute’s first wife, Ælfgifu (Pollyanna McIntosh), to hold back the Danish fleet and to eliminate Canute’s new wife Emma of Normandy (Laura Berlin) from the picture.

It’s a lot to make sense of. There are twists, double crosses, and one showdown for the soul of the Vikings. So what exactly happens in the Vikings: Valhalla finale? Who wins? Who dies? And what does Leif going berserk in the final moments mean for the future of the series? Decider spoke with the stars of Vikings: Valhalla and creator Jeb Stuart to find out…

Vikings: Valhalla Ending Explained: Who Lives? Who Dies? Who Goes Berserk?

For a brief moment, in the Season 1 finale of Vikings: Valhalla, it truly seems that all is lost. We are led to believe that Ælfgifu has outmaneuvered Emma, Kattegut is conquered, and Leif’s girlfriend Liv (Lujza Richter) is dead. As it happens, it’s not that bad. Not quite. Earl Godwin (David Oakes) managed to set up Ælfgifu for failure, manufacturing a ruse so Emma could send Canute’s navy to Kattegut in time to route Olaf. Even though Jarl Haakon and many of the pagans of Kattegut are killed in Olaf’s invasion, the boorish Viking has to flee the city when Canute’s ships arrive. So Kattegut is now in Canute’s hands.

That said, Liv is killed in the fight. The final shot of the season is of a bloodied Leif staring down the camera after going berserker on Olaf’s forces. It’s a huge shift for the character, who has been afraid of his rage throughout the season. However, once Liv — his main source of peace — is killed, Leif gives in to the darker side of his soul.

“I think having him reach that point, there’s a part of Leif that I always wanted to play with, which is, he and Freydis are the children of Erik the Red. And we know that Erik the Red had a very dark underbelly to him as well. He was a Norse Viking who was expelled to Iceland. He killed somebody in Iceland, he was expelled and he had to find Greenland,” Jeb Stuart told Decider of the season’s final moment. “Who is this guy? And why did he spawn these two children who are very different and yet they embody different parts of their father.”

“So I think you’re seeing a little Erik the Red come out at the end there and what he does is that character is very exciting in the future,” Stuart said.

Vikings: Valhalla star Sam Corlett agreed and went even deeper into Leif’s emotional state.

“I certainly think it comes from his father and having grown up with notoriously one of the most violent Vikings, Erik the Red, as a father. I think that energy was kind of held in him for a long time and though he tried to deny it for a while, it only took the loss of someone he deeply loved that he feels responsible for to erupt,” Corlett said. “Now that it’s erupted — going from here can’t say too much about season 2 — but can he contain it? Does it take over him or can he dance with it in a way that is helpful?”

Elsewhere, Erik the Red’s kids are slightly more victorious. Freydis, who becomes a shieldmaiden of Kattegut, becomes the city’s final line of defense against Jarl Kåre. The two have an epic showdown where Freydis gets to fulfill her destiny by killing the Christian fanatic. Later, she is able to save a wounded Harald and flee the city to safety.

Frida Gustavsson joked with Decider that the cast and crew of Vikings: Valhalla nicknamed Freydis “the Man-slayer” because “if you come across her in a scene you’re most likely about to die.”

“If you’re in a scene with me? Mmm watch out!” she teased.

“All jokes aside, Asbjorn who plays Jarl Kåre was such a lovely, lovely, sweet Danish man, so in my head I was like,’ I need to stay away from him — he’s the main baddie,'” Gustavsson said. “But I’m very proud of the result.”

Gustavsson added: “I love that about Freydis. She may not be the most technically gifted, but she fights with heart. And she just will not back down. She can get kicked in the teeth and she’s gonna find a way to stand up and spit her teeth out and keep fighting. And I love that about her, I really do.”

Will There Be a Vikings: Valhalla Season 2 on Netflix?

Yes! There will be. Netflix initially ordered 24 episodes of Vikings: Valhalla, aka three seasons right out of the gate! There are unconfirmed rumors that Vikings: Valhalla Season 2 has already wrapped filming. More importantly, it was clear when Decider interviewed the cast and creator that they were confident about the direction the show was going next.

In the Norse sagas, Leif Eriksson eventually moves on from losing Liv and falls in love with a woman named Thorgunna. They marry and have children. So should we assume that Thorgunna will show up in a future season of Vikings: Valhalla? Jeb Stuart teased, “We might.”

Decider also asked Stuart if he has plans to take Leif and Freydis to Vinland, aka North America, per the sagas. He said, “I’m not going to not take them there,” before adding that his goal for Vikings: Valhalla was to tell the story of how the Greenlander siblings became explorers. 

Of course, Leif and Freydis aren’t the only characters with an epic story still to be told. The show has already established that Olaf and King Canute are on the outs, and with Harald betraying Olaf for Freydis and Kattegut, there’s bad blood between brothers brewing. In real life, the three men (and Olaf’s bastard son Magnus) were locked in a bitter battle for the Norwegian throne. Given that Vikings: Valhalla has already introduced Magnus in the background as a wedge between the brothers, we expect future seasons to play with this dynamic, too.

There’s also the English to contend with. Both Emma of Normandy and Earl Godwin played a major role in the nation’s history at this time and actor David Oakes teased that he’s been looped in on what’s coming up for his character.

“[Godwin] doesn’t have an ultimate goal for Season 1. He has an ultimate goal for all the five seasons that Jeb has in his mind,” Oakes told Decider. “I most certainly don’t think is that Godwin is just a survivor at all costs. He is slow and he is patient and he is a wonderful developing narrative that he is waiting to see how the world unfolds.”

Oakes went on to tease that while we’ve gotten a taste of Godwin’s fighting skills in that scene with Prince Edmund (Louis Davidson), we could see more. “You have to wonder if he can beat the shit out of a really well trained young prince, what would he do in a battlefield?” The actor also joked that “if I get killed off on this show before I get in a Viking longship I’m going to be pissed.”

“I want the figurehead, I want the big stripy sail, I want the shields. And then yeah, I’ll die happy,” Oakes said.

Hear that, Netflix? Put Godwin on a Viking longship next season!

Watch Vikings: Valhalla on Netflix