Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Vikings: Valhalla’ Season 2 on Netflix, Where We Return To The Grand And Gory Exploits Of Leif, Freydis, and Harald

Vikings: Valhalla returns to Netflix for its second season having spread its heroes to the winds in the wake of the big battle for control of the Viking harbor settlement known as Kattegat. A lot of people died in season one. But Leif Erikson, his brave sister Freydis, and Harald, the Norwegian warrior of royal blood, have lasting enemies to face and new challenges to meet this time around, both in the land they’ve come to know as home and in the further reaches of the 11th century world.     

VIKINGS VALHALLA — SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Leif Erikson (Sam Corlett) pursues a group of viking warriors loyal to Jarl Olaf Haraldsson (Johannes Haukur Johhannesson). Leif’s arrows plunge through their necks, and his bearded ax cleans up the remainder.

The Gist: That’s Olaf’s encampment below the ridge, destroyed by the expeditionary forces of King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark (Soren Pilmark), who’ve placed the Christian Viking tyrant and would-be conqueror of Kattegat in a cage as their prisoner. But when Leif steals into the settlement to gather intel, he learns that Forkbeard doesn’t plan to rule Kattegat. His son, the marauding King Canute (Bradley Freegard), needs reinforcements on his offensive in Denmark. So Forkbeard has installed his adolescent grandson Svein (Charlie O’Connor) as king of Norway, Queen Aelfgifu (Pollyanna McIntosh) as his regent – Aelfgifu is the Danish queen, Svein’s mother, and Canute’s wife, though not his only wife, since Canute also married Emma of Normandy (Laura Berlin) during his recent conquest of England – and dealt Olaf back into the power mix as Svein’s local protector.

Freydis Eriksdottir (Frida Gustavsson) and Harald Sigurdsson (Leo Suter) have settled in a secure patch of Norwegian wood. But not for long. In the first season of Vikings: Valhalla, Freydis learned that she is the last daughter of the pagan temple of Uppsala. And Harald’s unsubstantiated claim to the Norwegian throne still dogs him. Now, with Forkbeard’s meddling and Harald’s half-brother Olaf back on top, he and Freydis will have to decide if their love for each other and respective destinies will merge at Kattegat, or take them further afield in search of fulfillment.

Back in London, Queen Emma rules in the absence of Canute and Forkbeard. And she seems to trust slimy, obsequious English nobleman Godwin (David Oakes), which is a terrible idea if true, since Godwin betrayed and killed King Edmund (Louis Davidson) last season and is continuing with his scheming, simpering ways. And as for Leif, he makes a new ally in the seaborne Jomsviking Jorundr (Stanislav Callas), and the two eventually reunite with Freydis and Harald even as Olaf tracks their movements with an intent to kill. Our heroes need some time to regroup if they’re to seize their own truths.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Vikings: Valhalla is a sequel series, set one hundred years after the events of Vikings, which originally aired on History. But putting aside comparisons to the Game of Thrones universe, which are certainly valid, with so many tunics and blood oaths and all of the throne room musical chairs in the mix, what we’re watching with Valhalla season two is apparently the midpoint of an already planned three seasons. Not only that, but Netflix also has a feature-length sequel to its Vikings vs. Saxons saga The Last Kingdom in the works entitled Seven Kings Must Die, capping the series’ five-season run on the streamer.

Our Take: There’s a lot to keep track of in Vikings: Valhalla. Who’s sworn death on whom; which conquering party has taken what throne; who is a Christian, who is a pagan, and what all of these evolving political fortunes and attitudes toward belief systems mean for the core characters, who themselves have brought some truly prominent figures from history alive. But if you’re the kind of viewer who races to the search bar after watching something, eager to discover the connections and significance of characters – or even to run spellchecks on place names and types of weapons – then the world Valhalla has created is definitely your kind of place. There’s so much here, from courtly intrigues and conflicts over lineage to the push and pull between magic, mythology, and good old fashioned wars of conquest. Vikings: Valhalla is the kind of show where characters accustomed to the typically nasty, brutish, and short lifespans of the era casually discuss culturally specific execution practices over a bucket of ale. Do you prefer the modern English method of hanging, or the old school traditionalism of a Viking blood eagle? Look it up. It’s brutal.

But there are a lot of interesting surprises here, too, even in the early going of Vikings: Valhalla season two. Remember how Leif’s loyal crew of warriors seemed to perish wholesale in the violence of the first season? Well, there are ways for fan favorites to live on, especially with so much talk of destiny and glory on the path to righteousness. Liv (Lujza Richter), for example, was always Leif’s best counsel. But not even a double-barbed arrow through the chest could kill her spirit. And for Freydis, her concurrent training as a shieldmaiden and awakening as a titled descendant of pagan glory has girded her against the challenges of this new season. Yes, there’s a lot to keep track of in Vikings: Valhalla. But that’s all part of the fun.

Sex and Skin: Nothing in the first episode, if you exclude Olaf’s humiliation at the hands of his captors. But Valhalla has established a proud tradition of steamy sex scenes that portray all of their participants fairly.

Parting Shot: With Olaf and his detachment of bounty hunters breathing down their necks, Freydis, Harald, and Leif join a band of pagan refugees bound for Jomsborg, the Viking stronghold on the Baltic Sea. But the heroes’ respective destinies soon demand that they separate.

Sleeper Star: Ever since he strode into the action midway through season one Vikings: Valhalla, King Forkbeard has been chewing up all of the scenery. And in the hands of Danish actor Soren Pilmark, the larger than life Forkbeard is at once menacing, murderous, funny, politically and tactically savvy, and even full of grandfatherly charm behind his braided mustache and namesake pelt.

Most Pilot-y Line: The Seer (John Kavanagh), the pagan oracle who guides Freydis, portends a few tidbits about her future. “The signs you so desperately look for are everywhere. The cries you run from have not ceased simply because you cannot hear them.”

Our Call: STREAM IT. Vikings: Valhalla is rich with history, the gore and glory of battle, and lusty romance. But its ensemble cast is also uniformly strong, with characters on all sides of the geopolitical and religious struggles at the heart of Valhalla having gained some valuable perspective.

Johnny Loftus is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter: @glennganges