‘Vikings’ Season 6B Recap

The Rus won the battle against Harald’s and Bjorn’s forces and are now preparing to attack Kattegat. It is revealed that Harald is still alive but is being held captive by the Rus along with King Olaf. Oleg sentences Olaf to die and commands Prince Igor to burn him alive. In the meantime, Harald escapes since he has no intention of being someone else’s puppet. Ivar reminds Igor that nothing is forever, and that they have to talk with Dir to overthrow Oleg.

Back in Kattegat, it is also revealed that Bjorn is alive although extremely weak from his battle wounds. King Hakon and Jarl Hrolf arrive with their armies to help Bjorn and his people when the Rus attack again. Hakon visits the Rus camp and informs them that Bjorn has died and tells Oleg he wants to join his forces; however, he is executed right there. Whilst the Rus wait for the Viking army to arrive, Bjorn appears on his horse and leaves them all confused, and scared. A Rus soldier shoots arrows to Bjorn but, right before falling, he calls his forces. The Vikings use the confusion to start their attack on the Rus from multiple stand points. The Rus are defeated and flee Norway. Gunnhild gives an emotional speech about Bjorn and his legacy as we see images of him being buried in a mound.

Meanwhile, in Iceland, Othere reveals to Ubbe the truth about Kjetill, telling him that he actually murdered another settler’s family. They are also preparing for an expedition to find a new land.

The Rus are back in Kiev. Oleg starts to exclude and isolate Ivar from everything and separates him from Igor. At the same time Oleg orders his soldiers to destroy Igor’s room because “he isn’t a kid anymore” and needs to become a man. We start to see Oleg getting madder by the day as he forces soldiers to dig their own grave right before ordering to kill them and even forcing Igor to kill one of them. Right after, Dir approaches Ivar and Igor and informs them that a grand part of Oleg’s army have switched sides and are now loyal to him; therefore soon enough he will be able to overthrow Oleg. Dir also asks Ivar to take Igor and get away. At the same time, Oleg tries and fails to make Hvitserk his own bodyguard. Later on, Ivar talks about Freydis with Katia and the latter seduces him. Afterwards, she asks him if he knows where Dir is and Ivar tells her the whole plan.

Back in Kattegat, Gunnhild is still mourning Bjorn when Erik approaches her and suggests holding an election so she can become queen of Kattegat and replace Bjorn. However, at the same time, in secret, he proposes the same thing to Ingrid.

In Iceland, Kjetill decides to join Ubbe’s expedition in search of the Golden Land thinking that it will redeem him.

In Kattegat, Gunnhild announces the plan to elect a new ruler to the people. She vows to build their defences whilst Ingrid reveals that she is carrying Bjorn’s child and therefore carrying on the legitimacy of the throne. Even after sleeping with Gunnhild, Erik swears he hasn’t made up his mind as to who he will support in the election. Ingrid visits Bjorn’s tomb and performs a ritual asking the ghosts to help her. On election day, as crowds begin to gather, King Harald arrives to announce that he is still King of all of Norway and therefore rules over them all; but he also wants to work with both women.

Near Iceland, Ubbe’s expedition faces trouble at sea due to a huge storm where Torvi loses her daughter Asa. 

Ivar wants to talk with Oleg but the king is still isolating him. When Ivar confronts Hvitserk about it they end up fighting as Oleg and Katia watch it from a distance and laugh. Later on, after Katia persuades him, Oleg admits he has neglected Ivar and asks for his forgiveness, and Ivar accepts. Thus showing that Katia may truly be on Ivar’s side. Then Oleg asks Ivar if he’d like to have Hvitserk killed to which Ivar responds he is the only one who should kill his brother. Afterwards, Katia gives a blade to Ivar which signals that Dir is ready to initiate his plan. This prompts Ivar to tell his brother what Oleg had told him and asks him to join Dir’s plan. Whilst Oleg is preparing for Good Friday, Ivar, Hvitserk, and Katia prepare to free Igor. As soon as the ceremony starts, Katia sneaks Igor out and the four of them attempt to leave on a carriage. However, the episode ends on a cliff-hanger as Oleg realises Igor is missing.

Ubbe and the other settlers find some land but it isn’t the one they expected. The land is bare and does not seem to be rich in resources. Kjetill still wants to colonise it and names it Greenland. Ubbe agrees and they separate the land amongst the different families. At night, the Seer appears to Ubbe to tell him that they should leave. The next day, Kjetill’s son announces he has found a whale in the area his family claimed. Ubbe believes it could be used to feed everyone, Kjetill objects.

In Kiev, Oleg demands that Igor is found before continuing with the Good Friday ritual where he is whipped as they re-enact Jesus’ torture. Meanwhile, Igor and the rest make it through the gates unseen. Upon his arrival at Novgorod, Igor is greeted by Dir.

In Kattegat, Harald proposes to Gunnhild that they marry, but she doesn’t give an answer. Harald tries to win the people of Kattegat over but he is not to be trusted. The king proposes to Erik that he be his own bodyguard, whilst one of Harald’s allies proposes to Erik that they kill Harald. Eventually Erik chooses to stand with Harald, who is crowned King of Kattegat and expresses his wishes to marry both Gunnhild and Ingrid.

Tension rises in Greenland as the settlers fight over the whale. With Kjetill claiming himself as King of Greenland, the rest feel deflated; especially Ubbe, who was just searching for a new start. Ubbe, Torvi, Othere, and a few others manage to escape to their boats with no supplies. This prompts new changes and dangers to the lot. On the boat, the settlers are growing tired of Othere’s stories but they seem to forget once he spots clouds ahead signalling there will be rain and they will be able to hydrate themselves

In Kattegat, Erik had been playing with Gunnhild and Ingrid for a while. However, it is in this episode where his acts start to backfire. Ingrid brings up that he once sold her as a slave, taking him by surprise. Later on, Harald holds his marriage ceremony; Ingrid walks down the aisle but Gunnhild makes a different choice. Wishing a happy marriage to the couple, she says she’s still married to Bjorn in her heart. She jumps at sea declaring she is going to see her beloved in Valhalla. With a smile on her face one can see she is happy with the decision she has made which maintains her own principles.

Dir’s men reach the gates of Kiev, which are empty. Ivar says it must be a trap but is ignored and they end up claiming the place as we see flashbacks of Oleg hanging himself on a cross, declaring that he is the son of God. Everyone thinks it’s too good to be true but for once, there are no surprises. Soon after though, Oleg shows himself to the crowds from his balcony and asks that they live in peace in the name of God. He assures Igor and Ivar that they are family but everyone knows he is a liar so Ivar hands Igor a bow and arrow and the boy kills his uncle.

After the celebrations, Ivar is devastated when Katia tells her she will stay there; which is not what he wants to do. Ivar then asks Hvitserk what he wants to do and tells him Katia is carrying his child. Both brothers wonder what happened in Kattegat after Bjorn died and admit they are destined to hurt each other. The next day, as Ivar and Hvitserk plan to leave, Katia tells Ivar she will make sure their child knows who his father is. Igor shouts at the brothers as they leave the city. In a flashback, we see Ivar assuring Igor that he is safe, that he is no longer a child and that everyone loves him; that he loves him too. In the present, Hvitserk tells Ivar he has changed, even if Ivar doesn’t admit it.

Ivar and Hvitserk finally return to Kattegat, but the crowds are angry therefore making the brothers question their return. They are shocked that Harald is king and they say people will eventually warm to them since they’re the legitimate line. Later on, Hvitserk tells Ivar he is not sure of his destiny anymore and that he has been lost for so long that he doesn’t know how else to be. Both brothers are actually lost, looking for meaning in life. The Seer visits Ivar whilst Hvitserk visits Bjorn’s tomb. Ivar gets his old chess piece and remembers past conversations with Ragnar and how he predicted a great future for him. Meanwhile, a woman named Eden, who appears to be a goddess, offers herself to Hvitserk and tells him she’s seen all his pain and to weep no more. Harald also appears to be lost, he wants to reinvent himself and rule but he hints there’s an illusion of power and he wishes the Gods forgive him even though it doesn’t seem possible. The next morning the Lothbrok brothers seem to have found the purpose they were looking for and Ivar announces they should go for Wessex. Harald agrees and they start preparing for the attack.

Out in the open sea, Ubbe and the settlers are still struggling. Tension keeps rising as Othere refuses to be completely honest and men keep dying on the boat. Eventually, Ubbe loses control and attacks Othere, but Torvi stops him stating that they can’t be the same people they were in their old lives.

In Kattegat, Harald puts Erik in charge to look over the city with Ingrid by his side, afraid that the Rus might still attack. Ivar, Hvitserk, and Harald begin their journey to Wessex and plan a strategy to fight King Alfred and his army. Whilst they are gone, Ingrid takes power over Erik and tells him she wants to make him happy. However, she has other plans. She uses witchcraft on him and he wakes up blind, leaving him confused as to how that happened. She is taking revenge on him and ensuring she is the only ruler.

King Alfred hears about the arrival of the sons of Ragnar and is worried that his own defenses are too weak to fight. He is frustrated but knows he must take drastic action and that he needs to be practical so he decides to leave the Royal Villa. The first battle between Saxons and Vikings begins; the latter have been ambushed but they end up winning as the Saxons retreat.

Ubbe and the settlers, extremely dehydrated, think they are hallucinating when they see land in the distance. Ubbe asks Othere for forgiveness but he tells him there is nothing to forgive, he knew that in his heart Ubbe always believed.

Ubbe and the settlers, exhausted from their travels, finally establish themselves on this new promising land. They hunt, eat, and enjoy all the great resources the land has to offer and perform a ritual to give a gift to the Gods. However, they soon realize that they are not alone; there are other footsteps and carvings on wood. They decide to leave some gifts to whoever else is there and the following day they find that their gifts have been replaced by new ones. They accept them but they also worry that everything they worked for could crumble. Eventually they decide to look for the locals by following the carvings. They come to a settlement and find themselves surrounded by a group of locals who point arrows at them.

In Kattegat, Erik and Ingrid welcome leaders from other places in their counsel. Erik expresses his wishes to strengthen their defenses against future possible attacks. Ingrid induces fear into them assuring that taxes will have to be raised and that they better not protest. Later on, Erik realises that Ingrid has been using her powers against him; she says the Gods did that to him, not her. Erik talks to a slave and asks for a favour, he is planning to hurt Ingrid.

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In Wessex, King Alfred is weak and the Queen is worried that he may be getting sick. She yells at him to fight for her and the rest of his people. To mark the start of a new phase King Alfred cuts his own hair and gives a speech to his army telling them that the Pagans are just like them, they are people and they bleed just the same, they are not undefeatable. The King no longer believes in negotiating. Meanwhile, Hvisterk tells Ivar his eyes have turned blue —just like when they were kids, which means Ivar is in danger of hurting himself. After an emotional talk between the brothers, Ivar seems to accept that he may die; he’s always been keen on dying on the battlefield. In the final scene we see King Alfred becoming sick and the Queen asking everyone to pray for Wessex; soon after, he claims he feels better. At the same time, Ivar tells Hvitserk and Harald that, in order to win the battle, they need to cripple their opponents.

On the new land, one of the locals that are surrounding Ubbe and the settlers asks his men to lower their weapons; Torvi asks the same to her people and she introduces herself to the other leader. Despite communication difficulties, the Vikings agree to meet with the leader of the tribe, it’s a woman which must give some level of comfort to Torvi, who always looked up to Lagertha. The tribe offers them assistance, friendship and a sense of community. Torvi tells Ubbe she trusts the locals and that they aren’t a threat, so they invite them to their side of the land where they do some activities together. Later on, Ubbe asks a local how they knew a word in their language and she mentions a “crazy man”. Whilst looking for this man, Ubbe discovers some more carvings on trees, one of which symbolises Ragnar, which confuses him, but as he discovers more and more carvings he tells Torvi this is their story. Eventually, they reach a tree house and a local yells “crazy man”. A moment later, a man descends from the house: Floki.

In Kattegat, Erik is irked that he is blind. Ingrid tells him she has asked someone to go to Denmark to assassinate their king, who has converted to Christianity. Meanwhile, the slave Erik talked with in the previous episode, tells a female slave that Erik asked him to kill Ingrid and the two slaves start plotting together against Ingrid. Erik sleeps with the female slave and she ends up killing him after he hurts her. Meanwhile, the male slave walks behind Ingrid. The Queen tells him she knows someone sent him to kill her and asks him who it is (even though she knows). He confesses and is then hanged in front of the whole town whilst Ingrid and the female slave smile at each other.

In Wessex, Queen Elswith is still angry about having left the Royal Villa unprotected. On the other hand, King Alfred is getting his army ready for the battle and truly believes they will win, even though his expressions don’t match his words. Alfred and his army start marching through the fog and as they enter the forest the King asks them to hold. We then see flashbacks of Ivar’s plan: cripple 500 Saxons so more Saxons have to go rescue them; he is sure that this plan will work because Alfred is a Christian and therefore will care about his men. Which is exactly what happens: as Alfred’s soldiers move forward, they are met with metal traps in the ground that leave them injured and unable to move and so, Alfred asks more soldiers to go help the others. As soon as they arrive, Harald’s men surface from the ground and start attacking the Saxons. Alfred then asks the rest of his men to come forward to fight. Ivar is happy that his plan has worked. At the same time we see how they also planned to capture the Queen by pretending to be Saxons; she is dragged away from her carriage by her neck, but eventually escapes.

The fog that’s surrounded both armies all episode worsens. Alfred sees Jesus Christ and refuses to retreat because he believes Jesus will help them. However, Ivar does call his men to retreat and whilst Harald is running through the woods, a Saxon stabs him by putting a sword through his chest and proceeds to tell the Viking that he will die alone, that he will not go to Valhalla, and that he will be forgotten. However, in his struggle, Harald manages to kill the soldier. In a vision, Harald sees his deceased brother who says he’ll wait for him in Valhalla.

The epic saga which began with Ragnar Lothbrok, and continued with his sons, comes to an end in an outstanding and emotional finale. The Last Act opens with Ubbe and Floki sharing a significant moment where Floki tells the son of Ragnar that the locals have taken care of him and healed him. He then confesses that he left Iceland because sadness overwhelmed him and felt that the Gods had abandoned him. He seems like a changed person, but at peace. Ubbe confesses to Othere that this new land is everything Ragnar dreamed of at the beginning. They realise that they can live a good life here if they leave behind their old ways. However, one of the Viking settlers goes wild in a desperate search for gold and kills a local man who discovers him trying to rob their tent. The locals bring the man to Ubbe who is perplexed and, after a trial, sentences him to death. Right after, Torvi is told by a local that they are welcome in that place but that they are not allowed to possess it. It’s the start of a new era for these Vikings.

In Wessex, Ivar and King Alfred meet to negotiate a truce but Alfred does not agree to it, so the war continues. This final battle is as violent as ever before. Hvitserk is seen bravely fighting with the Saxons; Ivar, seeing that his army is losing, decides to walk forward and join the fight. We see things start to shift for the Viking when his eyes get bluer and he gets hurt whilst walking. The leaders of both armies talk to their Gods asking for help and guidance, relying solely on faith to win the battle. When Ivar reaches Hvitserk he asks him to leave the battlefield, admitting that he would never kill him. Right then, Hvitserk reminds Ivar what they used to tell him when his eyes got that blue: “not today, Ivar”. Ivar comforts Hvitserk and to culminate this emotional interaction, both brothers join heads and repeatedly tell each other “I love you”. It’s here when we know the end is near. Ivar screams his name and gives a speech to his people. At the same time, Hvitserk, kneeling on the ground and injured swears that everyone will know of Ivar the Boneless. A Saxon soldier appears in front of Ivar and, after the latter tells him to not be afraid, he stabs the Viking. As Alfred watches the scene from afar and asks his men to stop fighting, Hvitserk walks up to his dying brother and kneels beside him. Ivar tells him he is afraid (not the usual for a Viking) to which Hvitserk responds that he will tell no one. Alfred signals a cross on his chest as a matter of respect. Later on, Hvitserk visits his brother’s grave and wishes him a good time in Valhalla whilst it still exists (again, reinforcing the idea that things are changing for their faith).

Back in Kattegat, Ingrid receives the news that Harald and Ivar died and that Hvitserk stayed with the Saxons, therefore, she is officially crowned Queen. Right after we see Hvitserk in a Christian Church getting baptised, renouncing his Gods. Alfred welcomes him as a Christian and gives him the Christian name of Athelstan, as a nod to his father’s old friend.

The final scene is, yet again, another meaningful and emotional conversation between Floki and Ubbe as they sit by the beach watching the sunrise. Another nod to the start of a new era. Ubbe questions whether he did the right thing or not and if the Gods are there with them. But Floki reassures him that he doesn’t need to know about what isn’t important and to let the past go. They remember Ragnar and Ubbe tells Floki that he loves him. The ending of this saga culminates in the best way: with peace.