"Vikings: Valhalla" has finally arrived, and it's packed with parallels to its predecessor.
What's up with Jarl's rune?
Why is that chain so familiar?
Answers, straight ahead.
Kattegat was just a small port town when we first saw it in "Vikings," but the former
seat of Ragnar Lothbrok has grown into a bustling, multicultural center of trade by the time
"Vikings: Valhalla" begins, spreading from the shore of the fjord right up into the valley
beyond.
"It is more beautiful than I ever imagined."
It's a free city and the center of the Viking world in Norway, and as such, it needs to
be protected.
The location comes with natural defenses — notably, the narrow entryway makes it difficult for
a fleet of invading ships to enter.
It's better to be safe than sorry, however, which is why there's a new addition to the
port that was apparently inspired by Ragnar's greatest defeat.
Ragnar's raid of Paris was one of the standout moments on "Vikings" — he fakes his death
and enters the city in a coffin, having undergone a sham conversion prior to his staged passing.
But when he returns to the Frankish capital a second time, he is outsmarted by a thick
chain the Franks had installed across the river Seine, hidden below the surface.
When the Viking fleet gets close, the Franks pull the chain up and cause a mass pile-up,
sinking many ships and repelling the invading force.
Perhaps inspired by that very moment, Kattegat now uses a similar device in its harbor, making
doubly sure that unwelcome ships cannot dock.
The chain device that foiled Ragnar and company when they returned to Frankia was the brainchild
of Rollo, the first Duke of Normandy, and Ragnar's brother.
Overlooked and underappreciated, Rollo decides to switch sides when the Franks come to him
with an offer: defend Paris from further Viking attacks, and he would be made a rich man.
He is given land, which would become known as Normandy, and offered the hand of Princess
Gisla, daughter of Emperor Charles II.
It's an uneasy union to begin with, but Gisla comes to trust and even love her Viking husband
after he saves her beloved city from his own kind.
In "Vikings: Valhalla," King Æthelred of England is married to a Norman woman, Queen
Emma.
When he dies, the defense of England is left to Emma, and she's forced to channel her inner
Viking.
As a member of her court remarks in a throwaway line that you might have missed, who better
to defend England from the Vikings than the great-granddaughter of Rollo himself?
"I will deal with that."
There are many parallels between the two: As Emma points out, she was a stranger to
England when she arrived but was able to master the language and gain the trust of the people.
Rollo would no doubt be proud of his great-granddaughter, who proves herself to be a real survivor over
the course of the 1st season.
Prince Harald Sigurdsson reveals early on in "Vikings: Valhalla" that he is the great-grandson
of a man known as Harald Finehair.
That name will probably mean nothing to you if you've joined the party with "Vikings:
Valhalla," but those who watched "Vikings" will know that Harald Finehair was a Viking
king who defied the odds to become king of all Norway.
He believed that it was his destiny to rule over his homeland, and it put him at odds
with Ragnar and his sons at times.
In Prince Harald's case, his ambitions pit him against his half-brother, King Olaf.
Olaf Haraldsson has promised Prince Harald that the throne of Norway will go to him upon
his death, but what he doesn't tell him is that he's had a son in secret.
According to King Canute of Denmark, Olaf plans to have his son take over after he's
gone, cutting Harald out of the picture.
If Harald joins forces with Canute on his quest to create a great Northern empire, he
will guarantee him the Norwegian crown.
Will Harald eventually achieve his dream, just like his great-grandfather did?
That will no doubt be addressed in coming seasons of "Vikings: Valhalla," but those
of you who are up on your Viking history will know that Harald Sigurdsson became known as
Harald Hardrada, meaning Harald "hard ruler."
There are big things to come for Leo Suter's character.
Both Harald Sigurdsson and Olaf Haraldsson are Christian Vikings, though the latter is
far more stern in his beliefs, with little patience for the old Pagan ways.
However, he pales in comparison to Jarl Kåre, a zealot who wants to wipe away the Old Gods
completely.
He's absolutely ruthless when it comes to spreading the word of Jesus Christ, brutally
murdering any Pagans he comes across.
When we see his backstory, the reasons for his warped worldview become crystal clear
— Kåre was brought up Pagan, and as a child, he witnessed his brother die as a human sacrifice
to the gods.
Kåre wears gloves most of the time, and when he returns to Uppsala, we realize that he's
been covering up his past — quite literally.
He gains entry to the temple by showing the guard a Y-shaped symbol tattooed on the palm
of his hand.
This symbol is known as Algiz, the ancient Norse rune of protection.
It's been seen many times in the Vikings universe — it was on one of the rune stones that
Ubbe and Torvi left for the native North Americans as gifts upon arriving in the so-called Golden
Land.
When Jarl Kåre returns to Uppsala posing as a Pagan, he heads straight to the altar
where his brother had his throat cut to appease the gods and proceeds to carve his Algiz tattoo
out of his palm.
It's a brutal scene, but it's nothing compared to what he has planned for the priests of
the holy Pagan site.
After talking to the Seer once more, the jarl and his berserkers go on a rampage, slaughtering
everyone at Uppsala and burning the prized temple to the ground.
Kåre and his men leave a few kids alive, but not out of mercy — they want them to
tell the Pagans of Kattegat that they're next.
That's not quite enough to prove his point, so Kåre takes a page out of Ragnar's playbook
to really scare his enemies.
He beheads the priests and attaches their severed heads to a boat, which he sends floating
toward Kattegat.
Ragnar uses this very tactic while trying to terrify the Mercians over in England, and
it works very well.
Still, Kåre knows the people of Kattegat are a tough breed, so for good measure, he
crucifies the head priest, nailing her to the mast of the ship.
When we return to Kattegat in "Vikings: Valhalla," it's being ruled by Jarl Haakon, a Pagan Viking
of African descent.
She reveals to Freydís Eiríksdóttir that she's had dreams in which the water next to
Kattegat recedes into the ocean, revealing a bounty of fish.
The people believe it to be a blessing from the gods, but when the water returns, it causes
widespread death and destruction.
Of course, it's the tsunami that Haakon has dreamed of, and one that was foreshadowed
long ago in Season 4 of "Vikings."
The opening credits sequence of "Vikings" always used the song "If I Had a Heart" by
the Swedish singer-songwriter Fever Ray, though the imagery was tweaked and updated from season
to season.
In Season 4's opening credits, a brief shot shows a tsunami wiping out Kattegat, but it
doesn't come from the sea — it comes from the direction of the valley.
How can a tsunami come from inland?
As "Vikings: Valhalla" Season 1 nears its end, Kåre and Olaf launch their assault on
Kattegat.
They trick Haakon and her allies into thinking they will use the high tide provided by the
wolf moon to attack from the sea, when in fact, they plan to come from the other side,
throwing a wave of Christian warriors at the city.
While planning his attack, Olaf remarks, "The walls of Kattegat have not been breached
in over 100 years."
It's a throwaway comment about a bygone era to many of his men, but those who watched
"Vikings" will know exactly what he's talking about.
The Kattegat Civil War was one of the major events in the first series, fought between
the sons of Ragnar.
Lagertha decides to pounce when they are away from Kattegat, overthrowing Queen Aslaug.
Being Lagertha's son, Bjorn takes her side, while Aslaug's sons want revenge.
Forces led by Ivar the Boneless assault Kattegat but are defeated.
After calling in a favor from his uncle Rollo — now a powerful man in Frankia — Ivar's
forces return, and with the help of a thousand Frankish soldiers, the invading army forces
Lagertha to flee.
Ivar takes power, but he seals his own downfall by proclaiming himself a god and turning those
closest to him against him.
The walls of Kattegat are only fully breached by Bjorn and company because Ivar's wife Freydís
secretly opens a gate and lets them in.
A century later, Olaf manages to do it by force — but he has to flee within minutes
of his great victory.
Having secured his son's fleet, Canute's father, Sweyn Forkbeard, arrives to deal with the
men he deems traitors.
What is left of Olaf's army flees at the sight of his banners, and he's not far behind them.
When King Canute of Denmark decides to stay in England and rule the country, it surprises
Vikings and Saxons alike.
He needs the wealth of England to make his great Northern empire a reality, which is
why he decides to keep Edmund — the recently crowned replacement of the late King Æthelred
— as a puppet to control the problematic English nobles.
But before he gets to politics, he needs to know that all 11 nobles are serious about
their commitment to him, so he has 11 gallows erected.
He then sends Earl Godwin to fetch the nobles, who have been locked away.
The defiant noble from Northumberland can be seen fiddling with his fancy rings as he
insults Godwin which is a big mistake: Godwin invites him to go up and see the new king
first.
When the other nobles follow, one of the gallows is used to kill their counterpart from Northumberland.
Canute proceeds to give the remaining nobles a choice, and as he addresses them, he can
be seen holding something shiny in his hands.
It's clearly one of the rings that the noble from Northumberland wore so proudly.
He may be the new king of England, but he's still a Viking at heart.
Leif Erikson is one of the most famous Vikings of all time, credited with establishing a
settlement in North America some 500 years before Christopher Columbus arrived in the
New World.
At the beginning of "Vikings: Valhalla," however, Leif still lives in the considerable shadow
of his father.
Erik the Red is a notorious murderer who was banished from Norway and then from Iceland
for his crimes, forcing him to make a home on Greenland.
When Leif arrives at Kattegat with his sister, Freydís Eiríksdóttir, and a crew of Greenlanders,
he's recognized as the son of a dishonorable man.
He's even attacked for it, but he proves that he's not a killer by sparing the men who tried
to take his life.
"You heathen bastard, you're just like your father."
"You're wrong.
If I was just like my father, you'd all be dead."
Leif later reveals that the same "darkness" that drove his father lives in him, too, and
that he only feels calm and content when he's with fellow Greenlander, Liv.
The pair form a romantic relationship as part of King Canute's army, becoming closer still
after their comrades from the north fall in battle.
When Liv is killed, the darkness that Leif spoke of comes to the surface.
The Greenlander becomes his infamous father, and he kills so many men in his rage that
he's literally red, his chest and torso covered in blood.
When the Viking army arrives in England to avenge the slaughter of their people in the
St. Brice's Day massacre, they have to figure out how best to attack London.
They decide to follow the advice of King Olaf and attempt to approach London through the
marshlands, thought impassable by many.
Their approach is anticipated, however, and the scouting party is ambushed.
Some of Leif's friends are killed, and he's presumed dead.
As he appears to be slipping away, he opens his eyes to see a little local girl looking
down at him.
She places a cross in his hand.
Leif survives, and he can't help but wonder if the cross had something to do with it.
When Liv takes an arrow in the shoulder, and her chances of pulling through seem slim,
he secretly leaves the cross with her — and she also survives.
There are several little moments that hint at Leif moving away from Pagan beliefs and
embracing Christianity, some more subtle than others.
When Jarl Haakon sanctions a human sacrifice as they prepare to defend Kattegat, others
watch on in awe as the volunteer is killed, while the look on Leif's face suggests that
he's uncomfortable at best.
Ragnar flirted with Christianity during his lifetime, and it appears as though Leif will
do the same.
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