SummaryThe Vikings sequel picks up more than a 100 years after the end of the History series and features Leif Erikson (Sam Corlett), Freydis Eriksdotter (Frida Gustavsson), Harald Harada (Leo Suter) and King William the Conqueror.
SummaryThe Vikings sequel picks up more than a 100 years after the end of the History series and features Leif Erikson (Sam Corlett), Freydis Eriksdotter (Frida Gustavsson), Harald Harada (Leo Suter) and King William the Conqueror.
From start to finish, Vikings: Valhalla Season 2 is a non-stop, breathtaking, utterly relentless foray, following beloved characters into the unknown as they seek their destinies. It is both utterly satisfying and so rich and packed with even more to come down the line that the wait for Season 3 now feels longer than ever.
Rooted in history but not beholden to it, the show might provoke one or two viewers to crack a book seeing if this is how it actually unfolded, which isn't a bad thing. Yet nor is that really necessary, with "Vikings: Valhalla" working plenty well simply as escapist drama, covering a great deal of story in a season that still leaves room for battles and brawls to come.
I watched the second half of the eight-episode season being relieved that even if Valhalla never quite reaches the heights of the Vikings mothership, the show it settles into becoming is pretty strong and satisfying on its own.
Valhalla is promising, offering an exciting new batch of characters, it needs to fix its pacing issue and lean into more of its strengths rather than trying to retread the path of history.
After a well-paced opening episode the plot starts to drag, mainly when it focuses on a female character, Freydís Eiríksdóttir (Frida Gustavsson), back in Scandinavia while the main action takes place in England. It is much better when giving us battle scenes, or the machinations involving Æthelred's callow son, Edmund, and shrewd widow, Emma of Normandy.