Vikings: Valhalla has ended after three seasons, and I can’t believe how the show failed its best (and, arguably, most important) character. Set over 100 years after the events of Vikings season 6, Vikings: Valhalla explored stories from the final years of the Viking Age. As such, it followed a new group of characters, led by Leif Erikson (Sam Corlett), Freydis (Frida Gustavsson), Harald (Leo Suter), King Canute (Bradley Freegard), and Queen Emma of Normandy (Laura Berlin), all of them connected to Viking history in different ways.

Vikings: Valhalla kicked off with St. Brice’s Day massacre, after which King Canute gathered many Viking warriors, including Harald and his half-brother Olaf Haraldsson (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson), to attack England in revenge. What followed were Canute becoming the first Viking King of England, Harald fighting for the throne of Norway, Freydis becoming the leader of the Jomsvikings, and Leif learning about science, math, geography, and more. Vikings: Valhalla prepared Leif for his most important storyline, but now that the show is over, it’s disappointing to see how much it failed Leif Erikson.

Vikings: Valhalla Teased Berserker Leif & Quickly Forgot About Him

Leif’s Dark Side Wasn’t Explored

Throughout the three seasons of Vikings: Valhalla, Leif was the calmest of the show’s main characters. In season 1, Leif was quiet but smart and skilled and used his intelligence and knowledge to come up with the plan that would bring London Bridge down, allowing Canute to become King of England. Leif was also skilled in combat, and would fight alongside his crew and allies whenever needed – however, Vikings: Valhalla’s season 1 ending teased an important change in Leif that, sadly, the show quickly forgot about.

At different points in season 1, Leif mentioned his father, Erik the Red (Goran Višnjić), and his bad reputation in Iceland. Erik the Red was banished from Iceland, leading him to establish a settlement in Greenland, where Leif and Freydis grew up. The exact reasons for Erik’s banishment weren’t revealed in Vikings: Valhalla, but Leif mentioned he saw him brutally beat a man in front of his children (and after seeing what he did in season 3, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had been banished for committing murder, like the real Erik the Red).

Leif spoke of a darkness that lived in him and came from his father, and in the final episode of Vikings: Valhalla season 1, Leif brutally killed some of Olaf’s men who were about to assault a woman. The final shot of season 1 was Leif, covered in blood, holding his ax, and screaming, teasing a berserker transformation in him. However, season 2 completely forgot about that, and, instead, he was haunted by visions of Liv, his girlfriend who was killed by Olaf.

Although Leif continued to fight in the rest of Vikings: Valhalla, we never saw berserker Leif or any hints of him again. While this was in part good as Leif separated himself from his father and his bad reputation, it only makes me wonder (and makes me a bit frustrated, too) why berserker Leif was teased in the first place if the series wasn’t even going to follow his journey of personal transformation in that regard.

Vikings: Valhalla Took Too Long To Give Leif A Purpose

Leif Spent Too Long Following Harald

Perhaps my biggest frustration with how Vikings: Valhalla handled Leif Erikson is that it took too long to give him a purpose. Throughout seasons 1 and 2 (and the beginning of season 3), Leif followed others on their journeys and didn’t have a clear path. Leif arrived in Kattegat with Freydis and their crew because Freydis was looking for the Christian Viking who assaulted her years before; he later joined Canute and the rest in their invasion of England to pay for what Freydis did; Leif then decided to travel with Harald to Novgorod and later to Constantinople, where he found his passion for knowledge.

It wasn’t until the attack on Syracuse that Leif was finally given a purpose: to find the “golden land” he had seen when he was younger. Leif finally parted ways with Harald and pursued his dream, which led him to Greece to meet a cartographer who could help him. The problem was that this happened too late in Vikings: Valhalla, leaving not enough time for the show to properly explore and develop Leif’s new story, which leads me to my other problem with how the show covered Leif Erikson’s story.

Vikings: Valhalla Didn’t Get To Explore Leif’s Most Important Story

Vikings: Valhalla Set Up Leif’s Biggest Story

When it was announced that Vikings: Valhalla would feature Leif Erikson as one of its main characters, I was excited about the show covering the trip that led him to North America, which he then called “Vinland” (“Land of Wine”) – but as I said above, it took too long for the show to give Leif a purpose, and even though it set up his journey to Vinland, it happened too late for it to be properly explored.

Vikings: Valhalla ended with Leif and Freydis sailing away in the ship that King Canute gave Leif (and a crew also from Canute), leaving it up to the audience’s imagination whether they made it to the golden land, if Freydis ever returned for her son, and what they did in Vinland. As much as I loved Vikings: Valhalla, my biggest problem with it is that it doesn’t feel like it planned the fates of Freydis and Leif well enough, and the way it constantly failed Leif was very disappointing.