Vikings: Valhalla took viewers back to the pagan temple in Uppsala as Freydís was on a journey to discover her destiny, but the series had a twist up its sleeve and saw the destruction of the temple by Jarl Kåre, a twist setup by Ragnar’s trip there in Vikings season 1. Created by Michael Hirst, Vikings premiered on the History Channel in 2013, and even though it was originally planned to be a miniseries, the audience was instantly captivated by the stories of Ragnar and company, allowing the series to live on for six seasons. Vikings came to an end in 2020, but that wasn’t the end of the stories from the Viking Age.
As there are more characters and stories to explore from other eras from the Viking Age, a sequel series was announced in 2019. Titled Vikings: Valhalla, it’s set over a century after the events of Vikings and as such it follows new characters, with some of them related to those from the main series. Valhalla focuses on Leif Erikson (Sam Corlett), Freydís Eiríksdóttir (Frida Gustavsson), and Harald Sigurdsson (Leo Suter) as they embark on a journey that takes them across oceans and battlefields, this with the conflict between Vikings and English royals (pagans vs Christians) as the backdrop. Although none of the main characters from Vikings appear in Valhalla, they are mentioned from time to time due to their legacy, and some of their actions have had a direct impact on the events of the sequel series.
Vikings: Valhalla takes viewers to three key settings: Kattegat, London, and Uppsala, the latter as that’s where the pagan temple is located. As Leif joined Harald, Olaf Haraldsson (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson), and Canute (Bradley Freeman) on their journey to attack England, Fryedís stayed in Kattegat and was sent to Uppsala by Jarl Haakon (Caroline Henderson) to learn more about the gods as well as about her destiny. On her way there, Freydís and company came across a Christian berserker and killed him, but that only caught the attention of another one: Jarl Kåre (Asbjørn Krogh Nissen), who after learning that Freydís is “The Last” and having a brief conversation with The Seer, set out to destroy the temple in Uppsala, Kattegat, and kill Freydís.
Kåre and his men completely destroyed the temple in Uppsala and killed all the people in it, and this twist was somewhat set up in Vikings season 1, the first time the Uppsala temple showed up. Ragnar and his family arrived at Uppsala to make offerings to the gods and brought Athelstan with them with the purpose of sacrificing him. However, as Athelstan was still a Christian, he was deemed unsuitable for the ritual and so Leif (another Leif, of course) took his place. A Christian was an unworthy sacrifice for the gods at the Uppsala temple, and a century later, it was a Christian and his followers the ones who destroyed Uppsala, as in their eyes, the unworthy ones are the pagans. However, not all of Kåre’s plans to wipe out paganism worked, as Kattegat was ultimately taken by the Danes and Freydís killed him, further cementing her status as “The Last”.
The Uppsala twist in Vikings: Valhalla season 1 is a dark and tragic mirror of Ragnar’s trip there in Vikings season 1, but luckily for the remaining Vikings and pagans, Freydís is still alive and stronger than ever, and she surely won’t let this tragedy go unnoticed. Freydís’ story in Vikings: Valhalla is only getting started, as it’s to be seen if her beliefs will change at some point, if she will rebuild the Uppsala temple, and how she will fulfill the prophecy of being “The Last”.
