The TV series Vikings, which ran from 2013 to 2020 on the History Channel, tells the story of Ragnar Lothbrock, a Norse farmer who rose to prominence as one of history’s most fearsome Vikings. Over the course of its six seasons, Vikings follows Ragnar as he raids England, becomes a king, and sires sons who also go on to have illustriously violent careers as Vikings. Now the show’s spinoff, Vikings: Valhalla, is streaming on Netflix. This has viewers wondering: do you have to watch Vikings before you can watch Vikings: Valhalla? Will the new show make sense if you haven’t seen the first one, or is Vikings essential viewing?
Vikings: Valhalla takes place roughly 100 years after Vikings and focuses on another legendary Viking, Leif Erikson, as Leif travels to Norway to help his sister Freydis get revenge on a man who raped and tortured her. When the siblings arrive in Norway, they discover that the Vikings are preparing to attack England to get retribution for the St. Brice’s Day Massacre, in which the English slaughtered innocent Norse families living in the Danelaw (Viking-controlled Britain). Leif joins the Vikings on their conquest, traveling to England with Prince Harald of Norway and other historical figures, and soon finds that he’ll have to distinguish himself as a great warrior if he wants to survive.
A Century is a long time
The first episode of Vikings: Valhalla begins with a title card that sets the stage for the new series, mentioning that Ragnar’s exploits have “faded into legend.” This is your first clue that you don’t need to have watched the 89 episodes of the original series to follow the new one. Vikings: Valhalla focuses on new characters, whose only connection to Ragnar and his exploits are through stories and ancestral memory. Not only that, but the show makes clear right from the start that the Viking world has undergone some drastic changes, with Vikings settling in England and elsewhere, changing their geopolitical map enough that the major plot points of the previous show have been rendered more or less irrelevant. In short, you don’t need to have watched Vikings in order to understand the plot of Vikings: Valhalla.
Would watching the first series deepen your enjoyment of the spinoff? Maybe. But Valhalla is rich and enjoyable in its own right. Leif, Freydis, and the other characters are nuanced and likable. The conflicts between the Vikings and the English, and the Christians and Pagans within the Viking world, are complicated enough that at times you won’t be sure which side you’re rooting for. There’s more than enough to enjoy in Valhalla, even without the background information in Vikings.
So don’t fret! You can drop right into Vikings: Valhalla without having seen the original. All eight episodes are now streaming on Netflix.
(image: Netflix)
