What You Need To Know Before The Second Half Of Vikings Season 6

Vikings has been immensely good to the History Channel over the years, but even good things come to an end. After the final 10 episodes of season 6 air sometime in 2020 (via Deadline), there won't be a season 7. Yes, the end is near, and after the dust settles, all we can do is wait with bated breath for the upcoming Netflix spin-off, Vikings: Valhalla. 

Fortunately, Vikings still has a whole lot in store for us. The first half of the final season left us with a great many cliffhangers, and the viewers will still likely witness a whole lot of carnage, plot twists, and dramatic comebacks. Which Viking will prevail, and whose armies will the ravens feast on? What will happen to our favorite characters, and who will emerge victorious in the contest between Ragnar Lothbrok's (Travis Fimmel) sons? And how does Erik the Red (Eric Johnson), who Encyclopedia Britannica tells us is the father of reported Vikings: Valhalla character Leif Erikson, fit the equation?

At this point, there's absolutely no way to know. What is clear, however, is that the remaining episodes of Vikings season 6 will wrap up a great many storylines, and hopefully bring the saga to a deservedly epic conclusion. Here's what you need to know before the second half of Vikings season 6.

The mid-season finale of Vikings season 6, "The Best Laid Plans," was a fittingly shocking episode where the kings Bjorn Ironside (Alexander Ludwig) and Harald Finehair (Peter Franzén) clashed with Ivar the Boneless (Alex Høgh Andersen) and the Rus Vikings of Prince Oleg the Prophet (Danila Kozlovsky). The battle is bad news for both (Vi)kings, as Ivar seemingly manages to kill Bjorn, and Harald was gravely — possibly mortally — injured in the onslaught. For any other show, this would be a simple cliffhanger, but since Vikings has a history of killing off major characters that rivals Game of Thrones, there's no telling what will become of the two. Well, of Harald, anyway. Alexander Ludwig has told TV Guide that regardless of what happens to Bjorn, we shouldn't count him out quite yet. "He doesn't go without a fight," the actor says. "And whether or not he is still alive, you will see a version of Bjorn in some way, shape, or form." So, expect Ragnar's eldest to keep on keeping on, in one way or another.  

Unfortunately, the one major character who's relatively sure to stay in the land of the dead is Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick). She met her end rather conclusively at the hands of Hvitserk (Marco Ilsø) in the sixth episode of season 6, and her glorious Viking funeral and afterlife reunion with Ragnar made it pretty clear that she's out of the picture. 

Ivar and Hvitserk enter the second half of Vikings season 6 with even more red on their ledger than usual. With Hvitserk's murder of Lagertha and Ivar's maybe-killing of Bjorn, Ragnar and Aslaug's sons seem to be the victorious bloodline. But will they see the end of the show?

By and large, Ivar the Boneless has been the most evil dude Vikings has to offer. However, season 6 seems to have set the sociopathic character on a redemption arc, thanks to his surprisingly healthy relationship with young Igor (Oran Glynn O'Donovan). "I think that Ivar actually has been redeemed, to some extent, by his relationship with the boy," Michael Hirst told TV Guide. "Instead of being the narcissist he's always been, he's been able to be emotional, emotionally generous, and empathetic." Is it enough, though? And what's up with the Russian princess Katia, who is the spitting image of Freydis, the woman who painfully betrayed Ivar? Alicia Agneson plays both parts, and has told Metro that the likeness might only exist in Ivar's head. That can't be good.

Meanwhile, Hvitserk is in a dark place, and not only because he's once again on Team Ivar. He's an exiled, traumatized, addicted murderer, driven into madness by Ivar's decision to immolate his lover, Thora (Eve Conolly). Alex Høgh Andersen has told Entertainment Tonight that one of Ivar's brothers should absolutely kill him. By the looks of it, said brother may very well be Hvitserk. 

Vikings has always enjoyed the occasional touch of the unexplained, with some characters firmly rooted in reality and others experiencing all sorts of religious, magical and (maybe) imaginary things. In fact, there's a school of thought that the entire mid-season finale might have been one. "The title 'Best Laid Plans' explains the entire episode," one Reddit user theorized. "The reason it seemed like everyone was [astral] projecting everywhere is because the battle hasn't even begun. What if most of the episode is Bjorn imagining different strategies and scenarios based on Ivar's plans?" 

In an interview with TV Guide, creator Michael Hirst indeed confirmed that there were at least some shenanigans flying around. "I can't tell you too much, but what I can tell you is the [mid-season premiere] is an extraordinary episode," Hirst said. "And a number of things that you thought were true at the end of [the mid-season finale] proved not to be quite true."

Speaking of the mystical side of Vikings, the fan-favorite Floki Vilgerðarson (Gustav Skarsgård) spent season 5 knee-deep in the controversial Iceland storyline, and ended it buried alive in a cave. Floki has been absent from season 6, and Skarsgård has stated on Instagram that he never made it out. However, there are clues that say otherwise. 

According to SoundtrackTracklist.com, the Vikings season 6 soundtrack includes a track called "Floki Tells of Why He Left Iceland," which is a pretty big hint about the character's survival. The inclusion of major characters Ubbe (Jordan Patrick Smith) and Torvi (Georgia Hirst) in the Iceland storyline also seems to indicate that the show still has a few aces up its sleeve. Another potentially Floki-themed plot point is the emergence of Ray Stevenson's mysterious Othere, who's actually a former monk called Athelstan. This seems suspiciously similar to George Blagden's character of the same name and vocation ... whom Floki killed in season 3. Hmm.

Yeah, Floki might make a big comeback in the remaining episodes of season 6. In fact, one fan theory (via Screen Rant) says that Floki is destined to become the next Seer, which the show has actually foreshadowed with the respect the original Seer (John Kavanagh) paid to him. Oh, and thanks to Ivar murdering Kavanagh's Seer in season 5, there is a job opening ...

With Lagertha definitely dead, Floki reportedly dead, and Bjorn possibly dead, the original cast of Vikings is getting very, very thin. However, there's one major season 1 character who's still around: Ragnar's brother, Rollo (Clive Standen). The invincible Viking warrior, who left his home to become the Duke of Normandy, has been conspicuously absent from the events of season 6 so far. It just so happens that Rollo firmly believes that Bjorn is his biological son instead of Ragnar's (via Screen Rant). It's easy to imagine that Ivar driving a sword through King Ironside would make Rollo angry, so everyone's favorite hulking berserk might very well decide to leave his fancy castle, gather his armies, and sail off to slap his nephew around.

Understandably, Standen acts coy about Rollo's possible return for the second half of season 6, though he's quite adamant that the character hasn't died offscreen or anything. "I'm not allowed to say," the actor told the New York Post. "But Rollo never dies. Can't kill Rollo. I think I am one of the only original cast members that can hold their hand up and go, 'I'm still alive! Still out there somewhere in the world!'" 

Wessex is an important Vikings location, and though we didn't see much of it during the first half of season 6, it looks like King Alfred (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) is going to return with a vengeance for the second half. In February 2020, the actor shared an Instagram post that showed a ferocious-looking, bloodied Alfred, accompanied by a caption that promised mayhem: "Vikings 6B hitting your screens later this year. Be prepared for the wrath of Alfred 2.0!" Interestingly, he also mentions that the picture was taken by Alex Høgh Andersen, so it seems that his Ivar and Alfred 2.0 will settle the differences between the Saxons and the Vikings for good. 

According to Michael Hirst, the showdown should be pretty epic. "There is another Viking army that goes to England and the battles, and the warfare is pretty pivotal in the history of the show and also the history of the real Vikings," Hirst told Variety. "There are big set pieces, and there's a lot to play for. By this stage, when they go back to England, Wessex is the last Saxon kingdom left. Every other kingdom in England has fallen to the Vikings."

While this might not bode well for Alfred, he may have a surprising ally. The last track on the Vikings season 6 score is titled "Hvitserk Gets Baptised" (per Soundtracklist.com), so Hvitserk might stand on Alfred's side as the Christian Saxons prepare to face the Vikings one last time.