Vikings: Valhalla Review: Netflix Drops Violent Same Sequel Series

Sequels, reboots, and the sometimes unholy union of the two (“Requels”) are ubiquitous these days — especially on Netflix, where what’s dead may never die and the streaming service has revived more than a few dormant or waning projects. See: Texas Chainsaw Massacre, she, manifest, Designated Survivorand Lucifer; all Netflix originals now in one way or another.

but viking is a whole different ball game. The original series was History Channel’s first attempt at fiction television and a huge rating success out of the gate. The exploits of the great Ragnar Lothbrok, Bjorn Ironside, Lagertha or Ivar the Boneless were like on a smaller scale game of Thrones, with less of an emphasis on complex political intrigue than a world audience knew entering a new period. Also incredibly bloody raids.

netflix, Vikings: Valhalla, aims to capture that flash once again, just a bit further down the timeline in Viking history. And it comes to television when axe-wielding imitators are much more common. In other words: Valhalla needs to do more to stand out from the crowd – from historical fantasy epics and the Netflix glut alike.

What is Vikings: Valhalla?

Set 100 years after the events of the History Channel original viking, Valhalla increasing as the age of the Vikings is just coming to an end (although the Vikings on the show certainly don’t know that).

When the show arrives in the Kattegat, it’s hard to say what exactly will contribute to the downfall of civilisation. But there’s certainly plenty to choose from: Viking power struggles spurred on by religious differences? The waning influence in Europe? The ever-growing empire that the Vikings created and rule with an iron, often bloody, fist?

Who is behind Vikings: Valhalla?

viking Creator Michael Hirst stepped down as showrunner for this one, but he’s still on board as one of the executive producers. In his place is Jeb Stuart, the creator and showrunner of Valhalla. Stuart has a background in blockbusters and has written the screenplays for classics such as Die Hard and The fugitive.

Also instrumental to the show is Richard Ryan, a stunt coordinator who helped choreograph the fights Valhallaas well as Troy, Sherlock Holmes, The dark knight, and the original viking.

What is the pilot about?

Valhalla Being a Viking show, things start with a little bloodshed: the St. Brice’s Day massacre, when the British slaughtered the Viking communities on its banks. Harald Hardrada (Leo Suter), who is determined to one day become King of Norway, narrowly escaped with his life. A year later, he joins the rest of the Vikings who have been summoned to the Kattegat by King Canute (Bradley Freegard) to launch a counterattack against the English.

Among those arriving in the busy port city are Leif Erickson (Sam Corlett) and his sister Freydís (Frida Gustavsson), who have an ulterior motive to attend the Viking gathering. But while they pop up with other missions, they can’t resist getting caught up in the glory of Viking life in the 1000’s.

What is it really about?

While Vikings: Valhalla Inked for being about the end of an era, the show’s first season examines the waning days of a culture on a much quieter level. The more things change, the more they stay the same. For as much as the Christian and pagan Vikings disagree, they act and raid almost identically. They share clothes, hairstyles, even philosophies. Each side may turn their attacks against the other, but the villain, an Assassin’s Creed-style Christian Viking named Jarl Kåre (Asbjørn Krogh), still calls his soldiers “berserkers”.

And so ValhallaThe guiding ethos of as it moves forward revolves around how to deal with a massive cultural shift that will take time. There is no reason the Vikings will stop engaging in behaviors they have practiced for hundreds of years. But Norse/Viking identity is undeniably changing, either as a result of the broader web of religious idolatry or of geography.

When Leif and his group of Greenlanders arrive in the Kattegat, they feel like a throwback to an earlier era of Viking culture, more interested in going about their business and returning to a quiet life. What we do know about Leif’s future means that changes in Viking culture will push them ever further to the frontier, eventually reaching a realm they once thought mythical: North America. But their sense of Viking identity is challenged long before they make it to the New World.

Is Vikings: Valhalla good?

Valhalla will deliver, especially for those who are mostly craving a good viking clash. The battles are bloody and the soldiers angry.

At its best, season one lets complicated beliefs lie loosely side by side. These beats offer a softer look at cultural differences, which in the eyes of history are often misrepresented as dichotomy; People can hold different views within the same culture and this doesn’t really reflect their morality as a person. Freydís, a pagan, is brutal and vengeful, but not pointlessly cruel. Olaf Haraldsson (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson) is an asshole and also a believer in the merciful Jesus Christ.

Ultimately, the hardest part for the series will be stepping out of the shadow of the original. The arch of Valhalla

The first season of is broadly very similar to that of the original viking: You have different Viking factions intriguing against each other. Eventually they make their way to England, where English domestic politics begins to interweave and complicate the situation. Even the religious undercurrents aren’t far removed from Ragnar’s early flirtation with Christianity. It’s not that there aren’t any interesting moments in those conflicts or gripping combat sequences, but it feels like you’ve seen it before.

Also, it’s not as unique as it used to be. Where from viking felt like little else on TV back then — the obvious comparison to that game of Thrones omits a level of hatchery that feels more similar Hannibal — Valhalla feels like TV of the moment. The whole affair has a sheen that’s literally brighter on screen than its ancestor. viking had more of a detached artistry that guided the tone and style and allowed it to feel a little odd; Valhalla is more driving but loses some of the craziness of the original.

Perhaps the best example of their differences is in the opening credits: set to the otherworldly “If I Had a Heart” by Fever Ray, viking‘ was all capricious impermanence, heralding doom and conquest at the same time. Valhalla‘s – when played in full in the pilot episode – consists of wound string instruments and chants played over close-ups of silver runes flying against a nondescript background. It’s almost exactly the template Netflix uses for The Witcher.

The selection seems to be representative of how much television has moved in recent years viking left us. Fantasy epics, historical or not, aren’t as unique as they used to be. In just a few weeks, Netflix will launch the fifth and final season of The Last Kingdom (another Netflix rescue). stranger still works the way it is kingdom and Britanniaand that’s all before house of the dragon or witcher come back. Valhalla is not terrible. But it mostly feels like more of the same without having much of an identity of its own. In a crowded landscape, there’s not much to fight.

When and where can I watch Vikings: Valhalla?

All eight episodes of Vikings: Valhalla stream now on Netflix.