A lot has changed in Kattegat
Time flies onVikings.
Years pass by between episodes.
Boys grow into men, and men become warriors.
Credit: History
The past fades away but some sins are never forgotten.
Ragnar Lothbrok has returned after long years away.
Everyone is older: Friends, old lovers, enemies, sons.
History
Obviously, time has passed.
But Ragnar was different, because he was the most famous Viking in Scandinavia.
But for him, the shame of losing was too great to stay around.
History
But he was too famous to immediately replace.
I was never particularly interested in where he went to.
He probably was licking his wounds somewhere.
History
He probably never intended to come back.
But there were a couple of things he wanted to come back for.
We know what his sons mean to him.
One was to find out what had become of his sons.
The other was to deal with unfinished business, which was the settlement in England, in Wessex.
So, in this picture, Ragnar has returned, unexpectedly, shocking everyone.
He wants to recruit people to go back with him to Wessex, to right this wrong.
Lagertha and Floki are people we saw in episode 1, season 1.
But theres been this extreme disruption of collective relationships.
Hes disappeared, no one knew where hed gone.
So theres a recognition, I think, in that photograph, of both change and continuity.
The normal age when Vikings would die was 29.
So if youre above 29, youre doing very well.
You probably do feel old.
These are older guys thinking about their past and wondering how much of a future they have.
This is a very big thread in the story moving forward.
I cant exaggerate how big these changes will be.
Its Floki having to reimagine his whole life, who he is, what hes here for.
It will lead to quite extraordinary outcomes.
The thing that Floki has always wanted was for Ragnar to say that he loved him.
For Floki, Ragnar has always held back from that.
From Flokis point of view, Ragnar has slightly manipulated their relationship.
Ragnar sailed to victory on boats Floki built!
In this scene, Ragnar says to Floki, I love you.
Even now, Im welling up slightly.
Its a huge moment.
Floki cannot believe it.
Thats a new female character called Astrid [played by Josefin Asplund].
Shes become a part of Lagerthas life.
They are in a relationship.
And no one could really expect her to live totally alone, shes not that kind of a woman.
And Im not saying that shes suddenly discovered that shes a lesbian, thats not the point.
So shes with a woman, whos not going to want to do that at least initially!
It becomes a refrain: Ive been cheated on, betrayed, all my life.
And Im fed up.
It is still harder for a woman.
Shes had a lot of different experiences.
Shes with a younger woman.
She can teach this younger woman.
Astrid is partially based on that wonderful German student existentialist [Astrid Kirchherr].
She and her boyfriend went to see The Beatles when they were playing in Germany.
They were playing 12 hours a night, and they were just kids, really.
But thats where they were formed, really, The Beatles.
They were very talented students.
She was a very free spirit.
It really f- the Beatles up, because they came from Liverpool, you know?
Germany was a much more vibrant, challenging, contemporary society.
Astrid had affairs with a couple of them, and married Stu Sutclliffe, who then died.
Shes still alive, Astrid.
Ive always admired the hell out of her.
She designed their look.
Astrid appears, and isnt in awe of him at all, and kind of teases him.
He loves it, of course.
She appears really modern, in that encounter.
Astrid is a breath of fresh air into the show.
The Scandinavian society is growing up, too.Vikingsis one of the few shows in which children actually grow up.
In our show, weve followed Ragnars kids since they were born.
We started with a single boat full of warriors attacking one monastery, and now were showing huge armies.
The world is changing, and the world is getting slightly more sophisticated.
The Vikings were on Silk Road.
So a character like Astrid, who is acting like slightly more modern?
Viking society is, you know, pretty much based on revenge.
And Aslaug has been, since Ragnar disappeared, has been sort of the ruler of Kattegat.
All I can say is that that very, very deep and divisive relationship will culminate.
Were dealing with the endgame.
They believe in cross-cultural relationships.
They believe in trying to find farming, land for their peoples in other places.
They are open to compromises with Christians.
Whereas the liberal wing wants to move forward on the Silk Road, into cultural exchange.
Aslaug has just said No.
Were going back to the old ways, the old gods.
Its a little Taliban, if you want to think about it that way.
Im gonna destroy all the music cassettes.
Vikingsseason 4B is set to return to History in the fall.
