Vikings follows the adventures of Ragnar Lothbrok the greatest hero of his age. The series tells the sagas of Ragnar's band of Viking brothers and his family, as he rises to become King of the Viking tribes. As well as being a fearless warrior, Ragnar embodies the Norse traditions of devotion to the gods, legend has it that he was a direct descendant of Odin, the god of war and warriors.

I was pleasantly surprised by this out of nowhere new show.
I think it warrants it's own thread, to spread the word if nothing else.
Don't be discouraged by the fact that it's airing at the history channel, it's that good - 5 episodes so far.

 

I second this. Pretty good show. Have been following it since it came out.

 

Yeah, the lead actor has a lot of screen 'presence'. I'm pleased that it's based on sagas that I don't know much about, since I've already read the Eddas, some mythological sagas, and the Vinland sagas. A story based on the Viking raids into Britain and Europe will be interesting to watch.

The odd glimpses of Odin and other references to Norse paganism were nicely done and I'm looking forward to more.

The acting and production quality are both very good, more than I expected initially.

Altogether, it's a really promising series. I hope it attracts a lot of viewers and continues for several seasons.

 

There once was a hero named Ragnar the Red...

 

Fuck necros.

I just started marathoning this show. I'm on the third episode right now, and dear god, is it awesome.

WATCH. IT. NOW.

 

Season 4 has just come out and it is awesome! I am surprised that I had to use the search function to find this thread and at how few had posted in it. Go watch this show right now!

 

Spoiler

Still too salty about Aethelstan to follow normally. I'll binge when it's cancelled/over.

 

Spoiler

I was not too sad to see him go. I liked his character a lot and found it very interesting when he was in england, but he has played his part in the show. The split was inevitable as he couldn't really continue to live with the vikings as a christian.

I think Rollo is by far one of my favorite characters. His flaws makes him human, and we can all recognize his feelings. That he has married the frankish princess is now set against his brother will make for an interesting season I think. I would still like to see more of england though as well.

 

Spoiler

I was pissed they killed him as well but I think it was kind of inevitable and I did like the way he went out. You should really start watching again though, this premiere was fucking fantastic.

Ragnar continues to be my absolute favorite character on this show though, in my opinion this entire show hinges on Fimmels performance and he just keeps knocking it out of the fucking park. The finale for last season was damned fantastic, when he popped out of the coffin and shanked the priest I honestly clapped. The maniac tongue combined with his absurdly blue eyes do crazy and dangerous so well its ridiculous

 

Agreed. New episode was fantastic and once again, Fimmels is gold. He's one of the best actors out there these days.

Rollo is going to get fucking stomped on so hard. I had a genuine moment of rage when he and the Frankish landed at the Norse camp even though it was telegraphed.

Floki... I'm kind of sick of his arc. Great character but the business needs to be put to bed one way or another.

Also looking forward to see how the portray Ivar and Sigurd when they're older. They've done a great job with Bjorn already.

 

Just started watching this last night; I'm partway through season 2.

....holy shit the blood eagle is brutal.

And if I go to any sort of Con or LARP event I'm cosplaying Floki.

 

Love this show. The season opener was fantastic, with a ton of stuff going on. I love Ragnar's comments to his wife.

To echo TheWiseTomato, if I ever go to a CON event I'll be dressing up as Ragnar.

 

I am not sure how he does it but Ragnar (and his actor) continue to impress me in every single episode - In my eyes he is probably the most interesting character I ever seen and I am amazed how "real" he feels.

I mean this series does an amazing job with portraying and developing their characters (just look at how far Bjorn has come) as well as the world and I think many shows could learn from this but Ragnar really tops everything I have seen - especially in a TV-series.

 

Ragnar seems to be going off the deep end quite a bit but a part of me is wondering whether it's all just an act. Though I don't know what kind of play he'd be attempting as before the arrival of King Harold he's had no real threats.

The fight between Bjorn and the berserker was brilliant and gruesome, exactly what I was looking forward to seeing.

Also, fucking rolled when Rollo left the Emoorer's table to pound gis daughter in the next room. The entire dinner party hearing and sitting around awkwardly just made the episode.

 

I kept waiting for them to make a toast to the emporer - "To grandchildren". I was disappointed when it ended up being a "Happy christmas" instead.

It would've dispensed the awkwardness even if it had come off as tactless.

 

Love this show -I'm a fan of Scandinavian myths and legends and unlike most movies on the topic, Vikings don't look like just somthing styled- you believe them from the first episode with black crows! I love this TV show from the 1st episode of 1st season. And though some historians argue that the story is not exactly historically fact-proven, I think it is what may have happened and is certainly in Viking spirit

 

Been watching this since release. For the record, I think that while the show peaked in like ~season 2, its still a really good show now.

This seasons starting to heat up I think, this episode brought some heat to the story. Theres a bunch of court intrigue, sick drama, and violent confrontations. Some brutal stuff goes down.

Spoiler

Ragnar makes a breakthrough with a new plan for the attack on Paris. Finehair and Halfdan are great new characters, a lot like Jarl Borg from season 2. The english court stuff ended in such a dark way, "poor Judith"... . But some of the other storylines like the guy in Kattegat and the weird french court intrigue around the Emperor and Count Odo are hit and miss.

Looking forward to seeing how things develop with the Paris attack, Looks like Ragnar's done it again, the absolute madman. Rollo might be hardpressed to defend the city without his forts and Odo.

Nah, this show really isnt that historical, it sacrifices a lot of the realities for style, but then you get a stylish show so its cool.

 

Thinking of checking this out in the near future. Out of curiosity if anyone's watched both though, how does this compare to The Last Kingdom?

 

Vikings > The Last kingdom

They are very similar, but the Vikings is probably better in every way. Not by much, but noticeably. specifically in dialogue.