Warning: Spoilers ahead for Vikings: Valhalla Season 2. Turn your boat around until you've watched the full season!
Everyone who boarded the action-packed, frequently violent, double cross-filled boat for the Vikings: Valhalla Season 1 ending was really excited to see a lot of things go down in the second season. Now, we’ve all had a chance to use our Netflix subscriptions to get a look at how things shook out for Leif, Freydís, Harald, and a host of other characters with the new season, and it really didn’t disappoint.
As fans might still be absorbing what happened in Vikings: Valhalla Season 2, we can help you make sense of what went on in the critically praised historical drama by offering a recap of where each character was by the end of the season, so that we’re all fully ready to take in the next adventure when Season 3 is finally released. Here we go!
Leif And Harald Are Finally In Constantinople
Oh, boy. I know we were promised that the Vikings would travel a lot further in the second set of episodes, but I don’t think any of us expected any leg of their journey to be as difficult as the one undertaken by Leif and Harald after they left the future King of Norway’s uncle in Rus.
Harald and Leif spent most of the season attempting to get safely down the Dnieper River with a small crew/travelers who tagged along, so that they could get to Constantinople and Harald could buy an army to help him take back Norway, which was ripped away from him after the battle of Kattegat. Unfortunately, the trip was beset with difficulties like the river’s ice wall breaking earlier than expected, several good people dying, and, of course, their torture-filled time with those dangerous Pechenegs.
Luckily, the final moments of the Season 2 ending saw them finally arrive in the city, and with the favor of Emperor Romanos, to boot.
Freydís Is Leader Of The Jómsvikings In Pomerania
As disappointed as I was to see Freydís and Harald break up early in the season, and then also be separated for basically all of it, I cannot deny that the shield maiden had quite the story of her own, once again.
After our main trio was saved by the pirating, pagan Jómsvikings, Freydís decided to head to their secret stronghold because of a message she’d gotten from The Seer. However! This didn’t mean that her time with them was marked by peace and love. Instead, she was held captive by their leader, Harekr, until she gave birth to her son by Harald, then Harekr attempted to have her killed so he could keep the child as inspiration for his people.
Harekr, though, didn’t realize just how hard it is to keep our girl down, or just how much the locals already loved her, because she had enough of them on her side to help her recover in hiding from the difficult birth and then take on Harekr. Just as it looked like she was about to lose, the Jómsvikings stood up for her, and stoned Harekr to death, leaving her as the de facto leader of her fellow pagans.
Godwin Is Now A Member Of The Royal Family In England
This really did throw me for a loop. By the end of the first season, I was pretty convinced that Godwin wasn’t a power-grabber, but was instead simply interested in following any leader who’d help him stay alive. WRONG! The (relatively) newly minted Earl of Wessex was orchestrating a really looooooong con, as Season 2 revealed that he was slowly grabbing power so that one day a son of his could be King of England.
Godwin successfully seduced and became engaged to one of Queen Emma’s young ladies-in-waiting, Ælfwynn, and set her up to look like she knew about the plan to poison Emma. But, Godwin had found her older, estranged brother and gotten him to do the dirty work, all without Ælfwynn’s knowledge.
When Emma inevitably had the young woman tortured for info, she died, leaving Godwin without his supposed beloved and bride-to-be. When King Canute (who’d been off fighting in Denmark but had approved that marriage) returned, he decided to repay the loss by having Godwin marry his niece, Emma’s other lady-in-waiting, Gytha, making Godwin an official part of the royal family and getting him ever closer to his goal.
King Canute Is Reunited With Queen Emma In London
Toward the end of Season 1, Canute left his new kingdom in England to help fend off the Wend invaders of Denmark, and the fight clearly took quite a while. It wasn’t until near the end of Episode 6 that he returned, and Emma had to explain the attempt on her life, the actions she took after it, and her fear that Godwin was behind it all. It seems that Canute is on Godwin’s side right now, but something tells me that he’s smart enough to not fully trust him, and him marrying Gytha off to the man is likely a “keep your enemies closer” situation.
Queen Ælfgifu Is Her Son’s Regent In Kattegat
I was pretty much expecting Ælfgifu’s betrayal of Canute (though he fully deserved it) to lead to her death in Season 2, but her father-in-law, Forkbeard, decided on something else, answering an important question left after Vikings: Valhalla Season 1.
Though he was extremely angered by her plotting with Olaf to displace his son, once he had Olaf and his son in custody, he made a deal. Not only would he protect and train Olaf’s boy, but he would do so only as long as Olaf did the same for Ælfgifu’s son with Canute, Svein, who Forkbeard had appointed as King of Norway and made Ælfgifu his regent in their new home base at Kattegat.
Olaf Is Dead
At least I was right about this one! It seemed pretty clear by the end of Season 1 that no one could fuck over Canute and not have to deal with a very ruthless Forkbeard, who is very clear about protecting his son’s royal rule. Olaf did not last as leader in Kattegat for long, and by the beginning of Season 2 was being held captive by Forkbeard. But, as noted, he was given a much lighter sentence than the death that had previously been planned for him, when he was placed as Svein’s protector. This allowed Olaf to try and track down his own brother, Harald, and Freydís, whom he lied about and told the people of Kattegat were raising an army of Pagans specifically to take out Christians.
Leif was in the crowd for that speech and was able to let his sister and friend know that Olaf was hunting for them. Unfortunately for Olaf, when he finally located Freydís, she was already leading the Jómsvikings In Pomerania, and she had a plan that led to Olaf’s small fleet being taken out in one shot. She then battled him one on one, and won, running him through with a spear, but saving Svein and returning him to Ælfgifu in exchange for peace for Jómsborg.
Ooooh, boy! It’s pretty clear that Season 2 of Vikings: Valhalla left everyone in a very intriguing place, both physically and with what is to come in their stories. Now all we have to do is hold out until we can get to all of the drama ahead in the upcoming season! Until then, you can check out some shows like Vikings: Valhalla while you wait.
