Spoiler Warning: Details for the January 15 of Vikings Season 6 entitled “The Ice Maiden” are discussed below!
Grab the emotional stabilizer of your choosing because it is time to dig into how the latest Vikings episode honored Ragnar and Lagertha. As teased, Season 6 said goodbye to Lagertha with a full-blown Viking funeral. It was not until the final moments that yours truly really got choked up, and it had everything to do with Vikings’ nod to Ragnar and Lagertha’s relationship.
Ragnar and Lagertha did not have the most amazing marriage. Well, they did, until Ragnar ruined it. Regardless, I still believe they were the loves of each other’s lives. In the final moments of Vikings’ latest episode, Season 6 paid tribute to that. Following Bjorn’s thankfully included speech, Ragnar and Lagertha’s little granddaughter went out to look through the ice as the ship carrying Lagertha’s body sank.
As she looked down, Lagertha was shown transforming back into her younger self. Goodbye prosthetics! She ultimately ended up in the arms of Ragnar, circa what almost had to be Vikings’ first season. This was a time when Ragnar and Lagertha were deeply in love and mostly happy. All these years later, their granddaughter watched their visages appear, and then float away.
Despite everything, I am happy that Vikings brought it back to the beginning and acknowledged Ragnar and Lagertha’s bond. It was not a perfect one. However, it was a crucial part of Lagertha’s life journey. It was also a marriage I have always wished would have lasted so much longer than a single season. There was so much chemistry between Katheryn Winnick and Travis Fimmel!
It was nice for Vikings to go back and remember the good times, especially as it turns another page in its final chapter. Lagertha’s death is a massive part of that. For so long, Vikings was about Ragnar and Aslaug’s marriage. For this fan, though, nothing could destroy the foundation that Vikings had set up in its first season with Ragnar and Lagertha.
To hear and see them together one last time after Vikings’ numerous characters had mentioned their reunion in Valhalla was great. It was also done imaginatively. This episode was hard to watch at times (that voluntary human sacrifice), but the Ragnar/Lagertha moment was a welcomed highlight. Also worth mentioning was the excellent and moving score that played over Lagertha’s ascent.
To me, the critical reactions in this Season 6 episode were Bjorn’s response to his mother’s passing. He sensed it before his suspicion was confirmed, as well as the ending moment between Lagertha and Ragnar. Could I have gone for Rollo learning about his long-time love’s passing? Certainly. Vikings viewers will have to wait and see if he ever weighs in.
See how Vikings continues in the wake of Lagertha’s death when new episodes air Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on History. The Season 6 return of the historical drama is one of this winter's premieres.
