Vikings season 6 spoilers: Series boss lays groundwork on ending
In case you have not heard the news just yet, Vikings season 6 is going to be the final batch of episodes on History, and that is definitely a hard pill to swallow since this is easily one of our favorite shows on the planet. This show has had an incredible run so far, brought us some remarkable characters that we care deeply about, and staged some battles the likes of which we have not seen on many other shows. Yet, all things must end eventually, and we are prepared to see who lives and who dies — just as we are also interested in seeing how we get from point A to point B. There is also a possible spin-off to think about (we have been long pushing for a Rollo spin off!), but it does feel as though that is so far down the road at the moment and they are still in some of the early planning stages.
So how did creator Michael Hirst conceptualize the final season and some of the things that he was hoping to accomplish? This is something that he discussed in an interview with Entertainment Tonight, with one of his top priorities being that he wanted to pay off as many different character arcs as possible:
I think that one of the things that was most important to me was that I was able to pay off storylines that I planted way back in season one and two, and I was able to get right through to season six. And after all, in the end, I wrote 89 episodes of the show, so it was plenty of time in the end to resolve some of these big issues. But the relationship between Ivar and Hvitserk (Marco Ilsø) and why Hvitserk had jumped ship and really left the brother he loved more, Ubbe, behind and went with Ivar — that is resolved, and it was so amazing and so emotional. I think I’ve resolved the storyline of Hvitserk and Ivar, but also Ubbe (Jordan Patrick Smith).
Ubbe and Bjorn come into the show much more in the end of 5B and share a stage with Ivar, and all their stories, good and bad, are paid off. So no one is going to be left [behind]. It’s not ambiguous. It’s a very satisfying finale. [Fans] might be weeping, but still, they’ll be happy that things will be resolved and all the storylines have resolved themselves. I felt very happy that I was able to do that, to properly pay off things I had set running seven years ago and was able to do justice to all these great characters.
We aren’t anticipating a particularly open-ended story here at the tail end of things. It feels like Hirst has a plan and then also a decision to stick to that plan. The final season is currently slated to launch later this year, and Hirst has already made it clear in other interviews that the show was not canceled – it is just ending which completely different and is something that we really appreciate hearing him say because it’s long bothered us to hear some media always call the end of a show a “cancellation” when that is not always the case.
How do you anticipate that Vikings season 6, and the series as a whole, should officially conclude/ Be sure to share some of your thoughts right now in the comments; meanwhile, stay tuned for more updates as we await more of the show.