Vikings: Valhalla Season 2 Review and Summary

Vikings: Valhalla Season 2 continues the journey of Season 1 right after Jarl Olaf’s failed attack on Kattegat. Things get complicated for Olaf, as he is now a captive of King Sweyn Forkbeard and further from his rightful claim of the throne of Norway. Things turn out unexpectedly and Olaf must try to carve a position for himself if any.

To catch up, read our review of Vikings: Valhalla Season 1 below.

Vikings: Valhalla Season 2 Review and Summary

This post is both a review and a summary of Vikings: Valhalla Season 2. That is to say, it may contain spoilers.

Leif’s Grief

Leif Eriksson is deep in his grief after losing his close friend and lover, Liv, and is out hunting for Olaf and his men as she died in their attack on Kattegat. His hunt brings him back to Kattegat where Olaf is now a prisoner of Sweyn Forkbeard. Forkbeard and his grandsons rescued Kattegat and now he has to deal with Jarl Olaf and his men. There, Leif meets Jorundr, played by Stanislav Callas, a Jomsviking curious about his sister Freydis.

Svein’s the New King

Sweyn Forkbeard tells Olaf that he will not execute him. Instead, Forkbeard installs his grandson, and King Canute’s son, Svein, played by Charlie O’Connor, as the new King of Norway and commands Olaf to protect him. Failure to do so, he’ll execute Olaf’s son Magnus, who he intends to raise in his court, and promises Olaf that one day Magnus will ascend to the throne of Norway. Displeased, Olaf has no option but to comply to save the life of his beloved son. The people of Kattegat aren’t at all happy with these developments, least of all Leif.

Freydis and Harald

Freydis and Haaland have been living in the Norwegian wilderness ever since the attack on Kattegat. Harald wants to go back and notify Forkbeard of King Canute’s promise of Norway’s throne to him and Freydis agrees to join him. At the same time, Jarl Olaf vows to get rid of Harald and instructs his men to go find him and Freydis and kill them. Leif gets wind of this and quickly follows the men, and when they are about to capture Harald and Freydis, he intervenes and saves his sister and Harald.

Jomsborg

Freydis tells Leif that she is pregnant and “with child” and that Harald does not know. At the same time, Jorundr, the man Leif had met in Kattegat is rescuing refugees running away from the pagan purge by Jarl Olaf and is taking them to “the new Uppsala”, a place called Jomsborg. Leif, Freydis, and Haaland have no choice but to follow him as Olaf and his men are quickly approaching. Freydis notes that Lief still speaks to Liv’s ghost and asks him if maybe it is him who has not let her go and not her who’s not let him go.

Different Paths

Jorundr saves the trio from Olaf and they leave into the sea. When they get to the Jomsviking ship, Jorundr informs Freydis that he’d come for her to take her to the new Uppsala, and she and Harald and Leif part ways. Harald and Leif go on to Novgorod in Rus where his uncle, Yaroslav the Wise, will give him an army to come back with and take the throne of Norway. Freydis and Harald say their goodbyes as she does with her brother Leif, and they go on their different paths.

Queen Emma vs Earl Godwin

Back in London, Queen Emma survives an assassination attempt that she later suspects to be Godwin’s doing. She goes as far as to torture his lover and one of her maidens, Ælfwynn, but she still doesn’t learn the truth. The poor Ælfwynn is tortured to death at the behest of the queen, something Queen Emma repents.

After investigating, she learns of ‘The Bear’ as the one behind the assassination attempt. She investigates and later discovers that that is a name given to John Fletcher, a man who’d been Godwin’s guardian.

King Canute returns to England after defeating the Wends in Denmark and gives the hand of his niece Gytha, played by Henessi Schmidt, to Godwin for marriage. Godwin had always dreamed of one of his sons being King and since Gytha was of a royal line, that was now possible.

Since he has the support of Canute, Queen Emma cannot do much but she gifts Gytha The Bear’s ring to wear as a necklace and “to never remove” it. Godwin sees it and knows that Queen Emma knows.

Novgorod

When Harald and Leif reach Novgorod, Harald is welcomed by his uncle Yaroslav. Yaroslav, on learning that Harald wants an army, tells him that he’s come all this way for nothing. He tells Harald that he cannot give him his army as their southern trade routes have been closed due to attacks by a tribe called the Pechenegs and he, therefore, needs King Canute and his English kingdom for trade. Consequently, he cannot risk angering King Canute.

Seeing Liv Again

In Novgorod, Leif discovers that there is an opium house and there are myths that when one inhales the smoke, they speak to the dead. He goes in and inquires and inhales the smoke. He sees Liv again and in a stupor, follows her to the top of a building where Liv’s ghost is asking him to join her in Valhalla. He hesitates, and Liv disappears. He later passes out and is lucky not to have fallen to his death from the rooftop.

Mariam

Leif wakes up the next day in Mariam’s chambers. Mariam, played by Hayat Kamille, is an Arab woman he’d met earlier who is a scholar. Leif is intrigued by her study of the skies and galaxies. He is keen to learn from her and he asks her to teach him. She tells him that she is sick and wants to go to Constantinople to get treatment, as there is where she’ll find the best doctors. The journey is perilous and dangerous as there is the risk of attack by the Pechenegs.

The Journey to Constantinople

At the same time, Harald on disappointment after learning that his uncle will not provide an army, vows to buy himself one. He goes on to make some money in the fighting dens in Novgorod where he meets Lord Vitomir who is willing to pay him to facilitate a journey to Constantinople. Vitomir, played by Steven Brand, says that he has important treasure he’s taking to the emperor there and that he’ll pay Harald handsomely if he takes him and protects him from the Pechenegs since he’s seen that he’s a good fighter.

The Furs

With the money he’s paid, Harald buys furs that he intends to sell in Constantinople. When he goes to find a boat for the journey there, he meets Gestr, a slaver who tells him that he’ll give him space in his boat if he can protect them throughout the journey. Gestr has a few slaves and he, Harald, Leif and Mariam, Vitomir and his slave and treasure, and two con men: an African fighter Kaysan and his partner Batu, all head out with the ship on sleds, as the ice is yet to thaw on the river.

The New Uppsala

Back in Jomsborg, Freydis is welcomed warmly by Herekr, the leader of Jomsborg, and his wife and Jorundr’s mother, Gudrid, played by Yngvild Støen Grotmol. Freydis is appointed the new Gudija (priestess) in Jomsborg and she is led to the temple where she will stay. As time passes, she realizes that things aren’t as they should be as Harekr discriminates against the refugees and casts them out to live in the forest. When a young girl, Hrefna isn’t allowed to fight and is sent away to die in the forest, she intervenes.

Change is Inevitable

After Harekr, played by Bradley James, is back from one of his raids, he and Freydis’ relationship deteriorates after he is angered by the people joining her in the forest to pray for their safe return. Harekr does not want his people to mix with refugees and he attacks the refugees’ shrine where the people are praying and kills most of them. He even kills Jorundr’s girlfriend and he and Jorundr are no longer seeing eye to eye.

Taking Away Freydis’ Boy

Harekr wants to get rid of Freydis and after she gives birth, takes her son and commands Jorundr to kill her. Jorundr chooses not to and when he tries to sneak her and the boy away, Harekr catches him. Jorundr is taken to the wise ones of Jomsborg for his trial where Harekr accuses him of killing Freydis. The wise ones command that his hand be cut off and that he be exiled. His mother Lady Gudrid is devastated. Harker cuts Jorundr’s arm and Jorundr is cast away in a boat.

Back from the Dead

Harekr had thought Freydis was dead but she was being hidden by Hrefna and her mother. Freydis is in bad shape as some of the afterbirth had been left in her body after she gave birth to her son. Hrefna’s mother tells her that she’ll recover, but she’ll never be able to bear another child. Freydis is devastated and angry and chooses to go back to Jomsborg for her son.

On getting there, Harekr is dismayed and tries to spin the narrative but Freydis calls him out and challenges him to a fight to the death. When he’s about to kill her, Jorundr’s mother strikes him with a rock and the people soon follow and start stoning him. Lady Gudrid finishes the job and strikes him to his death.

The Temple is Open to All

Freydis later opens the temple to all as it had only been restricted to her. She also instigates some more changes in Jomsborg, including letting the refugees live together as equals with the people of Jomsborg. She unites the people and they can all freely worship the old gods in what is now truly resembling the new Uppsala.

Ælfgifu

Queen Ælfgifu of Denmark arrives in Kattegat where Forkbeard condemns her to stay. He accuses her of being greedy and commands her to stay in Kattegat as her son, Svein’s, regent. She hates being there but has no choice but to comply. Over time she develops a liking to Jarl Olaf and the two have an affair. By this time, Olaf has learned that his brother went to Novgorod and he goes there to meet his uncle. His uncle tells him that Harald left for Constantinople and that he did not come to Novgorod with a woman.

Attacking Jomsborg

Jarl Olaf, on his return from Novgorod, is keen to attack Jomsborg and kill Freydis. On the way, they come across Jorundr’s boat where Jorundr is nearing death, starved, and in bad shape. They rescue him and he tells them that Freydis is indeed in Jomsborg and that she’s had Harald’s son. Olaf sees the boy as a threat as he would one day have a claim to the throne of Norway and would likely challenge his son Magnus for it. With the help of Jorundr, who still thinks that Harekr is still alive, they find their way to Jomsborg and plan for an attack.

A Parley

Olaf and Jorundr parley with Freydis who tells them that Harekr is dead. Gudrid comes out in anger calling her son a traitor for leading Olaf to Jomsborg. She grabs him and hands him a note from Freydis while pretending that she’s condemning him. When Olaf’s men go on to attack one of the sentinels, Jorundr and some of the Jomsviking soldiers kill them but still signal to Olaf that the sentinel had been destroyed.

A Living Hell

When Olaf and his men enter Jomsborg, Freydis challenges him to a one-on-one fight where she also asks Svein to come to the harbor and join them for the best view. As she walks on the harbor, she uses a rope to release a flammable liquid, probably petrol or oil, into the harbor where the ships are and before long, ignites the oil burning the ships and all the men therein.

Olaf is in a rage and comes for her. She fights him and strikes him with a fatal blow where she strikes a spear through his side that penetrates and comes out the other side, like the horizontal wood of a cross. Olaf tells her that she’s not killed him but made him a martyr and that he’ll be remembered long after she’s forgotten. Freydis asks him who’ll help tell the story as all his men have perished in the living hell and hellfire that she unleashed.

Sparing Svein

When she approaches Svein with her sword, the boy begs for mercy and Freydis does not kill him. Instead, she takes him back to Kattegat and back to his mother Queen Ælfgifu. In exchange for returning the boy, she asks for peace from Kattegat for Jomsborg. She then heads back with her people and unlike before, when someone at the harbor asks her where she is Freydis “the keeper of the faith”, she proudly says Yes!

Thieves and The Pechenegs

Back on the journey to Constantinople, some aboard the ship come across a group of Varangian thieves who they hoodwink as Harald and Leif had gone to a nearby village to repair the boat’s rudder. The two come back and kill the men as the slaves also kill Gestr and everyone else proceeds on the journey.

They come across a waterfall and after some soul searching and everyone having to sacrifice, including Harald having to offload his precious furs to offset the boat’s weight, they decide to take it on. When the boat falls down the waterfall, everyone is scattered.

Harald is captured by the Pechenegs as Mariam hides in the boat. He is nearly torn apart but Leif together with some of the girls, including Vitomir’s daughter, who he’d disguised as a boy, save Harald and ride horses back to the boat.

Kurya

The group also had a Pecheneg, Kurya, with them as a guide. He was blind and was wanted by the Khan who was his brother and who’d killed his wife and blinded him. Kurya, played by Tolga Safer, is left at the river bank where he comes head-to-head with his brother.

As his brother maims him, Kurya blows a poison powder onto him and the khan tells his men to kill him before he quickly dies. The Khan’s men go on to cut Kurya in an attempt to kill him slowly, but Leif strikes him with an arrow to end the misery. Kurya believed that he’d become a bird and fly to his Allfather in Ochma.

Saying Goodbye to Mariam

As the group reaches the ruins of an ancient Greek temple, Mariam’s health is worsening and she is near death. Everyone says goodbye and Leif carries her to one of the rooms where they lie down as she shudders and life comes out of her. Leif is heartbroken as there’s nothing he can do and they couldn’t get to Constantinople in time.

Mariam dies peacefully after she asks Leif to tell him the story of the songr of the Hvalrs. The group buries her as Leif says a prayer in Arabic and English. Mariam had taught him a lot and even given him a key to her small house in Constantinople, where she told him there is knowledge and that he should use what he learns there wisely.

The Emperor Romanos of Constantinople

Not long after, the group is met by the Emperor Romanos of Constantinople. The emperor asks for Harald the Prince of Norway who was bringing him his treasure from Lord Vitomir. As it turns out, Elena, Vitomir’s daughter was the treasure and she was to become the Emperor’s bride. Harald had taken a liking to her but she tells him that he’ll now get anything he wants from the emperor for bringing him his treasure. The group finally reaches Constantinople.

Our Rating

Vikings: Valhalla Season 2 builds on the successes of Season 1 in a huge way. It is much more journey-oriented as the several characters each go on their own paths to reach their destinies, despite the ever-powerful hand of fate. Vikings: Valhalla Season 2 is much bigger, much better, and even more action-packed.

We loved the series and give it a 9.5/10 for just how intricate and interesting it is, and for the huge wins the protagonists finally enjoy after deep-cutting struggles. We totally loved it and you should definitely watch the series. Enjoy!

FAQ

How Many Episodes Does Vikings: Valhalla Season 2 Have?

Vikings: Valhalla Season 2 has 8 episodes, just like Season 1.

Will there be a Season 3 of Vikings: Valhalla?

Yes. There will be a Season 3 of Vikings: Valhalla that is expected to be released in 2024.