Vikings Season 3 Premieres Tonight

Finally, the third season of Vikings premieres tonight on History Channel. It has been a long and harrowing offseason, but we have survived the unaccustomed peace and tranquility and are now prepared to raid once more. And with the prize of Paris being dangled before us, our bloodlust is at a fever pitch.

I have been a huge supporter of the show. Yes, inaccuracies abound, but the spirit has largely been there. Though this season, more than the previous two I am… nervous. The promotional banner above, with Ragnar looking pensive whilst holding the White Christ’s Cross, makes me uneasy. I hope they don’t go down the path they’ve been flirting with, a full-on conversion.

From the first episode, it has been clear, Ragnar has been marked by Odin and he has a destiny to fulfill… a destiny of blood and violence that ends in a pit of vipers, with the Allfather’s name on his lips.

I have high hopes for this season. It has made a name for itself by being a well-written, well-directed historical drama that gives equal time to the bloodthirsty violent world of these Northmen, but also the political intrigue and nuances of family life that surrounds them.

The cast has been nothing short of terrific, particularly Travis Fimmel’s Ragnar. It’s an odd performance, with Fimmel playing the Norse King as a somewhat quirky, deep thinker, who is restless and bored and eager to leave his mark on the world, even while, in his heart, he remains a farmer… but a farmer who has been called away by the gods from the fields of bounty to the fields of blood.

I’m eager to see where writer and creator Michael Hirst plans to take us, this season and beyond.