The upcoming Blu-ray release of Vikings season 5 includes a behind-the-scenes look at one of the series’ most memorable later-stage characters, in Bishop Heahmund. Played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who reunited with his Tudors creator and writer, Michael Hirst, Heahmund was depicted as a complicated man of faith, one who was prone to extreme violence in the name of his God, and who also had some unconventional relationships with the Northmen. Those relationships included a contentious rivalry with Ivar the Boneless (Alex Høgh Andersen) and a passionate love affair with Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick).
Meyers’s Heahmund came on board at the end of season 4, which proved to be a huge turning point for the series as longtime star Travis Fimmel would leave the role of Ragnar Lothbrok, allowing the story to move beyond his reign and focus on the tumultuous time period in which his sons attempted to follow in his footsteps. Heahmund wasn’t just a major new antagonist, though; he was a sign that a new era of Vikings was about to begin. And begin it did, as season 5 spent 20 episodes watching Ivar rise to power, as his brothers (and half-brother Bjorn) were left to choose sides.
As is usually the case with Vikings — and with nearly everything that Hirst is involved in — the truth behind the fiction is as compelling as the show’s fictionalized and stylized drama. And in this exclusive clip from the upcoming season 5 Blu-ray, Winnick, Hirst, and Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, who plays Alfred the Great, discuss the role Bishop Heahmund played in the grand scheme of things, and how his presence facilitated so many new storylines. Check out the behind-the-scenes clip below:
Winnick offers up an interesting appraisal of her character’s attraction to Heahmun, but it’s Hirst’s contribution that is perhaps the most enlightening, as he confirms Warrior Bishops were in fact a real thing and not just an oxymoronic mashup of a two words that sound really cool together. It goes a long way in showing that while Vikings certainly takes its fair share of dramatic liberties, the series is grounded enough in actual fact to perhaps compel some viewers to explore those realities a little more.
As far as special features go, this one delivers solid information that helps make Rhys-Meyers’s Bishop Heahmund a more significant character in the grand scheme of things. And though Vikings will soon come to an end, fans can always turn to the Blu-ray release of past seasons to get their historical epic fix.
Vikings season 5 will be available on Blu-ray and DVD on Tuesday, October 8, 2019.