The final season of Vikings gets an epic first trailer that announces a new reign is coming with Bjorn Ironside stepping into the role of his father, Ragnar. History’s flagship scripted series has been an international hit since it launched in 2013, chronicling the rise of Ragnar Lothbrok and his family over the span of many years as they sought new lands and engaged in conflicts with distant peoples, namely King Egbert of Wessex and his offspring, leading up to the rise of Alfred the Great.
Created and written by Michael Hirst, the series has made use of a formula similar to the one he used on Showtime’s The Tudors, which sought to heavily dramatize the historical record with regard to the reign of King Henry VIII. Unlike The Tudors, though, Vikings made its mark through the use of some surreal elements, bordering on the hallucinogenic. All of which was amplified by the suitably remote performance of Travis Fimmel as Ragnar. But the series was always about more than just Ragnar, as it proved when the character finally met his end and the story continued apace, focusing on his former wife Lagertha and his many sons, namely Bjorn Ironside and the possibly psychotic Ivar the Boneless.
With that kind of history behind it, Vikings is now set to embark on its sixth and final season, and the new trailer and poster is not at all shy about where things are headed. The season’s tagline of ‘A New Reign Begins,’ accompanies an image of Bjorn looking very much the son of Ragnar. And after all the bloodshed of season 5, it stands to reason that Bjorn will be unseating his half-brother Ivar before the story is all said and done. Check out the trailer for Vikings season 6 below:
If nothing else, the final season looks to be as action-packed as all the previous seasons combined. Sure, it’s likely just a solid editing job on behalf of the marketing team, but nevertheless, Vikings season 6 is clearly aiming to go out with a crescendo of violence as Bjorn and Ivar are pitted against one another for the future of Norway.
Like season’s past, Vikings season 6 will be split up into two parts, which means that while this is indeed the final season, the show itself will not come to an end for a while. But considering the show’s popularity, it certainly looks as though Hirst and the rest of the Vikings team have assembled an epic conflict on which to bring the equally epic story to a close.
Vikings season 6 begins with a two-hour premiere on Wednesday, December 4 @9pm on History.