‘Vikings’ Season Premiere: Lagertha To Be Queen Alongside Ivar The Boneless?

With just a few weeks to go before the much-anticipated Vikings season premiere on The History Channel, speculation about the direction of the show is at an all-time high. As fans of the Vikings series are well aware — especially if they’re up on their Vikings history — this will probably be the last go-round for Travis Fimmel, who plays the beloved Ragnar Lothbrook on the show. But the question now remains: who will rule Kattegat in Ragnar’s place, once he (spoiler alert!) goes off to Valhalla after an unfortunate confrontation with King Aelle?

According to Gamenguide, the Vikings season premiere will answer these questions by making Lagertha the Queen of Kattegat, with Ivar the Boneless, Ragnar’s youngest son with Aslaug, as King. In a conversation with Michael Hirst, the show creator, Lagertha — who is, after Ragnar, the most popular character on the critically acclaimed show — is going to be facing a whole new set of responsibilities in the upcoming seasons, and some of the challenges will prove to be quite intense for her.

“I kept saying to Katheryn, ‘I’m gonna make it harder and harder for you down the line.'”

No doubt that, between the death of her beloved Ragnar and the various responsibilities of her Earldom — not to mention her pending vengeance against that home-wrecking Aslaug — Lagertha is going to have her hands full this season.

Meanwhile, Deadline Hollywood is reporting that the Vikings season premiere is moving to a new night and time. Fans who are expecting the premiere to air on The History Channel on Thursdays at 10:00 pm EST need to re-set their DVR’s for Wednesday at 9:00 pm EST if they wish to catch the first airing. Deadline is also reporting that Ragnar will be seen returning to Wessex to settle some unfinished business between himself and King Ecbert (namely, the massacre of the Viking settlers in England), while Bjorn will be sailing off to the Mediterranean in a brand-new boat built for him by none other than Floki.

Of course, wherever King Ecbert goes, King Aelle follows — so there is some speculation that Ragnar will be sailing off to Valhalla right in the season premiere. Could it be possible that this is truly the end of our Ragnar — and if so, who will the story shift its focus to?

According to Parent Herald, the Vikings season premiere could mean that the show will shift its focus to two characters that we’ve come to know and love — and one that we’ve already heard about in passing. The first character, of course, is the aforementioned Bjorn, who will be spending most of his days in the Mediterranean, where he will conquer most of the countries until he meets the Saracens, after which he’ll return to Scandinavia as a rich man and live out the rest of his days as a land baron. The second character is Ivar the Boneless, who — though he’s little more than a sidebar right now — will eventually become one of the most fearsome, and famous, Vikings in the world.

But the third character is a surprising one: King Alfred (whom, it is rumored, will be played by former Tudors actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers), the illegitimate son of Athelstan and Judith of Flanders, who is the favorite grandson of King Ecbert. History teaches us that Alfred — known as Alfred the Great in his home country — is one of the most beloved kings, who ruled benevolently while uniting the different, separate kingdoms of England. It should be interesting to see how the issue of his questionable parentage plays out!

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[Featured Image by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]