Season 4 Of ‘Vikings’: Absolutely Everything We Know So Far

This year at San Diego Comic Con, the cast and crew from History Channel’s Vikings were fairly tight-lipped about Season 4 of the series based on the viking sagas. However, there was some new information released. Let’s have a look at what we know already about season 4 of Vikings.

WARNING: This article contains potential spoilers for Season 4 of History Channel’s Vikings. If you have not viewed all available episodes in this television series, please proceed with caution.

Probably the most important information released during San Diego Comic Con was the Season 4 promo video and the news that Vikings fans would be getting two seasons for the price of one after Katheryn Winnick (who plays Lagertha) announced during an interview with IGN that season 4 of Vikings would run for “double the amount.” While she stopped short of saying there will be 20 episodes of Vikings instead of the normal episode run of nine to 10 episodes per season, it does mean that Season 4 of Vikings will run for longer than normally anticipated. Although, the Vikings IMDb page still lists Season 4 as containing ten episodes.

Another important thing Vikings fans are eager find out about is the fate of Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel). In Season 3 of Vikings, his suffered a devastating blow when he fell during battle. While Vikings writer and creator, Michael Hirst, lulled everyone into believing Ragnar was dead, he managed to surprise people of Frankia and kill a few in the process of jumping up out of his coffin and attacking Paris from inside the walls. However, he was still badly injured as a result of the initial fall and was last seen in Vikings aboard a longship and returning to Kattegat. It appears Ragnar will survive at least part way into Season 4 of Vikings, although his fate was barely touched on during the Q&A panel at Comic Con other than the fact there will be a significant time jump, which indicates that even after time has passed, Ragnar is still not back to his normal fighting fit form. Michael Hirst did reveal a little more to The Hollywood Reporter about the fate of Ragnar in Season 4 of Vikings though.

“Ragnar has managed to return home and it’s been a fairly long journey back, but he’s still desperately ill — he’s at death’s door. Some of the early parts of next season are about the possibility of him dying and what are the ramifications of that. Who’s going to rule and what will it mean if the great Ragnar Lothbrok dies now? It sets up all future possible conflicts about the consequences of him dying. You can see the people cueing up to claim power. Of course the other thing we left hanging from season three was what Ragnar said on the boat to Floki (Gustaf Skarsgård): ‘I know you killed Athelstan (George Blagden).’ So clearly we have to deal with those consequences now that it has been revealed publicly. That is a big part of the early on drama.”

Besides having to deal with Floki killing his friend, Ragnar will also have to deal with the fact his brother, Rollo (Clive Standen) has married a Frankia princess. While, at first, Rollo sees the marriage proposition as as a “win-win scenario,” he soon learns just how much it is considered a betrayal by his fellow vikings. As Clive Standen told Entertainment Weekly, Rollo really didn’t think the who whole thing through, after all, “he’s got nothing to go back for in Kattegat anymore.”

Ragnar also survives long enough to be captivated by a new woman. As the Inquisitr reported in an earlier article, Dianne Doan is joining the cast of Vikings for Season 4. Her character, Yidu, is an oriental slave captured by Frankia and then claimed by the vikings. She will return to Kattegat and that is where Ragnar will become intrigued with her. While it may seem strange to find an Asian character in the world of the Vikings, according to Michael Hirst, it is historically viable.

There is two more new cast additions so far, beyond Dianne Doan, to add to the line up for Season 4 of Vikings. According to another article from The Hollywood Reporter, Peter Franzen will play King Harald Finehair in Vikings, “a Scandinavian warrior and potential threat to Ragnar” and Jasper Paakkonen will play Finehair’s younger borther, Halfdan the Black. As some fans have pointed out, Harald Finehair is likely based on the historical figure of Harald Fairhair.

Season 4 of Vikings will also see the return of Harbard (Kevin Durand). While Michael Hirst was at first hesitant about announcing Harbard’s definite return, Kevin Durand told Zap2It that Harbard would certainly return for Season 4 of Vikings to “create more chaos.”

Also explored in Season 4 of Vikings is Bjorn’s (Alexander Ludwig) growing commitment to one day taking over from Ragnar. Alexander Ludwig also confirmed to IGN during the San Diego Comic Con that Bjorn will really come into his own in Season 4 of Vikings. Michael Hirst also confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that the relationship between Ragnar and all his growing sons would be explored more in Season 4 of Vikings.

As for Bjorn’s mother, Lagertha, Season 4 of Vikings will bring “something quite unexpected” according to what Michael Hirst told Variety earlier this year. While Hirst wouldn’t expand on whether Lagertha will get her earldom back after Kalf (Ben Robson) took it from her, he would say that she would have to deal with her feelings towards Ragnar after she admitted she still loved him while she thought she was talking to his corpse.

You can view the Season 4 promo video for History Channel’s Vikings below:

Season 4 of Vikings will premiere on History Channel. As yet there is no confirmation of the start date beyond 2016.

Are you excited about Season 4 of Vikings? Let us know by commenting below!

[Image credits: History Channel, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.]