The second season of the historical adventure drama series is approaching. Here is everything there is to know about the return of Vikings: Valhalla.

Vikings: Valhalla had some big shoes to fill, spinning off the extremely popular Vikings by History Channel. The original show ran for six seasons, from March 3, 2013, until December 30, 2020. Viewers seem to agree that it was a great continuation of the world of Vikings and an entertaining show in itself. It is fascinating to watch the world and civilization evolve so many years after the adventures of Ragnar, Lagertha, Floki, and many more.

Of course, since Vikings: Valhalla is taking place one hundred years after those events, there is no way to see any of the old characters, even if they managed to survive all the violence of the first show. Still, there are many references and nods to the original History Channel show. Now we watch a civilization on the verge of its destruction, struggling to combine its pagan roots with the Christian influence of the new era, marking the beginning of the end for the Vikings.

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Here’s what to know about Vikings: Valhalla season 2.

Vikings: Valhalla Season 2: The Plot

The show takes place in 1066, where we follow Leif Erikson, Freydís Eiríksdóttir, and Harald Hardrada on their journeys across oceans and through battlefields, fighting for their survival or pursuing their glory. The preview season ended with bloodbath, betrayals, and machinations, having a Kattegat in ruins, and not being able to serve as a safe and stable environment for the show and its protagonists. With their dreams and expectations shuttered, they must be refugees beyond Scandinavia and Northern Europe.

The show’s creator, Jeb Stuart, shared this with Netflix’s Tudum:

Vikings: Valhalla Season 2: Cast & Crew

     Netflix

Return to their roles as the three main Vikings are Sam Corlett as Leif Eriksson, Frida Gustavsson as Freydis Eriksdotter, and Leo Suter as Harald Sigurdsson. Also returning is Bradley Freegard in the role of King Canute, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson as Olaf Haraldsson, Laura Berlin as Emma of Normandy, and David Oakes as Earl Godwin. New characters and cast members will also be introduced in the second season of Vikings: Valhalla.

“The whole concept of Season 2 is that we take these three heroes who are in Scandinavia and blow them out of their comfort zones. Season 2 for Harald and Leif is a road trip: It’s Thelma and Louise on the Dnieper River. The two of them will begin this incredible journey. Freydís has to go to Pomerania, which is a very difficult environment…

Season 2 will show that sometimes when you hang out with people that are just like you, eat like you, and talk like you, you can still run into trouble. So you need to stir the pot, which I think is what the Vikings did. And they did it beautifully, better than probably any other culture out there. So we put together this motley crew of nobles, Muslim astronomers, and con men, and they shove off from Novgorod."

Bradley James will play Lord Harekr. Another character we will meet this season is Mariam, a polyglot who can also read Latin, Greek, Arabic, and Russian. This is also one of the creator’s favorite characters, as creator Jeb Stuart revealed in the Tudum article. He stated:

Hayat Kamille will play Mariam. Two more new characters we meet in season two are Yaroslav the Wise and Elena, another of the creator’s favorites, played by Marcin Dorociński and Sofya Lebedeva, respectively. Elena is a resilient daughter of a nobleman from Kyivan Rus, while Yaroslav the Wise is a warrior ruler from the same place.

“Harekr is the ruler of Jómsborg, a sort of legendary Viking place where the uber-pagan Vikings lived. He’s a great warrior, but since he’s pagan, he’s got a bull’s-eye on his back for any of our pagan hunters, like Olaf. The Jomsvikings were very strict and rigid, so Harekr has very, very, very specific rules that he lives by. That’s how the Jomsvikings rolled, they were very loyal to their leader. They would fight to the death, even when they didn’t sometimes think that their leader was right.”

Release Date

The second season of Vikings: Valhalla is set for release on January 13, 2023, on Netflix. The show is already renewed for a third season, the filming of which began in May, but it is way too early to have a release date for that. The reassurance of the continuation of the series is comforting, though.

History’s Vikings left a void in our screens after its conclusion. Thankfully, Vikings: Valhalla tried and filled it excellently.