We Finally Know When Vikings Season 6 Will Return With Its Last Ten Episodes
For TV fans, there are few things more difficult to bear than a season finale cliffhanger, followed by an extended wait until the next batch of episodes. The first half of Vikings' sixth and final season concluded with Björn Ironside (Alexander Ludwig) injured and dying on the battlefield. That episode aired back in February, leaving fans with a long wait to find out the fate of the series' protagonist.
As if that weren't already bad enough, the question of when Vikings would return to deliver its final episodes was complicated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It has been a long wait in the dark for Vikings fans, but thanks to a press release from Amazon Prime Video, obtained by Looper, we can finally confirm that you'll be seeing the final series of Vikings episodes before the end of 2020 ... just barely.
The second half of Vikings season 6 will be available on Amazon Prime Video on December 30. In a unique move, the series, which technically has its home on History, will debut all 10 of its final episodes on Prime Video. They will then go on to air on History itself sometime in 2021, according to The Hollywood Reporter. As if that wasn't exciting enough, in the press release, series creator Michael Hirst said that the final installment contains some of his "all-time favorite episodes."
Here's what to expect in the final season of Vikings.
What to expect in the final episodes of Vikings
Along with finally giving fans a release date for the second half of season 6, the Vikings press release also teased a few details about what we can expect from the final episodes of the series.
The first half of season 6 ended in the midst of an epic battle between the Vikings and the Rus, and according to the press release, the conflict will "[come] to a conclusion with grave consequences" in the final episodes. While there was no word about the fate of Björn, who we last saw stabbed and bleeding out on the ground, those who want to spoil themselves and find out his fate early can check out the midseason premiere tease that aired during Comic-Con@Home.
Of course, the Rus aren't the only fire that the Norse are trying to put out. Even though they have managed to gain control over most of England throughout their decades-long campaign of raids, Wessex still remains in the hands of its Saxon ruler, Alfred the Great (previously played by Ferdia Walsh-Peelo). According to the press release, Ivar the Boneless (Alex Høgh Andersen) will clash with the holdout King for total control over England.
And perhaps most intriguing is the tease about Ubbe (Jordan Patrick Smith). Last we saw him, he was in the burgeoning Viking colony of Iceland, but it sounds like he won't be staying put. In the final episodes, he will try to fulfill his destiny by traveling further west than any of his people have been before, which provides a nice bridge of connection to where Vikings will go once the main series comes to an end.
Where does the Vikings franchise go next?
If you're a big Vikings stan (Björn Buddy? Stangertha?) then you're probably already aware of the fact that now that the parent series is almost over, a sequel series, of sorts, is on the horizon. Vikings: Valhalla is a spin-off set at least a hundred years after the events of the original show and will focus on a new group of Norsemen and Norsewomen who shaped history.
More specifically, according to a Tweet from Netflix announcing the series, Vikings: Valhalla will follow the adventures of the historic Viking figures Leif Erickson, Freydis, and Harald Harada, as well as William the Conquerer. Erickson is particularly of interest, as he's regarded as the first known European to travel to North America when his ship was blown off course while traveling from Norway to Greenland. He ended up in a place he called Vinland, which we now know as the eastern coast of Canada (via Encyclopedia Britannica).
So, if the trips to the Mediterranean and Ukraine on Vikings whetted your appetite for adventure, get ready, because there's a good chance that Vikings: Valhalla will be following in Ubbe's footsteps and taking viewers to Greenland and beyond. And there's a little more good news. Although the series doesn't have a release date at this time, according to social media posts collected by The Saxon, filming on the first season appears to have wrapped. That's something to look forward to when you finish binge-watching the final season of Vikings, after it drops on Amazon Prime Video on December 30.