Why Bjorn From Vikings Is So Overrated, According To Fans
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown on the History Channel/Amazon Prime series Vikings, even after that head has been laid to rest and his crown passed to someone else.
The pressure's been on Bjorn Ironside (Alexander Ludwig) since season 2, after a prophecy given by the Seer (John Kavanagh) to Ragnar (Travis Fimmel) stated that Bjorn would surpass his father without question. In the eyes of many fans, that was a promise the young warrior-king failed to live up to over the course of the show, even if Bjorn did prove to be his father's son on the field of battle and eventually rule and defend his home of Kattegat as king. To them, Bjorn benefited more from fortune than his skill as a leader and commander in rising to his position.
"I really don't understand why he is so hyped," wrote u/RegularWinner4843 on Reddit. "He has not really achieved anything significant and only won against Ivar because of Freydis. He is only loved because he is Ragnars son."
"Like you say, he also accomplished very little despite some saying he was more great than Ragnar," added u/Big_Lil_Babi. "Every battle he won was because of some last minute deus ex machina whether that be Freydis betraying Ivar or the surprise Viking leaders showing up in this season."
Contrasting Bjorn with other characters on Vikings
The disdain of the anti-Bjorn camp wasn't just down to his abilities but also what some saw as his misplaced morals. "I just hate people who think they are right even when they are not," said u/Apprehensive_Race_24. "Ivar had every to kill Lagertha, yet he acted as if it was something unreasonable or cruel. Meat head, cheater."
But other respondents used the prompt to weigh in on the flaws of other characters, most notably contrasting Bjorn with his brother Ivar (Alex Høgh Andersen). "The show gives Ivar everything without ever explaining," wrote one poster, whose comment was the thread's most upvoted. "'Ivar is somehow so skilled at reading a battle field yet never actually going in battle until the great heathen army (laughable)' yet we're suppose to buy his 'redemption' arc when he's so shocked at Oleg's brutality yet this is the same man who killed his brother, burned his other brothers family and girlfriend alive and terrorized his entire village. Y'all make more excuses for this one character yet have the nerve to dump on everyone else."
But u/Apprehensive_Race_24 points out that there's no easy answer when fans of the series set out to weigh the various moral demerits of its characters since nearly everyone has done something heinous at some point during the show's run. "In this show, we always find some way to defend our favorite character's questionable decisions."
Often enough, it seems, that defense involves taking it to the opposition. Now, there's something they and Bjorn might support.