‘Vikings’ Boss & Stars on Bjorn’s Fate and Giving Series a ‘Worthwhile’ Ending (Exclusive)

Warning: Do not carry on if you have not viewed Wednesday’s time 6 midseason finale of Vikings, “Very best Laid Plans.” 

The conclusion is in the vicinity of. 

Season 6A of Vikings arrived to a close on Wednesday night, as Ivar the Boneless (Alex Høgh Andersen) and the Rus vikings brought the force of their whole army to Norway. In Kattegat, Bjorn Ironside (Alexander Ludwig) fought to maintain onto his homeland, with the other kings of Norway and their vital aid nowhere to be observed. 

The emotional episode observed the sons of Ragnar go head to head in a test of approach and battlefield power. Immediately after a telling aspiration-like dialogue amongst Bjorn and Ivar about their father’s legacy and who was the ideal gentleman to uphold it, Ivar appeared to come out on top rated, stabbing a sword through Bjorn’s chest. 

But is Bjorn really useless? “We will not really know that, do we?” Ludwig asked ET in excess of the phone. “I’ve been requested by the powers higher than me that I’m not allowed to speak on the topic,” he extra with a snicker. 

Vikings creator Michael Hirst, in the meantime, supplied a tiny a lot more optimism. 

“It’s noticeable that both equally King Harald [Peter Franzén] and Bjorn are at the least incredibly poorly wounded,” he reported. “We haven’t in fact observed them useless, but you would envision that their wounds were being grevious more than enough to possibly suggest they would not endure incredibly extended. But I would not be pretty certain that they are useless nonetheless, right until you in fact see that. So, I’m not indicating that they are both equally nevertheless alive, but they could definitely nevertheless be alive, since we haven’t observed them useless nonetheless.” 

Although Wednesday’s episode could not be the last we’ve observed of Bjorn, with just ten episodes left of the collection his time is coming to a close. In an interview with ET, Ludwig, Hirst and Alex Høgh Andersen open up about achieving the beginning of the conclusion, the place the show’s remaining major figures will go upcoming and what they hope enthusiasts glean from Vikings‘ collection finale. 

ET: The speak Bjorn and Ivar have on the beach front about Ragnar’s legacy was a potent 1 to involve in this closing time. Although it was not necessarily based in reality, it felt sincere and susceptible. Chat to me about taking pictures that and why it was important to involve. 

Michael Hirst: I attempt and do diverse factors in battles, but evidently in this scenario, despite the fact that it involves large armies — I suggest, the Rus army is, as we see, formidable and large. But it nevertheless comes down to in essence, a battle amongst Ivar and Bjorn, since they are pitting their wits from just about every other, that Bjorn is seeking to next guess that Ivar is going to do, and similarly with Ivar. So, the battle is happening in their heads, as perfectly as in reality, so I felt that was a excellent chance, to, as it were being, cut them out of time and have them chatting on a beach front, as they would have been chatting if it were being in their heads. 

Of training course they do speak about the point that has generally haunted both equally of them, and that is Ragnar’s legacy and who is the accurate heir of Ragnar. Even even though he is nevertheless Ivar — he nevertheless taunts Bjorn, he nevertheless teases him, he nevertheless offers — but you can find a new variety of respect amongst them. They speak a lot more like brothers than they ever have just before, that they acknowledge just about every other and just about every other’s strengths, and that’s 1 of the attractive factors about it. It’s not brutal and cynical and argumentative. It is a serious discussion amongst sons who’ve never ever been close just before, who’ve never ever really recognized just about every other and who out of the blue find them selves in a pitch battle amongst lifestyle and demise, chatting to just about every other critically and philosophically. It was attractive to create, it was attractive to shoot and I’m glad that you imagine it can be labored, since I certainly did.

Alexander Ludwig: This whole time in itself has been extraordinary. It’s come whole circle, since when I signed onto the show initially, this had all been things we had spoken about… this is the trajectory the character would go in. What I loved is that even though Bjorn’s intentions are great, he tends to make faults that are incredibly human. Even in lifestyle or in demise, Bjorn’s supreme target has generally been to make his father very pleased. And this closing time has been about coming to conditions with the actuality that tragically, he could never ever do that. But in several methods, he is finished everything he can to carry his father’s legacy as significantly as he can, and also, forge a route for himself. 

Alex Høgh Andersen: I loved the things on the beach front, since it can be incredibly personal and it can be a incredibly peaceful, practically surrealistic moment amongst the two, and I like these practically symbolic, interior dialogue times, since it establishes a moment for them to speak to just about every other with out everything else going on and with out absolutely everyone else listening to them as perfectly. They generally have and generally will have a mutual being familiar with and respect for just about every other. But I love taking pictures these scenes, and it was just pleasurable and it was awesome, and my heart beats for these scenes.

It was in fact amusing, when we shot these scenes. We were being sitting so significantly from just about every other that Alexander and I in fact couldn’t hear what we reported since the waves were being coming in and the wind was going off and all that. So, I was wanting at him, and the moment his mouth stopped relocating, I reported my line then, and then that’s how we kept on going. Even even though it seemed like we really felt just about every other in that moment, I imagine we did — we also did a excellent work of pretending to hear just about every other. That is 1 of these movie magic times the place you cheat a tiny and it works out in the conclusion.

Michael has reported that this time, and it’s possible the show as a whole, has been about Bjorn’s journey to starting to be a king. Alexander, did you sense the bodyweight of that this time? 

Ludwig: Completely, and it can be a problem that I’ve embraced with open arms. I felt like it was the correct time for Bjorn to go through all of this, and naturally from an acting point of view, it was the best present anyone could have ever offered me since I had so substantially a lot more to do. He goes through so substantially this time, from his mother’s demise to the demise of his son, to not starting to be the king of all of Norway, and then his likely supreme demise. I felt like there was nevertheless a lot more to Bjorn’s tale that I required to show, and I sense like in these last ten episodes, I’ve been equipped to show that. I was equipped to
go away that show being aware of — not indicating I’m leaving nonetheless, but we are finished with the show now — with entirety we did that character justice. 

Michael, Bjorn’s rise and apparent drop arrived rather fast. Would you have appreciated to have spent a lot more time on his reign?

Hirst: I imagine particularly it went at the rate I required to go out. When we pitched the show in the first area to History, I explained to History the place it would conclusion. We first observed Bjorn when he was a little one, and we’ve viewed him go through several, several modifications, and at last he is turn out to be king. But as I say, it can be not in excess of yet… Bjorn’s legacy is substantially better, substantially a lot more profound than you imagine it is, just owning viewed 610. So your whole attitude towards Bjorn I imagine will transform.

Ivar has also seasoned a ton of progress this time, and Michael has previously reported he required to re-humanize the character. Alex, what has that been like for you? 

Høgh Andersen: That is particularly what it has been. It is been me as an actor acknowledging that my character can do other things than just yell and kill people on a normal basis coated in blood and things like that. Immediately after the ending of time 5B when Ivar gets beaten and he loses handle of Kattegat, Michael and I really talked about seeking to redeem this character, seeking to get him to discover from his faults and show that he is not just 100 p.c an untouchable god who loves himself and has no wrongdoing. I really wanted him to be human again, since he is possibly the most human of all the figures on Vikings. I have to think that, since I have to protect and protect my character at all occasions, as an actor. 

He’s a tiny boy on the inside who is damaged, possibly a lot more than on the outdoors. And I really wanted for him to show that he can phase back again and get a glimpse from the outdoors, and it’s possible knowledge a tiny bit of a mirroring amongst him and Prince Oleg (Danila Kozlovsky), who is, just as him, incredibly potent and incredibly ruthless and vile and all of that. I imagine at times you need to glimpse by yourself in the mirror, and that’s when you know what you’ve got finished and how mistaken it was. So, that’s particularly what this time has been all about, and I’m really enjoying it.

This time has been really jam-packed. A couple episodes previously we observed Lagertha’s (Katheryn Winnick) demise. She was the last original cast member on established. Did the energy change just after she left? 

Ludwig: The blow was softened by the actuality that she was directing the upcoming episode. When you drop a character on the show, it’s’ really tricky, but what I find even more challenging is when you drop the people them selves, since we actually had created a spouse and children on that established, and luckily for me, Katheryn lives about 5 minutes absent from the place I are living, so we get to see just about every other rather usually. But yeah, at the time, it was a lot more of a reminder that this show has come to its summary and that’s tricky. 

It’s also bittersweet since I knew this show was coming to an conclusion. It was the best knowledge of my lifestyle. It was also 1 of the most seeking experiences of my lifestyle. I grew up on this show. I discovered so substantially about myself, both equally as an actor and as a human getting, and I’m immensely grateful for it. There is a part of me who was really enthusiastic at the time to shift on to other factors, but with out forgetting the actuality that correct then and there, I had to produce in a large way, since the whole show, in a ton of methods, was resting on my character’s shoulders, at least for this 50 percent of the time. 

Katheryn spoke to me about learning a ton about acting on this show since she went through so several phases and ages as Lagertha. What has that been like for you? 

Ludwig: I wish every single actor had the chance to be on a show this extended and get to show this variety of an arc, since she hit that on the nose. It actually is eye-opening in so several methods, and in methods you would not be expecting. Currently being equipped to have that area to be snug and get my footing as an actor was wonderful, and I sense like in so several methods, it has contributed to so substantially of my progress. The other factors we discovered are factors you would not be expecting, like how important hair and makeup are to really incorporating to your character. I required to not only show that in my general performance, but also in how I looked on display. And that comes down to the makeup and hair department, and chatting about incorporating prosthetics beneath my eyes, and factors that would incorporate an excess hour and a 50 percent in a makeup chair but in conditions of how it would be portrayed on display was a must have. 

Alex, you went through a large transformation this time as perfectly, turning into a serpent for Lagertha’s demise scene. What was that like?

Høgh Andersen: (Laughs) 5 hours in a makeup chair, that’s what it was like. Oh my gosh, that was pleasurable. I suggest, I’m generally up for that things, and Tom McInerney, who is our head makeup artist, he is crazy and phenomenal at what he does. He did a crazy work with that, and I identified it so substantially pleasurable. I suggest, not the 5 hours in the makeup chair. I felt like a diva later on, and when I looked myself in the mirror, I didn’t glimpse like a diva, so I was a tiny unhappy about that. 

But I in fact got stuck in the costume, since he had glued the full interior piece of the costume so it would stick to my body when I got it on. I got stuck in there with my extended, shoulder-extended hair getting all over the place, and I had to pull myself through all the glue with my hair stuck to the inside of that costume and glue, and I dropped a handful of hair on that. It was tremendous claustrophobic as perfectly, since you’re stuck in there. You will find nowhere to go and it can be really restricted and it can be totally dim, and absolutely everyone is yelling and screaming and panicking since they just stuck the lead actor in a serpent costume and it was pleasurable. I did prank a ton of people on established that day. “Rawr! Boo!” I had so substantially pleasurable, generally using the piss on absolutely everyone. All that things for 1 get.

And though Ivar and Oleg are doing the job collectively in this midseason finale, Ivar’s got something up his sleeve. What can you tease about that?

Høgh Andersen: Clearly Ivar is generally organizing. And I love the romantic relationship he has with Oleg, since you never ever really know what is going on. They are frenemies and that describes their romantic relationship rather perfectly. Ivar started out undertaking his whole manipulative trick of seeking to get Igor on his side, and all that tiny political organizing, Dwelling of Cards variety of point. But I can’t tease way too substantially. I can just say time 6B is going to be incredibly intriguing and you can find things going down. Ivar is Ivar and Oleg is Oleg, and that phone calls for trouble. You will find a ton of things happening upcoming time. It’s large, possibly the major 1 ever.

Effectively, you have to go out with a bang.

Høgh Andersen
: We need to, yeah. No tension at all, both. But we shot that for 6 months. We spent excess time on that last 1, we really did. I know we had the longest taking pictures battle scene as perfectly, that we’ve ever finished on the show. Have confidence in me when I say upcoming time is definitely going down. I know we say that all the time, but as you reported, we need to go out with a bang, and we are bringing explosives.

Ivar also now has Hvitserk (Marco Ilsø) on his side. What’s in retail store for them?

Hirst: They were being generally sort of certain to be collectively, in 1 way or one more, and when Hvitserk jumped ship and left Ubbe (Jordan Patrick Smith), he didn’t really know why, and I suppose at that stage, I was not confident both, even though I knew it was the correct point to do, since they were being fated, in some methods, to be collectively. No matter whether their fate is to kill 1 one more or to betray just about every other or what ever their fate is, it is certain collectively, and so it was inevitable to me that they would get back again for our last time, and perform out what ever their destiny is, and it is pretty an incredible destiny. 

And again, you’re dealing with a diverse Ivar. You’re dealing with a rather redeemed Ivar, a a lot more empathetic, a a lot more emotional Ivar, and when he gathers Hvitserk from in the vicinity of demise in the forest and usually takes him in his boat, he says that he loves Hvitserk, and you have to think that. I imagine he does love Hvitserk. Numerous factors will move from that. So, regardless of whether they despise just about every other or they love just about every other, or love and despise just about every other at the very same time, the actuality is that destiny brings them collectively and suggests them collectively, and suggests that their endings are connected.

Høgh Andersen: Ivar is informed of the actuality that Hvitserk is in the state that he is since of Ivar. He can see now that he is in a awful state and I know Hvitserk is nevertheless alive, but getting these a significant significant drug addict, that’s not your serious brother. And that’s what Ivar sees, and that’s why Ivar is going to get care of him. They do have that intriguing relationship that they will not know how to demonstrate, and it can be practically like, destined that they are meeting just about every other in the woods out of nowhere. But I also have to incorporate to that that Ivar is really, really delighted to see Hvitserk. He wanted that pal coming in, that excess aid, even even though it can be challenging aid and it can be troublesome aid. But he wanted that. He was also a tiny homesick.

You will find this potent line Hvistserk delivers to Ivar about how he was the 1 to at last kill Lagertha. Chat to me about the importance.

Hirst: For the viewers, it can be possibly a shock, since they haven’t assumed about that. It quickly reminds you that Ubbe produced an attempt to kill Lagertha, that Ivar has generally reported that he is going to kill Lagertha, and that even in his demented state, it can be the surprising son, Hvitserk, who kills Lagertha. Hvitserk has generally been a conflicted person, and that’s produced him incredibly intriguing to me. He’s generally been searching for his serious identification and who he is. But now he appreciates that the gods have been concerned in his lifestyle in a realistic and potentially a beneficial way, and I know that he gathers power from that, that as we see factors produce in the last ten episodes, in 6B, we’ll see the variety of power that he develops, and he finds his accurate position and his accurate identification, that he is spent a extended, extended time searching for.

Høgh Andersen: It also saddened him a lot more than it tends to make him jealous that it was not him to end Lagertha off. It in fact saddens him that he compelled his brother to do it. 

Like you’ve got reported, Alexander, you’ve got been through a ton with Bjorn this time. I loved that scene amongst him and Hvitserk, when he confronts him for killing Lagertha in the episode Katheryn directed. Do you have any scenes that will stick with you from the show? 

Ludwig: You hit that on the nose. That, for me, when I examine that and I examine my goodbye to Katheryn as perfectly, it can be these scenes that I was like, “Wow.” Even if you do a movie, you it’s possible get 1 of these, if you’re lucky to do something like that, the place you really get to dig deep and investigate your possess feelings, and that for me was it. That scene definitely will stick with me endlessly as 1 of the best opportunities Michael gave me to go into unchartered territory with my character. You’ve never ever observed Bjorn have to confront this sort of tragedy in his lifestyle, to this extent. 

Michael, we didn’t see any of Ubbe and Torvi (Ga Hirst) in this last episode of 6A. What can you notify us about the place we’ll see him when the show resumes?

Hirst: In the last 50 percent of the time, there are 3 diverse storylines. They are all connected. And they materialize in Kattegat, in Wessex — there is unfinished business enterprise in Wessex with some of our Vikings — and the third storyline involves Ubbe and Torvi and it can be a storyline about a journey, which is pretty appropriate considering that the phrase Viking suggests journey. So the journey starts, and we know that it starts with them going to Iceland. Ubbe’s obsessed with this tale about the gentleman who identified the golden land, but he is also obsessed with locating out what took place to Floki. So, it can be a profound journey to an uninhabited land and other areas. It is 1 of the major strands of 6B. It’s a excellent journey and a great payoff for Ubbe.

Alexander, are you delighted with how factors conclusion for your character?

Ludwig: Completely. I couldn’t be a lot more thrilled with the way Bjorn’s supreme finality arrived to a close. They observed him go from getting a little one to getting a leader and then a king, so we all felt this huge tension to do correct. I am going to notify you this even though, the unexpectedness of this time is what I was so in love with. Like, just the way that our figures conclusion up going are not methods that I, as an viewers member, would have anticipated, which I like. Though you want so poorly for it to go one more way, at times it isn’t going to, and to me, that’s incredibly revealing about lifestyle as perfectly. 

How are you experience about the way the show is wrapping up? What do you want audiences to pay notice to, or to sense as they say goodbye to Vikings?

Høgh Andersen: It’s going to be excess emotional. We will not get that last time frivolously. Everybody arrived collectively and you could sense it on established, taking pictures that last time. It was like every single single scene mattered a lot more since we knew we were being heading to the conclusion. I imagine that you may possibly be equipped to sense that nerve when you watch the incredibly last time. I hope that interprets
since that’s definitely attractive. Everybody arrived collectively and it can be going to be a ton bigger than everything else. We are going back again to the roots as perfectly. It’s going to be intriguing and I imagine we knocked this 1 off in the correct way.

Hirst: I required to make the conclusion of the journey exceptionally worthwhile. So several exhibits fizzle out, and I was pretty established that this would conclusion strongly, effectively and satisfactorily, so that all the viewers is satisfied with the endings of their beloved figures, regardless of whether they are living or die, that they are nevertheless delighted with the logic of it and the emotion of it. Since there are so several significant fatalities, it was hugely emotional for me to create. I love these figures. Even some of the poor fellas, and Harald Finehair is not the poor guy, but I love him so substantially, and I sense I’ve brought him back again from the useless at least 2 times since I just couldn’t bear to permit him go. So, when I do kill figures off, it can be a large effort in permitting go to people that I love and spent a extended, extended time with. 

I hope that people will get a thrill from the storyline. You will find a ton of tale to come. There are a ton of surprises. There are also a ton of heartbreaks and a ton of tragedy. But in the conclusion, I just want people to sense that it can be absolutely and hugely enjoyable. Immediately after 89 episodes, that’s what I really, really hope for. 

Editor’s observe: The interviews were being conducted individually and put together into 1. They have been edited for duration and clarity.

Associated Material: 

‘Vikings’ Star Katheryn Winnick on Ending an ‘Era’ With Her Directorial Debut (Special)

‘Vikings’ Sneak Peek: See Lagertha’s Psychological Funeral (Special)

‘Vikings’ Star on Beloved Character’s Heartbreaking Death: Why It’s Not ‘Goodbye’ (Special)