Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Vikings: Valhalla’ Season 3 On Netflix, The Final Chapters For The Adventures Of Leif, Freydís, And Harald

It’s the third and final eight-episode season for Vikings: Valhalla on Netflix, creator Jeb Stuart’s Vikings spinoff that picked up the action in the 11th century, 100 years after the events of the original series. When we last left them, Viking Age heroes Leif Erikson (Sam Corlett) and Harald Sigurdsson (Leo Suter) were voyaging down the Dnieper to Constantinople, and Freydís (Frida Gustavsson), Leif’s brave sister, was solidifying her rule over the coastal pagan enclave of Jomsborg by running a spike through villainous Christian convert Olaf Haraldsson (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson). The struggles for rule and between who believes in which higher power continue in season 3 of Vikings: Valhalla, which also adds Goran Višnjić, as legendary Viking explorer Erik the Red, and Florian Munteanu, aka Ivan Drago’s enormous boxer son in Creed II .

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Opening Shot: Freydís Eiríksdóttir’s watchful leadership of Jomsborg has the place bustling, and the settlement is preparing for a wedding feast. But ever vigilant, the blacksmith also has young Harald Haraldsson (Luke Harmon) bring his mother a brand new sword, fresh from the forge.

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The Gist: It’s been seven years since Vikings: Valhalla season 2, and while Freydís is proud of the bountiful enclave she’s built with Jomsborg, she still asks after any news about what became of Leif and her former lover Harald. When they all parted ways after the big battle at Kattegat, it was with assurances they’d see each other again. But this is the 11th century. Nothing is easy, travel is arduous, and conflict is everywhere, whether it’s with the Christians whose lands border old gods holdout Jomsborg, or in the south, where Harald and Leif now fight with Byzantine emperor Romanos III’s (Nikolai Kinski) personal guard of 700 Varangians. We’re reintroduced to Harald and Leif mid-battle, as the emperor’s forces lay siege to the Saracen stronghold on Sicily.

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It’s a religious war between Christians and Muslims. But while Harald enjoys the favor of Romanos, he’s really in it for plunder: with riches gained from a victory, he can finally return to Norway as its rightful king. Leif, meanwhile, is after knowledge. He’s a philosopher-scientist-warrior, building explosive charges to turn the siege in their favor while longing to explore the libraries beyond the Saracens’ walls.

For Canute (Bradley Freegard), the current king of Norway, Denmark, and England, a diplomatic visit to the Pope’s palace in Rome only makes him bristle. Kiss the ring and bend the knee? Godwin (David Oakes), Canute’s master of whispers and bribes, has to calm him down. Godwin also remains at odds with Queen Emma (Laura Berlin), who last season stood against his grabs for influence over Canute and his court. “You’re naive if you think your bribe will encourage them to alter their perception,” Emma tells Godwin of the Catholic establishment. The pope and his cardinals like Canute’s cash. But they refer to him as a savage.

Back in Jomsborg, things are rolling along when a vagabonding mystery man emerges from the woods. Stígr (Leander Vyvey) carries with him healing knowledge gained from his travels, and Freydís is definitely intrigued with what else is under his tunic.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The Last Kingdom has a very similar feel to Vikings: Valhalla , though it’s set a few centuries before. (Also, please don’t sleep on Seven Kings Must Die , the feature-length Last Kingdom spinoff that’s packed with incredible battle sequences.) And while the exploits of Freydís, Leif, and Harald are not at the scale of House of the Dragon , as part of the historical fiction diaspora that Game of Thrones inspired, Vikings: Valhalla has proven quite sturdy.

Our Take: Last season on Vikings: Valhalla , when Freydís finally bested pushy, would-be Christian Viking conqueror Olaf with a strategic sucker punch of his entire vanguard – it was Olaf’s hubris which led his fleet to fall to her torch – it brought a fight that had been brewing forever to an eminently satisfying conclusion. (For Freydís and Olaf, a well-rounded villain character who deserved and got a great onscreen death blow.) While it has a trio of compelling performances at its center in Sam Corlett, Frida Gustavsson, and Leo Suter’s portrayals of Leif, Freydís, and Harald, and they’re always best when together, it’s in fights like Freydís’s stand against Olaf, or here in season 3 with Leif and Harald’s service to the Byzantine emperor, that Valhalla can expand its historical coverage. It can access legendary stories from the ages. But it also loves to go into full adventure mode, and knows how to balance fact with fancy. In other words, this is full-throated small screen storytelling that understands the limitations of its scope and budget, capitalizes on that with real chemistry between its leads, and never loses its sense of fun, even with all the seriousness of succession squabbles and the persistence of one particular question, “Are you a pagan or a Christian?” We can’t wait to see what challenges Freydís will face at Jomsborg, or find out if Harald’s plan to take the throne of Norway will come to fruition. Best of all, we don’t have to, as Netflix is releasing season 3 of Vikings: Valhalla all at once. This thing is bingeable as hell.

Sex and Skin: Let’s just say that Freydís knows what she wants, and that’s an amiable, sandy-haired stranger who looks like a High Middle Ages windsurfer.

Parting Shot: With tactical genius, stirring war horns, and righteous battle cries, Harald and Leif are leading the Varangian Guard into what looks to be the final battle for control of the Saracen fortress at Syracuse.

Sleeper Star: They are not alone in that fight, as Vikings: Valhalla has always had a knack for quietly highlighting its supporting characters. Warriors Batu (Taylor James) and Kaysan (Kayode Akinyemi) return from season 2, joined on the field of battle by Eleanor McLynn as Dorn, a fierce Varangian fighter.

Most Pilot-y Line: “When we set out for Constantinople seven years ago, I promised I would return to Norway and take back what’s mine. This victory will guarantee that I have treasures enough to do that.”

Our Call: You must STREAM IT. Vikings: Valhalla is solidly made adventure television, with an eye toward historical drama, a great sense of chemistry between its characters, and satisfying touches of sauciness and swords-and-shields gore to go with its reaches for power and battles over succession.

Johnny Loftus ( @glennganges ) is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.

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