It would be an understatement to say that many people are surprised at the idea of Ragnar using a trick on his enemies in “Vikings”, and that’s exactly what happened in the season finale for the show’s current third season. While the scene was developed and executed quite well, the development came as completely expected to most people familiar with the style of the show. Many critics stated that they were more surprised by other details surrounding the finale and the episodes leading up to it.
Ragnar’s trick spans over several levels, which is the impressive part about it. He’s baptized, requesting a true Christian burial, and after that he just dies, suddenly and without anything le adding up to the event. The way the character’s death was portrayed made it pretty obvious that it was staged, something which was confirmed by the majority of discussions about the show online.
It wouldn’t be surprising to consider that the producers actually wanted fans to get the hint at this point, as it’s pretty clear that the death of this particular character would be executed in a much more dramatic and spectacular way once it eventually arrives.
Still, that doesn’t stop the characters of the show from being fooled by the death of Ragnar, except of course for Bjorn who’s in on it. Everyone else has been kept out of the loop, and what the rest see is Ragnar’s baptism, followed by a conversation with his corpse in a coffin.
What they don’t know is that Ragnar is able to hear everything that they’re saying to him at this point, leading to some interesting revelations. Lagertha states that she still craves him, and prays that Odin will rescue him from heaven and bring him back to Valhalla where his true resting place is. There, she hopes to meet him and fall in love with him once again.
Rollo, on the other hand, reveals his disdain for his brother, something which pretty much every fan of the show was already aware of. He reveals that he didn’t expect the gods to take Ragnar first, claiming that he saw him as favored in their eyes, at least compared to himself.
Last but not least, Floki simply confesses that he loved Ragnar more than anyone else, and then goes on to say that he hates him now too, as he believes him to be gone. That’s quite the touching moment, and even though the confession was not very surprising to anyone, it was still done in an exciting way that reached the hearts of the show’s fans. Hopefully, Ragnar will remember these words in the future.