Although Vikings: Valhalla on Netflix is a spinoff of Vikings on History, is seeing the first season necessary to understand the second one?
Is it possible to watch Vikings: Valhalla without previously seeing Vikings? Vikings: Valhalla on Netflix is a spinoff of Vikings on History, which ended after season 6 in 2020. Along with the move to Netflix, there is a new creative team in place. Although there is some crossover between the two programs, Valhalla is now under the direction of Jeb Stuart, while the original showrunner Michael Hirst is still on board as an executive producer.
As Vikings: Valhalla is set some 100 years after the first film, it must mostly move beyond Ragnar Lothbrok, Rollo, and Lagertha. Instead, Leif Erikson, Freydis Eirksdóttir, and Harald Sigurdsson are among the real-life Norsepeople who are highlighted in Valhalla. Naturally, the emphasis is still very much on the Vikings portion of the title, just as it was for the History series, but this time it’s to explore a different time period for them, ultimately setting up the conclusion.
Although Valhalla is a spinoff from a series that aired for six seasons and had the Vikings name in its title, it does raise the question of whether one can watch Netflix’s drama without first watching its predecessor. However, you don’t necessarily need to see Vikings to comprehend Valhalla. Vikings: Valhalla stands apart due to its timeframe being far away from Vikings and its largely new cast of characters. Since it is a spinoff rather than a straight sequel, it is not necessary to have watched Vikings before watching Vikings: Valhalla.
That is not to say that Valhalla is devoid of Viking allusions; rather the contrary, in fact. The Seer is the only figure that more directly carries over from Vikings to Valhalla, but Ragnar, Lagertha, Bjorn Ironside, Ivar the Boneless, and others are regularly mentioned and talked of with great regard. Knowing about Vikings would help one appreciate Valhalla better and, at the very least, make the allusions more obvious, but there isn’t anything that can’t be deduced fairly simply and nothing that would hinder anyone from enjoying or comprehending the show’s plot or its characters.
In the end, Vikings: Valhalla hopes to appeal to both Vikings enthusiasts and new viewers, which should be possible given that it will be available on Netflix. Despite having a different timeframe, the program nevertheless obviously tries to be a historical epic, with a special emphasis on the conflict between Pagans and Christians among the Vikings. Vikings: Valhalla may or may not be as well regarded as Vikings was, but at the very least, it can confidently claim to be its own distinctive program rather than merely trying to emulate or stand on the shoulders of the former.
