Vikings season 6: Everything you need to know

From Digital Spy

Note: contains major spoilers for Vikings.

Even before the fifth season premiered, History renewed Vikings for a 20-episode season six, which will once again be split into two parts.

The early renewal of the historical drama came with the exciting news that one of the upcoming episodes would be directed by Katheryn Winnick, aka Queen Lagertha, marking her directorial debut.

(She's happy about it, really.)

But sadly, six is to be the show's final season, creator Michael Hirst telling Variety that he always had an idea about when and how it would draw to a close.

"I always knew where I wanted the show to go and more or less where it would end if I was given the opportunity," he said. "What I was trying to do was write the saga of Ragnar Lothbrok and his sons.

"After six seasons and 89 episodes, that's what I felt – finally – I'd done. We stopped shooting the final episode in November last year and I felt that I'd said all I needed to say about Ragnar and his sons.

"I told my saga, and I'd been very fortunate to be given that opportunity by MGM and History. I had no reason to want to continue it beyond that."

Here's everything you need to know about season six of Vikings.

Vikings season 6 release date: When will it air?

The second half of season five premiered on November 28, 2018 on History in the US, arriving on Amazon Prime Video the day after in the UK.

As for when we can expect season six to arrive, that's not as clear. While seasons two, three and four premiered in February 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively, season five moved back to November 2017, with fans forced to wait almost a year for the second half.

So, it could be that the first half of season six won't air until November 2019, but there's been no official confirmation yet.

At least we won't have to wait much longer if this picture shared by Vikings star Alexander Ludwig is anything to go by:

Posted on July 29, the red carpet pic promises that season six is "Coming soon" and even better, an accompanying hashtag also promises that #itsabanger. Definitely worth the wait it seems.

Vikings season 6 cast: Who's coming back?

Hirst did tell Radio Times that there was going to be "significant deaths in [season] five B", which surprised no one.

But one such "death" which became somewhat complicated was that of Freydis (Alicia Agneson). We thought she'd died after being strangled by her husband, Ivar the Boneless (Alex Høgh Andersen), following her betrayal. But it looks like she is set to return judging by the season six teaser trailer.

Fans were worried that Katheryn Winnick would be leaving her role as Queen Lagertha given that she's a) moving behind the camera, and b) has signed up to new Netflix show Wu Assassins, but we now know that she will also be back.

"Terrible things happen to Lagertha, which is normal," said Hirst. "But she survives, she always survives."

Her nemesis Ivar isn't going anywhere either, with actor Alex Hoeg Handersen having been photographed on set for the new episodes.

Russian actor Danila Kozlovsky will also be joining Vikings in season six as historical figure Oleg of Novgorod, a Viking prince who conquered cities and was also known as Oleg the Prophet (via EW).

While he's starred in plenty of Russian movies, Kozlovsky is best known to international audiences for his role in the action film Hardcore Henry and a gorgeous Chanel ad with Keira Knightley.

His new role on Vikings hints at the new episodes expanding further east, as the real-life Oleg was a Varangian who sailed the rivers of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.

Kozlovsky will be joined by Eric Johnson (Fifty Shades Darker) as Erik, funnily enough, "a formidable warrior who is an outlaw living on his wits and martial skills", according to Deadline.

And the following are also all down for season six, episode one, according to the show's IMDb page: Floki (Gustaf Skarsgård), Bjorn Lothbrok (Alexander Ludwig), Torvi (Georgia Hirst), Ubbe (Jordan Patrick Smith), Alfred the Great (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), Gunnhild (Ragga Ragnars), Amma (Kristy Dawn Dinsmore), and White Hair (Kieran O'Reilly).

Rollo (Clive Standen) is still alive, and in real life he lived to a ripe old age.

"He's not going anywhere quickly," said Standen."He won't get taken down in battle or anything like that."

We also know that Princess Gisla (Morgane Polanski) is still alive and kicking, so she could technically return as well.

Vikings season 6 spoilers: What can we expect?

The plot for the next season has largely been kept under wraps.

However, Hirst has been teasing that season six will "deliver a huge and unexpected revelation to our audience," so let the speculation commence as to what that could possibly be.

Speaking to Variety, Hirst said: "There are 20 new episodes to come. We visit three new worlds in those episodes, we go through great tragedies and great heroism, and if you have tears to weep, be prepared to weep them as you watch season six. I'm very proud of the show. I did what I wanted to do, that's the truth.

"I'm desperate for people to see it because it is the most ambitious and intensely emotional episodes of Vikings ever.

"Each season I set new challenges for production and they always meet them. Each season I up the ante and they always do it – whatever it is I ask them to do. A lot of what we shoot is real, it's not CGI, and the way production manages to realise what I put on paper is transcendental.

"It's incredible, it’s fantastic. So we have new worlds, new landscapes, new characters... and the scope just seems to be bigger. As are a lot of the issues.

"We're on a world stage now with the Vikings, so everything is greater and more significant. And I swear to all the fans. It is a truly, deeply, emotional experience so I look forward to people watching it."

Hirst later revealed more details to Express.co.uk, revealing new locations that season six will visit:

"We’re going to Rus, which is Kiev, and the Rus Vikings. [There is] a new civilization there, a powerful civilization. There’s a new world the Vikings are going to become involved with."

Europe isn't the only place season six will venture to either:

"We go on the Silk Road. Each Viking warship had an Odin banner and they’ve only every found a piece of one of those banners, and a little bit of fabric from one, but it was silk."

"So we know the Vikings were on the Silk Road. We don’t know if they got to China but we know they were trading because they were traders as well as fighters," says Hirst.

History channel executive Eli Lehrer added: "Vikings has evolved from early raids in England to the heart-stopping death of Ragnar Lothbrok, to the fierce battles of the Great Heathen Army, and now we'll see the sons of Ragnar exploring and conquering the known world."

And what about a potential sequel?

"It's not a spin-off," he said. "We're talking about a continuation series, which I'm still going to be very involved with. Jeb Stuart is the other writer and it is exciting, but my main focus was on my characters.

"I have to say that they're not characters to me. I write so much about them, I've lived with them for seven years. They're real people to me. So I care, and have been caring, about them for a long time. I want to guide them through whatever storylines they have.

"That was my principle objective – to do justice to these incredible characters I found in history and helped to create onscreen. So no. I wasn't thinking about the future particularly when I was dealing with my people, my characters, my beloved Vikings.

"Continuation means, that if we make it, it will be connected to my saga. It may not involve necessarily the same characters. I can’t go into more details than that, but for the fans of the show it will be a continued enjoyment of the Vikings experience."

Vikings season 6 trailer: Is there any footage?

While we don't currently have a full-length trailer, History did release a teaser, which you can watch below.

Who will die? While that still remains unclear, some fans seem convinced that Lagertha will be the one to meet her maker when season six finally returns to our screens later this year.

Vikings airs on History in the US and Amazon Prime Video in the UK.

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