Original subtitles

Hello, I'm Michael Hirst,

creator, writer, executive producer of Vikings.

And I'm Gustaf Skarsgård and I play Floki.

Yeah, here's the baby.

My son and your grandson, Michael.

- In a curious, twisted way. - Your daughter, daughter.

Yes. So...

Floki.

So we're starting on the final episode

of Season 2 of Vikings,

in which many things come true

and other things are revealed.

It was a really, really interesting episode to write.

- Very fun to act. - Right.

Lot of levels to work with.

So, here's Floki seeing his child for the first time.

And, as you see, he's so happy.

A girl.

- I don't want to drop her. - You won't drop her.

Yeah.

A girl.

A beautiful, beautiful...

I think Maudie plays this scene very well as well.

Yeah.

Here's the darkness.

Yes.

From that happiness to, "How is it possible?"

To, "It's impossible."

It cannot be mine. It can't be true.

I don't deserve that. I could not have made that.

Angrboda.

- The name of Loki's first wife? - Yes, yes.

But she's...

What's wrong with that?

They thought she was evil. They had monstrous offspring.

She was a great giantess, Helga.

So cruel.

Will you come back with us?

Will you get to know your daughter?

No.

I have to stay in Kattegat.

But you, you must go home.

Can't I stay awhile?

You don't understand, Helga. You have to leave.

So, of course, the subtext is that you're saving her life.

Yes, of course.

Like you beat a dog to... Remember that scene from Call of the Wild,

he had to beat the dog to have it abandon him.

Yes, that's right.

Throwing stones at the dog to leave.

To save it.

It's definitely that.

And that's revealed by that little sigh there at the end of it.

It's a hard thing to do.

Very hard thing to do for him.

But, of course, it was to protect her.

So, there are two agendas happening simultaneously.

There's Horik's agenda,

and although we don't realize it, there's Ragnar's agenda.

And of course, Horik has made up his mind

that he can no longer work

or trust Ragnar.

That Ragnar is too famous

and too big for his boots.

I never really did respect Horik in the first place.

No.

Come. Come, family. I want you to meet Ragnar, huh?

Are you hungry?

But I think we do believe,

for quite a way into this episode

that Horik's thinking has outstripped Ragnar's,

that Horik really has a plan.

- And it's a... - Well, we have to.

Yeah, and it's a fairly efficient plan.

Yeah, it's that balance that we had to thread

through these last couple of episodes

to lead the audience on and still make it

believable and truthful subjectively to the characters.

And as far as the audience are concerned,

both Siggy and Floki have bought into the plan,

the conspiracy.

In this endeavor, I see you more than ever as an equal.

And both having reasons to do so. It's not...

...we have already accomplished so much.

We have land and opportunity in Wessex.

But that is only the beginning.

We know already there are many other worlds to discover,

and we shall do so together,

united even more by the bonds of family.

For you have many sons, and as you can see, I have many daughters.

So, in actual fact, nearly everything that is said

in this episode is either a lie or the opposite is true.

Yeah.

Virtually, no one tells the truth.

This is a funny moment, when I approach Horik here.

No, that's next beat.

Oh, you are more famous, Gunnhild.

The poets talk of your exploits.

They tell how you killed Sweyn Forkbeard when he invaded Götland.

And they say that you are now an earl in your own right.

How did it happen?

I killed my husband when he invaded me.

- What is it? - Don't you remember?

You were going to put a proposition for me.

Was I?

Yes. And I am still waiting.

The thing is, Floki,

I'm not entirely sure I can trust you.

So, this is Floki getting pissed off at himself

for having been a bad actor.

He hasn't got... Yeah, yeah, yeah.

He failed there, because he's trying to get out of him and he failed.

And he hasn't earned his trust, so he's like, "Fuck!"

- Yeah. The secret agent has failed. - Yeah.

And he's very hard on himself there.

So, he just starts drinking and becomes really nasty this night,

because he feels like such a bad actor.

Yeah, he might have thrown away the...

You were the first to treat me as if I was not a slave.

Because if he doesn't find out, then everyone is more at peril.

Yeah, yeah, totally.

There are plenty of other women here.

That is your first mistake.

I like her very much as well.

Gaia.

She's beautiful, but she's great.

Ah, Torstein.

Up to your usual tricks I see.

These two beautiful women approached me.

They chose you for the size of your silver pouch, nothing else.

I don't think about it too much.

- If these women don't love me... - ...what do I care?

They will still make me happy.

Here, have some more.

Jealousy of other people's light-heartedness.

Yeah. Yes.

- Siggy. - I am pleased to see you.

I would like to know your plans while you are here.

My wife is here. My children are here.

That's all you need to know.

It's the burden of being a serious jester,

which comics down the ages have felt, you know.

It's a terribly serious and difficult and often tragic role.

What is that shit you're holding, Erlendur?

This is Wessex earth.

It is my inheritance.

Why did you come back, Priest?

Nobody wants you here.

You betrayed the gods.

You betrayed all of us.

It's your fault Rollo's going to die.

So, you're becoming more and more unpleasant

as this episode unfolds,

which is exactly what we needed.

Yeah. That's what we needed the audience to think as well.

Subjectively, I just felt like...

He was just so pissed off with himself for having failed,

that he didn't earn his trust and then he's just being a bad drunk.

He's just walking around being nasty to people.

The vision of Christ, I think, wasn't in the American version.

- No. It wasn't, was it? - No.

And neither was the part with Erlendur and the Wessex earth.

Yeah, no.

Again, it's so sad when these things are dropped,

but as you say, that's...

Especially, I guess, for you, things that you plant,

that will become significant down the line.

That earth thing is difficult because I put it into the third season.

You know, why else would Ragnar have spared...

- Yeah, his life. - His life.

Kill someone...

So here, he's getting back in.

Thank goodness for that.

So, now he's actually thinking, "Yes! I got him back."

Yeah.

Yeah.

But, it could also be read as malevolence or...

- Yeah, yeah, exactly. - It was very fun as an actor,

in this episode, to thread that line the whole time.

I have to play it in a way so the audience can buy into it,

that I'm actually going dark and betraying Ragnar.

And, of course, Ragnar now looks completely drunk and out of it.

Not able to see what's happening around him.

Which is another reason why you might join with someone

- who is very calculating and very able. - Yeah, exactly.

So, what I'm thinking here is,

"Yes! I earned his trust again.

"I'm back in the position where I wanna be."

But people could also see it as bloodlust and like, "Yeah, I'm gonna kill someone."

Yeah.

...and that growing up is a process of forgetting.

How's your baby? How's Ivar?

Do you know?

Yes.

And I tell you this, what you're doing

is far more courageous than fighting in a shield wall.

I just want you to know.

Thank you.

A good bit of female bonding.

This is interesting, the coin-flicking game,

that was invented already in the first season, in the first block,

when Johan Renck was still here.

We started playing this game, with his assistant Sebastiaan.

Yeah. And I saw it one day.

Yeah, you saw it one day, and then,

- it made the show. - Yes, it made the show.

- It made it in there. - Well, I knew that,

from our historical consultant, that Vikings loved to play games.

Yes. Who hasn't?

So, I just needed some games that we could shoot, that would be...

I think we showed chess already, we've showed sort of unexpected things.

But this is like a game of the common man, you know.

Have you made up your mind?

Yes.

I know who I will kill.

- Here's the reveal. - Yeah.

Gotcha.

It's a great show to look back on it. 'cause you played that so well,

and it's only when you look back at it

that all the clues are there if you wanna read them.

Exactly.

It's not what's happening on the surface, it's what's happening underneath.

That's so fun. Great stuff to play with.

Yeah.

Here, he's collecting the mushrooms to kill people.

- Mmm. - The poison mushrooms.

- Or to seemingly kill. - Yeah.

I love that,

whenever you write in that, Floki's connection to nature, I love that.

That he is a man of the forest,

and he has the knowledge of all the herbs and the mushrooms.

What should the rest of us do, hmm?

Those who do not wish to be farmers.

Those can join King Ecbert and Princess Kwenthrith

in the battle for Mercia.

I'm sure they will be rewarded well.

I agree with you.

I think we should claim the land,

but I do not like the idea of being Ecbert's handmaiden.

I still have a score to settle with him, and unlike Ragnar, I do not trust him.

He reminds me of the giantess Hel. You remember?

Mmm.

Her face, her neck, her arms, her breasts, all pink.

But beneath her waist, every inch of her flesh

is decayed and rotten and greenish-black.

Yes, that might be true, Father.

But isn't it best to test him to see if he is honest?

I believe he is telling the truth.

Then you are still innocent.

It does not seem to matter how many experiences you have, Athelstan.

In the end, you are still like the young monk I first met.

So you agree with me?

No. I agree that those who wish to farm should do so

and also ask for King Ecbert's protection.

But for some of us, those of us who still want to raid,

we will go elsewhere, explore and discover new places.

You'll notice that Ragnar didn't say anything.

- Yeah. - In that scene,

in which you would possibly expect him to have an opinion.

And in a little while, I'll explain why

he didn't say anything in that scene.

How is he?

He's alive.

Will he ever walk again?

Only the gods know.

But in so many ways, this is your episode, isn't it?

- Yeah, I think so. - Yeah.

I'm very glad about that, that that's how it worked out.

And quite rightly, because...

Actually, the whole conspiracy hinges upon you, you know.

No, it was great fun.

It really was.

And also here, because, again, we haven't really brought up the conflict.

I mean, at the beginning of the season,

Rollo nearly killed me.

Or he nearly killed Floki and it has never been mentioned.

And of course, if he was to kill anyone, it would be Rollo.

Yes, he still has a grudge against...

So that's when we came up with that idea, to reconnect that line...

To reconnect with the first episode.

So, what he does here is, actually, he forgives him for the first time.

I brought you something.

Then again, I had to play it in a way so the audience could also believe

- that this is where I kill him. - Yeah.

Eat.

Yes, wonderfully ambivalent expression.

He softened there,

the millisecond at the end, you can see him softening.

Yeah.

Yeah, I know.

So again, subjectively, Floki goes to Rollo

to give him the magic mushrooms or the mushrooms to give him strength...

Strength from the Gods, because he knows that Floki will be needed.

- But Rollo will be needed. - Yeah.

That must be our secret.

He could have spared the kid, though.

Yes.

- It's gilding the lily, I think. A little bit. - Yeah.

Do you know what will happen?

I'll tell you.

When the god Loki had done something terribly bad,

the other gods took him to a nasty dark cave.

And there they chained him on three sharp rocks,

and above him they fastened a vile snake

so that its poison would drip, drip, drip forever on Loki's face.

Now, you wouldn't want that to happen to you, would you?

- He's so good, little Cormac. - Yeah.

Yes.

...but keep the secret.

It's strange, isn't it? It's just, also, who the camera likes.

The camera chooses

who it's going to like and engage with.

Yeah.

So, some kids that wouldn't work even if they had angelic faces,

or whatever they looked like.

But others, something is going on that the camera likes

and is kind of interested in, slightly intrigued by.

- Here we go. - Yeah.

So I always... We never spoke about this, Michael.

I always thought of the mushrooms that...

It was kind of like they did poison him,

and that I would later give him an antidote or something.

Right. I'd never thought of that, that's...

How do you think of it,

the mushrooms that I gave him?

We'll find the guilty one.

They were just harmless.

Yeah, that's Floki overacting.

- Playing the part. - Yeah.

You did well.

Now I know I can trust you.

So, what is your plan?

I will kill them all.

- All? - Yes, all.

- Ragnar? - Of course Ragnar.

And Lagertha and Aslaug.

All of them. All their bastard children.

I will wipe his family from the face of the earth.

You fucker.

Bjorn Ironside. He is difficult to kill.

Perhaps the gods are protecting him. You must find a way to kill him.

I have no doubt you will manage. I know you will manage.

When?

Tomorrow. Be prepared, my friend.

Now Floki finally had all the crucial information he needed.

I did hit my head walking out of there.

Do we get the threesome in this version, I wonder?

Yeah, I don't know.

It's 'cause it wasn't in the American.

No, I heard.

Yeah, that's quite a big difference,

whether they had a threesome or not.

Yeah.

The gods are coming.

I know.

I mean, you'd have to pay those lines off."The gods are coming." "I know."

No, it's not here.

Yeah.

Apparently, one of the reasons the editors gave for not showing it

was that they couldn't get one shot of Ragnar,

who's between these two women, looking serious at all.

That he's smiling.

The director kept going, "Come on, Travis, just give us...

"You know, 'cause the gods are coming. This is deeply serious." And he said,

"Look, mate, I've just had a threesome.

"I'm having a good time."

- Yeah. - "All right."

What can I do?

You can fight...

I just think, if you just put a shot like that and it's so unexpected

and inexplicable, but it's somehow connected to, "The gods are coming."

So no more rules apply suddenly.

- The world is changing. Oh! Here it is. - Here it is.

- Yeah, he's a happy camper. - Yeah, he's a happy camper.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It makes sense to me.

They've had quite a complicated relationship

right from the start.

It's no use.

It's been very complicated, but I like to think

that all the major characters in the show are complicated.

Oh, yeah.

What do you care if I give up...

Very few of them...

Can't think of any that are either really good or really bad and...

- Definitely. - I mean, apart from anything else,

they go around murdering innocent monks.

To whom?

They weren't innocent to them.

No, that's right.

The Huffington Post wrote a great article

about the show, saying it's the only show on network TV

that takes religious beliefs seriously.

Which I really appreciated.

You know, for good and bad.

Shouldn't you be with your wife? Doesn't she have need of you?

- Don't play games. - There are no more games.

Yes, there is, and this is the final one.

You once promised you would tell me Ragnar's weaknesses.

I don't ever remember you delivering on that promise.

Well, you wasted all your seed on a promise.

Tell me now.

Is it not obvious?

Ragnar's weakness is his children.

Then this is what you must do.

You must go to the great hall at sunset and you must kill Ragnar's young sons.

What do I get in return?

I will marry you.

Gunnhild is my only wife at the moment. I will take a second.

I will make you a queen.

You will rule again, as you once did.

See, that's pretty good bait.

We know that that's what she wants to do.

She wants to rule again.

Here's the creepy lurker.

Okay, there was some controversy

about whether this was a good idea, to let them fight.

And whether showing a guy

punching a woman...

That's what Ragnar and Lagertha

have been doing since Season 1.

Actually, that's true.

But this in, kind of, cold blood instead of being domestic.

That she's... And I did discuss it with Gaia.

And she said, "Don't dare to take that scene away from me."

She so much, the character, that is,

she so much wants to be a Viking.

She so much wants to belong. Now she's a free woman.

But she came from another culture.

And it's almost that she tries too hard.

In the end, she does try too hard to become a Viking.

She wants to be accepted on their terms.

You can imagine that Viking women were incredibly tough.

Incredibly tough.

Porunn, I'm sorry.

It was an accident.

Porunn, where are you?

- Here's the creepy... - Here's the creepy lurker.

And of course, as we will later find out,

- he's actually looking after Bjorn. - Yeah, he's protecting him.

So, again, it's exactly the reverse of what you think it is in the scene.

I love the fact that this is a real love story as well.

In the middle of people being Viking and brutal and everything that...

It's rather a tender love story.

And I'm sure, while reading the sagas,

- there are love stories in the sagas. - Of course.

And there always have been love stories

as long as there have been human beings.

So to put one in the middle of here isn't cheating history at all.

It's reaffirming the humanity of these people.

And Alexander gets to take his top off.

Everyone gets their go, apart from me.

We wouldn't wanna waste screen time on that now.

- We've got time. - Yeah, yeah.

- I actually did in Season 1. - Okay.

The creepy lurker.

Like a lion. I love how the makeup is totally...

And of course, I'm looking around.

And the reason why I'm pulling that weapon is,

'cause he obviously can't defend himself right then, but...

Put a little scary music on,

you really have something completely different.

This is the Sword of Kings.

One day, if the gods will it, this sword will belong to you.

It took weeks and weeks and weeks to make that sword.

- Did it? - Yeah, it was made especially for this.

Today we must do something extraordinary.

Somewhere...

I don't know, Middle Europe, or something.

...which threatens our power and survival.

The gods have spoken and I have listened.

We must cut and kill in such a frenzy none can survive.

For, believe me, if even one of that family survives,

then the day will come when he will rise again and destroy us.

Put yourself in the hands of the gods, do their will.

And then, for certain, they will grant you this sword

and a kingdom.

Come.

I love the way he said, "We must overcome the magic of Ragnar Lothbrok."

I've seen you praying to your god.

Will you teach me one of your prayers...

Don't do it, Ragnar.

Our Father, who art in heaven.

Our Father, who art in heaven.

So, I don't know how many people have realized this by now,

or have heard about it, but, in fact, in this whole episode,

the Lord's Prayer is the only thing that Ragnar says.

And I think that's so cool.

I don't think you realize, because he's still in so many scenes.

...as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Boys, come with me.

Travis and I discussed it for a long time.

And I thought it was a very, very cool idea.

And I wanted to do it, but for a while, I felt very insecure

about having the lead character not speak.

- Great call. - But, uh...

And it sounds like it all...

It's his master plan anyway that takes place.

And he's so present in that.

And his story is still being told

at this point, when everything is connected to Ragnar anyways.

So, his story will always be told by all events anyway.

That's right. So he's still at the center of it.

- Bring it here, girl. - Yes, mistress.

Plus I'm just happy that he stepped aside so I could act a little bit.

Watching this episode, I was kind of envious of the audience

getting to see it and not knowing what is going on.

'Cause I obviously knew what would happen and everything.

But...

It must have been a cool experience to see it for the first time,

not knowing what was going down.

Really keeps them on edge

from the first minute of this episode. What is going on?

Jessalyn told me that many people, friends and people, have said,

"I thought you were really going to do it."

She said, "Is that what you think of me?"

And then the kind of final reveal of all our guys together

- made people feel so good, you know. - No, totally.

Someone showed me on social media how over the last episodes,

people are like, "No, Floki, I hate you. Don't you dare betray Ragnar."

And then at the denouement, when it's revealed that he was always true to him,

they were like, "Yeah, I knew it."

We saw people like, "Sorry I ever doubted you."

And deliver us from evil.

- Go Athelstan. - Yeah, go Athelstan.

And of course, what's nice is that there are so many...

There's a collective story.

There's an overarching story, but within that,

there are so many individual stories going on and that are all paid off, actually,

one way or another.

- She can look so mean. - Yeah.

Katheryn, so badass.

Floki, where have you been?

Looking after you, Bjorn.

Great. Great reveal.

Like I promised your father.

And I think that that still kept the audience wondering

like, "What is going on?"

"Is he..." 'Cause it's not the full reveal yet.

And here's a moment that's...

What we were saying about you can forgive Ragnar, just about anything,

well, here he's demanded, he's ordered the death of all his children.

All Horik's children.

But at the time, that was pragmatism.

Well we know what it means, 'cause Horik could explain to his own son

what the consequences are of not doing that.

Right.

That's the code, that's the law.

That's the understanding.

He did leave one loose end though.

That's it. That's the end.

Floki,

you have betrayed the gods.

No, King Horik.

I only betrayed you.

I was always true to the gods

and Ragnar.

Ragnar,

if you can find it in your heart,

spare my son.

Now, Horik has to die like a Viking.

It's interesting that everybody has a go at him.

Because that was common.

They would do things like that. They would decide, before a battle,

they would say, "Yes, I will hit him and you will hit him.

"And then, that way, we will all be responsible."

Right, of course. They'll all be responsible.

They are acknowledging the truth in their connection as well.

- Yeah. - That's important there.

I remember, I came to you and I said,

"Oh, please let me kill Horik."

You did.

And then everyone was gonna do with that.

And then I said, "Okay, then I won't."

Yeah, yeah.

I thought it would be either/or,

but I really like the way we chose to play it out.

- That I didn't. - Yeah.

There was a truth to their connection as well.

And someone asked me, lots of people asked me why Ragnar is so brutal

in the way he kills Horik. But Siggy's just given him the knife

that was intended to be used to kill his own children.

So I'm afraid that, above everything else,

you don't go near Ragnar's children.

I also think, as we've been talking about it,

that Ragnar reveals himself to be a total Viking

in this episode, you know, the way he behaves throughout

and the killing of the children.

He's obviously attracted intellectually

to Christianity, to Christian ideals.

But he is a profoundly Viking personality.

- Yeah, and pragmatic. - Yeah.

- And ambitious. - Yes.

- He's ambitious... - I like the fact that

he might be pushing a little too far.

'Cause it stretches...

'Cause it's not interesting to tell a story about a flawless person who's just...

Go.

He's ambitious for the things he wants.

But he never wanted to be an earl. And he never wanted to be a king.

These things have come about because of other ambitions he has.

And the only way he can fulfill those

is to overcome the powers in front of him, the establishment, whatever.

Whatever it is.

I know that Travis feels that very strongly.

That he's never been...

The idea of plunder doesn't mean very much to him.

The idea of title certainly doesn't.

He's not prepared to dress up like an earl or a king,

all those superficial things.

But he has other aspirations. His deeper passions.

I think this is a great last shot.

It seems so simple, it took so long to decide what the last shot was going to be.

It's great.

And I remember there was one draft

where people are acknowledging him as a king.

"Hail, King Ragnar" and all. This just says it all.

Thank you for watching and listening

to us talking about the season-ending, Episode 10 of Season 2 of Vikings.

Thank you.