And so, at the core of Valhalla, underneath all the city sieges and various blood feuds, is the implosion of the viking people from within and the growing Christian faction seeking to violently cleanse their ranks of pagans. When Leif captains a small boat through a deadly storm to Kattegat, to answer the war call of King Canute of Denmark, who wishes revenge on England's King Aethelred, he finds his worship of old gods makes him a disrespected outsider. Sam Corlett is the centerpiece of Valhalla, playing the famed Leif Eriksson, a Greenlander viking whose location has kept him, his sister Freydis (Frida Gustavsson), and other close comrades far off and detached from the Christianity that has all-but consumed the viking people during the century between the two series. The end result is a series that presents as a well-executed axes and arrows adventure, with gritty performances, big battle sequences, and dramatic twists (anchored in history), with the downside being that it lacks Vikings' ethereal specialness and that show's haunting dance with what lies beyond the veil, which is the curiosity that fueled all of Ragnar's voyages and unconventional connections. The world of vikings is very different in Valhalla than it was during the time of Ragnar so, accidentally-on-purpose, Valhalla can present things in a new light because the old Norse ways are dying. It doesn't feel the same but - as an unexpected safety net - the slight switch in tone is almost baked into the story.

There's nothing here that will be off-putting for fans of the original series, though. The series is reliable and sometimes thrilling, but from the opening credits alone, Valhalla feels worlds apart from its predecessor. Jeb Stuart - famous for writing '80s and '90s action scripts like Die Hard and The Hunt for Red October - is the EP/showrunner here, penning the first two episodes and presiding over a traditional writers' room for the rest. While Hirst is credited as a co-creator and EP, none of the episodes are written by him.

Valhalla, on the other hand, has been cranked out through much more of a traditional production model.

It had a rather singular vision and voice. The long and lauded run of Vikings on History was created and solely written by Michael Hirst (yup, all 89 episodes).

Valhalla room review