I filtered down my original list of 25 gratifying deaths to the most epic, as chosen by fans on twitter. I’m so proud of the bloodthirsty heathens in the Vikings fandom. They overwhelmingly chose the poignant deaths of honorable characters over blood and gore!
10. Ragnar
He didn’t die. But it was a great rouse. He got into Paris and got to kiss his future sister-in-law before Rollo.
9. Athelstan
Everyone misses Athelstan. He had a great death. Athelstan finally martyred himself. And Floki made the ultimate sacrifice to the gods for Ragnar. Ragnar never appreciates the people who have his back.
8.Earl Sigvard
Earl Sigvard, Lagertha’s 2nd husband threatens to strip her in front of everyone after having her beaten. She knifes him square in the eye socket and then goes into her crazed “Carrie” mode. She clearly developed a taste for revenge after Knut.
7. Burgred
Wessex had an awesome victory party up until Kwenthrith spiked the punch. Poison is such a predictably girlie way to go about her first kill. Knives didn’t work out so well for her though.
6.Einar
Einar was technically killed by Kalf’s men. But I’m sure those men didn’t contest Lagertha after what they saw. Kudos to Kalf, for supporting his woman, but he of all people shouldn’t have encouraged this behavior.
5. Earl Siegfried
Earl Siegfried’s was the first example of how Paris’ Salome handles things. “Bring me his head.” A Frankish guard held his hair back for him because Sigs just wanted a beheading, not a haircut. But Siegfried got the last laugh pulling his head away, causing the axe to cut off the guard’s hand. He had an awesome sense of humor about his death.
4. Leif
When Athelstan is rejected as a human sacrifice, someone has to step up or risk damning Kattegat. Everyone wants to die gloriously in battle, but no one wants to sacrifice themselves after a bunch of goats. Leif heroically steps up and puts everyone to shame, especially Athelstan.
Here are the top three epic deaths per fans.
3.Jarl Borg
This was the bloodiest and goriest by far. I’m not going to describe the method. Even casual fans know, and new fans will undoubtedly see it again under Ivar. The horrifying part of Borg’s death was that we all had time to think about it. Like when you need a root canal in a week. Just pull the Band-aid off and do it already! Borg went totally insane, not that carrying around his dead wife’s skull, was exactly normal. To his credit, he never uttered a peep. He’s definitely in Valhalla.
2. One Eye
One-Eye’s only crime was trying to make peace between Ragnar and Rollo. That backfired. Rollo looks like he regrets it, but he’s a berserker, no backing down. This death took some adrenalin out of Rollo’s sails. If Rollo hadn’t calmed down, only the gods know how many more men would have died.
1.Torstein (sniff)
Torstein was an incredible warrior who took three episodes to die. No way he was going down with an infection or blood poisoning. He sacrificed himself doing recon for his men, and managed to take a few English with him. I miss his sense of humor. “…cut off my arm…I always hated this arm.”
Only two more days to kill, metaphorically! Tomorrow we’ll cover some statements our Vikings favorites lived to regret.
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