Vikings Theory: Ragnar Returns In Season 6 (To Crown Ivar King)
Vikings is currently on a midseason break, and while fans wait for the final part of season 6 and with that the end of the series, they are coming up with a lot of theories. One of those suggests Ragnar will be back to crown Ivar, but how exactly would that be possible? Created by Michael Hirst, Vikings debuted on History Channel in 2013, and even though it was originally planned to be a miniseries, it was quickly renewed for a second season, and so viewers got to follow the stories of its main characters for five more seasons.
Vikings initially followed the journeys of Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel) and his Viking brothers, from the beginning of the Viking era – marked by the Lindisfarne raid, as seen in season 1 – onward. The series gradually shifted its focus to Ragnar’s sons and their own travels, especially Bjorn Ironside (Alexander Ludwig) and Ivar the Boneless (Alex Høgh Andersen), making them the protagonists. Season 6 has focused on the battle between these two for the throne, but Bjorn might not make it to the end of the season.
Though Vikings has done its best to be as historically accurate as possible, it has taken some creative liberties, and fans can’t fully rely on history to know who will be crowned king. However, some fans believe the answer is in one of the promotional posters for season 6, and the big moment will include the appearance of a beloved character.
One of the posters for Vikings season 6 features Ivar being crowned. Nothing too relevant on that, and as it's just promo material, it might or might not hint at what’s to come in the series, but fans have pointed out an interesting detail in it. If you look closely, you will notice that the hands placing the crown on Ivar’s head have shackles around them, and that detail alone has made fans believe this points at Ragnar coming back one last time to crown his son.
Ragnar met his fate in season 4’s episode “All His Angels”, where he was thrown into a pit of snakes. In that scene, Ragnar had shackles around his wrists as he was a prisoner of King Aelle. Ragnar has appeared a couple of times after that, though only through flashbacks and visions, so a proper return of the great Ragnar Lothbrok seems unlikely – but Vikings loves the use of metaphors, and it wouldn’t be outside the realm of possibility that he did appear to crown his son, though that would be for the eyes of the audience only. Of course, it’s also possible that this was just a clever hidden reference to Ragnar in the poster, symbolizing him seeing one of his sons become king. There’s no official date for the return of Vikings, so whether Ragnar will make one final appearance or not will remain a mystery for a while, though it wouldn’t be a bad idea.