‘Vikings’: How 1 Decision Changes Ragnar Lothbrok’s Future
Vikings is full of interesting characters that fans can’t seem to get enough of. One of those is of course Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel), who went from a humble farmer to the King of Kattegat. Ragnar had to make a number of tough choices throughout his life, but one of those seems to have led to regrets in his later years. Read on to find out about the one decision that forever changes Ragnar’s life.
Ragnar and Lagertha
Ragnar’s first wife, Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick), is a fierce shield-maiden and the mother of two of Ragnar’s children. When she miscarries a son, Ragnar is more than devastated by this loss and feels there must be a reason. At the festival at Uppsala, Ragnar asks the All-Father who will bear him his sons.
Ragnar certainly has a one-track mind when it comes to his legacy and the sons he needs to have. The Seer told him that he will have many sons, so he’s fixated on making it happen, no matter the cost or what he might lose because of it.
Ragnar cheats on Lagertha with Aslaug
When Ragnar goes to Gotland on business for King Horik (Donal Logue), he encounters Princess Aslaug (Alyssa Sutherland) and becomes instantly enamored with her. Ragnar ends up cheating on Lagertha with Aslaug on more than one occasion, who tells him she’s going to have his son. Many months pass and Ragnar is back home in Kattegat, when he gets a surprise guest that really shouldn’t have been a surprise at all.
Aslaug shows up in Kattegat, heavily pregnant and ready to manipulate the situation in her favor. Ragnar refuses to turn her away since she carries his child. Aslaug plays dumb and insists she’s alright with a situation where Ragnar would have two women. Of course, this infuriates Lagertha, who has no choice but to divorce Ragnar and start her life over again without him.
He loses his first family but gains another
At the last moment, Bjorn decides to go with his mother and he grows up away from his father for a number of years. Aslaug goes on to have four sons by Ragnar: Ubbe, Hvitserk, Sigurd, and Ivar. Ragnar fulfills his destiny, but at what cost? He loses the love of his life which becomes obvious to him in his later years.
Ragnar always loves Lagertha and she feels the same way about him even though they can never be together after what’s happened. With Ragnar’s one simple choice to cheat on Lagertha with Aslaug, he changed his life forever. Things were never the same after that and many lives would be different because of Ragnar’s decision.
Did he make the right choice? Well, Ragnar got what he wanted in that he had many sons and achieved fame not just in his own name but his son’s names as well. However, he lost the love of his life and neither of them ever really gets over it. It’s a bittersweet end for Ragnar in that he gets what he wants but loses what he needs.
