Does Alexander Ludwig's Bjorn Ironside Die on Vikings?

In 2020, Michael Hirst's fascinating historical drama series “Vikings” came to an end, and after six seasons, Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel) and his relatives completed the era. (It was even more impressive considering Hirst didn't think the Vikings would go past the 1). Few other shows have captured the realism and brutality of this period in history, Northmen Invade the Lands, such as (although there are good alternatives to “Vikings” out there).

Of course, Ragnar himself didn't make it past season 4 with the show Drawing “Game of Thrones” (as much as it tries to avoid comparisons with that series) and kills off one of its most important characters by the end of the story. “How the little pigs would grunt if they knew how the old pig was suffering,” for from there only the father and his sons fought over the remaining scraps of his kingdom. Among them, Bjorn Ironside (Alexander Ludwig), Ragnar's eldest son, had to endure some intense family feuds to keep both the peace and what was his.

And what happened to Bjorn? How did he carry on his father's legacy, and how far has Hirst's beloved show strayed from the history books and the real version of the Viking prince (he's often raiding, pillaging, and doing all sorts of other Viking, e.g. things)? Well, it may come as no surprise to learn that Hirst's version of these events has a little more flair and pizzazz. Indeed, by the end of Vikings, Bjorn has emerged as what well-educated and respected historians call an “absolute boss.”

While the show does a good job of tying up loose ends, the last two seasons of “Vikings,” while watchable, are primarily concerned with wrapping up what happened after Ragnar's death, much of it fighting for his sons. their place in the world is behind that of their dear old fathers. This leads to Bjorn going to war with his half-brother Ivar the Boneless (Alex Hogg Andersen), who at the end of the show joins forces with Russian forces to defeat Ragnar's firstborn. He almost succeeds, stabbing and fatally wounding King Bjorn, which forces him to retreat behind the gates of Kattegat as he nears his end.

Valhalla can wait, but as in a final act of defiance against the enemy, Bjorn dons his armor and goes into battle alone with his father's sword and meets the enemy, bewildered by the dying king. up and (but) about, but ready for another fight. The whispers of his divine presence are silenced when Bjorn, who sees him as a god and even fears the Russians who send shivers down Ivar's spine, heals Boromir by taking three arrows to the chest. Bjorn has certainly been pushed to his limits by this point, but it allows him to defeat his enemies without drawing arrows, raising his sword, or signaling a stealthy Viking force to attack. In the end, he dies and is buried as a true hero, hailed by his widow Gunnhild as “King of Norway” and “The Man Who Could Not Die.”

Even after the brutal battle that destroyed Ragnar Lothbrok's last remaining heirs, no time is lost in filling the throne (which has almost cooled since Bjorn's death). When “Vikings” takes over the credits, the show welcomes a new era, with Bjorn's second wife Ingrid (Lucy Martin) leading the charge after the rest of the players are off the board.

Thanks in part to a popularity contest and just a sprinkling of magic (something that has played a major role throughout the series up to this point), Ingrid parks herself on the throne of Kattegat, an admirable feat given her background. series. Crossing Bjorn's path while still enslaved, Ingrid ends the show pregnant, continuing Lothbrok's lineage as though it were royal (even if it's never fully confirmed), though we never find out for how long.

In Vikings: Valhalla, set 150 years after the parent show, Kattegat is ruled by Jarl Haakon (Jarl Estrid Haakon). It is revealed that she ascended the throne after her husband was killed in battle, with no confirmation as to whether the deceased other half is a descendant of Ragnar and Bjorn. However, like the original show, “Valhalla” bends the truth a bit, and that extends from Bjorn's birth and history books to his death (or lack thereof).

For all the creative liberties “Vikings” takes, Hirst's rich story of war and betrayal is still rooted in real-life Viking history. Ragnar Lothbrok was, in fact, a true Viking lord whose legend spans the ages, dancing between myth and truth just like the family he created during his reign. However, in the case of Bjorn Ironside, the facts are perhaps even more skewed, especially when it comes to his death (never detailed in known historical texts).

First, it has a place in Lothbrok's bloodline. In the show, he is the first son of Ragnar, giving his character understandable weight when it comes to his father's legacy and Bjorn's struggle to keep it alive. Historically, Bjorn was not Ragnar's eldest son. Plus, unlike the way “Vikings” portrayed things, his mother wasn't actually Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick) but Aslaug (Alyssa Sutherland), which would have drastically changed the Lothbrok family dynamic if Hirst had stuck to the history books.

Given that Bjorn's death on the show is not only graphic and spectacular, but more detailed, we still don't know what happened at the end of Ragnar's son's life. Historically, the last known reference to Ironside is in The Tale of Ragnar's Sons, where it appears that his marauding days ended and he settled in Uppsala and Sweden. After that, it's assumed he died of old age, which is decidedly less dramatic than his departure to the Vikings.

His time with the Vikings may have come to an end, but Alexander Ludwig's acting career has only continued to take some interesting turns since then. After presenting the Sword of Kings in the History Channel hit, Ludwig went on to appear in 2020's Bad Boys for Life as AMMO member Dorn. s***. Thankfully, Dorn was deemed worthy enough to stay, and he returned four years later for Bad Boys: Ride or Die, starring opposite Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.

As for TV work, Ludwig hit the ropes with Stephen Amell on the short-lived Heels show, which ran from 2021-2023 and followed a pair of wrestling brothers on opposite sides of the ring. Recently, Ludwig also appeared in MGM+'s Earth Abides, which stars him as one of the last survivors of a deadly disease that has decimated most of the world's population. Going it alone, his character tries to reboot civilization, which we can only assume he's still working on, given that the second season is set to premiere in 2025. Well, bringing the world back from the brink is hard work.

Like most of the “Vikings” cast, Michael Hirst's take on the bloody events of Kattegat ended with the types, soldiers, and shieldmaidens all a little heartbroken. As for Ludwig and his time as King of Norway, he didn't cry about giving his character an epic Viking funeral, but he walked away having learned his fair share of valuable lessons.

talking to ET Online After his heroic departure from Vikings, Ludwig explained, “I learned a lot on the show. But I will say that we got to a point for the character where I believe in what I've shown and we've done everything we can. That character and more would be too much.

Thankfully, there's more than just fond memories for Ludwig, as he was able to walk away from the show with his own historical artifact. “Yeah, it's actually a tradition on 'Vikings' – everybody who dies on the show gets a shield signed by all the cast and crew, I love that, I think it's really cool that we do that. So I got that shield,” he explained. . Being an “Undying Man” also came with some added perks. “And Michael also gave me the Sword of the Kings, which are the producers. It says 'Bjorn Ironside' in Nordic engraved on the sword. So I got that and it was an incredible gift,” Ludwig said.