Fans of Vikings: Valhalla can rest easy knowing that it's all under control—from a storytelling standpoint anyway. By the end of Season 1, things in Kattegat and in England are getting a little messy, to say the least. Fortunately, however, once Season 2 returns on January 12, even as things might get worse for the characters, it's all going according to plan, according to showrunner Jeb Stuart.
During a live Q&A with cast members Sam Corlett (Leif Erikson), Frida Gustavsson (Freydis Eiríksdóttir) and Leo Sutter (Harald Sigurdsson), hosted by Collider's Steve Weintraub, Stuart was asked if the show planned things out from season to season. To that, he simply said, "No, we're definitely not going season by season." Elaborating on Season 2, which sees Leif and Harald set out in one direction, with Freydis headed in the other, he added, "I always knew that [in] Season 2, we were going to take these guys, and we were going to push them out."
Part of the planning, according to Stuart, comes from a desire to track the histories of these real-life figures. That involved setting things up early on and ensuring that the first three seasons followed through on that setup from the outset. As Stuart put it:
"We've tracked, in the storyline, because we can, a little bit of Leif Erikson's story, of Freydis' story, and also I was always fascinated how Harald Sigurdsson goes from Harald Sigurdsson to Harald Hardrada. From a historical standpoint, Harald got thrust out of Scandinavia and so these guys become fugitives from that point on, and that really set the standard because we then had to build the Viking legacy, as Leo says, outside of Scandinavia. You have to be a Viking somewhere else, and it is a challenge, and it's great for all their characters.
So I knew what Season 3 was going to be. I knew where Season 3 was going to be because of that change of culture, I knew that we have to eventually get to the New World. So what's in the toolbox? How do we fill up Leif's toolbox, and what does Freydis bring to get these people, who are the last hold out of the Pagan faith? And we know what's happening in Europe at that time. So it's exciting for us. And so yes, I'm not doing this season by season."
RELATED: New 'Vikings: Valhalla' Season 2 Trailer Welcomes Leif and Freydis to Jómsborg
This sort of forward-thinking comes in very handy for the actors as well, as Suter explained, with Stuart helping put things in context and perspective for the cast. As he put it:
"[S]ometimes we'll have questions for Jeb, and he's been very open to having conversations with us, talking about our character. I say, "How does this work in this episode?" And then he'll go, "Well, in Season 3 this or that's going to happen." So we've had that since Season 1, actually, and it's been really useful for us as actors, having that huge bird's-eye-view of what this show is going to look like and where these characters are going to get to. It means, sometimes you don't have to rush to get there because there's time, lots of time."
How Many Seasons Will Vikings: Valhalla Have?
As of right now, Vikings: Valhalla is scheduled for three seasons. But that doesn't mean Stuart isn't thinking beyond that, telling Weintraub at the Q&A, "I have a real plan, hopefully, for a four, five, and six."
In a separate, 1-on-1 interview, Stuart told Weintraub that he conceived them as a "block," with the narrative all interwoven to tell one big story, even though he does hope to continue the story into Season 4 and beyond:
"We really talked about one, two, and three as sort of a block, and then hopefully we could get to a four, five, and six because the story is... I think you'll see when you see Season 2 and Season 3. It's almost like a novel. It has these wonderful time-jumps and growth in terms of particular characters. And like a really big, great novel, it's got several under-stories that are holding things up that you don't really feel. They're like leitmotifs that you don't really see, but you suddenly feel them there."
Stuart also added that should the series continue past Season 3, he would love the chance to film them as a big block rather than individually, as the larger, macro view of things helps him inform the story:
"If we've got a chance to shoot this, yes, it's a continuation because the first part was thought of as a triptych. The second part should be thought of, as well. Now, if I only got one season to go, I'll take it one at a time and do whatever I have to do. But, these things are always better when you get to play on a large canvas. It's better."
Even if the series doesn't continue part Season 3, however, Stuart sees the story as-is as being a stand-alone, and teases that things will come to a satisfying ending.
"So, I'm hoping we have the opportunity to complete that journey, but I feel that one, two, and three are all stand-alone’s, all good like that. I'm happy. I'm a happy guy. I'm getting to tell a really cool story with lots of great action and great characters, and a cast that I love working with, and crew. What's there to complain about?"
Vikings: Valhalla Season 2 premieres on Netflix on January 12. Look for more from our interview with Stuart soon. Check out our interview with some of the cast from Season 1 below:
