Although Vikings has been criticized for historical inaccuracies and stereotypical depiction of the Viking society of the early medieval, the series has been a hit with fans since it premiered on History Channel in March 2013.
History Channel renewed the historical drama Vikings for a 20-episode Season 6 back in September 2017, ahead of the hit series’ Season 5 premiere in November 2017.
Vikings Season 4 averaged a 0.66 rating (in the 18-49 demo) and an average of 7.8 million viewers per episode across all platforms. The series drew 4.1 million total viewers in Live+7 and ranked among the top-five TV dramas on ad-supported cable.
With the finale of the 10-episode second half of Vikings Season 5 set to air on January 30, 2019, fans are already anticipating the end of the current season and looking forward to the next one.
Although the showrunners have confirmed Vikings for Season 6, fans want to know the exact date that the upcoming season will premiere. They want to know who is returning for Season 6 and what to expect of the plot and storyline.
Ahead of the return of Vikings for Season 6, here is everything we know so far. We will also be updating this page with further details when they become available.
Vikings Season 6 release date
History Channel has confirmed Vikings for Season 6, but fans still have a long wait ahead after the second half of Season 5 ends on January 30.
Vikings Season 6 is expected to premiere in 2019. Production began in the fall of 2017 and wrapped up late in 2018, according to Deadline. However, the exact date when Vikings Season 6 will premiere on History Channel has not yet been confirmed.
Seasons 2, 3 and 4 premiered in February 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively, but Season 5 premiered in November 2017.
The launch of Season 5 in November 2017 was clearly due to the change from a 10-episode season to a 20-episode season format during Season 4.
Season 4 consisted of 20 episodes divided into two 10-episode parts.
After the first half of Season 4 premiered in February 2016 as expected, the second half premiered in November 2016.
The first and second halves of the 20-episode Season 5 also premiered in November 2017 and November 2018 respectively.
If History Channel sticks with the launch date schedule it followed in Seasons 4 and 5, then the first half of Season 6 will premiere in November 2019, while the second half will launch in November 2020.
However, keep it in mind that the foregoing is only conjecture based on the consistent pattern of recent launch dates. There has been no official confirmation by History Channel.
Vikings Season 5 details
Vikings, History Channel’s first original scripted series, is a historical drama created by Michael Hirst. The series premiered on History Channel in March 2013.
Hirst, who has written all the episodes of Vikings so far, is also known for his work on The Tudors (TV series 2007-2010) and Elizabeth (1998).
Vikings is inspired by Old Norse legendary sagas, such as the 13th-century Icelandic saga Ragnars saga Loðbrókar (Tale of Ragnar Lothbrok), the Old Norse Ragnarssona þáttr (Tale of Ragnar’s Sons), and Saxo Grammaticus’s Gesta Danorum (Deeds of the Danes).
Vikings’ tale is set in the late 8th to 11th centuries. The series starts with the story of the legendary Viking chieftain Ragnar Lothbrok, who is known for having conducted a series of destructive raids in Northern Europe against Anglo-Saxon England and France.
Overall, Vikings’ storyline covers the period from the invasion of Lindisfarne Island (June 793) in Northern England to the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
The series follows the rise of Lothbrok to power as king. Subsequent seasons follow the careers of his sons and their raids, conquests and exploration of Europe and the Mediterranean.
Although many of the characters in Vikings are based on legendary and historical personalities, the series creators have used artistic license to change some of the known details of history to enhance the drama of the TV presentation.
The series is executive-produced by Michael Hirst with Morgan O’Sullivan (for World 2000), John Weber (Take 5 Productions), Sherry Marsh, Sheila Hockin, Alan Gasmer, and James Flynn.
Vikings, a joint Irish-Canadian production by Take 5 Productions and World 2000 in association with Corus Entertainment, is distributed internationally — outside Ireland and Canada — by MGM Television.
History Channel’s executive vice president for programming Eli Lehrer confirmed Vikings for Season 6 in September 2017, more than two months before Season 5 premiered in November 2017.
“Vikings has creatively sailed to monumental lengths,” Lehrer said. “The series has evolved from early raids in England, to the heart-stopping death of Ragnar Lothbrok, to the fierce battles of the Great Heathen Army, and now we’ll see the sons of Ragnar exploring and conquering the known world.”
“We are ready to begin production of a 20-episode Season 6 that will deliver a huge and unexpected revelation to our audience,” series creator Hirst added.
Production of Vikings Season 6 began in the fall of 2017. The Season 6 episodes were shot on location in County Wicklow in the east of Ireland, south of Dublin.
Filming wrapped up “recently,” Deadline reported on January 4.
History Channel has confirmed that Vikings Season 6 consists of 20 episodes split into two 10-episode halves.
News of the early renewal of Vikings for Season 6 came with the welcome report that Katheryn Winnick, who plays Queen Lagertha, would be directing one of the episodes of Season 6 — her directorial debut.
Deadline reported on January 4, 2019, that Season 6 will be Vikings’ final season. The website also reported that History Channel was in talks with Hirst and MGM for a Vikings spin-off series which would effectively extend the Viking saga beyond Season 6.
If early talks succeed, Hirst will be joined as series writer by Jeb Stuart, known for his work on Lock Up (1989), The Fugitive (1993) and Die Hard (1998).
Details about the planned spin-off are currently sketchy.
Series star Elijah Rowen told Metro that he thought it was a good thing that the series is ending with Season 6.
“It’s easy in this industry to play the milking game – milk the cash cow – because as long as people keep watching, we’ll keep making money,” Rowen said. “However, I think it’s a good thing for the reputation – if it’s going to be remembered as a great series then it’s definitely right to end it now.”
Vikings has received Primetime Emmy Award and Critics Choice TV Award nominations. The series won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Visual Effect (2018), Best Lead Actor Drama Series (2018), and Best Sound in a Comedy or Dramatic Program or Series (2017)
Vikings Season 6 trailer
An official trailer for Viking Season 6 is not yet in sight. We will update this page when History Channel drops the first trailer for upcoming season.
Meanwhile, enjoy the official trailers for Vikings Season 5.
Vikings Season 6 cast
Vikings Season 5 cast included Katheryn Winnick as Queen Lagertha, Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Bishop Heahmund, Alex Høgh Andersen as Ivar the Boneless, Alexander Ludwig as Bjorn, Marco Ilsø as Hvitserk, Gustaf Skarsgård as Floki, Jordan Smith as Ubbe.
The showrunners have not yet announced an official casting for Season 6, so it is not possible at this stage to make a complete list of actors who will return for Season 6.
We will need to wait until the end of Season 5 to know all the characters that won’t return in Season 6 because they have died and those that won’t return for other reasons.
Vikings showrunner Michael Hirst confirmed in an interview with Radio Times that there would be “significant deaths” during the second half of Season 5.
As of this writing, characters that have died in Season 5 include Bishop Heahmund (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), Thora (Eve Connolly), Halfdan the Black (Jasper Pääkkönen), Astrid (Josefin Asplund), The Seer (John Kavanagh), Guthrum (Ben Roe), Helgi (Jack McEvoy), Asbjorn (Elijah Rowen), and Aethelwulf (Moe Dunford).
Others include Aud (Leah McNamara), Bul (James Craze), Thorunn (Mei Bignall), Thorgrim (Rob Malone), Eyvind (Kris Holden-Ried), Jorunn (Tallulah Belle Earley), Svase (Anthony Brophy), and Snaefrid (Dagny Backer Johnsen).
Although actress Katheryn Winnick, who plays Queen Lagertha, has confirmed that she will return in Season 6, the news that she will be making her directorial debut in Season 6 and that she has signed up to the Netflix show Wu Assassins (TV series 2019- ), raised concerns that she would only appear in the early episodes of Season 6.
If she is leaving her role in Vikings for her new engagements then the writers could make her character die naturally in Season 6. She could also be killed by Ivar the Boneless in revenge for the murder of his mother Aslaug, played by Alyssa Sutherland.
However, Hirst appears to have denied speculation that Lagertha would die in Season six.
“Terrible things happen to Lagertha, which is normal,” Hirst reportedly said. “But she survives, she always survives.”
Winnick’s credits include Stephen King’s The Dark Tower (2017) in which she played the role of Laurie Chambers, alongside Idris Elba as Roland Deschain and Matthew McConaughey as Walter.
Clive Standen is expected to return for Vikings Season 6 as Rollo.
Alex Høgh Andersen (Ivar the boneless) and Peter Franzen (King “Finehair” Harald) are also expected to return for Season 6.
Others who may return for Season 6 include Alexander Ludwig (Bjorn Ironside), Marco Ilsø (as Hvitserk), Adam Copeland (Kjetill Flatnose) and Gustaf Skarsgård (Floki).
Also expected to return are Jordan Patrick as Ubbe, George Hirst as Torvi, Alicia Agnes as Freydis, and Ferdia Walsh-Peelo as Alfred the Great.
Russian actor Danila Kozlovsky will also be joining the cast of Vikings for Season 6 as Oleg of Novgorod, a Varangian (east European Viking) prince and ruler of Kievan Rus during the 10th Century.
Oleg, also known as Oleg the Prophet, is a historical figure who attacked Constantinople in 907.
Vikings Season 6 plot
We don’t yet know much about what to expect of Vikings Season 6.
Although creator Hirst has shared some tidbits about Season 6, fans will have to wait for the conclusion of Season 5 and new disclosures by the showrunners for a more detailed picture of Season 6.
But we can expect Season 6 to pick up were Season 5B left off.
However, after showrunner Hirst recently teased that Viking Season 6 will “deliver a huge and unexpected revelation to our audience,” fans have been speculating.
Hirst’s statement suggests that fans can expect major plot twists in Season 6.
History Channel executive Eli Lehrer also shared that fans can expect Vikings to move from the era of the early raids in England, the death of Ragnar Lothbrok, and battle of the Great Heathen Army, to focus on the sons of Ragnar exploring and conquering the known world.
“Vikings has evolved from early raids in England to the heart-stopping death of Ragnar Lothbrok, to the fierce battles of the Great Heathen Army,” Lehrer said, “and now we’ll see the sons of Ragnar exploring and conquering the known world.”
“The Vikings are going ever outwards as raiders and traders,” Hirst said. “I’m writing season six now and they’re in the Silk Road. They’re trading with the Russians, going to China, they’re all around the Mediterranean.”
“We go to a new place again. We’re going to Rus, which is Kiev, and the Rus Vikings,” he told Express. “[There is] a new civilization there, a powerful civilization. There’s a new world the Vikings are going to become involved with.”
Hirst’s comments throw more light on the role of actor Danila Kozlovsky, who will be joining Vikings for Season 6 as Oleg of Novgorod. Oleg’s appearance in the series suggests that Vikings Season 6 will be moving eastward.