One of the dramas that Michael Hirst has kept burning since the first season, saying goodbye in the sixth season, is: who is Bjorn Ironside’s (Alexander Ludwig) father?

Of course, the first answer would be Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel), but, throughout the seasons, Rollo (Clive Anden), Ragnar’s brother, acts and assumes that he is the father. Honestly? Vikings play with the theme, but the hints were ultra clear and the answer may be less obvious.

A complicated love triangle

Rollo and Ragnar’s relationship has always been extremely challenging. Friends and competitors in EVERYTHING, not even Lagherta (Katheryn Winnick) escaped the conflict. Few facts are clearly stated about this love triangle, but some help fans understand that Bjorn is not Ragnar’s son.

Really?

Before Ragnar, Lagertha was involved with Rollo. Raised by her father to be a shield maiden and legend says that Ragnar had to kill a bear to have her hand, but, before him, Rollo fell in love with her. A love, in fact, that she never denied or failed. From beginning to end, openly, Lagherta was the love of the Viking‘s life.

On more than one occasion, the series made it clear that Lagherta and Rollo spent at least one night together, never clarifying when or how. The romance with Ragnar happened “soon after”, or, as we realize, at the same time.

When Vikings begins, Ragnar and Lagherta have two children: Bjorn and Gyda and Rollo is extremely present and affectionate with his nephew. He personally trains him to be a warrior and is understanding and present when Ragnar is absent, demanding, and cold towards his son.

As Ragnar and Lagertha tell it: when they were young, he went to her house and confessed his love for her, but “he was attacked by a bear and a huge hunting dog that guarded her house. Ragnar killed the bear with his spear and strangled the dog with his bare hands, thus winning her hand in marriage.” When it comes to Vikings, the story can be literal or metaphorical. The fact is that Rollo was known as a “bear” because of his love for Lagertha, so it could be a fun way to tell how he stole his brother’s girlfriend.

What is a fact is that in the series either Lagertha is not sure or she knows that Bjorn can – and should – be Rollo’s son, something that she never clarified to Ragnar. However, it is also clear that as intelligent and perceptive as he was, Ragnar never had any doubts that he was not Bjorn’s biological father, he was just indifferent to it. One of the biggest pieces of evidence was his obsession with the prophecy that he would have sons (in the plural), something that it quickly became clear would never happen with Lagertha. So much so that, when they visit Uppsala and he asks Odin to “accept the sacrifice” he offered, Ragnar asks “Who will give birth to my son?”, which is a bit strange as he already had Bjorn. That said, there is never any public gesture or doubt on Ragnar’s part. For him, Bjorn is his and he loves him unconditionally.

Rollo, who never made a secret of his love for Lagertha, more than once made it clear to Bjorn that he treated him as if he were his son, even verbalizing the issue in the final season. To his surprise, Bjorn makes it clear that he always knew about the doubt, but that he considers himself Ragnar’s son: in appearance, in spirit, and in principles.

Choosing doesn’t mean much: by refusing to answer even in the last season, Vikings makes it more than clear that Rollo is indeed Bjorn’s father. In a way, this reinforces another truth that the series does not explore, which was Hirst’s choice to unite several legends without a documentary basis to tell the story. For example, Rollo was not actually Ragnar’s brother, but Bjorn was the son of the legendary Viking. And there?

Doubt then remains one of the franchise’s strengths. Rollo ends Vikings as the Duke of Normandy, married to the Frankish princess, Gisla (Morgane Polanski), sad to have left his origins behind. He saves Bjorn and Lagertha from Ivar’s (Alex Høgh Andersen) wrath. In fact, the fact that Ragnar chooses Ivar to lead his revenge and reign in Kattegat – and not any of the other sons, especially Bjorn – confirms that Ragnar knew the truth.

Ragnar did not believe in the successor order of primogeniture, in fact, he was King in his own right, without giving the crown to Rollo, his older brother. He chose Ivar, we saw that, but neither Bjorn, Ubbe, or Hvitserk accepted it as it would place them as unworthy of their father, which seems to have been Ragnar’s final realization. The saddest thing is that, in Bjorn’s farewell, he questions whether he is worthy of having lived as Ragnar’s heir since he disappointed his late father. He literally wonders if he is the rightful king of Kattegat. Ivar, of course, always maintained that he was not.

Therefore, unlike History, by making it clear that Rollo is Bjorn’s father (Lagertha’s silence confirms it), Vikings still leaves The most relevant question is the question that Ragnar asks his children: “Who wants to be king?”. The only one who doesn’t hesitate is Ivar. The answer is that simple.

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