1. Ragnar's Drug Trip and Relationship with Yidu
The introduction of a Chinese slave into the world of Vikings might seem surprising, but the idea was initially pitched by Hirst's historical advisor, Justin Pollard. When Hirst said he wanted a girl from another culture for Ragnar to come into contact with, Pollard suggested that there could have been a slave captured in a Chinese territory who would go through the old Roman empire to Paris, and then be captured by pirates or vikings and end up in Kattegat.In episode 4, "Yol," Yidu and Ragnar's relationship peaks when he brings her to his private cabin and they have an intimate drug trip together. The drug they used is a Chinese hallucinogenic, and because it's real and very addictive, Hirst promises Ragnar "has problems with that in the longterm."Still, this getaway was much-needed for Ragnar, who is at a crossroads in his personal and professional life. Because Ragnar and Aslaug's relationship is so fraught, the king of Kattegat is lonely -- and doesn't like being in power -- so Aslaug sees a solution to their problem in Yidu. "It's like strangers in a train. He can talk to her. He needs someone to talk to. He can talk to her. It's not a simple relationship," said Hirst.
As someone who is "so in love with The Beatles," Hirst was inspired by the way Yoko Ono set John Lennon up with her assistant May Pang because, in his words, "Yoko was afraid of losing John." "One of the ways of controlling him was to get her assistant -- I mean, this is a very cynical way of putting it, but that's more or less what happened," he said. "So I think Aslaug kind of arranges Ragnar to get together with Yidu. But from Ragnar's point of view, it's liberating to a certain degree.""For me, it's one more example of not being stuck in the period," Hirst continued. "This is a human thing. There's a difficulty in their marriage, and this is one way of dealing with things you can't talk to other people about. ... Let's have someone that Ragnar can open his heart up to who's the weirdest person you can of. And then that has -- I can't tell you -- but that has the most astonishing endgame. The relationship between Ragnar and Yidu has the most astonishing endgame. But when you look back on it, it'll make sense."
2. That Graphic Intestines Scene
Hirst credits "Yol" director Helen Shaver for the incredibly violent scene where Bjorn rips out the intestines of Erlendur's assassin. The show typically shoots more graphically for an international market, which pushes what American markets allow, and Hirst said it was Shaver who suggested the Bjorn vs. Berserker fight go all out."We have a new contact, an executive at History, Arturo, and one of the things he loves about the show is that in each episode, often, you get all the different sides of it. So you could have some violence, you could have some love and politics -- and you can never second-guess Vikings," Hirst recalled. "He loved the way that Helen had pushed the graphics and everything, both in sex, actually, and violence. He wanted people to see that actually this wasn't just an American network show. This was more than that. This was pushing boundaries like other shows."
3. The Arrival of King Harald
King Harald "Finehair" and his brother Halfdan "The Black" are played by two Scandinavian actors, Peter Franzén and Jasper Pääkkönen. Hirst is excited about the dynamic they bring to the show, especially because they played brothers before in the Finnish drama Heart of a Lion.As for the arrival of King Harald at the end of the episode, Hirst explained, "If you were to think of Ragnar like on the liberal wing of the viking party, these people are the ultra-right. They have no conscience. They have no sensitivity to people of other religions or faiths. So they are a real threat. What it's like is like throwing into the mix people who are unpredictable but who you know in the longterm want to kill you. So that's what you have as an ongoing concern, an ongoing drama. And they are great. These two characters are fantastic."
Vikings airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on History.Terri Schwartz is Entertainment Editor at IGN. Katheryn Winnick once trained her to be a shieldmaiden. Talk to her on Twitter at @Terri_Schwartz.
