Ragnar's relationship with Athelstan over the course of season 2 is probably one of the best parts of this show. It's honestly almost as good as Game of Thrones, and I'm a HUGE GoT fan.
The production quality is actually better in my opinion; probably because they need to spend less on a CGI budget. Just wish they were a little bit more realistic with the outfits, but that's every series. There's quite a few deviations from history, like Count Odo. He became the ruler of Paris irl. That keeps the show interesting, because just when you think the story is going to head in one direction (from history's perspective) it throws something else your way. Watch the first season. If you aren't hooked, then I don't know what the fuck is wrong with you.
I just don't get all the Lagertha love. The show spans over 20 years and she still looks like a woman in her mid 30s, and sheildmaidens didn't exist IRL. If they did, there were very few of them.
The most interesting thing about Vikings are berserkers. We still have absolutely no idea what these guys did to earn their reputation. People think they got high on mushrooms, had PTSD, and so forth...but it's just guessing. They would get into such a rage that the commander would hold them back until he saw an opening, and then unleash them. They'd slaughter anything in there path, friend or foe. Other vikings would get the fuck out of their way and let them through because they'd just kill everything in front of them, and were almost impervious to pain. The PTSD theory is not likely. The Battle of Stamford Bridge had an account of one of these guys holding back the entire Saxon army on a bridge, killing 30+ English soldiers. It wasn't until a Saxon floated under the bridge and drove a spear under it that he was killed.
Harald Hardrada had the most experienced and best army in Europe. It's luck that the Saxons caught their army unawares away from their boats, without their armor or weapons. It's very likely that had the Saxon's lost at Stamford Bridge that England would have been conquered by the Vikings rather than William and the Normans. But the Normans were Vikings too... so I guess it's semantics.
