So without further ado, here are my most favorite moments from the 2016 Vikings Comic Con panel!!
5. Michael Hirst is a total Vikings nerd
Michael Hirst is not only the creator of the Vikings series, but also writes all of the episodes, so it’s no surprise that he’s really into Norse History. But his research doesn’t stop at dry, boring old books! He’s taken his passion into the field of archeology, where he has participated in digs for Norse artifacts in the U.K..
But, being the over achiever that he is, he didn’t just help out, he actually ended up finding not one, but two Norse ship’s nails during the dig – which doesn’t seem like that big a deal until Mr. Hirst revealed that the Archeologist in charge of the dig hadn’t found even one in his 30 years of searching!
Actual footage of Michael Hirst from the dig.
4. All the Pranks
Anyone who follows this show knows that pranks abound among the cast both on and off set. At last year’s panel Alexander Ludwig paid Travis Fimmel back big time for all of his prankery by pulling his chair out from under him. Travis paid Alexander back by throwing one of his shoes out at the airport, forcing Alexander to fly back to Ireland with one shoe. (I talked to Alexander about that here).
This year, the cast was verrrrrry hesitant to take their seats for fear of ending up on the floor, but it seemed that no retribution would be had as they sat without a hitch.
“You sit down first.” “No, after you – I insist!”
Their relief was short-lived, only lasting until Alexander took a swig from his water bottle to discover it was filled with Vodka, courtesy of Travis! Not only did he not seem to mind the switch, but it also opened the door for a hilarious audience question in which a fan asked for some of Alexander’s vodka – which he was happy to share.
Unfortunately, that was not the end of Alexander’s torture. A little later on, Clive decided to reward a fan in the audience who had asked Katheryn Winnick to sign her chest with a gift of Alexander’s right flip-flop! And then gifted the shield maidens in the front row with his left one! Poor Alexander will be returning to Ireland shoe-less yet again!
3a. Floki burns Lagertha
It was great to see Gustaf Skarsgard on the panel this year, especially because he has had such a big season so far! When moderator Kate Hahn (TV Guide) asked Gustaf about Floki’s status as the standard bearer of devotion to the Norse religion, Katheryn Winnick had this reaction:
Not so fast there, little mister!
Katheryn claimed that Lagertha is very devout to the Norse gods. But Gustaf would not let that stand because FLOKI IS THE NORSEST, and retorted “You had sex with a Christian king. Floki would never sleep with Ecbert.”
Snap!
This round goes to Floki
3b. Ragnar and Lagertha fight in front of the kids
Not surprisingly, the question of whether or not we will see the return of “Ragertha” came up during the discussion. While Michael Hirst said that “nothing would make [him] happier,” Travis and Katheryn a little more circumspect about the two getting back together, leading to this snippet of family drama when asked why:
Travis: She’s got the clap.
Lagertha: He has a small penis.
Clive: *literally drops his mic for Katheryn*
Alexander: Guys, don’t fight
Awwwwwww, little Bjorn doesn’t like it when mom and dad fight!! At least this didn’t happen (again):
love.this.gif.
I love both this exchange and the one between Gustaf and Katheryn because they really show how much the actors are invested in and love their characters. And also how great their relationships are with one another!
2. Fantastic discussion about great female characters
A fan question about the “strong women” in Vikings spurred a great discussion of the portrayal of women in film and TV. Clive made the point that Michael Hirst doesn’t write “strong” women, he writes “women,” who by their nature are strong (seriously? And just when I thought I could not love him more!).
Gustaf noted that, generally, the portrayal of a “strong women” has to do with them being strong in the face of some adversity that is acting on them, and not strong by having agency in their own lives (yep, love him more too!). Katheryn advocated for more women in show running roles, so that what we see on Vikings becomes the norm, not the exception (loooooooove!).
The women on Vikings are very much their own people, fighting for their families, their traditions and, yes, even what they want for their lives. And this has a HUGE positive impact not only on the quality of the storytelling, but also on the complexity and depth of the male characters. So take note Hollywood: Do more of this!!!!
1. Trailer for Season 4b
And now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for, here is the trailer for the second half of the season that premiered during the panel:
Holy effing shit, people!!! Bjorn teams up with Rollo! Ivar the boneless goes full psycho! Ecbert becomes silver-foxier! Lagertha finally goes after Aslaug (that moment got serious cheers from the audience!)! As if this doesn’t look amazing enough, Michael Hirst promised during the panel that the first 2 episodes of the second half will be the best Vikings episodes yet!
We did not get an exact air date for the season 4b premiere, but Michael Hirst hinted that it will be late summer. Can.not.wait.
Lastly:
My personal favorite moment
So, I spent Friday morning sitting in the July San Diego sun in a Gods-forsaken shieldmaiden costume hoping to get a lucky ticket to the limited Vikings autograph signing. Odin smiled upon me, and I picked a lucky ticket (squeeee)! Unfortch, when a cast is as personable as the Vikings cast, 45 minutes is not long enough to get 75 people through the line, so the final 30 or so folks (including me) were given pre-signed photos and told “better luck next time.”
Naturally, I almost burst into tears (did I mention I was out in the heat while wearing ultrasuede-fucking leggings?), but at just that moment Clive Standen appeared in the hallway!! He apologized for not having enough time, then he saw me in my costume and walked right over to me!!!!! I desperately tried to enter the code to my phone with fumbling hands, tossed it to my line-buddy, and got this shot!!!
#crookednerdglasses
Seriously, his shirt says it all! He totally saved my day! And if that wasn’t all, Alexander and Katheryn came out as well to take pictures and sign autographs until security literally dragged them off! They are all just the best!
Me about the Vikings cast forever!
Well that does it for this year’s panel recap! We’ll try to tweet out a link to the full panel recording when it goes up, so you can watch all the goodness for yourself, including Clive hilariously imitating Travis like a Peanuts adult voice (wah wanh wah)!
While you’re waiting for season 4B, don’t forget to catch up on all of our (hilarious) Vikings recaps and coverage!
Read all of TN’s Vikings recaps here!!!
