Vikings: Valhalla TV Review-Episode 6
"The Last Daughter of Uppsala" turns things slower and steamier but does not lose momentum.
Vikings: Valhalla
Season One, Episode Six: “The Last Daughter of Uppsala”
Freydis returns to Kattegat and joins a sacred order. Canute solidifies his power in England. Kåre revisits the holy site of a childhood trauma.
(BEWARE—MEDIUM SPOILERS BELOW)
Freydis returns to the healer only to find her friend Yrsa, her retainers and the locals brutally massacred. She finds Jarl Kare (Asbjørn Krogh Nissen) and his fanatic Christian berserkers waiting for her. Once he learns what the old seer named her—”the Last”—he lets her go, telling her to warn Jarl Estrid Hakkon that he’s coming.
With London under his heel, Canute decides to remain in England as its king. Harald, Leif and Olaf sail back to the homeland with half the Viking Army. Canute, with Emma as his advisor, has the surviving English Ealdormen swear loyalty to him (and Edward, sort of). Arriving back at Kattegat, Freydis warns Jarl Estrid, who orders Altora (Annabelle Mandeng) to train Freydis as a shieldmaiden.
Traveling to Uppsala, Jarl Kare experiences a flashback to his pagan childhood and when he was traumatized by the priests’ sacrifice of his brother. Harald brings treasure to Jarl Estrid Hakkon. Olaf and his fleet stop at Canute’s kingdom in Denmark, where Canute’s Mercian-born Queen Ælfgifu (Pollyanna McIntosh) resides.
Leif and Liv decide to stay in Kattegat with Freydis, but Freydis, now devoutly pagan, spurns Harald due to his Christianity . . . but, after she triumphantly passes her shieldmaiden test, she hops into bed with Harald. It is as it should be. Canute learns of Olaf’s betrayal.
The dust continues to settle from Canute’s conquest of London and “The Last Daughter of Uppsala” chronicles the resulting power plays by our players. Canute works to solidify his relationships with Godwin and Emma and to take control of the Ealdormen. Emma designs a new tax structure for Canute to fund his dreams of further conquest and they seal the deal in the bedchamber.
Both Harald and Olaf have designs on the kingship of Norway, even though Canute has awarded it to Harald; both men move quickly to secure Viking allies for the inevitable clash to come.
The vicious Jarl Kare’s reaction to the surrounded Freydis in the opening sequence is interesting: he knows the sword she wields, given to her by the Uppsala priestess, and seems to understand why the ancient seer named her “The Last.” His willingness to let her go home must fit into his master plan in some way, and we get a sense of it when he finds the blind seer amidst his flashbacks.
The character of Jarl Kare is a reflection of the Vikings: Valhalla world: violent, unpredictable and obsessive, Jarl Kare is a twisted hybrid, a damaged monster tortured by his past and maniacal in his present. Nissen’s portrayal of Kare is odd and tinged with the miasma of insanity; he reminds me a bit of Loki from the first series, albeit a much darker version of the conflicted boatbuilder. The man is a mystery wrapped in a riddle.
The Christian/pagan conflict, a major theme in Vikings: Valhalla as we know, continues to cause trouble in this episode beyond Jarl Kare’s inner turmoil. Religion becomes a wall between the lovers Freydis and Harald (though it doesn’t last very long). Freydis is also suspicious of Leif’s faith now that the drunken Njall exposed his new orientation in the great hall.
The illustrated intimacy of the Canute/Emma pairing and the Harald/Freydis love affair stands in stark contrast to what is shown of Leif and Liv thus far. I like Liv’s character, and, as I have mentioned before, I fear she’ll remain undeveloped because she’s slated for a tragic end. I hope not.
Overall, “The Last Daughter of Uppsala” is a fine installment in the Vikings: Valhalla series. Alliances are crafted in the shadow of the gallows and in candlelit bedchambers. Lots of character development always tickles my fancy, and though this is the softest episode so far, the plot shows no signs of slowing down. One can forgive the show for resting on its laurels just a tad as it resets the bowling pins to be knocked down by season’s end, which looms.
EPISODE RANKING: 7.8 out of 10
(All eight Vikings: Valhalla season one episodes are currently streaming on Netflix. I’ll be reviewing one episode per day, roughly.)
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