It's like Floki represents the old horse gods and Athelstan represents Christianity.
The old gods are pushed out of Viking society in favour of Christianity.
Whether we as viewers like it or not, Christianity replaced Norse mythology, Athelstan replaces Floki in Ragnars heart.
This is a great response. The show did well to show that slow change and how Christianity had spread through the world in the Valhalla “sequel”. It still didn’t stop fighting/war.
Religion alone has caused many wars but I also believe that even if the entire world had submitted to a single religion people would’ve found many other ways to separate themselves and war against one another.
All that said I love Floki. He was my favorite character other than Ragnar on the show. The actor Gustaf Skarsgard who played him was EXCELLENT.
Yup. All the different Christian denominations. In the place I grew up certain denominations believed they were the only ones that would go to heaven while all other denominations weren’t worshipping correctly.
Despite everyone reading from the same book. Lol each person interprets it differently and it became a matter of “hey if you don’t interpret this verse the same way I do then YOU ARE WRONG!”
Disgusting behavior imo. But I don’t think religion is necessarily a bad thing either. Personally I struggle with it bc of how I was raised. I think when people are experiencing the lowest of the low points in their lives they need someone or something to believe in they have to have something to believe to help climb out of that darkness they’re stuck in and that’s a good thing imo.
It has saved many people from suicide and other things in that way. Even though they themselves did it they thank god and that’s ok too so long as they’re doing better.
Sorry for the rant.
Nah, if you've gotta be threatened with hell to be a good person, you're not a good person. If you choose to do the right thing regardless if there are consequences you're good to go.
What are you talking about? Lmao sorry maybe I should’ve been more clear. I don’t even see where I mentioned what you’re talking about? I’m confused. Lol
I’m talking about depressed and suicidal people in their lowest and darkest moments of life. Those who finally breakdown and pray to god like “hey if you exist please help me” bc it happens A LOT. Sometimes they need to have something or someone to fall back on even if it’s just faith and others don’t agree a god exists.
I’m not talking about criminals 😂. Yes evil people are evil and most of them will not change bc they will always think they know better. Hell or no hell. Lmao at one point King Ecbert even says in the show that he’s willing to accept that god has forsaken him and will send him to hell if only he will allow his earthly ambitions to be fulfilled. Bad people are just that. Bad people.
I’m talkin about those that wanna get better but are struggling. With either addiction, or loss of loved ones, again depression, suicidal thoughts. Those people often have no one.
And when you have no one you can always pull one of the religions and say “ok god whoever you are and if you exist! Give me a sign, give me strength, show me something, anything that I can do to pull myself up and outta this shit” those people.
Many have done it. Even if there is no god and just the thought of a greater being watching over them was enough to give them that little nudge they needed to get out from under despair. I think that’s good. And it’s ok.
:)
SPOILER ALERT: In addition to what was written above >!Ragnar's love for Athelstan was also a sign that he was questioning his faith in the gods. After Athelstan dies and loses against his brother in France, he disappears for years and loses complete faith in gods both Norse and Christian. But his faith in men grew in strengthened. He started to believe that he was in control of his own faith.!<
I mean… I LOVE Floki. But having Floki as a friend would be fuckin annoying lol. I love him sooo much but realistically, having him as a friend would be hard a lot of the time. He is so loyal but he’s that super loyal friend who expects their love and devotion to make them your favourite person and their only best friend. He is overly jealous and protective of his friendship with Ragnar which would be exhausting.
I’ve had friends like Floki and there’s a reason Ragnar favours Athelstan. Athelstan isn’t jealous of Floki, and has his own things going on. He and Ragnar connect through their open mindedness and curiosity for new cultures and Floki doesn’t get that until it’s way too late.
Also Floki literally murdered Athelstan who was just a peaceful, non judgemental guy torn between two worlds.
I always thought Ragnar was passed primarily because it was a stupid move. It passed off the other vikings and put them in a worse position
Ragnar's problem with Bjorn was always that he didn't think.
But I could be misremembering
People liked floki and lots of people didn't like aethelstan
I think it also was rumored but not confirmed floki did it
So by arresting him Bjorn made it clear they knew and punishment was needed instead of Ragnar being able to pretend he didn't know who did it and not punish a town favorite
Floki murdered a landless, family-less, Christian immigrant who had just publicly thrown his arm ring away, basically renouncing his Norse faith and Viking identity. It wouldn't be that surprising if he didn't get arrested, especially since there were no witnesses.
Lagertha murdered Aslaug, who had been Queen of Kattegat for something like 20-30 years straight. She shot her in the back, in front of a crowd, mere moments after Aslaug peacefully surrendered to her in order to avoid a war. Reason? Lagertha declared her a witch. And Lagertha was exalted.
Love Vikings but there was not a whole lot of sense or continuity to the writing.
I'd say around 75% jealousy, and around 25% that he was a religious fanatic and was honestly shaken that Athelstan was bringing Christianity into the picture and might convert Ragnar and possibly others.
It's like a third wheel friend situation. I think Ragnar loved them both. Floki became jealous and did what he did. I don't think he favored him to much. It was because Ragnar could learn about the new world from Athelstan therefore was spending more time with him. Ragnar never arrested Floki. Bjorn had him arrested when Ragnar was recovering. He was mad he told Bjorn that if he wanted him arrested he would have done it himself already.
After Bjorn arrested Floki, didnt Ragnar also mention that he now HAD to deal with the situation? I think his initial apporach would have been to talk it out with Floki or smth.
This right here. Bjorn forced his hand. He had his own plans for Floki that we, the audience were never made aware of, only that Ragnar was pissed that Bjorn interfered with it.
I mean that's a lil idealistic, from how Ragnar was \*torturing\* Floki psychologically, I thought he was just gonna continue doing that for another year at least.
Athelstan represented a new way of thinking and a part of the world that was still rife with mystery for Ragnar - as an explorer, his curiosity was drawn to Athelstan. Ragnar was constantly hungry for more knowledge & more exploration; a new way of life!Athelstan was the catalyst for Ragnar’s realisation that he could access that, and thus he became obsessed with him. Athelstan because the personification of open-mindedness and change, and I feel like Ragnar was the same for him in a lot of ways.
Floki on the other hand, always valued the old ways. Deeply traditional, he understood Ragnar’s desire to explore and grow, but fundamentally their reasoning was different. I think we see a slight shift in Floki and respect for Ragnar’s way of thinking in the final season where it is revealed that he has found a new home amongst a new people in Vinland.
I am totally loyal and you *will* like me.best, and I'll kill anyone you like better to make sure of that!
Lol. I understand the friendships depicted in terms of the bigger themes of the show (exploration, Christianity replacing the old gods, etc), but on a purely friendship-basis even without looking at the show's themes, Floki's friendship wasn't freely given. It came with strings, it created an obligation in Ragner, not only to value Floki himself to the same degree that Floki valued him, *but also to similarly value the things Floki values*.
Floki's loyalty and friendship were conditional on Ragnar remaining a certain way, to stop exploring new ways of seeing the world, etc. He's also one of my favorite characters in the show, but if I had a friend like him irl, there's a good chance I'd outgrow them like Ragner outgrew Floki.
Tbf, if memory serves me right, Ragnar wasn't the one who arrested Floki, and that he was infact hoping to not have to do anything and just leave it be. Bjorn put a stop to that by arresting Floki
Imo Floki seemed more a friend to Ragnar, while Athelstan was a soul mate. Ragnar and Athelstan shared a deeper connection because of their inquisitive personalities.
How was it a betrayal, he murdered someone? Previous acts of loyalty don't give you leeway to kill someone, especially when that someone is a close friend of Ragnar
It's not up to floki on who ragnar loves and the level at which he loves them.
Floki literally expected love for his love. Athelstan just showed love.
Floki is a great ally ,but is a controlling and obessive friend.
Athelstan got captured and taken to a foreign country against his will. Not sure how that was favourable to him.
Then he was quite literally murdered and rather than execute Floki like anyone else would have been, he fairly quickly forgave and gave Floki the same sort of status he previously had.
From my pov when I watched the show in many scenes floki always is super traditional and doesn't have an open mind to alot of things while Ragnar who is willing to see past traditional thinking for future gain has a mind that aligns alot like Athelstan because Athelstan teaches him about the world and doesn't judge, floki on the other hand has shown judgment on everything, including Rollo getting baptized as a joke,Ragnar helping queen of mercy in return for Wessex settlement/future favours with ecbert(or so he thought) and he also always disagrees with ragnar on things and says "the gods are angry at you" for not doing it their way when in reality its his way, later on ragnar calls him on this. Floki is still a very loyal and good friend to Ragnar but he just thinks differently while Ragnar is ahead of his time.
I think Ragnar didn't pay as much attention to Floki was because he only thought in the way of the old gods like it or not Aethelstan didn't center everything around his religion even though he did speak about it a good bit and it intrigued Ragnar. Aethelstan spoke with more sense than just basing every thought he had around religion like Floki
I agree with you. I think Ragnar was actually in love with Athelstan which is why he seemed to favor Athelstan over anybody else, but that’s just my two cents
I don't think Ragnar was in love with Athelstan but I do believe they were platonic soulmates. Athelstan was teaching Ragnar new ways of thinking and I don't think Floki appreciated that, he wanted to stick with the old ways, so he became jealous of Athelstan. But that's just my two cents also 🤷🏼♀️
I don't think Ragnar was ever going to arrest Floki publicly like that. Bjorn was the one who had him arrested while Ragnar was recovering from injuries and deathly ill. Ragnar even says to Bjorn something like 'don't you think if I wanted him arrested I would have already done so?' and Ragnar seems angry and disappointed in Bjorn and his actions about it.
Not to say Ragnar didn't have a punishment in mind, I believe he did- but I think he definitely would've gone about it a completely different way and not embarrassed and shunned Floki publicly the way Bjorn did.
Also I think Ragnar and Athelstan just had a different relationship, it was deeper and more intellectual, more open. Ragnar and Floki love each other very much. But Ragnar was able to talk about things with Athelstan that he couldn't with Floki and that bonded them in a different and deeper way I think. Athelstan was always a symbol of Ragnar's first MASSIVE victory. He was extremely close to the whole family and everyone grew to look at him as family.
I personally don't think Floki killed Athelstan out of jealousy (or ONLY out of jealousy). I think he killed him because he saw things changing. He saw Ragnar questioning the gods. And he though Athelstan was a really bad influence and would manipulate everyone to turn away from the gods. He loves the gods more than anyone and above everyone. And I think he was also being influenced by the gods anger and fear of being forgotten. We see throughout the show how he's very deeply connected to the gods (he is the next seer after all), and I think he's being influenced by the gods energies and emotions. I think he's more suspectable and sensitive to them and their energies. He knew Christianity would be horrible for them, and end their beliefs in the old ways. I think that's the glimpse of being a seer for him. Predicting it, without seeing it clearly. I think he inherently KNEW because he's connected to the gods and the fates. And he didn't want people to turn from these gods everyone has loved and worshipped for thousands of years. He knew that was wrong. So he had to get rid of the main source/cause of that happening- Athelstan (the Christianity that had invaded his life and his loved ones lives.)
How do you know he was the next seer? Also if he felt so strongly about his God's, which I firmly believe he does, why did he stop the slaughter of the Muslims in the temple? I never understood that scene.
The seer told him, then the seer dies and Floki comes into his full power as the seer.
And I believe it's because the Muslim gods are also ancient and Floki can feel that. They are like the Norse gods.
I made a post about this years ago and it didn't do super well. But it was more like "Floki was very justified to be as enraged as he ended up being, look at all he sacrificed."
I believe Floki is to the old God's as Athelstan is to Christianity. Ragnar seen in Floki what he hated about his world and in himself. It wasn't Floki as a person, but it was the disdain Ragnar build up within himself that leaked over to his relationship with Floki. When Floki killed Athelstan, all those feelings of wanting to escape but being forced into the role a king, forced to be someone he didn't want to be, caused Ragnar to misplaced all those negative feelings onto Floki.
Ragnar loved Floki but hated himself.
Imo.
Ragnar didn't really show favor for Athelstan over Floki at first. Floki just got pissy over Ragnar learning Christianity from Athelstan. Ragnar did however show favor Athelstan once Floki murdered him. Ragnar legit loved Athelstan. I think he loved Athelstan more than he loved anyone in the entire show.
Im in season 4 and even though I wasn’t a fan of Floki and thought him overly jealous, it makes no sense to me that they arrested him. Like Im thinking Bjorn might be under the impression that Aethelstans death might be what is ailing his father or something otherwise there is not reason for that punishment. Everyone was baffled by that friendship and they all consider Christians beneath them and keeping the gods happy important. So its kinda weird plot wise for Bjorn to take such action.
> I don't hate Athelstan.
Don't worry I do. He's actually top 3 of my most hated characters in TV. The writers went with this weird main characters is way too obsessed with athelstan storyline. Made me uncomfortable, only thing I hated about the show. Floki is my hero
I tend to think this in a way too but it's deeper. After leaving Lagertha for Aslaug, Ragnar seems to be filling a void within himself with "pets". First Aethelstan, then Ecbert to some extent then Yidu. His obsession with Aethelstan doesn't really get going full swing until after he's with Aslaug. He threw away his soulmate for his ambition with her and felt empty ever after.
First rewatch of vikings after the original came out and this round:
I really found the athelstan love weird.
So I don't know if they didn't sell it well enough or the actor didn't have the charisma, but just watching it I didn't get all the fan boy just over him.
It's like Floki represents the old horse gods and Athelstan represents Christianity. The old gods are pushed out of Viking society in favour of Christianity. Whether we as viewers like it or not, Christianity replaced Norse mythology, Athelstan replaces Floki in Ragnars heart.
I know it’s an auto correct but horse gods has me giggling
I'm not going to edit it, I now choose to worship the horse gods
Found one of them in Hyrule just last night
This is a great response. The show did well to show that slow change and how Christianity had spread through the world in the Valhalla “sequel”. It still didn’t stop fighting/war. Religion alone has caused many wars but I also believe that even if the entire world had submitted to a single religion people would’ve found many other ways to separate themselves and war against one another. All that said I love Floki. He was my favorite character other than Ragnar on the show. The actor Gustaf Skarsgard who played him was EXCELLENT.
This is demonstrably true. Just look at Catholics and Protestants, Shia and Sunni. “We worship the same god, but you’re doing it wrong!”
Yup. All the different Christian denominations. In the place I grew up certain denominations believed they were the only ones that would go to heaven while all other denominations weren’t worshipping correctly. Despite everyone reading from the same book. Lol each person interprets it differently and it became a matter of “hey if you don’t interpret this verse the same way I do then YOU ARE WRONG!” Disgusting behavior imo. But I don’t think religion is necessarily a bad thing either. Personally I struggle with it bc of how I was raised. I think when people are experiencing the lowest of the low points in their lives they need someone or something to believe in they have to have something to believe to help climb out of that darkness they’re stuck in and that’s a good thing imo. It has saved many people from suicide and other things in that way. Even though they themselves did it they thank god and that’s ok too so long as they’re doing better. Sorry for the rant.
Nah, if you've gotta be threatened with hell to be a good person, you're not a good person. If you choose to do the right thing regardless if there are consequences you're good to go.
What are you talking about? Lmao sorry maybe I should’ve been more clear. I don’t even see where I mentioned what you’re talking about? I’m confused. Lol I’m talking about depressed and suicidal people in their lowest and darkest moments of life. Those who finally breakdown and pray to god like “hey if you exist please help me” bc it happens A LOT. Sometimes they need to have something or someone to fall back on even if it’s just faith and others don’t agree a god exists. I’m not talking about criminals 😂. Yes evil people are evil and most of them will not change bc they will always think they know better. Hell or no hell. Lmao at one point King Ecbert even says in the show that he’s willing to accept that god has forsaken him and will send him to hell if only he will allow his earthly ambitions to be fulfilled. Bad people are just that. Bad people. I’m talkin about those that wanna get better but are struggling. With either addiction, or loss of loved ones, again depression, suicidal thoughts. Those people often have no one. And when you have no one you can always pull one of the religions and say “ok god whoever you are and if you exist! Give me a sign, give me strength, show me something, anything that I can do to pull myself up and outta this shit” those people. Many have done it. Even if there is no god and just the thought of a greater being watching over them was enough to give them that little nudge they needed to get out from under despair. I think that’s good. And it’s ok. :)
True true, i still LOVE the series tho!!
Which in a way is sad because Norse mythology is so fuckin cool.
SPOILER ALERT: In addition to what was written above >!Ragnar's love for Athelstan was also a sign that he was questioning his faith in the gods. After Athelstan dies and loses against his brother in France, he disappears for years and loses complete faith in gods both Norse and Christian. But his faith in men grew in strengthened. He started to believe that he was in control of his own faith.!<
I mean… I LOVE Floki. But having Floki as a friend would be fuckin annoying lol. I love him sooo much but realistically, having him as a friend would be hard a lot of the time. He is so loyal but he’s that super loyal friend who expects their love and devotion to make them your favourite person and their only best friend. He is overly jealous and protective of his friendship with Ragnar which would be exhausting. I’ve had friends like Floki and there’s a reason Ragnar favours Athelstan. Athelstan isn’t jealous of Floki, and has his own things going on. He and Ragnar connect through their open mindedness and curiosity for new cultures and Floki doesn’t get that until it’s way too late. Also Floki literally murdered Athelstan who was just a peaceful, non judgemental guy torn between two worlds.
I mean he committed murder in cold blood for zero reason other than petty jealousy, was it really that surprising he’d be arrested?
He was also arrested by Bjorn while Ragnar was recovering from his injuries after Paris. Ragnar was pretty pissed that Bjorn did that.
I always thought Ragnar was passed primarily because it was a stupid move. It passed off the other vikings and put them in a worse position Ragnar's problem with Bjorn was always that he didn't think. But I could be misremembering
People liked floki and lots of people didn't like aethelstan I think it also was rumored but not confirmed floki did it So by arresting him Bjorn made it clear they knew and punishment was needed instead of Ragnar being able to pretend he didn't know who did it and not punish a town favorite
Floki murdered a landless, family-less, Christian immigrant who had just publicly thrown his arm ring away, basically renouncing his Norse faith and Viking identity. It wouldn't be that surprising if he didn't get arrested, especially since there were no witnesses. Lagertha murdered Aslaug, who had been Queen of Kattegat for something like 20-30 years straight. She shot her in the back, in front of a crowd, mere moments after Aslaug peacefully surrendered to her in order to avoid a war. Reason? Lagertha declared her a witch. And Lagertha was exalted. Love Vikings but there was not a whole lot of sense or continuity to the writing.
I'd say around 75% jealousy, and around 25% that he was a religious fanatic and was honestly shaken that Athelstan was bringing Christianity into the picture and might convert Ragnar and possibly others.
It's like a third wheel friend situation. I think Ragnar loved them both. Floki became jealous and did what he did. I don't think he favored him to much. It was because Ragnar could learn about the new world from Athelstan therefore was spending more time with him. Ragnar never arrested Floki. Bjorn had him arrested when Ragnar was recovering. He was mad he told Bjorn that if he wanted him arrested he would have done it himself already.
After Bjorn arrested Floki, didnt Ragnar also mention that he now HAD to deal with the situation? I think his initial apporach would have been to talk it out with Floki or smth.
This right here. Bjorn forced his hand. He had his own plans for Floki that we, the audience were never made aware of, only that Ragnar was pissed that Bjorn interfered with it.
I mean that's a lil idealistic, from how Ragnar was \*torturing\* Floki psychologically, I thought he was just gonna continue doing that for another year at least.
Ragnar the viking farmer knew that Floki was cool, but mental but Ragnar the leader knew that Athelstan was the key to unlocking the future.
Athelstan represented a new way of thinking and a part of the world that was still rife with mystery for Ragnar - as an explorer, his curiosity was drawn to Athelstan. Ragnar was constantly hungry for more knowledge & more exploration; a new way of life!Athelstan was the catalyst for Ragnar’s realisation that he could access that, and thus he became obsessed with him. Athelstan because the personification of open-mindedness and change, and I feel like Ragnar was the same for him in a lot of ways. Floki on the other hand, always valued the old ways. Deeply traditional, he understood Ragnar’s desire to explore and grow, but fundamentally their reasoning was different. I think we see a slight shift in Floki and respect for Ragnar’s way of thinking in the final season where it is revealed that he has found a new home amongst a new people in Vinland.
This is the answer
You say that Floki is 100% loyal to Ragnar, even though he killed Ragnar's friend..... Read that again and tell me that makes sense to you.
I am totally loyal and you *will* like me.best, and I'll kill anyone you like better to make sure of that! Lol. I understand the friendships depicted in terms of the bigger themes of the show (exploration, Christianity replacing the old gods, etc), but on a purely friendship-basis even without looking at the show's themes, Floki's friendship wasn't freely given. It came with strings, it created an obligation in Ragner, not only to value Floki himself to the same degree that Floki valued him, *but also to similarly value the things Floki values*. Floki's loyalty and friendship were conditional on Ragnar remaining a certain way, to stop exploring new ways of seeing the world, etc. He's also one of my favorite characters in the show, but if I had a friend like him irl, there's a good chance I'd outgrow them like Ragner outgrew Floki.
Tbf, if memory serves me right, Ragnar wasn't the one who arrested Floki, and that he was infact hoping to not have to do anything and just leave it be. Bjorn put a stop to that by arresting Floki
Imo Floki seemed more a friend to Ragnar, while Athelstan was a soul mate. Ragnar and Athelstan shared a deeper connection because of their inquisitive personalities.
How was it a betrayal, he murdered someone? Previous acts of loyalty don't give you leeway to kill someone, especially when that someone is a close friend of Ragnar
It's not up to floki on who ragnar loves and the level at which he loves them. Floki literally expected love for his love. Athelstan just showed love. Floki is a great ally ,but is a controlling and obessive friend.
Floki?… Is that you writing this?
Athelstan got captured and taken to a foreign country against his will. Not sure how that was favourable to him. Then he was quite literally murdered and rather than execute Floki like anyone else would have been, he fairly quickly forgave and gave Floki the same sort of status he previously had.
From my pov when I watched the show in many scenes floki always is super traditional and doesn't have an open mind to alot of things while Ragnar who is willing to see past traditional thinking for future gain has a mind that aligns alot like Athelstan because Athelstan teaches him about the world and doesn't judge, floki on the other hand has shown judgment on everything, including Rollo getting baptized as a joke,Ragnar helping queen of mercy in return for Wessex settlement/future favours with ecbert(or so he thought) and he also always disagrees with ragnar on things and says "the gods are angry at you" for not doing it their way when in reality its his way, later on ragnar calls him on this. Floki is still a very loyal and good friend to Ragnar but he just thinks differently while Ragnar is ahead of his time.
I think Ragnar didn't pay as much attention to Floki was because he only thought in the way of the old gods like it or not Aethelstan didn't center everything around his religion even though he did speak about it a good bit and it intrigued Ragnar. Aethelstan spoke with more sense than just basing every thought he had around religion like Floki
I agree with you. I think Ragnar was actually in love with Athelstan which is why he seemed to favor Athelstan over anybody else, but that’s just my two cents
I don't think Ragnar was in love with Athelstan but I do believe they were platonic soulmates. Athelstan was teaching Ragnar new ways of thinking and I don't think Floki appreciated that, he wanted to stick with the old ways, so he became jealous of Athelstan. But that's just my two cents also 🤷🏼♀️
I don't think Ragnar was ever going to arrest Floki publicly like that. Bjorn was the one who had him arrested while Ragnar was recovering from injuries and deathly ill. Ragnar even says to Bjorn something like 'don't you think if I wanted him arrested I would have already done so?' and Ragnar seems angry and disappointed in Bjorn and his actions about it. Not to say Ragnar didn't have a punishment in mind, I believe he did- but I think he definitely would've gone about it a completely different way and not embarrassed and shunned Floki publicly the way Bjorn did. Also I think Ragnar and Athelstan just had a different relationship, it was deeper and more intellectual, more open. Ragnar and Floki love each other very much. But Ragnar was able to talk about things with Athelstan that he couldn't with Floki and that bonded them in a different and deeper way I think. Athelstan was always a symbol of Ragnar's first MASSIVE victory. He was extremely close to the whole family and everyone grew to look at him as family. I personally don't think Floki killed Athelstan out of jealousy (or ONLY out of jealousy). I think he killed him because he saw things changing. He saw Ragnar questioning the gods. And he though Athelstan was a really bad influence and would manipulate everyone to turn away from the gods. He loves the gods more than anyone and above everyone. And I think he was also being influenced by the gods anger and fear of being forgotten. We see throughout the show how he's very deeply connected to the gods (he is the next seer after all), and I think he's being influenced by the gods energies and emotions. I think he's more suspectable and sensitive to them and their energies. He knew Christianity would be horrible for them, and end their beliefs in the old ways. I think that's the glimpse of being a seer for him. Predicting it, without seeing it clearly. I think he inherently KNEW because he's connected to the gods and the fates. And he didn't want people to turn from these gods everyone has loved and worshipped for thousands of years. He knew that was wrong. So he had to get rid of the main source/cause of that happening- Athelstan (the Christianity that had invaded his life and his loved ones lives.)
How do you know he was the next seer? Also if he felt so strongly about his God's, which I firmly believe he does, why did he stop the slaughter of the Muslims in the temple? I never understood that scene.
The seer told him, then the seer dies and Floki comes into his full power as the seer. And I believe it's because the Muslim gods are also ancient and Floki can feel that. They are like the Norse gods.
I made a post about this years ago and it didn't do super well. But it was more like "Floki was very justified to be as enraged as he ended up being, look at all he sacrificed."
I believe Floki is to the old God's as Athelstan is to Christianity. Ragnar seen in Floki what he hated about his world and in himself. It wasn't Floki as a person, but it was the disdain Ragnar build up within himself that leaked over to his relationship with Floki. When Floki killed Athelstan, all those feelings of wanting to escape but being forced into the role a king, forced to be someone he didn't want to be, caused Ragnar to misplaced all those negative feelings onto Floki. Ragnar loved Floki but hated himself. Imo.
Ragnar didn't really show favor for Athelstan over Floki at first. Floki just got pissy over Ragnar learning Christianity from Athelstan. Ragnar did however show favor Athelstan once Floki murdered him. Ragnar legit loved Athelstan. I think he loved Athelstan more than he loved anyone in the entire show.
Im in season 4 and even though I wasn’t a fan of Floki and thought him overly jealous, it makes no sense to me that they arrested him. Like Im thinking Bjorn might be under the impression that Aethelstans death might be what is ailing his father or something otherwise there is not reason for that punishment. Everyone was baffled by that friendship and they all consider Christians beneath them and keeping the gods happy important. So its kinda weird plot wise for Bjorn to take such action.
Athelstan did my head in, he’s kinda cute but annoying.
Floki is the best character in the show. Athelstan is honestly in my top 5. So well written. But Floki over Athelstan any day
> I don't hate Athelstan. Don't worry I do. He's actually top 3 of my most hated characters in TV. The writers went with this weird main characters is way too obsessed with athelstan storyline. Made me uncomfortable, only thing I hated about the show. Floki is my hero
Yeah true man, sometimes its almost as if ragnar wants to be gay with him lol
I tend to think this in a way too but it's deeper. After leaving Lagertha for Aslaug, Ragnar seems to be filling a void within himself with "pets". First Aethelstan, then Ecbert to some extent then Yidu. His obsession with Aethelstan doesn't really get going full swing until after he's with Aslaug. He threw away his soulmate for his ambition with her and felt empty ever after.
First rewatch of vikings after the original came out and this round: I really found the athelstan love weird. So I don't know if they didn't sell it well enough or the actor didn't have the charisma, but just watching it I didn't get all the fan boy just over him.