‘Vikings: Valhalla’: Unanswered Questions We Have After Season 2

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers from Season 2 of Vikings: Valhalla.The second season of Netflix’s Vikings: Valhalla upped the stakes and broadened the world for our heroes, sending Harald (Leo Suter) and Leif (Sam Corlett) on a perilous journey halfway around the known world to Constantinople, and Freydis (Frida Gustavsson) to her new purpose in the Viking city of Jomsburg, all while Harald’s half-brother Olaf (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson) pursued the three as wanted fugitives. Back in London, Queen Emma (Laura Berlin) faced a threat on her life by a mystery assailant, losing sight of who is friend or foe.

With Season 3 of Vikings: Valhalla not expected until 2024, fans have a long time to wait to learn the fates of our favorite characters. While Season 2 ended on a mostly satisfactory note, with Freydis finding herself a shred of peace, and Leif and Harald making it to Constantinople, more or less in one piece. But how long will they stay? What does the future look like for Freydis? And who was really behind that assassination attempt? Here are our lingering questions following Vikings: Valhalla Season 2.

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Is Harald Staying in Constantinople?

After finding out King Forkbeard (Søren Pilmark) installed his grandson as king of Norway, Harald became determined to win the throne back by might, as it was no longer his by right. He accepted a commission to escort a trade shipment along a dangerous route, while bringing a shipment of furs to sell in Constantinople, hoping to raise enough gold for an army. By the end of the season, though he’s now without his means to make money, he did earn a favor from the Emperor of Constantinople (Nikolai Kinski) for unknowingly delivering his bride Eleana (Sofya Lebedeva) to him. Will he take advantage of the favor, and ask for gold and an army to lead? Or will he choose to stay behind in the city with Eleana, whom he’s developed feeling for?

Is Freydis Going Back to Jomsburg?

Of the main trio, Freydis is the one who clings the hardest to the old ways. She takes Viking traditions the most seriously, and unlike Harald, who is a Christian, or the increasingly-agnostic Leif, she worships the old gods, even becoming the priestess of the Viking settlement of Jomsburg. By the end of the season, after giving birth to her son Harald, and defending herself and her new home against Olaf, she returns to Kattegat only long enough to demand peace, a condition Queen Ælfgifu (Pollyanna McIntosh) happily accepts. So what’s next for her? It’s hard to imagine a fierce shieldmaiden like Freydis will be content living out her days quietly in Jomsburg. Will she venture further out to find others still observing the old ways? Or maybe instead she’ll go searching for what’s left of her family?

Will Leif Stay With Harald?

Poor, sweet Leif. More so than Harald or Freydis, his purpose has always felt rooted in other people, rather than in concepts like faith or leadership. When faced with the choice to follow Harald or Freydis in the aftermath of the Battle for Kattegat, he opts to follow Harald and help him regain his throne. On the journey to Constantinople, he meets and falls in love with Mariam (Hayat Kamille), an Arab scholar who teaches him language, science and new techniques for navigation. As Mariam eventually succumbs to her illness, she leaves Leif with a key to her house in Constantinople. Historically we know Leif will go on to do great things, but at what point will his path diverge from Harald’s? Will they part ways as soon as they arrive in the great city, or will the two Vikings stick together until they head back west and onward to their destinies?

Who is Behind Emma’s Assassination Attempt?

Queen Emma got a dramatic start to the season, holding down the fort in London while her husband King Canute (Bradley Freegard) is fighting in Denmark. A failed attempt to poison her left Emma feeling increasingly paranoid as Earl Godwin’s (David Oakes) investigation fails to turn up the person behind it all. Her paranoia even causes her to inflict fatal injuries on her handmaiden Aelfwynn (Maria Guiver) in her search for the truth. By season’s end, all she’s really managed to turn up is that Godwin is likely somehow involved, though she isn’t sure how. Will she find out who it was who tried to have her killed? More importantly, will she realize that Godwin truly was behind it all? Or worse, perhaps, that he was just being framed to cause instability in the English court?

What is Godwin Really Up To?

There are few people in Vikings: Valhalla more terrifying than Earl Godwin. The man is a survivor, and he does it by lying and playing everyone around him like a fiddle, all while wearing the calmest, most mild-mannered of expressions. It’s because of this that even after the events of Season 2, where Emma tortured her handmaiden Aelfwynn — also Godwin’s betrothed — to death, it’s still deeply unclear how innocent he was in the whole poisoning affair. Was he behind it, as Emma seems to still think he is? Was his idle dreaming about having a son to rule over England just a fantasy? Or was he taking steps to make that a reality?

Will Emma and Canute Be OK?

We love a man who supports women’s rights and women’s wrongs, which is part of the reason why Emma and Canute make such a sweet, swoon-worthy pair. The two seemed firmly on the same page throughout Season 1, each making up for the gaps in the other’s knowledge when it came to strategy or customs. Though they spent most of Season 2 apart, their tender reunion was marred by Emma’s confession about how far she went to wrangle the truth from Aelfwynn. While Canute doesn’t blame her for doing what she felt was necessary, he’s eager to put the whole thing behind them, while Emma is less willing to do so. Is her continued uncertainty, and the uncertainty of who is actually behind the assassination plot going to drive a wedge between the rock-solid couple? Could Godwin be the one to cause them to mistrust each other, opening up a path for himself or his children to take the throne?

Will Harald and Freydis Reunite?

Harald and Freydis are on wildly different paths. While Freydis chose not to tell him she was pregnant with his child, rightly assuming he would either abandon his own plans for her, or alternatively raise their child to one day take the throne of Norway, that’s not to say she doesn’t want little Harald to know who his father is, or that Harald Sr. has no interest in his son. He was rather devastated when Leif finally admitted what was going on, after all. Though the two want vastly different things out of life, and now have an entire continent between them, will they see each other again in Season 3? Will Harald get the chance to meet his son? Will the two kiss and makeup?

Where is Erik the Red?

Technically speaking, Erik the Red has not actually appeared in the series yet. Audiences have known since before Season 2 premiered that the famed Viking will be making an appearance in Season 3, played by Goran Visnjic. Though we’ve yet to actually see him, his presence looms over Freydis, and especially over Leif, who wants to forge a legacy entirely his own and unlike that of his cruel, formidable father. With the chaos his two children have had a hand in across Northern Europe, and now into parts of Asia, we have to wonder: has Erik heard about all they’ve done? How will he make his appearance after all these years, and what will the consequences be for a society that has largely turned its back on him given his reputation?

The first two seasons of Vikings: Valhalla are streaming now on Netflix.