Does Alexander Ludwig Bjorn Ironside die on Vikings?

In 2020, Michael Hirst's exciting historical drama series “Vikings” came to an end, ending the era of Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel) and his relative after six seasons. (which was even more impressive considering Hurst didn't think the Vikings would get past one). Few other shows have captured the realism and brutality of this era of history, with the Norsemen invading the lands, quite like this one (although the Vikings have some good alternatives).

Of course, Ragnar himself didn't make it past Season 4 with the show A Game of Thrones rip-off (though it tried to avoid comparisons to that series) and killing off one of its most important characters well before the end of the story. “And how the little piglets would grumble if they knew how the old boar suffered,” for from there it was left only for the father's sons to fight over the remaining scraps of his kingdom. Chief among them was Ragnar's eldest son, Bjorn Ironside (Alexander Ludwig), who had to endure intense family strife to keep both the peace and what was his.

But what happened to Bjorn? How did he carry on his father's legacy, and how much did Hearst's beloved show stray from the history books and the real-life version of the Viking prince (who spent so much time raiding, pillaging, and all sorts of other Viking, er, stuff)? It might not come as a surprise to learn that Hearst's version of these events had a little more flair and pizzazz. Indeed, by the end of Vikings, Bjorn had become what well-educated and respected historians would call an “absolute boss.”

While it certainly did a good job of tying up loose ends for the show, the last two seasons of “Vikings,” while watchable, have mostly dealt with the aftermath of Ragnar's death, most of which revolves around his sons' fight for. their place in the world left behind by their dear old dad. This leads to Bjorn going to war with his half-brother Ivar the Boneless (Alex Hogg Andersen), who joins forces with Russ at the end of the show to defeat Ragnar's firstborn. He almost succeeds as well, stabbing King Bjorn and receiving a near-fatal wound that forces him to retreat beyond the gates of Kattegat as he nears his end.

Although Valhalla can wait, as in a final act of defiance against the enemy, Bjorn dons his armor and rides out alone with his father's sword to meet the enemy, confused by the supposed creature of the dead king. up and (barely) about, but otherwise ready for another battle. Fearful of the Russians, who see him as god-like and send shivers down even Ivar's spine, whispers of Bjorn's divine presence are silenced when he is treated to Boromir taking three arrows to his chest. Bjorn has certainly reached his limit by this point, but not before he's drawn his arrows, raised his sword, and signaled a hidden Viking force to attack, allowing him to overwhelm his enemies. He eventually dies and is buried as a true hero, hailed by his widow Gunhild as “King of Norway” and “The Man Who Could Not Die.”

Even after the brutal battle that destroys the last remaining heirs of Ragnar Lothbrok, no time is wasted filling the throne (which has barely gone cold since Bjorn's departure). By the time Vikings rolls around the credits, the show is looking forward to a new era, with Bjorn's second wife Ingrid (Lucy Martin) taking charge of things after the remaining players are taken off the table.

Thanks in part to a popularity contest and just a little bit of magic (something that played a prominent role throughout the series before this point), Ingrid ends up on the throne of Kattegat, a commendable feat considering her background. series. Having initially crossed Bjorn's path while she was still enslaved, Ingrid ends the show with a pregnancy, keeping the Lothbrok bloodline seemingly continuing its royal path (even if it's never fully confirmed), though we never really find out for how long.

In Vikings: Valhalla, which takes place 150 years after the main show, Kattegat is ruled by Jarl Estrid Haakon. It is revealed that she took the throne after her husband was killed in battle, with no confirmation as to whether her deceased significant other was a descendant of Ragnar and Bjorn. However, just like the original show, “Valhalla” bends the truth just a little, and it's about Bjorn's birth and death from the history books (or lack thereof).

For all the creative liberties “Vikings” takes, Hirst's rich tale of war and betrayal remains rooted in real Viking history. Ragnar Lothbrok was actually a true Viking lord whose legend spanned the centuries, dancing between myth and truth, as did the family formed during his reign. However, in the case of Bjorn Ironside, the facts are perhaps even more skewed, especially when it comes to his death (which was never detailed in any known historical text).

First, his place is in the Lothbrok bloodline. In the show, he's Ragnar's firstborn, which gives his character some understandable weight when it comes to the legacy his father left behind and Bjorn's fight to preserve it. Historically, however, Bjorn was not Ragnar's eldest son. Also, contrary to how “Vikings” portrays things, his mother was actually Aslaug (Alice Sutherland) and not Lagertha (Katherine Winnick), which would have drastically changed the Lothbrock family dynamic if Hirst stuck with the history books.

Bjorn's death on the show is not only graphic and awesome, but also much more detailed considering that again, we don't really know what happened to Ragnar's son at the end of his life. Historically, the last known reference to Ironside is in the “Story of the Sons of Ragnar”, which details how his marauding days ended and he seems to have settled in Uppsala and Sweden. He is believed to have subsequently died of old age, which is obviously less dramatic than the way he goes out on “Vikings”.

His time with the Vikings may be over, but Alexander Ludwig's acting career has continued to take some interesting turns since then. After landing The Sword of Kings on the History Channel hit, Ludwig went on to appear in 2020's Bad Boys for Life as AMMO member Dorn, a young striker who served as another reminder that the franchise's potential players are getting too old. s***. Fortunately, Dorn was deemed worthy enough to stick around, and four years later he returned for Bad Boys: Ride or Die, again opposite Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.

On his TV side, Ludwig hit the ropes alongside Stephen Amell in Heels, the annoyingly short-lived show that ran from 2021-2023 and followed a pair of wrestling brothers on opposite sides of the ring. Most recently, Ludwig also appeared in MGM+'s “Earth Abides,” in which he plays one of the last survivors of a deadly disease that has wiped out most of the world's population. Acting alone, his character attempts to restart civilization, which we can only assume he's still working on, given that the second season is set to premiere in 2025. After all, bringing the world back from the brink is hard work.

Like most of the “Vikings” cast, the types, soldiers and shieldmaidens were a little broken as Michael Hirst's account of the bloodthirsty events in Kattegat drew to a close. As Ludwig and his role as King of Norway, while he may not have cried at giving his hero an epic Viking funeral, he walked away having learned his share of valuable lessons.

Talking to ET online after his heroic departure from “Vikings,” Ludwig explained, “I learned so much on the show. But I will say that we've reached a point in character where I believe I've shown and done everything we could do for that character, and it would have been overkill. So yeah, it was really sad, but it felt right.

Fortunately, Ludwig has more than just memories to hold onto, as he managed to walk away with his own historical artifact from the show. “Yeah, it's actually a tradition on Vikings — anyone who dies on the show gets a shield signed by the whole crew and cast, which I love. I think it's so cool that we did that. So, I got this shield, ” he explained. Being “The Man Who Wouldn't Die” also had some added benefits. “And Michael also gave me a 'Sword of Kings' from the producers. It said 'Bjorn Ironside' engraved into the sword in Norse. So I got it and it was such an incredible gift,” Ludwig added.