VIkings: 10 Worst Things Ragnar Lothbrok Did
8. Fake Surrendered To Paris
One of the best signs of great writing is getting the audience to not only understand the villain, but to get them to route for them.
Vikings does this perfectly, as everyone's favourite medieval Danes are essentially thieves and murderers. In a show full of death and war, we're the ones cheering on the invaders.
After settling the score in Wessex, Ragnar decides to point his horde elsewhere and raid Paris. After what essentially starts off as a disastrous raid, the Vikings attempt to pull out all of the stops in order to break into the city to claim its riches as their own. Many Vikings fall, with seemingly minimal losses on the side of Paris.
After the first siege, Ragnar seems to be succumbing to a mysterious illness which many believed to have possibly been the plague. Following yet another failed attempt to break into the city, we are led to believe that Ragnar passed away due to his ailment.
As a recently baptised Christian, his body is brought into the main cathedral of Paris as a sign of peace and surrender. Suddenly, Ragnar bursts from the coffin and begins hacking and slashing the guards present.
Despite making for a great moment on television, Ragnar is essentially partaking in an act of perfidy (aka a false surrender). In modern times, this is actually a war crime, and breaks the Geneva convention.