In the final episodes of Vikings, available on Netflix, the sons of Ragnar embrace their destiny. Notably, Ivar the Boneless whose blue eyes intensify at a crucial moment. Why ? Warning, spoilers.
Warning, spoilers. The following paragraphs contain spoilers for Vikings Season 6 Part 2.
Love him or hate him, Ivar (Alex Hogh Andersen) quickly became an emblematic character of the series vikings. Son of Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel) and Queen Aslaug (Alyssa Sutherland), the young man has always been mocked by others because of his disability, which he made a strength as an adult.
In the sixth and final season, Ivar embarks on a fratricidal war against his half-brother Bjorn (Alexander Ludwig) with the help of the Rus’ army. He emerges victorious and manages to outsmart Prince Oleg and returns to Kattegat with Hvitserk, despite a mixed reception.
The detail that predicted Ivar’s death
Ivar rallies with Harald to fight the English as he feels his destiny is to participate in raids and wars. And it is on the battlefield that he dies in the final episode of Vikings, ready to join Valhalla. And one detail, tied to his character’s true story, was a clue that he was going to die.
As the series mixes fiction and historical facts and Norse tales, Ivar is directly based on the real Ivar, a brave warrior despite his illness. The Viking suffers from osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease, which makes their bones brittle and easily broken.
Still, he was destined for a grand purpose, like his father Ragnar, with whom he shares piercing blue eyes. But Ivar’s eyes have a different feature, which presaged his future.
History Channel
His brother Hvisterk recalls it in the series: when Ivar’s eyes are a brighter blue color, it means that he is in serious danger and that the risk of bone fracture was great. Before he died on the battlefield, Ivar’s eyes were a fiery blue, which already meant he was about to perish.
And this detail in the series is linked to the real illness of the historical figure on which it is based, the intensity of which manifests when the sclera of Ivar’s eyes turn blue. Even though not all people with osteogenesis imperfecta have a symptom of blue sclera, the fact that it shows up in Ivar is a good way to tie it to his true story and blend Norse tale with fictional narrative.