“Vikings” – request for an honorable death
As a reminder, after season one reveals that Lagertha cannot bear any more children, Ragnar begins an affair with Aslaug. She bears him more offspring, much to Lagertha’s displeasure. Then in season four, Lagertha retakes Kattegat with the help of Astrid and her army. The only condition that the defeated Queen Aslaug makes is that she is safe to leave the city. Lagertha agrees, but then shoots an arrow in her back. Aslaug is then buried ceremoniously and befitting a queen.
A new fan theory now says that Aslaug even wanted to be killed and that her words were misunderstood. In the English original, Aslaug asked for “safe passage” and “let me leave in peace”. One could also take these words to mean that she wanted to die in peace and have a safe passage to Valhalla in the form of a proper burial.
The pros and cons of the theory are certainly debatable, but Aslaug actor Alyssa Sutherland fueled it in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. So when asked if Aslaug had deliberately instigated her death at the hands of Lagertha, she replied: “I think so. I think that was her Viking way of dying. It’s very complex. If she just walked away, what would it be happened then? Would she have died of old age? This is not a dramatic death for her. The Vikings wanted to die in battle and become famous.”
Series maker Michael Hirst has not yet commented on the question. If you want to see the scene again yourself, you can do so on Netflix and Amazon Prime. Both streaming giants have the entire “Vikings” series in their program.