Lagertha On 'Vikings' Probably Won't Be Down For Long

On a show like Vikings, no one is ever really safe from death or exile. When Lagertha disappeared at the end of the Dec. 26 episode "Hell," fans breathed a collective sigh of relief that she wasn't dead at least. But she’s still missing and those same fans may be wondering, when will Lagertha return on Vikings? The warrior queen hasn't had it easy in recent seasons, but I highly doubt she’s gone for good, especially since she wasn't killed off. Instead, after watching her latest beau, Bishop Heahmund, die in front of her on the battlefield, she went missing.

Bjorn confirmed as much when he went looking for her on the battleground afterward and couldn't find her, alive or dead. When there’s no body, there’s always less of a chance that a character has met their untimely death on a TV show. According to the IMDB page for Katheryn Winnick, who plays Lagertha, the tough as nails fighter will be back on the Jan. 2 episode "The Buddha" in time to exact her revenge on Ivar. There’s no guarantee that her plans are to go on the attack so soon after the most recent battle, but there’s also no slowing down when it comes to Lagertha.

Vikings creator Michael Hirst told Variety that it’s going to take a lot more than losing her ex-boyfriend and losing another fight to take Lagertha down. "I have yet to find the place where Lagertha bottoms out, where it’s too much for her," he said. "She is really hurt in many ways at the end of [the episode "Hell"]. Physically she’s hurt, emotionally she’s hurting… she’s hurting in every conceivable way. But she’s so tough that you know how deep the hurt is."

He explained that although the pain she’s endured is enough for anyone to want to crawl into a hole at this point, Lagertha has shown her strength time and again. "Lagertha is Lagertha," Hirst added. "She’s something else. We’re used to talking about men who are indestructible, they’re so tough they can survive almost anything, and we have a woman who is like that." Although IMDB isn't always the most reliable source for episode credits, it certainly sounds like Lagertha will return in Wednesday’s episode of Vikings.

Lagertha was once the reigning queen of Kattegat and although it seems like literal ages since then, I wouldn't count her out for getting that crown back someday. Winnick told Cinema Blend that although the end of the first half of Vikings Season 5 saw Lagertha in one of her lowest points yet, fans shouldn't expect her to stay down for long. Since then, she's had to endure a lot more heartache and blows, but after all of that, I don't see her staying out of sight for long.

There’s also the theory that Lagertha returns as a member of the Valkyrie. Freydis and Ivar discussed the Valkyries during the Dec. 26 episode and it could have been some blatant foreshadowing at Lagertha’s future and eventual revenge on Ivar and his people. Ahead of the second half of Season 5, Hirst told TV Guide that "Lagertha actually sort of reinvents herself" in the second half of the season. He said that Season 5 is "a season in which she really comes to question who she is and what she’s been doing."

If Thor has taught me anything, it's that the Valkyries are a bunch of badass women warriors, so it would make total sense if Lagertha returned with reinforcements when she comes back. Regardless, there’s little chance of her staying down for long and I expect to see her back and ready for battle sooner rather than later.

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