Vikings creator explains why series original character was killed off

Warning: Spoilers ahead from Vikings most recent episode “The Lost Moment.” Venture no further if you’re behind!

Episode 14 “The Lost Moment” of Vikings ended with what might come as a surprise to many viewers. The Seer, who has been on the show since the very beginning, took an ax to the middle of the head by the diabolical Ivar.

The Seer has been a character who would often come and go. Almost every major Viking character including Ragnar, Rollo and Lagertha, had often consulted with the ancient prophet because he was able to see the past and the future.

Having a connection to the Gods and to fate has always been a major focus of Vikings and now this bridge of vital information has perished.

Vikings creator Michael Hirst explained to Variety why it was the Seer’s time to go and why it had to be Ivar to send him to Valhalla.

"He persuades himself that he is a god, although I’ve never assured myself that he totally believes that. But once I’d established that idea I had to imagine the kinds of things he might do if he believed himself to be totally different from other men and possibly a god. … It came to me one day that he might do the impossible sin of killing, or at least trying to kill, The Seer because he couldn’t bear to feel that someone was laughing at him or didn’t believe this idea that he might be divine."

It seemed at first that Ivar was just paying the Seer a visit to confirm his delusions that he is a God. The Seer, who is already being tormented by dark visions, tells him he is not. We’ve seen Ivar act like this before. He flung an ax and killed his own brother for bad mouthing him. The slaying of the Seer was just further proof to show how far Ivar will go to protect his insecurities.

But is this officially the end of the Seer? Not so fast, says Hirst.

"Ivar thinks he’s killed The Seer [but] he may not have killed him because The Seer isn’t mortal in the way other men are mortal. He may appear in different guises or in the future in different ways. But I don’t think a human — even a demigod as Ivar now claims to be — I don’t think they’re capable of removing the conscious or spiritual guide that’s been there since the beginning of time and will probably be there until the end of the Vikings age."

The Seer was a character that I wasn’t so sure about in the first couple of seasons. I wondered how a person like this even existed and if everything he says becomes true (although a lot of the things he said were hard to decipher), then aren’t we getting spoilers into the future?

But he started to grow on me, especially his conversations with Ragnar. My favorite scene between the two took place when Ragnar was in a cage on the way to his execution and he told the Seer that the Gods didn’t decide his fate–Ragnar did for himself.

As I stated before, the Seer would disappear from the plot every once in a while and I think this was a good time for him to go. Ivar is a character who clearly cannot handle being told no or that his aspirations are not within reach, and so instead of wondering why — he just kills the Seer.

We’re down to just a few original characters left: Lagertha, Floki, Bjorn (was in season one as a child so I’ll count it), and Rollo (sort of, but not really. But he is alive!).

Whether the Seer returns in visions or at all, I can’t be sure, but I do know that the bloodshed of major characters for Season 5B has only just begun.