GUIDE : CANON DIVERGENCE, POST S5A AFTER CONQUERING KATTEGAT
to clarify how the journey of my portrayal for Ivar deviates from the interpretation of the show - trigger warning for child death and a warning for heavy s5 spoilers !
I am mostly concerned about the second half of season 5 which, in my opinion, has taken an abrupt and rather unreasonable turn on Ivar. Too much, too quickly, especially upon considering a few key moments from the first half of season 5. I have no intention to erase everything from the original show content because I can partially understand where the show did foreshadow some of his actions, but I want to approach most events from a different point of view as well as establishing a different motivation which is not based on a simplified explanation such as a character who develops a god complex. Long story short, my portrayal for Ivar is primarily based on his character development & character growth which happened throughout the first half of season 5 and I consider him highly canon divergent.
I am not saying I’m writing a “better” version of Ivar. I’m only saying I’m writing a different and more personal ( for me as a writer ) version of him.
“ WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE WORD KING THAT MAKES EVEN REASONABLE PEOPLE BEHAVE LIKE IDIOTS ? ”
He can not, nor want to, empathize why most men consider becoming king as the highest achievement one could reach. It’s beyond him how far men will go just to burden themselves with the responsibility over an entire community. He does not want to become king, & by extent, I am also inclined not to support the idea that he wants to be a god. The only reason why he cares about becoming the ruler of Kattegat is to overthrow Lagertha’s rule and to take her place in stead, to mock her as much as he’s able to for as long as she’s on the run. However, in the long term he has no interest to claim a throne which won’t deliver the glory & recognition he seeks. He suspects that, upon keeping the throne & keeping a tight control on everything that’s happening within Kattegat, he will irritate Lagertha enough to have her engage an attempt to re — conquer Kattegat.
Let me clarify: HE IS NOT A GOOD KING OR WHATSOEVER, and he’s aware that it’s not peasants, villagers & slaves who will respect him, but Vikings fighting & winning battles with and for him. For one, because the residents of Kattegat still love their former queen Lagertha, but also because Ivar’s true strength belongs on the battlefield considering he’s a tactical genius with a keen mind. He’s a conqueror & a defender, not a ruler.
The ceremony, to celebrate Ivar the god, is also something which I will consider with a different motivation. It’s not Ivar’s intention to celebrate himself as a god nor to lie about the woman’s identity they are about to sacrifice. He does not claim they have caught Lagertha and will burn her to revenge the death of his own mother. Instead he spins a narrative in which he promises Kattegat that this woman symbolizes Lagertha & the deep pain as well as hatred & wrath she brought upon him. He tells Kattegat that sacrificing this woman shall be enough to the gods to consider the promise Ivar made ( to revenge his mother’s death, ) as fulfilled. However, it does not change how the majority of Kattegat feels about Ivar on the throne. Following scenes which concern his god complex are— not accepted into my portrayal. Does he make his own brother as well as the majority of his subjects feel worthless under his reign ? Yes. They still have their reasons to betray him & to want him overthrown, but he is not a ruthless ruler who executes countless of his own people just because of some vandalism.
Note however, that Ivar IS commonly considered and believed to be a descendant from Odin. It’s always been delivered by all of Norway that Ragnar, Ivar’s father, is descendant of Odin. Which is something Ragnar himself claimed, too.
“ IF SHE WAS A VIRGIN, HOW COULD SHE BE A MOTHER ? ”
When Freydis tells him that she’s expecting a child, Ivar knows he can not be the legitimate father & that she is lying to him about his fatherhood. To me it makes little sense that someone as smart as Ivar, someone who scoffs at Christians who believe that Virgin Mary gives birth to their prophet despite being a virgin, readily accepts Freydis’ lie that he’s the father of her child despite his impotence. I also do not see any romantic feelings involved on Ivar’s part, for he knows that Freydis is using him as much as he is using her. However, I am inclined to consider it reasonable that a character who’s been exposed to many betrayals and who has always been underestimated before, that he decides not to question her & even uses her pregnancy for his own advantage. I consider their relationship rather toxic - on both sides - because neither of them is innocent - which is exactly why I consider their bond a result out of convenience but not necessarily, genuinely, based on love. In the end Ivar even tells her that he did not really love her, or doesn’t think he did.
Upon the birth of Baldur, a baby with severe dysmorphic features, so much it will not be able to drink from its mother’s breast, Ivar did decide to release Baldur from a life full of pain. Ivar could never quite forgive nor forget that he’s been forced to live a life in which he’s almost always in some kind of pain, to grow up angry because he is either exposed to pity or mockery, and to be underestimated no matter his achievements. Unlike how it happens on the show, Ivar killed Baldur himself to make sure he won’t suffer dying, at least.
Ivar killing the seer out of sheer spite and in a moment of anger ? During a scene in which it seems very likely that the seer is about to die anyway ? We are going to approach this just a little bit differently as well. Ivar is many things, ruthless and impulsive among them, but if we consider how much he regrets accidentally killing Sigurd just because he antagonized him, I am not inclined to believe he didn’t learn anything from his mistake then. In his bitterness towards the seer it’s also not quite unreasonable to imagine he just watches him die and suffer naturally. However, upon knowing how little his subjects trust him already, he still decided to bury & burn the body.
