ROCK THE BOAT

There will be blood! Three mighty new heroes set sail for revenge in the Netflix sequel Vikings: Valhalla

- KATE HAHN

Vikings: Valhalla

SERIES PREMIERE

Friday, Feb. 25, Netflix

FIERCE BATTLES AND fiercer friendships power the 11th-century Norse saga Vikings: Valhalla, a follow-up to Vikings (2013-20) set more than 100 years after the events of that History and Prime Video series' finale. War, love and loss shape a brave new generation of adventurers: the brilliant sea captain and explorer Leif Eriksson (Sam Corlett); his fearless, devout pagan sister Freydis (Frida Gustavsson); and the ferocious fighter and prince of Norway, Harald Sigurdsson (Leo Suter). Together, the trio represent all aspects of a Viking; they lean on each other and appreciate each other, says creator Jeb Stuart, who cowrote the gold standard for action, Die Hard. Stuart did three months of research before hitting the keyboard because “I needed to really know the difference between [original series creator] Michael Hirst's Vikings and my Vikings, who are becoming Christianized.

Tension between these new converts and the old pagans pervades the story, starting with the explosive premiere. The siblings are on a mission to kill a Christian Viking who brutalized Freydis because of her spiritual beliefs. To find him, they undertake a perilous voyage to Kattegat, Norway, from their native Greenland.