'Norsemen' season 3 will 'tell the story that led up to season 1' but 'won't stray too far', say creators
'Norsemen' creators Jon Iver Helgaker and Jonas Torgersen have revealed that the highly anticipated season 3 will "tell the story that led up to season one".
The duo, who wrote and directed the show in both Norwegian and English, believe there was a lot of mystery around the characters and the events that occurred through the two seasons that needed clarity.
They told MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) in an exclusive interview: "We had plotted out most of the story beyond season two, but we could not let go of the urge to tell the story that led up to season one."
A few months ago, the cast of the Norwegian period comedy-drama 'Norsemen' teased fans with an image from the third season.
Marian Saastad Ottesen, who plays the role of Hildur, shared the image on Instagram early in March confirming the return of the show for much-awaited third season. While no details about the premiere date were disclosed, the poster promised that the show was going to come back in 2020.
Since then, fans of the acclaimed show have been eagerly waiting for the release of the third season.
As a period comedy, 'Norsemen' can be best described as a mix of 'Game of Thrones' and 'The Office'.
Set in 790s Norway, 'Norsemen' follows the Vikings as they deal with day-to-day life and conflicts.
The show features everything you would expect from a Viking show: Power struggles, battles, betrayals, rivalries, gore, and blood, and also everything you would not: conversations around gender equality, social commentary, identity, religion and culture, justice and government.
While this makes the show truly unique, what adds to its uniqueness quotient is how the show deals with some of the most important contemporary issues that we face today.
The last episode from the second season of the show ended on a highly anticipatory note.
Jarl Varg, the Earl who leads Norheim's rival tribe, confiscates the map to the west that the tribe has been hiding all season. His revenge, which he worked towards throughout the second season, was finally conceived with Orm (played by Kåre Conradi) by his side.
The official synopsis of the season two finale read: After Jarl Varg gets revenge and confiscates the map to the west, Norheim comes up with a plan for the future that doesn't include Orm, Liv (played by Kristine Riis) or Rufus (played by Trond Fausa Aurvåg}.
Orm betraying his own tribe doesn't sit well with the Vikings who regard loyalty very highly.
So, for the third season, fans of the show were prepared, and more than excited, to see how Norheim gets rids of the pests Orm, Liv and Rufus.
But here is the twist: That is not where the series is going to go next.
As it turns out, creators are going to take a detour from the line of storytelling, and the third season is actually going to be a prequel!
Confirming these rumors, yet not sharing the synopsis, creators Jon Iver Helgaker and Jonas Torgersen told MEAWW, "It is safe to say that we don’t stray too far off the path of seasons one and two."
"Why do they owe the map to Jarl Varg? Why on earth is Frøya married to Orm? We thought there were too many untold stories from before season one, so we decided to tell them."
What does this mean for season four? We can't be too sure.
"We have the story ready, but we don’t know if we get to make a season four — it depends on financing, which we don’t control. We would love to make it, but we’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out."
Season three, the duo tells us, is closer than we thought. "The Norwegian version is set to air sometime after Christmas, and the Netflix version a bit later. No dates are set yet," the duo says.
The first two seasons of the show are available to stream on Netflix.
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