'Norsemen' Season 3: Who is Chieftain Olav and Orm's elder brother Karl and was he sold off as a slave?
Spoilers for Season 3 of 'Norsemen'
Season 3 of Netflix's hit Norwegian show 'Norsemen' aka as 'Vikingane' in Norsk, has finally arrived on the streaming site, and might we add it rides on the same hilarious energy as its previous seasons.
There's one difference, though: Season 3 of the show is actually Season 0, a prequel that documents the events leading up to Season 1. This gives us a lot of much-needed insight into the backstories of the characters, answering some very important questions about them that have been bothering fans over the two seasons.
One such back story is that of Chieftain Olav (Henrik Mestad) and Orm's (Kåre Conradi) older brother Karl's. As it turns out, Chieftain Olav has an elder brother who was sent up north in order to protect the line of Norheim's Chieftain family. Sent as a baby, an 'N' was tattooed on his back so that the people of Norheim can recognize him if and when he returns. And when he does, he will be the rightful heir to the throne of Chieftain.
Olav also mentions that there was a rumor doing the rounds that as a boy, Karl was sold off as a slave. As Olav is narrating this tale to his wife Hildur (Marian Saastad Ottesen) and younger brother Orm, his favorite (and our favorite) slave, or 'subhuman' as the Vikings also call them, Kark (Øystein Martinsen) is standing by and listening. He soon realizes that there are many similarities to his own story and that he also has a tattoo on his back.
When he tells this to the trio, Orm immediately dismisses him as a subhuman, but it gets Hildur worried. She wants to cement her power in the village as the first lady, wife of the Chieftain and if Kark were to reveal his identity, she would no longer enjoy the power and wealth. The next day, she finds Kark and gives him beatings and lashings, practically lacerating the tattoo off of his skin. The brutal beating is gut-wrenching to watch, but Kark being ever the obedient slave, doesn't bat an eye.
He later even visits Chieftain Olav and tells him of his story explaining how he has always felt a strong connection to the village of Norheim and its people, almost as if he were one of them, despite the village (mis)treating him as a slave. Olav asks to see the tattoo on Kark's back. Since Hildur had literally etched it off his skin, it can't be proven that he really is Olav and Orm's older brother, although Hildur knows the truth.
Remember when Hildur was going to sacrifice him to Odin at the beginning of Season 1? That speaks a lot about the cunning first lady. Poor Kark, he is reduced to a slave in his own village.
All three seasons of 'Norsemen' are currently streaming on Netflix.
