‘Vikings’ Season 6 Episode 3 sees Lagertha unearth sword and become shield-maiden again after attacks by Ivar’s supporters
Once a legendary shield maiden and an iconic female Viking, Lagertha is now a beaten down, senior adult, who has seen it all in life. Now, all she wants to do is live humbly and peacefully in the quiet countryside, fulfilling her dead husband's and her dream.
So, the warrior maiden takes an oath to the gods and buries her sword in the forests, vowing she would never fight. But as luck would have it, her retirement plan is cut short.
Her old age will have to wait because the ax-wielding shield maiden will rise against treachery perpetrated on the people she feels responsible for. In episode 3 of the final season, we see Lagertha just settling down in her newly built farmstead, with her grandchildren (Bjorn and Torvi’s kids) and many other villagers.
Life seems good for the old warrior, being a legend and resorting to a quiet, unassuming life. But for those who have spent their lifetime fighting, life finds a way to bring them closer to their past. And Lagertha’s life is no exception.
As much as she might want to hide from the battles, the bloodshed, and the mayhem, they won’t leave her. The village where Lagertha is living is mostly occupied by women, who have lost their husbands, sons, fathers, and brothers, in wars or calamities, which weakened their manpower.
Therefore, they come to seek moral support and emotional refuge from Lagertha. As someone who has protected the weak and her own, Lagertha assures her best to the peasant women.
In the meantime, a few renegades and supporters of Ivar, who were branded and banished from Kattegat, come back to seek revenge. Not by attacking Bjorn or his kingdom, but strategically hurting his mother, in her peaceful abode.
Soon, a dead body turns up in the neighborhood, women are raped and attacked, and grains and cattle stolen from homes. Lagertha is shaken by the incident and realizes where her spirit lies.
Despite her earnest desire to not fight, life, or perhaps the gods decide to wake the fighter inside her and make her the shield maiden once again, to protect the people who look up to her. She unearths her sword and sets out on preparing for war.
Does this mean, Lagertha will be back on the battlefield? This is a theory we had proposed and if it turns out to be true, then this can be a huge turnaround for the future chapters of the Vikings.
‘Vikings’ Season 6 airs every Wednesday, 9 p.m., only on the History Channel.