‘Vikings’ Season 6B: What Prompts Hvitserk To Tell Ivar That He’s ‘Changed’?
In the hit series Vikings, season 6B is the end of the stories of the sons of Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel). Ivar (Alex Høgh Andersen) allies himself with the Rus Vikings, and together with his brother, Hvitserk (Marco Ilsø), they help Prince Oleg (Danila Kozlovsky) try and conquer Scandinavia.
In the final season, the fates of everyone are decided, and major changes take place. Find out what prompts Hvitserk to say Ivar has “changed” in season 6B.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers from ‘Vikings’]
Ivar helps Prince Igor escape Prince Oleg
In season 6, Ivar makes his way to Kyiv where he meets Oleg. He witnesses Oleg kill his own brother, Prince Askold (Blake Kubena) so he can control the heir to the kingdom, Prince Igor (Oran Glynn O’Donovan), who is still a child. Ivar sees Oleg’s cruelty, including him chaining up his other brother, Prince Dir (Lenn Kudrjawizki), in a cage with a chain attached to his cheek. Ivar helps him escape, and when the Rus invasion of Scandinavia fails, Ivar returns to Kyiv and helps overthrow Oleg.
But first the Rus are defeated after Bjorn Ironside (Alexander Ludwig), already wounded in battle from a stab wound from what appeared to be his brother Ivar (who was supposed to be somewhere else entirely at the time), devises a plan. Bjorn rides out to meet the Rus, scaring the soldiers who think he’s already dead. However, he doesn’t live long after being shot by three arrows. However, he saves the country and the Rus are defeated and retreat.
Back in Kyiv, Ivar is given a dagger by Princess Katya (Alicia Agneson) as a symbol that Dir is ready and he should leave with Igor. He does as he’s asked, along with his brother Hvitserk and the Princess. They rendezvous with Dir, and they take back the capitol.
Together with Dir’s forces, they all return to Kiev to find Oleg not standing in their way. Dir is able to open up the gate, and a soldier hands over a sword. They take over without any issues, but when Oleg appears on the balcony, Ivar insists that he needs to die despite Oleg hoping for peace with his family. But that isn’t going to happen.
Prince Igor kills his uncle, Prince Oleg, at Ivar’s insistence
Ivar tells Igor to kill his uncle with a bow and arrow. He also mentions that if he doesn’t kill him, he won’t be free. Ivar says that he loves him, and offers to do it for him. But Igor decides to be the one to kill him, and he shoots Oleg with an arrow and he falls to the ground and dies.
Although Katya is pregnant with Ivar’s child, Ivar still chooses to go back to Kattegat with Hvitserk. However, Igor doesn’t want Ivar to go. He’s formed an attachment to him like a son does to a father. During his time in Kiev, Ivar has changed because of his relationship to Igor. He admits to loving him, and it’s probably the closest familial relationship he’s ever really had, except for his mother, of course.
‘You’re safe. And you will be king’
Ivar and Igor talk before Ivar’s departure, and Igor admits he doesn’t want him to go. He topples him to the ground as Ivar laughs, and Igor tells him that he heard he’s going to leave.
“You can’t,” Igor says. “I won’t allow it. I own all the land. I own the sky and the clouds.”
“But you do not own me,” Ivar tells him.
“So it’s true. You are leaving,” Igor says, clearly upset that this father figure will be gone from his life shortly.
Ivar tells him that he is no longer a child. “Only a man can be king,” Ivar says. “And a man must put aside childish things and must learn to stand on his own feet. Everyone here loves you. I would not go if I didn’t think you were safe. You’re safe. And you will be king.”
Igor cries as he watches Ivar depart Kyiv. He screams Ivar’s name, and Ivar glances back at the boy he must think of as his own child. He lifts his hand up to say goodbye, and it’s a devastating moment for Igor.
Ivar smiles at him, and turns his back to go. “Let’s go,” Ivar tells his brother.
What prompts Hvitserk to tell Ivar that he’s ‘changed’?
As they’re leaving, Hvitserk says, “You’ve changed,” when he sees Ivar’s goodbye to Igor.
“We never really change,” Ivar replies back. “We just think that we do.” But Hvitserk insists that Ivar has changed, and many fans will certainly agree.
Ivar has definitely become different from his time of being worshipped as a god and killing innocent people. He grows to love Igor as his own son, and it’s obvious he’s now a better person for it. He’s not as harsh, and he has grown to appreciate and love the child as his own. Although he leaves him, he’ll certainly never be the same after his days in Kyiv with the Rus. Hvitserk notices this change in his brother, and he tells him about it.
Ivar definitely changed over the course of the series. Although he loses his life in the final episode during battle with King Alfred (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), he will be remembered through his child with Katya and in Igor.
