#Vikings’ Katheryn Winnick Reveals Lagertha Was Supposed to Die Much Sooner

Vikings ended its final season with heartbreak and much death, but one of its stars thought her character would perish much sooner than she did.

Katheryn Winnick, who played Lagertha on all six seasons, has opened up about the role in an interview with NME.

The actress thought Lagertha would be written out during Vikings Season 4 because the show became more about Ragnar’s sons.

“I thought I was going to go in Season 4 when the show became more about Ragnar’s sons, but they convinced me to stay on with the offer of directing an episode,” Winnick shared.

“I really wanted to direct, and I didn’t want to be in the episode I was directing, so it was time to say goodbye. Leaving was always, always, always part of the plan.”

There was an immediate uproar from fans upon Lagertha’s death, so we can only imagine how fans would have reacted had she been killed off during Vikings Season 4.

If you watch Vikings online, you know Ragnar was killed off that same season, so it might have been a tough sell for the series’s longtime fans to continue watching.

Lagertha was fated to die at the hands of one of Ragnar’s sons, and it all played out in brutal fashion on Vikings Season 6 Episode 6.

Hvitserk, who was high on drugs, hallucinated Lagertha as a huge serpent and stabbed her to death.

It came after a string of episodes in which Lagertha’s death was hinted at, but the actress was not upset with it. She said the following:

I wasn’t upset when I was told I was getting written out. We’d been talking about it for a while. If anything, I was like: ‘When am I gonna go?!’

While Vikings is now over after six seasons, the franchise will continue thanks to a sequel called Vikings Valhalla, which has been picked up at Netflix.

However, Winnick will not be a part of it and currently stars as P.I. Jenny Hoyt on ABC’s Big Sky.

The series launched in November and has held up very well in the ratings, meaning a sophomore run is likely.

What are your thoughts on Winnick potentially leaving Vikings earlier? Would that have been too much because of Ragnar’s early death?

Hit the comments below.

Big Sky returns to ABC in April.

Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.