Warning, spoilers. The following paragraphs contain spoilers for Vikings Season 6 Episode 2.
Love it or hate it, Ivar (Alex Hogg Andersen) quickly became the iconic character of the series Vikings. The son of Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel) and Queen Aslaug (Alice Sutherland), the young man was always ridiculed by others for his disability, which he outgrew into adulthood.
In the sixth and final season, Ivar begins a fratricidal war against his half-brother Bjorn (Alexander Ludwig) with the help of the Russian army. He emerges victorious and succeeds in overthrowing Prince Oleg and returns to Kattegat with Hvitserk, despite a mixed reception.
Ivar joins Harald to fight the English because he feels his destiny is to participate in raids and wars. And it is on the battlefield that the Vikings die in the final episode, ready to join Valhalla. And one detail related to his character’s true story was the hint that he would die.
As the series combines fiction and historical facts with Norse fairy tales, Ivar is directly based on the real Ivar, a brave warrior despite his illness. Vikings suffer from osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease, which makes their bones brittle and break easily.
Still, he was destined for a grander purpose, just like his father Ragnar, with whom he shares piercing blue eyes. But Ivar’s eyes have another quality that foreshadowed his future.
His brother Hwisterk recalls in the series: When Ivar’s eyes are brighter blue, it means that he is in serious danger and the risk of breaking a bone was great. Before his death on the battlefield, Ivar’s eyes were fiery blue, which already meant his death.
In the series, this detail is related to the real illness of the historical figure on which it is based, the intensity of which is revealed when the sclera of Ivar’s eyes turn blue. While not all people with osteogenesis imperfecta have the blue sclera symptom, the fact that it occurs in Ivar is a good way to connect it to the true story and blend the Norse tale and fictional narrative.
Source: allocine
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
