Why did Travis Fimmel leave Vikings after Season 4?

There is no doubt that we felt it when Ragnar was no longer a part of Vikings. We take a look at why Travis Fimmel left the series in Season 4.

Vikings ran for six seasons, but the last two seasons just weren’t the same. The series lost much of what made it so special to start with the loss of both Ragnar and Rollo. The series was more of Ragnar’s story from the start, but Rollo and Lagertha together with him made it an intriguing and intense story.

It’s hard to say if Ragnar Lothbrok is based on a real person. There are stories of him, and many of those stories were used for the creation and the end of the character in Michael Hirst’s TV show.

Travis Fimmel’s exit from Vikings was actually later than initially planned

It wasn’t Travis Fimmel’s choice to leave the series. This was a creative decision that was also linked to the time period. This is a show that did jump through a few decades, so of course, characters were going to have to die at some point. Michael Hirst wanted to bring us the changes that came with this point in history, and sometimes, those changes only come because of the death of a person.

According to Looper, Fimmel’s exit was later than initially planned. The original plan was to kill off Ragnar in Vikings Season 1. That would have meant a lack of faked death plot in Season 3, and it would have meant certain other elements of Ragnar’s story would have had to be sped up.

Maybe if Ragnar had been killed off earlier than he was, the show may have found its footing with new leads. The problem in keeping such a formidable and loved character for so long meant that it felt like a complete reset later on, and we just hadn’t come to know and love the other characters as much. It arguable led to the end of the series for good.

Vikings is now available to stream on Netflix.