Vikings Creator Reveals Why Show Is Ending After Season 6

After debuting on History years ago and accumulating quite a fan following, Vikings is expected to come to an end next year. The final batch of episodes of the series will be premiering on Amazon Prime Video sometime in 2021, and it's safe to say that some fans don't want the series to end just yet. But according to the series' creator, Michael Hirst, the final batch of episodes will be narratively satisfying. In a recent interview with GameSpot, Hirst revealed that he saw the upcoming Season 6 as the right time to end the series, both for him creatively, and because the series had reached its natural conclusion.

"I knew in a global sense where I was ultimately going," Hirst explained. "And it was very satisfactory, in a way, when we came to what I knew was going to be by the last season. I also felt that I'd said as much as I had to say really about Vikings, you know? I started off and I was fascinated by their culture and beliefs, and I wanted to overturn all these prejudices and cliches about them. And [then] I fell in love with these major characters. Often my days and nights for seven years were filled with Vikings. You know, I would write [until] 12 o'clock at night, I commuted to Ireland every week. It was time to conclude the saga."

"I had to give these various storylines a satisfying conclusion--a conclusion that didn't cheat in any way," Hirst added. "And I felt that if I could come up with endings that were satisfactory and felt justified, then the audience would hopefully feel the same because I love these characters so much and it was very important to me."

But as Hirst teased, the final season definitely won't be without some heartache, as bringing the series to a natural conclusion includes some tough goodbyes.

"It was, of course, deeply emotional because it meant killing off some of my favorite characters," Hirst said. "This whole last season, especially these last 10 episodes, were deeply emotional for me and I lost a lot of sleep. But at the same time, there was an element of relief in getting to the end."

Are you excited to see the final season of Vikings? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

The final episodes of Vikings will debut sometime in 2021 on Amazon Prime Video.