Vikings: Valhalla - There's no basis for Leif Eriksson's 'Darkness'

 

It's akin to a White Cedar tree appearing in the garden at episode 7 when you've been shown the same garden the past six episodes. 

Leif Eriksson (played by Sam Corlett) is one of the protagonists of Vikings spinoff, Vikings: Valhalla. Leif's first appearance in the pilot episode, we immediately understand that he's a very capable leader and a fine sailor as he piloted a boat through a storm that no one else was able to get through.

If you're wondering why Leif Eriksson looks so familiar, he plays the under-utilized clay demon, Caliban in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

We see Leif become recognized as a Viking and later start to get a reputation of his own when he helps bring the London bridge down. In the final episode, we see Leif become a 'berserker' when the supposed love of his life, Liv (played by Lujza Richter) dies and he goes crazy and starts murdering people.

Vikings: Valhalla may argue that they planted the seed for his rage/darkness when Leif tells Liv (his fellow Greenlander and supposed love of his life) that he has a darkness that he fears he won't be able to control, just like his father. But this seed was planted in the penultimate episode of Season 1!

The scene went like this:

Leif: There is a darkness in him [his father, Erik the Red], he cannot control. I share it

Liv: If this is true, why have I never seen it?

Leif: Because when I'm with you, it goes away and I'm calm.

This entire scene is quite laughable  for two reasons

• The claim that Leif has darkness in his heart when we've seen absolutely no evidence to it right from the moment we see Leif Eriksson on our screen till this very forced lovers moment. 
• The ludicrous theory that Liv is somehow the one who keeps his darkness at bay when every time Leif was goaded and he resisted, Liv was nowhere around him.

There was no prior moment where we saw Leif nearly lose himself to his darkness only to be tempered by a fleeting touch from Liv. In fact, the opposite has been the case as the one time he lost himself to darkness, she was right there. Several times during the show, Leif portrays insane patience when he's repeatedly goaded by other Vikings due to his father's notorious reputation and he hardly takes the bait.

Don't just take my word for it, there's evidence:

Evidence 01

In S01E01 "Episode 1", while Leif tries to gather information, a Viking (Alfrun from Trundelike) grabs him rather roughly and asks for his coat stating he will 'double' what it cost Leif. He tries to avoid this obvious bait by walking away and even though they eventually fight, Leif stops when he's reprimanded and immediately apologizes. 

While this was not a serious altercation, if Leif truly had darkness or rage in his heart, he could have killed Alfrun for provoking him but he didn't. So how did he stop himself if the woman responsible for keeping his darkness at bay was oh-so notably absent?

Evidence 02

Later in the episode, Leif Eriksson gets attacked by two Vikings, the Beken brothers, who were wronged by his father, Erik the Red. Again, Leif tries to walk away from this fight but he's attacked and eventually wins against no less than five men. None of these men are severely injured and when one tries to goad him further by saying he's just like his father, Leif responds "if I was just like my father, you would be dead" - which is a very valid point. Seeing as several Vikings stood aside and watched while he was provoked and attacked by several men, it's doubtful any of them would have batted an eye if he killed one or more in self-defense.

The justification for Leif's Berserker turn is that his father Erik the Red was a very violent man and that Leif inherited some of his violent tendencies. But the scene with the Beken brothers proves that he didn't and his self-proclaimed stress-ball was also absent in this scene. So how did he keep his darkness at bay?

Evidence 03

In S01E02 - Episode 2, Leif Eriksson captains a ship that has both pagans and Christians as passengers, there's a lot of provocation between the two groups, and some of them blatantly undermine his order. An easily provoked man would have killed one of these men at each provocation but Leif doesn't, choosing to talk it out instead. He eventually kills Jarl Gorm after the latter stabs a Christian passenger but Leif didn't seem to revel in this act at all.

Evidence 04

In S01E06 - Episode 6, Leif Eriksson is goaded by Jarl Gorm's son, Arne (played by Pääru Oja) who accuses him of killing Jarl Gorm to save a Christian. Leif refuses to rise to the provocation even when he's called a 'Christian lover'.

Evidence 05

In Vikings: Valhalla S01E07 - Choices, Jarl Gorm's son, Arne tries to attack Leif AGAIN(!) saying that he had to defend his father's honor or some nonsense. Once again, Leif talks him out of it and even gives him some advice as to what is worth is dying for.

Where is this advertised darkness? How deep is it buried? Liv was missing in all these scenes so who was keeping the monster at bay?

Between episodes 1 -7 of Vikings: Valhalla, we see Leif Eriksson pretty much keep to himself and only do what is requested of him. He supports his brother-in-arms, Harold Sigurdsson (played by Leo Suter), supports and keeps his sister Freydis (Frida Gustavsson) from making rash decisions, and stays by the bedside of Liv who was now the last of those who traveled with him and his sister on their journey for revenge. Then suddenly in Episode 7, he's a really angry man who keeps his anger at bay only when Liv is around? How? Since when?

You may argue that perhaps Leif Eriksson is just really really good at keeping his darkness at bay because he doesn't want to be his father and you know what? I may concede to that and just write it off as an oversight that we were not shown this. However, I will not accept that Liv is responsible for keeping his darkness at bay because that is a bloody freaking lie.

Vikings: Valhalla - Stream or Skip?

Vikings: Valhalla is a sequel to Vikings that could barely live up to its predecessor or any other Vikings retelling (like The Last Kingdom). It is reportedly historically inaccurate but I'm no history buff and even the wildly successful Vikings took a few liberties. However, the plot is all over the place as is glaring with the Leif big reveal at the end. There are about ten things happening at once and none of them last on your screen long enough to capture your interest. It's a flash of hair, heated words, and spilled blood.

I'd file it under Netflix Shows to watch when you've got an abundance of time.

Vikings: Valhalla is streaming on Neflix.