Vikings · Season 1 · Episode 1 · 3 March 2013
S1E1 Rites of Passage
THE MOMENT The raid on Lindisfarne - the monks have no frame of reference for men who fight and laugh simultaneously.
The premiere establishes the world fast and brutally: Ragnar Lothbrok as farmer-warrior-dreamer, the Norse community's codes of honour and violence, and the central antagonist in Haraldson. The opening battle sequence and Bjorn's coming-of-age ritual make the tonal register immediately clear - this is spectacle with just enough character scaffolding underneath.
Full episode analysis below. Spoiler-light verdict above.
Updated
Vikings Season 1 Episode 1 'Rites of Passage' aired March 3, 2013 on History Channel as the series premiere. Season 1 holds 82 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. The Hollywood Reporter called it 'a winning combination of action and historical drama that should attract a robust audience.' The premiere establishes Ragnar Lothbrok with the directorial confidence of a show that knows it has a strong lead: Travis Fimmel's feral charisma does not require backstory to work, and the episode deploys him primarily through action rather than exposition. The Bjorn coming-of-age ritual and the raid on Lindisfarne establish the series' tonal register - spectacle with just enough character scaffolding underneath - in the first episode. The Old Norse dialogue and Irish-shot production design give the world a texture critics noted with some surprise; History Channel had not previously produced prestige drama at this register. The 8.1 IMDb series score reflects the show's sustained audience engagement from this opening.