‘Vikings’ Season 5: Michael Hirst And Jonathan Rhys Meyers Discuss Bishop Heahmund’s Fate

Episode 15 saw the death of yet another character in History Channel’s Vikings. Now, the series creator, Michael Hirst, breaks down what happened in the latest episode of Vikings.

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains information about Episode 15 (titled “Hell”) of History Channel’s Vikings Season 5. Please proceed with caution if you have not yet viewed this episode and wish to avoid spoilers.

During Episode 15 of Vikings Season 5, Bishop Heahmund (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) awoke from a terrifying dream. In it, he believed the Lord was showing him exactly what hell was like. And, considering Heahmund had told Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick) in Episode 14 of Vikings that he would go to hell for her, this vision seemed timely.

As a result of his dream, Heahmund promptly broke off his relationship with Lagertha.

Then, later in Episode 15 of Vikings, Heahmund perished on the battlefield. After catching sight of Lagertha during battle, he appeared captivated by her presence. It was then that he was struck by an arrow, one of many that would lead to his death.

However, as the show’s creator. Michael Hirst, points out to Variety, even though Heahmund had broken things off with Lagertha, he still loved her until the very end. Which, according to Hirst, will actually damn his soul.

“He went into battle almost wanting to die, cleansed… and yet… I don’t know if you caught it, but his last words are that he loves Lagertha,” Hirst revealed.

“So, in fact, he damns himself in the end. That was rather nice for me because it reminds us that love is the most important thing.”

As for the decision of how to kill of Bishop Heahmund, Hirst reveals that it was always going to be a battle that killed the warrior bishop.

“Heahmund is such an extreme character that he had to die and he had to die heroically in battle. He’s the kind of character who is simply not interested in survival. He has an extraordinary presence and even thinking slightly of characters like Richard the Lionheart, who also could never have died in his bed, warriors of that ilk and passion are so extreme that they would have to burn themselves out on the battlefield.”

In addition, the actor who plays Bishop Heahmund in Vikings also explained the death further to Variety.

“Heahmund is only a footnote in history [so] there was no precedent to have his character continue. The nature of the character and his intensity means that he is much like a Roman candle: it must shine bright, have its effect and leave. The death scene was filmed in the snow and bitter cold in a rather enclosed field, and of course these scenes must be very intense and quite mechanical to shoot as we are dealing with arrows, but it does have a fluidity in its manifestation of the circumstances and consequences of his death and what it means for Lagertha.”

Vikings returns on Wednesday, January 2, at 9 p.m. ET/PT. History Channel provides the following synopsis for Episode 16 (titled “The Buddha”).

“Bjorn achieves one of Ragnar’s dreams. Back in Kattegat, Ivar hatches a new plan while preparing for a divine arrival. In Iceland, a settler returns in a terrible state. King Alfred faces his greatest threat yet.”