'Vikings' season 4 news: series creator Michael Hirst talks about Ragnar's death

Well, anyone who cared to read about the history of the Vikings wouldn't be surprised to see Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel) die. It's not a massive plot twist like Ned Stark (Sean Bean) getting his head chopped off in "Game of Thrones." However, fans expected the character to go out in a blaze of glory in the season finale, not in the middle of the season. After all, Ragnar was the main character of the show for four seasons.

Fans were sad to see Ragnar die, and many would assume that it was hard for series creator Michael Hirst to kill him off. In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, Hirst admitted that it was indeed emotional for him, but it had to be done.

"I wasn't going to deviate from [history]; the show is as true to history as I can make it, so I knew that was going to be the end game," he stated.

However, it should be noted that Ragnar was supposed to die at the end of the first season, so they have delayed his death long enough. He went on to say that Ragnar's death was also very emotional for Fimmel and Linus Roache, the actor playing King Ecbert, because they were involved in the final scenes.

Hirst also talked about the decision to place Ragnar's death in the middle of the season, instead of the finale.

"This is the saga of Ragnar and his sons. I didn't want to suggest to the audience that the death of Ragnar meant some huge breaking point in that saga; it's just part of the weight. So Ragnar's sons will continue the saga. This isn't the end of Ragnar Lothbrok," he told The Hollywood Reporter.

Hirst went on to say that Ragnar would live on in his fame and through his sons. He also said Ivar the Boneless (Alex Høgh Andersen) was going to become a huge character going forward, and Ragnar's death would have an impact on the lives of his sons.