Vikings' Katheryn Winnick Reveals One Big 'Challenge' To Directing

Vikings Lagertha Katheryn Winnick History
(Image credit: Jonathan Hession / History)

Spoiler Alert: Plot details from the January 15 of Vikings Season 6 entitled “The Ice Maiden” are discussed below!

Katheryn Winnick may have fought her last on-screen battle as Vikings’ Lagertha, but the actress will be taking on a vital role in the next episode. The fan-favorite stepped behind the camera to direct Episode 8 of Season 6 entitled “Valhalla Can Wait.” Unfortunately, Valhalla did not wait to welcome Lagertha already this season.

Thankfully for Lagertha’s portrayer, Katheryn Winnick’s Vikings journey is not over. Her next venture was not entirely easy, though. Winnick revealed that she faced a significant challenge while directing her Season 6 episode. Check out Winnick’s reveal below:

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Coffee cup where it belongs? Check. Awesome hat? Check. Making sure that the set of the neighboring series does not show up on Vikings? Katheryn Winnick had to see to that. Into the Badlands is over now. However, the AMC series was apparently still filming when Vikings was working on its final season.

Therefore, Katheryn Winnick and the Vikings team had to get creative to ensure that Into the Badlands’ set did not show up. Something tells me that Winnick and company managed to pull off the tricky feat. Winnick previously discussed her excitement over fans getting to see her directorial debut.

Now they have an even greater appreciation for some of the behind-the-scenes details that went into making it happen! Episode 8 should be an eventful installment of Vikings. It comes right after the series bid an emotional farewell to Katheryn Winnick’s Lagertha following her shocking death that rocked the series. What will the episode entail? Check out the trailer below:

It looks like Bjorn will not be giving Hvitserk a break after all. Remember, Bjorn swore to avenge Lagertha during the poignant eulogy he gave his mother at her funeral. Katheryn Winnick has since revealed this particular Vikings scene originally did not happen. It will be interesting to see if Bjorn ends up sparing Hvitserk since he did not intentionally kill Lagertha.

Hvitserk was under the influence and mistakenly thought she was Ivar. Will those circumstances be enough to sway Bjorn? It seems plausible. Meanwhile, Katheryn Winnick’s Vikings episode will also see its upcoming action switch to King Harald, a.k.a. the newly-elected King of Norway. He seems pretty determined to kill Bjorn. Will he succeed?

The first half of Season 6 has been a surprising one for Vikings, so anything seems primed to happen. It has been an especially rough one for Lagertha's son. He started it off as the new King of Kattegat before things quickly took a downturn. Bjorn has lost his son and his mother this season. Will he end up surviving it? Stay tuned.

I love the idea of Katheryn Winnick directing the first episode after Lagertha’s farewell. It helps keep Lagertha’s legacy going! Watch Katheryn Winnick’s directorial debut when Vikings continues with another new episode on Wednesday, January 22, at 10 p.m. ET on History. The drama has been one of the shows airing new this winter.

Britt Lawrence

Like a contented Hallmark movie character, Britt happily lives in the same city she grew up in. Along with movies and television, she is passionate about competitive figure skating. She has been writing about entertainment for 5 years, and as you may suspect, still finds it as entertaining to do as when she began.