Online Exclusive: Pretty fantasy or rough realism?

The season finale of HBO’s Game of Thrones has left many people’s hearts shattered, to say the least.

I think we can all agree that it has been a long and emotional roller-coaster ride.

I honestly find solace in knowing that now I can finally go back to binge-watching Vikings.

I am a huge fan of both, but in my opinion the Irish-Canadian television drama airing on the History Channel is actually much more epic than GoT and it’s only on season five. I am much more attached to the characters, but I never was with GoT.

It is a bit unfair to compare the two, but we can’t ignore that visually they are quite similar.

Of course, a whole of lot of money was spent on the production of GoT and there are a lot more characters than in Vikings, but Micheal Hirst and his team truly outdid themselves.

Three episodes in and I was sold.

Unlike in most television shows, time passes in Vikings.

This aspect has allowed Vikings to become a much more believable story than GoT. As the characters grow older, they replace the actor and keep it moving.

We saw this with the 12-year-old Bjorn growing into a young man and from a young man into a fierce warrior called Ironside.

The fact that so much time has passed in Bjorn’s life makes the fans feel attached to this character. We want to see if he will become anything like his father, Ragnar Lothbrok.

The sad part is that Ragnar doesn’t come back to life like Jon Snow.

After the season four finale, Ragnar’s sons take over and become commanders.

In GoT, months could pass by between each episode, yet this doesn’t seem to be translated on screen. Jon Snow looked a bit different after he came back to life and the characters looked a bit taller, but this was only in season eight; otherwise, they all looked the same.

Another thing that makes Vikings more interesting is that the characters all undergo changes that reflect a more realistic world.

King Ragnar has changed so dramatically from season to season that one could pinpoint the correct episode just by describing his hairstyle or his tattoos.

The main theme in Vikings is the presence of the gods.

Although in GoT the characters do mention their gods from time to time, religion is not a big part of the series. In the beginning of season one, in the village of Kattegat, Ragnar has visions of Odin.

The main characters also consult a Seer, who speaks to the gods on their behalf and lets them know their fates. To show that the Viking Age was different from our time, there are scenes in the show where the Vikings are conducting their ritual sacrifices of both animals and people.

However, there are mainly two religions that are explored in Vikings, the Nordic religion and Christianity, whereas in GoT, there are three different religions that divide the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros.

The major religion is the Faith of the Seven. Many people in the north worship the Old Gods of the Forest and in the Iron Islands, the Drowned God.

Without giving any spoilers, if you are for strong women who fight for themselves, then you will definitely enjoy watching Vikings because there is a large army of women who fight alongside men. The army is led by Ragnar’s former wife, Lagertha, who continuously distinguishes herself as a warrior and ends up becoming an Earl.

In GoT, Brienne of Tarth is the only female knight in Westeros. She had to constantly prove that she can to fight and was harassed because of her physical appearance and gender.

Although Arya Stark also refused to conform to society’s norms, it was clear that many people still believed as a daughter of a Lord, she needn’t learn how to fight.