Art of war: My quick take on binge-worthy web series “Vikings”
Thanks to “Knightfall”, a damn good web series that made me fall in love with History channel products. Hence, I logged on to Vikings, though it was released way back in 2013 it was still running as late as 2019, as it had whopping 6 seasons (89 episodes – available on Netflix & prime video). Needless to state that it’s a binge-worthy series about the saga & tales of adventures of Ragnar Lothbrok and his sons.
Until I watched this awesome series, my knowledge about the Vikings was limited to “Hagar-the horrible & his hard-nosed wife Helga”. Thanks to the history channel for transporting me to the land of fearless Vikings. One good thing about the products of the History channel is that it creates a make-believe ambiance of the bygone era, here too the recreation of the Viking age and early spreading of Christianity is beautifully re-created.
I thoroughly enjoyed binge-watching this mega serial about the exploits of Ragnar and his sons. Everything about the serial is impressive, the plot, the setting, wonderful characters, damn good action scenes, and the screenplay & the performances of each actor I would rate this series a notch above Game of thrones.
I loved most of the characters of the series, Ragnar Lothbrok, Lagertha, Ivar, Bjorn Ironside, Flocky, and many more. But amongst all Ragnar stands tall as a highly ambitious intelligent war strategist, his exploits may remind you of many historical/mythological events like the trojan horse of troy, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s escape from Agra. In my view, many of the strategies employed by Vikings can be taught in B-schools as Business strategy case studies. For eg.
Thinking out of the box – There is an incidence shown how Ragnar gains entry into well-fortified Paris, this is a “coming out of box” strategy – sorry no spoilers. There is one more incidence when Ragnar literally airlifts his naval fleet to bypass a trap laid in the river.
There is nothing called defeat in a battle – it's just a setback, just regroup and relaunch the attack.
Think big, think beyond obvious – Ragnar is one person who is shown to follow his guts/instincts. He was a firm believer that sailing westwards will take him to uncharted yet prosperous lands.
Respect knowledge over wealth – Ragnar prefers custody of a Monk over gold which he had won during his maiden raid. As he knows that monk’s knowledge about the “new uncharted world” is more valuable.
Build tools that will assist you to achieve your dreams – The zero draft sailing boats designed and built by Flocki could help them sail long-distance swiftly.
Choose your battlefield – entice your enemy to come to the battlefield of your choice. By doing this you gain upper hand in the battle
Forge alliances – build allies by forgetting the past and focus on bigger goals.
Fight as if there is no tomorrow – Vikings believed that death on the battlefield is a trophy and they will gain access to ‘Valhalla’ – the hall of slain warriors. This made them more fearless and ferocious. (I had heard similar stories that Japanese fighter plane pilots never carried their parachutes on their missions during WWII)
Adapt and embrace new technologies – Vikings had not seen Crossbows until they raid England, but after the raid, they adapt this new weapon in their armory and even go onto improving it.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience for me, I strongly recommend this web series as it has everything…. Love, deceit, ambition, cunning, action, family ties ….
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