The Northman (2025) is the powerful sequel to Robert Eggers’ 2022 Viking epic, returning viewers to a brutal and mythic world of fate, vengeance, and legacy. Picking up years after the events of the original film, The Northman 2025 follows Hildr (played by Anya Taylor-Joy), the daughter of Olga and the slain Amleth, as she carries the weight of her bloodline and destiny.

After escaping Iceland with her mother as a child, Hildr grows up hearing tales of her father’s glory and sacrifice. Now in her early 20s, she receives a vision from the Norns, who warn her that her family’s blood feud is not over. A distant Norse warlord, Bjorn Skullsplitter (Alexander Skarsgård in a dual role, playing his own character’s illegitimate son), is waging terror across Scandinavia. Unknown to him, Hildr is his half-sister—and she has come to end the cursed cycle of vengeance once and for all.

Disguising herself as a shieldmaiden, Hildr infiltrates Bjorn’s camp. There, she learns that he is haunted by the spirit of Amleth, whose soul lingers restlessly in Valhalla, denied peace by unfinished revenge. Hildr battles with loyalty, prophecy, and identity, torn between ending the cycle or fulfilling it.

As Bjorn begins to suspect her true identity, he’s consumed by visions of his father’s violent past and a raven who speaks with Amleth’s voice. The final act is a brutal confrontation on the ash-covered fields of Skallagrim’s Fjord, where ghostly echoes of fallen warriors rise during a blood-red eclipse. Hildr defeats Bjorn but chooses not to kill him, breaking the blood chain and allowing her father’s spirit to ascend to Valhalla.

In the final scenes, Hildr leaves her sword behind and sails toward an unknown land, free from fate’s control, as Odin’s ravens circle overhead. The ending is haunting and hopeful—suggesting that even in a world ruled by violence, a new path can be forged.

The Northman 2025 is a visually arresting, emotionally resonant tale of myth, legacy, and liberation. Eggers delivers a poetic and savage follow-up that explores what happens when we defy the gods—and ourselves.