However, these qualities also betray something else: his fallibility. For all the myths and legends surrounding him, Ragnar is only human. It’s only natural for humans to make mistakes. As such, the clever Viking stumbles several times in his journey. Due to his acclaim and influence, these missteps often have huge ramifications for the rest of the Northmen.

8 Getting Hooked On Drugs

Following his injuries during the first siege of Paris, Ragnar is in great pain and distances himself from his loved ones. He finds an unlikely companion in the Chinese slave girl, Yidu. She not only provides someone to talk to and a new culture to learn about, but also gives him a special “medicine.” It sends him into a euphoria and lets him forget his problems. Sadly, it comes with nasty side effects, which soon hinder Ragnar in every way. He becomes addicted to the stuff, unable to go without it for too long. Once he gets his fix, he suffers all sorts of hallucinations.

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This obviously drives his family further away and cripples him as a leader. He can’t think clearly or muster his full energy during the second Paris raid. As a result, it’s a disastrous campaign that ends in a sound defeat by his brother. Don’t do drugs.

7 Trusting Ecbert

The king of Wessex is a leader, much like Ragnar himself. He plays the long game and sneakily dispatches his enemies before they know what hit them. When these two titans meet, they take an immediate liking to each other as worthy opponents and forward thinkers. Because they’re so similar, however, Ragnar shouldn’t have made an agreement without some collateral.

After helping quell the conflicts in the surrounding kingdoms, the Northmen receive a patch of land in Wessex on which to settle. Ecbert then allows a group of disloyal ealdormen to destroy this settlement, giving him an excuse to root out traitors in his court. It’s not unlike what Ragnar did to expose his former ally, King Horik, in the previous season. Considering the more politically volatile situation in England, he should have seen this coming.

6 Keeping The Slaughtered Settlement A Secret

Failing to foresee a crisis is one thing, but sweeping that crisis under the rug is another. Thanks to a lone survivor, Ragnar learns of the aforementioned settlement’s fate shortly after returning from Wessex. Unfortunately, the Viking king is just gearing up for his Paris journey, so he shoots (or in this case, strangles) the messenger and keeps the treachery a secret. This later comes back to bite him.

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When the truth slips out, it forms much of the people’s resentment toward Ragnar in Season 4. One could argue that he felt guilty about forcing the Vikings to fight for a cause not their own; he didn’t want to lead them back to Wessex for yet more battles on English soil. That said, they would have wanted retribution for their dead friends and family. Plus, Ragnar’s reasoning stems more from his desire to go to Paris without further delay. His exploits there, though, only lead to more misfortune.

5 Leaving After His Paris Defeat

Though the first Paris campaign is successful, Ragnar’s drug abuse and his brother siding with the Franks lead to multiple defeats the second time around. Afterwards, the once-loved Viking is tired of letting everyone down and simply vanishes. He eventually returns — over ten years later. Needless to say, folks aren’t too happy.

Walking away from everything leaves emotional scars on loved ones. This not only alienates Ragnar from his people, but creates resentment in his sons. He acknowledges such and expresses deep regret, but that’s still a decade they had to grow up without a father. Had he not become such a stranger, they might have been more inclined to accompany him on his swan song raid.

4 Leaving Ivar To Die

In his time, Ragnar wouldn’t have been alone in abandoning a disabled child. His youngest son falls into that category. He’s born with brittle bone disease, which prevents him from using his legs. Ragnar notices this during Ivar’s infancy, and leaves him to die in the wilderness.

Again, his rationale for doing this makes sense for the time. The kid wouldn’t be able to fight effectively or run around with other children, which makes for an obvious hindrance among hardy folk like the Northmen. That said, Ragnar fails to consider his offspring’s greatest strength: his mind. Ivar becomes a brilliant strategist like his father. What’s more, he uses this cunning to become one of the most famous Vikings of all time: Ivar the Boneless. Thankfully, Ragnar realizes this later, but that understanding functions as a double-edged sword.

3 Encouraging Ivar’s Ruthlessness

The absentee father eventually comes to appreciate his underdog son. He even brings him on his final voyage, stressing the boy’s importance to the future of their people. The key to this impact is not only his brilliance, but also his anger and unpredictability. Rather than temper these qualities, Ragnar encourages Ivar to turn them on anyone in his way. This indeed carries him to many a glorious victory, but his rage goes both ways.

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Ivar’s unhappiness, lust for vengeance, and general love of killing sometimes lead him to war on his own people and even his brothers. Ragnar probably couldn’t have predicted the level of death he’d unleash with his parting words. Then again, he had become more cynical by this point, so maybe he was hoping for such widespread bloodshed. Either way, one wonders whether Ivar’s benefits were worth the trouble.

2 Cheating On Lagertha

Ragnar’s curiosity sometimes gets the better of him. That extends to his love life in his younger days. During a journey, he encounters a mysterious woman named Aslaug. He’s drawn in by her provocative enigma despite the protests of his son, Bjorn. When she winds up pregnant, he’s compelled to welcome her into his hearth and home. Lagertha is humiliated and soon leaves her husband. Ragnar never stops loving his first wife, and is devastated by her departure.

That would be bad enough, but he then takes that unhappiness out on his second spouse. Ragnar becomes cold and distant toward Aslaug, and that neglect makes her life miserable. In short, he emotionally destroys both of his significant others. At least he makes amends with them before his passing.

1 Leaving The Farm

Curiosity killed the cat. At the start of the show, Ragnar is happy on his farm with Lagertha and their children, Bjorn and Gyda. Sadly, he can’t resist the lure of the unknown, prompting him to defy his earl and set off on a journey west. This act of disobedience sets everything in motion: the alliances, betrayals, wars, and death. All of it traces back to the desire for knowledge and adventure.

Above all, though, this action informs Ragnar’s somberness. The loss of his simple life eats away at him for the rest of his days. Back then, he didn’t have to navigate political tightropes or worry about what was best for his people. He voices this regret in his final conversation with Lagertha, saying that he would have stayed on their farm if the choice arose again. That said, fans wouldn’t have a show otherwise, so they should be thankful for this mistake.

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