The Vikings were a deeply spiritual people with a whole pantheon of gods and associated deific beasties. In the battle sequence we see an old man leaning against a tree who disappears as a raven flies into the air. This could be another assassin, but it is likely Odin, the Norse god of wisdom. We don’t know exactly what role Norse mythology will play in the game, but it’s likely that it’ll be present among many of the characters, and how Eivor interacts with this new world.

The Viking invasion of Britain was a period when many of the invaders settled land and it became their permanent home. Some Vikings became Christian, some Saxons became Pagans, and the whole country became a mish-mash of these intermingling cultures. We know that Eivor will also have a settlement that he will be responsible for, and we see him creating a homestead in the trailer. We also see Eivor stop another Viking from killing some fleeing villagers, so it seems like Valhalla is aiming for a nuanced depiction of the Vikings in Britain.

At the very end of the trailer, we get confirmation that Eivor is both an assassin, and that the famous hidden blades will be making a return. We don’t know how they will be used in combat yet, but from the battle scene it seems axe fighting, with the potential to throw weapons, and the hidden blades, will both play a significant part in any of the game’s violent confrontations.

In the trailer we see a king, and hear him narrating about the Viking threat. It’s clear from a number of details that this is Alfred the Great, king of Wessex. The red cloaks that the soldiers in the trailer wear are a famous symbol of the Kingdom of Wessex, and during the period of the Viking invasion of Britain, Alfred and the Vikings clashed numerous times.

Could Alfie be the game’s big bad? Potentially, but there are still quite a few unknowns in that department. However, little clues such as the banner flying before the battle scene, and the surprise that Alfred’s general shows when the hidden blade appear to hint at his possible Templar association.

Vikings were sailors at heart, having piloted longships across the sea to invade Britain. Even their military makeup was defined by ship crews, each of which was led by a warlord. Just as in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey you can expect to pilot your ship around the setting’s coastline, perhaps taking part in battles and special missions that can only be accessed via the water.

We know that Eivor can be played as either male or female, but we don’t currently know much about the other characters in the game. In the trailer we see someone close to Eivor, (perhaps a family member?) die on the battlefield, and it seems to send him on a rampage. Perhaps the death of this character, whoever he is, will be a significant moment in the game, just as past Assassin’s Creed games have used the death of close relatives as a reason for vengeance.

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