It’s time for another round of modern Norwegian fantasy with a mythological twist! If those words float your boat, good news, as Ragnarok season three hits Netflix on August 24.
Created by Danish writer Adam Price (the series is a Danish and Norwegian co-production) and set in the remote Norwegian town of Edda, Ragnarok centres on high school teen Magne Seier (David Stakston) who is more than a little surprised to learn that he’s the mortal incarnation of the Norse thunder god, Thor.
This certainly comes in handy when he starts digging into the business of local bigwigs the Jutul family, whose polluting factories are destroying the environment around the town, and discovers they are actually jötunn—evil, supernatural giants.
Yes, the gist of Ragnarok is “Norse myth in the modern day.” Magne’s half-brother Laurits (Jonas Strand Gravli) turns out to be an avatar of Loki, and it’s no coincidence the town is named Edda. That’s the name for the collective Norse mythological record. Think “teenage Twin Peaks with Norse gods” and you’re on the right track.
This third and final season is slated for only six episodes, and they’ve got a lot to pack in following the chaotic events of season two. Jutul patriarch Vidar (Gísli Örn Garðarsson) is dead, Magne now wields the magical hammer Mjolnir, forged by Dr Halvor Lange (Espen Sigurdsen), and Laurits not only looks to have changed sides, promising the Jutuls he can help them kill Magne, but has released the fabled Midgard serpent, Jörmungandr, into the sea. Just in case you didn’t go through a mad mythology phase in primary school, those are all more or less portents of the impending and titular Ragnarok—the end of the world according to Norse myth.
So, only six thin episodes to tell the apocalypse? That’s a tall order, but we have faith. Ragnarok looks set to go out with a bang.
