Like every other player in this game of kings and queens, Jarl Kåre’s place is one with multiple layers to it, which explains the reasons behind his rampage against his old faith. During his infiltration of Uppsala, we learn that this isn’t his first trip to the location and that his previous one holds a childhood horror that set him on this path. Walking up the steps to the altar, we see a younger Kåre in attendance with his family, including his older brother. Clueless to the proceedings underway, Kåre watches as his brother happily walks ahead, guided by the priests and other attendees and placed upon the slab. From there, Jarl’s world is turned upside down when his brother is sacrificed to the gods and, to his horror, killed on the spot.
While the scene isn’t particularly bloody, the impact it aims to make lands hard. Seeing the young boy run off in terror and fury makes it understandable why he became the devout Christian we’ve been introduced to. Sure, he may be the monster of “Valhalla,” but we get a glimpse in the briefest of moments of the man hiding underneath.