Vikings: What Happened To Ragnar's Girlfriend Yidu, How Did She Die?

Vikings: Yidu tells Ragnar how she became a slave

Vikings is a popular historical drama series on History and Amazon Prime, and it follows the Viking leader Ragnar Lothbrok (played by Travis Fimmel). Ragnar has a number of wives and lovers throughout the series, and he forms a relationship with a former slave - Yidu (played by Dianne Doan). 

What happened to Ragnar's girlfriend Yidu?

Yidu is a former servant who was first introduced to the series in season four, when she is captured in Frankia.

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Some of the Vikings had travelled over to the country to take part in a raid, and Yidu was one of the slaves who was brought back to Kattegat.

She was separated from the other slaves due to her unique appearance, as she was the only Asian member of the group.

Aslaug (Alyssa Sutherland), who was Ragnar's wife at the time, bought Yidu and she became a slave for Ragnar and his family.

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Ragnar, who has never seen another woman like her before, becomes deeply interested in her.

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Vikings: Yidu was killed by Ragnar (Image: Sky)

Vikings: Yidu and Ragnar became lovers (Image: Sky)

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Ragnar forms a bond with Yidu and she later tells him she was the illegitimate daughter of a Chinese emperor.

Throughout season four Yidu becomes the character who weakens Ragnar, providing him with drugs to ease his pain, which he becomes addicted to.

They became lovers and Yidu continued to follow Ragnar on his raids, but he ended up killing her as she refused to give him any more drugs.

Her unexpected death came following an argument, and Yidu had threatened to reveal his secret about a demolished settlement in Wessex.

To keep her quiet, Ragnar pulls her under the water and drowns her in a fit of rage, leaving fans shocked.

Vikings: Aslaug bought the slave Yidu (Image: Sky)

Vikings: Yidu wanted to be a fighter (Image: Sky)

Actress Doan spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the mystery surrounding her character and the motivations which lead to her demise.

She said: "The relationship between Yidu and Ragnar becomes intimate, but her main initial objective is survival.

"Everything comes from a place of: 'Is he going to kill me, or not? How do I gain power over him?' When the drugs are introduced, the audience sees it as me helping him.

"But at the same time, there is that underlying sense of control that I gained over the King."

She said Yidu had always known her relationship with Ragnar was not going to end well, and it was almost as if she had control.

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Doan said: "When that opportunity comes up, and he comes down high out of his mind, and he dangles her freedom in front of her again, she takes that opportunity to push his buttons, and drive him over the edge.

"[This] leads him to kill me, Yidu. This might be ego, but I definitely didn’t want to play the victim here."

Fans believe her character was introduced as a red flag, warning Ragnar he is no longer as powerful as he believes, and it signals the start of his downfall.

She featured in a total of seven episodes, with her final scene being in the episode titled Portage.

Fans have said Ragnar's actions were very extreme and unforgivable, but Doan said it was exciting to see the scene play out.

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She said she was actually supposed to die in a different way, with her death taking place during a battle scene, but the story was rewritten.

Her original death scene was supposed to take place when Roland (Huw Parmenter) attacks the Viking camp while Ragnar is in Paris.

She said the women were supposed to be fighting back and protect the children, but she was killed heroically in battle.

Speaking of the death scene with Ragnar and Yidu, one fan said: "We'd never seen Ragnar kill the weak and powerless, those unable to defend themselves, out of pure rage.

"He normally has a stoic mastery over his emotions. This is the official episode where we know he's losing it and going mad."

Vikings is available to watch on History and Amazon Prime.

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