It always stings the righteous person’s heart when children are in any kind of distress. After “Trapped,” the Nordic Noir novel “The Valhalla Murders” is written from the perspective of a police investigation (an absolute must-watch). The Valhalla Murders takes creative licence to tell a moving tale about abandoned children who are without a family or guardians, illustrating the dreadful darkness of humanity.
Based on a true story, an article appeared in an Icelandic publication in the late 1940s. It spoke of a state-approved facility that served as a home for troubled children and later witnessed severe child abuse and staff violence against the children.
With the use of a picture of a group of boys and three adults, which is frequently viewed as the connection, two detectives, Kata and Arnar, are required to identify victims of abuse in this series, which has the Icelandic term Brot, which means violation. Undoubtedly seeking vengeance for his time spent as a resident of the Valhalla homestay for boys, we observe a ruthless killer on the prowl. This case becomes turbulent while the detectives are battling their darkness when outside forces attempt to leak information or penetrate the investigation, potentially endangering its continuation. As a result, both the detectives and their agency must move more quickly to find the person responsible.
Spoiler Warning
The Valhalla Murders Plot Summary
This modern noir tells the tale of a search for a missing boy and a string of killings that reveals very dark secrets about a home for boys who are either lost in general or a lost cause, set in the icy landscapes of Iceland. N na D gg Filippusd ttir’s character, Katarin, a detective, harbours some anger at her superiors because it appears that they passed her up for promotion. She makes the decision to take the initiative in the investigation of Thor Ingimarrson’s first murder, whose eyes had been surgically removed with force. But it appears that Kata is still constrained by her earlier case involving a youngster who vanished and was never found.
Police Commissioner Magnus acknowledges that there is a lack of personnel and requests the assistance of another detective, Arnar B. Varsson (played by Bjorn Thors), to assist Kata in quickly identifying the offender. Two murders had already taken place by this point, making them anxious to act soon. While juggling their own conflicts, the two investigators are driven by these worrying developments to stumble upon a particular image of a group of boys along with two men and a woman.
A bag of bone remains is discovered when these persons are gradually identified one by one. When the news of these remains breaks, it inevitably sparks a media frenzy that reveals further details about the case Kata and Arnar are looking into. Even though the case is far from done, further inquiry reveals that the remains were those of a kid who had vanished from a specific homestay called The Valhalla Home for Boys in the area of Borgarnes 30 years prior.
Kata and Arnar, two police officers, search for the youngsters’ records. However, it is only after the second murder that they understand they must compare these victims’ data with physical copies of the same. The son of the second murder victim assists them with this image as he describes in slow motion how awful the home was, naming one employee and one youngster, Tomas or whom he known as Tommi.
The two detectives are then directed to gradually track down and identify the persons in the photo, and when they do so, they learn that these guys suffered terrible physical abuse virtually every day and that their abusers remained unpunished. The children felt terrified, isolated, and alone because they were never allowed to get medical attention when they were hurt, and their parents were never able to visit them on those days. Some of the victims, even as fully grown adults, were unable to speak about these heinous incidents as the trauma left them psychologically damaged.
Does Kata Lead This Case To A Justified Arrest?
With sheer grit and persistence, Kata slowly uncovers the truth about the Valhalla Boys home after being passed over for advancement and dealing with problems with her kid. The case gradually strengthens with the help of Hakon and Arnar as the victims begin speaking out in a live television interview with a journalist named Selma, who claims that the two victims approached her of their own volition, ready to divulge dark secrets about the residence.
The media never stops digging for information, publishing the potential suspect in their newspaper, and starting a brand-new chain of events that puts Arnar and Kata’s lives in risk. Arnar and Kata come under intense investigation from their respective police departments at the same time as an innocent, paranoid parent of a kid who had gone missing commits suicide. Arnar is asked to leave, and Kata is given counselling and time off. No arrests were made as a result of these accusations, and the killer of the staff members at The Valhalla Boys Home was never truly discovered.
When we immerse ourselves in this specific gloomy nook of Iceland, director Thordur Palsson transports us through many character universes. He approaches this with sympathy while tempering it with a cold tone that reflects Iceland’s lack of exposure to sunshine. The series’ blue colours go well with the frigid characters and theme. This terrifying tale demonstrates how just because something is hidden from view does not mean it never happened. However, circumstantial evidence starts to mount and eventually results in the identification of the true offender.
The Valhalla Murders Ending Explained
Things start to change after Tomas’ skeletal remains are discovered. All the pieces come together at once to force the probe to its just conclusion. The room where the children were tortured is found by Hakon, the police chief of Borgarnes, and as the evidence begins to emerge, the reality begins to take shape. Blood samples are taken and tested for evidence, which reveals additional information that ultimately reveals that P tur Alfre sson, the State Prosecutor who filed the report and generously bought Magnus’ silence (who was not Petur s accomplice), was the mastermind behind the raping and torturing of these children.
When Kata learns out Petur is the main offender, she has a wound on her arm that is the same as what the boys had when they were tortured. The authorities are led to believe they have a monster power over people by such obvious signs of power, although being fully aware of their own illegal objectives, which are accepted by any court of law.
While many people want justice to be served for such incidents, the youngsters who came forward to share their stories reportedly received monetary compensation as there was no murder or loss of life. Although Tommi’s father, who was devastated by the news of his son’s verified death after the youngster was missing for 30 years, was suspected of being the killer who killed the staff members working at the Valhalla boys home, the killer of whom was never found. We only continually see the system’s ugly face across the course of our lives since it appears like some powers can never be turned.
In Conclusion
The brilliant interpretation of this true incident by director Thordur Palsson paints a vivid picture of what a policeman’s intuition can accomplish in any circumstance, no matter how little. If the right questions are asked, all that is still hidden can be uncovered and revealed. Those seeking a dark, intriguing tale with tension and thrills should read this story because it is so masterfully written. Palsson’s artistic rendering is compassionately balanced while remaining truthful to the victim’s experience.
Thordur Palsson is the author of the 2019 crime thriller television series The Valhalla Murders. Netflix offers a streaming version.
