The Last Kingdom: Today I'll provide some brief thoughts on the series as well as the follow-up movie Seven Kings Must Die. I enjoyed the heck out of the series. The characters, drama, battles, visuals. It all worked for me. Recap: Uhtred's father is killed during battle when he is a young boy and taken by the Viking Danes. From there he is raised as a Dane until, as a young man he finds himself forced to return to the Saxons. As a born Saxon raised a Dane, he is cautiously trusted, but his knowledge of the Danes becomes key in his ability to help the Saxons during battle. Uhtred's overall goal is to get back to his home of Bebbanburg and reclaim his kingdom
The series and movie are a long winding road. There are continuous battles between Saxon and Dane as well as infighting that drives most of the intrigue. There are plenty of great supporting characters helping Uhtred along the way that help makes this a good watch.
Brida who, like Uhtred, is a Saxon raised a Dane. She aligns with the Danes putting her in constant conflict with Uhtred and the Saxons throughout the series. She was also a love interest early on and someone who always holds a special place in Uhtred's heart. Very strong character who I liked.
The latter seasons see Uhtreds children play a bigger part in the series including his daughter Stiorra who marries Dane Viking warlord Sigtryggr. While this causes issues with Uhtred and the king, Sigtryggr becomes more of an anti-hero over time as opposed to a full-on antagonist. Both characters and actors are really good and added a lot to the storyline.
King Aethelred carries on the leadership of what will be England. As always there is plenty of drama in doing so. I liked the character and how he was portrayed. This is the King and Queen mother, played by Eliza Butterworth who did a great job. The link for my post on Seasons 1-3 of The Last Kingdom is here. Yes, that was 2019 and I'm finally finishing up the final two seasons. I primarily watched this while travelling for work but that has really slowed down.
Lots going on in this series and the movie and there's no way I can do it justice. The bottom line is I liked both. The first half of the movie did give me pause but it finished strong. If this era is something you like, you'll like this one. I think I want to watch Vikings next. Hopefully it doesn't take me near as long but life and all the different things out there to watch take up a lot of time.
I watched the first few seasons, but didn't finish it. It's been at least a few years since I last watched an episode. My memory is pretty bad, so I'd have to go back and watch it all over. I do remember liking Brida though... and I remember enjoying the series.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed it. Not enough to binge watch it obviously but it was a fun watch for me. Not for everyone and it takes quite an investment to watch so many seasons.
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