The Last Kingdom TV Series (2015-2022) and The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die (2023)

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.

The Last Kingdom - Seasons 1-3

The Last Kingdom is a Netflix show I found randomly searching Netflix some time back.  I really enjoy this show.  I'm a fan of the Vikings visuals in movies and TV so I took a flyer.  I've finished the three seasons that are out and I hooked.  The fourth season is due to be out next year.  The season two trailer is here to give you a look into the show.  I look at the main character Uhtred as comparable to Jax Teller from Sons of Anarchy.  A cool character easy to like.  This one is just set hundreds of years earlier and instead of motorcycles we have horses.

Uhtred was the Saxon son of the ruler of Bebbanburg, one of seven English kingdoms.  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 Bebbanburg and reclaim his kingdom which has taken over by the "evil Uncle" who doesn't want to give up his seat in power.  Uhtred becomes a great warrior whose road back to Bebbanburg takes many many twists and turns.  He also has family amongst the Danes which lead to some of the complications that follow his life. 

  The Danes who have invaded England while barbaric are also shown as peoples who have the same political infighting and issues any other nation would have.    

King Alfred is at the center of much of what happens throughout the series.  His wish is to have England's kingdoms united under one king for the good of his country.  He is dedicated to this principle as well as his faith in God which is tested by Uhtred at every turn.  Their relationship is complicated to say the least.

  There are plenty of characters on both sides to love and hate but they are really good.  And it is easy to even like the "bad guys" with how they are portrayed.  Some are just cool or shown as just people who are also complicated no matter which side they fight on.  There are all the common plot drivers to include love, betrayal, behind the scenes dealings and other intrigue.  Everyone has their own motives which help drive the show.  I highly recommend this show.  There are plenty of twists and turns to keep you wanting to know what happens next and the characters are done well.  If gore isn't your thing you may want to pass.  Battles and death are not glossed over here.