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gamer2002 · 11 months

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The Last Kingdom – Review2002

The Last Kingdom is a historical British TV show that ran from 2015 to 2022 and has concluded in 2023 with a movie Seven Kings Must Die. It can be considered the BBC/Netflix’s answer to The Game of Thrones – HBO’s cultural phenomenon that has disappointed us all. Both shows are adaptations of a book series, with The Last Kingdom being an adaptation of Saxon Stories by Bernard Cornwell. Both shows are dramas that focus on the brutality of medieval times, their wars, and politics, although The Last Kingdom is not a fantasy show. It does have characters believing in the supernatural, and it has events that are believed by the characters to be caused by a supernatural, but all those events can be explained rationally.

Admittedly, The Last Kingdom does not have GoT’s budget. The entire first season cost 10 million dollars, which was the budget of a single episode of GoT’s last season. And the first season does have some cheap moments, like the spear throw from its last battle, or the repetition of a mysterious hooded figure. And yet, the show manages to improve and retain a consistent level of quality, without losing its steam like GoT did. In some areas the series was better written and has handled the depiction of the dark age’s brutality and character drama in a much smarter way.

The story takes place during the IX/X century’s Britain, and it focuses on a semi-fictional Uhtred – a Saxon heir who at a young age has been kidnapped and raised by invading Danes. Due to inner conflict between Danes, Uhtred’s adoptive family gets murdered and Uhtred must find his place in the world where Saxons take him for a Dane and Danes take him for a Saxon. All while his personal goal remains to reclaim his stolen heritage in the form of the castle Bebbanburg. Fate leads Uhtred to Wessex, the titular last Saxon kingdom in Britain, where his destiny becomes tied with Wessex’s historical king Alfred and his family.

Uhtred is certainly a good lead character. While he is a barbarian warrior, he does employ deception and strategy during fights and battles. While he is a clever tactician who often fools his enemies, he is still a man of honor who stays true to his word. He is a strong lead, who has flaws in the form of his prideful and angry tendencies, and he still grows and develops through the series. After all, the story spans multiple decades. Still, it is a bit silly that Uhtred stops aging at his early 40s at most, though even GoT doesn’t even age up all characters in the House of Dragon.

What I want to focus on in my review are the areas where the Last Kingdom has stronger writing than the Game of Thrones. During it, I will be more openly spoiling GoT, due to its being a known and abandoned series.

Establishing interesting bonds

The Game of Thrones was essentially Stark’s show, as the story was about them losing the head of their family and getting scattered while losing further members – until the survivors’ reunion. And while Starks were a functional point of view characters, they never were the most interesting characters of their show. Part of it comes from Starks being simpler characters than others, due to their noble and straightforward nature. And while they do change, a lot of interesting things about them still get dropped or played out in a boring way in the final season. Arya doesn’t get to use her face-changing ability, Bran is boring, Sansa doesn’t get much to do with her skillset, and John just simps.

But the other issue with Starks is that their bond is underdeveloped, due to the core idea behind the plot. Only at the start of the series, we can see them all together and their character dynamic. But then, one by one, they leave or get killed off. I honestly don’t remember John’s initial relationship with Sansa or Rickon. There is a reason why Lannisters had to carry the show - the most interesting Stark relationships were Sansa-Arya, John-Rob, and John-Catelyn because those had some conflict (even if John-Rob is a stretch and just boils down to Rob being the perfect son and John angsting over being a bastard). And those relationships don’t get a proper closure. Rob and Catelyn get killed off before John meets them again. As for Sansa and Arya, it was the best Stark relationship, but it is still disappointing due to Arya stopping being a terrifying face switcher.

The Last Kingdom is a show that centers on Uhtred and his bonds with three families – King Alfred’s family, the leftovers of Uhtred’s Danish family, and the family that Uhtred forms through the series. The initial primary characters are Uhtred, King Alfred, and the link between them in the form of Father Beocca – a priest who has served Uhtred’s original Saxon family, when he was a kid, and then became Alfred’s confessor and advisor. And this initial trio does have interesting relationships between them. Beocca is attached to Uhtred, but they disagree on the subject of faith, with Beocca being a devout Christian while Uhtred embracing Norse paganism. Beocca admires Alfred and shares with him one faith, but Alfred is a pragmatic and skeptical politician who doesn’t share Beocca’s optimism. While Uhtred and Alfred mutually try to use one another and barely can stand one another.

This is just the beginning of the series with its initial characters (and not even all of them, like the risen alongside Uhtred into a Dane Saxon woman Brida). The story spans decades, with Uhtred and Alfred expanding their families and circle of allies as the story progresses. And those characters have different beliefs and goals, which causes conflict between them. In time, their shared experiences allow them to form bonds between them, despite their differences. Or not, because not every friend must remain a one.

In short, it is like a Game of Thrones, minus the most boring characters. Uhtred is a man aware of his setting, with self-serving goals, but he still has his noble qualities. This is why watching him is more interesting than watching Starks, because you rather quickly realize that Starks were artificially written in ignorance about their own world, so they could be shocked alongside a viewer who has expected Lord of the Rings. But that trick gets old rather quickly, while Starks never really learn to not be stupid. Uhtred and even Alfred still can be stupid in their way, but it comes out as a logical conclusion of their character flaws mixed with testing them difficult situations.

Respecting the weight of the death

Both shows are unafraid of killing their characters, often in a shocking manner. The death of Ned Stark, one of GoT’s leading characters, was one of the elements that made his show stand out. The shock value of killing characters and other shock values was definitely the fundamental aspect of the Game’s identity. And the Kingdom is not afraid of providing its shock value. There are rapes, gore, and gruesome death scenes. Characters die, during battle, executed, burned alive, decapitated, murdered, or from illness. But the thing that struck me the most was that The Last Kingdom, unlike GoT, quite often didn’t let the tragedy of its deaths be wasted on just its shock value.

Recall the most infamous killings of the positive characters from GoT. What do they often have in common? When did they happen, during their episodes? The death of Ned Stark, the Red Wedding, and such – those events have happened at the end, as a shocking cliffhanger. If not, the death happened during an ongoing battle, or when there was some other important plot-related sequence of events going on. Pretty much, there never was a significant amount of time for characters to mourn the deceased, before the episode of their death has concluded and the event has lost its fresh impact.

While the Last Kingdom does have its share of similar, abrupt shocking deaths at the end of its episodes, there are also significant character deaths that are played out as a genuine tragedy. The events in the show are arranged in such a way that such deaths happen either at the beginning or in the middle of its episode, so the tied to the deceased characters are given an occasion to be seen grieving during such tragedies while they’re still fresh. This is why I find Kingdom’s important deaths to be more impactful and memorable than the ones in the Game – they are not just here to shock, but also to deeply sadden.

Realism in place of a forced deconstruction

George R.R. Martin has famously asked what kind of taxes were collected by Aragorn, and his book series was written to deconstruct Tolkien’s idea of a good and just king. Putting aside that Martin has missed the point of Lord of the Rings (it is an in-universe book written by Bilbo/Frodo/Sam, and not even the original version, but Gondor’s re-edition), his core idea drove him into a corner from which he yet has to emerge. Ned being honorable, instead of realistic, has cost him his life and led to a war spanning across the entire continent. The problem is that if John Snow is going to fix his father’s mistake and contribute to the Night King’s defeat, it will be due to John being recognized as trustworthy by his allies. And if John Snow fails and the Night King/Lannisters/whoever wins, then Martin will go too far due to Aragorn being based on successful kings like King Alfred and King Aethelstan. Maybe Martin will satisfyingly make his point, but until he finishes his series, he has made no point so far.

As I’ve said, the Last Kingdom also tackles the subject of Aragorn-esque kings, due to having the historical kings he was based on as primary characters, including Alfred’s son and Aethelstan’s father King Edward. There are historical buffs who particularly criticize Last Kingdom for its portrait of the legendary king Edward as pretty much a failure to live up to his father who got lucky and had competent people around him.

But Last Kingdom isn’t about retelling the actual history of England, it is about telling the tale of Uhtred that is inspired by the history. Edward had to be less competent than historically, so the more experienced Uhtred from later seasons wouldn’t have another Alfred to support him. Not to mention, one of the themes of the story is exploring the reasons behind the successes and failures of various kings and leaders. Even Alfred, at least once per season, had endangered his kingdom and needed others to independently fix the mess. Even Edward had his moments where he was the right man at the right time.

The point that the Last Kingdom makes is that the kings were mortal men who lived and died by their allies and followers. Uhtred’s father was a pragmatic and formidable king, but his close allies have doomed him by their incompetence. Alfred has gained the title of the Great for a reason, but even he wouldn’t accomplish nearly as much without Uhtred and others around him. The historical fact is that Europe has emerged from the Dark Ages, under the leadership of historically known men. Perhaps, those men weren’t as great as has been written by the winners. Perhaps, there were quite a few exaggerations of their accomplishments. Perhaps, there are a lot of uncredited accomplishments of those who have been forgotten by history.

But still, those kings and leaders wouldn’t be victorious over unable to create stable civilization chaos for no reason whatsoever. Like Lord of the Rings, the Game of Thrones is based on the history of Britain, which eventually has united into one formidable kingdom. The vision of King Alfred the Great has been fulfilled, even if he didn’t live to see it himself. But his vision has been fulfilled by those who were inspired and loyal to it, even if they ended up with luck on their side. Or, perhaps, with God on their side.

Vikings believed in Ragnarök and the inevitable fall of civilization. It was an excuse of barbarians sticking to their incapability with any civilization customs and values. But civilization has ultimately prevailed, eventually bringing us unprecedented prosperity in the history of this planet. Was it the Providence? Either way, the theory of evolution states that the better-fit ideas and attributes prevail.

It is unknown how the Game of Thrones’ author is going to resolve his story’s conflicts. Still, in his clear and misguided pursuit of criticizing Tolkien for his overly idealistic portrait of kings, he has to prove he will satisfy his readers without just going into the opposite extreme. Meanwhile, Last Kingdom does show that the kings that inspired Aragorn weren’t perfect like him, but they and the people around them needed to have specific noble qualities that allowed them for their historical accomplishments.

Sticking the landing

Game of Thrones had unfortunately a disappointing final season. The ending was rushed, with the final conflict, despite being a good idea on the paper, being caused and finished too soon. The ending to the series was a fine Lord of the Rings-eqsue ending, which was not the ending for a series whose point was to subvert the Lord of the Rings. The series was supposed to be a mix of Sauron-esque threats to humanity with medieval brutality and politics, and there was no proper resolution to that mix. Either Night King should have won, due to Cersei not wanting to join the fight against him, or Cersei should have won, due to not losing her forces on stopping the Night King. Or, at the very least, not being able to defeat both should be a clear reason behind Daenerys being forced to become the biggest monster and doing the unthinkable. Instead, the fantasy threat and brutal real-politics became ultimately disconnected, while Daenerys flips the table without a sufficient built-up. And then she dies, because we need to wrap up the story within one last episode.

Last Kingdom has two endings – the first is the season 5 finale, and the second one is the movie Seven Kings Must Die. Admittedly, the adapting three books movie does suffer from being rushed. It writes out of story major characters, like two out of four Uhtred’s children. Still, despite, the rush of the movie, the story is properly concluded. The series is about Uhtred’s journey, the shared or broken bonds due to differences, the importance of clever ploys during battles, the creation of a united England, and the inner conflict due to belonging to two different worlds. Both the series and the movie conclude all that in a satisfactional way. The movie villains, despite lacking screen time, are properly established as the last greatest threat. The result of the conflict with them comes from a clever idea that is also delivered dramatically. And the final scene is simply a beautiful conclusion that focuses on Uhtred’s prime dilemma.

I rate the show 8/10, while I rate GoT 7/10. GoT was worth watching when it was airing. It is still an important show that has contributed to the creation of such shows as the Last Kingdom. It is still one of the most spectacular TV series. But it couldn’t finish properly, to the point of going against its mission of subverting expectations about medieval fantasy. The Last Kingdom doesn’t have GoT’s budget, and the final movie should have been a proper season. But its execution is simply stellar, the main character is constantly compelling, and it allows us to learn something from actual history. And, despite the rush, it has a solid ending it has been built up.

Now, there is one thing about the movie I want to discuss, but it is a major spoiler territory. So, read the next part while being warned.

SPOILER SECTION

Making gay characters work

Let’s make one thing clear first - making Aethelstan a homosexual is typical LGBT community’s obsession with making historical figures gay or bi whenever such a claim is just marginally possible. While historically Aethelstan never did marry and had no children, which can be explained by him being gay, it can be also explained by him being simply an asexual or sterile. But of course, the LGBT community, in its hypocrisy, is free to assume somebody’s else sexuality, is free to claim that straight people aren’t that straight, but God forbid you deny their gayness.

That being said. I can find changes to historical figures acceptable when the story is just inspired by history (Uhtred is a fictional character based on a historical Uhtred, who has lived later and is his supposed descendant). And when it does serve the story. Making Aethelstan gay isn’t a bigger historical revisionism than making Edward incompetent.

In season 4, Aethelstan was a straight-up messianic child. In season 5, he was a straight-up teenage Aragorn. While he was destined to unite England, his perfection didn’t fit well with the rest of the series. After all, the Last Kingdom is about demonstrating that historical figures can also fail. Even Alfred had his flaws, but Aethelstan spent two seasons being the godsent future king. The movie makes up for it, by making him spend 4/5 of it as a straight-up antagonist who was manipulated by the villains the entire time, to the point of him killing one the most sympathetic characters in the series. The divide between him and Uhtred is one of the biggest accomplishments of the movie’s villains, something that none of the others has done.

The other reason why I like the movie’s writing of gay characters is that it isn’t afraid to make them straight-out evil. I never thought that Netflix would be so based and redpilled that it would depict unrestrained gayness as the reason for the death of the most loyal and patriotic man who has walked on Britain. Joking aside, Aethelstan does abhorrent things, and while manipulating him and others Ingilmundr is irredeemable. The movie shows that gay people can be groomers and family wreckers, or be so susceptible to such manipulations that will turn against their family members regardless of them being supportive of their homosexuality.

In other diversity titles, to have LGBT be represented by anything but perfectly positive characters is unheard of. But they being manipulative with their sexuality, or even just plain wrong about their accusations of not being accepted by their family members? Such elements, which do happen in regular straight relationships as well, cannot exist in writing about the holy gay cows! And yet, the movie is unafraid to go there. And for that, its writing of gay characters, even if it is a bit shoehorned, has my respect.

Maybe more authors should take notes. Write people as people.

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