#but he and aethelstan felt so young in the movie

[chaoticdumbassary]

Seven Kings Must Die + Onion and Reductress Headlines 

7KMD Trailer & Promotional Materials + Headlines

[destinyisall-tlk]

seven kings must die (personal thoughts/opinions)

i finally watched the movie and here are some of the thoughts i had about it. this will not be spoiler free. so if you haven't watched the movie and plan to, then read this after if you wish:

first and foremost, it wasn't a bad movie. i would give it an average rating of C+. there were a few things that could have been done better, and some of the pacing throughout the movie felt a bit off. i did find the first half of the movie a bit slow, but during the last part it did pick up and find its footing. that said, there are still a few questions i have, and a few things i wish weren't either rushed or explained more.

firstly, i am confused about the timeline and what the gap is between S5 and seven kings because i don't recall them mentioning how many years had passed. quite a few must have because osbert looked older. and i remember aethelstan saying he was sorry for his behaviour the past year, but surely it hadn't only been a year since the end of S5 to the start of the movie?

now onto aethelstan. obviously, he was being emotionally manipulated by ingilmundr and that was made clear. there are a few questions i had, like how long was the manipulation going on for? when did aethelstan leave bebbanbuurg and how did ingilmundr end up in his service (it could have been mentioned and i missed it). i feel like the most simple questions help paint a clearer picture, and those questions may not matter to other people, but i would of liked to have known more. and because some things weren't explained, it made the movie feel rushed. but i did like in the end how aethelstan realized he was wrong (although he could of done so earlier and not had aldhelm killed...), and went to correct his mistakes, and showed guilt for his actions.

onto the dane villain/leader - anlaf - he felt very lackluster to me. but then again, being another dane from iralnd coming to conquer is a hard path to follow after sigtryggr (just saying). i just didn't find him as a convincing threat. and felt he could have been stronger in terms of portrayal and character depth. which is why it probably would have been better as a season format than a movie.

moving to the character deaths. the saddest one by far was aldhelm. he truly did not deserve a death like that. and i felt it was more for shock value then to further the story, because afterwards nothing really happened. uhtred, finan and sihtric were shocked, but that's it. i'm not even sure if father pyrlig knew of his death, there was no mention of it. i just hated how he died and the reason why he did, but at least his with aethelflaed. ingirth's death, again, felt meh. i wasn't sad that she died, i had no emotional connection towards her character, so it wasn't upsetting for me. but i was sad for finan that he lost his wife, the part where he screamed out was heartbreaking. overall, her death felt like they needed to fill the movie death quota so they just picked ingirth.

the decision to have finan narrate was interesting, i enjoyed it. whether you think uhtred went to valhalla or he stayed and died years later at bebbanburg is something for the fans to decide, and adding the small touch of finan narrating aligns well with how the movie ended. speaking of the ending, it was bittersweet. i wasn't expecting them to show valhalla. what would have made it even better is if we saw more of the characters that had died throughout the show, that would have been such a special moment. to see young ragnar, sigtryggr, bloodhair, etc. the emotional impact could have been bigger if there were more characters. but i understand if scheduling was an issue and they couldn't get them. speaking of scheduling, i assume that is the reason why they changed the character who played edgaiu in season 5? it took me half of the movie to realize it was her and edward didn't re-marry...it's a shame because i did like the actress who played her in S5, but what can you do.

out of all the new characters, osbert was my favourite one. his screen time was here and there, but i loved him. clearly, him and uhtred get along well. but the inner part of me that loves to know more details wonders if they ever talked about how uhtred basically abandoned him in S3. and i was waiting for someone to mention hild, i would have thought either uhtred or osbert would have, purely because hild was the one who looked after osbert when he was young, or at least checked in on him from time to time. but no mention of hild which is incredibly disappointing.

which leads me to talk about the absence of some other characters - eadith, stiorra and aelswith (i know with eliza it was scheduling issues). regardless, if you think they would have contributed much to the movie in terms of story, it still would have been nice to get a mention. especially, stiorra. clearly she isn't bebbanburg, so where did she go? is she with another dane clan? is she with her brother? did she go to irland?. same with eadith and aelswith, where did they go?. eadith could have gone back to frankia. aelswith at the end of S5 said she wanted to stay at bebbanburg. but because there isn't any confirmation it leaves a bad taste for me. because you want to know (or at least, i do) where these characters are. it didn't even have to be a whole speech, just a sentence or two about where they are. it leaves blanks, and i don't like blanks that could have been easily explained.

overall, it is sad that we aren't getting any more new last kingdom content (unless there are spin-offs). it was a good movie to end an amazing show. do i think a season 6 would have been better, yes. but at the end of the day, i am just super glad they didn't ruin the show with this movie (looking at you teen wolf).

all i can say is goodbye to the last kingdom. i am so glad i found this little gem of a show on netflix. it has become one of my favourites. so thank you for delivering iconic characters, beautiful storylines/scenery and epic battle scenes.

destiny is all. ⚔️

[wexpyke]

watched seven kings must die tonight. don’t have a lot of thoughts tbh. it was a movie.

i like aethelstan, i thought his relationship with ingilmundr was interesting, but i wish they hadn’t made him the only reason aethelstan committed atrocities. i still don’t care about uhtred but seeing brida and ragnar in valhalla was nice. i like osbert. i hope young uhtred is happy in rome.

i’m sad about aldhelm. my bf and i both yelled when he was led into that field… i’m sad about ingrith too, it felt a bit random. also, what happened to sihtric’s entire family? lol.

sihtric and finan looked great though, so that was a plus.

other than that?? it was a movie !

[iamnotathornbird]

thoughts on seven kings must die... spoilers below the cut.

okay, so obviously the gif isn't from seven kings must die, but idgaf. this isn't like, a well thought out essay, these are random thoughts after i ~finally~ had a chance to watch the movie last night.

uhtred looked like he had gray hair when we first saw him for like, a minute, and then once the sides were shaved and it was put up, he just looked like regular ol' (as in, not old) uhtred. i was a little bit disappointed that they didn't make a little bit more effort to make the character look like, what... 15 years older? 20? if edmund was a teenager/young adult. his hair didn't look gray again until the last five minutes.

i really missed lady aeslwith. and also, in no particular order, hild, eadith, stiorra, uhtred uhtredson, and the OG actress that played queen eadgifu.

did not like how they teased osbert's character at the end of season five/the series finale, and then the character was on screen for like, idk, two minutes. i want to know wtf happened, why he was with hild, and why uhtred decided to take him back!

again, missed hild.

season five was my least favorite, and this movie felt a lot like season five, where... it almost felt like a music video, but instead of a clip after clip, it's a two minute scene with one line of dialogue, then on to the next scene with another line, and so on and so on.

like, i did not give AF that ingrith died. and i like finan! but why would i care that he lost his wife when the character was on screen for like 30 seconds, and when she died, they didn't even show the actress dead. like, finan could have been carrying a dummy out of the cave.

i DID give a fuck that aldhelm was hung. did not like that.

there's never enough finan or sihtric, but it's always been like that.

i realized why i liked the earlier seasons so much, and not so much the later ones, and it's because once king alfred died, the whole dynamic of the show changed, and there wasn't like, a love/hate relationship between alfred and uhtred anymore. and finan's (cheesy) voice over at the end reminded me of all the times alfred would threaten uhtred or tell him that his victories wouldn't be recorded in history, that they would be known as victories under alfred...

also the ending was cheesy AF. like, he had a mortal wound? but suddenly felt okay enough to get up and swear his loyalty to king aethelstan? but then he turns around and he's hallucinating? or dying and seeing valhalla? without a sword in his hands? and even though he was struck down on the battlefield with his sword, his friends would put him in bed and take the sword away from him? knowing HOW important that would have been to uhtred? da fuq?

[lilac-winters]

Ranking ‘The Last Kingdom’ season 5 deaths by how surprised I was

Let me be clear. I loved season five, and thought it was a fitting ending (I’m buzzing for the movie though!) This is not a ranking of my favorite characters, but simply a ranking of how much I sat staring at my laptop screen in sheer horror. 

Major, major, major spoilers below the cut. Seriously, do not press read more unless you want spoilers, and if you do press read more and are spoiled, don’t go blaming me!

10 - Aethelflaed

My girl was a goner as soon as she was stiff after riding. I knew it as soon as she winced that she would not live out the season. Didn’t make it any easier though.  Plus, the IRL Aethelflaed dies at the height of her power, so honestly it was not shocking at all. That being said, I missed her when she was gone. That scene where Aelswith begs Uhtred not to say anything because she wants to continue praying for her recovery broke my heart.

9 - Aethelhelm

Out of favour with Edward, poisoner of Aelswith in season 4, he was not going to live out the season. I always figured he would run somewhere after a scheme went bad, and lo and behold he did. I was not expecting him to kill himself though. That was a big shocker. I though Uhtred or Edward or even Aethelstan would strike the killing blow, but I think it was fitting for him to die the way he did.

8 - Brida

This was always a case of when, not if. I’ve always had a soft spot for Brida, and while I soured on her a little bit when she castrated Young Uhtred, I always loved her character. She went through the same shit as Uhtred, perhaps even worse in some cases. She loses a child (x2), suffers slavery, loses Ragnar and is betrayed by the man that she loved/cared for, and yet her revenge is ignored, while Uhtred is basically idealized for his need for vengeance. I think the only issue was she took her revenge on the wrong people to inflict maximum damage. I respect it, but also it was probably the wrong way to go. I was surprised it wasn’t Uhtred killing her though, and it was nice to see them reconcile before she died.

7 - Wihtgar

Like Brida, he was never going to survive the final season. He was a cracking villain though, and ruthless. And, he wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, even though he wasn’t a fighter. But, in the fortress of Bebbanburg was a fitting way for him to go, killed by family just like he killed his father.

6 - Sigtryggr

He died to further Stiorra’s narrative, which I totally respect. That being said, I liked Sigtryggr, he was a solid character and I really felt for them both when they were captives. He was too kind to his brother though. I know the whole blood thing and I know he felt guilty, but I think Stiorra and her family are prime examples for family not meaning blood. Look at Uhtred and Gisela, both of whom were treated poorly by their blood. I felt like he was a dead man walking as soon as conflict arose between the saxons and danes though, but it was nice he died at the end of Uhtred’s sword, and to be honest I’m just happy that it wasn’t Stiorra who died.

5 - Bresal

I was desperately hoping that he would meet a grisly fate, but I was not quite sure. Aelswith was an absolute champ when she stabbed him and I was thrilled that she now has a kill count. Credit to him for causing as much trouble as he did. Aethelhem was a good manipulator, but a villain is only as good as their henchmen and Bresal was the best around.

4 - Aelflead

I mean, ouch. Obviously, I knew that she would either be set aside (forced into a nunnery) or die when Eadgifu popped up, but the way she went was certainly a shock. I liked Aelflead, and I know everybody hates Edward, but they were both in a shit spot. He would compare her to his first wife, and she was probably constantly aware that her duty was to have kids, and that she was second choice. Factor in her father, and the increasing divide between the two of them and friction with Aethelhelm, I think that both of them were just two people in a terrible relationship that couldn’t end it. That being said, I’m not excusing how much shit Edward put her through. But I’m also not excusing the shit she put other people through, eg. wanting Aethelstan dead, and even calling him the first born when Winchester was taken in season 4 so that he would be the one to die.

3 - Vibeke

Oh I felt for her and Brida. I wasn’t expecting it, but when she climbed up to the top of the building, I knew it would end one of two ways. She would die, or become Uhtred’s hostage, and unfortunately she died. Child death has never been shied away from in ‘The Last Kingdom’, but this one was rough.

2 - Osferth

Highly controversial, but yes, the baby monk is second and not first. He broke my heart, but looking back I’m not actually that shocked. One of the Coccham/Rumcofa squad was bound to die soon. Plus, Ewan Mitchell has been very busy lately, and he wasn’t in as much of the trailer as I expected him to be. In hindsight it makes sense, but in the moment, I was sure that he would survive... and then he didn’t. I even thought when finan pressed his chest before his breakdown he would magically survive.

1 - Haesten

Haesten, Haesten, Haesten. The slimiest, trickiest of them all. He has faced death at least once or twice a season and always managed to get away, and thus I was positive he would weasel his way out of his impending doom somehow. But credit to him, for all his flaws he stuck to his guns, and honestly I was dead shocked when he died. RIP gossip dane, you slippery bitch.

Honorable mention to Wolland and Hella, who were also fucked from the get go. And the Mercian Ealdorman, who did give me a start when that little massacre started.

Lots of massacres this season.

Also special mention to Eadith, when I accidentally hovered over the thumbnail of the scene when Bresal is killed by Aelswith and all the blood is on her and I thought that she had been killed. That would have been number one if she had died. Got to say, that was a relief when she made it out alive.

[solarlotus]

The Last Kingdom S5 thoughts

Spoilers below the cut

So, just wow! I thought S4 was the weakest season so tried not to get my hopes up for S5, but it was amazing, best season since S1 imho. Things I loved:

- Uhtred! My main man on form, full range of emotions, he was and is the best.

- Brida and her story, her end broke my heart and Uhtred and Brida are now my otp, I feel a fix it fic coming. She meant so much to him, all that he had left from his childhood. Poor Uhtred (PU)

- Finan and his wife were sweet, some lovely Finan and Uhtred moments too. Finan and Ingrith would have lived happily with Uhtred and Brida, Finan always liked Brida

- Aelswith was bloody brilliant, Eliza so versatile and I really enjoyed her being comic relief, but still retaining her venom and phenomenal screen presence.

- Aethelstan was a pleasant surprise, decent actor

- The Scots! Having a weakness for a Scottish accent myself I was very into Constantine and hope we see a lot more of him in the movie

- Edward was well done, what a dick, but he is becoming his father’s son, just a lot less smart

- Pyrlig and Brida

- Rongvaldr was brilliant, I really enjoyed his character, I hope we see him again.

- Cheered when Haesten showed up, he is such a great character and was kind of pleased he got a good end. 

- I love that Hild showed up too

- Liked Young Uhtred this season

- Aethelhelm was deliciously evil, you could tell the actor was really enjoying the part and he played him so well.

-Quite like Eidgifu, though she’s almost too wise to be true! In the books Finan later christens her lavender tits, I hope we get that in the movie

- Felt a bit sorry for Aelweard, but that haircut justifies Edwards actions alone

-Aelfwyn wasn’t as bad as I thought she’d be. I actually liked Cenlaef too

- Stirling actually looked a bit like it might be Stirling, an awesome place and castle I recommend everyone visits.

What I wasn’t keen on:

- It was well done, but I found Aethelflaed dying like that extremely hard to watch as a close family member as terminal cancer

- Brida’s child dying, since I’ve had my own children I can’t cope with that, especially because of the point above.

- Stiorra, increasingly annoyed me, better acting than last season, but still not amazing. Killed Brida ending my OTP, which I never had until that moment.

- Unpopular opinion alert, not that fussed with Sigtryggr, though the ship burial very cool and his end at Uhtred’s sword moving. 

- The Bebbanburg landscape!! OMG, we went on holiday last year there and even accounting for sand shifting over time it could not be more wrong, The sand is beautifully pale, there are no cliffs, the Farne Islands are a thing, the castle stands on a single rock and there is a STEEP hill to the gate and it would have been steeper then. It actually made me laugh. I know most of the worldwide audience won’t go there, but it’s a famous castle they could have made a little more effort.

-Uhtred in Bebbanburg was brilliant and I loved how he just dismissed Witgar’s babbling about cursed family.

- Utterly delighted they remembered baby Osbert, I joked that the end would be Uhtred getting Bebbanburg then going ‘oh shit, I just remembered I have another son in Wessex’ And it kind of was

- the last scene was perfect, I loved Uhtred’s flashbacks to those key moments

What I want from the movie:

- Uhtred to find true love, hopefully they’ll keep the Benedetta character from the books

- Finan and Uhtred soft moments

- Brida’s ghost, Leofric style

- Dead Ed

- More Scots, lots and lots more, preferably ruggedly handsome

- Some ruggedly handsome Danes