The Last Kingdom is a historical fictional show, whose third season was added to Netflix this past November. It is set in the ninth century and focuses on the conflict between the Danes and the Saxons fighting over an England that is not yet a unified country. The show follows Uhtred son of Uhtred, a.k.a. Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a.k.a. Uhtred Ragnarson, the son of a Saxon lord who is enslaved by Vikings and raised as a Dane.
The show follows Uhtred as he struggles to decide whether he is Saxon or Dane and whether he wants to fight for his Viking family or the Saxon king who dreams of a united England. His heart belongs to his home of Bebbanburg, but his sword can be sworn to only one side of the escalating conflict over who will control England.
I can’t say much more without getting into spoilers. Each episode is about 55 minutes long — and so much happens in every single one! There is brutal violence, the politics of the period, splashes of romance and an extremely interesting and compelling lead in Uhtred, the Saxon-turned-Dane who doesn’t really belong to either group but has loyalties to both.
This show is perfect for any fans of the middle ages or shows like Vikings and Game of Thrones, as long as you can live without the dragons and don’t mind a little less nudity and violence against women. According to my sources on Tumblr (based on a quick browse of the show’s tag) some people even find this show better than Vikings, History Channel’s show set in or around the same period. I have also heard this show is more historically accurate; so for all of you medieval studies students, this one might not make you quite as angry as some other “historically accurate” shows out there.
(DISCLAIMER: I might be wrong about the historical accuracy, but to be fair I’m only in my second medievalism course, so I’m by no means an expert.)
For those of you who don’t really care about the historical accuracy, you just want to see some badass warriors duking it out — trust me, this show is for you. Uhtred is an absolute badass. He is such a brutal warrior and the fight scenes in this show are crazy to watch. You also get to see the different fighting styles of the Saxons and the Danes, as well as their different belief systems and politics.
The show has some crazy fight scenes, but there are also character moments, for Uhtred and for others. As the seasons’ progress, we get to see a growing cast of strong characters, some fighting with Uhtred, others fighting against, all of whom have compelling motivations and personalities. There are some romances (including one really awesome forbidden romance!) and some extremely powerful friendships that are really cool to see on screen.
The most compelling part of this show is Uhtred’s struggle between being a Saxon and a Dane. The thing is that there is no clear good guy and no clear bad guy. There are the antagonists of each season for sure, but the show never tells you whether the Saxons or the Danes are the ones who should win England. We are supposed to feel torn between both, just like Uhtred is. And we definitely are.
My final attempts to convince you:
– Uhtred is a hunk, as are 90 per cent of the show’s characters
– The Danes are all hardcore badasses
– We have some strong warrior women who take no shit
– The theme song is really cool
– Uhtred speaks in a really interesting accent that sometimes has a funny flow to it
Alright. That’s all I have to say. Go watch it now. Enjoy.
Destiny is all.