Netflix Series: The Last Kingdom
 

Anybody else watch this? It's kind of a wannabe Game of Thrones, but in an actual historical setting in 9th-10th century England. That time period includes the rise/reign of Alfred the Great, which coincides with full-scale invasion by Vikings. It's a mix of fictional and historical figures, with the main character being fictional. The Vikings, known in the show as the "Danes" are pretty savage. In GoT probably most comparable to House Bolton. Just finished Season 4, and sounds like Season 5 is in the works, so I can't be the only one who watched.

Would recommend for anybody who enjoys learning about history. The show could probably stand on it's own just fine if it was completely fictional, but the fact that it's not adds a lot for me. Just looking at some expert blog posts about accuracy they do take liberties to make it more Hollywood, but did not completely de-rail from what is historically known. For me watching a series on a historical period burns in the timeline and the key players, forces, and themes to memory better than just spending an hour surfing through wiki pages would. Curious what others think on this one.

Loved it. Uhtred!!!

We watched a couple seasons, maybe three. It just felt like it had run its course and we didn't feel like finishing it.

There are a couple threads about it around here, but I'm a pretty big fan.

But understand this: The historical accuracy is shaky at best. Don't believe this is what really happened. The sword is a joke, the tactics are not very accurate, The castles - nope. But that's not why fat boy tunes in. I really enjoy the show.

I dig the characters even though you'd think I wouldn't, given what I like otherwise. And they manage to keep the story interesting.

And I call people "assling" whenever possible.

I did a search for "Last Kingdom" in thread titles, and didn't find any going back to 2015. Figured it probably was buried somewhere in a megathread or offshoot of some other conversation as it is too big of a series to be completely missed.

Enjoying it really is the key, rather than expecting historical perfection. There are some interesting insights into succession of the throne and how it was really decided back then that I think is decently accurate, though. Not a strict "your oldest son gets the crown" situation.

Season 5 has finished filming and is in post-production now, probably won’t be released until early 2022. Season 5 will be the final season of The Last Kingdom. It is a great show, can’t wait for the final season.

Just binged the final season, it’s tuff to follow the names sometimes but I thought it was well done. Going to miss Uhtred of Bebbanburg, but was happy to find out that there will be a 2 hour movie that is supposed to air in 2023 on Netflix, they are already filming it so it’s not a rumor.

BTW, binge Last Kingdom 1st before watching Vikings: Valhalla

This show was absolutely great start to finish. I was really hoping against a let down like GoT, and they did a fantastic job with the whole thing. I too will miss the Arseling!

This last season had a lot of emotion for Uhtred, and Alexzander Draymon was just awesome to watch. His character has really grown since the beginning of the show. I don't want to comment too much on the last season, there are a ton of thoughts and I don't want to put spoiler tags...but suffice to say that this season does the show proud. I'm looking forward to the 2 hour movie which will wrap everything up, but honestly, it's not really needed. They did a good job ending the show. That said, I DON'T CARE, I WANT ME SOME UHTRED!!

That's next on my queue...did you watch it all? Is it related to Last Kingdom?

Solid 8.5 out of 10, filled my weird itch for GoT styled TV series. Sucks they had to stuff 3 series worth of material into one season at the end but at least we got a proper finale.

Absolutely worth a watch and the guy playing Uhtred is killer.

Indirectly when it comes to History

Valhalla is the sequel to Vikings.

Which makes sense. I never got to Vikings, was just mentioning to the wife the other day that we should look into that one, though it does have a lot of seasons, so a lot to catch up on. Do I need to watch Vikings to understand Valhalla?

Yes, if you want the full continuity. The Last Kingdom slightly overlaps with the "Vikings"narrative

There is nothing groundbreaking here, but the first part isn't a bad watch. At the end he reads famous lines as Uhtred. I laughed my ass off. If you're interested.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t96oHqoTjAQ" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

That part at the end was great! Thanks for posting.

That was fun...reminds me of a schtick I watched of Penn Badgley doing his "You" character narrating some random text...pretty funny when the voice and character are so familiar.

Um...OK. So I watched season 1 of Vikings. It was...OK...I guess. I watched the first 2 eps of season 2 and just decided I didn't give a shit about these characters. Ragnar is not some forceful well rounded character. He mostly just smiles smugly and doesn't have much to say. He's surrounded by a cast that is well acted (I suppose) but there's not much to these people either. I mean, the way Rollo swapped right at the end of season 1...then within literally 10 minutes of season 2 is defeated in battle was just...what?? Then we see Ragnar has his son with the Big Teeth broad, his first son leaves with his wife, and Rollo is a mess...then suddenly Ragnars 2nd son with Big Teeth shows up, quite literally after the commercial break...

This show is all over the place. They are not developing characters, in my opinion. They are just moving along. The Last Kingdom was such an excellent example of character arc...Vikings just...sucks...sorry. I probably would have liked it better had I not already seen TLK.

Then my wife read that Valhalla Vikings takes place 100 years after Ragnar's death, so yeah, its SORT OF a follow up to Vikings, but hell, it is more of a follow up to TLK. I'm 2 eps in and I like it so far. It's not great, but it's better than Vikings. JMO.

I don't think you need to waste your time on Vikings to watch this one...better to watch TLK to get a feel for the times the show is about.

Just finished season 4. This series is a solid thumbs up. Quality writing, acting and producing IMO.

Netflix has the conclusion of The Last Kingdom available now, it’s called “Seven Kings Must Die”.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HvaXYZJ69Ow" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

IN.

I watched two or three seasons. It’s been a few years. I liked it a lot but definitely behind I believe there’s been some new seasons since.

Picked it up again, always struggle with it as it so overlaps Vikings that it feels like almost the same show with different faces. So I've just struggled to connect with it. But I saw that the movie was released, so I figured I'd finish it before watching that.

Seven Kings Must Die is pretty goddamned satisfying.

I've never held this up as the best series ever, and especially not historically accurate, but it is enjoyable. And the movie had me sucked in as per usual.

And it has the added benefit of reminding me that I don't call enough people assling in my life.

I enjoyed Seven Kings Must Die, it would have been more satisfying if we had gotten a final season instead but at least Netflix gave us this movie. I’m surely going to miss Uhtred of Bebbanburg.

Certainly. It felt like the first part was rushed like it had been written for 8 or 10 episodes.

Eh. They got the important parts right and they spent some money on the battles.

if you're going to rush a conclusion, they did it about as well as you can. Take Note Game of Thrones.

To me Vikings was waaaaay better than Valhalla. Loved Vikings, and Last Kingdom! Didn’t like the movie that much though.