The Last Kingdom (Season 5) review

Season 5 of The Last Kingdom will premiere on Netflix in March, and it will be the epic historical drama's last season, depicting the war for sovereignty of Britain in the 9th century.

Season four ended on a bittersweet note for Uhtred of Bebbanburg (Alexander Dreymon), as peace was brokered between the Saxons and Danes, but at the expense of his daughter Stiorra (Ruby Hartley), who offered to become the Dane leader Sigtryggr's (Eysteinn Sigurarson) companion as a guarantee of the deal. Meanwhile, Uhtred escaped death at the hands of his arch-enemy Brida (Emily Cox), but she promised that either he or she would die at her hands.

The Last Kingdom' Season 5 cast

Alexander Dreymon as Uhtred of Bebbanburg returns for Season 5, along with Emily Cox as Brida, Eliza Butterworth as Aelswith, Mark Rowley as Finan, Arnas Fedaravicius as Sihtric, Adrian Schiller as Aethelhelm, Cavan Clerkin as Pyrlig, Ruby Hartley as Stiorra, Millie Brady as Aethelflaed, Timothy Innes as King Edward, Stefanie Martini

Patrick Robinson (Casualty, Sitting In Limbo) will play Father Benedict, Harry Gilby (Tolkein) will take up the part of Aethelstan from Caspar Griffiths, Ewan Horrocks (Domina) will play Aelfweard, and Sonya Cassidy (Humans, Vera) will play Eadgifu.

'The Last Kingdom' season 5 plot

The fifth season opens at a time of hard-won peace between the Danes and the Saxons, but Uhtred is uneasy, and he can't shake the feeling that something sinister is lurking over his settlement, making him fearful for the safety of his people, especially his children.

"In the first season, Uhtred came off as someone who had his blinders on and was simply out for himself," recalls Alexander Dreymon. "Season five revolves around him putting out flames left and right, attempting to safeguard his children and the people he cares about. I'm delighted to have had the opportunity to play a character with such a human arc."

Uhtred prepares his warriors for an imminent onslaught, fearful that Brida would follow through on her vow to return and destroy him. However, Brida has other ideas, and she has set her eyes on Eoferwic (modern-day York), where Stiorra and Sigtryggr are. As Sigtryggr's evil side develops, tensions between Danes and Saxons threaten to escalate, and Uhtred finds himself urgently attempting to avoid a full-fledged war, the implications will be felt throughout the season...

Is there going to be a sixth season of 'The Last Kingdom'?

No, not at all. Season 5 will be the show's final season, according to Netflix, although there will be a follow-up feature film called Seven Kings Must Die, which will conclude Uhtred's saga. Although no release date has been established, the film is presently filming in Hungary, as seen by an unique on-set video shared on the show's official Twitter account...

BONUS INFO

The Last Kingdom season 5, episode 1 recap

Outside of the opening image and a final scenario in which she rides triumphantly into York with a posse of enraged men, their faces metaphorically painted in white and their weapons slamming into anyone happens to be around, Brida is rarely visible. But her presence is felt throughout the episode, particularly in Runcorn, on the border between Mercia and Northumbria, where Uhtred is attempting to maintain an uneasy peace by repelling raiders, promoting trade, and raising Aeathelstan in a cautious manner. Aethelstan has reached that uncomfortable age when he believes he is an adult yet is still a child, and he wants to go fight to prove that he is more than the b*****d youngster that everyone mocks him for being. Uhtred would be pleased.

One gets the idea that he won't have much of a say in the matter. Aethelstan is ambushed during a Blood Month hunt by three men we later discover are in the pay of Aethelhelm, whose plotting with Aeflaed continues apace in King Edward's court, despite the monarch's clear mistrust and loathing of him. Aethelstan, who repels and kills two of the invaders, appears to be far more capable of succeeding to the throne of Wessex than Aethelhelm's grandson Aelfweard, a lame lad with a bad haircut, but try telling that to Grandpa.

For the time being, the manner this intersects with Brida's campaign is primarily in discussion. They're two independent plotlines that will inevitably get connected as time goes on, because everyone who is important in one is also important in the other. Uhtred, for example, is largely dismissive of Rognvaldr and the Danes' threat, believing that reports of Rognvaldr's sea conquests are exaggerated, but in York, we see Rognvaldr ingratiate himself with Sigtryggr by playing up his self-pitying alcoholism in order to request safe passage for "some of his people" who have been unfairly accused of raiding. Despite Stiorra's concerns, Sigtryggr is sympathetic to his brother and accepts, unaware that he has consented to open the gates to Brida and her companions.

Aethelflaed arrives with her mother Aelswith and daughter Aelfwynn, as well as a preacher named Father Benedict, who is ostensibly there to replace paganism with a love of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, but is really just a delinquent gambler who needs to be put wherever he can do the least harm to his coffers. It's no coincidence, therefore, that "progress" is associated with the concept of everyone being forced to think the same thing.

Father Benedict's grand entrance is cut short by the appearance of Uhtred's kid, who appears to have been castrated based on the bloodstains on his shirt, and all of Uhtred's darkest worries about Brida's homecoming are verified. But, as he waits by the river, his troops on standby, yelling her name, he gets no reaction, since Brida is somewhere else. There's a convoluted game of vengeance, politics, and war going on.