The 25 Best Characters on The Last Kingdom
1) UHTRED OF BEBBANBURG
His blood is Saxon. His heart is Viking. His battleground is England. Uhtred (Alexander Dreymon) is the man in the middle, the lynchpin character of all that is The Last Kingdom. Born a Saxon but raised a Dane, Uhtred realizes that his bloodline represents the future of his war-torn country. Caught between the needs of the pious Saxon king Alfred (David Dawson) and his loyalty to his beloved Viking brother Ragnar (Tobias Santelmann), Uhtred is obsessed with reclaiming his family’s ancestral seat at Bebbanburg.
Though he values loyalty highly, Uhtred is always scheming, always working to win back his rightful seat as the heir of Bebbanburg, and it doesn’t seem to matter to him whether it’s the Saxons or Danes who ultimately help him to do it. With split loyalties and the weight of destiny on his shoulders, it’s natural for him to be a little restless. Good thing he’s a man of action. Uhtred is fearless to the point of recklessness, brutally honest and a talented leader of men. He’s always exciting to watch, even when he’s making the occasional rash decision, being too quick to swing his sword or making everybody else’s life more difficult by refusing to bow to political whims.
Uhtred doesn’t have the best track record with women. He’s respectful and engaged, but also young, self-centered and focused on his ambitions to a fault. The wild Brida was a good match for him, but wouldn’t follow him into Saxon society. He really blew it with Mildrith (Amy Wren), driving her to a nunnery. But in season 2 he was a model husband and father to Gisela (Peri Baumeister) and their children, so it’ll be interesting to see how their situation has evolved in season 3, which takes place many years later.
For Uhtred, it’s all about fate and destiny, and he has truly altered the course of history. He’s been instrumental in saving the lives of both King Alfred’s children (Edward and Aethelflaed) and helping the Saxons to victory on the battlefield. At the end of season 2, having assisted Alfred to defeat the latest Viking invasion at Beamfleot and once again rescuing Wessex, Uhtred sums up his situation: “Shackled by oaths to both Wessex and Mercia, it seems Fate has made my sword Saxon, even though in my heart, I remain a Dane.”
So Uhtred is torn, but as always, he’s still obsessed with retaking his ancestral family home of Bebbanburg from the evil Aelfric. Judging from the season 3 photos and trailers released so far, it looks like Uhtred has now embraced his Viking side. That’ll make Brida happy, and drive Alfred up the castle wall.