Every single episode of The Last Kingdom, ranked worst to best
(14) SEASON 3: “EPISODE SIX”
“Edward makes a kingly decision. Alfred lays plans for his son’s future reign. Aethelwold faces a treacherous task. Uhtred and Brida search out a seer.”
Recap
Picking up from the previous episode’s cliffhanger, we find Alfred forcing young Edward to make a last-second battlefield decision as Uhtred and his small company are being slaughtered by Haesten’s much larger Danish force outside the walls of Beamfleot. Edward and Steapa lead the charge to rescue Uhtred and overwhelm the Danes. Once again, the cowardly Haesten escapes the field, taking Skade with him.
In the aftermath of the battle, Uhtred finds Osferth wounded. Uhtred visits the still bitter Alfred at Beamfleot; the king confides he will soon be dead and he hopes Uhtred will remain at Edward’s side in the future. Uhtred plans to return to Aethelflaed at Droitwich, fearing she is still in danger. The defeated Haesten returns to Cnut’s camp at Hunstanton with news of Alfred’s survival.
Uhtred plans to go to Ragnar’s grave. Sihtric starts acting dissatisfied in front of the Dane prisoners, indicating a rift between the him and Uhtred. In the Viking camp, Cnut orders Aethelwold to return to Wessex and raise a rebel army: flummoxed by the suicide mission, Aethelwold sends his loyal thug Offa on a mission. Sihtric frees Dagfinn and the prisoners in the night, demanding they take him with them to Cnut’s army.
Uhtred arrives at Ragnar’s grave where he finds Brida waiting for him. They bond once again as they stand watch over Ragnar’s resting place. Brida is haunted by the belief that her fallen brother is trapped in Niflheim (a Norse world of the dead), unable to gain entry into Valhalla. Alfred tells Edward of his pride regarding his son’s actions, suggesting now is the time for him to agree to a union with the Lady Aelflaed.
Joining Brida in her quest to free Ragnar from Niflheim, Uhtred takes her to visit the late Ubba’s powerful seer Storri in the village of Salford. Alfred worries that Edward will need Uhtred to survive. Uhtred and Brida bond on the road. Following Storri to his cave, Uhtred and Brida force the slippery sorcerer to tell them how to save Ragnar and open his way to Valhalla: Storri says they must use a sword washed with Ragnar’s blood (or his sister Thyra’s) to kill the man who killed Ragnar.
Uhtred asks Storri how one might kill a curse, but Brida strangles him, since Storri had cursed her to childlessness in season 1. Brida knows how to break Skade’s curse over Uhtred: he must kill Skade without breaking the skin. Uhtred promises Brida that he will find the man who murdered Ragnar and destroy him using the proper ritual to free Ragnar’s soul.
Our Take
“Episode Six” begins in a moment of high tension as Alfred tests Edward with the lives of Uhtred and his men in the balance. Season 3’s higher production budget is on display here, continuing to serve up larger and more more complex battle sequences.
The great love-hate scenes between King Alfred and Uhtred continue. Both men must deal with each other despite what they perceive as the other man’s betrayals, with Edward fast becoming their common link. The Uhtred/Aethelflaed attraction continues to smolder, though Uhtred is still resistant.
Speaking of love/hate relationships, Uhtred and Brida reconnect on their journey to rescue Ragnar’s soul, rekindling their lifelong affection despite their long history of mistakes and tragedies. Dreymon and Cox have always generated a sweet chemistry. Their time together is memorable and bittersweet.
The ever-loyal Sihtric’s sudden quarrel with Uhtred feels contrived, but it is: his show of disloyalty is for the Dane prisoners. We get to see Edward start to believe in himself, taking on the kingly mantle by first accepting his parents’ politically arranged marriage to the Lady Aelflaed. We’re stoked as we watch the young man develop into a more confident and complex character. The episode also provides a window into the realm of Danish superstition and magic, courtesy of the ill-fated Storri.
Quote: “You must kill the man who killed Ragnar … you will wet the blade with the blood of Ragnar, and with that blade only you will kill the man who sent him to Hel.” (Storri the Sorcerer, to Uhtred and Brida)