Every single episode of The Last Kingdom, ranked worst to best
(24) SEASON 2: “EPISODE SIX”
“As his distrust of Uhtred deepens, Alfred sends Aethelred to drive Sigefrid and Erik from London, but the young lord harbors ambitions of his own.”
Recap
Uhtred and Gisela spent some happy time together, but Aethelred is a black cloud over all. He spends his time imagining plots to have both Alfred and Uhtred killed. Beocca and Thyra are married. Aethelred and Aethelflaed are married. Alfred’s bastard son, Osferth, joins Uhtred’s company. Alfred confronts Uhtred about his secretive journey into Daneland. Uhtred largely skirts the issue by revealing that Erik and Sigefrid’s Vikings have taken Lunden.
Aethelred, angered by Aethelflaed’s independence and affection for Uhtred, becomes abusive on their wedding night. Erik and Sigefrid hold Lunden, but need a way to raise a bigger army. Uhtred and Aethelred arrive to negotiate, but the talks fail and they end up watching Father Pyrlig defeat a Viking warrior in battle. Back in Lunden, Alfred prefers Aethelred’s attack plan and, saying that he cannot trust Uhtred, sends him out of the strategy meeting and home to Coccham.
Aethelred raises his Mercian fyrd and takes Aethelflaed, Beocca and Thrya with him to Lunden, picking up Uhtred and his men along the way. Aethelred orders Beocca to perform a ceremony to verify Aethelflaed’s virginity. Aethelflaed’s forces assault Lunden and find it abandoned. The Vikings strike the unprotected Saxon camp, killing the followers and abducting Aethelflaed.
Our Take
That’s one season 2 episode after another low on the list, but don’t worry: these hours are still eminently watchable. The problem is that “Episode Six” (and the previous “Episode Five”) suffer from the disruption caused by the three-year gap story gap that follows the stunningly good “Episode Four,” resulting in some patchy structure and storylines that don’t flow as well as they could. The time jump leaves Guthred, Ragnar the Younger, Brida and Bebbanburg behind and shoots into the Eric-and-Sigefrid saga. Fortunately, the show gets its groove back after this.
But this episode still has a good helping of what makes The Last Kingdom great. The Alfred-Odda the Elder-Uhtred dynamics are hard at work, culminating in the tense war-planning session where Alfred ejects Uhtred from the council. Odda the Elder fears that Alfred undervalues Uhtred, but Alfred — torn, as usual — is wary of his ambitions (and yet Alfred is utterly blind to Aethelred’s evil intentions because Aethelred is “godly”). Alfred’s inner struggle — being a Christian king reliant on a pagan soldier — is front and center here. It’s one of the best elements of the episode.
The Aethelred/Aethelflaed scenes are exceptionally good, both because we watch every interaction with a growing sense of dread, and because actors Tony Regbo and Millie Brady knock them out of the park. Brady, in particular, is brilliant, a strong spirit trapped by a sadistic monster; she just can’t believe what is happening to her.
Father Pyrlig’s defeat of the Viking Boltan is entertaining and the Viking raid on the Saxon camp frightening, especially because Aethelflaed and Thyra, running into the forest, are so vulnerable.
The politic maneuvering in “Episode Six” is fueled by naked ambition. A lot of the pieces on this chess board want to be the king, including Aethelred, Erik and Sigefrid — even Uhtred entertains the thought. Erik and Sigefrid hope that Uhtred believes the prophesy of the dead Bjorn (a trick), and try to entice him to their side with a promise of the kingship of Mercia.
QUOTE: “There are no sheep farmers in Valhalla.” (Sigefrid)