WiC Watches: The Last Kingdom season 4
Image: The Last Kingdom/Netflix
Season 4: “Episode Ten”
Edward besieges Winchester as he awaits Aethelflaed’s reinforcements, but Uhtred isn’t convinced that conquest is really Sigtryggr’s aim.
Recap
“Episode Ten” opens 30 days after the end of “Episode Nine,” with Edward’s forces having kept Winchester under siege the entire time, at a heavy price. Uhtred tries to convince Edward to negotiate with the Danes. Aldhelm arrives with news of Aethelflaed’s victory over the Danes in the north and her new move to reinforce Edward. Cenric delivers Edward’s ultimatum to the Danes and Brida shoots him with an arrow.
Brida wants to execute Stiorra but Sigtryggr stops her. The prisoners worry about their fates and Aethelhelm plots against Aelswith. Sigtryggr takes the two boys. Young Uhtred arrives to help save Stiorra. Edward falters as Sigtryggr threatens his sons. Uhtred decides to do something foolish, offering himself to Sigtryggr in return for the hostages. Sigtryggr accepts. Sigtryggr gives Uhtred’s sword to Brida but protects him from her murderous rage. Uhtred and Sigtryggr chat and Uhtred discovers his opponent is ready to bargain. Sigtryggar wants land and peace, but the idea of a truce betrays Brida’s vengeance and she hurls Uhtred’s sword from the ramparts.
Image: The Last Kingdom/Netflix
Edward believes Uhtred is dead. Aethelflaed arrives with her Mercian army, throwing her support behind Edward. Edward charges the gates of Winchester under the cover of smoke. Haesten tries to escape with Eadith. The Saxons and Mercian breach the gates. Amidst the battle, Uhtred begs Edward to halt the attack and negotiate with Sigtryggr. Calling for shield walls, the leaders separate the combatants.
Sigtryggr negotiates with Edward and Aethelflaed. Brida attacks Uhtred. Brida begs for death but Uhtred refuses. Edward and Aethelflaed strike a bargain with Sigtryggr but he claims the willing Stiorra in the deal. With Aelswith poisoned, Edward asks Uhtred to take custody of Aethelstan and take him to Northumbria with him.
Image: The Last Kingdom/Netflix
Our Take
Well, hot dang! “Episode Ten” isn’t perfect, but it is a magnificent capper to The Last Kingdom’s wonderful fourth season. Storyline after storyline crash together in this installment, generating the spine-tingling and often bloody mayhem we’ve come to expect. Major characters like Edward and Brida keep evolving right up until the end, making it difficult to predict what was about to happen.
The over-emotional King Edward continues to make mistakes but also to learn. Aethelflaed has found her place at the head of the Mercian Guard. The vicious, revenge-consumed ruin of the woman who once was Brida shocks us along with Uhtred. Thank Odin that Eadith survived with just a nick and managed to cozy up with Finan. Although we’ve lost a lot of characters this season (Aethelred, Beocca, Steapa, Aelfrich and Eardwulf among them), the finale’s death tally was unusually light: only the life of the poisoned Aelswith hangs in the balance.
Image: The Last Kingdom/Netflix
To our great relief, the intelligent Sigtryggr turned out to be as complicated a character as we’d hoped he would be, a man forged from a similar mold as Uhtred—both a disinherited warrior and a soul capable of gentleness who wishes for peace. We like Sigtryggr so much that we are happy to see him ride off with the headstrong Stiorra, and even Uhtred doesn’t have a problem with it.
The extended siege and battle brawls were up to snuff, full of flying mud, arrows and spattering blood. Cinematically, the scene where Uhtred enters Winchester as a prisoner and the sequence where Edward and Sigtryggr order their fighting men to form shield walls were highly atmospheric and haunting. Edward remarking that Uhtred’s Northumbria is “the last kingdom” needed for a unified England puts a whole new spotlight on the title of the series.
Image: The Last Kingdom/Netflix
What awaits us in season 5? Uhtred may travel north with Aethelstan in tow to once again try to retake Bebbanburg. Aethelstan looks to have a large role going forward. Finan and Eadith should be together. With Edward/Aethelflaed on one side and Sigtryggr/Stiorra on the other, one would think a lasting peace has a chance, but it’s doubtful. Dirty eels like Aethelhelm and Haesten are still on the loose, plus we can’t forget the half-crazed wild card in Brida.
As always, The Last Kingdom’s season finale does not disappoint. Packed with action, melodrama, heartwarming moments and heartbreak, “Episode Ten” finishes one set of narratives and kickstarts another. What a ride. When the heck does season 5 start?