The Last Kingdom season 5: All episodes reviewed and explained

Episode 10

We’ve arrived at the final episode of The Last Kingdom. What a ride this show has been, and the final episode delivered in just about every way.

The entirety of The Last Kingdom finale centers around the battle for Bebbanburg and the subsequent negotiations. The battle itself is a brutal affair that goes through many different phases as various factions gain the upper hand or lose ground. First the Saxon army attacks the gates of Bebbanburg before the Scottish king routs them with a devious ploy that makes them believe the fortress is being abandoned, only to then trap the Saxons against a cliffside when Scottish reinforcements arrive. The battle itself is bloody and lots of characters have close calls, though none of our main players die during the melee despite a fakeout with Aldhelm. The Last Kingdom has always done battles fairly well, and its final one may be its best. The only place it jarred me a bit was with some of the effects work. The cliffside battle is stunning to look at, but when soldiers fell off the cliff the effects didn’t quite hold up.

But on the emotional front, the whole proceeding was exceptionally well done. Sihtric and Finan escape their captors, Aelfwynn is whisked to safety by Hild, and the secret gets out that Uhtred is in the fortress. Afterwards, the three brothers-in-arms catch sight of Stiorra and her Danes in the nearby woodland. The speech Uhtred gives to convince the Danes to join the fight was a tearjerker that called back to the huge journey that his character has gone on. He promises them peace as a Saxon; he swears it to them as a Dane. Uhtred’s struggle to honor both sides of himself has always been at the core of this show, and the finale really brought that home.

With the Danes’ help, the Scottish are forced to retreat. The victory that Edward nearly foiled with his impulsive rush on the fortress is secured…but we’re not quite in the clear yet. Uhtred runs into Bebbanburg to defeat his cousin Wihtgar and reclaim his ancestral home. Of course Wihtgar doesn’t play fair, making Uhtred fight his men before trying to sneak up on him in the dark. Ultimately, Uhtred overcomes his cousin and throws him off the balcony to his death.

But upon walking outside, he discovers that Bebbanburg has caught fire. I had a legitimate moment of fear that the show would have a harsh ending by having Uhtred’s ancestral home burn down just as he was about to reclaim it. Aethelstan begs him to flee, but Uhtred insists it is his destiny to die in Bebbanburg. And the gods hear. A heavy thunderstorm begins, quenching the flames, and the scene fades to black with Uhtred crying on his knees.

On most shows, that kind of divine intervention would feel like a cop out…but The Last Kingdom has always hit on the conflict between Christian and pagan beliefs. It makes you feel like the gods, or God, are watching over the characters in their own way. After the journey Uhtred has been on, believing that a thunderstorm would begin on an otherwise cloudless day to save his home doesn’t feel like a stretch, but a beautiful affirmation of everything he’s gone through to get to that moment.

The post-battle wrap-up covers a lot of ground, but the major point is that Uhtred made a deal with King Constantin not to swear fealty to Edward, and instead will hold Northumbria as a neutral land between England and Scotland. Edward takes this as a betrayal, but Uhtred explains that Wessex will still be Northumbria’s sovereign…but the kingdoms will not completely join quite yet. He says that Edward is not the man to unite peoples on account of all he’s done to sow dissent between Saxon and Dane. It’s such a perfect callout, because that is what he’s done; we’ve been uncomfortably watching it happen all season. And as it turns out, it has big consequences for him.

The series ends with Uhtred staring at the ocean from the ramparts of Bebbanburg, reminiscing about all that has happened on his journey. As with the flashbacks during Brida’s death scene, the flashes to various stages of Uhtred’s life work well so here. It’s an emotional sendoff for a series that has been solid every step of the way. Even if the follow-up movie Seven Kings Must Die wasn’t in the works, The Last Kingdom could end here and it would be satisfying. Uhtred and his family have reclaimed their home, which was taken from him in the series premiere. Yet in this moment of peace, it’s clear that schemes are still being hatched by Edward and Constantin both. There is peace for now in Bebbanburg…but how long will it last?

The Last Bullet Points

• Aethelhelm finally had his moment of reckoning this episode, and it was much better than I’d hoped. Instead of being dragged before Edward, he’s forced by Aethelstan to admit that he was responsible for the death of his daughter Aelflaed to her son. Despite all the dissent that Aethelhelm has sown over the course of the show, Aethelstan and Aelfweard trust each other enough to face this moment together. Aelfweard could have turned on his half brother. Instead, Aelfweard leaves his grandfather in disgust, and Aethelhelm kills himself. It’s a fitting end for the worst character of the season.
• And in the fallout, we find out that Aelfweard is now a prisoner living in comfort at Bebbanburg for the foreseeable future.
• Alexander Dreymon’s acting really sold this episode. Everyone brought their A game, but Uhtred got the big payoff. Kudos to Dreymon for an amazing run.
• It was both sad and powerful to see Hild forced to fight again in order to save Aelfwynn. And the soldiers all running by immediately after while HIld is praying for forgiveness is yet another example of The Last Kingdom’s subtle plays on faith.
• Speaking of Hild, her final scene is walking toward Bebbanburg with a young man named Osbert. You might recall this was Uhtred’s name back when he still had an older brother, before he took on the ancestral name of his forebears. Hild and Uhtred talked very briefly about a boy being at the monastery during the last episode, so it seems likely that this is Uhtred’s third child from his marriage with Gisela, who fans noticed mysteriously vanished after season 3. The whole family’s getting back together!
• Aelfwynn ends up with her lover Cynlaef. A happy ending for Aelfwynn!
• Aelswith gets one more moment to shine as she requests a room with a “sea view” for her stay at Bebbanburg. Gave me one last chuckle before the show’s ending.
• Eadith decides she may stay in Bebbanburg for a while. She and Uhtred have been making eyes at each other this season, so here’s hoping for a happy ending for them as well. Maybe we’ll find out if they end up having a romance in Seven Kings Must Die.

The Last Kingdom Episode Grade: A

– Daniel

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