The Last Kingdom season 5: Fiction or History?

Why do the characters on The Last Kingdom not age?

From a historical perspective, one of the main complaints about Vikings is that the timeline is all over the place. Unfortunately, The Last Kingdom has turned out the same way. Significant events like those seen over the course of the show’s five seasons don’t usually happen so close together in time, meaning the timeline is necessarily condensed to keep giving us enough moments to keep the show interesting.

We know, for example, that Uhtred was born in 854, as he was around 12 years old when Ragnar killed his father at Eoforwic/York in 866. By 872, when Uhtred is 18, he flees to Wessex after being accused of murdering Ragnar, and soon after meets King Alfred. The rest of season 1 takes place over six years, with the Battle of Cynwit taking place in 878. So by the end of the first season, Uhtred is around 24 years old, eight years younger than actor Alexander Dreymon was at the time.

The second season takes place over eight years between 878 and 886. He is held as a slave for over a year thanks to Guthred’s deal with Uhtred’s uncle, and the deaths of Kjartan and One-Eyed Sven take place yet another year on, in 880. He spends three years with Gisela at Cookham, and we know that Aethelflaed’s marriage to Aethelred takes place in 886, making Uhtred 32 at the end of season 2, about in line with Dreymon’s actual age.

From there, the show goes into increasingly unlikely territory, with only the slightest physical changes ever showing that the characters are aging. Season 3 must occur between 893 and 902, as the Battle of Beamfleot took place in 893. Confusingly, Alfred’s illness is seen to proceed this, beginning a year before his death in 899. Meanwhile, Edward’s marriage to Aelflaed took place in the year 900, and Aethelwold’s death at the Battle of the Holme was in 902.

The Battle of Tettenhall in season 4 means that the show jumped forward around eight years to 910. This makes Uhtred already 56 by that point. Adding to the confusion is that children who should by now be adults are still children; Uhtred’s daughter Stiorra, for example, was born around 882.

Season 5 is the ultimate breaking point for the timeline. Taking place in 918, Uhtred is now 62 and clearly has the best skincare regime in the medieval world. Things will get even worse before the end, with the real-life Battle of Brunanburh likely going down in the upcoming Last Kingdom movie Seven Kings Must Die. That battles takes place in 937, when Uhtred will be 81. Will he still have Dreymon’s youthful good looks then?