The Last Kingdom continues its reign as one of the most popular shows on Netflix at the moment, crushing it in viewing numbers and drawing comparisons to Game of Thrones. The historical drama has had a solid run, and with season 5 it is officially ending…for now. A follow-up film called Seven Kings Must Die has recently finished filming, and is expected to cover the events of the final books of Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Stories novels. But after that, we’ll have no more adventures with Uhtred of Bebbanburg and the rest of his companions.
At least, that’s the way things are planned to go as of right now…A recent video clip posted to the official The Last Kingdom Instagram page shows a season 5 scene where the Lady Aelswith (Eliza Buterworth) finally deduces that Lord Aethelhelm is the schemer behind so many of the realm’s woes. Aelswith, Aelfwynn (Phia Saban), and Eadith (Stefanie Martini) have just been kidnapped and aren’t sure who by, so Aelswith gets her hands dirty in the most hilarious murder of the season:
Eliza Butterworth wants an “espionage spin off” of The Last Kingdom
Butterworth has been one of the more active The Last Kingdom stars on Instagram these past few weeks, and was quick to chime in on the post. “This was literally one of my favourite scenes to film of all time!!!” she commented. “We now need an espionage spin off for Aelswith, Eadith and Aelfwynn and let’s call it SAXON SPIES.”
Now, obviously Butterworth is joking and no such spinoff is in the works…but man would I watch that show. Butterworth was a total scene stealer as Aelswith in The Last Kingdom’s final season, which is no small feat considering how irritating her character was at the outset of this journey, when she was constantly whispering into King Alfred’s ear to turn him away from Uhtred. She had an incredible character arc over the course of the show, and Butterworth made every line count right down to the end.
Butterworth even knows who she’d want in the SAXON SPIES spinoff, tagging Stefanie Martini, Phia Saban, Harry Anton and Luke Nunn, with Anthony Philipson directing. Philipson directed the final three episodes of The Last Kingdom season 5. As for Anton and Nunn, they were playing the two hired soldiers who kidnapped the trio of women. Considering the fate that Aelswith dealt out with her trusty knife, it’d take some serious retconning to get either of them into a new show.
Milwaukee Bucks basketball player nods to The Last Kingdom on the court
Elsewhere in Last Kingdom news, during a recent press conference, Milwaukee Bucks Guard Jrue Holiday was asked about a new ritual he’s been doing on the court: whenever Holiday makes a three-point shot, he reaches over his shoulder and seems to mime pulling a sword out of a holster on his back. As it ends up, it’s in tribute to a show we know very well..
“t’s a little thing me and the young boy Sandro got. It’s from this TV show we watch,” Holiday said.
"A man got a sword in his back, so I’m pulling out the sword, right? Uhtred, son of Uhtred. Ya’ll should watch it, bro. It’s a good show. The Last Kingdom."
So there you have it, from the foggy plains of medieval England to the courts of the NBA, Uhtred’s notoriety has carried him far. Basketball is all!
The Last Kingdom season 5 is currently available to stream on Netflix. Check out our review and explanation of every episode here:
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