The final season of The Last Kingdom arrived on Netflix earlier this year, and it ended the show on a high note. After a harrowing battle at the gates of Bebbanburg, Uhtred (Alexander Dreymon) finally reclaimed the ancestral home that had been stolen from him all the way back in the series premiere. It was a cathartic moment that felt like the perfect capstone to the series.
Of course, it’s not the real end of the road for Uhtred of Bebbanburg; we’re getting a follow-up film on Netflix sometime in the near future called Seven Kings Must Die, which will explore the last stretch of Uhtred’s tale. However, not everyone from the main series will be returning for the movie.
Aelswith will not appear in Seven Kings Must Die
Eliza Butterworth has played Aelswith, the widow of King Aelfred and mother to King Edward and the Lady Aethelflaed, in every season of The Last Kingdom. She’s one of the show’s mainstays and has some great moments in season 5. Aelswith began as a coldly devout Christian who was determined to keep Uhtred’s pagan influence away from her family, but by the end of the show she’s an incredibly sympathetic and fun character.
Unfortunately, Butterworth has confirmed that she will not be returning for Seven Kings Must Die. So while we haven’t seen the last of Uhtred, it appears we have seen the last of Aelswith.
“I have to say, I have had a conflict of scheduling,” she said in an interview on The Screen Chronicles YouTube channel. “So, I was meant to be in the film and it gutted me because I got another job which is the one I’m currently on now.”
Butterworth was originally slated to be in the The Last Kingdom movie, however she had to relocate to Tenerife for her next series, A Town Called Malice. She confirmed that this was the scheduling conflict that prevented her from being able to do Seven Kings Must Die.
Eliza Butterworth gushes about Alexander Dreymon’s acting
Butterworth talked a lot about The Last Kingdom in the interview, including filming her final scene with Alexander Dreymon as well as how she felt leaving the show behind.
“We’re a big family, I know everybody…but just seeing Alexander at the end just as Uhtred, and you know it’s like ‘whoa, that’s one of the last times he’s gonna stand there and do that.’ I just got the shivers,” Butterworth said. “It was so upsetting, but also so beautiful.”
"I think the character of Uhtred is what makes the show so special, because he’s like none other. He’s a superhero, he’s a warrior, he’s a father, he’s a true friend, he’s a forgiver, he’s a fighter. He can do anything. He can literally do anything…Alexander Dreymon is the most sensational actor I think I’ve ever watched in my life. I was watching every episode, I’m going ‘what can he not do?’"
After seeing season 5, it’s hard to argue with her. Butterworth and Dreymon both give incredible performances as Aelswith and Uhtred throughout the show.
It’s too bad that Butterworth won’t be appearing in Seven Kings Must Die, especially since we left her character taking up a temporary residence at Bebbanburg at the end of season 5.
The Last Kingdom season 5 is available on Netflix. Seven Kings Must Die wrapped filming back in March, but has no release date as of yet.
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h/t Express