Netflix has announced a released date for a movie sequel to its medieval drama The Last Kingdom. The new film Seven Kings Must Die will hit Netflix on April 14. Destiny is all!
The Last Kingdom is based on Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Stories novels, which establish that Uhtred is born in the year 856. We first meet Uhtred of Bebbanburg when he’s a boy of 12. But the story doesn’t really get going until he grows up a bit and tries to reclaim his family castle. Uhtred is in his ’20s for most of the first season.
Over the course of the show, Uhtred gets mixed up with a lot of real life events, including King Alfred hiding in the marshes in 878, the marriage of Aethelflaed to Aethelred in 886, the death of Alfred in 899, and Aethelflaed’s death in 918. By the time that last one happens in season 5, Uhtred is 62 years old, and yet he still looks pretty much like he did back in season 1.
Why does Uhtred never age on The Last Kingdom?
Seven Kings Must Die is set even later than The Last Kingdom season 5. In Cornwell’s final book, War Lord, Uhtred is in his ’80s! We don’t know exactly what events Seven Kings Must Die will cover, but we know that Dreymon will still look like his useful self:
For the record, the first season of The Last Kingdom came out when Dreymon was in his early ’30s, so he was playing a bit younger than he really was. And it’ll end with him having barely entered his ’40s, so he’ll be playing significantly older than his actual age.
How does the show deal with this disparity? They basically try not to think about it. “We don’t talk about age,” Dreymon once quipped. “That’s the first rule. Never mention age.”
Fair enough. See you in April!
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