It’s been almost a year since the final season of The Last Kingdom premiered on Netflix, but the time to return to Bebbanburg draws nigh. This week it was announced that the highly anticipated sequel movie Seven Kings Must Die will be coming to the streaming service on April 14. Set after the conclusion of the TV show, the film will serve as the capstone to the adventures of Uhtred son of Uhtred.
When last we Uhtred, he had reclaimed his ancestral home of Bebbanburg. But will he still have it by the time the movie’s over? We’ll find out soon.
Netflix and producer Carnival Films have been surprisingly tight-lipped about details for the upcoming movie. Each season of the TV show adapted two books from Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Stories series, but there were still three books remaining by the time the curtain fell on The Last Kingdom season 5. We doubt Netflix will try to cram all three novels into a two-hour film. But if they don’t do that, what exactly is Seven Kings Must Die about?
We have at least be one big clue right there in the title. Who are these seven kings who must die?
What will The Last Kingdom movie be about?
Given how much story there is to tell, The Last Kingdom will likely pick one or two big events from the final three books to emphasize. We know from the advance images that there will be a battle, and there’s really only one major fight from the novels that Seven Kings Must Die needs to address: the Battle of Brunanburh.
Taking place in 937 A.D., the Battle of Brunanburh sees King Æthelstan clash with an alliance of other rulers for control of England. When the dust settles, the path had been paved for England to be unified at last, something that Æthelstan’s ancestor Alfred was working toward even back in season 1.
Not only is this battle important historically, it’s also the lynch pin of The Saxon Stories novels. The final book, War Lord, deals with Uhtred’s involvement in the Battle of Brunanburh. Since the very beginning of the book series, Brunanburh was the benchmark that Cornwell was working toward. The entire series is about the unification of England, and historically, Brunanburh is when that happened.
Brunanburh is also a battle shrouded in mystery; it had a huge impact, but historians couldn’t even agree on its exact location until 2019. This makes it a perfect arena for a character like Uhtred, who himself is a historically nebulous character based on equal parts history and invention.
So chances are pretty good that Seven Kings Must Die will revolve around the Battle of Brunanburh. With that out of the way, let’s talk about the seven kings.