The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die ending explained

To Bebbanburg! After five seasons of excellent television, the end for The Last Kingdom is finally here with the standalone two-hour film Seven Kings Must Die. It’s been quite a ride for Uhtred son of Uhtred (Alexander Dreymon), the Saxon who was raised as a Dane and became instrumental in realizing the dream of a unified England.

The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die sees Uhtred brought out of retirement for one last epic battle at Brunanburh. When the dust settles, King Æthelstan has been proclaimed the first King of England. However, it comes at a high price for Uhtred, who receives a series of terrible wounds during the conflict.

The ending of Seven Kings Must Die is ambiguous one, suggesting multiple ways Uhtred’s story might end. If you’re fresh off the movie and looking for a bit of clarity, we’ll do our best to break it down.

The Last Kingdom: Does Uhtred die at the end of Seven Kings Must Die?

Following the Battle of Brunanburh, Uhtred’s companions discover him gravely wounded and rush him back to his home fortress of Bebbanburg. While Uhtred’s injuries are severe, he eventually manages to stagger from his bed and join his closest friends and advisors and finally swears Northumbria’s allegiance to King Æthelstan, realizing King Alfred’s dream of uniting England under one banner.

However, Uhtred then hears the sounds of raucous celebration from the adjoining great hall. He’s drawn to the doorway like a moth to flame, and when he opens it he sees the feast hall in Valhalla, where his deceased friends Brida and Haeston are partying eternally. Uhtred looks back to find his own living companions watching him with tears in their eyes.

And that’s the way the story ends for Uhtred: with him standing framed in a doorway with the living on one side and the dead on the other, while he’s overcome with emotion from the incredible life he’s led.

This leaves Uhtred’s ultimate fate in question: did he survive Brunanburh? Did he succumb to his wounds and head to Valhalla?

The answer is that no one knows for sure, not even Alexander Dreymon or the film’s writers. “Between all of us, I don’t think we had a conversation about it,” said screenwriter Martha Hillier. “We sort of leaned into the idea that we don’t know the ending. Alex may have a different view in his head.”

"I actually don’t know the answer. I don’t know what happens after that scene. I don’t know if he recovers and comes back to life, lives there another 20 years, or actually, if that was the absolute. I don’t know, and we never sat down and went, ‘What is the truth?’ I think we’ve probably all got different versions of it in our heads."

And so, Uhtred’s story ends with a question which will leave us wondering for years to come. Whether he lived or died after Brunanburh, the life he lived was one we’ll remember.

The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die is streaming now on Netflix.

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