After five seasons and 50+ years of soldiering, it certainly feels like it’s time to retire Lord Uhtred of Bebbanburg (Alexander Dreymon) and his loyal troop, specifically Finan (Mark Rowley) and Sihtric (Arnas Fedaravicius). That’s the very purpose of Netflix’s latest movie, The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die, to give Uhtred and Co. the send-off they deserve. That said, there’s still a lot of story to cover – multiple books worth – and fewer than two hours to do so in. That’s quite a challenge for screenwriter Martha Hillier and director Edward Bazalgette, but they’ve been toiling on The Last Kingdom for years, so they know how to make this work. Or, rather, they know how to make this work as well as possible within these confines.

If you’re a fan of The Last Kingdom, then you’ve seen this all before. Vikings (sorry, Danes) have landed on Britain, the English king – in this case, Edward – has died, and war is brewing. In all the chaos, only Uthred can bring peace to the land. However, this time is different, somewhat. Uhtred and his guys are out of practice and old, although the kind of old we all hope to be at 70. Not only that, their once loyal friend and now king, Aethelstan (Harry Gilby), has had his mind poisoned by his devout advisor, Ingilmundr (Laurie Davidson).* Suddenly unwilling to listen to Uhtred, Aethelstan charges headlong into a conflict that unites his enemies against him. With multiple kingdoms (Scotland, Shetland, Orkney, etc.) allied with the Danes, Uhtred may finally face a battle he cannot win, and one that threatens to obliterate Alfred’s dream of a unified England.

If that sounds like an exciting setup, it’s because it is, but there’s an obvious downside to it. Since Seven Kings Must Die is a sub-two-hour movie, it hardly has the time necessary to flesh out any of the other kings. Nearly all of its runtime is dedicated to Uhtred and Aethelstan and those in their orbit; everyone else is mostly disregarded. Had The Last Kingdom been given one final season, there would’ve been time to get to know these kings and their heirs. That would’ve added a ton of heft to the final battle, in which many of these supposedly important people die (not a spoiler, it’s literally in the title). I understand that within the confines of a feature, the creatives had to pick and choose who they’d award their precious storytelling minutes to. That’s fair, but still, a lot of the main storyline fell flat for me, primarily because it felt underdone and secondary to the main characters’ subplots.

Speaking of those characters, it remains a blast to spend time with them. Uhtred is still charismatic and stubborn, and his buddies continue to be satisfyingly loyal. I really enjoyed Uhtred and Sihtric’s jab toward Finan about him falling asleep while on mission, which he denies, only for history to repeat itself a bit later on. It’s not just those three: Father Pyrlig (Cavan Clerkin) returns and has easily the tensest moment in Seven Kings Must Die, when he’s crawling over bodies during the final battle, trying not to get trampled or suffocated. And then there’s Aldhelm (James Northcote), who keeps on keeping on as a truehearted advisor and general.** All of this is to say, fans of the series will be thrilled to see these beloved characters given their due one last time. The only bummer is that some characters, like Aelswith (Eliza Butterworth) and Stiorra (Ruby Hartley), don’t make an appearance. I’m not sure if they died in the time elapsed between season five and the film, but not hearing anything about them was definitely disappointing.

Seven Kings Must Die culminates in the aforementioned final battle, and it’s one that ranks among The Last Kingdom’s finest. I could tell that the crew went above and beyond one final time, crafting what amounts to the bloodiest and most sustained fight they’ve ever put together. It’s riveting. When it’s over and the future of England is decided, the movie gives us perhaps the best closing scene I’ve watched in any series in many years. I’d rather not spoil anything, so I’ll just say that it’s a poetic and poignant conclusion to Uhtred’s story. I wouldn’t change a thing about it. In the end, Seven Kings Must Die functions well as a finale for Uhtred but not so well as a self-contained story. I would’ve preferred something more fleshed out, perhaps a four-part miniseries, but I’m content with this as a capper. I’m excited to see what Dreymon, Hillier, Rowley, and so on do next, but I’m not going to lie, it pains me to think that I’ll never again hear another new uttering of “I’m Uhtred, son of Uhtred.”

If I had to score it, I’d give The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die a 7/10.

Notes:

* Aethelstan and Ingilmundr’s story is frustrating, as a lot of time is given to it in the first half of the movie, only for it to abruptly resolve. I sort of liked where Hillier was taking these two characters, but they weren’t offered nearly enough time. Ultimately, Ingilmundr mostly seems like a plot device to explain Aethelstan’s sudden shift toward unreasonable violence, but with additional scenes, he could’ve amounted to so much more.

** [SPOILER] If anyone got shafted the most by Seven Kings Must Die’s rapidity, it was Aldhelm. It was nice seeing him aid Uhtred one last time, but to then be hanged for it, by Aethelstan no less… it felt cruel and unceremonious. I know that’s the point, but the moment was so hurried, it lacked the impact his death deserved.

*** Destiny is all.