The Last Kingdom: episode by episodeTelevisionThe Last Kingdom recap: series two, episode one – back to wild wild Wessex
Conflict is coming! And our hero Uthred is gearing up for it with odd leper plans – while priests are starting riots and Danes are being slaughtered
This blog is for those who have watched the first episode of series two of The Last Kingdom. Please try and avoid book spoilers in the comments.
Hello everyone and welcome back to Wessex. We picked up a few months after the battle of Ethandun, which cost Uhtred so dear, and it was clear our hero had not taken his personal losses well, choosing to retreat into wine, women and, yes, song. (I was tickled to learn from his throwaway line about commissioning his own ode to his battle glory “I was drunk and the song was tuneless.”) Meanwhile Alfred, increasingly confident in his own power, has his eye on a spot of nation-building – and knows just which hot-headed Saxon raised as a Dane might be manipulated into helping him achieve it. All this made for a strong opening episode, which set the scene for conflict to come and introduced us to both a host of intriguing new characters and the return of some very nasty enemies from Uhtred’s past.
“I want him alive. I will take him piece by piece. Uhtred Ragnarsson is mine.”
Chief among the enemies is the fearsome Kjartan, excellent applier of eye makeup and the man who betrayed Uhtred’s Danish family and burnt their home to the ground, carrying Earl Ragnar’s daughter Thyra off to captivity in the process. He’s holed up in Dunholm (Durham) with his snivelling one-eyed son Sven and poor Thyra, who is living half-mad with wild hounds, dreaming of death. As for Sven, Uhtred bested him thanks to a clever plan involving lepers and fiery torches – but his father is not a man to be seen off so easily, and I suspect our hero may find himself in serious trouble before this season is out.
“We must rise up. Every day we hear stories of what happened in Wessex … there is no better time than now.”
One of the most interesting things here was how Alfred’s success at Ethandun has rippled out to affect the rest of the country, most notably in Eorfowic (aka York). Thus the fanatical Father Hrothweard (Richard Rankin, recently seen as the weaselly husband in The Replacement), inspired by tales of Alfred’s glory and taking advantage of the fact that the town’s leaders have gone off to fight the Scots, promptly started a (bloody and very successful) revolt against the Danes. As to the plan to install the former Danish slave Guthred (Thure Lindhardt, late of The Bridge) as king in Cumberland thanks to Abbot Eadred’s prophecy, let’s just say I have many doubts about this. First the Abbot’s conversation about Uhtred, while obviously driven by his embarrassment at mistaking our hero for the new king, hinted at a deeper agenda. Second I’m not sure about Guthred himself. He plays the fool well, grinning and going along with everyone, but there’s something about his amenability I do not trust.
“I want them to know that God, Alfred and the ealdormen of Wessex are watching. The day of reckoning will come.”
And what of Alfred? While Uhtred was getting his act together and heading north with the entertainingly acerbic Hild, the man who would be king of England was busy consolidating power. I was particularly taken by the scene with Ragnar and Brida in which he attempted to explain his worldview to their general incomprehension – there are times when David Dawson plays Alfred like Michael Corleone’s long-lost Anglo-Saxon cousin. It works: we believe that Alfred is both a religious man and one capable of great ruthlessness. He sees the wider picture and is not afraid to act to achieve it, which is what makes him a great leader. Uhtred, by contrast, lives in the moment and is capable of brilliance but forward planning and keeping calm are definitely not his strong points. The first series suggested that the two men needed each other, that each balanced the other out. Series two sees them apart and it will be interesting to watch how each man copes: will Uhtred suffer without Alfred’s caution (even though he chafed against it)? And will Alfred miss Uhtred’s decisiveness?
Additional notes
The story of how Guthred became king of Cumberland is mentioned in a couple of histories from that time, most notably Symeon of Durham’s History of the Kings.
Brida’s dismissal of Guthrum now Æthelstan as “weak” suggested she has a way to go before understanding diplomacy.
Speaking of Guthrum, I do hope we get to see him this series – he was one of my favourite characters last year.
The not-entirely trustworthy Abbot Eadred is played by the great David Schofield, which means I have high hopes for his perfidy over the next few weeks.
I miss Leofric, though it was nice to see that Uhtred has purloined his use of arseling.
At least Hild is a worthy travelling companion – I like her way with a cutting putdown and her way with a sword. I have no doubt that she will save Uhtred, as promised, before the series is out.
I hope we see more of Eliza Butterworth’s devout and scheming Aelswith this series too.
We met a couple of new female characters briefly: Alfred and Aelswith’s oldest daughter Aethelflaed and Guthred’s sister Gisela, who clearly caught Uhtred’s perpetually wandering eye.
I loved Father Hrothweard’s exasperated “I’m not saying grace – it’s a battle cry”. I feel your frustration Father.
One of the many nice touches on this show is the way Uhtred’s scepticism and distrust of religion is ever-present.
Finally, if Thyra’s hounds aren’t set upon anyone by the end of the series I shall be shocked indeed.
Violence count
We started as we clearly mean to go on with one head-butted priest, several brutally murdered Danes, a captured Viking fighting on a chain, a man kicked down some stairs, a slave owner killed by a former nun you shouldn’t mess with, several other dead slavers and Danes and the humiliation of Sven, who sadly survived being eaten by wolves on his blindfolded walk through the forest.
Quote of the week
“It would be a beacon, a fortress from which all Danes of the north could be challenged and England grows.” Nice to see that Alfred’s chat-up lines still tend towards flowery pronouncements about England. Still, it clearly works for Aelswith.
What did you think? Can Uhtred keep his cool without Leofric by his side? And what did you make of Guthred – super-chilled or hiding secrets? As ever, all speculation and no spoilers welcome below …
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