Episode #2.8

What can I say about the season finale of this amazing series? Glorious, splendid, powerful! The episode begins with a simple, still great monologue from a character about what bound someone to the land, and how can a person give so much when receive so little! This can define not only for entire series, but also for all stories about countries and their people. Regarding the performance of the actors, the scenarios, the development of the plot, same as always, with BBC and Netflix showing why this is a show that deserves to be considered as one of the best of his kind. Preferences apart, I also consider as one of the best shows ever and I hope to have a third season as soon as possible, even though I know that it will take more than a year to get another great season.

This is a good show, but this episode is a bit unrealistic, imo. The premise, without giving anything specific away, is that a monarch has become compromised and is making a decision that is near-universally perceived as catastrophic for his kingdom (and everyone in it).

The heart of this premise is the question "what if a person with absolute authority over a group of people decides to do something that's nakedly self-serving to the detriment of everyone else?"

Some milder examples of this kind of selfish decision making are common, of course. You'd be hard pressed to find a corporate org chart where the upper levels of authority didn't live a much higher standard of living than those in the middle on down. So it's natural to ask, what would it look like if a leader demanded that everyone support a decision that would lead them into destruction, even if that destruction were completely avoidable by choosing instead an outcome the leader didn't want but which was more palatable to everyone else?

But actually we know these days that systems that seem to put absolute power in one person's hands, like the king in a monarchy, actually have a very complex network of hidden power structures. So a monarch doesn't really have absolute power; they are beholden to groups of powerful nobles who have to be kept happy to allow them remain in power. Even North Korea, one of the most extreme dictatorships in the world and one that actually deifies their leader, has these same types of hidden power networks of generals and the like that must be kept appeased to keep the leader in power.

And there are real world examples that match the situation depicted in this episode, in spirit at least. When Nero, a Roman emperor with theoretically unlimited authority and power, made decisions that damaged the wealth of the powerful senators, they simply killed him, his wife, and his children and moved on. So my suspicion is that the situation in this episode would involve a lot less stoicism and talk of inflexible duty and a lot more angry muttering and regicide.

While this was a good episode aesthetically, it wrapped up almost too perfectly, every battle move falls right into place. The acting is decent and the costuming and cinematography astound.

A fictional story of raising of British Kingdom, some events really happened, for dramatic purposes a high ransom for kidnapped Princess certainly quite often had on those hard times, in this episode a large amount of 1.3 ton of silver and 220 kgs of gold is enough to create and assemble a powerful war machine of Danes to face on equal terms the Alfred's army, however the unexpected took place, Erik and Aethelflaed end up falling in love mutually, due the ill-treated Princess on her marriage with the bleak and self-obsessed Aethelred in an abusive relationship just in wedding night.

Meanwhile at Wessex Alfred demands a summit meeting to discuss the ransom, keeping aside Uhtred for he has been treated as king of Wessex by the Danes, arising suspicions concerning his loyalty to Alfred, Odda and others rulers are openly against in paying the ransom due such sum will drain all money available in those Kingdoms, worst strengthen the Danes against their own, in the meantime Uhtred receives a letter from Princess Aethelflaed to intervene aiming for help her and Erik to flee of Siegfried's hands.

Great exciting finale at battlefield, curious that time London wasn't the main spot power as supposed to be, this city had a roman legacy at their buildings, nonetheless is lesser important board of power as Winchester had, fantastic ending on second season to understand the creation of British empire.

Thanks for reading

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First watch: 2023 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8.5.

If you're reading this, you likely already have seen this series start to finish and can write better detailed reviews than I care to.

Rather, if you're old enough to remember the 80's miniseries, the 90s-200's HBO programming, then I will submit The Last Kingdom is right up there with Aspen, Rich Man/Poor Man, Thornbirds, Band of Brothers, The Pacific, early Sopranos, Six Feet Under, The Musketeers and Rome.

And even if you like your viewing less cerebral, this is also up there with Statham, Craig, Crowe and Diesel/Walker.

Not only do I crave more renewal seasons, how about 20 episodes per season?