The Last Kingdom – Copyright Carnival Film & Television
Season 5 has officially been declared as the final season of The Last Kingdom. So our time spent watching Uhtred of Bebbanburg and his adventures around Anglo-Saxon England are coming to an end. Here’s everything we know about the final season of The Last Kingdom.
The Last Kingdom is a Netflix Original historical-fiction drama, based on The Saxon Stories by author Bernard Cornwell. The series was once a co-production between the British broadcaster BBC and Netflix, but since the third season, the series production has been entirely handled by Netflix.
Has Netflix renewed The Last Kingdom for the fifth season?
Official Netflix Renewal Status: Renewed (Last Updated: 07/07/2020)
It was only a matter of time, and we were right: The Last Kingdom has officially been renewed for its fifth season on Netflix!
The cast announced the news in a video released by the official The Last Kingdom Twitter account.
It’s so good to know we’re good to go. All aboard the party bus! #Season5 #TheLastKingdom pic.twitter.com/OLzOH5Fckx
— The Last Kingdom (@TheLastKingdom) July 7, 2020
How popular has The Last Kingdom season four been on Netflix?
Since its release, The Last Kingdom season four has performed incredibly well with subscribers on Netflix.
The series has traveled well internationally, appearing in numerous top ten lists around the globe, in particular, Germany and France.
While the series never peaked at number one in the United Kingdom, and the US, it was only beaten by equally great shows such as After Life, and Never Have I Ever, respectively. The Last Kingdom remained in the top ten for 19 days in the US, and 24 days in the UK.
When is the Netflix release date for The Last Kingdom season five?
With a series like The Last Kingdom, every aspect of the production is an incredibly lengthy process, which means we won’t be seeing the fifth season until the very end of 2021, potentially even the start of 2022.
Since Netflix took over the series from the BBC, and added two extra episodes, it’s added an extra month or two between season releases. It took a total of 18 months between the release of the second and third season, with a further 17 months between season three and season four.
If we go by the earliest possible date, 17 months from the release of season four, then the fifth season would arrive in October 2021, and as it stands the longest time in between seasons, 18 months, would push the release date to November 2021.
We also don’t know what impact the COVID-19 Pandemic will have on the production of the fifth season.
Potential Netflix Release Date: Late 2021 / Early 2022
What can we expect to see from The Last Kingdom season five?
Uhtred to be torn between loyalty and love
In the fourth season, we finally got to see Uhtred interact with his children far more than any of the previous seasons. Both his children, Uhtred the Young and Stiorra have inherited traits from their father such as his stubbornness, and the desire to follow their own path.
To negotiate peace between the Danes and Saxons, Stiorra was happy to be used as the bargaining chip and chose to join Sigtrygger and go to Eoferwic. Meanwhile, her brother Uhtred the Young has decided to continue his path with the church and will continue his studies.
Millie Brady as Aethelflaed – Copyright Carnival Film & Television
Now that East Anglia is under the control of Wessex and Mercia, Northumbria is the last kingdom to be held by the Danes. Despite the truce, it won’t last as Edward and Aethelflaed want to fulfill their father’s ambition of a unified England.
Eoferwic is in Dane territory, which means if Mercia and Wessex were to go into conflict, Stiorra will be in danger. So what will Uhtred decide? Will he fight for the woman he loves, Aetheflaed, or will he side with his daughter Stiorra and the Danes?
Alexander Draymond as Uhtred – Copyright Carnival Film & Television
Will Uhtred attempt to retake Bebbanburg?
Fate continued to deny Uhtred from reclaiming his ancestral home of Bebbanburg after his failed attempt at securing the fort. Uhtred’s cousin, Whitgar, is now the lord of Bebbanburg after killing his own father during Uhtred’s attack, and in the process killed Father Beocca.
Regardless of how Uhtred felt after his failed assault, he will want revenge upon his cousin for the death of Father Beocca. Whitgar has also made it clear that he won’t allow anyone who can lay claim to Bebbanburg to be left alive, which means he may go after Uhtred’s family to draw him out into the open.
Uhtred’s ancestral home of Bebbanburg – Copyright Carnival Film & Television
Another time skip?
Like we predicted for the fourth season, we’re also expecting to see another time skip for the fifth season. We’re not expecting many of the characters to alter their appearances too much, but the largest change will be between King Edward’s sons Aethalsten and Aelfweard, who will require new actors to reflect their growth.
Aelswith is murdered
The scheming and ambitious ealdorman, Aethelhelm the Elder, wishes to see his grandson, the second-born son of King Edward, Aelfweard, take the crown upon his father’s death. Unfortunately for Aethelhelm, King Edward’s mother, Aelswith plots to see her eldest grandson, Aethalstan, on the throne instead.
Edward (center) surrounded by scheming Ealdorman – Copyright Carnival Film & Television
Sadly, it doesn’t look like Aelswith has much longer to live after being poisoned by Aethelhelm during the siege of Winchester. Even if she were to make a recovery, it’s likely Aethelhelm will find a way to dispose of his political opponent and ensure that Aethalstan does not have a strong ally in court when Edward eventually dies.
If Aethelhem’s schemes are discovered, it could have disastrous repercussions for him and his family.
Aelswith (left) and Father Pyrlig (right) – Copyright Carnival Film & Television
New threats from the North and East?
The Danes have lost a huge amount of territory to the Saxons, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see more Danes arrive from abroad to try and reclaim lost land. Brida, who was last seen giving birth to Ragnar’s baby, still wants revenge on Uhtred and the Saxons. Vengeful, and full of pride, Brida is likely to surface again, and maybe with another army behind her. There’s also the matter of Haesten surviving the siege of Winchester, and the slippery snake is bound to find his way into the inner circle of some Danish lord.
Haeston (left) and Cnut (right) – Copyright Carnival Film & Television
As for the North, the Scots have begun turning their attention southward. The Danes may be willing to give up land in the North if it means reclaiming control of East Anglia and potentially conquering Mercia and Wessex once and for all.
Brida (left) and Eardwulf (right) – Copyright Carnival Film & Television
How the books will influence the fifth season of The Last Kingdom
The fourth season continued the trend that we noticed from the previous seasons of The Last Kingdom, that being each season covers roughly the events of two books from The Saxon Stories novels. Season four covered the events of The Pagan Lord and The Empty Throne.
With each passing season, the series deviates from the novels more and more, but upon researching the plot of the books there is still major story beats that the series continues to follow. Such discussions like Uhtred’s age aren’t discussed as extensively in the series as it is in the novels, to which, by the events of the fourth season, in the books, Uhtred is over 50 years old.
While discussing the upcoming season with RadioTimes, Alexander Dreymon discussed the challenge the production team has with an aging Uhtred.
We’re faced with that problem now, getting into season five where Uhtred is technically… I think he starts at 54 and ends up at 60 in the books. That’s a problem right now because how do we make it look like Uhtred has aged without it looking comical? We’re working on it.
The fifth season of The Last Kingdom will cover the events of the ninth and tenth novels, Warriors of the Storm and The Flame Bearer.
Season 5 Will Cover the events from of least three books of The Saxon Stories: Copyright – HarperCollins
How many more seasons of The Last Kingdom can we expect to see?
If The Last Kingdom wasn’t ending after five seasons, we would have expected there to be a total of seven seasons:
| Season | Books Covered |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Last Kingdom |
| 1 | The Pale Horseman |
| 2 | The Lords of the North |
| 2 | Sword Song |
| 3 | The Burning Land |
| 3 | Death of Kings |
| 4 | The Pagan Lord |
| 4 | The Empty Throne |
| 5 | Warriors of the Storm |
| 5 | The Flame Bearer |
| 6 | War of the Wolf |
| 6 | Sword of Kings |
| 7 | War Lord |
It’s highly possible that the last season of The Last Kingdom may cover the events of five novels. If it is psychically impossible for the production to do so, then we may see the biggest deviation from the novels yet and find an end to Uhtred’s story through the tenth novel.
Let’s just hope Uhtred gets a deserved ending, and we aren’t left with a series with a story left unfinished.
Which cast members will return for the fifth season of The Last Kingdom?
We’re expecting to see the following cast members to reprise their roles for the fifth season of The Last Kingdom:
| Role | Cast Member |
|---|---|
| Uhtred | Alexander Dreymon |
| Brida | Emily Cox |
| Aethelflaed | Millie Brady |
| Aelswith | Eliza Butterworth |
| King Edward | Timothy Innes |
| Young Uhtred | Finn Elliot |
| Stiorra | Ruby Hartley |
| Sihtric | Arnas Fedaravicius |
| Finan | Mark Rowley |
| Osforth | Ewan Mitchell |
| Eadith | Stefanie Martini |
| Haesten | Jeppe Beck Laursen |
| Father Pyrlig | Cavan Clerkin |
| Æthelhelm the Elder | Adrian Schiller |
| Sigtryggr | Eysteinn Sigurðarson |
| Whitgar | Ossian Perret |
It has been reported that Ewan Horrocks has joined the cast of season 5, and will play a recurring role in the final season of the drama. The Domina actor will portray the role of Aelfweard.
Ewan Horrock
What is the production status of The Last Kingdom season 5?
According to The Last Kingdom star Alexander Dreymon, filming is scheduled to begin in 2020. The cast and crew will be working under strict restrictions due to COVID-19.
As the series is filmed in Hungary, production won’t be shut down due to a national lockdown as we’ve seen for The Witcher season two, which is shot in the UK.
The Witcher season 2 production on pause with positive COVID-19 cases.
Best wishes to cast and crew. https://t.co/4xIFVaBlKd
— What’s on Netflix (@whatonnetflix) November 8, 2020
The most recent rumors and rumblings we’ve heard is that production for The Last Kingdom season five is underway. The closest we’ve come to confirm that all of the cast members are together and onset is the video that was released on Christmas.
An unofficial fan convention has been planned by Sasnak City and will take place at the National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri. The convention will feature some of the cast of The Last Kingdom, including those who are still involved in the series such as Mark Rowley (Finan) and Emily Cox (Brida). The convention is scheduled to take place in August 2021, which means we could assume that by August, the majority if not all of the filming will have wrapped up on season 5.
As the convention is an “unofficial” event it’s unlikely the cast will be allowed to make any announcements regarding the production status or release of the fifth season. It’s more than likely a teaser or announcement regarding the release of The Last Kingdom season 5 will be revealed later this year.
It’s taken an extensive amount of time but we finally have a couple of photos of the ongoing production of The Last Kingdom season 5.
The Instagram fan account thelastkingdomactors recently shared some photos of the production that has taken place at Blackhall Beach in the UK.
All of the photos were taken by Ian Cooper of the Teeside Gazette, the local newspaper of Middlesborough, a town located in the North East of England. There are a total of 28 photos of filming that took place, with actress Eva Birthistle returning as Hild, and The Witcher actor Ossian Perret reprising his role of Wihtgar.
How many episodes can we expect from the fifth season of The Last Kingdom?
It has been confirmed that the final season will be released with a total of ten episodes.
Are you looking forward to the fifth and final season of The Last Kingdom on Netflix? Let us know in the comments below!