‘Seven Kings Must Die’ Is A Disappointing, Superfluous Ending To ‘The Last Kingdom’

Netflix's historical drama did not need to muddy its legacy with such a bad sequel film.

This review originally appeared on Forbes. I’m revisiting it because another piece I was working on reminded me of how truly disappointing this sequel was after a really strong five seasons of the main show. Enjoy!

The Last Kingdom is one of my favorite Netflix shows, though I watched its five seasons spread out over the course of eight years, having only just finished Season 5. The story of Uhtred son of Uhtred (Alexander Dreymon) based on the Saxon Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell reached a satisfying, if slightly rushed, conclusion in its final season. As a fan, I was content. In fact, after the credits rolled, I was ready to go back to the beginning. I haven’t seen the first season since 2015—nearly a decade ago!—and I enjoyed this story and these characters so much, I could easily go back and watch it all the way through one more time.

I could not say the same for Vikings, no matter how much I loved Ragnar (Travis Fimmel) and the cast of that show. Where The Last Kingdom constantly deepened relationships and made us care more about the characters, Vikings made us hate almost everyone by the end—and killed off many of the characters we actually had to root for.

So it is with no small sadness that I report my dismay over Seven Kings Must Die, a sequel “film” to The Last Kingdom, purportedly made to tie up loose ends. I put scare quotes around the word “film” because it did not feel like one in any traditional sense, and I say purportedly because I do not believe that The Last Kingdom had any loose ends that needed tying.

I won’t spoil the film for two reasons. First, if you have not seen it and wish to, you should do so without spoilers. Second, I don’t believe you should watch this film if you’re a fan of the show, and nothing spoiled in a recap is worth knowing if you’d rather just end where the story ought to end: In the Season 5 finale.

The movie is a rushed mess, trampling over characters from the show, throwing together a conflict that is both jarring and unnecessary, and creating stakes that feel forced at best. It’s hard to care about any of it, which is strange given how much we cared about what happened in the show. Aethelstan, in particular, is done a massive disservice in the film which I won’t elaborate on. Suffice to say, he undergoes a butcherous personality transplant.

Ultimately, Seven Kings Must Die feels like an entire season of The Last Kingdom condensed into just under two hours. It doesn’t work. The villains are not properly established. The character changes create a painful narrative whiplash. What enjoyable scenes exist are couched between convoluted plot twists and stymied by bad pacing. The ending, clearly meant to be an emotional sendoff, feels hokey at best. By the time credits rolled, I wished I’d just stuck with the show and left Seven Kings Must Die in the bargain bin where it belongs. This story, these characters and the fans all deserved better.