As the episode begins, Pyrlig (Cavan Clerkin) makes it to his destination and speaks with a Welsh guard (Craig Russell) about his request to speak with King Hywel (Steffan Rhodri). Uhtred (Alexander Dreymon) finds Aethelflaed (Millie Brady) praying for the young victims of war. He urges her to hurry and leave before the Danes arrive but it is much too late. Aethelflaed is told to go upstairs while Finan (Mark Rowley) Sihtric (Arnas Fedaravicius) and the others hold the door. Bjorgulf (Oscar Skagerberg) arrives outside and demands Aethelflaed to be turned over to him. Uhtred refuses to let her turn herself over to them. Instead, he decides to use Cnut’s children as a bargaining chip.

He pretends to execute one of the children in front of Bjorgulf to convince him to leave and it works. After the intro, young Uhtred (Finn Elliot) wants to know what happens next so Osferth (Ewan Mitchell), Finan, and Sihtric tell him that they’re headed for battle. Uhtred tells Finan to cut the boys free and let them go since they’ve served their purpose. Sihtric lets them go. Meanwhile, Pyrlig meets with King Hywel to try to convince him to join the battle against Cnut. The king agrees to cooperate with them as long as his army is given all of the spoils of battle. While Pyrlig doesn’t have the authority to give him that, he agrees to it anyway. Next, we jump over to the Kingdom of East Anglia and join Aethelred (Toby Regbo).

He catches up with Eardwulf (Jamie Blackley) to ask about the troops in Lindcylne. When Aethelred leaves, Eardwulf checks on Eadith (Stefanie Martini) and finds out that she slept with Aethelred to give them time. She encourages her brother to tell Aethelred about the problems they’ve encountered. Edward (Timothy Innes) practices with Steapa (Adrian Schiller) until Aethelhelm (Adrian Schiller) interrupts. Eardwulf goes to Aethelred and tells him about Cnut taking his lands. He is threatened with something worse than execution but Eardwulf believes they can use the situation to their advantage. Edward goes to Aelswith (Eliza Butterworth) and asks her about sending Pyrlig to Wales. Aelswith tries to explain herself and Edward things her actions are going to make matters worse.

Next, Brida (Emily Cox) tries to tell Cnut (Magnus Bruun) about her pregnancy but Bjorgulf’s return interrupts that. He tells Cnut about his children and Cnut decides to get revenge. Brida urges Cnut to stop and not give up their position but he isn’t thinking clearly and wants to avenge his son’s death. That night, Uhtred’s men sit around the fight and chat about the upcoming battle. Aldhelm (James Northcote) and the others believe Uhtred and Aethelflaed will come up with a plan but we see that they’re busy being romantic. They discuss Uhtred’s destiny and he is reconsidering retaking Bebbanburg. Aelflaed (Amelia Clarkson) checks on Edward but he is too busy praying to pay any attention to her. She steps into the hallway and speaks to her father about it.

She is encouraged to make sure she is satisfying Edward because Lady Aelswith was spotted with Edward’s son and his wife at the monastery. In the morning, Uhtred and his men make it to the battlefield. Rhodri (Nigel Lindsay) and his army join them moments later. Pyrlig tells Aethelflaed that her mother sent him and not Edward. Jackdaw (Tygo Gernandt) gets Cnut’s men ready for battle while Uhtred lays a trap for his enemies. Before the battle, Uhtred tells Aethelflaed to get a man to tell her if the battle is lost and she admits she has selected Aldhelm for that. Cnut and his men run into the trap and the battle begins. Cnut looks for Uhtred while Uhtred is busy saving his son.

Midway through the battle, Aethelred arrives with his army. Edward and Steapa watch from a distance. Aldhelm and Aethelflaed find themselves surrounded by Danes and he intends to kill her. That is stopped when Edward shoots and arrow and kills Jackdaw. During the battle, Steapa is killed in front of Edward. Aethelred hits his head and doesn’t seem to be the same after that. Cnut and Uhtred face off in the nearby woods. Brida finds them just in time to hear Cnut admit to convincing Aethelwold to kill Ragnar. As a result, she delivers the final blow to Cnut and Uhtred lets him know that both of his sons are still alive. When Brida leaves, she finds herself surrounded by King Hywel’s men so she pleads with Uhted to kill her but he cannot.

She is taken prisoner. After that, Edward learns that King Hywel is going to take all of the silver from the Danes. He isn’t interested in working with the Saxons ever again either. Uhtred tells Aethelflaed about Brida and they discuss Edward. Aldhelm tells Aethelflaed that this battle will be talked about for a long time before she thanks Edward for helping her. He isn’t happy and intends to banish her from Wessex. Uhtred wants to talk to Edward about that but Aethelflaed convinces him not to yet. When Eardwulf returns, his sister wants to flee before Aethelred can punish them. Aethelred arrives moments later on a stretcher and he has a wound on the back of his head.

 

The Last Kingdom Review

This was a very good episode of The Last Kingdom. I was worried that they were going to slow things down and delay the battle until the start of the next episode but that didn’t happen. However, I am not sure where they’re going with the story this season. It seems that they’re killing everyone. Who is the main enemy now? Are the Danes finished or will someone else lead them? Is it going to be a battle between Edward’s army and King Hywel? I am not sure where things are going since there doesn’t seem to be a clear path forward.

Nevertheless, this episode was very entertaining. It scores a 7.5 out of 10. Reel Mockery has previous recaps of The Last Kingdom.