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The Last Kingdom II - NO MERCY [SPOlLERS Season I & II]


Veltigar

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You know, I find that I really hate Beocca. Maybe it is just my general dislike of clergy, but something about him just kind of annoys me. Maybe it's because I want to see Uhtred just go full Dane, but Beocca remind me of a little grey mouse, and I hate mice.

Also, does anyone else think that for the most part the vast majority of Saxons come across as absolute tools? Man, I feel like I'd be totally fine if they just rewrote history so those Germanic god-botherers got stomped out of existence.

That said, great first episode, I really enjoyed it.

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A solid first episode and they're off to a good start. 

I still think Dreymon is a bit too pretty and not blonde enough for the role, but I think his acting is solid and he's only getting better. Alfred is still great. I probably liked his scene with Ragnar and Brida the most.

Spoiler

 

It seems to me like Erik and Siegfried is taking the role that the Ivarson's have in the book. Which means we'll probably get at least some of Sword Song this season. I wonder how much though, as it is probably one of the less essential books in the series (even if it is still quite good).

For a moment there in Eoforwic I though we were finally getting Haesten and I got all excited, only to be immediately disappointed

I wonder if that guy fencing with Aethelflaed might be Steapa?

 

Btw, what the spoiler situation with this thread? The title has a spoiler warning but indicates that it is only for s1? I figured I'd better hide some of my comments that might possibly be spoilers.

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http://www.denofgeek.com/uk/tv/the-last-kingdom/47964/the-last-kingdom-series-2-politics-battles-and-arselings

The prominent role taken by Alfred and Aelswith’s daughter Aethelflaed this series required her to be recast with somebody slightly older.

“Some of the stuff that happens to Aethelflaed I don’t think they could have actually got an actual sixteen year old or anyone younger than that to play,” says new actor to the role Millie Brady. “She has a bit of a rough ride.”

The recasting has resulted in an odd turn of events in which mother and daughter pair Aelswith and Aethelflaed are played by actors with only six months between them in age. “It’s just good moisturiser!” jokes Butterworth. “We’re aged down and up.”

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Spoiler
On 17/03/2017 at 5:41 PM, GallowKnight said:

For a moment there in Eoforwic I though we were finally getting Haesten and I got all excited, only to be immediately disappointed

Did they say his name? I was a bit surprised with the casting at first, but I still thought it was Haesten. Why do you think it's not him? I don't understand why they would do the exact same scene if it's not him.

Speaking of casting, Sven's casting is really... really... surprising, to say the least. I remember him as being pathetic in the books, but not that sort of average-guy pathetic. And I was even more surprised with his scene with Thyra. They seem to have completely changed his character from the books. I remember him as being a sort of Joffrey basically, but here, he seems... nice. And just trying to live up to his father's expectations. And really in love with Thyra. So... WTF.

I'm disappointed not to see Ivarr Ivarson and his son. But apart from being Lothbroks, they didn't add much to the story. Erik and Sigefrid are more interesting. And the idea of not knowing how they will merge both Sword Song and Lords of the North storylines is exciting. I guess Aethelfled will come into the fold sooner than in the books.

 

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1 hour ago, Pliskin said:
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Did they say his name? I was a bit surprised with the casting at first, but I still thought it was Haesten. Why do you think it's not him? I don't understand why they would do the exact same scene if it's not him.

Speaking of casting, Sven's casting is really... really... surprising, to say the least. I remember him as being pathetic in the books, but not that sort of average-guy pathetic. And I was even more surprised with his scene with Thyra. They seem to have completely changed his character from the books. I remember him as being a sort of Joffrey basically, but here, he seems... nice. And just trying to live up to his father's expectations. And really in love with Thyra. So... WTF.

I'm disappointed not to see Ivarr Ivarson and his son. But apart from being Lothbroks, they didn't add much to the story. Erik and Sigefrid are more interesting. And the idea of not knowing how they will merge both Sword Song and Lords of the North storylines is exciting. I guess Aethelfled will come into the fold sooner than in the books.

 

Spoiler

 

Well I guess he could still be Haesten. But since he left and didn't take service with Uhtred he's probably not going to have the same relationship with Uhtred as he has in the books.

But I certainly hope he is Haesten because he is probably my favourite character from the books and, aside from the dreads, he looked fairly much like what I imagined Haesten to look like.

While Sven might be a bit nicer than he is portrayed in the books it would still probably be a stretch to call him nice. Plus he doesn't get that much screen time in the books anyway.

Seeing as Aethelflaed has been significantly aged up, she's definitely getting a bigger role this season. Plus I think Athelred is supposed to show up this season.

 

 

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Spoiler
3 hours ago, GallowKnight said:

Well I guess he could still be Haesten. But since he left and didn't take service with Uhtred he's probably not going to have the same relationship with Uhtred as he has in the books.

Well, at this point in the books, Haesten had already betrayed Uthred anyway, so I was not surprised when he left directly after the encounter. He still owes Uthred for his life and freedom though, so the rest can play out quite similarly.

Spoiler for the later books:

Spoiler

I was imagining Haesten to be a young man though, like Uthred. When Uthred finally slays him in a duel, he's already an old man. So if Haesten is significantly older, that means the poor guy is on a wheelchair... Not really a fair fight. But I guess, the timeline and aging of the characters won't play out the same as in the books.

 

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11 hours ago, Pliskin said:
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Well, at this point in the books, Haesten had already betrayed Uthred anyway, so I was not surprised when he left directly after the encounter. He still owes Uthred for his life and freedom though, so the rest can play out quite similarly.

Spoiler for the later books:

Spoiler

 

After looking around IMDB for a bit it would appear that it actually was Haesten. And Sithric is also listed as appearing in the episode so apparently he was in there as well.

I haven't read any of the books after Pagan Lord so I'm probably going to avoid the other spoiler field.

 

 

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Beocca must be wondering why he bothers giving any advice to Uthred, he can't leave Uthred alone for more than a few days before Uthred manages to get himself into massive trouble by doing something foolish. While I don't think Guthred's betrayal was justified, Uthred was provoking him a lot by repeatedly disobeying orders. I think the King's decision to make peace with Eric and Siegried seemed like a sensible approach, he didn't have to fight them so why risk losing men in battle when he could instead gain allies against Kjartan.

I guess the main plot of the next episode is going to be Ragnar and Hild trying to track down Uthred, it sounded like Alfred was going to continue to keep Brida as a hostage. They're both good characters so I think focusing on them should work well. It doesn't feel like Alfred is being given much to do this season, so far he's sent someone to rescue someone from slavery then sent another person to rescue the first rescuer from slavery, but he'll probably get more of a plotline as the season progresses.

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I like how the show stays unbelievably faithful to the books despite the differences and the fast pace. Everything plays out the same in the end. The even managed to introduce both Steapa and Haesten that they cut last season!

What scares me is the idea of

Spoiler

Halig potentially replacing Finan? Did we have a casting announcement for Finan?

Btw, who's Halig? I don't remember him in the books, and when was he introduced in the show?

 

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AFAIK, Finan has been cast, so no worries there.

Spoiler

 

That was good. It kept going strongly after the premiere. The clergy are suitably awful and the Danes are suitably greedy.  Aelswith comes of as a bit more charming than her book counterpart. I like Sithric and Clapa (played by former strongman Magnus Samuelsson no less). I kinda like that they went through the effort of having the main vikings being played by Scandinavian actors.

The pace is very high though. That was my main problem with season 1, that the pace was too damn high and that characters didn't have time to properly develop and events didn't really leave any time to breathe. I really hope that season 2 isn't goi9ng the same way. There's a lot of thing happening every episode and if I hadn't read the books I'm not sure how well I would follow along. Some things, like Guthreds betrayal and Uhtred hooking up with Gisela, feels like they happened a bit too fast without the proper time to develop.

Anyway, I like what they are doing with Hild and I kind of wonder if maybe they are having her fill Pyrlig's slot as the holy warrior?

We should get Finan next week so I'm looking forward to that.

 

 

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Spoiler
9 hours ago, GallowKnight said:

Anyway, I like what they are doing with Hild and I kind of wonder if maybe they are having her fill Pyrlig's slot as the holy warrior?

Oh yeah, I think you're right. More so because Hild didn't even have to build an abbey to convince Alfred. So I guess she will stay on the warrior path.

9 hours ago, GallowKnight said:

We should get Finan next week so I'm looking forward to that.

I can't wait to see the Irish prince.

 

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8 hours ago, Corvinus said:

I believe we have to wait. But it should be on Netflix.

As they say in New Orleans, starting sometime in mid-summer -- Mardi Gras's comin' babeeeee!!!!!!

Since Netflix has co-funded TLK, we know it is coming to Netflix!  :D

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I don't really understand the Guthred story.  Was he really just some random person who became a king because some priest dreamt it.  I'm assuming that priest has a longterm plan and Guthred is an easy way to get him to his goals, but how exactly did they know about Guthred?

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Guthred is the son of a previous warlord or king of Cumbraland, or something like that. The priest (Eadred) was smart enough to see that he needed to declare a Dane as chosen king, to have both Christians and Danes on his side.

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