Theda Baratheon Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Stuffed into some damp corner of Wales and Cornwall where they belong!I'm from BOTH Wales and Cornwall and I turned out JUST fine :3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astromech Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Where are the celts Stuffed into some damp corner of Wales and Cornwall where they belong!So after the Danes leave, we have to wait until the Franks arrive before we get any personality in Britain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veltigar Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Finished the first book today. I have to say, I really liked it. Very breezy read. However, I have got to say I actually prefer the series version of the events in the first book I know blasphemy, but they somehow fit better I think. So far I think the series does a much better job painting its characters, which is kind of strange. I have the second book lined up, so I'm curious to see if something similar happens there. I do wonder if they are going to breeze through the entire second book or is there nothing special happening in that one, I kind of feel like their are too little episodes left to put an entire book in. I don't know where BBC-viewers are at the moment, so I'll use spoilertagsIn particular, I thought the series did a much better job with the Danes. For instance, the duel between Ubba and Uthred was a bit lame imo. The series handled that much better. Not just because it was exciting, but just with little details like 'go to Valhalla Lord" after which Uthred puts the axe in his hand and stabs him, followed by that great shot of Uthred being swallowed by the Saxon shieldwall. Some of those elements came straight from the book, but it was much better arranged and felt more powerful in the series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talleyrand Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 See I had the opposite reaction the fight with Ubba reminded me very much so that this was a tv show with limited budget as a fight in the middle of a massive shieldwall was transformed into a scrap in the dark with a dozen guys standing around. Plus I think I preferred Ubba slipping in guts to Uhtred winning legitimately.And the way they hold the kite shields in the shield wall annoys me.But then i'm a bitter, usually slightly drunk pedant so my opinion is always going to be horribly biased Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martini Sigil Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 nice,,,, they ran through the Pale Horseman in 20 minutes ...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Antony Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 nice,,,, they ran through the Pale Horseman in 20 minutes ...loland it was awesome, best episode yet for me. Next week looks amazing, sad it's the last one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veltigar Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 nice,,,, they ran through the Pale Horseman in 20 minutes ...lolCan't wait untill I can see it tonight. I tore to Pale Horseman last night and now I am momentarily without readingmaterial, which seriously bums me out it's the last one. They better make a season two! Or else we riot! Hidden ContentPersonally I don't think Uthred really won legitimately in the series. Ubba died because he wasn't wearing any protection on his legs and feet, which was a terrific detail imo and much more original than slipping in guts. It showed how Uthred's assault on the ship had surprised them and how Ubba really fell victim to his own arrogance right there in the fight. He could have finished Uthred off several times, but he chose to posture and ground Uthred the despicable worm in the grond. And that was just one great detail. The way the Saxon shieldwall came out of the dark and Uthred was swallowed whole was great as well. I also loved how he finished off Ubba. Part of that came from the books, but the series just put it together beter imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 Fret not though... in this age of quality TV one-ups-man-ship.... I'm sure someone will develop the propertyAlready optioned and in development Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commodore Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 it's insane and awesome how fast this show burns through plot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 For those surprised at how quickly the plot of these Cornwell books rolls in the television series, if one looks at the books structurally -- each book is very compact (they could have been written by Elmore Leonard!), particularly by the general run of historical fiction. Within the text itself, there isn't that much plot in each one. The protagonist's objective in each on is straightforward. It's the 'dressing' of snarky dialog and emoting, the physical fights and the battles, the sketching in of interiors, exteriors and other characters's-- and ships' and horses'! --appearance, clothing, weapons, that take up the most text. All of that is on screen.The story isn't that much. It only 'feels' that way because by now there are so many titles in the series and the over-arc for Uhred getting back his ancestoral property. But though in the books Uhtred is the first person narrator, the real arc of the books is the establishment of a functioning, stable kingdom united under a single king, in place of many rivalrous kinglets.In fact, it's almost as if the books were constructed to become a television series -- surely Mr. Cornwell learned a great deal about this from the Sharpe series' television adaptation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talleyrand Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 I'd hope at least Lords of the North has enough for an entire season - I'd hate for them to just breeze through that one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibandar Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 So you guys think The Pale Horseman will have been covered by the time we have seen episode 8?That a second season would start with Lord of the North? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veltigar Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 In all honesty, the episode was good, but they blew a bit to quickly through Pale Horseman imo. They could have mined a lot more from it. Some of the things, I can get kind of get due to budgetconstrainslike for example the way they dealt with Svein's (or Skopa in the series) ships or the fact that they didn't include another West-Saxon traitor, but I kind of feel sad that they didn't include Alfred's foray back into that town with the impossible to remember name.Most of the problems in here were the result of a lack of budget, but there were some details that bugged me as well.Mainly I thought they shafted Alfred as a character.The fact that he stayed in the boat, instead of turning around sword in hand to try and block the pursuing Danes before he knew Leofric and Uthred were there to save him was a bit of a letdown imo. This version of Alfred is a lot wimpier than the one in the novels. I also resent the fact that he didn't get slapped with an eal like in the book, nor did Uthred get a chance to chide him for his bad command of the harp. The fact that Alfred's foray back into the occupied town wasn't included also took a lot away from the character. Finally, I missed Uthred swearing to keep Alfred family save, as well as his moments with Alfred's daughter, whom I assume will one day be a very important presence in his lifeAnother thing I really couldn't stand wasthe fact that Uthred, Iseult and Leofric were just hiding in an atticI mean, how fucking dumb is that, as if the Danes wouldn't check that in real life. They could have at least tried something more realistic, but they had to cram Hild in there. I also didn't like the fact that Milthred and her bairn weren't mentioned even once.One thing I did think the episode did splendidly was expanding on Guthrun's character. He's pretty bland in the book imo, but the actor playing him is really turning him into a charismatic character. Really, every scene with Guthrum in it was pure gold. From his Godcomplex to his confrontation withAethelwoldand his awe for the written word he really is a very good villain.Another very good thing was Uthred confrontation with Brida. You really feel the distance that has grown between those two. I can't wait to see how this all wraps up next week. I hope the episode will be quite long, so we get more content from the book beside the grand finale battle, but anyway I will definitely missSteapa now that I have read about him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martini Sigil Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 and it was awesome, best episode yet for me. Next week looks amazing, sad it's the last one. It was a good episode... but the sequence in the books where Uthred out-maneuvers Svein of the White Horse were awesome... and the skipped the whole thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DireWolfSpirit Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Regarding episode 6 where Alfred decrees the fight to the death. I'm confused over how Leofric and Uhtred became pitted against each other in Alfred's court there? What was Leofric's motivation for throwing Uhtred under the bus there? I must've missed some key dialogue because the whole thing didnt make sense to me?I'm loving this actress who is playing the Pagan Queen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Which Tyler Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Out of interest, as I've posted this elsewhere; British viewing figures (7 day):Wk 1 3.09M - 1st highest for the weekWk 2 2.65M - 2nd highest for the weekWk 3 2.53M - 4th highest for the weekWk 4 2.80M - 7th highest for the week (Masterchef returns to take 3 of the top 4 slots, so TLK drops down the rank despite increasing the total) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veltigar Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Out of interest, as I've posted this elsewhere; British viewing figures (7 day):Wk 1 3.09M - 1st highest for the weekWk 2 2.65M - 2nd highest for the weekWk 3 2.53M - 4th highest for the weekWk 4 2.80M - 7th highest for the week (Masterchef returns to take 3 of the top 4 slots, so TLK drops down the rank despite increasing the total)That's pretty good right? Especially considering the fact it's aired on a Thursday?Regarding episode 6 where Alfred decrees the fight to the death. I'm confused over how Leofric and Uhtred became pitted against each other in Alfred's court there? What was Leofric's motivation for throwing Uhtred under the bus there? I must've missed some key dialogue because the whole thing didnt make sense to me? I'm loving this actress who is playing the Pagan Queen.Apparently, Odda the Younger had many men lined up to falsely testify against Uthred about the sacking of the Church by Skopa. Leofric offered to go, because he knew Uthred was fucked anyway and he wanted to give him a trial-by-combat and a warriors death or something along those lines. Now that you mentioned it, that was indeed a bit of a mess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Which Tyler Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Yeah, anywhere in the top 10 in the weekly ranking has got to be pretty good.For BBC 2 though, I don't think day of the week really makes that much difference; however, it may be enough to justify an upgrade in time slot for a 2nd season - possibly even an upgrade to BBC1; where it would also fit the programming better (basically everything else in that top 10 for BBC2 is cookery, quiz or reality TV; with reality cooking being the table topper) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astromech Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 I'm loving this actress who is playing the Pagan Queen.These past two episodes I was thinking it was the actress that played Vorena the Elder in Rome. I was wrong, but damn if she doesn't remind me of her.it's insane and awesome how fast this show burns through plotThe pacing is really odd. It seems like the show skims over certain scenes and gets bogged down in others. The final skirmish of this episode seemed very rushed.As boring as I've found the Saxons to be in the show, Alfred was finally interesting to me this episode. He showed some humanity and internal conflict with his son and religion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love2Read Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 Would love to see the Warlord Chronicles!Been searching and waiting for news of a second season THe Last Kingdom without any success. Letting this series go would be a stab in the gut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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