The Last Kingdom III - HOLD ON TO YOUR SWORD (SPOILERS SEASONS 1-4)

[Veltigar]

I'm just recording my reactions to episode 9 as I'm watching it. Will post it at the end of the episode:

Spoiler

THIS IS FUCKING BULLSHIT. Edward took his entire army? Again... even if we ignore the existence of the Fyrd and all that, they have established in this very show how poor that decision would be and then fucking Edward does it again. 

Not to mention that none of Eddies fancy burhs notice this colossal fuck up? Do all the Vikings have invisibility cloaks? And then the actual ways they go about it... Doesn't Winchester have walls? And why do all those guards peacefully except the slowest fucking execution ever. If I was stuck in a line-up to be murdered, I'd resist. Try to escape at the very least but they just fucking sat there...

The ambush yet again, bullshit. Does no one scout anymore? Haesten has a small army hidden away in the fucking woods and great warrior Uthred doesn't notice it. GTFO show, you're drunk. And why the hell doesn't Haesten just murder him. It doesn't make a lick of sense.

Edward the Elder is also such a doofus in this show. He's not the sharpest tool in the shed in the books either, but he did manage to conquer East-Anglia and keep his father's kingdom afloat to boot. This thing they created in the show is just horrible. They would be better of appointing any pauper from the street to rule then this idiot.

The fuck is this? The viking hears a woman scream and he goes over there like a First Aid responder? Lady, are you alright? Bullshit. And cutting down the unconscious one first? and then the priest while there is a Danish warrior still alive and kicking? This is a farse. 

Saxons are new to Syggi? He spent his life in fucking Ireland. there must have been frequent contacts and exchanges with Saxon merchants, priests, warriors and the like. Hell, he's been spending time with fucking Bridda who is a Saxon. He must have picked up something. 

Now they send it the young, gorgeous redhead? Like are all the Vikings chaste warriors all of a sudden?

Digging up the corpses is also fucking bonkers. What do they have to gain apart from pissing off Eddy? They should be hard at work gathering supplies, digging traps and strengthening their defenses. If they had to dig up remains, they should go for Alfred's bones and scatter those, not stupid soldiers. 

It's also pissing me off that the Norse-Gaels are referred to as Danes. 

... Aethelstand artfully avoids not answering questions on his paternity and then he just blurbs it out to Aethelhelm. Fucking natty. 

Now female Eddy Redmaine can just walk into the palace? 

Horses against walls? This is fucking disgusting. 

If these are our ancestors, I feel sorry that they ever bred

 

 

[Corvinus85]

7 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

I'm just recording my reactions to episode 9 as I'm watching it. Will post it at the end of the episode:

  Reveal hidden contents

THIS IS FUCKING BULLSHIT. Edward took his entire army? Again... even if we ignore the existence of the Fyrd and all that, they have established in this very show how poor that decision would be and then fucking Edward does it again. 

Not to mention that none of Eddies fancy burhs notice this colossal fuck up? Do all the Vikings have invisibility cloaks? And then the actual ways they go about it... Doesn't Winchester have walls? And why do all those guards peacefully except the slowest fucking execution ever. If I was stuck in a line-up to be murdered, I'd resist. Try to escape at the very least but they just fucking sat there...

The ambush yet again, bullshit. Does no one scout anymore? Haesten has a small army hidden away in the fucking woods and great warrior Uthred doesn't notice it. GTFO show, you're drunk. And why the hell doesn't Haesten just murder him. It doesn't make a lick of sense.

Edward the Elder is also such a doofus in this show. He's not the sharpest tool in the shed in the books either, but he did manage to conquer East-Anglia and keep his father's kingdom afloat to boot. This thing they created in the show is just horrible. They would be better of appointing any pauper from the street to rule then this idiot.

The fuck is this? The viking hears a woman scream and he goes over there like a First Aid responder? Lady, are you alright? Bullshit. And cutting down the unconscious one first? and then the priest while there is a Danish warrior still alive and kicking? This is a farse. 

Saxons are new to Syggi? He spent his life in fucking Ireland. there must have been frequent contacts and exchanges with Saxon merchants, priests, warriors and the like. Hell, he's been spending time with fucking Bridda who is a Saxon. He must have picked up something. 

Now they send it the young, gorgeous redhead? Like are all the Vikings chaste warriors all of a sudden?

Digging up the corpses is also fucking bonkers. What do they have to gain apart from pissing off Eddy? They should be hard at work gathering supplies, digging traps and strengthening their defenses. If they had to dig up remains, they should go for Alfred's bones and scatter those, not stupid soldiers. 

It's also pissing me off that the Norse-Gaels are referred to as Danes. 

... Aethelstand artfully avoids not answering questions on his paternity and then he just blurbs it out to Aethelhelm. Fucking natty. 

Now female Eddy Redmaine can just walk into the palace? 

Horses against walls? This is fucking disgusting. 

If these are our ancestors, I feel sorry that they ever bred

 

 

First of all  (not laughing at you but there's a lot of gold in your post)

I think if we are fine with criticizing GoT, Vikings, etc this show shouldn't escape criticism either when it swerves so badly.

Second, my post earlier mentions some of the stuff you say. I also talk a bit about ep 10.

Spoiler

Yeah, the burghs. Especially since at the start of the season it was mentioned that Wessex was busy building fortifications.

And the fyrd. Edward angrily demands to raise the fyrd, so clearly he didn't have his whole army with him

A few small points of contention

Spoiler

The ambush yet again, bullshit. Does no one scout anymore?

To be fair, last season Haesten failed to spot Alfred's army in leafless woods. The foliage here is much thicker, and there was no reason to scout, being they were in Wessex at that point.

And cutting down the unconscious one first? and then the priest while there is a Danish warrior still alive and kicking?

They were panicked that Sihtric was dying, and they probably don't know CPR. Uhtred was yelling out the order of who to cut down. And Father Pyrlig can fight, quite well actually as established in season 2. (and the books as you know)

 

[Veltigar]

Just finished episode 10. It was less dumb than the previous installments, but I'm seriously considering cutting this show from my roster  I have few fixed TV-appointments left in comparison with the past and now I fear I'll have to cancel one of the few mainstays I have left

Spoiler

Especially as with Aelspith they have killed the best actor this show had left.

It's weird what an inferior mash-up they have made of the books.

Spoiler

Siggy is a hack. Stiorra is like 13, so are they married now? Uthred is bereft of an heir as their weak amalgamation of Uthred warrior son and his priest son has chosen to enter the church. If he ever does take Bebbanburh, than who will hold it?

Bridda is still alive but she got killed ages ago. I'm hoping she has a stillbirth because at least that would remain consistent with the books. I never really liked the actress and all the fuzz that is always made about her. The fighting while heavily pregnant and not being easily butchered also didn't endear her to me.

Now I fear that they are setting up a storyline in which Bridda is going to take SIggy's kingdom and kill Stiorra, after having gone completely mental. Perhaps she'll even throw her lot in with Jack Sparrow of Bebanburh to borrow that nickname. Have it all wrapped up in a neat little bow. 

The only bright spot is that Haesten lives. The guy who plays that bastard is so fun. He's the only one who is able to ham up the ridiculous plans in a fun way. I'd still like it more if this show took itself seriously, but if we have to jump the shark then I want a show full of guys like Haesten. He's like a professional polevault champ, so he soars like a fucking eagle when they ask him to jump. While the other shitheads on this shows couldn't even clear Jaws, he's gleefully jumping over the Meg.  

It really is a waste of time and money this season. And with Cornwell writing so fast, you don't even have to watch the series to get some closure on the characters at this rate. I'm guessing the next book in the Saxon Tales is the last and that there are at most two seasons of TLK left.

 

51 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

First of all  (not laughing at you but there's a lot of gold in your post)

 

I'm glad that my misery gives you pleasure 

56 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

I think if we are fine with criticizing GoT, Vikings, etc this show shouldn't escape criticism either when it swerves so badly.

To be honest, it doesn't feel like swerving. It's like they high jacked a passenger jet and flew it into a WTC. This is some real bullshit here. 

57 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

A few small points of contention

  Reveal hidden contents

The ambush yet again, bullshit. Does no one scout anymore?

To be fair, last season Haesten failed to spot Alfred's army in leafless woods. The foliage here is much thicker, and there was no reason to scout, being they were in Wessex at that point.

And cutting down the unconscious one first? and then the priest while there is a Danish warrior still alive and kicking?

They were panicked that Sihtric was dying, and they probably don't know CPR. Uhtred was yelling out the order of who to cut down. And Father Pyrlig can fight, quite well actually as established in season 2. (and the books as you know)

 

In response

Spoiler

1: Two wrongs don't make a right. The fact that last season was even stupider does not excuse this basic failure of the show

2. Still, in that scenario I would argue that you cut down the best/fittest warrior. It's what logic demands. Sigtric is useless and Pirlig is certainly the least among the fighters (being old and not primarily occupied as one). It's madness to take them first.

 

[Corvinus85]

By the way, the historical inaccuracy that blew my mind the most was

Spoiler

the presence of warhammers. When the Saxons soldiers get executed in the Winchester palace courtyard, the executioners are wielding what look like 14th-15th century warhammers.

 

[divica]

Wasn t I right that the last 2 eps are really bad?

 

One thing nobody has mentioned is the vibe that uthred and his friends are some kind of super heroes galivating around. 

Spoiler

Oh look there is na army in Winchester! Lets go deal with them! The 4 or 5 of us can do it!

Or uthred thinking he can solve the siege alone if he enters Winchester.

Some of the things they want to do are so unrealistic...

 

Another thing I didn t understand.

Spoiler

So stygr conquered some places in gales, then abandoned them and decided to conquer Winchester and then abandoned it to receive west anglia?

Like wtf!? why didn t he stay in gales? And wasn t he defeated in ireland? How does he have men to do all this?

Another thing I didn t understand.

Spoiler

why didn t they make the conflict about the next ruler of mercia more belivable?

Are we suposed to believe that the most powerful lords of mercia would accept a minor lord without lands or powerful mercians suporting him as their king? At most he is a youngg general that was in charge of a failed campaig and was being suported by a foreign king...

 

Then why didn t they show more scenes justifying why the women (can t remembre her name) was a good choice for the ruler of mercia? Like some action she takes to help the people during the plague? Some recognition from the mercians for defeating the danes? giving her some political power after that? Hell, having her brother pressuring nobles to suport her?

In the show it feels like she became the ruler of mercia completly out of the blue… 

 

[Veltigar]

6 hours ago, divica said:

Wasn t I right that the last 2 eps are really bad?

I don't know, I thought it was pretty shitty throughout. Episode 9th was probably the worst, but 10 was okayish by the standards this show had set for itself this season.

6 hours ago, divica said:

One thing nobody has mentioned is the vibe that uthred and his friends are some kind of super heroes galivating around. 

  Reveal hidden contents

Oh look there is na army in Winchester! Lets go deal with them! The 4 or 5 of us can do it!

Or uthred thinking he can solve the siege alone if he enters Winchester.

Some of the things they want to do are so unrealistic...

The negotiation was dumb, but the Fantastic Four is a given given the history of this show. In the books Uthred basically does the same, but with 20 warriors instead of his three closest drinking buddies.

6 hours ago, divica said:

Another thing I didn t understand.

  Hide contents

So stygr conquered some places in gales, then abandoned them and decided to conquer Winchester and then abandoned it to receive west anglia?

Like wtf!? why didn t he stay in gales? And wasn t he defeated in ireland? How does he have men to do all this?

 

To answer both your questions:

Spoiler

1. He doesn't have any romantic interest in sheep

2. Craigslist

 

6 hours ago, divica said:

Wasn t I right that the last 2 eps are really bad?

 

One thing nobody has mentioned is the vibe that uthred and his friends are some kind of super heroes galivating around. 

  Hide contents

Oh look there is na army in Winchester! Lets go deal with them! The 4 or 5 of us can do it!

Or uthred thinking he can solve the siege alone if he enters Winchester.

Some of the things they want to do are so unrealistic...

 

Another thing I didn t understand.

  Hide contents

So stygr conquered some places in gales, then abandoned them and decided to conquer Winchester and then abandoned it to receive west anglia?

Like wtf!? why didn t he stay in gales? And wasn t he defeated in ireland? How does he have men to do all this?

Another thing I didn t understand.

  Hide contents

why didn t they make the conflict about the next ruler of mercia more belivable?

Are we suposed to believe that the most powerful lords of mercia would accept a minor lord without lands or powerful mercians suporting him as their king? At most he is a youngg general that was in charge of a failed campaig and was being suported by a foreign king...

 

Then why didn t they show more scenes justifying why the women (can t remembre her name) was a good choice for the ruler of mercia? Like some action she takes to help the people during the plague? Some recognition from the mercians for defeating the danes? giving her some political power after that? Hell, having her brother pressuring nobles to suport her?

In the show it feels like she became the ruler of mercia completly out of the blue… 

 

True, it's just shit.

8 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

By the way, the historical inaccuracy that blew my mind the most was

  Reveal hidden contents

the presence of warhammers. When the Saxons soldiers get executed in the Winchester palace courtyard, the executioners are wielding what look like 14th-15th century warhammers.

 

Oh shit, I didn't even notice that.  That explains why they had the soldiers

Spoiler

being okay with their execution and just not moving.

You want to do one stupid thing, do two and create a distraction :p 

[Werthead]

On 5/1/2020 at 1:46 PM, Corvinus85 said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

The show forgot about one of Alfred's most important works: the burghs. The talk about Edward taking his whole army to Mercia was bullshit, as throughout a number of episodes it was clear he only had the household guard. So how did the Danes not raise an alarm moving through Wessex?

It's one thing to show Edward's mad anger and order his men to throw themselves at Winchester's defenses, quite another to just attack on fucking horses, and not even bother to stop and make some ladders.

The argument that Uhtred is more valuable to Edward than his heirs is extremely thin.

Hostage talk came about 30 days into the siege? mmmkay.

The sudden armistice in the courtyard was silly. Sigtriggr was now pinned, no valuable hostages, and I guess the danger of burning down the town was the only thing to stop the fighting.

The entire season seems to have taken place over the course of one summer. That's a lot of fighting and marching for one summer. 

 

The time period in the books - and real life - for the season is about a year, and most of that was taken up by Aethelred's extremely long and drawn-out death (he spent about six or seven months dying, not a week as in the show).

I think it's also easy for people to forget how small England is. The Wessex capital of Winchester is - get this - 56 miles from the Mercian capital at Aylesbury. You could ride between them in like a day and a half (in good weather, on roads). In fact, it's only 315 miles from Winchester to Bebbanburg (Bamburgh). You could ride that in under two weeks in good weather, and walk it in maybe three to four weeks.

22 hours ago, Veltigar said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

unarmored and unprepared peasants attacking fully kitted and prepared Norse warriors? I would get it if the Welsh were trying to defend their sheep, due to the special relationship they have with them, but despite from sheep there is no way that they wouldn't all run like hell or hide if this scenario took place in real life. 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

This disagreement between them on the plans to become Lord Of Mercia is just such manufactured bullshit. You can say a great many things to knock Uthred, but by the time these events take place he's become wise enough to recognize at least some of his limitations. In the books he damn well knows he isn't right for the job. 

 

This season's depiction of the Welsh as killer ninja elite badasses who are basically a cross between the Dothraki, the Aiel and the Elves of Lothlorien who can only be defeated by overwhelmingly superior enemy numbers but immediately bounce back is a certainly an interesting take, and will go down well in certain, Welsh corners. I'm not sure that's quite supported by history, although their cheerful willingness to put aside ancient enmities to join the Saxons in a bit of looting (to ironically fund the rebuilding of the Dyke) does have some historical evidence for it (although everyone was guilty of this, and by this point the various factions were becoming somewhat multi-ethnic anyway, with Danes fighting for the Mercians and West Saxons and English fighting for the Danish in the Danelaw).

I haven't read the books, but it does appear that Uhtred has much more self-awareness in the books. This might be related to the age thing: in the books he's about 20 years older than he appears this season, so the hot-headedness has disappeared more.

21 hours ago, Veltigar said:

Well, those internet incells are certainly wrong about 

  Reveal hidden contents

the facts, as it certainly is actual history that Aethelflaed became Lady of Mercia (not Queen I believe), but the way it was done on the show defied logic and did reek of SJW pandering. 

EDIt: Episode 8 is so very educational. Good to know that it were the Norse who acquainted the Welsh with the English longbow

Based on the little evidence we have, it appears that Aethelred and Aetheflaed did accept the titles "Lord and Lady of the Mercians" whilst Alfred was alive, but after his death they started testing it, referring to Aethelred first as a "Subking" and then minting coins in their own names with their own likenesses, basically claiming the titles of King and Queen. It appears that Edward regarded this as a step too far and exerted his influence, at least by early in Aetheflaed's solo reign so the title "Lady of the Mercians" became pre-eminent once again. With Edward's death, his successor (spoilers!) claimed the title of King of England, so the matter became moot.

It was always weird that Mercia, being much more populous and larger than Wessex, was less powerful and influential, but it's size also made it ungainly and it had a tendency to get bum-rushed from all sides (the Danes to the east, the Welsh to the west, the Strathclyde Scots to the north, and that's when even its fellow Saxon kingdoms of Northumbria, East Anglia, Essex and Kent didn't fancy taking chunks out of its borders). It was the Riverlands of its own particular Seven Kingdoms.

[Veltigar]

16 hours ago, Werthead said:

Based on the little evidence we have, it appears that Aethelred and Aetheflaed did accept the titles "Lord and Lady of the Mercians" whilst Alfred was alive, but after his death they started testing it, referring to Aethelred first as a "Subking" and then minting coins in their own names with their own likenesses, basically claiming the titles of King and Queen. It appears that Edward regarded this as a step too far and exerted his influence, at least by early in Aetheflaed's solo reign so the title "Lady of the Mercians" became pre-eminent once again. 

Spoiler

With Edward's death, his successor (spoilers!) claimed the title of King of England, so the matter became moot.

 

You know that actually is a season 4 show spoiler as well as they 

Spoiler

straight up introduce young Aethelstan as future king of the English, which is stupid of course as it really sucks tension out of future conflicts in which young Aethelstan will surely find himself in mortal danger

 

[Werthead]

13 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

You know that actually is a season 4 show spoiler as well as they 

  Reveal hidden contents

straight up introduce young Aethelstan as future king of the English, which is stupid of course as it really sucks tension out of future conflicts in which young Aethelstan will surely find himself in mortal danger

 

That's a historical fact, not a show-only spoiler, and the statute of limitation on historical spoilers is well under 1,109 years.

[Corvinus85]

I thought it was funny when they "spoiled" that. The show basically said pick up a history book, then come back. But we'll get there in a totally different way. 

[Veltigar]

28 minutes ago, Werthead said:

That's a historical fact, not a show-only spoiler, and the statute of limitation on historical spoilers is well under 1,109 years.

I feel like that's a very eurocentric course of action. You and I know that 

Spoiler

Aethelstan is to become the most powerful Anglo-Saxon king of them all, but this is clearly not watched only by history buffs.

From a dramatic perspective it is really bad to spoil those things as a show. 

[SpaceChampion]

17 hours ago, Werthead said:

It was always weird that Mercia, being much more populous and larger than Wessex, was less powerful and influential, but it's size also made it ungainly and it had a tendency to get bum-rushed from all sides (the Danes to the east, the Welsh to the west, the Strathclyde Scots to the north, and that's when even its fellow Saxon kingdoms of Northumbria, East Anglia, Essex and Kent didn't fancy taking chunks out of its borders). It was the Riverlands of its own particular Seven Kingdoms.

Weren't the Northhumbrians and East Anglians Angles, not Saxons?  Kent was the Jutes, and it was only Wessex, Essex and Sussex that were Saxon.  Though of course genetically they're all mixed, I'm referring to culturally those divisions.

Though I've been reading a few things that suggest the migrations from Germany weren't really huge waves of people, and once Roman rule ended, the locals talked up connections to barbarian tribes related to their most significant trading partners.  Trade routes were easier for the Anglic kingdoms to trade with the Anglia peninsula, while the Saxon kingdoms traded more easily with Saxony.   So England being Anglo-Saxon was a creation myth in the service of wealthy elites needing a brand to unite people under.

Anyway, an amusing historical conspiracy theory.  German barbarians were like sports mascots!  Jutes were the hipsters that didn't like either of the more popular options!

 

[Veltigar]

8 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

I thought it was funny when they "spoiled" that. The show basically said pick up a history book, then come back. But we'll get there in a totally different way. 

So basically the show was saying "Fuck you I'm going to spoil an important plot point for you, but you won't actually learn anything historically correct as a result of it" 

[Werthead]

36 minutes ago, SpaceChampion said:

Weren't the Northhumbrians and East Anglians Angles, not Saxons?  Kent was the Jutes, and it was only Wessex, Essex and Sussex that were Saxon.  Though of course genetically they're all mixed, I'm referring to culturally those divisions.

Though I've been reading a few things that suggest the migrations from Germany weren't really huge waves of people, and once Roman rule ended, the locals talked up connections to barbarian tribes related to their most significant trading partners.  Trade routes were easier for the Anglic kingdoms to trade with the Anglia peninsula, while the Saxon kingdoms traded more easily with Saxony.   So England being Anglo-Saxon was a creation myth in the service of wealthy elites needing a brand to unite people under.

Anyway, an amusing historical conspiracy theory.  German barbarians were like sports mascots!  Jutes were the hipsters that didn't like either of the more popular options!
 

The show follows the course of lumbering everyone in as the Anglo-Saxons, but you are correct, the division between the Angles and Saxons would be more prevalent at that point than is readily apparent today. We can thank the idea of the Heptarchy, of seven kingdoms unified as one culture under Christianity, for that. The show tries to present the Danes as an invading force which everyone needs to join forces against, but that would not have been that accurate either (with the Danes now well over a century into their waves of migrations). Uhtred would not have been that unusual either, and in fact you'd have had more full-blooded Saxons fighting for the Danes and vice versa.

The show did confirm in Season 1 that Cornwall is seen as a completely different kettle of fish altogether and Wessex just doesn't really bother with them at all.

[Derfel Cadarn]

I was planning on watching this as part of my historical film/show binge (done Troy, 300, Spartacus Blood & Sand, Rome, Passion of the Christ (because wtf not), and now on Britannia.)

After that, will watch Pompei and Gladiator before starting Thr Last Kingdom.

But from the sound of it, the last season sounds like a trainwreck struck by a falling plane.

[Zorral]

Honestly? it wasn't a train wreck for most of us -- just for some severely disgruntled types on this forum for whom nothing is is big enough effect these days, it seems.

The plot lines as presented and developed remained coherent and consistent throughout.  That the Lady of Mercia was the Lady of Mercia is historically accurate, and that was pretty much the point, particularly as Uhtred's character and the the plot lines run in subsequent books.  I mean really -- if they think Gladiator was the best, this is at least as historically accurate as that. 

Lock down has gotten to people in a variety of ways.  Lots of what we liked before just leaves us meh now.  And a whole lot can't even hold us long enough to focus.  Fortunately for me The Last Kingdom season 4 wasn't like that for me, though a whole lot of other stuff is, both in print and on the screen.

[Corvinus85]

17 minutes ago, Zorral said:

Honestly? it wasn't a train wreck for most of us -- just for some severely disgruntled types on this forum for whom nothing is is big enough effect these days, it seems.

The plot lines as presented and developed remained coherent and consistent throughout.  That the Lady of Mercia was the Lady of Mercia is historically accurate, and that was pretty much the point, particularly as Uhtred's character and the the plot lines run in subsequent books.  I mean really -- if they think Gladiator was the best, this is at least as historically accurate as that. 

Lock down has gotten to people in a variety of ways.  Lots of what we liked before just leaves us meh now.  And a whole lot can't even hold us long enough to focus.  Fortunately for me The Last Kingdom season 4 wasn't like that for me, though a whole lot of other stuff is, both in print and on the screen.

I remember you being annoyed that Black Sails filming locations didn't quite look like the Bahamas. So I'm not sure you have room to talk about what historical inaccuracies people are disgruntled with. 

I don't think anyone on this forum is pissed off at the Æthelflæd plot in terms of story, just maybe execution. Same with how everything played out by the end.

[Zorral]

Why does it bother you at all that I am not bothered by what you are bothered by, and bothered by what doesn't bother you?   Particularly in These Times in which the US has just given up even pretending to do anything about the pandemic?

[Which Tyler]

9 hours ago, Derfel Cadarn said:

I was planning on watching this as part of my historical film/show binge (done Troy, 300, Spartacus Blood & Sand, Rome, Passion of the Christ (because wtf not), and now on Britannia.)

After that, will watch Pompei and Gladiator before starting Thr Last Kingdom.

But from the sound of it, the last season sounds like a trainwreck struck by a falling plane.

It's not a Trainwreck, we're just bugged by a few internal inconsistencies, the odd nit-pick and one pointless and batshit plot that lasted a couple of episodes. All will be forgiven within a week or two anyway.

 

If you can take... anything in your list, then you can take this show.

[Mark Antony]

Yeah some of the stuff was annoying but I love the characters so much and there were plenty of moments I enjoyed. Weakest written season imo but hardly a train wreck