‘Seven Kings Should Die’ Is A Disappointing, Superfluous Ending To ‘The Final Kingdom’

The Final Kingdom is certainly one of my favourite Netflix reveals, although I watched its 5 seasons unfold out over the course of eight years, having solely simply completed Season 5. The story of Uhtred son of Uhtred (Alexander Dreymon) based mostly on the Saxon Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell reached a satisfying, if barely rushed, conclusion in its ultimate season. As a fan, I used to be content material. In truth, after the credit rolled, I used to be prepared to return to the start. I haven’t seen the primary season since 2015—practically a decade in the past!—and I loved this story and these characters a lot, I may simply return and watch it right through yet another time.

I couldn’t say the identical for Vikings, regardless of how a lot I beloved Ragnar (Travis Fimmel) and the solid of that present. The place The Final Kingdom continually deepened relationships and made us care extra in regards to the characters, Vikings made us hate nearly everybody by the tip—and killed off most of the characters we really needed to root for.

So it’s with no small disappointment that I report my dismay over Seven Kings Should Die, a sequel “movie” to The Final Kingdom, purportedly made to tie up unfastened ends. I put scare quotes across the phrase “movie” as a result of it didn’t really feel like one in any conventional sense, and I say purportedly as a result of I don’t imagine that The Final Kingdom had any unfastened ends that wanted tying.

I gained’t spoil the movie for 2 causes. First, when you have not seen it and want to, you need to accomplish that with out spoilers. Second, I don’t imagine you need to watch this movie in case you’re a fan of the present, and nothing spoiled in a recap is value figuring out in case you’d quite simply finish the place the story ought to finish: Within the Season 5 finale.

The film is a rushed mess, trampling over characters from the present, throwing collectively a battle that’s each jarring and pointless, and creating stakes that really feel compelled at greatest. It’s onerous to care about any of it, which is unusual given how a lot we cared about what occurred within the present. Aethelstan, specifically, is completed an enormous disservice within the movie which I gained’t elaborate on. Suffice to say, he undergoes a butcherous persona transplant.

In the end, Seven Kings Should Die appears like a whole season of The Final Kingdom condensed into just below two hours. It doesn’t work. The villains usually are not correctly established. The character modifications create a painful narrative whiplash. What fulfilling scenes exist are couched between convoluted plot twists and stymied by dangerous pacing. The ending, clearly meant to be an emotional sendoff, feels hokey at greatest. By the point credit rolled, I needed I’d simply caught with the present and left Seven Kings Should Die within the cut price bin the place it belongs. This story, these characters and the followers all deserved higher.